Definition of slash-and-burn 1 : characterized or developed by felling and burning trees to clear land especially for temporary agriculture 2 : extremely ruthless and unsparing slash-and-burn tactics slash-and-burn criticism
Full Answer
What are the negative effects of slash and burn?
What are the negative effects of slash and burn? There are many problems that result from this method of growing crops, including deforestation, a direct consequence of cutting down forests for crop land; loss of habitat and species; an increase in air pollution and the release of carbon into the atmosphere—which contributes to global climate ...
What is meant by slash and burn?
Slash and burn is a forestry technique that involves cutting down trees and shrubs on a large swath of land, allowing them to dry, and then setting a fire. It is a rapid and effective method for clearing a chunk of land, typically with the intention of converting it to agricultural use.
What are the benefits of slash and burn agriculture?
What are the benefits of slash and burn agriculture? When done properly, slash and burn agriculture provides communities with a source of food and income. Slash and burn allows people to farm in places where it usually is not possible because of dense vegetation, soil infertility, low soil nutrient content, uncontrollable pests, or other reasons.
What is the slash and burn technique?
The steps involved in slash and burn farming are:
- Slashing and burning the land: Farmland must first be cleared. ...
- Farming for up to two consecutive years: The cleared land is then cultivated normally for up to two years. ...
- Moving to another plot of land: While the previously farmed land is overgrowing, farmers move their location to another plot of land which has been slashed and burned more recently. ...
What is slash and burn?
Because the leached soil in many tropical regions, such as the Amazon, are nutritionally extremely poor, slash-and-burn is one of the only types of agriculture which can be practised in these areas. Slash-and-burn farmers typically plant a variety of crops, instead of a monoculture, and contribute to a higher biodiversity due to creating mosaic habitats. The general ecosystem is not harmed in traditional slash-and-burn, aside from a small temporary patch. Slash and burn agriculture may be thought of as a form of agroforestry.
How does slash and burn work?
The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegetation, or "slash", is then left to dry, usually right before the rainiest part of the year. Then, the biomass is burned, resulting in a nutrient-rich layer of ash which makes the soil fertile, as well as temporarily eliminating weed and pest species. After about three to five years, the plot's productivity decreases due to depletion of nutrients along with weed and pest invasion, causing the farmers to abandon the field and move over to a new area. The time it takes for a swidden to recover depends on the location and can be as little as five years to more than twenty years, after which the plot can be slashed and burned again, repeating the cycle. In Bangladesh and India, the practice is known as jhum or jhoom.
What was the use of slash and burn agriculture?
Thus, since Neolithic times, slash-and-burn agriculture has been widely used to clear land to make it suitable for crops and livestock.
What is slash and burn farming?
v. t. e. Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegetation, or "slash", is then left to dry, usually right before the rainiest part of the year.
How many people use slash and burn?
A rough estimate is that 200 million to 500 million people worldwide use slash-and-burn. Slash-and-burn causes temporary deforestation.
Where is Slash and Burn located?
Slash-and-burn in Småland, Sweden (1904) Telkkämäki Nature Reserve in Kaavi, Finland, is an open-air museum where slash-and-burn agriculture is demonstrated. Farm visitors can see how people farmed when slash-and-burn was the norm in the Northern Savonian region of eastern Finland beginning in the 15th century.
Why was fire used in the hunter?
Clearings created by the fire were made for many reasons, such as to provide new growth for game animals and to promote certain kinds of edible plants.
Where is slash and burn used?
Slash-and-burn agriculture is often used by tropical-forest root-crop farmers in various parts of the world and by dry-rice cultivators of the forested hill country of Southeast Asia. The ash provides some fertilization, and the plot is relatively free of weeds. After several years of cultivation, fertility declines and weeds increase.
Does slash and burn produce carbon dioxide?
Although traditional practices generally contributed few greenhouse gases because of their scale, modern slash-and-burn techniques are a significant source of carbon dioxide emissions, especially when used to initiate permanent deforestation. In Southeast Asia, slash-and- burn agriculture for oil palm cultivation has been a major source ...
Overview
Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegetation, or "slash", is then left to dry, usually right before the rainiest part of the year. Then, the biomass is burned, resulting in a nutrient-rich layer of ash which makes the soil fertile, as well as temporarily eliminating weed and pest species. After a…
History
Historically, slash-and-burn cultivation has been practiced throughout much of the world. Fire was already used by hunter-gatherers before the invention of agriculture, and still is in present times. Clearings created by the fire were made for many reasons, such as to provide new growth for game animals and to promote certain kinds of edible plants.
During the Neolithic Revolution, groups of hunter-gatherers domesticated various plants and anim…
Technique
Slash-and-burn fields are typically used and owned by a family until the soil is exhausted. At this point the ownership rights are abandoned, the family clears a new field, and trees and shrubs are permitted to grow on the former field. After a few decades, another family or clan may then use the land and claim usufructuary rights. In such a system there is typically no market in farmland, …
Benefits and drawbacks
This system of agriculture provides millions of people with food and income. It has been ecologically sustainable for thousands of years. Because the leached soil in many tropical regions, such as the Amazon, are nutritionally extremely poor, slash-and-burn is one of the only types of agriculture which can be practiced in these areas. Slash-and-burn farmers typically plant a variety of crops, instead of a monoculture, and contribute to a higher biodiversity due to creati…
Regionally
Tribal groups in the northeastern Indian states of Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and the Bangladeshi districts of Rangamati, Khagrachari, Bandarban and Sylhet refer to slash-and-burn agriculture as jhum or jhoom cultivation. The system involves clearing land, by fire or clear-felling, for economically-important crops such as upland rice, vegetables or fruits. After a …
Research
This type of agriculture is discouraged by many developmental or environmentalist organisations, with the main alternatives being promoted are switching to more intensive, permanent farming methods, or promoting a shift from farming to working in different, higher-paying industries altogether. Other organisations promote helping farmers achieve higher productivity by introducing new techniques.
Gallery
• Santa Cruz, Bolivia
• Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Arunachal Pradesh, India
See also
• 2006 Southeast Asian haze
• 2013 Southeast Asian haze
• 2015 Southeast Asian haze
• 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires