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Agricultural systems result of the coevolution between social and natural systems, where biodiversity and natural resources play an important role, emerging interactions between crops and the natural environment that allow the development of ecological processes which interact with external inputs. This research aims to describe the agricultural practices developed by the Guarani Indigenous people in the agricultural systems located within the biodiversity corridor of the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest. This exploratory study is focused on multiple cases, with a qualitative approach and from data collected during 2017 and 2018 in eleven indigenous communities. The main practices developed for the management of biodiversity are polyculture, rotation, and embroideries; they also practice agroforestry and livestock-raising. The main difficulty they face is the reduction of the surrounding biodiversity, which affects the sustainability of the system. This study shows ways for nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation according to current needs for greening the economy.

Agroforestry has potential for strengthening the climate change resilience of smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, the food security challenges faced by smallholders will likely worsen due to climate change impacts. Agroforestry provides and option for strengthening climate change resilience, while contributing to food access, income, health, and environmental stability. To evaluate the evidence for such benefits, this systematic review identifies 22 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2019 which assess agroforestry’s contributions to food security in Indonesia, mostly in Java or Sumatra. Analysis of the studies indicate that traditional and commercial agroforestry contribute to food security in diverse ways: for example, traditional homegardens offer 20% more dietary diversity than commercial counterparts, while commercial homegardens may contribute up to five times more income. Agri-silviculture contributions fall along a timber versus non-timber forest product continuum that displays a similar tradeoff between diversity and income. Those systems with a commercial focus may receive 54% of their income from a single commodity crop such as coffee, while traditional systems allow greater access to plants with medicinal benefits. Nearly all agroforestry systems offered indirect benefits for food security, such as allowing more off-farm work than traditional agriculture and contributing to environmental stability: users of agroforestry were found by one study to collect 83% less fuelwood from natural forests. One study highlighted that agroforestry options have up to 98% greater net present value (for periods over 30 years) compared to slash and burn style agriculture. However, very few studies of Indonesian agroforestry focused explicitly on financial analysis and food security, indicating the need for further research. Given the similar situations faced by many Southeast Asia countries, our findings contribute to emerging trends throughout the region regarding the relationship between agroforestry and food security.

The present study aims to explore smallholder’s household living standard relevant to slash-and-burn agriculture, and determine trend of key crops grown with respect to their production and related generated average gross income in the region of Faradje, in the far northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Surveys were conducted on agronomic and social economic characteristics prevailing in the area, in five localities, involving 50 farming households based on a questionnaire designed. Questions asked were about yield and gross income, considered as dependent variables as well as household size, farmland area, farming systems, crop types, distance between farms and home, farm task allocation, duration of fallowing, types of off-farm activities and number of reared animals taken as independent variables. Graphs were plotted using R statistic package (Version 3.6.1, 2019-07-05) and correlation analysis was conducted using Genstat 12th edition. The results showed that each household produced yearly on average 793.71 kg of paddy rice, 194.96 kg of maize grain, 175 kg of cassava chips, 70.50 kg of groundnut seeds and 8.60 kg of beans on an average of 0.81 ha of cropland in two cropping seasons. The results also showed that the total annual average income earned by one household was US $ 940.60 with individual average income of US $188.90. This was slightly higher than the national average real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008 estimated at US $171; however, the figure was still unfortunately below the minimum of US $1 per day (0.52 US $/day) suggesting that slash-and–burn agriculture cropping system is far to achieve food security and accordingly improvement of economic situation in Faradje DRC. The household size and number of agricultural workers/households were weakly correlated with the average gross income (respectively, r = 0.29 and r = 0.35) whereas cropland surface area was moderately associated with the average gross income (r = 0.74). This demonstrates the importance of cropland surface in this cropping system in Faradje; suggesting that increasing farmers’ gross average income through slash-and-burn cropping system requires cropland expansion. Consequently, much should be undertaken to mitigate adverse effects of the established cropping system over the overall environment. Key words: Slash-and-burn agriculture, gross income, Faradje, DR Congo.

There is a shortage of studies about slash-and-burn in well-established agricultural systems and its importance for improving food production and enhancing biodiversity and agricultural diversity i...

