IFP Editorial, Jan. 20 -- While government ministers and experts shout from the mountain-top that the practice of jhum is leading to land degradation and soil erosion, nothing much have been done on the ground.

The indomitable Phungyar MLA and Hill Areas Committee Chairman Leishiyo Keishing is once again right to the point. He does not mince words and is always direct in his opinions. He said, jhum cultivation is no longer a reliable source of livelihood. People in his own village Nambashi still go for jhum cultivation, even as people in other hill areas across the state had switched over to terrace cultivation. Actually, the terraced slopes are not natural but man-made. Terracing the hill-slopes for growing crops is labour-intensive and...