Traditional Paddy Field in Thailand

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Introduction
  • Types of Traditional Agriculture
  • Common Characteristics of Traditional Systems
  • Preservation of Biodiversity
• Ladakh; A Case Study of Traditional Agriculture
• Key Facts and Figures
• Important Terms
• Commentary: Future of Traditional Agriculture
• Useful Links
• Useful Literature
• Cited Literature

Prepared by
Luc Kazimirski
for Biology 4806
Special Topics, Fall 1998.

OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

Fortunately, there is still a vast store of farming know-how in many of the less developed countries. Researchers are beginning to appreciate that many traditional farmers in the developing world are still practicing farming methods that are in balance with the surrounding ecosystems, stable, sustainable and highly efficient. Farmers, who have sometimes been portrayed as ignorant and not adaptive, have actually been utilizing very sophisticated methods of agricultural production for centuries. These farming systems can perhaps help the developed world to grow food with fewer chemical inputs, slow erosion, control pests, decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and feed an expanding global population.

This page provides an overview of traditional farming, and cites literature and links for further infomrtation. The main types of traditional systems are discussed along with their common features. Traditional systems are examined for their role in the preservation of biological diversity and the future of traditional agriculture is explored. There is also a case study of the farming methods employed in LADAKH, India. This information is based on a recent trip to the area by the author.

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TYPES OF TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE

Based on the work of Deshmukh (1986), traditional agricultural systems can be classified into one or more of the following basic categories.

• Shifting Cultivation
• Nomadic Pastoralism
• Continuous Cultivation
• Mixed Subsistence Farming

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COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS

Based on a literature survey with particular reference to Altieri (1987) and Marten (1986), I suggest that the following characteristics can be considered common, and important features of traditional farming systems.

1. Focus on risk reduction
2. Year round vegetative cover of soils
3. System diversity: farm systems based on several cropping systems, cropping systems based on a mixture of crops, and crops with varietal and other genetic variability.
4. Trophic complexity approaching natural systems. Multiple interactions between plants, weeds, pathogens and insects
5. High net energy yields because energy inputs are relatively low.
6. Low levels of inputs and high degree of self-sufficiency

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PERSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Modern and traditional varieties of beans

Traditional farmers constantly search for and promote novel variation in their crops. They acquire new varieties by exchange, while travelling, through purchase from markets and natural hybridization.This is actually one of the key features of traditional farming systems; the interaction between domesticated varieties and their wild relatives. The promotion of natural hybridization and introgression have, over time, increased the genetic diversity available to farmers. Traditional farmers also experiment with new varieties and breed plants purposefully to create new strains. They generally plant experimental plots first and only integrate new varieties into their main crops once a variety has proven itself to be of value. This constant experimentation and breeding has created the diversity of crops upon which we now depend (Richards, 1985).

Modern intensive agroecosystems that rely on monocultures and genetic homogeneity have become more susceptible to disease and pests, and to climatic variation ( link to agroecosystems home page). The varieties used, like HYV, tend to be high yielding only when supplied with intensive inputs and ideal growing conditions. Traditional varieties are of value to us because they embody characteristics that are potentially valuable, but not yet exploited. In the future, new varieties will be needed that can survive in adverse environmental conditions such as saline or acidic soils. The genetic resources needed to develop these new strains will probably come from the diversity of plants stored in traditional agroecosystems.

Traditional farming systems also promote genetic diversity. The landscape in a traditionally farmed area is a patchwork of different vegetation types created by the farming methods. The result is a variety of ecological niches that encouraged biological diversity. The landscape, even in intensively managed areas, is a mosaics of cultivated, grazed, uncultivated, and successional areas. Evidence from tropical forests as well as desert areas in the Americas shows that certain traditional agricultural activities increased the number of species present rather than decreased them (*FAO, 1996). Some of the areas with the richest species diversity, such as tropical forests, have been managed by humans for centuries. It is revealing to compare this diversity to the homogeneity apparent in modern farming; massive areas planted exclusively with a single strain of crops.

It is because of the diversity embodied in traditional farming systems, that in situ conservation of traditional varieties is promoted (*FAO, 1996). On-farm conservation leads to productive genetic diversification; the development of diversity that is useful and appropriate for traditional farmers and adapted to local growing conditions. In situ conservation also ensures that control remains in the hands of the farmers who will be managing the crops and is a constant stimulus to more productive agriculture. Ex situ conservation is also important but the Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources held in June 1996 in Leipzig, Germany, decided ex situ conservation is "predominantly for the purpose of complementing in-situ measures" (*FAO, 1996).

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TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE IN LADAKH, INDIA

Ladakh has a relatively undistured traditional culture which utilizes unique methods of agricultural production. The system is sustainable, stable and shares many of the common characteristics of traditional systems described in this page. Studied carefully, traditional agriculture often exhibits unique adaptive methodologies (Marten, 1986). In the case of Ladakh, an unusual system of fertilizing soils and an intricate irrigation network. Combined, these techniques allow Ladakhi people to flourish in an otherwise harsh and inhospitable climate.

