Livelihood Strategies and Agricultural Practices in Khonoma …
433
The Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development, earlier
known as the Nagaland Environmental Protection and Economic Development
(NEPED), also encouraged the farmers to increase their income from jhum fields
by cultivating cash crops such as pepper, turmeric, ginger, and yam in the fallow
land (Chawii 2007).
6 Conclusion
People of Khonoma village depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their
livelihood. Generally, crop farming was revealed to be the common livelihood strategy that supports most households. Though the Khonoma village was traditionally
based on subsistence agriculture, the focus of agricultural activity in the present days
is shifting towards cash crops. Another notable change is that Khonoma has become
a tourist destination with the declaration of Khonoma as the first “Green Village” of
India, and the villagers have the alternative means of earning by running home stays
and working as tourist guides. There are mainly two types of cultivation method
followed in Khonoma Village: Jhum Cultivation and Terrace Cultivation. Though
jhum cultivation is rooted in the customs and beliefs of Khonoma people but more
and more people are now shifting towards terrace cultivation. This shift has come
because of two reasons: firstly, terrace cultivation is less laborious as compared to
jhum cultivation; and, secondly, terrace fields are easy to protect from the menace of
wild animals. Unlike general perception, none of the respondent in Khonoma village
considered jhum cultivation causes deforestation thus contributes to climate change.
This is because the farmers of Khonoma uphold a sustainable form of jhum cultivation by planting Alder trees in the fields. Alder is a fast-growing tree species and
requires normal soil. Therefore, introduction of alder to jhum fields/sites is highly
practicable and which forms a unique agro-forestry system. Alder is one of the nitrogen fixing tree species hence their root nodules contribute in improving soil fertility
by fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
Acknowledgements The authors duly acknowledge the financial support of ICSSR, New Delhi,
India for Research Programme on “Climate Change, Dynamics of Shifting Agriculture and
Livelihood Vulnerabilities in Northeastern States of India”.
References
Agoumé V, Birang AM (2009) Impact of land-use systems on some physical and chemical soil
properties of an oxisol in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon. Tropicultura 27(1):15–20
Ayoubi S, Khormali F, Sahrawat KL, Rodrigues de Lima AC (2011) Assessing impacts of land use
change on soil quality indicators in a loessial soil in Golestan Province, Iran. J Agric Sci Technol
13(5):727–742
433
The Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development, earlier
known as the Nagaland Environmental Protection and Economic Development
(NEPED), also encouraged the farmers to increase their income from jhum fields
by cultivating cash crops such as pepper, turmeric, ginger, and yam in the fallow
land (Chawii 2007).
6 Conclusion
People of Khonoma village depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their
livelihood. Generally, crop farming was revealed to be the common livelihood strategy that supports most households. Though the Khonoma village was traditionally
based on subsistence agriculture, the focus of agricultural activity in the present days
is shifting towards cash crops. Another notable change is that Khonoma has become
a tourist destination with the declaration of Khonoma as the first “Green Village” of
India, and the villagers have the alternative means of earning by running home stays
and working as tourist guides. There are mainly two types of cultivation method
followed in Khonoma Village: Jhum Cultivation and Terrace Cultivation. Though
jhum cultivation is rooted in the customs and beliefs of Khonoma people but more
and more people are now shifting towards terrace cultivation. This shift has come
because of two reasons: firstly, terrace cultivation is less laborious as compared to
jhum cultivation; and, secondly, terrace fields are easy to protect from the menace of
wild animals. Unlike general perception, none of the respondent in Khonoma village
considered jhum cultivation causes deforestation thus contributes to climate change.
This is because the farmers of Khonoma uphold a sustainable form of jhum cultivation by planting Alder trees in the fields. Alder is a fast-growing tree species and
requires normal soil. Therefore, introduction of alder to jhum fields/sites is highly
practicable and which forms a unique agro-forestry system. Alder is one of the nitrogen fixing tree species hence their root nodules contribute in improving soil fertility
by fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
Acknowledgements The authors duly acknowledge the financial support of ICSSR, New Delhi,
India for Research Programme on “Climate Change, Dynamics of Shifting Agriculture and
Livelihood Vulnerabilities in Northeastern States of India”.
References
Agoumé V, Birang AM (2009) Impact of land-use systems on some physical and chemical soil
properties of an oxisol in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon. Tropicultura 27(1):15–20
Ayoubi S, Khormali F, Sahrawat KL, Rodrigues de Lima AC (2011) Assessing impacts of land use
change on soil quality indicators in a loessial soil in Golestan Province, Iran. J Agric Sci Technol
13(5):727–742