HILL AGRICULTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON TRIBAL ECONOMY IN TAMIL NADU

The agricultural eco system in hilly areas of Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, which are dry, degraded and fragmented, suffers heavily due to population pressure, andimpacted tribal economy.These hills are predominantly inhabited by ‘Malayali’ tribes, who share a common origin, culture and dialect. Agriculture is the mainstay of theirlivelihood and met their basic food requirements. The agricultural holdings in the hill villages of Eastern Ghats are classified as punjai – (dry land) as no sustainable subsurface irrigation system is in use across the hills. Forest resources, surroundingtheir habitats-secondary sources of income to the tribals – show adeclining trenddue to vigorousimplementation of Forest Acts and Regulations. Hence, an analysis of traditional agricultural eco system practicedin Eastern Ghats, reveals, hills in the range are eco specific and differbetweenhills and plains. For instance, cultivation in hilly areas with its undulating terrain, slopes, rainfed nature of traditional crop, application of primitive technology and market inaccessibility differs wholly from plains. An emerging issue whichadversely impacted their economy and livelihood iswhile the cultivable area or private holdings hasremained constantover the yearsbut the population pressure on them has been growing ata faster rate causing division of holdingsand fragmentation due to the operation of traditional law of inheritance and ended up with uneconomic holdings. The purpose of this paper is to find out the causes for adverse tribal economy on the basis of the secondary data collected from census reports, department of Statistics and Economics, and Village Administrative Officers.