426
N. Roy et al.
1 Introduction
Forests play an important role in the economic development of a country by providing food, biomass, pulp and paper, rayon, fibers, lac, wooden articles and medicine
plants. They also stabilise our ecological system, and provide the gene pool that can
protect commercial plant strain against changing conditions of climate. Therefore,
forest resources have both economic and ecological significance, and forest soil is the
most important asset of forest resources (Agoumé and Birang 2009). However, rapid
expansion of non-forest activities at the expense of natural forests has become a serious threat to forest resource all over the world especially in environmentally fragile
mountainous areas. According to an estimate, agricultural expansion and infrastructural development contributes 37% of forest degradation, responsible for one third of
tropical deforestation of the world (Geist and Lambin 2002). There have been several
studies which maintain that method of agricultural practices always has an ecological
implication (Ayoubi et al. 2011). For example, shifting cultivation is often considered
a dominant factor responsible for forest loss and is the main cause of land degradation
especially in India (Ramakrishnan 1992). The shifting cultivation, which is locally
known as jhum cultivation, is mostly confined to the tropical rainforests characterised
with heavy rainfall, subsistence economy and hot weather. Traditionally, the tribal
people in the Northeast India practiced Jhum (shifting cultivation) in the hill slopes
as a means of livelihood system. In recent times, Government of India has made
several attempts to discourage shifting cultivation in many parts of Northeast India.
And one such attempt was to encourage people to take up terrace cultivation. This
paper is based on our observation of agricultural practices and livelihood strategies
of a village in Nagaland state of Northeast India.
2 Study Area
The study was conducted in Khonoma village (Longitude E94° 2
0
Latitude
N25° 39
0
) which is situated at the Southern part of the state of Nagaland in India.
The village falls under the Kohima district and is located 20 km west of Kohima,
the state capital of Nagaland. The village is dominated by Angami-Naga tribe. The
geographical area of Khonoma village is about 123 km
2 . The village is perched on
a hilltop at an altitude of 1200 m from the sea level and is surrounded by hills that
are as high as 8000 ft (KTDB 2004: 3). Khonoma village has earned a name for
itself in the country as a whole as the first “Green Village” in India, in recognition
of the conservation effort by the community. The people of Khonoma are largely
dependent on their land and forest for their daily subsistence needs, and with this
understanding they have adapted practices and customs which have helped them to
utilise their land and forest sustainably. The village has three Khels or local residential units—Thevomia Khel, Merhüma Khel and Semoma Khel. As per census
N. Roy et al.
1 Introduction
Forests play an important role in the economic development of a country by providing food, biomass, pulp and paper, rayon, fibers, lac, wooden articles and medicine
plants. They also stabilise our ecological system, and provide the gene pool that can
protect commercial plant strain against changing conditions of climate. Therefore,
forest resources have both economic and ecological significance, and forest soil is the
most important asset of forest resources (Agoumé and Birang 2009). However, rapid
expansion of non-forest activities at the expense of natural forests has become a serious threat to forest resource all over the world especially in environmentally fragile
mountainous areas. According to an estimate, agricultural expansion and infrastructural development contributes 37% of forest degradation, responsible for one third of
tropical deforestation of the world (Geist and Lambin 2002). There have been several
studies which maintain that method of agricultural practices always has an ecological
implication (Ayoubi et al. 2011). For example, shifting cultivation is often considered
a dominant factor responsible for forest loss and is the main cause of land degradation
especially in India (Ramakrishnan 1992). The shifting cultivation, which is locally
known as jhum cultivation, is mostly confined to the tropical rainforests characterised
with heavy rainfall, subsistence economy and hot weather. Traditionally, the tribal
people in the Northeast India practiced Jhum (shifting cultivation) in the hill slopes
as a means of livelihood system. In recent times, Government of India has made
several attempts to discourage shifting cultivation in many parts of Northeast India.
And one such attempt was to encourage people to take up terrace cultivation. This
paper is based on our observation of agricultural practices and livelihood strategies
of a village in Nagaland state of Northeast India.
2 Study Area
The study was conducted in Khonoma village (Longitude E94° 2
0
Latitude
N25° 39
0
) which is situated at the Southern part of the state of Nagaland in India.
The village falls under the Kohima district and is located 20 km west of Kohima,
the state capital of Nagaland. The village is dominated by Angami-Naga tribe. The
geographical area of Khonoma village is about 123 km
2 . The village is perched on
a hilltop at an altitude of 1200 m from the sea level and is surrounded by hills that
are as high as 8000 ft (KTDB 2004: 3). Khonoma village has earned a name for
itself in the country as a whole as the first “Green Village” in India, in recognition
of the conservation effort by the community. The people of Khonoma are largely
dependent on their land and forest for their daily subsistence needs, and with this
understanding they have adapted practices and customs which have helped them to
utilise their land and forest sustainably. The village has three Khels or local residential units—Thevomia Khel, Merhüma Khel and Semoma Khel. As per census