The political tussle over podu cultivation and forest lands in Telangana

The political tussle over podu cultivation and forest lands in Telangana

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic Geography

Context:

The Telangana government has decided to move landless, non-tribal farmers engaged in shifting cultivation inside forests to peripheral areas as it looks to combat deforestation.

Concept –

• Telangana government has red-flagged encroachment of forests by non-tribals, who are indulging in the practice of shifting agriculture (podu).
• The government now wants to shift out all farmers from the forests to the periphery by allotting lands to them for cultivation.
• Tribal farmers who have been traditionally cultivating for decades will not be affected by this drive against illegal encroachers. The government has, in fact, given land ownership titles to tribals.

Shifting Cultivation –

• Jhum (Shifting) cultivation is a primitive practice of cultivation in States of North Eastern Hill Region of India and people involved in such cultivation are called Jhumia
• The practice involves clearing vegetative/forest cover on land/slopes of hills, drying and burning it before onset of monsoon and cropping on it thereafter. After harvest, this land is left fallow and vegetative regeneration is allowed on it till the plot becomes reusable for same purpose in a cycle. Meanwhile, the process is repeated in a new plot designated for Jhum cultivation during next year. Initially, when Jhum cycle was long and ranged from 20 to 30 years, the process worked well
• However, with increase in human population and increasing pressure on land, Jhum cycle reduced progressively (5-6 years) causing problem of land degradation and threat to ecology of the region at large.
• As per report of Ministry of Rural Development, only 5 per cent of households have been reportedly engaged in shiting cultivation in the country.
• The percentage of area under jhum cultivation is 5 in North-Eastern region, while it is 0.5 per cent for central tribal belt.

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