Defence
'Chena' is the name of shifting cultivation in which country?
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Answer: Option C — Sri Lanka
Detailed Solution
In Sri Lanka, shifting (slash and burn) cultivation is called "Chena" (or "hen" in Sinhala). It is practised mainly in the dry zone of the island, in the north-central, eastern and southern parts.
How chena cultivation works:
- Farmers clear a patch of scrub jungle or forest during the dry season, usually between July and September, and burn the dried vegetation.
- Crops are sown at the start of the north-east monsoon rains (around October), which supply most of the dry zone's rainfall.
- Typical crops include millets (such as kurakkan, or finger millet), maize, pulses, vegetables, pumpkins, chillies and sesame.
- After one to three years, when fertility declines, the plot is abandoned and allowed to return to scrub forest, and a new plot is cleared.
Importance in Sri Lanka:
- Chena has been practised for centuries and supported rural households in the dry zone, providing food and cash crops in areas without irrigation.
- Ancient Sri Lankan kingdoms in the dry zone also developed large irrigation tanks (reservoirs) for paddy cultivation, so chena was often combined with tank-irrigated rice farming.
Problems:
- Expanding chena cultivation has contributed to deforestation, soil erosion and loss of wildlife habitat, including conflicts with elephants.
- The government has tried to control chena through regulations and by encouraging settled farming under irrigation schemes such as the Mahaweli development programme.
Names of shifting cultivation in Asia:
- Ladang: Indonesia and Malaysia.
- Tamrai: Thailand.
- Ray: Vietnam.
- Caingin (kaingin): Philippines.
- Taungya (forestry system): Myanmar.
- Jhum: north-eastern India.
- Chena: Sri Lanka.
Elsewhere:
Milpa: Mexico and Central America; Roca: Brazil; Conuco: Venezuela; Masole: Central Africa.
Indian names:
Podu (Andhra Pradesh), Bewar (Madhya Pradesh), Kumari (Western Ghats), Kuruwa (Jharkhand), Valre (Rajasthan), Dipa (Andaman and Nicobar).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Thailand uses the name Tamrai.
- ✗Vietnam uses the name Ray.
- ✗The Philippines uses the name Caingin (kaingin).
Quick tip
Remember: Chena = Sri Lanka (dry zone); Ladang = Indonesia and Malaysia; Tamrai = Thailand; Ray = Vietnam; Caingin = Philippines.
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Agriculture in India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Agriculture in India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers agriculture in India: cropping seasons (kharif, rabi and zaid), major food and cash crops and their leading producer states, irrigation, the Green, White, Blue and other agricultural revolutions, and allied activities such as animal husbandry and fisheries. Questions usually ask which crop belongs to which season, which state is the largest producer of a crop, and which revolution relates to which product. For example, the White Revolution relates to milk and was led by Verghese Kurien, and the Blue Revolution relates to fisheries. Producer rankings can change from year to year, so check the latest data for those questions. Practise the agriculture in India questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.