Why is shifting cultivation a sustainable form of agriculture

Is shifting cultivation is a sustainable form of agriculture?

As long as a minimum cycle of 7 to 10 years can be maintained (with up to 2 or 3 years cultivation and at least 5 years fallow), shifting cultivation per se is a sustainable form of land use that does not lead to deforestation unless land scarcity forces farmers to clear new land in forest areas.

Is shifting cultivation subsistence?

Shifting cultivation, a resource-based subsistence farming, is no longer relevant because of the large population and its growing demands. The system is destabilized by long cultivation and short fallow periods. There is a need to transform shifting cultivation to sustainable intensification.

Why is shifting cultivation an unsustainable practice?

The negative effects of abusing shifting cultivation are devastating and far-reaching in degrading the environment and ecology of the affected region. These negative effects can be identified in the form of localized deforestation, soil and nutrient loss, and invasion by weeds and other species.

What are the benefits of shifting cultivation?

AdvantagesIt helps used land to get back all lost nutrients and as long as no damage occurs therefore, this form of agriculture is one of the most sustainable methods.The land can be easily recycled or regenerated thus; it receives seeds and nutrients from the nearing vegetation or environment.More items…

Is shifting cultivation good or bad?

Now, shifting cultivation is bad because it causes carbon emission and thus contributes to climate change. Recent research has however also provides evidence to the contrary. 1. Shifting cultivation is not a major cause of deforestation.

What is the environmental impact of shifting cultivation?

The actual unsustainable shifting cultivation creates a lot of inverse consequences. The environmental effects include forest and land degradation and deforestation, followed by forest product impoverishment, soil erosion and downstream effects.

Why is shifting cultivation not ecofriendly explain any four reasons?

After the soil loses its fertility, the land is abandoned and the cultivator moves to a new plot. Shifting cultivation is also known as ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. Deforestation, losing fertility of land and soil erosion are the disadvantages of shifting cultivation.

What is shifting cultivation very short answer?

Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot.

How does shifting enhance the agricultural production?

Shifting cultivation is a mode of farming long followed in the humid tropics of Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. In the practice of “slash and burn”, farmers would cut the native vegetation and burn it, then plant crops in the exposed, ash-fertilized soil for two or three seasons in succession.

What is shifting cultivation what are its advantages class 8 short answer?

Answer: Shifting cultivation is also known as Slash-and-burn cultivation. It is a type of farming activity which involves clearing of a land plot by cutting down trees and burning them. The ashes are then mixed with the soil and crops are grown. After the land has lost its fertility, it is abandoned.

Where does shifting cultivation occur?

It occurs in areas of the Amazon rainforest, Central and West Africa and Indonesia.

What happens when the soil is exhausted?

When the soil’s fertility is exhausted, the tribe moves on and clears another small area of forest. The original area is regenerated, as it receives nutrients and seeds from surrounding vegetation. As no lasting damage occurs, this method of agriculture is sustainable.

Why is shifting cultivation no longer relevant?

Shifting cultivation, a resource-based subsistence farming, is no longer relevant because of the large population and its growing demands. The system is destabilized by long cultivation and short fallow periods. There is a need to transform shifting cultivation to sustainable intensification.

Where did shifting cultivation originate?

Shifting cultivation is a mode of farming long followed in the humid tropics of Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. In the practice of “slash and burn”, farmers would cut the native vegetation and burn it, then plant crops in the exposed, ash-fertilized soil for two or three seasons in succession.

What is the purpose of tillage?

Cultivation or tillage is usually defined as the mechanical manipulation of the soil aimed at improving conditions affecting crop production. Three principal aims are generally attributed to tillage: control of weeds; incorporation of organic matter into the soil; and improvement of soil structure.

What are the topographic preferences of slash and burn farmers?

Slash-and-burn farmers have topographic preferences. Long fallow farmers often prefer gently sloping land as this facilitates the burn. They avoid slopes that are too steep as this increases the risk of soil erosion. Yet their choice is limited by the type of terrain available. In other parts of the tropics, farmers prefer the plateaus and avoid cropping even on the gentle slopes. Valleys fringes, although difficult to access and waterlogged during the rainy season, are under greater pressure from farmers for dry season cropping of high-value market crops. In contrast, riverine forests and swamps are avoided and therefore can remain undisturbed.

How much does topsoil weigh?

In a typical small field of 1 hectare, the topsoil to a depth of only 30 cm weighs no less than 4000 tons.

What is soil management?

Proper soil management in agriculture consists of a series of practices that include cultivation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation, drainage, and erosion control, The more efficiently these practices are carried out and optimized, the more productive and sustainable will agriculture become .

Do farmers prefer the plateaus?

In other parts of the tropics, farmers prefer the plateaus and avoid cropping even on the gentle slopes. Valleys fringes, although difficult to access and waterlogged during the rainy season, are under greater pressure from farmers for dry season cropping of high-value market crops.

What is shifting cultivation?

Conversion of natural ecosystems to agroecosystems and secondary forests creates landscapes that maintain biodiversity to varying degrees. “Shifting cultivation” as practiced by indigenous peoples and by traditional nonindigenous residents (caboclos) in Amazonian forests maintains a substantial part of the original biodiversity. This contrasts with the effect of the vast expanses of cattle pasture that have replaced this, either directly or following a phase of use in pioneer agriculture by small farmers who have recently arrived from other places.

