Question

What is shifting cultivation? What are its disadvantages?

Answer 1

Hint: In India, shifting cultivation is locally known as Jhum and has been blamed for environmental degradation. A report titled “Shifting Cultivation: Towards a Transformation Approach” set up by NITI Aayog in 2017 aimed to encourage well-being of the people residing in the Himalayan Regions of India.

Complete Answer: Shifting cultivation refers to the form of agricultural practice in which a particular land is cleared of its vegetation and is cultivated for a few years and then it is left out for the land to restore its fertility naturally, thus looking for new land to cultivate upon.
The process of shifting cultivation involves clearing out a piece followed by a few years of cultivation, for example, corn and sweet potatoes are cultivated in the first few years of the cycle, as the availability of nutrients is limited. Due to the lack of sufficient nutrients in the land, the cycle of recultivation is limited. When the land loses its capability of crop production it is then allowed to revert back to its natural vegetation. This gradual shifting of cultivation has been criticised and blamed for deforestation and environmental degradation. Clearing out of land and vegetation creates a drastic change in the environment. The disadvantages of the shifting cultivation are as follows;
- The primary disadvantage of shifting cultivation is cutting down of forest, which further leads to deforestation. Forest and trees play an important role in balancing the environment.
- Shifting cultivation also destroys the habitat of wild animals at large.
- If performed improperly, it can make a land infertile and the land might lose its minimum capability of vegetation and cultivation.
- Shifting cultivation is also known as slash and burn agriculture, whereby a farmer clears down vegetation by burning down forest, an easiest way to prepare a land for cultivation. According to research, the process of shifting cultivation causes a loss of 22 percent of the topsoil, a layer of fertile soil required for cultivation. This further leads to soil erosion and also affects the course of rivers flowing through that region.
Shifting Cultivation in India is practiced in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland.

Note: The government’s main focus is on the management of shifting cultivation by establishing agricultural development planning in northeast India, as most policymakers considered this type of cultivation as economically unviable and environmentally destructive.