Energy flow through a village ecosystem with slash and burn agriculture in North-Eastern India

Abstract

This paper deals with the pattern of energy flow through four major sub-systems (jhum, valley, animal and domestic) of a typical Khasi village ecosystem with 'slash and burn' agriculture (jhum) at an elevation of 1540 m in the north-eastern hill region of India. The energetic efficiency (output:input ratio) of jhum in 5 ha of land worked out at 7·53 and that of valley cultivation on 2 ha of land at 40·14. The animal husbandry sub-system had swine husbandry as its predominant component. This had an energetic efficiency of 3·04. The village ecosystem as a whole, however, had an efficiency of 1·57. Animal husbandry formed an important link in the detritus food chain by utilising the garbage and vegetable waste of the agricultural system. The forest, apart from providing the basis for agriculture, also meets part of the fuel requirement of the village. The compost pit is a very important component in the functioning of the village ecosystem as it provides feed for secondary production and generates organic manure both of plant and animal origin, which is cycled back into agriculture. The intricate relationship existing between the production and consumption compartments of the village ecosystem has been worked out from both the economic and the energetic points of view and is discussed.