alternatives to shifting cultivationAgroforestry for Myanmar

East & Central Asia project briefs

Funded by the Livelihood and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT), our research aims at improving the livelihoods of upland farmers who are practicing shifting cultivation in northern Myanmar in a context of land use and policy change.

Shifting cultivation, still widely practiced in the uplands of Myanmar, is under pressure from hostile policies and competing new land uses, such as monocultures of rubber, maize, and other commercial crops. While the short-term gains of a transition from shifting cultivation to commercial plantations are obvious, long-term risks of declining livelihoods and degrading environments should not be overlooked, and beneficial aspects of shifting cultivation systems, such as maintaining a diverse tree cover, should not be given up lightly.

Research in pilot sites of southern Shan and northern Chin States can promote the conversion of shifting cultivation to more sustainable agroforestry systems by retaining or incorporating nitrogen-fixing trees, and by assisting in the management and marketing of crops that can be grown under a tree cover, and which are capable of increasing food and income security. Our research is embedded in a larger context of promoting agroforestry in Myanmar through capacity building and developing a knowledge platform.

To achieve these objectives, we apply concepts and tools that have been developed and tested by ICRAF’s researchers in Yunnan province of southwest China and neighbouring countries. Most prominently, this includes the improvement of the nitrogen-fixing capacity of tree species such as Alnus nepalensis through inoculation, and the improvement of farmers’ livelihoods by incorporating agroforestry components such as mushrooms and medicinal plants which can also be grown under the environmental conditions of upland northern Myanmar.

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Dr Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt World Agroforestry Centre ECA c/o Kunming Institute of Botany 650204 Kunming, Yunnan, China Tel: +86 871 6522 3014 Email: schmidt-vogt@mail.kib.ac.cn

虽然土地利用方式及政策在不断变化，但缅甸山区农民仍继续着刀耕火种的轮歇农业。本研究由生计和食品安全基金会（LIFT）资助，旨在改善他们的生计。

刀耕火种的替代农用林业在缅甸

东亚中亚区域办公室项目简介

世界农用林业中心

    仍广泛存在的传统刀耕火种越来越受到新政策的压力，同时也面临着新的土地利用方式（如橡胶及其它经济作物种植业）的挑战。尽管在轮歇农业向单一化商业种植园转变的短期效益非常明显，但我们不应忽视农民生活水平下降和环境退化的长期风险，而且不能轻易放弃轮歇农业的复合生态系统优势（如保持植被的多样性等）。

    在掸邦南部和北钦邦的试点研究中，我们通过保留或引种固氮树种，林下间作和套作其它作物的方式，推动传统轮歇农业向可持续性的农林复合生态系统的转换过程。这种方法也能够保障粮食安全和农民的经济收入。通过能力培养和建立知识平台，在缅甸推动农用林业发展是大势所趋，我们的研究将促使这一过程的顺利实现。

    为了实现这些目标，我们采用了国外研究技术及ICRAF在中国西南云南地区开发测试的理念、工具和技术。值得一提的是，我们引进了尼泊尔桤木等具有固氮能力的树种，以改善该地区的土壤。为了提高当地农民的生活水平，我们也引进了食用真菌和药用植物等农用林业常用物种。这些物种适宜缅甸北部山区的气候，在该地区长势良好。

Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt，博士 世界农用林业中心东亚中亚区域办公室  中国科学院昆明植物研究所 中国云南省昆明市 - 邮编 650204 电话 +86 871 6522 3014 邮箱 schmidt-vogt@mail.kib.ac.cn