Also known as swidden cultivation or shifting cultivation, slash-and-burn agriculture is a primitive agricultural system in which sections of forest are repeatedly cleared, cultivated, and allowed to regenerate over a period of many years. This kind of cultivation was used in Europe during the Neolithic period, and it is still widely used by indigenous peoples and landless peasants in the tropical rain forests of South America.

The plots used in slash-and-burn agriculture are small, typically 1–1.5 acres (0.4–0.6 hectare). They are also poly-cultural and polyvarietal; farmers plant more than one crop on them at a time, and each of these crops may be grown in several varieties. This helps control populations of agricultural pests. The cutting and burning involved in clearing the site releases nutrients which the cultivated crops can utilize, and the fallow period, which usually lasts at least as long as 15 years...