Improved crop–fallow systems in the humid tropics can simultaneously sequester atmospheric carbon emissions and contribute to sustainable livelihoods of rural populations. A study with an indigenous community in eastern Panama revealed a considerable biophysical potential for carbon offsets in small-scale slash-and-burn agriculture through longer fallow periods, improved fallow management, secondary forest development, and agricultural intensification. Based on soil and biomass carbon measurements, estimated annual sequestration rates amount to 0.3−3.7 t C ha − 1 yr − 1 . Despite such potential, the economic benefits of initiatives aimed at sequestration of carbon in the community are likely to be rather unequally distributed within the community. Heterogeneity in livelihood strategies and uneven asset endowments among households – factors often overlooked in the ongoing carbon and sustainable development debate – are expected to strongly affect household participation. Indeed, only the better-endowed households that have also managed to diversify into more lucrative farm and non-farm activities are likely to be able to participate in and thus benefit from improved crop–fallow systems that capture carbon. Economic, ethical, institutional, and technical concerns need to be taken into account when designing community carbon management and investment plans.

Background Slash-and-burn is a typical soil management system in tropical regions, in which the use of fire and the fallow time are key factors for controlling the dynamics of the physical and chemical attributes of the soil. The present study evaluated the ability of the fallow period to regenerate the soil, making it similar to the soil of a mature native forest, and compared it with other agricultural soils using a slash-and-burn chronosequence. Soil samples (0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm) were collected in areas with slash-and-burn agriculture [2-year crop (cassava); 10 and 15-years fallow] and in nearby areas with eucalyptus forest plantation, agroforestry system and mature native forest. Results Slash-and-burn agriculture does not alter soil bulk density; however, it reduces aggregate geometric mean diameter (GMD). A 15-year fallow can restore the GMD to values similar to those other areas. The sensitivity index of GMD shows the improvement of aggregation after a 15-year fallow. Total organic carbon decreases in a 2-year crop but increases in a 10-year fallow. A 15-year fallow increases particulate organic carbon and mineral-associated organic carbon compared to a 2-year crop. Total nitrogen, particulate nitrogen and mineral-associated nitrogen decrease in the years following the burning but increase throughout a 15-year fallow. Conclusion The results of the chemical and physical attributes evaluated indicate that a fallow period of 15 years or more after a crop cycle in slash-and-burn agriculture can restore the original soil conditions. The soil quality conservation in the slash-and-burn agriculture is superior to that of continued cultivation of agricultural crops, or monoculture plantations. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Frequency distributions of tree diameters are a powerful tool for analyzing changes of tree populations in large areas. We analyzed the densities and mean volume estimates of trees in different size classes for the Finnish forests over the time-span of the National Forest Inventories (1921–2013). The results display a general increase in trees in all size classes, species group and geographical area, mainly after the 1970s. The densities of medium- and large-sized conifers showed large increases in the southern boreal subzone, spruces even more than pines. Small- to medium-sized pines have increased in the middle and northern boreal subzones. The shifts in growing stock are related to changing land use, resulting from the development of the society. The low quantities of both growing stock and large trees during the 1920s reflect a poor initial state of forests. Several land use forms of the former agriculture-based society were detrimental to forests, including slash and burn agriculture, cattle grazing and tar production. The pressure from alternative land use forms was stronger in southern Finland, where the population density (people per km2) is much higher. Between 1971 and 2013, the changes in size-class structure can be attributed mainly to intensified silviculture boosted by actions of the Finnish governments, including both legislation and financial support for management activities. Not only the development of growing stock has exceeded expectations, but the increase has also concentrated in the economically valuable trees in the large size classes.

