- Jhum, or shifting agriculture, has long been a common practice among the farmers in in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh.
- However, due to growing demand for arable lands and reducing yields, farmers have started to give up the traditional jhum for profitable cash crops in recent years.
- Among the changes adopted, cultivating vegetables using the machan method — using bamboo trellises to grow vines — is growing in popularity as the method ensures enough profit as well as a reduction in soil erosion.
Cucumber and bitter gourd plants climbed over bamboo trellises, their fruits swaying gently in the breeze, while Milan Tanchangya, a 43-year-old farmer, plucked the cucumbers using a knife and placed them in a basket.
Only a few years ago, he used this land for jhum, the traditional multi-crop shifting cultivation method of Indigenous communities in southeastern Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) comprised of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari districts. But declining yields forced him to look for new ways to feed his seven-member family.
To make ends meet, he started a different cultivation system, locally called machan — a method that uses bamboo trellises, allowing vegetables to grow above the ground. This method of cash crop farming not only protects crops from pests and viral diseases but also has more seasons of vegetable production than Milan’s previous jhum plots.
“If I can manage the trellises well, I can harvest several crops a year, and the soil remains intact,” Milan said from his land, which has already grown a green canopy, in Suwalok union’s Amtali area, Bandarban district.
He said machan farming has transformed life for him and other farmers in the hills as vegetables such as bitter gourd, cucumber and beans now provide steady incomes, while also reducing soil erosion on steep slopes as they’re raised crops.
“I now earn an additional 70,000 takas [$570] to 80,000 takas [$651] every year,” he said.
Jhum yields declined
Fifty-three-year-old Manue Mro practiced jhum for more than 25 years. But for the last eight years, Manue, from Mrolong Para of Suwalak union in Bandarban district, gave up jhum farming for the cash crop agriculture of fruit orchards.
Farmers said they are giving up jhum as there’s a drop in production related to land shortage caused by increasing number of farmers.
“Earlier, we could leave a plot following at least for 9-10 years. But now we have to cultivate the same land almost every year due to the crisis of land availability. Because of this pressure, the soil has become weak. The yield has fallen. When food production dropped, I had to choose another way to survive,” said Manue, who also runs a roadside tea stall.
The government data on agriculture, too, reflects the decline of jhum.
As per Bandarban’s Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) data, the land under jhum farming during the 2014-15 season was 9,050 hectares (22,365 acres). But the cultivated area had fallen to 8,270 hectares (20,439 acres) by the 2024-25 season.
Meanwhile, the number of farmers in Bandarban has also risen from 45,642 in 2011-12 to 56,524 in 2024-25, as per DAE data.
A cultural identity
In the CHT, farmers from Indigenous communities traditionally identify as jhumia: Their jhum agriculture has not only fed them but also become a cultural identity.
They grew and harvested all the essentials including rice and vegetables from jhum.
In the past when land was available, jhum farmers used to shift the place leaving the land fallow for 20 years or longer. Now the fallow time is shortened, resulting in degenerating soil health and poor rice yields, thus making the jhum system unsuitable. A 2020 study found that the jhum fallow cycle has now declined to just two to three years.
For the farmers of CHT’s Indigenous communities — like the Chakma, Marma, Mro, Bawm and Khumi — jhum is more than agriculture. It has shaped rituals and seasonal calendars. Every season, sowing follows ceremonial observance rooted in ancestral beliefs, with jhumia families offering prayers for good yield.
Harvesting turns into a vibrant social occasion with gatherings, traditional events, songs, rhythmic drumming and traditional dancing with traditional attires, reflecting a cultural bond between society and livelihood.
Machan, a new hope
But that had to give way to new practices.
“One of the main reasons for the declining jhum is falling yields,” said Abu Noiem Mohammad Saifuddin, deputy director of the Bandarban DAE office.
“The soil is weaker and the yield has declined. For this, we had to shift as jhum farming no longer fed my family the way it once did,” said Milan who practiced jhum for at least 20 years.
In Amtali area of Sadar upazila, Bandarban district, Liton Marma was seen to make a machan using bamboo, wooden sticks, ropes and plastic nets on his land.
