Transcript Slide 1
Group Members Introduction This Community Forestry Case Study presents the results of a study of shifting cultivation carried out between 1987 and 1991 at the request of the Royal Government of Bhutan. The findings, conclusions and proposals of the study are given in the hope that they may be of use in regulating this practice through public policy measures in other countries where shifting cultivation on steep mountain slopes is becoming a problem due to growing population densities and a changing socioeconomic landscape. What is Shifting Cultivation…… Farming system where farmers move on from one place to another when the land becomes exhausted. The most common form is slash-and-burn agriculture: land is cleared by burning, so that crops can be grown. After a few years, soil fertility is reduced and the land is abandoned. A new area is cleared while the old land recovers its fertility. Slash-and-burn is practiced in many tropical forest areas, such as the Amazon region, where yams, cassava, and sweet potatoes can be grown. Example on shifting cultivation This system works well while population levels are low, but where there is overpopulation, the old land will be reused before soil fertility has been restored. A variation of this system, found in parts of Africa, is rotational bush fallowing that involves a more permanent settlement and crop rotation. The steps of Shifting cultivation Forest is cut and dried, in preparation for burning. Burning of the dried slash is hot and smoky, but an exciting event. With the use of a digging stick, corn or other crops will be planted among the charred trunks and logs. Corn grown in a swale that recently supported "hill-base" forest. Move Away! Picture on shifting cultivation… The Advantage/Disadvantage of Shifting Cultivation There are some couple of advantage and disadvantage of shifting cultivation... Advantages Disadvantages Easy to grow quickly Not long term Environmentally friendly because it is Not good for land that is used only for one organic farming type of crop Not enough food Not cost effective Troublesome to move around all the time Difficult to prosper because everybody has to work for food. Therefore, you may assume that there shifting cultivation is generally bad. However, in real life, this is not so. The point of view we are looking at it is from a normal person. A temiar may look at it otherwise because they do not see the need of prospering and cost-effectiveness. The problem of shifting cultivation The "problem" of shifting cultivation, which is accused of destroying forest resources, being uneconomical, leading to destruction of watersheds, erosion, desertification, etc., has already been the subject of two other case studies in this series . QUIZ TIME What are the steps of the shifting cultivation? What is the meaning of shifting cultivation? What are the advantages of the shifting cultivation? (name two) What are the disadvantages of shifting cultivation? (name three) Is Shifting Cultivation a good agriculture? Explain? References http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/V8380E/V8380E00.HTM#TopOfPa ge http://library.thinkquest.org/26634/forest/farming/shiftcult.htm http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/V8380E/V8380E02.htm http://www.geocities.com/hamchinpeng/advantage.htm Sparolta