FARMER EDUCATION AND ADOPTION OF SLASH AND BURN AGRICULTURE

Education can play a critical role in moving farmers in developing countries away from environmentally harmful slash and burn agriculture. The present research examines the extent to which extension education can promote adoption of cropping systems other than slash and burn. Choice of cropping system by farmers in Cameroon, whether slash and burn, multiple crops, or mono-cropping, is modeled as a function of farm size, farmer educational level, and visits by extension personnel. Results indicate that higher visitation rates by extension personnel reduce not only the likelihood of farmers choosing slash and burn agriculture, but also promotes movement into mono-cropping. Since mono-cropping represents a move toward export-oriented agriculture in Cameroon, this movement may assist in promoting greater economic development across western Africa. Continued efforts in extension education are, therefore, critical in both reducing the environmental damage from slash and burn agriculture and promoting adoption of more profitable cropping systems.conservation, slash and burn, production technology, economic development, Farm Management,

The impact of shifting cultivation in the forestry ecosystems of timor-leste

Every year thousands of hectares of forest are destructed as a result of the practice of swidden agriculture, shifting cultivation or "slush and burn" causing changes in forest ecosystems. In Timor- Leste shifting cultivation is still practiced nowadays as a form of subsistence agriculture. Swidden agriculture is characterized by slash and burn clearing, by a rotation of fields rather than of crops, and by short periods of cropping (1-3 years) alternating with long fallow periods. Based on the characterization of shifting cultivation in two Sucos of Bobonaro district, a reflection is made on the impact of this practice in the sustainable development of forest ecosystems of Timor- Leste. Primary data collection was performed using a questionnaire survey of farmers practicing shifting cultivation. The questionnaire characterized shifting cultivation, and asked farmers’ opinion on slash and burning of forest areas and on the importance of forests. According to the results obtained, in most situations the existing vegetation before the slash was composed of dense forest, the slash is made by the family group, the majority of farmers have been doing the “slush and burn” for more than ten years and the size of the plots where slash is made is less than 2 hectares. The materials resulting from the slash are used for firewood, building materials and fencing. The burning of vegetable residues is done before planting and soil preparation and sowing is done with a lever. Land and forest, despite having an individual use, have a tenure regime of ownership and access in which its nature of common pool good prevails. Every year thousands of hectares of forest are destructed as a result of the practice of swidden agriculture, shifting cultivation or "slush and burn" causing changes in forest ecosystems. In Timor-Leste shifting cultivation is still practiced nowadays as a form of subsistence agriculture

近世後期の焼畑小作と村社会 : 阿波国那賀郡木頭村を中心に

This article reexamines the empirical history of early modern slash-and-burn tenant farming, which, in the field of economic forestry history, has long been viewed as one of the conditions that supported the rise of commercial forestry. In the Naka River’s Upper Watershed, the main houses of local families owned fields known as kirihata used for slash-and-burn agriculture. Customarily, branch houses engaged in slash-and-burn farming under the direction of main houses. In addition, local archival records enable us to confirm the existence of slash-and-burn tenant farming during the mid-eighteenth century. In the case of slash-and-burn tenant farming, the wner and tenant, who was another villager outside the owner’s kinship network, would enter a contract, which stipulated the lease period and rental rate. Once the lease period had ended, the tenant would return the property to the owner. For the tenant, slash-and-burn tenant farming represented a chance to farm fields other than those controlled by their clan\u27s main house. The emergence of slash-and-burn tenant farming transformed intra-village social relations, which previously centered around kinship networks. Furthermore, because land rents had to be paid in cash, slash-and-burn tenant farming thrust the region into a new economic era in which villagers had to obtain cash by engaging in commercial agriculture

From slash and burn to 'slash and mulch'

In semi-arid cropping regions of West Africa, fallow periods are getting shorter. As land becomes more scarce, farmers are not able to give their soils enough time to rest. This is leading to depletion of soil organic matter, severely threatening soil fertility and damaging soil structure. In the worst cases, crops hardly yield anything anymore, even with the addition of chemical fertilizers. In Burkina Faso, some farming families have found ways to restore their soil productive capacity through the use of low external input practices, based on mulch application of branches and leaves from local flora. The techniques described in this article are relevant for organic farming systems as they rely mainly on locally-available resources and diminish the addition of external inputs to the system. Although third party certification of organic family farming in the study zone is non-existent, the innovation dubbed 'slash and mulch' may be an important practice to up-scale organic frameworks and eventually promote organic certification through partnerships between farmers. Developing locally suited practices based on farmer innovations is a key component for the widespread of organic schemes and promotion of ecologically-sound techniques

