Practicing Success
Given below is a case study. Read the same and answer the question given after the case study carefully. (Q-3) |
Which of the following statement (S) is/are NOT true about shifting cultivation? |
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 |
None of the above |
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. |