question_answer

  What are the local names of shifting cultivation in South East Asia, Central America and Sri Lanka? Describe any three features of shifting cultivation.  

Answer:

                  Shifting cultivation or Swidden agriculture is a traditional agricultural practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America. It has different local names in different areas, viz.,

Country	Local Name
South-East Asia	Lading
Central America	Milpa
Africa	Chitemene or tavy
Sri Lanka	Chena

The main features of shifting cultivation are (i) Parts of 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) A mixture of crops is grown on such plots for a couple of years and then left fallow for 12 to 18 years for the forest to grow back.