Forests are one of the most valuable ecosystems in the world, containing over 60% of the world’s biodiversity. This ecosystem has multiple social economic values, apart from its intrinsic value. Forest provides a sustainable environment. Deforestation leads to the disappearance of sustainable development. Deforestation takes place due to multiple of reasons like logging, population growth, urbanization, grazing, construction of dams and reservoirs, habitat fragmentation, slash and burn method of farming, wildfire, global warming, hydroelectric projects. Agriculture is considered to be the backbone of the Ethiopian economy and almost 85% of the societies in Ethiopia engage in agriculture. The agricultural sector in Ethiopia in particular and in Africa, in general, is highly affected by deforestation directly and indirectly. Therefore, this paper focuses not only on the causes and consequences of deforestation but also seeks for better alternatives to tackle deforestation in Ethiopia

Turmeric farming in slash and burn areas of Bangladesh plays an important role for generating cash income. This paper estimates technical efficiency of turmeric farmers in the slash and burn areas of Bangladesh and identifies sources of inefficiency using survey data obtained from 150 farmers over 6 villages throughout 2014/2015 growing season. Turmeric farming displayed much variability in technical efficiency ranging from 18 to 96% with mean technical efficiency of 84%, which suggested a substantial 16% of potential output of turmeric can be recovered by removing inefficiency. Besides improving technical efficiency, potential also exists for raising turmeric production through intensive training and extension services. For a land scarce country like Bangladesh this gain could help increase income and ensure better livelihood for the hilly farmers. The key policy implication of the analysis is that investment in training and extension service would greatly improve technical efficiency.

This account describes the context, history and outcomes of a series of studies into the ecology of slash-and-burn (S-B) agriculture in the world's humid tropics. These studies, which began in the mid-1980s, identified promising lines of research and continued to field trials, in Central America, of candidate agricultural systems as possible sustainable alternatives to the practice. The only system to emerge from 7 years' comparative trial with any promise of sustainability, in this context, was the agroforestry technique known as alley-cropping; but only with trees of the genus Inga . Inga alley-cropping then underwent field trials with subsistence farming families in northern Honduras. The system was aimed at the twin objectives of achieving food security in basic grains, on minimal inputs, and of providing the means of eliminating further S-B in the region. Since then, Inga alley-cropping has become the heart of a sustainable and integrated rural livelihood model (the Guama Model) which is being implemented successfully in northern Honduras with some 300 families. These families had been attempting to subsist on a few hectares of land degraded by decades or centuries of S-B. The development of Inga alley-cropping, supplemented by rock phosphate and other mineral supplements, as a sustainable subsistence and cash crop alternative means that land previously being held in reserve for subsequent S-B operations can now be planted to permanent forms of agroforestry. Entire landscapes can be re-greened by productive agroforest vegetation. Achieving this at scale will require the investment of huge extension effort and funds. However, the environmental, social and economic returns are also huge; and they are sustainable. In this programme,we are seeing the vitality and goodwill of hundreds of families focussed on the raising, planting and management of trees in ways that feed the living organisms of the soil and, hence, feed themselves. In so cheerfully planting out their own futures, they plant and reshape the future of their own country. Replicating this at scale, as Rattan Lal outlines below, could reshape the future of this planet. In the mid-1980s, progress on sustainable alternatives to S-B, especially in rain forests, was frustrated by a lack of conclusiveness in the literature as to why soil fertility fails so rapidly post-burn; but also by a degree of contradiction on the impacts of the burn on certain plant nutrients. Hands (Hands 1988 The ecology of shifting cultivation. MSc thesis, University of Cambridge) concentrated on the role of soil phosphorus and attempted to resolve these contradictions. The Cambridge Alley-cropping Projects (1988–2002) continued this theme and threw light on the question of sustainable food production in rain forest environments.

This paper deals with the identification of past slash-and-burn agriculture in soils. Slash-and-burn is inferred to have been used by ancient people since the emergence of agriculture but its detection in archaeological and paleoenvironmental records often remains ambiguous, mainly because we lack knowledge about how agrarian fires are recorded in soils. We study charcoal assemblages from profiles excavated in four contemporary farm plots in the tropical forest of northern Guatemala, in order to provide a baseline of the slash-and-burn signature. By combining analyses of charcoal >2 mm (pedoanthracology) with infra-millimetric charcoal 100–400 µm, we compare charcoal concentration, distribution of size classes, morphotypes and taxon spectra between plots and between layers in each profile. Our results show that 1) different practices (length of cultivation cycle, duration of use, number of fires) leave different charcoal assemblages; 2) soil structure and porosity seem to greatly impact the preservation of the slash-and-burn signal by modifying the degree of infiltration of infra-millimetric charcoal; 3) infra-millimetric particles identified as Asteraceae achenes are homogenously abundant in the profiles, suggesting that achenes have a different behavior in soils compared to the other particles, and that they might be more impacted by aerial transport. Our study shows that the combination of pedoanthracology with analysis of infra-millimetric soil charcoal has the potential to track changing slash-and-burn regimes, and thus to clarify spatial–temporal patterns of agriculture intensification and extensification in people history.