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KEY FACTS AND FIGURES

Traditional systems are still important

• It is estimated that 20% of current world food production is still produced from traditional multi-cropping systems (FAO, 1996).
  
• Small farmers provide as much as 70% of the food production in many tropical countries. (Govinden, 1984)
  
• Small farmers own 50% of the land in India (Nellithanam and Samiti 1998)
  
• In India, 60% of the population is employed in agriculture (Green, 1987).

Traditional systems are efficient

• Swidden farming can yield food energy up to 20 times the human energy invested (Russell 1988)
• Intensive systems in the United States can yield as low as one tenth as much food energy as is invested in energy inputs. (Russell 1988).
  
• Pest losses in traditional agriculture range from 10 to 40 %. This is similar to modern agriculture which relies on pesticides (Brown and Marten, 1988)
  

Traditional farms are usually small

• The average farm size in Southeast Asia is 1.8 ha.
  80% of the farmers depend solely on their own labor (Marten, 1986)
  
• In India, 2 ha is the national average farm size (Green, 1987).
  
• In 1978, the average farm size in Iowa was 108 ha. (Loomis, 1984)

Traditional systems created and conserve species and gene pool diversity

• 319 species of plants in a virgin tropical forest, 223 species after cutting, planting and 10 years fallow (Pye-Smith, 1997).
• Of the 3,831 breeds of cattle, water buffalo, goats, pigs, sheep, horses, and donkeys that have existed this century, 16% have disappeared, and a further 15% are rare. (*FAO, 1996)
  
• It is estimated that high-yield varieties (HYVs) are now used on 52% of the worldºs wheat growing areas, 54% of land planted with rice, and 51% of maize farms. (*FAO, 1996)
  
• Of the approximately 7,000 species of plants that have been cultivated or collected by humans for food, only 30 crops now account for 95% of the global dietary energy (calories) or protein. Wheat, rice and maize provide more than 50% of the global plant-based energy intake. Nearly 90% of the food energy supplies of the world is provided by only 103 plant species. (*FAO, 1996)
  
• In India the mango, Mangifera indica, has been bred to create 1,000 varieties, and some 100,000 varieties exist of one species of rice, Oryza sativa. (*FAO, 1996)
  
• There were 300-400 varieties of rice traditionally grown in Sri Lanka, in 1982 only 15-20 were left. (Goldsmith, 1982)
  
• India had over 40 thousand varieties of rice, as of 1987, only 30 were commonly grown. (Green, 1987)

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IMPORTANT TERMS
(adapted from Marten and Saltman, 1986.)

TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE

Sustainable, stable farming system that has been used for several generations and has been able to supply the nutritional and material needs of its producers.

STABILITY

The reliability or consistency of yields. This factor reflects an agro-ecosystemºs ability to be productive despite diverse perturbations. A stable system will maintain acceptable yields even in years that are climatically harsh or have pest problems. Traditional farmers place a high priority on stability as well as risk reduction and social concerns.

SUSTAINIBILITY

The ability of a system to maintain productivity and stability year after year. This is effected by the ecological processes at work in the agro-ecosystem and reflects the systemºs ability to maintain favorable growing conditions through time. Loss of sustainability is generally associated with undesirable changes to the soil such as a decrease in soil fertility, persistent erosion or invasion of pests. Most traditional farming systems are highly sustainable; they have been practiced for thousands of years without changing the ecology of the soils.

PRODUCTIVITY

The yield of goods and services from an agro-ecosystem. This is generally measured in mass of goods produced per unit area but can be more broadly defined to include sustainability, stability, nutritional value, esthetic qualities and other community functions.

CULTURAL ENERGY

The total energy inputs into the farming system exclusive of solar energy. This broad term encompasses inputs such as caloric intake of farm workers, the energy value of petrochemicals used to manufacture fertilizers and the fossil fuel used in tractors. Often considered to be synonymous with the term energy subsidy.

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COMMENTARY: THE FUTURE OF TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE

Traditional farming is being replaced by modern intensive farming systems. This represents the loss of farming systems that are stable, sustainable and from which many valuable lessons can be learned. Traditional farming is also an important reserve and source of biodiversity. It is still perhaps the only sustainable system on marginal land. High yields of modern intensive agriculture have made it possible for the ever-increasing human population to be fed without the extensive destruction of habitats to provide the needed food. Unfortunately, this has been accomplished at the expense of the surrounding ecosystems. The challenge for the future is how to increase yields in traditional systems while retaining a certain measure of their integrity, in other words, to finds methods of sustainable intensification. Conversely, we need to integrate biological diversity into existing modern commercial agricultural systems

There is evidence that the adoption of conservation methods on large commercial farms can promote biological diversity (*FAO, 1996). Techniques such as crop rotation, intercropping, cover crops, integrated pest management, and green manures can be used in larger commercial systems. These practices can reduce dependence on fertilizers and pesticides and promote sustainable intensification. An integration of farming systems, combining the productivity of modern systems and the sustainability of traditional systems, could help to preserve biological diversity and feed a growing population without excessive damage to the environment.

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USEFUL LINKS