ICT role in 21st century education and its challenges
Presentation GAPE Darren Shifting cultivation 29 March 2012
1. Shifting Agriculture and
Livelihoods of Upland
Communities in Lao PDR
Darren J Daley
darrenjdaley@gmail.com
2. Terminology and Perceptions
Slash and Burn
Swidden
Fallow
Dominant cropping system in the uplands
Significant % of population practicing
Much more than cropping: livestock,
NTFPs, etc.
3. Two Forms of
Shifting Cultivation
Rotational shifting cultivation
◦ Most common type in Laos
◦ Villages not moved but cultivated plots shifted
according to a crop/fallow cycle
Pioneering shifting cultivation
◦ Village settlements moved from one site to
another after several years, mainly because
the nearby forest has become exhausted.
5. Inputs and Outputs
Average Rice Yield
◦ Paddy land: 2.75 MT per HA
2 harvests per year
◦ Swidden land: 0.75 MT per HA.
1 harvest per plot (fallow cycle)
Yield per labor
◦ Paddy land: 1 day’s work = 4.2 kg (rice)
◦ Swidden land: 1 day’s work = 7.9 kg (rice)
6. Environmental Issues
Shifting cultivation causes temporary
deforestation during cropping period, but
allows for regrowth of secondary forest
o Deforestation from swidden primarily reduces
secondary forest fallow, not primary forest
In most studies shifting cultivation is not
recognized as a form of agricultural land use or
agroforestry; it is always compared with forest
Soil erosion, chemicals, fertility decline
7. “The [argument] that the present shifting
cultivation system condemns rural people
to continued poverty is a more
compelling reason for developing a
diversified and settled form of agriculture
than any adverse aspect of natural
resource degradation.”
-- FAO and ADB, 1998)
1-3: Elicit perceptions from audience> “When you hear Slash and Burn what ideas come to mind?” 5: Accurate figures are difficult to gather. Certain that dropping each year. 7: In many shifting cultivation communities, animals provide the income needed to cover rice deficiency and the purchase of market goods. (should be accompanied by regulations and services such as training and vaccination) Mainly rice, but also corn, cassava, sweet potato, etc. Higher agriculture diversity (compared to wet rice)
1: gently sloping land is not available, shifting cultivation or improved fallow systems are probably the best form of arable cropping. 2: Poverty restricts farmers' opportunities to adopt cash cropping because they lack investment capital and are unable to wait for long-term returns. 3: Scarce land available for permanent cropping in shifting cultivation areas Weeding major part of labor for swidden (mostly labor) - Paddy: chemicals (fertilizers), heavy equipment, tillage
2- Permanent cropping leads to permanent deforestion 3: People often talk about land degradation caused by swidden. This is unfair because they’re comparing it to forest rather than agricultural land in general.
- Emphasis on hierarchy—one won’t look to pursue higher level needs before satisfying lower levels - Once they are satisfied they will no longer serve to motivate—you must go to the next level - Discuss in terms of needs and barriers to those needs:Reduction and Stabilization Policies Land tenure; Land use planning; Land allocation Promotion of permanent cash cropping Expansion of paddy area Increased animal husbandry Resettlement Increasing population pressure Limited flat land Limited labor Limited paddy technical knowledge
