The system of growing agricultural crops between the rows of newly planted forest trees, during the early years of a plantation, is known as:

The taungya system is a method of raising forest plantations in which farmers are allowed to grow agricultural crops in the spaces between the rows of young forest trees during the first few years, until the tree canopy closes.

Origin:

The word "taungya" comes from the Burmese (Myanmar) language: "taung" means hill and "ya" means cultivation, so it means "hill cultivation".

It was developed in Burma (Myanmar) in the 1850s by the British forester Sir Dietrich Brandis, to establish teak plantations. Brandis later became the first Inspector General of Forests in India (1864).

It was introduced in India in the late 19th century, first in Bengal (around 1890) and then in other provinces, for raising teak, sal and other species.

How the system works:

• The forest department gives a piece of cleared forest land to landless people or local villagers.
• They plant tree seedlings for the forest department and are allowed to grow food crops, such as rice, maize, millets, pulses or vegetables, between the tree rows for two to three years.
• In return, they look after the young trees, weed the land and protect the plantation.
• When the trees grow bigger and shade the ground, cultivation stops, and the farmers move to a new site.

Advantages:

• Plantations are established at low cost to the forest department.
• Landless and tribal people get land to grow food and earn a livelihood.
• It provides an alternative to destructive shifting cultivation.

Disadvantages:

• Cultivators may have no long-term security or rights over land.
• Crops can compete with young trees, and the soil may be exposed to erosion if not managed well.

Other land-use systems:

• Silvipasture: combining trees with pasture for grazing livestock.
• Jhum: shifting cultivation of the north-east.
• Kumari: shifting cultivation of the Western Ghats.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Jhum is slash-and-burn shifting cultivation, not plantation-based.
• ✗Silvipasture combines trees with grasses and livestock grazing.
• ✗Kumari is the name of shifting cultivation in the Western Ghats.