Sistem Tebas Bakar dan Pengaruhnya terhadap Komponen Fisik Kimia Tanah Serta Vegetasi pada Ladang dan Lahan Bera (Studi Kasus di Desa Pruda Kecamatan Waiblama Kabupaten Sikka Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur)

Shifting cultivation by slash and burn system is an agricultural activity which is generally done farmers in dry land. Slash-and-burn is practiced by the farmers because it is easy and inexpensive, with aims to improve the content of nutrients in the soil, eradicate weeds, reduce costs, reduce the incidence of pests and diseases and to increase crop production. Land clearing by slash and burn system in a short period of time have a positive impact as the availability of N, P, K, Ca, Mg. However, long periods of slash and burn have negative impact there will be changes in physical and chemical components of soil and change the dominant vegetationin the fields and fallow land. These changes will affect the l evel of productivity of the soil, especially in the land which was done. To reduce the negative impacts, farm management system with slash and burn practices, should be considered with conservation activities, especially from the aspect of land management techniques. Those negative effect might be minimized by arious treatments such as time of burning tehnique, chosen of burned biomass, and time of digged biomass. All those should be supported by a basic information affect of burning to change of physical and chemical soil characteristic at various land cultivation and length of cultivation. Result of study that had been conducted at Pruda village, sub-district of Waiblama, district of Sikka, Propince of Nusa Tenggara Timur showed that total Nitrogen and C organic increased gradually when land has been 3 years fallow. Result of single factor showed that soil aggregation was a ffected significantly by fallow than cultivated land

REPLACING SLASH AND BURN PRACTICES WITH SLASH AND COMPOSTING TO REDUCE CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS FROM DEGRADED PEATLAND

Slash and burn are commonly practiced in opening new field in tropical peatland. This method, if uncontrolled, may cause peat fires and increase CO2 emissions. Therefore, alternative method of peatland preparation for agriculture is needed. The study aimed to obtain peatland preparation technologies to prevent peat fires and reduce CO2 emissions. The study was conducted at degraded peatland in Kalampangan, Central Kalimantan from June to October 2017. Split plot design with three replications was used. The main plot was the type of land arrangement, i.e. without and with raised beds. The subplot was the type of land preparation, i.e. slash and burn, slash followed by composting the weeds, slash and make the weeds as mulches, and slash followed by composting the weeds and accompanied by plastic mulch. Soil characteristics, fires vulnerability, and CO2 emissions were measured before and after land preparation. Results showed that slash and composting reduced CO2 emission from cultivated peatland. Slash and burn resulted 4.98 t CO2 ha-1 emissions per season, which is four times higher than slash followed by composting that produced 1.20 t CO2 ha-1 per season. Groundwater level, redox potential (Eh), soil pH, and soil water content affected CO2 emissions. Groundwater level and water content negatively correlated with CO2 emissions. The shallow water level and the high water content, the lower is CO2 emissions. The Eh and soil pH positively correlated with CO2 emissions. The high positive value of Eh indicates that the soil was in high oxidative conditions, resulting in high CO2 emissions.

The identification of prehistoric Amazonian slash-and-burn cultivation practices using agent-based modeling

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Aug. 19, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Deborah M. Pearsall.M.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.The Amazonian Slash-and-Burn Model and the Succession Model, both agentbased models, were developed to help address how much influence prehistoric Amazonian populations practicing slash-and-burn cultivation had on their surrounding environment and if different slash-and-burn cultivation strategies, i.e. short-fallow, bush-fallow, and long-fallow, could be identified based on the signatures left behind by these cultivation practices in subsequent forest composition and patterning. Both models were sensitivity tested to determine the validity and predictability of the parameters generated from ethnographic data. The outcome of this testing indicates that varying cultivation and fallow cycle lengths create different proportions of forest land, fallow land, and cultivation land on the total landscape through time. These results suggest that different prehistoric Amazonian slash-and-burn cultivation strategies could potentially be identified in paleoecological records based on the proportional signatures.Includes bibliographical reference

Environmental Harm and Decriminalization of Traditional Slash-and-Burn Practice in Indonesia

Traditional slash-and-burn as a way of clearing land for farming is allowed and exempted from being a criminal offense in Indonesia. However, this exemption should not be interpreted to mean that all traditional slash-and-burn practices are sustainable. Changes in habitat and sociocultural and economic conditions can render this once sustainable practice unsuitable in certain contexts and environments. This discussion on environmental harm from traditional slash-and-burn practices is not intended to call for a total ban of the practice nor does it suggest aggressive criminal law enforcement is required. This discussion is intended to clarify which practices we should protect and which ones should be addressed through various approaches to minimize harm. Such approaches should consider the local Indigenous communities as victims of ecological discrimination rather than perpetrators of environmental harm