Question

Which form of agricultural practices is the clearing of forest?

Answer 1

Forest farming is the cultivation of high value crops under a forest canopy that is modified to provide shade levels and habitat that favour growth and enhance production level. Both timber and non timber crops can be managed on the same forested land, or non timber crops can be grown in forest where timber harvesting is not possible.

Complete answer:
Slash and burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest to create field for farming. The slash is then left to dry and then is burned resulting in a nutrient rich layer of ash which makes the soil fertile. After 3-5 years the plot's productivity decreases due to depletion of nutrients, causing the farmers to abandon the field and move over to new areas. It takes about 20 years for the plot to recover the replenished nutrients. In Bangladesh and India this practice is commonly known as jhum cultivation.
Slash and burn is a type of shifting cultivation in which farmers routinely move from cultivable area to another. This system of agriculture provides millions of people with food and timber and income. Slash and burn farmers plant a variety of crops instead of a monoculture and contribute to a higher biodiversity due to creating mosaic habitat.
Since the 1970s or so swiddle agriculture has been described as both a bad practice resulting in the progressive destruction of natural forest and an excellent practice as a refined method of forest preservation and guardianship.

Note:
It is the main cause of deforestation. The ashes increase soil fertility for a short period of time and hence farmers have to shift to another part of the forest. It destroys the biodiversity level by destroying the homeland of various animals and also destroys millions of animal and plant species. Due to this many species have been extinct and many more are one the verge of extinction.