Shifting cultivation is known as "Jhum" in India, "milpa" in Central America, and by what name in Indonesia?

Ladang. Ladang is the Indonesian name for shifting cultivation, the same underlying practice known as Jhum in India’s north-east and milpa in Central America.Read more: WorldGeo0099 — Subsistence Farming: Shifting Cultivation and Intensive Farming

Subsistence Farming: Shifting Cultivation and Intensive Farming

Across the world, hundreds of millions of farmers grow food with one single goal: to feed their own family, not to sell it. Subsistence farming looks completely different depending on where in the world you find it.

This article covers subsistence farming’s two main forms, shifting cultivation and intensive subsistence farming, and the pressures reshaping both today.

📑 Contents

1What Makes Farming “Subsistence”
2Shifting Cultivation Around the World
3Why Shifting Cultivation Is Under Pressure
4Intensive Subsistence Farming: Wet and Dry
5Why Intensive Subsistence Farming Feeds So Many
6Exam Wisdom: The Jhum State Trap

🏛️ Must Know

What Makes Farming “Subsistence”

The Core DefinitionSubsistence farming exists to feed the farmer’s own family. It is not meant to sell in a market. Little or no surplus gets produced, on purpose, since the goal is survival, not profit.(NCERT Class 12)
Two Main FormsNCERT splits subsistence farming into two very different types. One is shifting cultivation, which moves across forest land. The other is intensive subsistence farming, which stays fixed on small, heavily-worked plots.(NCERT Class 12)
Low Technology, High LabourBoth forms typically rely on simple tools, not machinery. Family labour, not hired workers, does most of the work in both systems.(NCERT Class 12)

Shifting Cultivation Around the World

The Basic CycleFarmers clear a forest patch, often by burning it. They grow crops there for a few years, until the soil wears out. Then they abandon that patch and clear a new one, letting the old one lie fallow.(NCERT Class 12)
Names Around the WorldThe same practice goes by different local names. It is Jhum in India’s north-east, milpa in Central America and Mexico, ladang in Indonesia, and chitemene in parts of Africa.(NCERT Class 12)
More Names Within IndiaIndia’s own regional names vary further: Bewar or Dahiya in Madhya Pradesh, Podu or Penda in Andhra Pradesh, and Kumari in the Western Ghats. Odisha calls it Pama Dabi, Koman, or Bringa; Rajasthan calls it Valre or Waltre; the Himalayan belt calls it Khil; and Jharkhand calls it Kuruwa.(NCERT Class 10)
More International NamesBeyond milpa and ladang, the same practice is called Conuco in Venezuela, Roca in Brazil, Masole in Central Africa, and Ray in Vietnam.(NCERT Class 10)
Where It Is PractisedShifting cultivation is common in tropical forest regions with heavy rainfall. These regions naturally regrow forest cover quickly, once a plot is left fallow.(NCERT Class 12)
Crops GrownFarmers typically grow a mix of subsistence crops on these plots: maize, millets, tubers and upland rice. Often several crops grow together, rather than just one.(NCERT Class 12)

📘 Good to Know

Why Shifting Cultivation Is Under Pressure

The Land-Hunger ProblemEach cleared patch is abandoned after only a few harvests. So this method needs far more total land per family than settled farming does. Most of the land is resting fallow at any given time.(NCERT Class 12)
Shrinking Fallow PeriodsRising population is now squeezing the fallow period farmers used to give the soil. Shorter fallow periods mean the soil never fully recovers before it gets farmed again.(NCERT Class 12)
Deforestation ConcernThis method depends on clearing forest, so it is often blamed for deforestation. Shrinking fallow periods make this worse, since farmers must clear new forest faster than old plots can regrow.(NCERT Class 12)
Government Response in IndiaIndian states have run schemes to resettle Jhum farmers into permanent terrace farming. The goal is to protect forest cover while still supporting these farming communities.(NCERT Class 12)

Intensive Subsistence Farming: Wet and Dry

What Sets It ApartUnlike shifting cultivation, this farming is settled on fixed, usually small plots. Farmers work these plots very hard, often growing multiple crops a year on the very same land.(NCERT Class 12)
Wet Intensive SubsistenceThis form centres on one crop: wet paddy rice. It needs standing water and heavy manual labour for transplanting seedlings. It dominates farming across South and East Asia’s river valleys and deltas.(NCERT Class 12)
Dry Intensive SubsistenceWhere water is scarcer, farmers instead grow drought-tolerant crops: wheat, millets, maize and pulses. These still grow on small, intensively-worked plots.(NCERT Class 12)

🌟 Great to Know

Why Intensive Subsistence Farming Feeds So Many

Labour Instead of LandShifting cultivation trades land for low labour input. Intensive subsistence farming does the opposite: it trades labour for land. Farmers put in intense manual effort, since they don’t have extra land to spare.(NCERT Class 12)
Multiple CroppingBecause plots are worked so intensively, the same field can often support two or even three harvests a year. This is exactly how it supports such dense rural populations, on so little land.(NCERT Class 12)
The Trade-OffThis intensity comes at a cost. Yields per worker stay low, even though yields per hectare are high. So much human labour goes into each unit of land.(NCERT Class 12)

Exam Point of View

Exam Wisdom: The Jhum State Trap

CAPF (ACs) 2022Asked which state has more than 50% of its area under Jhum cultivation. This tested the specific state figure, not just the concept. See Q86 on the full CAPF (ACs) 2022 paper →
Watch ForExams like to test the different regional names for shifting cultivation against each other. Don’t assume Jhum, milpa and ladang are different practices; they are the same practice under different local names.
Watch ForDon’t confuse “intensive subsistence” with “commercial” farming, just because both can involve multiple crops a year. The dividing line is purpose, feeding the family versus selling for profit, not how many harvests a plot yields.

✅ Test Yourself