Here is Everything You Need to Know About Shifting Cultivation

Farmers who practice Shifting cultivation cultivates the land for two or three seasons at a time. After that, they leave the field to grow vegetables naturally. Farmers then relocate to a new location. When the soil loses its fertility or the area becomes overtaken by weeds, they move out. When the earth is allowed to recover fertility, the time required for agriculture is typically shorter.

In India, shifting farming is still being used. These include Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Karnataka, which are all hilly regions in the northeast.. These include Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Karnataka, which are all hilly regions in the northeast.

What is the Method of Shifting Cultivation?

The humid tropics of Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America have long practiced this method of farming. Farmers in India would slash and burn the local plants during shifting cultivation. They then plant crops for two or three seasons in a row in the exposed, ash-fertilized soil.

Shifting Cultivation Characteristics

• If enough land is restored for a long time (10 to 20 years), it is ecologically viable.
• There shouldn't be an excessive amount of food demand or necessity.
• This technology is appropriate for harsh climatic conditions and delicate tropics environments.
• Because of this, finding viable alternatives to moving agriculture in India has only occasionally been successful.

Shifting Cultivation Process

1. Farmers decide where to plant each year.
2. The foliage that usually covers the land must be removed.
3. With the use of axes, which are advantageous economically, they cut the majority of the trees.
4. They gently burn the debris after that.
5. The ashes are incorporated into the soil by rain, which adds important nutrients.
6. The cleared area is known by various names, including Swidden, Ladang, milpa, Chena, and Kaingin.
7. They only farm the cleared ground for a short time, typically three seasons or less.
8. Farmers wait 10 to 25 years before planting on the former site.
9. After 10 to 20 years, they will go back to the land to rehabilitate it.
10. While the site is being evacuated, they can take care of any ground-level fruit plants.

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