The tropical forests provide important ecosystem services at local and global scales (i.e. climate regulation, carbon cycling, and food resources). Shifting cultivation (SC) is the most common traditional farm system in tropical forest landscapes, which along with hunting and gathering from forests, have been the main food sources and livelihoods. This traditional SC was probably sustainable for nomadic indigenous populations for centuries. However, the non-traditional shifting cultivation is a consequence of cultural changes of indigenous communities influenced by western culture that induce land-use changes using new technologies, promoting the high local-scale expansion and intensification, and overhunting. The intensification occurs due to the short-term farm system, low crop diversity or monocultures, and larger slash and burn forest patches inducing agricultural expansion due to higher commercial crop demand. This expansion and intensification determine the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, forest degradation and fragmentation, higher greenhouse gas emissions, defaunation and local extinction. Thus, degraded forest rehabilitation with different sustainable food systems (i.e. Agroforestry) can reduce the expansion and intensification of SC. Restored forest, agroforestry, and second-growth forests can be restored as reservoirs for valuable biodiversity and a host of different ecosystem services. Tropical forests are central to climate change mitigation efforts and should prioritize the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. In this context, we provide a review on the effects of shifting cultivation intensification on tropical forest landscapes as a base to apply sustainable climate-smart practices in the context of UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

The Brazilian Amazon forest area has many isolated communities practising small-scale agriculture in a primary forest matrix. Grant programmes, such as the Bolsa Floresta Programme (BFP), aimed to protect the forest and reduce social injustice by offering financial support for family agricultural operations as a mitigation measure for deforestation. Once there seem to be convergences between the BFP and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the objective of this work is to assess the synergies and conflicts between SDGs and the BFP. The study relies on primary data from fieldwork that was conducted between 2017 and 2018. The fieldwork for this case study research was conducted at Uatuma Sustainable Development Reserve. The study sought to better understand the efficiency of BFP and its contribution to improving local communities’ livelihoods. In addition, secondary data and remote sensed data were used to better understand the impact of swiddens (land cleared for cultivation by slashing and burning vegetation) on the Amazon forest. The study demonstrated how the BFP is connected to the most SDGs and that some of the BFP initiatives presented conflict with some SDGs at its target level. A concept map was produced to synthesize the web of interdependences. The results showed the complex interdependences between the BFP and the SDGs and the existing gaps and trade-offs at ground level.

In the history and civilization of mankind, shifting cultivation is being regarded as the oldest method of agriculture. Also this agricultural method is termed as “slash and burn agriculture,” “swidden agriculture,” “land-rotation cultivation,” “field-forest rotation agriculture,” “digging stick cultivation,” etc., and in North East India as “Jhum.” The practice is most prevalent in the hilly areas of tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. Notably, this oldest agriculture practice has practitioners in large scale till today in the hilly areas of North East India. This study is an attempt to understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of shifting cultivation in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh using LISS IV and Landsat time-series from 2003 to 2017. Complete shifting cycles were extracted from the sequence of use and fallow periods and vulnerability codes were assigned accordingly. Geodatabase was generated by considering image of 2003 as the base year and the same geodatabase was used to digitize the shifting cultivation areas from the rest of the images. Analysis of shifting cultivation patches showed an increasing and decreasing trend in the occurrence of shifting cultivation practices across 2003–17. The increasing trend during the study period has been observed with the slight dip in 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2015 and some major dips in 2010 and 2014 in shifting cultivation practices. Vulnerability class was assigned to each of these shifting cultivation patches based on threshold level given for the rotation cycles (fallow periods). Vulnerability class analysis revealed that most of the completed shifting cultivation cycles are extremely vulnerable in nature which accounts for almost 40.07% of the completed shifting cultivation patches, whereas only about 13.16% of completed shifting cultivation patches falls under the nonvulnerable status.