The 53-year-old farmer explained process of the method: He sticks strong bamboo poles into the ground and ties horizontal poles across to make a frame before plantation. Two or three weeks after planting, nets are stretched on top for the climbers.
Liton said most of the materials are easy to get from nearby forests or markets, and that even small-time farmers can afford to make machans.
According to the DAE, vegetable farming using machans has expanded in recent years in Banderban hills.
In the 2022-23 season, about 2,282 hectares (5,639 acres) were under machan cultivation. But this area had risen to 2,827 hectares (6,986 acres) in the 2024-25 season.
Agriculture officers said the method mainly gets popular at the hilly areas in Sadar and Rowangchari upazilas of the district.
Both farmers and agriculture officers confirmed that machans significantly improves yields on steep hills.
“When crops grow close to soil, they are prone to pests, fungal infection and waterlogging during rains. But machans keep the crops free from these problems,” said Tipu Tanchangya, from Rowangchari.
“Machan farming raises crops like gourd, cucumber, beans 4 to 5 feet [1.2 to 1.5 meters] above the ground, which reduces the risk of disease and water accumulation while keeping vegetables good,” he added.
For example, Tipu harvested around 2,400 kilograms (5,290 pounds) of bitter gourd from his plots last season and sold them 55 takas per kg (25 takas per pound) on average. “Five years ago, we could barely grow enough vegetables from jhum plots. But machan gives us steady harvests and income which makes us solvent,” he said.
Mishuk Chakma, an official of the Bandarban DAE, said, “Farmers who are practicing the machan method are getting solvent as the system produces higher yields compared to traditional jhum even under challenging weather conditions.”
Abu Noiem Mohammad Saifuddin, deputy director of Bandarban’s DAE office, said, “The shifting is a need-based transformation. As jhum failed to feed farmers, income from commercial crops is predictable.”
Jhum depends on time and seasons. The jhum season is usually from January through November. But farmers can now cultivate crops through the years, Saifuddin said, adding that the adoption of new farming is creating economic benefits.
However, experts from Indigenous communities said machans cannot fully replace jhum although they may reduce pressure.
Prashanta Tripura, the country director of the NGO Hunger Project-Bangladesh, has conducted several research and published books on jhum.
“The jhum system has been broken. But it is the identity of the hill people. For this, policy makers should take steps for protecting the comprehensive farming method related to Indigenous identity,” added Prashanta, who belongs to the Tripura Indigenous community in CHT.
Machan protects slopes
In the process of jhum, slopes of the hills were left bare and vulnerable as farmers cleared large patches of forest and burned vegetation before starting plantation.
In addition, the repeated cycle of jhum without long fallow periods would weaken the land, reduce fertility and increase erosion during rainfall. Wildlife and native plants were also disturbed and hills would become fragile and less productive.
In contrast, machan requires only clearing small patches of land for bamboo trellises. Most of the hill slopes remain covered with plants. Besides, vine plants growing over the trellises create a leafy canopy that protects the soil from direct rainfall.
“Even when it rains heavily, the soil doesn’t wash away like jhum plots,” said Ching Nu Marma, a farmer from Rowangchari.
Environmental experts say vegetation cover plays a key role in protecting fragile hill slopes from erosion.
“If jhum is practiced on the same land on hills every year with no fallow time, erosion can become severe. Intense rainfall can wash away the topsoil. On the contrary, when slopes are covered with vegetation, such as crops growing on machans, the impact of the rain is reduced and soil erosion can be controlled,” said Mohammed Kamal Hossain, a professor of forestry and environmental science at the University of Chittagong.
Banner image: Gourds growing on a bamboo frame in Bangladesh. Image by AgReach via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Profitable cash crop trend in Bangladesh’s hills affects regional ecology
Citations:
Misbahuzzaman, K. (2016). Traditional farming in the mountainous region of Bangladesh and its modifications. Journal of Mountain Science. 13, 1489-1502. doi:10.1007/s11629-015-3541-7
Nahar, A., Akbar., M. A., Biswas., J. C., Gafur, A., Uddin, M. F., … Hamid. (2020). Household Demography and Food Security of Jhum Farmers in Bandarban District, Bangladesh. Journal of Applied Agricultural Economics and Policy Analysis. doi:10.12691/jaaepa-3-1-2
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