Shifting Cultivation: A Cautionary Note

Shifting cultivation is a long established agricultural practice that continues to be practiced less each decade. Nevertheless, it remains important for those who sustain themselves from such food production systems, and as a viable means of integrating some modern concerns. Where populations are not rising substantially and no alternative agricultural systems have been proven, these systems continue to offer a degree of national security from further urban immigration as well as watershed and forest management and as carbon sinks. As shifting cultivation is practiced in highland regions, and the majority of such cultivators and highlands are in the Asian region, the subject remains of historical and current importance to Asia. This paper argues that respect for the cultivators, their system and the environment should act as a caution to those engaged in development that might impact on shifting cultivation.