Microbial interconnections in soil are pivotal to ecosystem services and restoration. However, little is known about how soil microbial interconnections respond to slash-and-burn agriculture and to the subsequent ecosystem restoration after the practice. Here, we used amplicon sequencing and co-occurrence network analyses to explore the interconnections within soil bacterial and fungal communities in response to slash-and-burn practice and a spontaneous restoration (spanning ca. 60 years) of tropical forests after the practice, in Papua New Guinea. We found significantly higher complexity and greater variations in fungal networks than in those of bacteria, despite no significant changes observed in bacterial or fungal networks across successional stages. Within most successional stages, bacterial core co-occurrences (co-occurrences consistently present across all sub-networks in a stage) were more frequent than those of fungi, indicating higher stability of interconnections between bacteria along succession. The stable interconnections occurred frequently between bacterial taxa (i.e. Sporosarcina, Acidimicrobiale and Bacillaceae) and between ectomycorrhizal fungi (Boletaceae and Russula ochroleuca), implying important ecological roles of these taxa in the ecosystem restoration. Collectively, our results provide new insight into microbial interconnections in response to slash-and-burn agriculture and the subsequent ecosystem restoration, thus promoting a better understanding of microbial roles in ecosystem services and restoration.

The recent haze affecting Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, as well as forest fires in the Amazon have raised global concerns on the debilitating effect of slash-and-burn agricultural practice particularly as nations are joining forces in combating climate change. With slash-and-burn still widely practised in the developing nations, this literature review aims to examine the drivers of slash-and-burn agriculture and its impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric CO2 sequestration, while suggesting alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture. The review covers more than 80 articles on slash-and-burn agriculture, published mainly over the past 15 years. Slashand-burn agriculture has been survived by the pressure to make a living under inadequate resources, access to market and technologies, a lack of alternative livelihoods as well as loopholes in institutional mechanisms, regulations and enforcement. Slash-and-burn agriculture leads to chemical changes of soil, alteration of soil biota and species richness, and the extent of changes correlates with fallow period after slash-and-burn. Large-scale slash-and-burn for commercial agriculture and livestock farming is the major contributor of greenhouse gases and agricultural intensification shortens fallow period for recovery of ecosystems. Slash-and-burn also impacts the ability of forests to sequester atmospheric CO2 and short fallow period further reduces this ability. This review calls for alternative agricultural practices comprising two approaches namely land preparation and landuse systems, as adaptation and mitigation against climate change. Land preparation consists of mulching, improved forest conversion, mechanized land preparation and slash-and-char system.Land-use systems however are categorized into alternative agrosystems, agroforestry, cultivated pastureland and integrated system of crop-livestock-forests. This review therefore contributes to raising awareness and proposing practical alternatives to slash-and-burn for environmental sustainability.

Na Amazônia, a maioria dos diferentes tipos de solo é pobre, dessa forma, o pequeno produtor depende da queima da biomassa acumulada (corte e queima) para aumentar as qualidades nutricionais do solo e preparar a área para o cultivo por meio da cinza, que pode, por exemplo, aumentar enormemente a quantidade de potássio, cálcio e magnésio disponíveis nos solo. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar alternativas menos agressivas aos ecossistemas amazônicos no que se refere ao tradicional sistema de corte e queima amplamente utilizado por agricultores de todo o Brasil. Foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema nas revistas acadêmicas científicas disponíveis on-line e impressas, reunindo alternativas para o uso do fogo encontrados nas fontes de consulta. As técnicas de preparo do solo sem o uso do fogo buscam principalmente eliminar queimadas descontroladas e recuperar a fertilidade do solo possibilitando assim a continuidade da atividade produtiva sem grandes riscos e impactos ao ecossistema local. Portanto, o uso de tecnologias e formas de manejo que possam de alguma forma mitigar a incidências de queimadas na Amazônia é primordial para o desenvolvimento sustentável das atividades produtivas desenvolvidas nesse bioma.

