Problems and Prospects For Sustainable Agricultural Systems in The Humid Tropics

Applied Geography (1987), 7, 153-174
Problems and prospects for sustainable agricultural

systems in the humid tropics
Clive A. Charlton
Department of Geographical Sciences, Plymouth Polytechnic, Drake Circus,

Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
Abstract
Rising pressures of population and resource use in the humid tropics make the
establishment and maintenance of more productive yet sustainable agricultural
systems ever more necessary. This is particularly so for the small-scale farmers who
form the majority of the poor population in many countries. A range of agri-
cultural practices that can improve output on a sustained basis are already well
recognized. These include more effective fallow-management, fertilization and
manuring, improving tillage practices, intercropping and agroforestry.
While the scientific community has achieved much in the humid tropics, the
potential contribution of indigenous cultivators is increasingly recognized and
progress will demand their integration into the research and development process.
The search for sustainable production must confront not only many ecological
constraints but also many of an economic, social and political character. The
wider development process discriminates against the strengthening of sustainable
agriculture and tends to generate more exploitative forms of production. This is
evident, for instance, with the spread of poor, inexperienced farmers into humid
tropical colonization zones. Effective diffusion of ecologically sound agriculture
in the humid tropics requires the inclusion of a full socioeconomic perspective as
part of an interdisciplinary approach to this crucial problem of land management.
Introduction
Although the process of world development has brought relative prosperity and
security to favoured groups and locations in the humid tropics, the general socio-
economic and environmental conditions of the zone are a matter of increasing
concern. As elsewhere in the tropics, a central fear is that large areas will be unable to
feed their populations given current growth rates and levels of production (Barney
1980; Plucknett and Smith 1982). A recent FAO report (1984) considers that 64
countries, many in the humid tropics, will be in a ‘critical’ state by the year 2000
unless population growth is controlled and the ‘levels of farming are raised’. Yet
increased production is sought from a resource base that is recognized as being both
limited in its inherent potential and vulnerable to deterioration.
The environmental consequences of the expansion and intensification of agri-
culture in the humid tropics have been very well publicized, particularly the destruc-
tion and impoverishment of the rainforest biome (Gomez-Pompa et al. 1972;
Goodland and Irwin 1975; Denevan 1980b; Caufield 1982; Plumwood and Routley
1982; Myers 1983, 1984; Secrett 1985). While there are still many who maintain a
strong faith in the possibility of progress through modernization and technical
change in agriculture (Hopper 1981; Sanchez et al. 1982; Brady 1985), other
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154 Sustainable agricultural system in the humid tropics
observers have been more pessimistic about the capacity of the humid tropics to
withstand higher levels of exploitation (Meggars 1971; Goodland 1980). Never-
theless, the central task must be the identification and ditfusion of sustainable
tropical agriculture (Janzen 1973; Tosi and Voertman 1975; Greenland 1975; Unesco
1978; Altieri et a/. 1984).
While the significance in the humid tropics of wet-rice farming, commercial
plantations, managed forestry, livestock farming and other systems is fully
recognized (Andreae 1980; Webster and Wilson 1980; Ruthenberg 1981), the follow-
ing discussion focuses on the prospects for sustaining and improving the output of
small-scale farmers. This group, practising an enormous diversity of rotational and
permanent cropping systems, remain of fundamental importance. They are
numerically dominant in the majority of humid tropical countries and are a large part
of the world’s poor, while remaining crucial suppliers of food. Small-scale farmers
produce nearly all national food supplies in most tropical African countries (La
Anyane 1985), where on average 80 per cent of the working population are still
employed in agriculture.
The intention here is first to review some of the principal land management
practices that are of value in the effort to maintain and expand output in the humid
tropics. A central concern is the search for ecological sustainability, notably the
maintenance of an adequate nutrient supply for crops. At the same time, environ-
mentally appropriate agricultural systems must confront many socioeconomic
controls and limitations; they must also be ‘socially sustainable’ (Fearnside 1986).
This article therefore also seeks to emphasize that, for many reasons, ecological
sustainability and social sustainability often fail to coincide. Finding out how to close
the gap is a research area of very great value.
A distinction between formal agricultural research and the reservoir of knowledge
and experience among indigenous populations is implicit in the presentation of
material here. Yet this separation is neither complete nor to be encouraged. Many
research programmes explore and extend traditional practices, while indigenous
agriculture must be viewed as adaptive and dynamic rather than static. Also, failure
to appreciate fully the farmer’s perspective lies at the root of much disappointment
when scientifically sound agricultural change is attempted.
Sustainable agricultural practices
Fertility restoration-fallow management

One of the most widespread methods of ensuring production is sustained over the
longer term is by allowing land to recuperate as fallow. Jordan (1985) highlights a
range of mechanisms by which wild successional vegetation utilizes soil nutrients that
are unavailable to crop species. More extensive and deeper root systems can recover
leached nutrients and draw fresh nutrients into the cropping/fallow cycle from
depth. Nutrients accumulated as biomass in successional vegetation become
available, as ash or by decomposition, with clearance of land for further cultivation.
In many parts of the humid tropics, there is rising pressure to make more intensive
use of land, which makes lengthy, economically ‘unproductive’ fallowing increas-
ingly unacceptable. Where fallowing remains ecologically necessary, there will be
much advantage in ensuring that recovery of the productive potential of the soil is as
rapid and as closely suited to future crop requirements as possible. This can be
achieved by guiding the character of the regrowth after cropping has been suspended.
Rocheleau and Raintree (1986) call this approach to fallow improvement ‘bio-
Clive A. Charlton 155
logically-accelerated fallows’ and differentiate between this and ‘economically-

