Shifting Cultivation

Shifting Cultivation

Definition: shifting cultivation

shifting cultivation: An agricultural practice using the rotation of fields rather than of crops. Short cropping periods are followed by long fallows and fertility is maintained by the regeneration of vegetation. A form of cultivation practised in some tropical countries, where land is cultivated until it is exhausted and then left as the farmers move on to another area. In shifting cultivation, the practice of clearing vegetation by burning is widespread. One of the simplest forms involves burning off thick and dry secondary vegetation. Immediately after burning, a crop like maize is planted and matures before the secondary vegetation has recovered. Where fire clearance methods are used, the ash acts as a fertiliser. Farmers benefit from understanding and managing shifting cultivation for sustainable land use and productivity.