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 a multi-year study of Hin Lad Nai and neighboring Karen villages in northern Thailand found that the area where shifting cultivation is practiced absorbs significantly more carbon than it releases each year.

From National Geographic • Mar. 8, 2016

In Bāmra the Bhuiyas still practise shifting cultivation, for which they burn the forest growth from the hillsides and sow oilseeds in the fresh soil.

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