Shifting Cultivation Practices in the Nam Nan Watershed

Transcription

1 Shifting Cultivation Practices in the Nam Nan Watershed Upland communities have been practising shifting cultivation for centuries. Shifting cultivation is not only an agricultural system, but also has a special significance in the guiding beliefs of the societies that practise it. The social relationships, cultural values and mythical beliefs of such societies are directly linked with the practise of shifting cultivation. Shifting cultivation is an extensive type of agriculture suited to the mountainous terrain of Northern Laos. However, it lacks the long-term stability of intensive irrigated cultivation, which is capable of supporting a much larger and more stable population. Thus, while shifting cultivation may give a higher yield per hectare when new, it can support only a relatively sparse population because of its declining fertility. Shifting cultivation practices change over time in response to various factors, including availability and type of land, population dynamics, climate, availability of labour, need for cash, market access, past practices, food preferences, ethnic group and government policies. Shifting Cultivation Practices in the Nam Nan Watershed 59

2 Policy framework Land management and land-forest allocation is currently one of the key policies and programmes of the government of Lao. Land tenure in shifting cultivation areas is traditionally acquired by bringing unclaimed land under cultivation. This system allows farmers to clear land not already claimed by other families. Land-use rights are kept during the following fallow periods but may be handed over to other families at the discretion of the original owner. With the decreasing length of fallow periods, most land under shifting cultivation is used for several cycles of alternating cultivation and fallow, in a more or less fixed rotation. With increasing population pressure and competing land-use objectives (especially forestry, irrigation and hydropower generation), the authorities have decided to regulate the acquisition of land. This is done through villagebased land allocation schemes. The government has outlined a range of strategies for improving land management, planning and allocation. Land-use planning and forest allocation is considered a key national strategy for eradicating poverty in rural areas as well as a way of improving community-based natural resource management. Where fallow periods are sufficiently long, shifting cultivation may limit soil degradation, weed competition and pest damage. In practice, longer fallows have been replaced by shorter bush fallow systems of agriculture. Fallows are shortening but the length of the cropping periods may remain the same or even increase. This leads to declining productivity and may make the land unsuitable for further cultivation for many years: re-establishment of secondary forest fallow vegetation is made slower or totally impossible, some areas become bare, and soil erosion begins. to seven years of fallow. Shifting cultiv- ation in the Nam Nan watershed consists of complex farming systems that vary according to the ethnic group involved. The three ethnic groups (Khamu, Hmong and Lao Loum) disc-ussed in this article generally live in areas that differ in slope and elevation. This in turn affects their dependence on shifting cultivation. Shifting cultivation in the Nam Nan watershed In the Nam Nan watershed in Nan District of Luangprabang Province, shifting cultivation is the dominant farming system in terms of area, rice production and general crop production. The system followed by most farmers is based on one year of cultivation, alternating with three 60 Improving Livelihoods in the Uplands of the Lao PDR

3 Table 1: Variation in farming practices among different ethnic groups (Source: village survey, July 1999) Lao Loum farming experience and practices are developed for lowland glutinous rice cultivation along the river and in the mountain valleys. In recent years, as a result of poor management and increased demand for land, Lao farmers are beginning to move up the hillsides. The Lao generally plant corn on the lower slopes and establish agroforestry systems that include mango, pineapple, banana, sesame, upland rice and Job s tears. Khamu people normally carry out shifting cultivation where they live, at medium altitude on mountains. Khamu traditionally practice rotational cultivation, with fallow periods of three to six years, depending on soil condition and land availability. Regeneration does not reach the same proportions of biomass and nutrient availability as highly regenerated forest, but compensating for this is the fact that the land can be used again after a relatively short fallow period. The Khamu here do not own paddy fields but are totally dependent on mountain rice fields. Some Khamu families cannot meet year-round subsistence needs without supplementary resources. Rice supplies often run out before harvest, when maize and food other than rice provide some relief. This is apt to occur around July, and it is at this time, when weeding requirements also begin to lessen, that many Khamu men look for wage labour, which has become extremely important to Khamu people. The weeding is then continued by the women. Shifting Cultivation Practices in the Nam Nan Watershed 61