What is remote sensing in agriculture?

Remote sensing allows identification and measurement of key socioeconomic and ecological characteristics of land use systems. In the Guinea Highlands, Gilruth and Hutchinson ( 1990) have been able to discriminate, on the basis of remote sensing techniques, between permanent agriculture (in the form of home gardens) and shifting cultivation. The spatial distribution of shifting cultivation areas can also be mapped from fine to medium resolution satellite data. Guyer and Lambin (1993) succeeded in discriminating and quantifying the total area and proportion of tractor-cleared and hand-cleared fields in a region of Nigeria by using several shape criteria derived from multispectral SPOT data. These authors also computed the crop-fallow cycle and the importance of the land reserve using a remote sensing-based land-cover map.

What caused the forest fires in Southeast Asia and South America?

The fires were exacerbated by the dry, coarse, woody debris left after logging operations and the very dry climatic conditions caused by the El Niño phenomenon. The area of forest consumed by fires in 1997 and 1998 has been estimated at more than 20 million ha (Cochrane 2003). Extensive fires in tropical moist forests have been previously associated with the El Niño phenomenon, as in 1982, but the underlying causes are clearance of forest to establish plantations of oil palm, pulpwood, and rice, and, in South America, cattle pastures and shifting cultivation.

Why is shifting cultivation important?

This is very essential for the fertility of the land.

How does shifting cultivation affect the soil?

Shifting cultivation causes a high national waste as it converts the green land into a barren land. The land takes many years to replenish just at the cost of providing yield for 2 to 3 years.

What are the crops that cultivators produce?

They produce large varieties of crops from the same field for themselves only. Crops like food gains, vegetables, paddy, beans, millets etc. are generally grown.

Why is shifting agriculture declining?

Due to heavy population, the land provided for shifting agriculture is declining. The burden on existing land available for such kind of cultivation increases which results in the loss of more nutrients from the soil without replenishing it. Large scale of deforestation increases global warming also. It is uneconomical.

What is the name of the cleared land that is now perfect for cultivation?

This cleared land which is now perfect for cultivation is called Swidden and for the next two to three years fit for the crop-production.

Why should farmers be given education?

Farmers should be given education so that they can understand the harmful effects of shifting cultivation. Afforestation should be stated again to replenish the large abandoned are of land. Close monitoring of the land should be done to keep a check on the land under such cultivation.

How does organic farming help the environment?

It saves a wide range of resources as only a small plot is used for such cultivation. This method is environmental friendly as it is organic. It reduces the environmental degradation . Soil borne diseases also decreases by using this method. It reduces the use of pest control medicine.

What is shifting agriculture?

Shifting agriculture, system of cultivation that preserves soil fertility by plot (field) rotation, as distinct from crop rotation. In shifting agriculture a plot of land is cleared and cultivated for a short period of time; then it is abandoned and allowed to revert to its natural vegetation . Shifting agriculture, system …

What is the inefficient system of shifting cultivation?

…on the inefficient system of shifting cultivation, in which land is temporarily cultivated with simple implements until its fertility decreases and then abandoned for a time to allow the soil to regenerate.

What happens when you shift land?

In shifting agriculture a plot of land is cleared and cultivatedfor a short period of time ; then it is abandoned and allowed to revert to its natural vegetation while the cultivatormoves on to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is overrun by weeds.

When is the period of cultivation terminated?

The period of cultivation is usually terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is overrun by weeds. The length of time that a field is cultivated is usually shorter than the period over which the land is allowed to regenerate by lying fallow. One land-clearing system of shifting agriculture is …

Why is shift farming important?

Shift farming saves a wide range of resources and provides nutrients because a small area is usually cleared and the burned vegetation offers many nutrients. It helps to ensure more productivity and sustainability of agriculture. In shift farming, it is easy to grow crops after the process of slash and burn.

What are the disadvantages of shifting cultivation?

Disadvantages of shifting cultivation. It can easily lead to deforestation because when soil fertility is exhausted, farmers move on and clear another small area of the for est. Shift farming can easily cause soil erosion and desertification. It destroys water sheds.

How does shifting farming reduce bone disease?

Soil bone diseases is also reduced significantly through shifting mode of farming. Shifting cultivation is a one lands clearing mode of farming or a slash and burn strategy. It leaves only stump and large trees in the farming area after the standing vegetation has been cut down and burned. The ashes enrich soil.

Why is farming considered an adaptation to tropical soil conditions?

This is because it would be highly detrimental to the fertility of the land.

What is shift farming?

In shift farming, it is easy to grow crops after the process of slash and burn. This is why shifting agriculture is also popularly known as slash-and-burn farming. It is an environmentally friendly mode of farming as it is organic. Shift cultivation is a mode or form of weed control. It also plays a crucial role in pest control.

Why is agriculture important?

Advantages. It helps used land to get back all lost nutrients and as long as no damage occurs therefore , this form of agriculture is one of the most sustainable methods. The land can be easily recycled or regenerated thus; it receives seeds and nutrients from the nearing vegetation or environment.

Why is shift farming uneconomical?

Shift farming is uneconomical. It easily leads to loss of biodiversity. Water pollution in coastal areas easily occur because of raw sewage and oil residue. Shifting mode of farming restricts the intensity of land use.

Overview

Cultivation

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In Europe

Comparison With Other Ecological Phenomena