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Shifting cultivation, locally known as jhum, is the predominant agricultural practice for most communities inhabiting the uplands of north-east India. The negative impacts of the practice on forest and biological resources, soil erosion and land degradation have been a serious concern for several decades now to administrators and planners as well as to the academic community. In the current context, the practice has undergone drastic changes and has become increasingly unviable, gradually leading to the marginalization of farmers practising it. Although shifting cultivation in this area has been the focus of intensive studies, particularly in terms of the underlying ecological dynamics, few have attempted to analyse the factors contributing to the marginalization of the practice. This paper examines micro-scale issues that contribute to reducing productivity (and hence marginalization), and which are of immediate concern to the shifting cultivator. The paper focuses on fundamental issues influencing the reduction in fallow cycle lengths, the impact of rural–urban migration on labour requirements for agriculture, the consequences of inadequate employment and cash generation facilities on labour availability and crop productivity, as well as government efforts to promote agricultural productivity in these areas. The main focus of the paper is on the impact of each of these factors and their synergystic effect on the marginalization of shifting cultivation.
