Jhum Cultivation in the Hill Tracts:
Main crops: Paddy, cotton, corn, turmeric, ginger, mustard seed. Main occupations are Agriculture 41.94%.
Main fruits: Mango, jack fruit, banana, pineapple, litchi, black berry.
Jhum cultivation is an ancient, rain-fed cultivation method, cultured by the Indigenous people (11 Tribes Community) on the hills and slopes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It is because, the lack of flat land suitable for farming. This system involves cutting back and clearing large areas of the hillside through fire, which also acts as a fertilizer, to obtain clean, fresh soil to farm, and the terms of Jhum cultivation is sometimes referred to as a ‘slash-and-burn’ method. This agricultural system is cultured by the individual or family, however on occasion may involve an entire village.
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| Jhum Cultivation |
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| Jhum Cultivation |
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| Jhum Cultivation |
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| Jhum Cultivation |
Seeds of different crops are mixed together and sewn in this ‘field’ after the first rain shower has fallen, usually during the months of April to May (Boishak to Joishta in Bangla month). Plants on the slopes carry on the rainy season floods. Typically, upland rice and vegetables are harvested within a few months after sowing, whereas cotton, turmeric and arum are harvested after 8 or 9 months, during December.
