In Madhya Pradesh, slash-and-burn (shifting) agriculture is known as:

In Madhya Pradesh, slash-and-burn agriculture, also called shifting cultivation, is known as Bewar or Dahiya. It is practised mainly by tribal communities such as the Baigas in the forests of the Mandla, Dindori and Balaghat districts.

In slash-and-burn agriculture, farmers clear a patch of forest by cutting down the trees and bushes, letting them dry, and then burning them. The ash adds nutrients to the soil. The farmers then grow crops such as millets, maize, pulses and vegetables on the cleared land for a few years. When the soil loses its fertility, they move to a new patch of forest and repeat the process, leaving the old patch to recover. This is why it is called shifting cultivation.

Shifting cultivation is an old form of farming suited to hilly and forested areas with low population. However, when the population grows and the fallow period becomes shorter, the forest does not get enough time to recover, which leads to deforestation, soil erosion and loss of biodiversity. The government encourages settled farming and other ways of earning a living in such areas.

Shifting cultivation has different names in different parts of India and the world:

• Jhum: North-Eastern states (Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland).
• Podu or Penda: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• Kuruwa: Jharkhand.
• Pama Dabi, Koman or Bringa: Odisha.
• Kumari: Western Ghats.
• Valre or Waltre: south-eastern Rajasthan.
• Khil: Himalayan belt.
• Bewar or Dahiya: Madhya Pradesh.
• Around the world, it is called Milpa (Mexico and Central America), Conuco (Venezuela), Roca (Brazil), Ladang (Indonesia and Malaysia), Masole (Central Africa) and Ray (Vietnam).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Jhum is the name used in the North-Eastern states.
• ✗Podu is the name used in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• ✗Kuruwa is the name used in Jharkhand.