. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and the Pacific. Laos Shifting Cultivation in Laos Although a variety of shifting cultivation systems are in use in Laos, a distinction can be made among those used by the three main ethnic groups: Lao Loum The Lao Loum are lowland people whose traditional form of agriculture is rain-fed rice cultivation on terraces or flat valley bottoms. However, in response to recent population in- creases and a shortage of suitable lowland areas for cultivation, agriculture has expanded into the adjacent uplands. Plots are cleared completely and one crop o
. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and the Pacific. Laos Shifting Cultivation in Laos Although a variety of shifting cultivation systems are in use in Laos, a distinction can be made among those used by the three main ethnic groups: Lao Loum The Lao Loum are lowland people whose traditional form of agriculture is rain-fed rice cultivation on terraces or flat valley bottoms. However, in response to recent population in- creases and a shortage of suitable lowland areas for cultivation, agriculture has expanded into the adjacent uplands. Plots are cleared completely and one crop of rain-fed rice is grown, fol- lowed by a fallow period of only three or four years, after which the plot is again cleared and the cycle repeated. Soil exhaustion (as a result of no secondary crops or fertiliser being ploughed back into the earth), complete clearing of fallow tree species, and the short rotational period, result in extremely low crop yields, declining productivity from cycle to cycle and problems with weeds. This is an unsustainable system, which has led to deterior- ation of the forests around the agricultural lowlands. Shifting agncullure and permanent irrigated fields exist side by side in Laos. P. Anspach. Clearing, planting, cultivating and harvesting are the cycle of tasks fo swidden farmer in northern Laos. P. Anspach the. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Collins, N. M. , Sayer, J. A. , Whitmore, T. IUCN
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