How forest rules affected cultivation?

Answer 1

One of the major impacts of European colonialism was on the practice

of shifting cultivation or Sweden agriculture. This is a traditional

agricultural practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America. It

has many local names such as lading in Southeast Asia, milpa in Central

America, chitemene or tavy in Africa, and chena in Sri Lanka. In

India, dhya, penda, bewar, nevad, jhum, podu, khandad and kumri

are some of the local terms for Sweden agriculture.

In shifting cultivation, parts of the forest are cut and burnt in rotation.

Seeds are sown in the ashes after the first monsoon rains, and the crop is

harvested by October-November. Such plots are cultivated for a couple

of years and then left fallow for 12 to 18 years for the forest to grow

back. A mixture of crops is grown on these plots. In central India

and Africa it could be millets, in Brazil manioc, and in other parts of

Latin America maize and beans.

European foresters regarded this practice as harmful for the forests. They

felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not

grow trees for railway timber. When a forest was burnt, there was

the added danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber.

Shifting cultivation also made it harder for the government to calculate

taxes. Therefore, the government decided to ban shifting cultivation.

As a result, many communities were forcibly displaced from their

homes in the forests. Some had to change occupations, while some

resisted through large and small rebellions.