Question

Observe the picture carefully and answer the following questions:
a. Name the activity that has been shown in the picture.
b. What is the other name for it? How did British view this activity?

Answer 1

Hint:
- Slash and burn is an agricultural method that cuts and burns plants in woods to establish open fields where people can practice farming.
- It is a form of adjusting agriculture for farming.
- If a field has been reclaimed, it is used to grow crops in a few fields until the area's natural fertility is exhausted.

Complete answer:
- The image seen above is of cultivation changing.
- Swidden agriculture, or slash and burn practice, is also known as shifting farming. This activity was considered detrimental to the trees by British forests. Instead of grain production, they decided to use the field to plant trees for railway timber. They were worried that burning activity could be risky as their precious wood might also be burnt. It was impossible for the government to measure taxes while moving crops. Slash and burn is an agricultural method that cuts and burns plants in woods to establish open fields where people can practice farming. It is a form of adjusting agriculture for farming. If a field has been reclaimed, it is used to grow crops in a few fields until the area's natural fertility is exhausted.

Note:
- Slash and burn farming is most commonly done in areas where it has thick forests, open land for farming is not readily available.
- Usually, such farming is done within the grasslands and rainforests.
- For rural poor and indigenous people in the developed world, slash-and-burn agro-ecosystems are significant. Ecologically sound slash-and-burn farming is safe because fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation do not depend on outside inputs dependent on fossil oil.