enriched fallows’, where fallow plots are planted with species which will yield
something of value while still allowing soil fertility to be restored. In practice, the two
approaches may be combined.
The value of certain successional species in improving the effect of fallow is widely
recognized by traditional shifting agriculturalists. In Nigeria, certain species such as
Acioa barteri, Anthonotha macrophylla and Gliricidia sepium are protected and
encouraged if they appear as volunteer weeds and are also planted deliberately
(Okigbo 1980; Getahun et a/. 1982). Gliricidia, a small leguminous tree, besides
fixing nitrogen, has a deep rooting system and has been shown to improve pH, cation
exchange capacity, organic matter content and to enhance potassium, phosphorus,
calcium and magnesium supply on decomposition (MacDonald 1982). There are
many other cases where leguminous trees are planted as fallow vegetation in
recognition of their contribution to fertility, if not in full consciousness of their
precise impact. In the highlands of New Guinea, species of Casuarina are planned
before land is fallowed and are perceived as a better alternative to invasion by
Imperata cylindrica grass (Boerdoom and Wiersum 1983; Wood 1985). Experimental
work by research institutes has widened the range of fallow tree species recognized as
useful. Fallow plantations of Gynerium spp. and Heliconia spp. demonstrated a
marked capacity to accumulate phosphorus, a particularly valuable property in many
humid tropical soils, where phosphorus deficiency is a serious limitation, as
phosphorus is readily leached or fixed into inaccessible compounds (Arnason et a/.
1980).
The potential of leguminous non-tree species has also been demonstrated,
including kudzu (Puerariaphaseoloides) and pigeon piea (Cajanus cajun). The latter
can be grown readily on a wide range of soil types and is perhaps the most commonly
used restorative crop, with the additional advantage that it can be used for human or
animal consumption (Webster and Wilson 1980). Sanchez et al. (1982) report that it
may have the same restorative effect on previously unfertilized, cultivated croplands
as 25 years of forest fallow. Elsewhere, Sanchez (1976) has been more cautious about
the performance of fallow-improving species. In Nigeria, trials showed planted
Acoia barteri accumulated more calcium and magnesium than natural secondary
forest, but considerably less of the more limiting phosphorus and potassium. Trials
at lbadan brought no better nutrient retention of crop yield with kudzu fallow than
with natural forest fallow. Kudzu and other species such as Desmodium ovalifolium
have been used with some success in the development of more sustainable tropical
pasture management at Centro International de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT),
Colombia (Sanchez et al. 1983).
Fertility restoration-fertilization and manuring

The demand for more intensive production from the humid tropics has diminished
the possibility of depending on fallowing alone for adequate fertility restoration. Soil
productivity must be maintained by the application of suitable manures and
fertilizers. A fundamental point, of course, is that traditional cultivators in the
humid tropics have long employed a great range of methods of supplementing their
soil nutrient stocks (Young 1976). The productivity of intensive gardens is kept up by
careful addition of combinations of green manures, composted vegetation,
household refuse, wood ash and human and animal manures. Wood (1985) records
the use on sweet potato mounds of composted grasses, weeds and household refuse
by the Huli people of the Tari Basin in New Guinea, with the consequent improve-
156 Sustainable agricultural systems in the humid tropics
ment in soil organic matter, exchangeable calcium, magnesium and potassium and
available phosphorus, as well as in soil structure. Societies with a tradition of
integrating crop cultivation with livestock rearing, as in India, obviously have an
advantage in their access to organic manures (Dogra 1985). The value of returning
crop residues to the soil after each harvest is well recognized, particularly in the many
tropical soils with low cation exchange capacity, where organic matter functions as
the main seat of exchangeable capacity (Fagbami et a/. 1985).
Contemporary research work has also addressed the need for intensification of
cropping on humid tropical soils through the use of fertilizers. As part of the
Southern Highlands Rural Development Project on the Nembi Plateau in New
Guinea, a range of experiments were conducted with inorganic and organic fertilizers
(D’Souza and Bourke 1984). Potassium was the critical nutrient determining the
staple sweet potato yields on the site and applications of 75 kgha- I increased yields
by nearly 60 per cent. Given that regular use of artificial fertilizers is at present
beyond the economic reach of local cultivators, further trials examined locally
available organic fertilizer sources. Composting of the common grass Ischaemium
polysfachyarn produced improved sweet potato yields. Other trials involved the use
of the aquatic fern Azollapinnata (which is symbiotically associated with Anabaena
azollae, a blue-green nitrogen-fixing algae), as well as pig manure and coffee skins.
Several important principles have emerged from this work. Different organic
materials contribute different combinations of nutrients, while different cultivars
and varieties have differing nutrient demands. Pig manure is rich in nitrogen and
phosphorus, but has less potassium. In the Nembi case, potassium was identified as
the critical nutrient, so that pig manure might be better applied to crops responding
well to nitrogen and phosphorus addition, such as maize. Coffee skins and pulp have
a more favourable potassium content and their use on sweet potatoes brought
significant yield improvements.
It is clear that fertilization practices should be identified that are optimum for
specific crop combinations and sites. A further important point arising from the
experiments reported by D’Souza and Bourke is that any idea1 fertilization plan is
only viable if the materials are locally accessible and affordable. Use of Azolla
depends on farmers having access to suitable ponds. Pig manure must be collected
and may often be dispersed if pigs are kept on a free-range basis, while coffee skins
are limited by the local density and ownership of coffee bushes.
Fertilization research in the Amazon Basin: ‘Yurimaguas technology’

Similar qualifications on the need for site-specific fertilizer regimes and on the
problem of accessibility of inputs arise from the widely publicized trials conducted
since 1971 at Yurimaguas, Peru, under the Tropical Soils Research Program of North
Carolina State University and Peru’s Instituto National de Investigation y
Promotion (INIPA) (Nicholaides el al. 1982; Sanchez et al. 1982; Sanchez et a/.
1983). Work here generated cautious optimism about the prospects for continuous
cropping from inherently infertile humid tropical soils (IADB 1983). Trials took
place principally on ultisols having the adverse characteristics common in much of
the Amazon basin, with pH values as low as 4.0, deficiency in phosphorus and
potassium, low cation exchange capacity and high aluminium saturation. An
optimum fertilizer regime was identified for a set of rotational combinations. The
rotations included rice, maize, peanuts and soybeans. After 21 continuous crop
cycles, a picture emerged of satisfactory yields and enhanced soil properties. Whereas
yields on unfertilized plots fell to zero after three crops, the long-term average grain
yield for the fertilized plots was 7 - 8 tons ha- ’ yr - l. Topsoil pH increased from 4.0 to
5.7 after 20 crops. Organic matter decreased after initial clearing but then stabilized.
Effective cation exchange capacity doubled and there were increases in exchangeable
calcium and magnesium and in available phosphorus, although potassium did not
increase. Aluminium levels in the subsoil were reduced when lime was applied at
depth, improving the environment for root development (Sanchez et al. 1983). No
unfavourable changes in physical properties were apparent.
This ‘Yurimaguas technology’ was tested in local farmers’ fields, with appropriate
adjustments to the fertilizer schedules to suit site-specific conditions. These on-farm
trials appeared to confirm the technical and even economic feasibility of sustained
production from oligotrophic humid tropical settings. The soil characteristics of the
sites have been compared with those on similar ultisols in the southeastern United
States, where fertilizer treatments not unlike those used in the Amazon trials permit
regular commercial production of corn, soybeans and peanuts (Sanchez et al. 1982).
Although such experimental work may lighten the often highly pessimistic evalua-
tion of agricultural prospects in the humid tropics, there is clearly a need for caution.
There could be a fundamental contradiction between the reality of day-to-day
farming conditions and the demands imposed by a growing dependence on efficient
fertilization. Reliable supply of artificial fertilizers at a price the farmer can afford is
simply unrealistic in many instances (Goodland et al. 1984). The high cost of
fertilizers will be accentuated by transport difficulties from production plants located
well away from the more remote frontier zones where intensification is sought.
Subsidy of fertilizer prices might be essential.
Careful and well-informed farm management is particularly crucial. Fertilizer
efficiency may be low, with nutrient inputs, notably nitrogen, readily lost through
leaching and volatization. Webster and Wilson (1980) stress the importance of
optimizing the rate, timing and form of fertilizer application. Fearnside (1985)
suggests that the major drawback to the implementation of ‘Yurimaguas technology’
is the ‘need for a continuous input of technical information’. Not only must regular
soil samples be taken and analysed accurately from each field, but the farmer must
receive and comprehend the result and be able to take the appropriate remedial
action. To avoid a serious disparity between experimental success and performance
on a large number of farms will demand a formidable agricultural extension effort.
Improved tillage practices