Landicho LD, Ocampo MTNP, Cabahug RED, Baliton RS, Andalecio E, Inocencio R, Servanez M, Cosico RSA, Abadillos MG, Catillo AKA. 2020. Tiger grass (Thysanolaena maxima) cultivation in CALSANAG watershed in Romblon, Philippines: dilemmas and prospects for sustainable natural resources management. Biodiversitas 21: 2322-2330. Promoting sustainable natural resources management is a complex issue such that striking a balance between socioeconomic productivity and environmental integrity remains a challenge. This paper highlights the results of a study conducted from April to December 2019, which assessed the state of natural resources management in Barangay Marinorte, Romblon, which is part of the CALSANAG (Calatrava, San Andres, and San Agustin) Watershed. Biophysical characterization was done to determine land use and biodiversity, while farm household survey was administered to 133 farmers to characterize their socioeconomic conditions. Results showed that all of the farmer-respondents were engaged in the production of tiger grass (Thysanolaena maxima Roxb), where most of the farm households derived an estimated annual income of >Php50,000. Although their household income is higher as compared to other upland farming communities in the Philippines, most of them expressed that their income is insufficient since tiger grass is harvested only once a year, and the farmers have no alternative sources of income. On the other hand, biophysical characterization revealed the following: the farms are generally rainfed, have rolled to steep slopes, and have indications of low soil fertility, soil erosion incidence, and very low level of biodiversity (0.92). Most of the farmers practiced "slash-and-burn" to cultivate tiger grass as a single crop and hence, the forest cover has declined. A multi-agency collaboration jointly initiated agroforestry promotion in the upland farming communities through capability-building of upland farmers in agroforestry and establishment of tiger grass-based agroforestry model which showcases the economic and ecological viability of agroforestry systems in CALSANAG Watershed.

This chapter aims to describe and analyze the agricultural activities in Mayan communities of the center of Quintana Roo, Mexico, and the relation between a network of Mayan agricultural practices with the agri-food regime. This analysis presents Mayan communities as a niche that interacts with the regime as a particular and unique model. The methodology included a mixed methods approach of qualitative nature, including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and discourse analysis, based on grounded theory. The interaction between the regime and the Mayan communities is observed in three aspects: (1) In the activities of honey production, (2) In the activities of traditional agriculture, and (3) In the forms of social organization of the communities. The traditional agricultural systems in the communities coexist and interact with the regime, which is the dominant actor. In the activities of honey production, the agri-food regime imposes strict rules about the know-how of production and “transfers” technological packages and technical knowledge to the Mayan peasants, thereby displacing traditional practices and knowledge, for example, with respect to breeding native bees. Both in agricultural activities and social organizations, the regime does not dominate the communities because peasants maintain cultivation of the milpa (i.e., the slash-and-burn cultivation) and because community social organizations have a high degree of consolidation.

The North Eastern Indian states, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, and hill districts of Assam constitute about 52% area of total Eastern Himalaya. This part of India is a culturally diverse region inhabited by more than 200 tribes in eight states and also recognized as one of the biodiversity hot spots in the world. The entire North Eastern Region (NER) is endowed with rich floral, faunal, and socio-cultural diversity represented by Trans Himalaya, Himalaya and North East India, Bio-geographic realms, an Indo-Burma biodiversity hot spot. Shifting cultivation, also known as jhum, is the major farming system in the hilly terrains of NER. Jhum cultivation is a cyclic process of slash and burn of community-owned natural forests followed by the cultivation of food crops. After 2–3 years of cultivation in a particular piece of land, the jhumia farmers rotate the land and the previously cultivated area is left fallow for regeneration. Wet terrace paddy cultivation in valleys is another traditional farming practice in the NER. These traditional farming practices are unique and tribe-specific which maintains high cultural and farm agro-biodiversity in the region. Alder-based jhum and wet terrace paddy cultivation by Angami tribe, Zabo system of Chakhesang tribe, tree-based cultivation of Konyak tribe in Nagaland, paddy-cum-fish farming and jhum cultivation by Apatani tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, jhum and bun (terrace) farming by ethnic Khasi tribe of Meghalaya, rice-based farming in Tripura, organic farming, as well as terrace rice cultivation in the river valleys of Sikkim are the predominant traditional farming systems. These indigenous farming systems in the NER represent rich cultural and agro-biodiversity. This chapter attempts to describe unique traditional farming systems, innovations to transform conventional jhum cultivation, farm agro-biodiversity and rural livelihood of tribal communities in the NER of India.

