What is primitive / shifting agriculture? describe the area charecterstics and its draw back in details.
Answers
Answer:
Definition :
Shifting agriculture is a system of cultivation in which a plot of land is cleared and cultivated for a short period of time, then abandoned and allowed to revert to producing its normal vegetation while the cultivator moves on to another plot.
Key Features of Shifting Cultivation :
Over a large part of North East India, chief characteristics of shifting cultivation, while having different local names are found to be the same. These are
- Rotation of fields
- Use of fire for clearing the land
- Keeping the land fallow for regeneration for a number of years
- Use of human labour as main input
- Non-employment of draught animals
- Non-use of the plough, but instead very crude and simple implements such as dibble sticks and scrapers, are used
- All the crops being grown are mixed together.
Furthermore, in most parts of Northeast India it is found that hunting and gathering is an important subsidiary occupation of the shifting cultivators.
Disadvantages :
The major disadvantage of Shifting Cultivation is that many trees in the forest are cut and this increases soil infertility and leads to soil erosion.