Characteristics Of Shifting Cultivation
Shifting cultivation, also known as slash-and-burn agriculture or swidden agriculture, is a traditional farming system that involves clearing land, burning vegetation, and cultivating crops for a few years before moving on to a new plot. The characteristics of shifting cultivation include:
- People that practise shifting cultivation, cultivate crops to feed themselves.
- People that practise shifting cultivation, cultivate a few cash crops in addition to annual crops like maize and millet, and cereal.
- Due to their limited plots, people who practise shifting cultivation utilize family labour.
- With no advancement and minimal care, people who practise shifting cultivation are dependent on nature and physical elements.
- By being abandoned the land by the people who practise shifting cultivation, the land becomes fertile.
- In shifting cultivation, once the fertility of land or soil is lost then people start to relocate from one area to another.
- Shifting cultivators can be found where there are few people.
- Shifting cultivators facilitate travel through shared ownership.
What is Shifting Cultivation? What are its Disadvantages?
Around the world, shifting cultivation has become a more popular farming technique, particularly in tropical regions. Because it involves growing crops on the ground that has been cleared of vegetation and given some time to rest before being utilized again, it is successful in many locations.