Sustaining Shifting Agricultural Practices in North-East India Through Beneficial Soil Microbes

The shifting agricultural system represents the prime approach for various communities in North-east India for food production. In shifting cultivation, an area of forested land is slashed and burnt, making it ready for crop production for two to three years and then it is left as fallow land. This process typically involves the natural recovery of the soil after cropping. Therefore, soil fertility depends to a large extent on the biochemical processes performed by beneficial soil microorganisms and their functional diversity. Currently shifting cultivation is practiced with a reduced fallow period that has a severe impact on soil microbial diversity and soil erosion that ultimately causes a reduction in crop productivity. A suitable solution to such agricultural practices is important for environmental sustainability and to increase the economic well-being of the indigenous farmers. Currently, the low soil fertility problem is being tackled by various amendments like the use of organic and inorganic fertilisers in soils. The use of organic fertilisers that contain beneficial microbes is more sustainable and holds promise for agricultural productivity. One important aspect is to better understand the composition of microbial communities from soils under shifting cultivation along with their beneficial properties. A few basic studies have been reported that have explored the different microbial taxa from soils under shifting cultivation fields in North-east India. However, studies aiming towards elucidating microbial interactions and their stimulatory response on the host plant remain largely unreported from this region. Successful manipulation of long-term and persistent plant beneficial microbial communities in shifting cultivation will benefit the farmers of this region. However, although the current status of knowledge demonstrates the potential to improve crop productivity using beneficial microbes, this area needs more research attention. In this context, this chapter discusses the studies related to microbial diversity and beneficial microbes under shifting cultivation and their impact on soil health and agricultural productivity that can sustain shifting agricultural practices in North-east India.