It remains debatable whether slash-and-burn practices were adopted in rice cultivation by the Neolithic Kuahuqiao culture in the Ningshao Plain, one of the birthplaces of rice farming. Here, we established charcoal-based indices to reconstruct the history of fire and vegetation in the Ningshao Plain since the last glacial period. We collected representative modern vegetation and conducted combustion and fragmentation experiments to simulate fire and depositional processes, respectively. Charcoals from modern vegetation show clear morphological differences between herbaceous and woody plants. In particular, the length to width ratios (L/W) of herbaceous charcoals were systematically higher than those of woody charcoals, and the associated end-member values were 4.50 and 1.94, respectively. These values were then applied to sediment cores (KHQ-14/15) collected in proximity to the Kuahuqiao archaeological site. Results show that the amount of combusted herbaceous plants increased sharply after the Holocene, and the most remarkable rise occurred around 8550 yr B.P. This observation may reflect local environment (sedimentary and/or climatic) changes or small-scale early human activities. During the Kuahuqiao cultural period (8250−7450 yr B.P.), the relative abundance of woody charcoals increased, but the overall fire intensity decreased. This finding suggests that the Kuahuqiao farming was restricted to a small geographic area and large-scale slash-and-burn farming activities were not adopted.

Transboundary haze has been a critical environmental concern in the region of Southeast Asia in the recent decades. The smoke occurred by land clearing through burning activities for agricultural cultivation and urban development is a significant contributors to haze issue which has affected countries within the region and beyond. Instead of ‘slashing and burning’ the biomass residues, there is the possibility of utilising the biomass residue produced either by land-clearing or on plantations to become higher value bio-products,with monetary returns to the plantations and farmers. Due to the diffuse nature of biomass which leads to high transportation costs, effective spatial planning is required for cost-effectiveness and sustainable biomass supply. This study focuses on mitigation of transboundary haze by moving away from the conventional activities of biomass ‘slash and burn’ through its conversion to energy. A spatial optimal biomass allocation networks has been developed to address the issue of transportation distance of biomass to the centralised bioenergy facility by taking into account the geographical locations of the biomass, biomass availability, distances, and transportation cost. Five optimal centralised biomass facilities were identified in Peninsular Malaysia. The results indicated that the cost of electricity generated from oil palm trunk (OPT) and oil palm frond (OPF) was USD 0.13/kWh which is comparable with current Feed-in-Tariff (FiT). The result suggests that the conversion of biomass–to-energy could create economic benefits and ultimately reduce open burning practices, and prevent the transboundary haze issue in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.

Haze is a common phenomenon afflicting Southeast Asia (SEA), including Malaysia, and has occurred almost every year within the last few decades. Haze is associated with high level of air pollutants; it reduces visibility and affects human health in the affected SEA countries. This manuscript aims to review the potential origin, chemical compositions, impacts and mitigation strategies of haze in Malaysia. “Slash and burn” agricultural activities, deforestation and oil palm plantations on peat areas, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia were identified as the contributing factors to high intensity combustions that results in transboundary haze in Malaysia. During the southwest monsoon (June to September), the equatorial SEA region experiences a dry season and thus an elevated number of fire events. The prevailing southerly and south-westerly winds allow the cross-boundary transportation of pollutants from the burning areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia, to Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, respectively. The dry periods caused by the El Nino - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) prolong the duration of poor air quality. The size range of particulate matter (PM) in haze samples indicates that haze is dominated by fine particles. Secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA, such as SO42- and NH4+) and organic substances (such as levoglucosan, LG) were the main composition of PM during haze episodes. Local vehicular emissions and industrial activities also contribute to the amount of pollutants and can introduce toxic material such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Haze episodes have contributed to increasing hospital visits for treatments related to chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, upper respiratory infections, asthma and rhinitis. Respiratory mortality increased 19% due to haze episodes. Children and senior citizens are more likely to suffer the health impacts of haze. The inpatient cost alone from haze episodes was estimated at around USD 91,000 per year in Malaysia. Almost all economic sectors also experienced losses, with the heaviest losses in the agriculture and tourism sectors. This review suggests several ways forward to reduce haze episodes in SEA and Malaysia. These include economic approaches, research collaborations and science-policy interface. Improving forecasting capabilities can help reduce response time to burning events and subsequently reduce its impacts. Lastly, commitment and involvement by individuals, government agencies, and the entrepreneurial private sectors are crucial to reduce biomass burning (BB) and haze episodes in SEA.