Given that excessive ploughing and exposure of tropical soils is accepted as
undesirable, it is not surprising that more conservative tillage practices are usually
included in any package of recommendations for improved land management (FAO
1984; Jordan 1985). The digging-stick and hoe cultivation of the traditional forest
farmer seems increasingly valid, in contrast to the plough, which although it
symbolizes greater sophistication, is less compatible with an emphasis on sustain-
ability rather than mere short-run maximization of output.
The movement towards ‘conservation tillage’ is, of course, echoed in temperate
agricultural systems, including those of the United States, where it is suggested as
much as 50 per cent of cropland will be cultivated in this way by the year 2000
(Gebhardt et al. 1985). In the tropics, no-tillage or minimum-tillage operations are
recognized as positive features of traditional agricultural systems and also feature in
trials conducted at research stations. At IITA, the effect of no-tillage practices on
soils under continuously cropped, fertilized maize has been assessed. After 24
continuous crops, the no-tillage plots showed higher nitrogen, higher exchangeable
1.58 Sustainable agricultural systems in the humid tropics
bases of calcium, magnesium and potassium and higher pH and cation exchange
capacity than under conventional cultivation (IITA 1984). Earlier trials at IITA
demonstrated that higher yields can be achieved with minimum tillage for a range of
crops, including maize, soybeans, sweet potatoes and pigeon peas (Sanchez 1976).
Advantages claimed include improved moisture retention, decreased soil
temperature, increased organic content in upper soil horizons and, importantly,
reduced nutrient loss via runoff and soil erosion (La1 1977; Webster and Wilson 1980;
FAO 1984).
Recommendations of minimum tillage are not without qualifications, however.
Tillage improves soil structure and can help to control weeds. Planting appropriate
ground-cover crops may help in the former case, while some form of mulching is
recommended to assist weed suppression. Hulugalle et al. (1986) have demonstrated
that soil physical properties adversely affected by mechanized land clearance can be
improved by sowing with a cover of mucuna (Mucuna utilis) prior to cropping. La1
(1977) insists that no-tillage techniques without crop-residue mulches are likely to
result in failure. His work at IITA has emphasized how mulches will also encourage
biological activity in the soil, maintain soil infiltration rates and reduce runoff. Trials
on alfisols at Ibadan showed runoff on bare plots to be 16 times that on plots
mulched with 6 tons hap I straw.
Intercropping
Intercropping has recently received considerable attention and re-evaluation as a key

