Simanapara is a hill village in Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari. After travelling for quite some time over steep hills, we met 72-year-old Bonoranjan Tripura. His jhum (slash-and-burn) field stretches across the hillside. There is paddy in one place, pumpkin in another. Elsewhere grow chilli, sesame, maize, turmeric and beans. This practice of cultivating multiple crops simultaneously on a single plot of land is known as jhum. However, this may be one of the last few jhum fields Bonoranjan will ever cultivate.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Bonoranjan said he is not sure whether he will be able to continue jhum cultivation from next year. He has grown old. Apart from his wife, Dantarani Tripura, and two dependants, no one remains in the family. None of his three sons or three daughters is involved in jhum cultivation anymore. It has also become difficult to find labourers in the hills. An even bigger challenge, however, is land.

As a child, Bonoranjan accompanied his father to the jhum fields and saw that cultivation on the same hill would take place only once every 10 to 12 years. By then, plants had regrown and the soil had regained its fertility. That opportunity no longer exists. He cultivated jhum this year on the same hill where he had farmed just three years ago. As a result, yields are no longer what they used to be. Now fertilisers and pesticides have to be used in jhum cultivation, although there was once no need for either.