Slash-and-burn

For the military strategy, seeScorched earth.

"Jhoom" redirects here. For the album by Ali Zafar, seeJhoom (album).

Slash-and-burn agricultureis a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in aforestorwoodlandto create afieldcalled aswidden.The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downedvegetation,or "slash", is then left to dry, usually right before the rainiest part of the year. Then, thebiomassis burned, resulting in a nutrient-rich layer of ash which makes thesoil fertile,as well as temporarily eliminatingweedandpest species.After about three to five years, the plot'sproductivitydecreases due to depletion of nutrients along with weed and pest invasion, causing the farmers to abandon the field and move 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.InBangladeshandIndia,the practice is known asjhumorjhoom.

Slash-and-burn agriculture inChiang Mai,Thailand

Slash-and-burn is a type ofshifting cultivation,anagriculturalsystem in which farmers routinely move from one cultivable area to another. A rough estimate is that 250 million people worldwide use slash-and-burn.Slash-and-burn causes temporarydeforestation.Ashes from the burnt trees help farmers by providing nutrients for the soil.In low density of human population this approach is very sustainable but the technique is notscalablefor large human populations.

A similar term isassarting,which is the clearing of forests, usually (but not always) for the purpose of agriculture. Assarting does not include burning.

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 theNeolithic Revolution,groups ofhunter-gatherersdomesticated various plants and animals, permitting them to settle down and practice agriculture, which provided more nutrition per hectare than hunting and gathering. Some groups could easily plant their crops in open fields along river valleys, but others had forests covering their land. Thus, since Neolithic times, slash-and-burn agriculture has been widely used to clear land to make it suitable for crops and livestock.

Large groups wandering in the woodlands was once a common form of society in Europeanprehistory.The extended family burned and cultivated their swidden plots, sowed one or more crops, and then proceeded on to the next plot.

Technique

Slash-and-burn agriculture inMaaninka,Finland, in the 1920s

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 claimusufructuary rights.In such a system there is typically no market in farmland, so land is not bought or sold on the open market and land rights are traditional.

In slash-and-burn agriculture, forests are typically cut months before a dry season. The "slash" is permitted to dry and then burned in the following dry season. The resulting ash fertilizes the soiland the burned field is then planted at the beginning of the next rainy season with crops such as rice, maize, cassava, or other staples. This work was once done using simple tools such asmachetes,axes,hoesandshovels.

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 creating mosaic habitats. The general ecosystem is not harmed in traditional slash-and-burn, aside from a small temporary patch.

This technique is most unsuitable for the production ofcash crops.A huge amount of land, or a low density of people, is required for slash-and-burn. When slash-and-burn is practiced in the same area too often, because the human population density has increased to an unsustainable level, the forest will eventually be destroyed.

Regionally

South Asia

Tribal groups in thenortheastern Indian statesofTripura,Arunachal Pradesh,Meghalaya,MizoramandNagalandand theBangladeshidistricts ofRangamati,Khagrachari,BandarbanandSylhetrefer to slash-and-burn agriculture aspodu,jhumorjhoomcultivation. The system involves clearing land, by fire or clear-felling, for economically important crops such asupland rice,vegetables or fruits. After a few cycles, the land's fertility declines and a new area is chosen.Jhumcultivation is most often practiced on the slopes of thickly-forested hills. Cultivators cut the treetops to allow sunlight to reach the land, burning the trees and grasses for fresh soil. Although it is believed that this helps fertilize the land, it can leave it vulnerable toerosion.Holes are made for the seeds of cropssuch assticky rice,maize, eggplant and cucumber. After consideringjhum's effects, the government ofMizoramhas introduced a policy to end the method in the state.

Americas

Some American civilizations, like the Maya, have used slash-and-burn cultivation since ancient times.American Indiansin the United Statesalso usedfire in agriculture and hunting.In the Amazon, many peoples such as theYanomami Indiansalso live off the slash and burn method due to the Amazon's poorsoil quality.

Northern Europe

A recently burned area at theTelkkämäki Heritage Farmin Finland, demonstrating the technique.

Slash-and-burn techniques were used in northeastern Sweden in agricultural systems. In Sweden, the practice is known assvedjebruk.

Slash-and-burn inSmåland,Sweden (1904)

Telkkämäki Nature ReserveinKaavi,Finland, is anopen-air museumwhere slash-and-burn agriculture is demonstrated. Farm visitors can see how people farmed when slash-and-burn was the norm in theNorthern Savonianregion of eastern Finland beginning in the 15th century. Areas of the reserve are burnt each year.

