North East India (NEI) has 17.2 M ha under forest cover, which is ~25% of India’s total forest area. Of the total forest cover, 1.5 M ha is currently managed by shifting cultivation in NEI. Shifting cultivation, an integral part of culture and tradition of tribes of NEI, is presently unsustainable because of the populationdriven reduction in the duration of the fallow cycle (3–5 years).

Original Source

The report by K.Van Oost et al., "The impact of agricultural soil erosion on the global carbon cycle" (26 October 2007, p. 626) raises two serious concerns. First, the eroded soil is severely depleted of its soil organic matter (SOM) pool, which is preferentially removed by surface runoff because it has low density and is concentrated in the surface layer. Second, the process of soil erosion by water entails three distinct stages : (i) detachment, (ii) transport/redistribution, and (iii) deposition. (Letters)