Q- What is shifting cultivation? What did the European decided to ban it?
Answer- Shifting cultivation is a kind of cultivation in which people cultivate a piece of land only once then they moved to other land for cultivation. This method of cultivation is known as shifting cultivation. Its biggest demerit is that it leads to a large amount of deforestation as people burn or cut trees in forests to get clear land for cultivation.
European used the following measures to ban shifting cultivation:
1. They regarded this practice as harmful for forests.
2. They felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railways timber.
3. When a forest was burnt, there was the added danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber.
4. Shifting cultivation also made it harder for the governments to calculate taxes. Therefore, the government decided to ban the shifting cultivation.
5. They passed several laws to ban it.