ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a description of the nature of agrarian change that is witnessed in hill agriculture in the north-eastern region, primarily based on the author's field survey in Arunachal Pradesh. It focuses on determinants of participation in the rural non-farm economy. The specific manifestations of the transition to private property in agricultural land vary a great deal across communities which has significant ramifications for the nature of property rights and its implications. The key feature of this transition to private property rights is that it is an informal transition that is not backed up by the coercive power of the state. The jhum cultivation system was a labour-intensive method of cultivation based on an elaborate network of solidarity and reciprocity. The 'labour camps' created by the army and its various wings, such as the Border Roads Organisation, created a pool of labourers in the interior parts of the state.
