Traditionally people are using multiple cropping to grow more food from the same piece of land. Though this practice seems logical, but the experience of the Chhingchhip 5 village farmers suggest otherwise. The farmers initially started getting increased production and income but in the long run, they could hardly meet the needs of their families.

The practise of crop rotation in the Sloping Agriculture Land Technology (SALT) booklet provided by the Caritas India FARM Northeast-III programme has significantly improved the soil quality and crop yield of the farmers. Crop rotation practice concentrate and reuse the same plot of land to gain a huge quantity of productions. The booklet farmers to improve their agriculture production and introduce scientifically proven new agriculture practices.

Laltharliana, a farmer from Chhingchhip 5 village under the Caritas India FARM Northeast-III programme applied this practice on his paddy field last year. He learnt that cultivating crops on the same land using Crop rotation can produce huge profits without knowing an improvement of seeds and their treatment and protection measures.

In the past, Laltharliana only practices multiple cropping without using improved seeds, seed treatment, organic fertilizers and plant protection measures. But crop rotation practice helped in preserving the soil productivity, reducing pests, minimizing the use of chemicals, maximizing yields, reducing reliance on one set of nutrients and developing weeds.

As a result, his paddy has grown almost up to the height of a human before harvest. He expects to harvest at least 45 tins of paddy from his 0.5 acres of land by October 2021. Besides paddy, he already harvested a large fraction of crops like vegetables from his field. This practice helped in creating a good rapport and trust between Farm NE -III programme and Laltharliana’s upliftment in his economic condition to a great extent. He became a source of inspiration for his fellow farmers of his area. They became aware of crop rotation to get huge benefits. Owing to his achievements, farmers are trying to adopt the SALT model in their lands.

SALT has been successful to help the shifting cultivators of the North East region to sustain their cultivation. Such models promoted under FAR shall be a shot in the arms to establish the relevance of SALT in sustaining shifting cultivation and thus help combat climate change.