Shifting Cultivation

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 21 April 2010

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Shifting cultivation is a kind of agrarian system, where land is cultivated on a temporary basis and the cultivated lands are shifted at a regular interval. The arrangement of shifting cultivation is primarily practiced by an individual or a family. Once the land becomes infertile, it is used for natural vegetation or sometimes domesticated for cyclical farming practice.

Shifting Cultivation: Types of Practice

After cultivation, some of the cultivators apply a practice of cut and burn during their farming cycle. Others apply a practice of land clearing without burning and the rest of the cultivators do not use any of these methods.

 

Shifting Cultivation: Effects

The land that is not cultivated is either used for natural vegetation or left fallow. Usually fruits, nut trees and orchids are planted in the fallow land because these trees have the natural ability to fix nitrogen that would add nutrients to the soil. Again by planting trees the top soil may be protected from getting eroded.

Shifting Cultivation: Drawbacks

In case land is cultivated for a long time, it is highly probable that the land may turn infertile. This is due to lack of organic matter and minerals rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. The land may turn acidic and lose its percolation capacity.

According to the view of some environmental scientists, the system of shifting cultivation is an unproductive and wasteful process of cultivation. They also opine that shifting cultivation is the prime cause for widespread environmental degradation and destruction of tropical forests in the world.

Stable Shifting Cultivation

In a stable shifting cultivation system, the fallow land is used for natural vegetation for a longer period of time, to regain the fertility of the soil. If the fallow land is kept uncultivated for a longer period, it will be more fertile in nature. During this period, the soil temperatures becomes lower and nutrients are extracted from the subsoil. This would also lead to the reduction in the soil acidity level, increase in the soil fauna and refill of the seed banks.


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