Slash-and-burn

**History and Technique of Slash-and-Burn Agriculture:**
– Slash-and-burn cultivation practiced globally
– Fire used by hunter-gatherers before agriculture
– Neolithic Revolution led to settling and agriculture
– European prehistory saw extended families cultivating swidden plots
– Fields owned by families until soil exhaustion
– New fields cleared after soil exhaustion
– Forests cut before dry season in slash-and-burn
– Ash from burning fertilizes soil for crops
– Simple tools like machetes used for farming

**Benefits and Drawbacks of Slash-and-Burn Agriculture:**
– Slash-and-burn provides food and income for millions
– Ecologically sustainable for thousands of years
– Suitable for poor-nutrient tropical soils
– Contributes to biodiversity with variety of crops
– Unsuitable for cash crops and high population density areas

**Regional Practices of Slash-and-Burn Agriculture:**
– South Asia: Tribal groups in India and Bangladesh practice slash-and-burn
– Americas: Maya and American Indians used slash-and-burn
– Northern Europe: Slash-and-burn used in northeastern Sweden
– Vulnerability to erosion in jhum areas
– Mizoram government aims to end jhum method

**Research and Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Agriculture:**
– Many organizations discourage slash-and-burn agriculture
– Alternatives include transitioning to more intensive farming methods or shifting to higher-paying industries
– Incorporating slash-and-char techniques to enhance yields
– Inga alley cropping between Inga trees to reduce slash-and-burn cultivation
– Slash-and-cover method involves planting leguminous shrubs after soil exhaustion to improve yields

**Additional Resources and Literature on Slash-and-Burn Agriculture:**
– H. C. Conklin’s study on shifting cultivation
– Birger Nesholen’s work on Svedjebrukerne in Norwegian forest areas
– Stephen J. Pyne’s book on the environmental history of Europe
– Birgit and Peter H. Sawyer’s book on Medieval Scandinavia
– Frank Noel Stagg’s book on East Norway and its frontier
– Encyclopaedia Britannica on slash-and-burn agriculture
– EcoLogic Development Fund’s resources on slash and burn
– Martin Skegg’s article on slash-and-burn agriculture in The Guardian