Svedjebruk

Svedjebrukis aSwedishandNorwegianterm forslash-and-burn agriculturederived from theOld Norsewordsviða,which means "to burn". This practice originated in Russia in the region ofNovgorodand was widespread in Finland and Eastern Sweden during the Medieval period. It spread to western Sweden in the 16th century when Finnish settlers were encouraged to migrate there by KingGustav Vasato help clear the dense forests. Later, when the Finns were persecuted by the local Swedes,svedjebrukfarming was spread by refugees to easternNorway,more specifically in the eastern part ofSolør,in the area bordering Sweden known asFinnskogen( "the Finnish woods" ).

The practice also spread toNew Swedenin North America. Reinforced by the use of fire in agriculture and hunting byAmerican Indians,it became an important part of pioneering in America.

Lemursindry deciduous forestsofMadagascarare threatened bydeforestationfor the creation of farmland and pasture.

Description of process

Svedjebrukinvolved stripping a ring of bark completely around the trunk ofconiferous treeslikepineorspruceor felling them, allowing them to dry, setting fire to the dried forest and growing crops on the fertile ash-covered soil. The resulting ash was highly fertile, but only for a short period. The clearing was initially planted toryeas soon as the ash had fully settled and sufficiently cooled. When the rain came, it packed the ash around the rye. The rye germinated and grew prolifically, with anywhere from 25 to 100 stalks (or straws), each with multiple grains.

Only two tools were required, the axe and the sickle. The axe cut the trees to start the cycle. When the rye had ripened, it was harvested with asickle,which could reach among the rocks and stumps where ascythewould have been ineffective.

In the second and third year the field would be sown withturnipsorcabbages.It then might be grazed for several years before being allowed to return to woodland.

Svedjebrukculture

Svedjebrukrequired felling new forest and burning a new area every year. It was necessary to allow the former fields to regrow with forest for 10–30 years before repeating the cycle. As a result, the dwellings were often many kilometers from the fields. Furthermore, since the process was man-power intensive, extended families tended to work together and live in compact communities.

Thesvedjebrukfarming approach required a large area. When forest was plentiful, the Finns were very prosperous. As population grew and restrictions were placed on the forest which could be burned, it became increasingly difficult. By 1710, during the conflict with Sweden, because of their suspect loyalties Norwegian authorities considered expelling them from the border area, but did not do so because it was judged they were too poor to survive if evicted.

Research

This type of agriculture is discouraged by many developmental or environmentalist organisations, with the main alternatives being promoted are switching to moreintensive,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.

Not allowing the slashed vegetation to burn completely and ploughing the resultant charcoal into the soil (slash-and-char) has been proposed as way to boost yields.

Promoters of a project from the early 2000s claimed that slash-and-burn cultivation could be reduced if farmers grew black pepper crops, turmeric, beans, corn, cacao, rambutan and citrus betweenIngatrees, which they termed 'Inga alley cropping'.

A method of improving the yields in a type of traditional assarting cultivation used to grow common beans in Central American called 'slash-and-cover', has been proposed, by additionally plantingleguminousshrubs to act as a fallow crop after the soil is exhausted and one is ready to clear a new patch of forest.

Gallery

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  Santa Cruz,Bolivia
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  Arunachal Pradesh,India

See also

• 2006 Southeast Asian haze
• 2013 Southeast Asian haze
• 2015 Southeast Asian haze
• 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires
• History of the forest in Central Europe
• Agricultural waste

General literature

• Conklin, H. C. (February 1961)."The Study of Shifting Cultivation"(PDF).Current Anthropology.2(1): 27–61.doi:10.1086/200160.JSTOR2739597.S2CID132297474.
• Nesholen, Birger (1994). "Svedjebrukerne",Østlandske Skogsområder,Den Norske Turistforening.
• Pyne, Stephen J.(1997).Vestal Fire: An Environmental History, Told Through Fire, of Europe and Europe's Encounter with the World.Seattle and London: University of Washington Press.ISBN0-295-97596-2.
• Sawyer, Birgit;Sawyer, Peter H.(1993).Medieval Scandinavia: from Conversion to Reformation, Circa 800–1500.University of Minnesota Press.ISBN0-8166-1739-2.
• Stagg, Frank Noel (1956).East Norway and Its Frontier.Allen & Unwin.

External links

• Karki, Sameer (2002).Community Involvement in and Management of Forest Fires in South East Asia(PDF)(Technical report). Project FireFight South East Asia.Archived(PDF)from the original on 22 October 2018.
• Video of slash-and-burnat theTelkkämäki Nature Reserve,Finland, in 2012
• Video of slash-and-burnin Sweden around 1930–32 (from the YouTube channel of theNordic Museum)