| slash and burn culture A traditional farming system that has been used by generations of farmers in tropical forests and the savannah of north and east Africa. It is known to be an ecologically sound form of cultivation, and because the soil is poor in tropical rain forests it is a sustainable method of farming. It is still practised today, primarily in the developing countries. Small areas of bush or forests are cleared and the smaller trees burned. This unlocks the nutrients in the vegetation and gives the soil fertilizer that is easily taken up by plants. A few years later the soil is degraded and the farmer moves on to do the same at another site. The original ground is left fallow for anything up to 20 years so that the forest can regenerate. With the growth in population and in the subsequent need for more farming land to produce food, the method is increasingly being used today to clear large areas of tropical forests for cattle ranching, and in most cases the ground is not left fallow for long enough and, with modern mechanized farming systems, not enough tree stumps or suitable habitats for plant life are left to start the regeneration process | 刀耕火种文化 (:在热带北部和东部非洲的热带草原生活的世代农民使用的传统的耕作系统。这是一个被认可的生态良好的耕作方式，而且由于热带森林的土壤贫瘠，这更是一个农业可持续的方法。这在今天仍然实行，主要是在发展中国家。小部分的森林的灌木被清除，较小的树木被烧毁。解锁植被的养分，给土壤肥料，很容易被植物吸收。几年后，土壤退化，农民又移到另一地点做同样的事。原来的地面而任由荒废任何东西长达20年，可使森林再生。随着人口增长，随后需要更多耕地生产粮食，该方法是目前越来越多地被用来清除大面积的热带森林，用于放牧，在大多数情况下，再也没有留下土地用于足够长时间的休耕及现代机械化耕作系统，没有足够的树桩植物或适宜栖息地留下来启动再生过程。) |