On the western coast of Madagascar, the dry tropical forest of Kirindy may disappear in the next 50 years because of its rapid conversion into agricultural land by slash-and-burn cultivation. The slash-and-burn fields are cultivated during 3 years in average and are further abandoned because of soil depletion, weed invasion and finally lower crop yields. As a consequence, new forest areas are regularly cleared from the primary forest, causing deforestation. In addition, Madagascar is situated in a region with high cyclonic activity. Violent storms hit the western coast every 3-4 years, leading to intense rainfalls and floods. These events may enhance soil physical degradation and nutrient leaching, thereby accentuating the soil depletion by slash-and-burn agriculture and with it, the forest conversion rate. Focusing on the combined effects of historic land management and prevailing climatic conditions, this paper investigates: (1) the temporal evolution of soil fertility along with crop performance from cultivation up to field abandonment, and (2) the relative effects of land use (crop cultivation) and extreme climatic events (heavy rain, cyclonic storms) on soil and crop properties. We used a space-for-time substitution approach in slash-and-burn corn (Zea mays L) fields to describe dynamics of soil fertility and crop performance. We sampled soils and plants during two seasons: (a) a normal rainy season, in 2014, and (b) a cyclonic rainy season, in 2015. We found that under the cyclonic storm, soil becomes not only N and P deficient, but the K concentration also steeply drops. Overall, this leads to a dramatic reduction of corn performance. While a decrease in grain yield due to slash-and-burn agriculture reaches about 37.5% after three years of cultivation on the same field (from 4 to 2.5 t ha(-1)), it decreases up to 75% after a single cyclonic rainy season (from 4 to 1 t ha(-1)). On the sidelines of the study, a locust pest also damaged half of the corn fields in 2014, driving the corn yield down to zero on those particular fields. Given what precedes, the study points out the fragility of traditional agricultural techniques against natural hazards. Along with global Warming, the frequency and intensification of natural disasters are expected to increase, impacting negatively and strongly the livelihoods of rural farmers. This raises the urgent need to increase farmer's awareness to alternative and more sustainable agricultural practices. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The slash-and-burn agricultural system is one of the oldest types of no-tillage soil management. However, farmers using fire may cause unintentional damage to soil structure in the slash-and-burn system. Herein, it is assumed that larger soil aggregates (≥2.0 mm to

Tropical rain forests are viable economic resources for people and their surrounding communities for they serve as sources of food and other materials. This descriptive research provides baseline information that describes and analyzes the socio-economic characteristics of human communities within the three forest patches of Sipalay City and the impact of their activities on these forest reserves. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed using survey, ethnobiology workshops, focus group discussions, and key informant interview methods to selected respondents living in these forests. Majority of the households that were natives and lived within the watershed reservation areas relied on farming and live below the poverty threshold due to lack of education, poor road network, and poor access to electricity and communication. Hence, forest areas were utilized in planting crops to support respondents’ meager incomes. Hunting, illegal logging, charcoal making, mining, dumping of garbage within the reservation, cutting of trees for firewood, kaingin/slash and burn system and human settlements were some of the anthropogenic activities that adversely affected the reservation and contributed to the decrease of vegetation, forest cover, and floral and faunal resources of Sipalay Forest Reserves. Given the situation, majority of the human communities living within the tropical forest were still willing to join programs that protect the remaining forest patches in Sipalay. Findings served as bases for identification of appropriate interventions for the management and development of the area.