The Fire-Fighting Children of The Khasi Hills

Slash and burn agriculture and children firefighters are integral to a form of ‘ungoverned’ agricultural practice in the East Khasi Hills, and despite government prohibitions these practices continue

- Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman

On a wintry February evening, along a narrow road leading to a village nestled in the East Khasi Hills, some children are playfully running around with branches of dry trees. Smoke hangs in the cold air. Around another winding turn on the road, a fire in the forest comes into sight. A local farmer is burning the undergrowth of the land he owns, employing the traditional slash-and-burn cultivation method. This method, also known as swidden agriculture is referred to locally as jhum cultivation and has been prevalent across South and Southeast Asia for centuries.

Using Fire for Soil Fertility

The dry winter months of January, February and March sees scores of such fires crackling their way through forests, across all states of Northeast India. This fire-fallow farming method helps fix potash in the soil, thereby increasing its fertility. As I stop to watch the fire spread through the forest undergrowth, a spectacular sight, the children come and join me. Only later do I realise that they were not just playing around, they were there as fire-fighters.

I asked the farmer about his land. He explained that he plans to grow pineapples after the soil is prepared. The pineapples of Meghalaya are one of the sweetest and juiciest. This forest land lies along an arterial road connecting villages near the border with Bangladesh. Livelihoods in these villages are sustained by farming privately owned plots of land or community-owned forests adjoining the village. The major crops are betel nuts and leaves, pineapple, jackfruit, oranges, bay leaves, bamboo, tapioca and honey.