Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Geography

Chapter

Fundamentals of Human Geography: Human Geography-Nature and Scope

Question:

Given below is a case study. Read the same and answer the question given after the case study carefully. (Q-3)
Benda lives in the wilds of the Abujh Maad area of central India. His village consists of three huts deep in the wilds. Not even birds or stray dogs that usually crowd villages can be seen in these areas. Wearing a small loin cloth and armed with his axe he slowly surveys the penda (forest) where his tribe practices a primitive form of agriculture called shifting cultivation. Benda and his friends burn small patches of forest to clear them for cultivation. The ash is used for making the soil fertile. Benda is happy that the Mahua trees around him are in bloom. How lucky I am to be a part of this beautiful universe, he thinks as he looks up to see the Mahua, Palash and Sal trees that have sheltered him since childhood. Crossing the penda in a gliding motion, Benda makes his way to a stream. As he bends down to scoop up a palmful of water, he remembers to thank Loi-Lugi, the spirit of the forest for allowing him to quench his thirst. Moving on with his friends, Benda chews on succulent leaves and roots. The boys have been trying to collect Gajjhara and Kuchla, from the forest. These are special plants that Benda and his people use. He hopes the spirits of the forest will be kind and lead him to these herbs. These are needed to barter in the madhai or tribal fair coming up the next full moon. He closes his eyes and tries hard to recall what the elders had taught him about these herbs and the places they are found in. He wishes he had listened more carefully. Suddenly there is a rustling of leaves. Benda and his friends know it is the outsiders who have come searching for them in the wilds. In a single fluid motion Benda and his friends disappear behind the thick canopy of trees and become one with the spirit of the forest.

Which of the following statement (S) is/are NOT true about shifting cultivation?

Options:

The vegetation is usually cleared by fire, and the ashes add to the fertility of the soil.

Shifting Cultivation is also called Slash and Burn Cultivation.

In parts of Assam this type of cultivation is called Jhum Cultivation.

None of the above

Correct Answer:

None of the above

Explanation:

All options are correct in respect of Shifting Cultivation.

Primitive subsistence agriculture or shifting cultivation is widely practised by many tribes in the tropics, especially in Africa, south and central America and south east Asia. The vegetation is usually cleared by fire, and the ashes add to the fertility of the soil (1). Shifting cultivation is thus, also called slash and burn agriculture (2). The cultivated patches are very small and cultivation is done with very primitive tools such as sticks and hoes. After sometime (3 to 5 years) the soil looses its fertility and the farmer shifts to another parts and clears other patch of the forest for cultivation. The farmer may return to the earlier patch after sometime. One of the major problems of shifting cultivation is that the cycle of jhum becomes less and less due to loss of fertility in different parcels. It is prevalent in tropical region in different names, e.g. Jhuming in North eastern states of India (3), Milpa in central America and Mexico and Ladang in Indonesia and Malaysia.