The hills of North Eastern Region of India constitute about 70 per cent of the total land area, where jhum agriculture, locally called “jhum” is the chief land use. There are hundreds of different major tribes in the region differing linguistically and culturally. The entire region is more or less geographically isolated from the rest of the country. Due to lack of plain land for agriculture, the farmer in the humid tropics has practiced for centuries the method of “jhum agriculture” or popularly known in India as “jhum”. This is the simplest method of cultivation available to the tribal population living in the hilly region. The jhum cultivation is the natural way of life to the tribal people in the hill areas.  In jhum agriculture, cultivator cultivates in a particular area for one or two years and then moves into other areas. Again he returns to the first area for cultivation. The time to keep the land as fallow to regenerate the fertility is called a ‘jhum cycle’.

KEYWORDS: North Eastern Region, Jhum agriculture, Tribal population, Fallow land, Jhum cycle