ingredient in the future development of tropical agriculture. In fact, the habit of
combining a range of different species in the same field is an absolutely basic feature
of many long-established agricultural systems. Most versions of shifting agriculture
display some form of polycultural mixed cropping. Intercropping is prominent in
Africa, where 98 per cent of cowpeas, probably the most important legume on the
continent, are grown in association with other crops (Beets 1982). In West Africa, as
much as 80 per cent of all farmland is intercropped (Richards 1985) and a great range
of crop combinations has evolved as a result of indigenous trial and experiment. The
classic pre-Columbian corn-beans-squash trilogy of humid tropical Mexico and
Central America retains its importance (Gliessman 1984).
Intercropping encompasses a remarkable spectrum of practices and combinations
(Sanchez 1976; Ruthenberg 1981). Many traditional peasant systems intimately mix
crop species in an apparently random fashion, although what at first sight appears a
chaotic pattern may often reflect a close understanding of micro-environmental
conditions on the part of the farmer. Other forms of intercropping display more
evident order, both in terms of time and space. In the former case, relay-cropping, a
second crop is interplanted with one already growing. In the Americas, beans are
planted alongside growing maize plants, which they climb before both crops are
harvested at the end of the rainy season. Maize is commonly followed by cassava, in
which case the crops may mature at different times. On ploughed land, strip-
cropping may be more convenient, with two or more different crops in alternating
rows.
A number of advantages are put forward for intercropping over monoculture. In a
variety of ways, intercropping improves the farmer’s access to soil nutrients besides
making maximum use of water, sunlight and space. The rooting systems of diverse
crops tap different levels in the soil profile, increasing total root area deployed and
ensuring a greater total nutrient uptake and overall crop yield from the land, even if
individual crop yields are less than in monocultural systems (Altieri et cd. 1984;
Gliessman 1984; Jordan 1985). Crops planted in combination can have differential
demand for nutrients both absolutely and in timing of demand.
An advantageous form of complementarity in intercropping is the combination of
nitrogen-fixing legumes with plants having a high nitrogen requirement, such as
maize. Sanchez (1976) reports how maize yields in Nigerian tests increased signifi-
cantly when intercropped with legumes, including cowpeas, mung beans and
Calopogonium muconoides. Incorporation of the legumes was calculated as being
the equivalent of 55--IO-55kg of NPK/ha- r. It was shown at IITA that inter-
cropping the fast-growing annual shrub Sesbaniu rostrata with rice specifically as a
nitrogen source yielded almost the equivalent of 120kghap l of nitrogen applied as
urea (IITA 1984).
The more rapid and complete coverage possible in intercropped systems can play a
vital role in retaining nutrients within the soil and vegetation. Less nutrients are
available for loss by leaching (or fixation into insoluble compounds in the case of
phosphorus) as they are more rapidly taken up by crops or are retained in soil organic
matter, which decomposes less rapidly in the more protective microclimate under
shade. Full ground coverage is also highly beneficial in providing protection from the
effects of high-intensity rainfall and consequent nutrient loss from runoff and
erosion (La1 1977; Posner 1982). Experiments at IITA with fast-growing cover crops
such as Mucuna utilis have shown their value in stabilizing and extending the
productive life of tropical soils as well as in conserving soil moisture (IITA 1985).
Further ecological advantages claimed for intercropping include weed suppression
(Altieri et al. 1984), a reduction in the impact of monophagous pests and crop-
specific diseases (Beets 1982) and greater utilization of incoming solar radiation (May
and Misangu 1982).
Intercropping may be more compatible with the aspirations and perceptions of
small-scale farmers when compared with monocultural systems. A prominent
objective of peasant farmers and their families is the reduction of risk. A greater
degree of security from crop failure or pest invasion might be expected from a
diversity of crops, by which risks are spread and a reasonably varied nutritional base
assured (Belshawe 1979; Agboola 1982; Richards 1985).
Finally, intercropping may be beneficial in smoothing out labour demand over the
year, whereas cash monocultures may generate pulses of demand for manpower
which cannot readily be overcome without recourse to costly mechanization
(lgbozurike 1971; Janzen 1973).
Despite an enthusiastic reawakening of interest in intercropping in sustainable
tropical agriculture, many uncertainties remain. The sheer diversity of systems
precludes an adequate understanding of ecological relationships. Webster and
Wilson (1980) detail the many variables determining the nitrogen-fixing performance
of tropical legumes. The relationship between leguminous plants and soil fertility
remains ill understood, as does the effect of legumes on yields of associated non-
leguminous crops, despite the assumption that it is beneficial (Beets 1982; Richards
1985). Given the inherent poverty of many tropical soils, it might be all too easy to
impose excessive demands on limited soil nutrients by using suboptimal plant
combinations and planting densities. Trials on degraded soils at Nkwele in Eastern
Nigeria, in which yams and cocoyams were intercropped with oil palms brought an
initial rise in total yields, but then a serious decline (Watson 1982). Many inter-
cropped systems will be just as dependent on the use of fertilizers for the maintenance
of soil nutrient status as monocultures, although a more effective utilization of
fertilizer might be expected.
Agroforestry
Agroforesty is now considered a particularly appropriate and still productive version
of intercropping for the humid tropics. There are many possible systems (Rocheleau
and Raintree 1986), which have in common the fact that both trees and other crops
are of some economic value to the farmer and that interaction between trees, crops
and often livestock is ecologically valid (Young 1986). This complementarity of trees
and other plants comes much closer to replicating the form and functioning of the
natural forest that it replaces than does monoculture of non-tree crops or pasture
(Clarke 1976; Denevan 1980a; Moran 1982; Myers 1984).
Many advantages are claimed for agroforestry. Trees may be beneficial in
recycling nutrients, especially where tree root systems reach beyond the competitive
range of other crops and capture nutrients from depth that might otherwise be lost by
leaching (Altieri et a/. 1984). Trees may be more efficient than other crops in
extracting nutrients from the soil via mycorrhizal activity on their roots. A number
of trees are valued for their nitrogen-fixing ability, which can be utilized if foliage is
harvested and used as a mulch. Examples include Leucaena, with small leaves that
break down quickly into nitrogenous fertilizer, and Erythinapeoppigiana, which has
been shown in trials in Costa Rica to be capable of fixing over 200 kg N ham I yr - t ,
with foliage that can regularly be cut and used as a fodder or as a mulch that will
suppress weeds and release nutrients and organic matter as it breaks down (Hadley
and Lanly 1983). Other environmental advantages include amelioration of micro-
climates under the shade and shelter of trees and improvement of soil structure-
specifically, better porosity, aeration, infiltration and the reduction or removal ot
hardpans (Budowski 1982).
The diversification implicit in agroforestry is itself considered beneficial. Risks
arising from uncertain climate and unstable markets can be spread across a range of
crops, while trees can be seen as a convenient form of small-scale investment and
insurance for peasant farmers, a means of accumulating wealth in modest increments
which may be flexible in terms of labour demands (Ruthenberg 1976).
There is currently a re-evaluation of long-established traditional agroforestry
practices and a widespread research effort to develop and transmit new combina-
tions. ‘The role played by trees in more traditional agricultural systems is now well
documented (MacDonald 1982). Spurgeon (1980) reports the use of agroforestry in
Paraguay, where farmers leave mbocaya palms (Agrocomicr totai) in their fields of
maize, beans, yucca and vegetables. The palm produces nuts that are sold for
conversion to soaps, vegetable oils and animal feeds. In Java, besides the classic
dependence on wetland rice, tree crops that include bananas, citrus, cloves and
cinnamon are grown in close association with maize, cassava, beans, peanuts and
vegetables (Spears 1980; Wiersum 1982). Leucaena leucocephala, now much in vogue
as something of a miracle species, has been used traditionally in lndonesia for its
beneficial effect on soil quality (Getahun et a/. 1982). Foliage is laid among crops as a
protective mulch which also contributes significant inputs of nitrogen and organic
matter to the soil. The intensive ‘tree gardens’ around Kandy, Sri Lanka are very
complex associations of coconut, betel, kitul palms, cloves, cinnamon, citrus,
mango, durian, cassava, beans and vegetables (Watson 1982). A principal feature of’
these systems is the diversity of food and cash crops they produce, although in many
cases trees are valued for their role in supporting the production of other crops.
Although its value is accepted by national and international development agencies,
tiler-e remains ample scope for agroforestry research, with the prospect of adding
many new systems to those already employed. Despite much promising work at
establishments such as the International Centre for Research into Agroforestry

