Abstract

Slash and burn cultivation (jhum) is the most disadvantageous method of cultivation in the Eastern Himalayan Region. This practice causes soil, nutrient, water erosion and biodiversity loss. Therefore, alternate conservation practice is required urgently. Field experiment was conducted at two villages viz., Digbak and Belo with two sites at each village on Dumporijo circle district Daporijo, Arunachal Pradesh during 2008 to 2010. The experiment was laid out in such a way that farmers practice was considered as control (T₁); T₂: T₁ + Mulching with crop residues; T₃: Improved crop management (includes plant population, application of manure and fertilizer, pesticides, weed management, hedge row incorporation); T₄: T₃ + mulching with crop residues. T₄ gave higher yield of rice, maize, chilli, tomato, french bean, okra (69, 107, 163, 211, 98.6 and 126% respectively) over T₁. Whereas, pea and soybean were additional crop harvested from T₂, T₃ and T₄. Similarly the biomass (crop, hedge row plants and weeds) was recorded 225.8, 208.5 and 19.9% higher on T₄, T₃ and T₂, respectively over T₁. The final status of porosity was recorded 7.6, 6.7 and 2.4% respectively higher for T₄, T₃ and T₂ over traditional jhum cultivation. Similarly the chemical parameters like soil organic carbon (SOC; 43.3, 39.2 and 21.6% respectively), N (25.4, 19.6 and 6.7% respectively), P (45.2, 39.8 and 12.9% respectively) and K (31.3, 25.9, and 5.0% respectively) were recorded higher on T₄, T₃ and T₂ over traditional jhum cultivation. The rice equivalent yield, production efficiency, land use efficiency and income were recorded higher on T₄ followed by T₃. However the employment generation was higher for T₃ followed by T₄.  All the economic parameters were recorded higher when crops were grown under the T₄ followed by T₃ except B: C and MC: MR.

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