Shifting cultivation, with patch of recently cleared tropical rainforest being burned to make a crop field in Belize, Central America

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Stages of the cycle are clearing and burning of natural vegetation for fields, growth of crops for a few years, abandonment when problems such as weed competition, pest infestation or declining soil fertility appear, re-establishment of a volunteer plant community during a fallow phase, and re-clearing, usually in 2 to 3 decades. This form of agriculture is widely practiced in the tropics. In this location there are mature trees nearby to provide a seed source for regeneration when the milpa is abandoned.

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Size: 3060px × 1998px
Location: Cayo District, Belize
Photo credit: © Rosanne Tackaberry / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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