What is meant by slash and burn?

Question

What is meant by slash and burn?

Answer 1

i did this today in global

the africans do it-its when someone cuts all the trees and brush down in an area and burns the remains and use it for fertelizer

Answer 2

Cutting down, or scoring vegitation (trees) so they can die and dry out. Then burnning the area in order to open it up for farming.

Answer 3

'Slash and burn' is an oversimplified term to describe Swidden agriculture (it is considered rude by anthropologists).  Swiddeners clear fields and wait until the perfect time to lite the field on fire, therefore producing adequate nutrients for crops to grow.  If the field is burned too soon not all of the material will burn (too wet), if you wait too long you run into other problems (ie: growing season length/ monsoons).  It is VERY stressful on the people who practice it; timing is everything.  Most swiddeners plant enough to share with those who did not have a successful harvest.  The idea of having no food when your neighbors do is a completely foreign one (as is being homeless).  These people take care of each other.

You'll also see a greater variety in plants.  Ie: you plant a garden and pick up squash, tomatoes... you get one packet of seeds.  They plant 20-30 different varieties of each, just in case there is a blight or disease affecting one variety or another.  You do not keep all of your eggs in one basket.  This type of agriculture is about simple defensive planning and survival (no going to the A&P if all your crops fail).

Often these fields don't look like fields, they are not cultivated in the manner we are accustomed to.  Extensive weeding is not done.  You would likely walk by one and think nothing of it except that there are few trees.

This is practiced in almost all areas, most well known in rainforest, as the earth has few nutrients (almost all nutrients in rainforest are in living organisms, and any released nutrients from decay are immediately used and don't stay in the ground long.)

And yes, this is still practiced today, though not as common as before.

Answer 4

Slash and burn refers to the cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields for agriculture or pasture for livestock, or for a variety of other purposes. It is sometimes part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock herding.

Answer 5

cut down the rainforest, burn it, get nutrients from the dead material

Answer 6

Cut down the trees in an area and transport for wood products, burn the remaining vegetation including the cut branches, etc. to re-inject nitrogen back into the ground, and clear the area for future plantings and growth.