Question

What are the 3 features of shifting cultivation ?

Answer 1

MAIN FEATURES 

The following characteristics could be describe/explained.
1  Clearings made in the rainforest by cutting and firing trees (slash and Burn)
2 Largest trees often left because they are difficult to move and can provide a source of food in the form of fruit.
3.  Ash is scattered after trees have been burned to fertilise the ground.
4. Little fertiliser is added apart from the ash, so the nutrient levels drop quickly leading to the cultivators abandoning the plot and finding a new one after 7-10 years.

5.Labour intensive little use of machines (some have chain saws).  Crops tend to be planted using digging sticks.
6.  Crops planting between remaining tree trunks which decompose slowly adding extra nutrients into the soil.
7.When the clearing is abandoned it is left for many years, allowing the vegetation to recolonise.
8.With a low population density this form of agriculture is sustainable.

hope it will  help

Answer 2

(i) parts of the forest are cut and burnt in rotation.
(ii)seeds are sown in the ashes after the first monsoon rains and the crop is harvested by October-November.
(iii)such plots are calculated for a couple of years or till the time the soil retains its fertility and then abandoned or left fallow.