shifting cultivation

British  

noun

1. a land-use system, esp in tropical Africa, in which a tract of land is cultivated until its fertility diminishes, when it is abandoned until this is restored naturally

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Example Sentences

This marks a break from the traditional practice of shifting cultivation, which involves clearing a new patch of forest each year -- fuelling conflicts in a region facing rapid population growth.

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

These Adivasi communities lived by shifting cultivation of millets and other subsistence crops, as well as rice cultivation, in forested mountains of eastern India.

From Scientific American • Jan. 5, 2023

The controversy around shifting cultivation has recently been heating up because of a global campaign aimed at slowing climate change by keeping carbon locked up in forests.

From National Geographic • Mar. 8, 2016

But “that’s very different,” Cairns says, “from the sustainable, rotational shifting cultivation practices of indigenous peoples.”

From National Geographic • Mar. 8, 2016

The Baigas formerly practised only shifting cultivation, burning down patches of jungle and sowing seed on the ground fertilised by the ashes after the breaking of the rains.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)