The primary disadvantage of shifting cultivation, also called slash and burn or swidden agriculture, is the destruction of large areas of land, primarily crop fields and tracts of forest. When performed improperly, slash and burn can make once-fertile lands unable to support the new growth of crops and plants. Slash and burn may cause environmental and economic consequences by reducing the growth potential for crops in certain areas, which limits the variety and quantity of agricultural goods farmers can produce.
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is overrun by weeds. The length of time that a field is cultivated is usually shorter than the period over which the land is allowed to regenerate by lying fallow.
The land warms up and cools down more quickly than water, which is why general climates change more than water temperatures. around the world. The land has a higher heat capacity.
