interactions
between tropical rainforests
and
agriculture
Tropical rainforests offer extensive
reserves of land for different
types of farming: slash and burn
agriculture, family smallholdings
on a pioneer front, agroforestry
and agro-industrial plantations.
The agroforests set up by people in
Indonesia, very rich in flora, associate on the
same plot forestry, agriculture and stockkeeping.
This system of sustainable farming has beneficial
effects for the environment (soil fertility, biodiversity)
and provides useful products with significant income
for the local farmers.
In the Amazon, family-based agriculture “on the
pioneer front” uses slash and burn methods to clear
forest land. The Brazilian State regulates this practice
by allowing a farmer to cultivate only 20% of his land.
When family-based agriculture preserves
the Amazonian forest.
In the Amazon basin, scientists are seeking how
to preserve the forests within small farming concerns
while improving farmers’ standard of living: intensifying
agricultural production under plant cover and controlling
deforestation. In other words, increasing yields to avoid
forest clearance and restoring the soil fertility.
Indonesia,
starting
a rubber
tree (Hevea)
agroforest.
The saplings
are planted
with
upland rice
and benefit
from the
work done
to maintain
the growing
rice.
Landscape
on the
Amazonian
pioneer front,
end of dry
season.
Laos,
collective
sowing on a field.
The village
mutual aid
system allows
the job
to be done
in a day.
Did you know? Oil palm offers the best
yields when grown in a humid equatorial climate
with strong sun exposure. Its expansion
in Indonesia, prompted by global demand,
combined with severe drought, is partly responsible
for the serious forest fires of 1997/1998 •
Agroforestry, source of
income
and
biodiversity
17
MINISTÈRE
DES
AFFAIRES ÉTRANGÈRES
ET EUROPÉENNES
FTH/en - 2011