Where in asia is shifting agriculture practiced and why?
Shifting agriculture is practiced in Bastar district in Madhya Pardesh state of India.I do not know of any other place,elsewhere. Depending upon the food requirement of a moving family or groups of families,first they go to a verdant patch of forest (all of them live within the forest),clear all the trees & plants,& start cultivation of culturable varieties suitable for that place.They take 3 crops from that place & before leaving for another such virgin location,they plant all the trees that were found in that patch, which they bring their saplings from other parts of the forest.Once all the small plants have taken root, they move on to another place and repeat the same.The plants take 5 to 8 years to get fully grown & by that time, the dead bodies of animals,leaves,branches,trees,fecal matter of animals – all add up the required nutrients needed for agriculture.