4 Hmong prefer to establish shifting cultivation areas in primary forest because the rice yield per labour expended is better. The forest is vital for continuing the way of life of the Hmong as shifting cultivators. The Hmong live in the uplands, approximately 1,000m above sea level. Some cultivate poppy as a cash crop or to pay for weeding labour. Rice, maize and vegetables are also cultivated as subsistence crops. Table 2: Average labour requirements for shifting cultivation (man days per plot) Crop production Shifting cultivators in the watershed area practise a subsistence-orientated agriculture economy. The primary goal of every household is to produce enough rice for their own consumption during the year plus some for livestock, entertaining guests, making liquor, and so on. Rice is intimately involved in the culture as well as in the food and economy. It is the main crop produced by secondary forest. 62 Improving Livelihoods in the Uplands of the Lao PDR

5 Different methods of site selection Hmong Hmong are very careful in choosing the site to be cultivated, considering the physical characteristics of the site, the type of soil and its vegetation. Plots chosen are mostly former swidden fields of six or seven years fallow Lao and Khamu The Lao and Khamu have farmed sites over and over in the past and judge site readiness by regeneration and re-establishment of woody, broadleaf vegetation from the fourth year of fallow. Period of cultivation For the Lao people, a season of shifting cultivation starts in early February and ends in mid December (i.e. ten months). For Khamu and Hmong, the cycle starts in early January and ends in late November/early December (i.e. eleven months). Site selection Site selection begins in January and is extremely important. In general, shifting cultivators seek out areas with the best soil available or the soil most suitable to the particular crop. If the top soil is not dark or black then it is considered to be an old soil that is already eroded. Hilltops and ridges are usually left uncultivated due both to rapid internal drainage of the soil there as well as for forest protection and conservation. At lower elevation, only foot-slopes are cultivated. Tool preparation Khamu and Lao shifting cultivators start preparing their tools and materials from early January. Some people buy tools directly from the market in town, while others exchange products for tools with local traders. Heads of families prepare chopping knives, weeding hoes, digging hoes and slashing knives. Hmong cultivators usually make their own tools; usually each administrative group of five to seven families will have an iron works of their own. In early February the head of the family collects firewood to make charcoal for the iron-works and each family will start making tools in late February. Shifting Cultivation Practices in the Nam Nan Watershed 63

6 Animal husbandry Livestock production by shifting cultivators is relatively common among the wealthy and mid-income level households. Poorer households have fewer animals due to a lack of capital. Slashing The husband and wife of each family work to slash the vegetation on the family plot. This generally starts in February, though the specific timing depends on the kind of vegetation and the availability of household labour. Two days after slashing starts, the heads of the families organise groups for labour exchange with groups ranging in size from ten to fifteen people. Slashing activities normally finish by late March. For Khamu and Lao, the first day of the slashing season is in mid-february. The head of the family will sacrifice a chicken and pray to the spirits to ask permission to slash the selected area. The Khamu always respect the spirits of the forest and the bigger trees, believing that these spirits are the true owners of the land and all wild animals and trees. Slashing activities for the whole village usually take about 45 days. For the Hmong, slashing usually occurs in March as conditions are different higher up in the mountains. 64 Improving Livelihoods in the Uplands of the Lao PDR