(ICRAF) at Nairobi and Centro Agronomic0 Tropical de Investigation Enseiianza
(CATIE) at Turrialba, Costa Rica, there is still a severe shortage of studies on the
environmental processes operating in agroforestry systems, including nutrient
cycling, soil structure and hydrological aspects (Hamilton and King 1983). Equally
challenging is the task of inserting specific agroforestry systems into the turbulent
stream of economic and social forces beyond the sanctity of the research station.
Budowski (1982) cautions against over-optimism in the claims for ‘miracle trees’
and the expectation that tree crops will inevitably have the same stabilizing effect on
soil as natural forest, while still offering a lucrative return to the farmer. This is
particularly true where something more than simple self-sufficiency is sought.
Surplus production for the market may only be bought with increased capital and
labour inputs. There are also a number of ways in which the presence of trees in
agricultural systems may not be wholly beneficial. Trees may deprive other plants of
light and moisture and may lock up nutrients which will be lost to the system once
trees or their nuts and fruits are harvested, so reducing yields from associated tree
crops. As with intercropping in general, agroforestry systems may make mechaniza-
tion difficult. Trees are also a relatively long-term investment and the time lag
between planting and full productivity may appear excessive to potential cultivators.
In addition, the short-term imperative for fuelwood and fodder may put pressure on
trees planted for other purposes (Young 1986). Where agroforestry systems are
innovations, local shortages of tree management skills may be a problem.
The contribution of traditional farmers
The merits of shifting agriculture

In examining some of the key components of sustainable agriculture in the humid
tropics, it is readily apparent that many lessons can be drawn from the great variety
of traditional agricultural systems. There is now widespread enthusiasm for the
indigenous farmer whose ecological wisdom and capacity for sound and sensible
change is contrasted with the delusions and damage inflicted by an unholy alliance of
high technology and commercial greed. How far is this justified and to what extent
does progress in the humid tropics depend on making fuller use of traditional
practices?
Shifting or swidden agriculture remains perhaps the most significant form of
traditional land management in the humid tropics, certainly in terms of area (Sanchez
1976). Decades of research have transformed the negative image of shifting agri-
culture as being wholly backward and wasteful. Many writers have stressed that
shifting agriculture as practised by aboriginal groups in humid tropical forests is an
ecologically efficient and stable method of subsistence on soils of low inherent
fertility (Conklin 1957; Nye and Greenland 1960; Geertz 1963; Watters 1971;
Rappaport 1976; UNESCO 1978). Cutting and burning patches of forest gives the
cultivator rapid access to nutrients via wood ash. The majority of nutrients are stored
in the vegetation rather than in the soil component of the ecosystem, particularly on
infertile soils (Boerdoom and Wiersum 1983). Soil fertility declines rapidly due to
harvesting of crops, leaching and fixation of phosphorus in inaccessible forms
(Brinkmann and De Nascimento 1973). Soils in the humid tropics are often deficient
in nutrient retention capacity, especially on acid soils with low cation exchange
capacity (Eden 1978; Wood 1985), unlike the natural vegetation, which is widely
recognized as being efficient in capturing and storing nutrients through a range of
imperfectly understood mechanisms (Herrera et al. 1978, 1981; Jordan and Herrera
1981; Proctor 1984, 1987). Cutting, burning and cultivation destroys the dense
rooting systems of forest trees and may eliminate many micro-organisms, including
the mycorrhizal populations held to be important in aiding nutrient uptake
(Davidson 1985). In addition, crops compete with weeds and pests for the rapidly
declining accessible nutrient pool (Arnason ef a/. 1980; Trenbath 1984). This may be
a principal reason why the forest farmer responds to falling yields by moving on to
clear a fresh area of forest, allowing the successional cycle to proceed and soil fertility
to be gradually rebuilt (Ruthenberg 1976).
While rotation of cropped land is the fundamental adaptive feature of traditional
shifting agriculture, other aspects contribute in combination to maintaining long-
term stability of production (Siwatibau 1984). In the typical small-scale plot, both
clearance and burning is often incomplete, which helps protect the soil, especially
during the early stages of crop growth (Richards 1985), ensures a steadier release of
nutrients as partially-burned woody material decays and permits rapid regrowth
from stumps and suckers once the field is abandoned (Nakano 1978).
Polyculture and intercropping is a regular feature of more traditional shifting agri-
culture (Harris 1971; Hames 1983) and is praised for its approximation to natural
forest conditions. The wide range of plant forms and species present protects
soils, maximizes the short-term efficiency of nutrient flows and moisture uptake and
provides a wide range of subsistence needs (Padoch and Vayda 1983). In some cases,
tree species are planted that can be harvested some time after the field is ostensibly
abandoned. Posey (1982), in a study of Kayapo Indian swiddens in the Xingu river
area of Brazil, noted that some valued trees were still being used as long as 30 years
after a field was last cultivated. Similar forms of swidden management among the
Bora of the Peruvian Amazon are described by Denevan ef al. (1985) as ‘orchard-
fallow’. Aiken and Moss (1975) regard the ‘orang asli’, the original inhabitants of the
remaining tropical forests in Malaysia, as ‘the indisputable authorities on rainforest
ecology, especially its plant life’. In a major reassertion of the potential of indigenous
agriculture, Richards (1985) favours recognition of the ‘rich tool-kit of land manage-
ment procedures’ contained within shifting cultivation and suggests adaptation of
these existing skills and methods rather than development of new land use systems.
More intensive truditional systems
Traditional shifting agriculture, despite its many admirable characteristics, is unable

to supply the needs of the higher density populations now present in much of the
humid tropics. For this reason, more valuable contributions to future rural develop-
ment might be expected from the many long-established more permanent and
intensive agriculture systems. Attention is drawn to the productivity and permanence
of tropical gardens, not least in more densely settled island communities as in
Oceania (Klee 1980) and the Caribbean (Denevan 1980a). On Java, the home gardens
or pekarangan are a vital yet under-rated and neglected part of the rural economy
(Staler 1981). They have provided sustained yields of a great variety of crops for
centuries, with minimal environmental deterioration. Polyculture, intercropping, the
use of tree and other perennial crops, minimum tillage, and cornposting are among
the features that permit high output with ecological stability. Javanese home gardens
are multi-purpose enterprises and are particularly important for lower-income house-
holds, supplying both a diversity of subsistence needs and income opportunities.
In New Guinea, sweet potatoes and other crops are grown in large, composted
mounds that may be in continuous production for up to 30 years (Wood and

Humphreys 1982; Wood 1985). An impressive feature of many of these traditional
agricultural communities is the sheer diversity and flexibility of combinations they
employ (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1982), rendering simple typologies of farming systems
very suspect (Padoch and Vayda 1983). In many cases, more intensive production is
combined with shifting agriculture, as reported by Sherman (1980) in a study of
swidden farming among the Toba Batak of Sumatra, based, rather surprisingly, on
the much-maligned Zmperata cylindrica grass, but integrated with a set of more
intensive practices.
Drained field agriculture

It is impossible to do justice here to the many more intensive traditional farming
systems that deserve further examination in the search for viable rural development.
One group of systems that have recently attracted much interest are those based on
the creation of raised and drained fields in tropical swamps. Drained swamp agri-
culture remains in use in a variety of locations, but was formerly more extensive in the
humid tropics than it is today. In New Guinea, permanent gardens are built up
between a network of drainage channels in lowland swamps. Soil and organic matter
dredged from the intervening channels is heaped onto the fields and further organic
detritus composted to maintain nutrient supplies. The gardens are used particularly
for growing yams, taro and sweet potatoes (Wood and Humphreys 1982; Wood
1985). In Venezuela, Karinya Indians use moriche palm swamps in a similar way,
digging a network of drainage ditches and cultivating cassava and bananas on the
reclaimed fields (Denevan and Bergman 1975).
Perhaps the most celebrated version of drained field agriculture still in use are the
‘chinampas’ of the valley of Mexico, albeit not strictly in the humid tropics and now
only a vestigial and modified remnant of the system that underpinned pre-Hispanic
civilizations, including that of the Aztecs (Davies 1982). Similar drained swamp
systems were formerly important in other areas of Central and South America
(Denevan 1982; Eidt 1984), and it is now accepted that they were important in support-
ing many Maya centres such as Tikal in Guatemala (Driever and Hoy 1984). Archaeo-
logical research has revealed systems of channels and raised fields that appear to have
been in production for possibly hundreds of years. Constant dredging of material from
drains bordering fields maintained nutrients within the system, particularly in
internally drained swamps (Turner and Harrison 1981; Darth 1986). Pollen analysis
has shown that a wide range of crops were grown, including maize, beans, squash,
amaranth, cassava and Gossypium cotton. The significant conclusion is that this
form of agriculture supported a much denser population than was formerly assumed,
in areas that reverted to low densities and shifting cultivation after the decline of the
Maya civilization. This is a tantalizing pointer to the possibility of reintroducing
more intensive production systems in areas of present-day colonization (Gomez-
Pompa 1978). There have been a number of experiments in Mexico based on
chinampa-type agriculture in the humid lowlands of Veracruz, Tabasco and
Quintana Roo, which have demonstrated that substantial and varied crops can be
produced on a self-sustained basis (Gomez-Pompa et al. 1982; Nations and Komer
1983). The opportunity has been taken to incorporate concepts and techniques
borrowed from intensive systems elsewhere, particularly in Asia. The emphasis has
been on developing integrated farming systems, which optimize nutrient retention
and cycling and minimize external inputs (Morales 1980). Crop production is
integrated with animal husbandry and aquaculture. The intervening drainage
164 Sustainable agricultural systelns in the hutnid tropics
channels and tanks remain crucial as nutrients are recovered in the form of sludge
and through composting of aquatic weeds, including water hyacinth (Eichornia
crassipes). Animal manures and composted crop residues also supplement soil
fertility. Additional elements of sustainable agriculture incorporated in the Mexican
experiments include intercropping, diversity of crops and cropping systems, agro-
forestry and use of legume rotations (Gliessman et al. 1981).
Indigenous knowledge and agricultural change

Traditional tropical agriculture has attracted attention not only as a catalogue of
potentially valuable techniques and combinations, but also for the capacity for
change and spontaneous research and development among indigenous farmers
(Brokensha et al. 1980; Chambers 1983; Richards 1985). As part of a forceful
assertion of the need to understand and use the perceptions and experience of the
rural poor in the third world, Chambers stresses that ‘a strength of rural people’s
knowledge is the faculties which maintain, extend and correct it’. Not only do
indigenous peoples have a remarkably detailed familiarity with the components of
their environment, including plant varieties, soil characteristics, water sources,
annual behaviour and climate, but they are also able to enhance their store of
knowledge through observation and experiment, and transmit and teach it effectively
-‘fine senses, keen observation and a good memory go a long way’. There is value,
too, in the unconscious multidisciplinarity of indigenous knowledge systems where
connections and relationships may be more apparent than in the more insular terms
of reference and attitudes of the formal scientist.
At a broad scale, the willingness of traditional farmers to recognize and respond to
new opportunities is indicated by the diffusion of New World crops prior to the
modern colonial period. Radical advances had happened long before the first formal
agricultural research institute opened its gates. Examples include the spread of
cassava and maize in Africa (UNESCO 1978; Padoch and Vayda 1983) and sweet
potatoes into New Guinea. The latter had become a staple long before 20th-century
colonial contact and control, sufficiently so to have underpinned a marked increase
in population (Biggs and Clay 1981).
The classic interpretation of agricultural change relates intensification and the
adoption of new crops and technologies to a background of rising population
pressure (Boserup 1965; Wilkinson 1973; Ruthenberg 1976). While a link between
change and necessity is hard to refute, the champions of indigenous knowledge and
adaptability insist that conscious observation, experimentation and manipulation of
the environment are by no means the sole preserve of the outside expert (Beyer 1980;
Howes 1980). Unfortunately, the understanding and potential already in situ are too
readily disregarded by external agents taking on responsibility for rural development.
The limits to indigenous agricultural development

While a more positive evaluation of indigenous agriculture is long overdue, this must
be tempered by a degree of realism. There is a danger of overstating the under-
standing and environmental rationality of traditional small farmers, with many
instances where populations have been unable to respond adequately to growing
environmental pressures and imbalances. The decline of the Maya in Central
America, well before the Spanish conquest, is thought to be partially related to
deterioration of the drained field systems now attracting attention as models of
sustainable agriculture (Olson 1981). Growing populations and ineffective land
management brought soil erosion, flooding and siltation of channels around the
drained fields.
Throughout the tropics, contemporary traditional farmers are encountering
similar constraints. In New Guinea, Wood (1985) notes the failure of the Huh people
in the Tari basin to develop appropriate techniques to counter a growing crisis of
falling yields, increasing population densities and restricted access to alternative
resources. In this case, as elsewhere, some form of external assistance appears
unavoidable.
Although it is proper that the strength and scope of their knowledge should be
accepted, it is unrealistic to portray all rural people as undiscovered folk scientists.
Blaikie (1985) underlines the great variability in indigenous capacity to comprehend
and account for environmental problems, ranging from acute and perceptive
awareness through to almost total ignorance. It is unlikely that all members of a rural
society will have equal understanding and experience of the agroecosystems of which
they are part and nor will there be equal ability to respond to problems (Chapman
1985). Similarly, it cannot be assumed that indigenous peoples are incapable of
illogical or capricious behaviour, despite the evidence of ecological rationality. In
New Guinea, burning of vegetation near settlements appears to be more extensive
than is necessary purely for agricultural purposes, with the suspicion that much is
done simply for amusement (Ternan 1986).
The socioeconomic constraints on sustainable agriculture

Although many appropriate techniques and systems, old and new, are now under-
stood and available, the critical problem is one of transfer and successful imple-
mentation (Watters 1971) and also of retaining the positive features of lonestanding
agricultural systems. The constraints are as much cultural, economic and political as
they are environmental. Blaikie (1983, 1985) has very effectively demonstrated that
the depressing persistence of soil erosion in developing countries is more a problem of
political economy than of identifying technical solutions. This perspective can be
applied to the broader quest for sustainable land management, which is so often
inhibited by factors beyond the everyday control of the rural population, and
particularly the poor. These include inadequate access to land, water and credit;
insecurity of basic needs, and a marketing system that transfers surplus value from
the rural sector to more powerful national and international interests. To some
observers, the issue is essentially political, and requires a transfer of power and
control to those most intimately involved in rural development (Baker 1984; Oakley
and Marsden 1984). Throughout most of the humid tropics, the development process
is in reality dominated by forces that accord a low priority to both the majority of the
rural population and longer-term environmental issues (George 1984).
The contradictions between environmentally sound agriculture, the perceptions of
the rural populations and national development priorities is apparent in the humid
tropical lowlands of Mexico’s Gulf Coast. National agricultural policies have
favoured the spread of capitalized and monocultural cash-cropping and also
extensive ranching (Barkin 1977). There has also been profound economic and social
disruption as a result of recent oilfield development. Yet underdevelopment has
persisted despite aggregate economic growth, while land resources have been
degraded. Environmental factors and the nutritional and welfare needs of the,local
population are given lower status. In an effort to redress this balance, integrated self-
sufficient farming systems based on drained field agriculture, as described earlier,
have been developed and tested successfully (Morales 1980; Gliessman et al. 1981).
166 Susrainable agricultural systems in the humid tropics
While these appear both ecologically and socially more appropriate, some observers
are doubtful about the prospects of implementing such ideal solutions in an
unsympathetic political and economic milieu (Toledo 1983), where resource use is a
reflection of the interests of more powerful landowners and a bureaucracy geared to
capital-intensive development (Redclift 1984).
lnuppropriute shifiing agriculture: (he pressures of colonization

External economic, social, political and technological influences are increasingly
disrupting traditional agroecosystems so that many of the features highlighted as
beneficial are eliminated (Janzen 1973; Rappaport 1976). This is true for shifting
agriculture, which can be portrayed in a less favourable light than that presented
earlier. Watters (1971) reports many instances where it is associated with longer-term
environmental deterioration and declining yields. This is likely on steep slopes
(Posner 1982), in excessively large clearings (Kartawinata and Vayda 1984), when
cultivation continues too long and when fallow periods are shortened. The term
‘shifting agriculture’ describes a multitude of situations (Ruthenberg 1976;
Boerdoom and Wiersum 1983), many of which are far from stable or sustainable.
Increasing numbers of farmers are compelled or tempted to maximize short-term
output at the expense of longer-term equilibrium with the local environment. Thus is
associated with rising population densities, the spread of more commercialized and
specialized agricultural markets and the colonization of humid tropical lands by non-
traditional colonists.
Particularly worrying is the penetration into humid tropical forests of cultivators
lacking the skills and aspirations of traditional swidden farmers (Hamilton and King
1983). This is a widely-publicized issue in the Amazon basin, where migrant
colonists, both officially encouraged and spontaneous, have established a much
simplified and more damaging form of shifting agriculture (Goodland and Irwin
1975; Moran 1982; Smith 1982; Fearnside 1984, 1985). Eden and Andrade (1986)
have contrasted the quality of shifting agriculture practised in the middle Caqueta
basin, Colombia, by colonists, with that by more adaptive indigenous Indian groups.
Studies of the Transamazonian Highway and Rondonia colonies in Brazil show that
migrant colonists leave insufficient time for secondary vegetation to restore fertility
or soil structure. One factor here is a concern to avoid the stigma attached to those
who appear to leave land ‘idle’; with a preference for clearing secondary growth for
very low-quality pasture, rather than to be a ‘quisaceiro’ or producer of secondary
growth (Fearnside 1984).
The spread of what Denevan (1980a) has called ‘terminal shifting agriculture’ must
be related to pressures outside the areas affected. Forested frontier zones are
colonized by migrants because there is a shortage of land elsewhere. While the stark
fact of rapid population growth cannot be ignored, land hunger is greatly
exacerbated by widespread inequality in land ownership (Watters 1971; Myers 1983)
and the differential impact on the rural population of the commercialization and
capitalization of agriculture. The prospering agribusiness economy of southern
Brazil has its by-product in the thousands of peasants marginalized by the same
processes that feed the cities and the foreign exchange coffers (Lutzenberger 1982).
There are parallels in southeast Asia. Myers (1984) portrays the remaining humid
forests of Thailand and the Philippines as under threat from the many ‘shifted’
cultivators excluded and displaced from other more productive lands, increasingly
monopolized by larger-scale farmers sending cash crops to national and international
markets.
The lndonesian Transmigration Programme has moved 3 - 6 million people from

the crowded central islands to the outer parts of the archipelago and is a central
element in the state’s national economic and geopolitical strategies (Budiardjo 1986).
While enjoying international support, notably by the World Bank, transmigration
has been widely criticized for its destructive impact on the environment and
indigenous populations of the Indonesian outer islands (Otten 1986; Secrett 1986).
The failure of many colonists to sustain adequate yields from their land reflects the
widespread use of inappropriate methods by farmers with too little experience of the
vulnerable forest environment. In a survey of settlers in Kalimantan and Sulawesi,
some 30 per cent had never owned or managed farmland before and 16 per cent had
no farming experience whatsoever (Soeratman and Guiness 1978).
In the face of farm failure many transmigrants move on, forced into a version of
shifting agriculture that is less sustainable than the complex practices of the
indigenous tribal cultivators in the outer islands. At the same time, it has been
government policy to resettle and sedentarize many of these tribal groups, ostensibly
for their own benefit, but perhaps also as part of state policy to incorporate their
territory and resources into the national economy (Colchester 1986).
Some further economic limitations

The more sustainable agricultural systems and techniques are often labour intensive,
complex and yield modest quantities of a diversity of crops for on-farm and local
consumption (Tosi and Voertman 1975). As such, they increasingly diverge from the
priorities and perceptions of not only governments, the corporate sector and the
mainstream scientific community, but also the rural population itself. Many of the
latter consciously choose-or perhaps are driven to-greater specialization and
greater dependence on externally derived inputs. The lure of immediate economic
advantage and short-term security will also generate exploitative land use practices
rather than conservation (Olayide and Falusi 1977). The time and effort demanded to
hand-clear and weed polycultural plots, plant and tend trees, cultivate and
incorporate green manures and mulches or construct and manage drained fields or
terraces may appear simply irrational (Sanchez 1976). Activities which minimize
labour inputs and maximize cash income may be preferred. These priorities are more
easily satisfied by growing readily marketed monocrops and also by engaging in more
lucrative non-agricultural work, both in rural communities and in towns. Such action
is compatible with the expansion of larger-scale, commercialized and mechanized
production systems, rather less with maintaining a rural population in balance with
its environment.
A serious constraint on the success of the more polycultural production systems
based on intercropping and agroforestry may be insufficient demand for the range of
items produced once immediate local needs have been met (Spears 1980; Fearnside
1984). An ecologically sound combination of crops will be viable only if there is a
readily perceived, accessible and worthwhile market that is able to absorb a hetero-
geneous and perhaps erratic flow of products (Denevan et al. 1985). Environmentally
rational agriculture is urgently needed in more isolated pioneer humid tropical
regions such as the Amazon Basin (Enabor et al. 1982). Yet in such areas local
demand remains limited. In the face of isolation and the perishability of tropical
crops, progress may depend on effective planning and coordination of production as
well as investment in transportation, storage and processing facilities. More
perishable crops will depend on access to a processing plant, which in turn may
demand a certain threshold of regular and reliable local supplies. The incorporation
168 Sustuinable ugricultural systems in the humid tropics
of appropriate storage and processing technologies, capable of working efficiently at

modest output levels could be a necessary aspect of consolidating environmentally
sound polycultural agriculture (Beets 1982). One example to represent the very
many initiatives in this direction is a recent programme to support cassava
production in more remote areas of lowland northern Colombia. Although cassava is
ecologically ideal for humid tropical conditions and is widely grown, modest market
prices, high transport costs and problems of deterioration had led many farmers to
leave much of their crop unharvested (CIAT 1983). An evidently successful solution
has been the introduction of small-scale motor-driven chipping machines and drying
plants to convert cassava for use as pig and chicken feed, so overcoming the perish-
ability problem and improving the weight/value ratio. Nevertheless as most small
farmers have very limited access to investment capital, even this modest scale of
technology may be unrealistic without some form of cooperation or other external
assistance.
Two requirements: farmer participation and interdisciplinary research

The diffusion and acceptance of appropriate agriculture requires that local popula-
tions are willing to adopt and retain environmentally sound production techniques.
The conventional approach to rural development, often less than successful, tends to
be based on a ‘top-down’ delivery of change derived from outside ‘expertise’, with
insufficient concern for the clients’ own knowledge and perceptions of what is
needed.
This disregard is a root cause of disappointment and project failure, particularly
among traditional cultivators, who are then passed over as ‘unresponsive’ and
‘irrational’ in favour of more ‘receptive’ and ‘modern’ commercial farmers. In
contrast, the ‘New Consensus’ (Richards 1986) demands a bias towards poorer
farmers and their full involvement at every stage of research and development work.
Both academic and practitioner are urged to acknowledge the strength of indigenous
knowledge and to work in partnership with the farmer rather than from a position of
superiority (Belshawe 1979; Brokensha et al. 1980; Keswani and Ndunguru 1980;
Spurgeon 1980; Biggs and Clay 1981; Golley 1984; Richards 1985; Rocheleau and
Raintree 1986). One of the most eloquent and stimulating champions of this overall
approach is Chambers (1983), with his stress on ‘putting the last first’ as the main
guideline in rural development.
A key feature of the research agenda to establish sustainable agriculture in the
humid tropics must be the identification, in conjunction with rural people, of success
stories, not only failures. This would be where ecologically appropriate traditional
techniques and cropping systems have been maintained, and perhaps modified in the
face of social and economic change, and also where new forms of land management
have been introduced and accepted on a continuing basis. It is crucial that maximum
exposure is given to cases where environmentally sound methods do fit comfortably
with their users’ needs and perceptions and also articulate positively, in the likely
absence of profound socio-political transformation, with the prevailing wider
economic system.
Transfer of successful approaches into new situations will always demand a clear
appreciation of the environmental and socioeconomic characteristics that are specific
to the site concerned. This will mean that the external contribution should be
essentially interdisciplinary and holistic (ISNAR 1982; Sachs 1984), as represented in
Collinson’s (1982) notion of farming systems research, now increasingly favoured by
such research institutions as IRRI, ICRAF and CIMMYT. The way forward requires
the collaboration of both physical and social scientists, and certainly the rural
population itself.
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(Revised manuscript received 30 September 1986)

Problems and Prospects For Sustainable Agricultural Systems in The Humid Tropics

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Problems and Prospects For Sustainable Agricultural Systems in The Humid Tropics

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Applied Geography (1987), 7, 153-174

Problems and prospects for sustainable agricultural

Department of Geographical Sciences, Plymouth Polytechnic, Drake Circus,

0143-6228/87/020153-22 $03.00 0 1987 Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd

Sustainable agricultural practices

Fertility restoration-fallow management

logically-accelerated fallows’ and differentiate between this and ‘economically-

Fertility restoration-fertilization and manuring

Fertilization research in the Amazon Basin: ‘Yurimaguas technology’

Improved tillage practices

Intercropping has recently received considerable attention and re-evaluation as a key

establishments such as the International Centre for Research into Agroforestry

The contribution of traditional farmers

The merits of shifting agriculture

More intensive truditional systems

Traditional shifting agriculture, despite its many admirable characteristics, is unable

mounds that may be in continuous production for up to 30 years (Wood and

Drained field agriculture

Indigenous knowledge and agricultural change

The limits to indigenous agricultural development

The socioeconomic constraints on sustainable agriculture

lnuppropriute shifiing agriculture: (he pressures of colonization

The lndonesian Transmigration Programme has moved 3 - 6 million people from

Some further economic limitations

of appropriate storage and processing technologies, capable of working efficiently at

Two requirements: farmer participation and interdisciplinary research

Gebhardt, T. M., Daniel, T. C., Schweizer, E. E. and Allmaras, R. R. (1985) Conservation

Development Digest 15 (4), 114-124.

(Revised manuscript received 30 September 1986)

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