Dear all, the exact problem is the over cultivation and deforesting by corporations not the need of some tribes to find food. Just remember the know how of native tribes how to culture their living space with a lot of respect and careful treatment of their resources.

In fact there are a lot of pollution in air so this should be take care of and should be considered in any project or thinking

Agro -forestry practices allow growth and interactions among tree,crop live stock systems on a land area to help achieving sustainable management systems.This cultivation/farming practice as a multicrop system helps growth of trees and crop while maintaining the fertility of soil achieving efficient nutrient cycling.The diversification help better land output,.

There is an old saying "To gain something, you have to loose something or you have to pay for it". Same thing applies here also.

On one side, shifting cultivation cause deforestation but on the other hand it is prime food source for tribal people .

Also farming helps in maintaining fertility of land so it is also one of its advantage.

Regards,

Nitish

Shifting cultivation can promote good environmental outcomes (including increases in forest cover) or bad outcomes; a lot of which is dependent on local institutions and the broader political economy in which its operates. I think the problem (since colonial) times, is that shifting cultivation has been treated (without empirical) as a primitive, environmental destructive practice. It is a simplistic homogeneous perspective that should be disregard - more nuanced locality based studies are needed in order the implications of different shifting cultivation farming regimes.

The shifting cultivation could have adverse concequences on the environment and sustainable development in a given area. Especially in the forest or the people cleared in the middle permance for agriculture on BURNS. this has consequences on the microbiological life in the soil and causes important losses in the chain of production and conservation laa animal or vegetable species in the region.

Though shifting cultivation is necessary for crop development, it also leads to deforestation. With time the soil fertility decreases as a result of extensive farming activities.

Most of our shifting cultivators have been resettled and education is provided for children. Some of the adults go through a special course and have 'graduated'. By caring for them, the nation progresses. They must not be left behind.

@Miranda, I respect your opinion.

But, tribes are our cultural heritage. If we are to educate them, then we have to be careful. Educating them should never mean to modernise them. tribal people and their culture is in harmony with mother nature and this should be stay intact.

@Patrick sir, I agree with you. But, tribals should not be deprived of their customs because of some social evils.

Dear all, the exact problem is the over cultivation and deforesting by corporations not the need of some tribes to find food. Just remember the know how of native tribes how to culture their living space with a lot of respect and careful treatment of their resources.

Shifting cultivation has been a practice in many parts of the world with minimal environmental damage for a long period. I believe, it is becoming an concern due to rapid increase in population. Farmers tend to have SHORTER fallow periods (< 5 years as opposed to 5-15 years in the good old days), which lead to crop yield loss, which leads to more land being cleared for agriculture. Inputs used by shifting cultivators are also of poor quality.

I believe, the practice of shifting cultivation, which operated sustainably, is becoming more of an unsustainable practice due to increasing population and demand for food. I also believe land grabs executed by multinational corporations and outsourcing food production by developed countries also contribute to deforestation.

So we can infer that shifting cultivation as a primitive tribal practice is a environment friendly practice but when new technology get associated with it, the scenario completely changed. And friends converted into foes.

@Darasingh, I understand your view point. But tribes must have a choice. Just like some folks had a choice if they wished ti live in vast cold Alaska or they wish to leave it. It's really up to them ,and either way, we respect their wish :)

Thanks for this question.

I believe there are other farming practices that if properly followed will allow for sustainable use of land. Aquaponics is one such practice..

@John, you are right in a way.. But, tribal rights and our primitive heritage is also a matter of concern.

@Aria, Thanks for the informative paper. :-)

If managed properly, it is very practice for rejuvenate forests. And also a life line for tribes.

@Vijay, you may be right,if managed properly, but who is controlling these practices? The daily news don´t show these controls.

Shifting cultivation is not a deforestation practice rather a farming system which allows natural replenishment of soil nutrients. Its only problems is if their is limited availability of land due to the population growth and or other development that limits land resources. In the case of land unavailability, mixed farming is a good alternative of shifting cultivation

Conservation and Shifting Cultivation is not really my field of research, and therefore I don't know much. However, I'm working on a socio-legal research project that has a small part dealing with this aspect.

Can anyone please refer me some research papers to read so that I can know more on how shifting cultivation is a means for regeneration and conservation?