Question.
The future of shifting cultivation is bleak. Discuss.
(Class 12 geography, Fundamentals of Human Geography, Chapter-5. Primary Activities )
Answer.
Shifting agriculture is also called slash and burn agriculture or "Jhum" farming. Shifting agriculture is a type of primitive subsistence agriculture practiced mostly by tribal peoples living in equatorial climates in Africa, South and Central America, and Southeast Asia.
Under shifted cultivation:
Forests are usually cleared by fire, and plant ashes are mixed with soil to increase fertility.
The fields sown are very small and very primitive tools like sticks and hoes are used in farming.
Modern techniques of farming like hybrid seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and machines are not used in shifting cultivation.
The future of shifting farming is bleak as its Jhum cultivation is not a sustainable one. Shifting cultivation is not sustainable in the following manner:
After three to five years the soil loses its fertility and farmers have to clear another part of the forest for cultivation. Due to increasing population and loss of soil fertility, the shifting cycle [farmer returns to the first part of the land after a few years] becomes shorter and shorter over time. Due to this, there will be a shortage of both land and productivity in the future.
Shifting agriculture is not even fulfilling the requirement of the present population, then there is a big question about the sustainability of the shifting agriculture as the demand for food will increase with the growing population, and the productivity of the soil will decrease.
The future of shifting agriculture is bleak due to the above reasons.
The following are the other names of shifting cultivation to other parts of the world:
- It is called Jhuming in North-East India.
- It is called milpa in Central America and Mexico.
- It is called Ladang in Malaysia and Indonesia.
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