7 Maize production Maize is produced primarily for pig fodder but small quantities are eaten as young cobs and popcorn. Poor families may eat maize mixed with rice in the month before the rice harvest. Maize fields are usually larger than rice fields and average one or two hectares per family. Slashing for both upland rice and maize is completed in March. Fields are then left to dry before they are burnt. Hmong farmers clear land (usually second year fallow) for planting maize after finishing the slashing for upland rice cultivation. The Khamu and Lao select their maize sites around January and February. Burning Once the slashed vegetation is dry, all groups in the watershed will make a firebreak about three metres wide around the area to be burnt to prevent forest fires. If shifting cultivation fields are located close to each other then the owners will usually try to agree on the burning day to ensure that the fire does not spread to fields that are not yet dry enough. The burning season generally begins around the end of March or in early April. It normally takes about ten days to complete burning for a whole village. Fields are burnt in order to: Get rid of the slashed vegetation Reduce weeds Cook the soil Produce fertiliser from the ash When areas are ready for burning, sacrifices are first made to the spirit of the fire and a few bamboo taleo (traditional no-entry signs) are placed at the shifting cultivation area boundaries. Fires are then started at the bottom of fields and are only allowed to spread little by little. To help control the fire, burning on windy days is avoided. Women and children do not attend the burning as it is very dangerous. Cleaning and fencing Three days after burning, usually in late April, farmers will start cleaning their plots. Any remaining debris left after the initial burning is collected and re-burned. Clearing shifting cultivation areas is primarily the responsibility of individual families and is carried out by both men and women. Although the amount of time spent on cleaning varies according to how successful the initial burning was, activities generally last for about 20 days. While women are cleaning and burning, men construct a hut on the site. This temporary structure will only last for a few years and is usually made from bamboo with a thatched roof of Imperata grass. The hut is used for: Shelter during heavy rains or strong sun. Preparing sacrificial meals. Overnight shelter when guarding fields just before and during harvesting. Temporary storage of rice during harvest time. Generally, Lao shifting cultivators do not stay overnight in the fields as the distance to the village is short. However, Hmong and Khamu stay overnight because the walk from the village to their fields can take four to five hours. Shifting Cultivation Practices in the Nam Nan Watershed 65

8 Khamu and Lao fields are marked with logs running up and down the slope and a row of sorghum, Job's tears or maize. Fences, usually about 3 metres away from the border of the rice field, have to be completed before sowing. Unburned trees with diameters of cm are often kept for fencing. Hmong shifting cultivators leave their fields open and unfenced as their fields are far away from the village and there is not the same concern about livestock coming to the fields. Sowing maize and rice Maize The first crop sown is drought resistant maize, a local variety which often performs well on very little soil moisture. This is sown at the beginning of the rainy season after the Lao New Year in mid-april and needs no cultivation of the soil or weeding. Rice The Lao only sow rice once the rainy season is well established, usually in early June. Before sowing the head of the family will kill a chicken to pray to the spirits. Groups of fifteen to twenty people organise themselves on a labour exchange basis. Each group sows one plot per day. Men use dibbling sticks to make the holes which women then fill with five to ten rice seeds. Materials used for sowing are: seeding sticks, seed bags, rice seeds, and bamboo baskets or cotton bags for holding the seeds. The Khamu have many different traditional ways of planting rice. Sowing starts at the end of April (if it rains regularly) or after the Lao New Year. Days of the week are often chosen for starting sowing according to whether or not they have been 'lucky' days in previous years. Rice for sowing is carried to the field in big baskets from the rice barn. Seeding and dibbling takes one day per plot. If the rains are good then the seed will start to germinate within five days after seeding. Tools used for dibbling and seeding by Khamu are dibbles, bamboo baskets and hand bags. Most Hmong shifting cultivators disturb, loosen and move surface soil as part of the planting process. Sowing starts in May or later, depending on the rains. The tools used for sowing are similar to the Khamu. In general, it normally takes about 15 days to complete the dibbling and seeding activities for a whole village. 66 Improving Livelihoods in the Uplands of the Lao PDR

9 Rice varieties Glutinous rice is the primary crop for the Lao and Khamu people. Usually one or more varieties of glutinous rice are planted and can be grown without irrigation. Each variety has a different name which indicates properties such as its colour or whether it is an early variety or not. Hmong shifting cultivators prefer to grow nonglutinous rice, although some glutinous is also grown. In times of crop failure the Hmong turn to maize as a major food source. Home gardens Most Khamu and Hmong families have a small chilli pepper nursery, usually close to the hut. Chillies are planted at home in old pots of cans and then transplanted to the shifting cultivation fields early in the rainy season. They are grown primarily for home consumption. Hmong and Khamu families produce most of their vegetables, root and tuber crops in their shifting cultivation fields: only the Lao practice gardening in household compounds. Weeding The third weeding normally starts in August, with each family doing it themselves. Great care is taken, as short-term varieties have already started to produce seed. The tool used is a knife. Hmong cultivators sometimes weed four times, doing an extra weeding before harvesting. They do this because they only cut the panicle of the rice. Traditionally weeding is done by women, but sometimes the men also join in. Harvesting The harvest season starts anywhere between September and November. There are three harvests according to rice variety: short, medium and long term. Short-term rice variety harvesting The Khamu start harvesting in early September. They are afraid that the previous year s supply will not be sufficient. In addition, the early varieties have a type of rice grain that drops easily when ripe. It must therefore be harvested quickly and is not grown in large quantities. The rice is not cut but is harvested with bare hands. Farmers carry bamboo baskets and walk The first weeding, using knives and a blade knife, starts when the rice reaches the height of a finger span (about 15 cm). The second weeding is normally carried out in early July which is also the flowering time for rice plants. This is more difficult than the first weeding due to the high density of rice plants. Some shifting cultivators are forced to hire extra labour to do the weeding., which is performed using a blade knife. Shifting Cultivation Practices in the Nam Nan Watershed 67

