Question

Jhoom farming is done in an area like
a. Arunachal Pradesh
b. Meghalaya
c. Mizoram
d. All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Jhoom farming is the oldest method of the agriculture system. It is referred to as slash or shifting and burns cultivation. It is done in areas with thick forest. The forests are cut down and then burned to produce ash to make the soil fertile.

Complete answer:
The slash-and-burn agriculture or fire-fallow are also known as the jhum or Jhoom farming in the north-eastern part of India like Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal, Podu in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and some part of the southern part of India. This system involved the cutting and burning of the plants and weeds found in the forest to create the plot or field for the cultivation. This field is known as swidden.

The first step in the practice includes the cutting of the trees and plants and then the downed vegetation and slash are left to dry, mostly after the rainfall. The resultant biomass then finally burned out and the generated nutrient-rich ash makes the soil more fertile. This also helps in eliminating weed and pest species. After the long use of the field decreases productivity due to the depletion of the nutrients. The farmer left the field to recover and moved on to the new areas. The cycle is repeated after a few years; the field is slashed and burned out.

Hence, the correct answer is option (D).

Note: The Jhoom farming or slash-and-burn is a part of shifting cultivation in which the farmer habitually moves from one cultivable area to other cultivable areas. This method is proposed as alternative agriculture methods because it causes less environmental degradation.