Shifting Cultivation in the North-Eastern States through Interpretation of Satellite Data from 1975 to 1984

Shifting cultivation is a very old practice of cultivation which is extensively vogue in the North-Eastern region of the country. To assess the area affected by shifting cultivation and the trend of shifting cultivation in the North-Eastern states, FSI undertook a study in 1989 by visual interpretation of Landsat satellite imageries pertaining to the year 1975 and 1984. The study revealed that during the period of 9 years, the area affected by shifting cultivation in the North-Eastern Hill States had reduced from 73,410 sq.km. to 62,854 sq.km. It is a _______ trend that the practice of shifting cultivation is on the decline. The result of the study is summarized in the following table: