Improved production systems as an alternative to shifting cultivation [antikvár]

PREFACE Shifting cultivation, under its diverse forms of slash and burn system, is a traditional method of cultivating tropical upland soils, mostly for subsistence purposes. During the rest or fallow periods intervening between crops, the natural fertility of the soil is restored for renewed utilization in a subsequent period of crop growth. This traditional system of cultivation is in ecological balance with the environment and does not irreversibly degrade the soil resource, provided a sufficient length of fallow is allowed for soil restoration. However, increasing population pressures necessitate more intensive use of land, particularly in the humid tropics of Asia and in the savanna and forest zones in Africa. The consequence is extended cropping periods and shortened fallows. In the extreme, short fallow periods are no longer adequate to restore the soil's productive capacity. The subsistence farmers in the tropics - some 200 to 300 million people worldwide that live from this system of cultivation - are therefore increasingly faced with falling yields, more poverty and even less opportunity to subsist, let alone improve their living standards. Apart from these problems of human misery, shifting cultivation, as currently practised in many areas, is wasteful of scarce land resources and frequently leads to intolerable erosion, particularly of hillsides and sloping lands. It is for these reasons that FAO is studying and researching, in collaboration with national and international institutions, ways and means to improve this traditional farming system of the tropics. The ultimate objective is to provide feasible alternatives for improving these practices or replacing them with systems of permanent cropping. The present set of papers is the result of an expert consultation on the subject, held in FAO in February 1983 . The object of the consultation was to provide guidelines for future activities and policy decisions in this subject area. It is clear from the proceedings reported that we are still a long way from finding all-round solutions to problems related to shifting cultivation and the up-grading of living standards for subsistence farmers practising this system. Some headway is being made and promising improvements can be recommended in certain circumstances. However, considerable work is still necessary before we can provide viable alternative cultivation systems that may help to improve the living standards of subsistence farmers.