S M Salahuddin back from Khagrachhari
Jhum cultivation, the primitive mode of agriculture of the tribal people in the hilly region of Chittagong, is still continuing as there is little support to run their families despite an increase in their population.
Government assistance hardly reaches the poor tribal people to meet their basic needs, it is learnt.
"The unscientific Jhum cultivation is destroying fertility of hilly lands in Khagrachhari district", said Abul Kalam Azad, Deputy Director of Khagraghhari Agriculture Department.
He told the Independent a few days back that this sort of cultivation is practiced mainly by the members of Tripura tribe searching no other jobs to improve their lifestyle.
"They are idle and inactive", some other tribal and non-tribal people said about the Jhum cultivators. However, some Tripuris claimed that they have to engage themselves with the very hard work for the whole year. Other tribes avoid it, they said.
Some farmers of Ridoy Member Para of Alutila hilly area said that they could never be the owners of lands on which they cultivate Jhum. Local headmen distribute some hilly lands among them for this sort of farming.
According to the census of 2001, a total of 86,400 families cultivate around 35,000 hectares lands of Khagrachhari district. Out of these lands about 15,000 hectares are being used for Jhum cultivation. In winter (Poush-Magh) season, farmers clean lands cutting down bushes. At the beginning of spring (Falgun) those are set on fire. They wait for one month after spreading fertilizer on the lands to be cultivated mainly with paddy and vegetable seeds. They then sow 'Company Paddy' (Aus) seeds along with vegetable seeds including cucumber, turmeric, beans, Jhinga, sweet pumpkin, ladies finger and maize. They usually buy paddy seeds at about Tk 10 per kg and sow around 24 kg seeds in one acre land.
From the beginning of summer season, pesticide is sprayed. They got about 960 kg rice cultivating one acre of land and sell it for about Tk 7 per kg. Tripura families have to run with income from these harvested crops for the whole year, Omendra Tripura, an old farmer of Alutila said.
He told this correspondent that local traders paid them less while buying their Jhum crops.
Little access of healthcare facilities make their children grow up without body fitness. They also lack education facilities for very early years. Few children go to educational institutions and they generally drop out at class v.
Jhum farmers said that the increase of population compelled them to cultivate land frequently. About 15 to 20 years back they used to leave the land uncultivated for five to six years. But now they hardly leave a piece of land uncultivated even a year to allow land regain fertility. Among different tribes, the living condition of the Tripura is the worst. Abul Kalam Azad said that they themselves are responsible for their sufferings.
"Though the Jhum cultivation is the cause of hampering the fertility of hilly lands, we have no intention to stop these sort of farming." He said that Tripuris should grow different fruits like pineapple, guava, orange, papaya and lemon on those lands to earn more money. Some sales centres would be set up at suitable places for Jhum cultivators so that they got reasonable prices of their produces, he hoped.
The Deputy Director of Khagrachhari Agriculture Department underscored the need for creating awareness among the Tripura tribesmen to improve their living standard. They need to look for more than one way of earning money. Education as well as medical felicities for them should also be strengthened, he said.
Recently, the Syngenta Bangladesh Limited, a manufacturer of life drugs for humans and plants, took a group of journalists to a Jhum cultivation area in collaboration with the Federation for International Dissemination in Agriculture (FIDA).