Question

Jhum cultivators plough the land and sow seeds. (True or False)

• A. True
• B. False

Answer 1

The correct option is B False

Answer: The correct answer is false.

• Instead of sowing and ploughing the land, the seeds were broadcast; in other words, the seeds were scattered on the field.
• To prepare land for cultivation, the soil was scratched using a hoe and an axe was used to cut down the trees.
• To carry out the cultivation, the vegetation on land was cleared by burning them.
• To allow the sunlight to reach the ground, cultivators had to cut the tree tops.
• From the firing that was used to clear the land, the ash was spread to fertilise the soil, this ash had potash.
• They moved to another field once the crop was ready and harvested.
• The field was left fallow for several years, once the field was used for cultivation.
• Some of the tribal people, by the nineteenth century, practiced shifting cultivation.
• Mostly in forest areas, shifting cultivation was practiced on small patches of land.
• In the forested and hilly tracts of Central India and North east India, shifting cultivators could be found.