Local Names of Shifting Cultivation Around the World

Shifting cultivation is a type or form of agricultural practice which was followed traditionally. This is a cultivation system in which an area of ground is being cleared and cut off of the vegetation and then it is cultivated for a few years and later it is left abandoned for a new area until the land’s fertility has been naturally restored, which will allow cultivation again.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the list of local names of shifting cultivation around the world which is being used around the world. Knowing all these names will ensure the students are adequately prepared for general knowledge exams. 

What are The Other Names of Shifting Cultivation?

At times, the practice of shifting cultivation is also known as Ray, Milpa, Roka, Chena, etc. As per the report drafted by the UN, there are approximately 250 million populations living in this world who lead their livelihood from the practice of the shifting cultivation and thereby the ecological consequences which are known as the aftereffects of such practice are quiet and often harmful. This cultivation is mainly prevalent in tropical regions. 

Now, we will check the list of local names of the shifting cultivation as used by other countries in the world. Shifting cultivation is also known as:

In Which Country is Milpa Agriculture Practiced? 

For the question of ‘Milpa agriculture in which country?’ the answer is - Milpa shifting cultivation is traditional farming that is successfully practiced in Mesoamerica, this is particularly in Mexico. In this type of agricultural practice, the 'three sisters,' namely the - maize, squash, and beans are planted on the land for two successive years, and after which the soil is allowed for eight years to lie fallow to recover the soil’s own fertility naturally.

What is The Other Name of Shifting Cultivation? 

Swidden agriculture is the other name for shifting cultivation. There are different names of shifting cultivation that are in use worldwide. This is a technique of rotational farming where the previous land is being cleared for cultivation (this is done normally by fire) and then the land is left to regenerate and inherit the best of itself after a few years. Governments all over the world have tried with many projects and awareness programs to eradicate this swidden agriculture.

There are a huge number of different farming practices which are joined together under the disparaging term called ‘slash and burn’, otherwise the practice is known as swidden or shifting cultivation.

Ladang Shifting Cultivation 

Shifting cultivation in Malaysia is known as Ladang. Ladang cultivation refers to the Shifting cultivation wherein the agricultural system in the land is being cultivated for a short period of time. Then in that manner, they are left to grow back and restore their natural vegetation, while the farmer moves to another area and cultivates in the new set of land.

Roca shifting cultivation

In Brazil, there emerged types of agricultural establishments, one of which is Roca. Roca is nothing but the shifting cultivation which was practiced in Brazil. 

Shifting Cultivation Names in Indian States

In India, this traditional method of Shifting cultivation is still in practice in many of our states. Irrespective of the revolting protests of the locals and the government, these practices continue to take place. 

Shifting cultivation in the Indian States are practiced in these states with their respective local names: 

As we have studied, shifting cultivation is a method of agriculture where the area of land is cleared off its vegetation and crops are cultivated for a period of time and then the land is abandoned. Thus, this abandoned land will get ample opportunity to restore its own fertility via a natural process. This will help the land to revert back to its normal and the natural vegetation gets regenerated via this process. It has both advantages and disadvantages which we will study in the following section:

Advantages of Shifting Cultivation

• Shifting cultivation helps the used land to get back all its lost nutrients and as long as there is no damage, this form of agriculture is counted as one of the most sustainable methods of agriculture. 

• The abandoned land can be easily recycled or regenerated and so it receives the seeds and nutrients from the nearing source of vegetation or through the environment’s natural process.

• Shift cultivation saves plenty of resources that will provide the nutrients because generally a small area is cleared up and the nutrients nearby will seek to restore the goodness of the land.  

• It helps to ensure high potentiality of productivity and good sustainability of agriculture

• In shift farming, it is very easy to grow crops after the process of restoration is completed.  

• Shifting cultivation helps to control the growth of weeds. 

• It also plays an important role in the process of pest control.

• Diseases of soil are also reduced significantly via this process of shifting mode of farming.

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Image: Slash and burn method

Disadvantages of Shifting Cultivation

• Shifting cultivation leads to deforestation as the soil fertility gets exhausted over time, and thus the farmers will move on and clear another small patch or an area of the forest in order to grow their crops. 

• Shifting cultivation will cause the soil to erode and will result in desertification.

• This will destroy the watersheds.

• Shift farming is a very uneconomical way of farming.

• This type of farming leads to the loss of biodiversity.

• The shifting mode of farming restricts the use of land and thus the shifting cultivation has been under a lot of threats which is based on the principle where it degrades the soil fertility and the general fertility of the forestlands in the areas of tropical landforms. 

How to Manage These Disadvantages? 

• Quality education should be imparted to the farmers, which will help them to understand the consequences of the shifting cultivation. 

• Agriculture type of forestry should be involved by growing the crops and trees at the same time which will enable the farmers to shelter the canopy of trees and will prevent the soil from eroding away. The crops are also benefited from the dead organic matter which is present in the soil. 

• Selective logging is also practiced. 

• Forest reserves are also protected in certain areas from the area of cultivation.

• Close monitoring will give an insight into the control in this method. 

Did You Know?

• In Britain, there is a ban on shifting cultivation because they believed this practice was harmful to the forest. They felt that the land which was used for the purpose of cultivation every few years was not able to grow trees for their railway timber. 

• Also, when a forest was burnt, there were other dangers of the flames getting spread and burning their valuable timber. Shifting cultivation also made it very hard for the government to calculate the taxes in Britain. Therefore, the government has decided to ban shifting cultivation. As a result of this, many of the communities were forcibly being displaced from their homes and sent to the forests. Some had to change their occupations and survive in these situations, while some resisted through the large and small rebellions. 

Although this is definitely not very good it helps the poor farmers for their bare minimum survival. The farmers who are too poor to afford the fertilizer or any farm machinery can go with this practice also by controlling any of the hazards faced through this. Initially, this practice of agriculture helped in minimizing soil erosion as most of the land is left uncultivated for a period of time. In India too there was a ban on shifting agriculture. The reason was as the trees were being cut down, and this led to deforestation. Shifting cultivation in India also lead to forest fires when the trees were being burnt. For all these reasons they have decided to ban the shifting cultivation in India.