10 around the field pulling the rice from the stem to the top end by hand. The harvested rice is spread on bamboo to dry in the sun for about three days. Lao cultivators harvest at the same time but use a sickle. The Hmong start to harvest short-term rice varieties in mid-september, often without using labour exchange. The harvesting tool is called a nong. Rice is dried in the sun for three days, then piled and kept in the house. Medium-term harvesting For Lao and Khamu cultivators, medium-term harvesting normally starts in October and is finished within a week. Yields are higher than those of short-term varieties. Bunches of rice plants are cut using sickles and dried in the field for three days. After this, they are gathered in huge piles in the middle of the field. To protect the rice from animals and unexpected rain, a special method of piling the rice is used, with the top end of the sheaf of rice placed inside the pile. Hmong cultivators do not plant medium-term rice. Long-term harvesting For all groups, the harvest of long-term rice varieties starts between late November and early December, taking between seven and ten days. Yields are much higher than those of the early and medium varieties. Harvesting is performed individually without hiring extra labour. The tool used is the sickle. Advantages of hand-harvesting: not so many steps (no pilling and threshing) and thus no rice loss Disadvantages: time-consuming and can cause injuries to the hands After harvesting is complete, the farmers will let the field become fallow and different species of vegetation will subsequently appear, including nga falang (Chlomolaena odorata), nga khai (Pgonatherum crinitum), and mai khom (Muntigia calabura). Threshing Threshing begins in early December in the fields. The piles of rice are kept in the middle of the rice field for two or three months before threshing, depending on weather conditions. Rice is threshed using a pair of sticks joined with a rope. The sheaf is then hit against some boards placed on bamboo mats. The impact removes the grain from the stalk. To make sure all the grain comes away, the sheaf is cut and hit again by a stick which curves at one end. 68 Improving Livelihoods in the Uplands of the Lao PDR

11 When threshing is completed the grain is fanned to remove any empty husks. In general all three groups use labour exchange, which means that each family has their harvest threshed in turn. Post-harvest pests To protect seed material, maize, sesame, Job's tears and chilli seeds are often stored under the eaves of the house where smoke from the fire place helps protect from damage by rats and weevils. Transport Transporting the harvest to the village is a tedious job but labour exchange is not often used because the rice goes to each individual family. Materials used for carrying upland rice are various kinds of bamboo baskets and bags. Rice is transported by both men and women, who carry rice baskets which hold between kg of upland rice. The Hmong may use horses for transport and some Lao use buffalo. If the harvest is good then it may take two to three weeks or more to carry all the rice back to the village. Storage After threshing is finished, the main grain is taken out of the fields and kept in a temporary storehouse. Seed for next year s sowing is stored in special bamboo baskets in the barn. Hmong families do not store grain in their houses but build granaries some distance away. This is to protect the rice should the house burn down. Khamu and Lao families store grain in their houses. Usually two or more family members sleep in the temporary store to guard the rice against animals and thieves until it can be carried to the village. Shifting Cultivation Practices in the Nam Nan Watershed 69

12 Changes in shifting cultivation in the Nam Nan watershed The dynamics of the shifting cultivation production system in the watershed are changing. These changes are due to: Increasing problems with weeds (seen by shifting cultivators in the watershed as the most important factor limiting yields). A lack of soil moisture and decline in amount of humus in the soil. Soil erosion in the cultivated fields leading to declining soil fertility. The importance of fallow species for building materials, food, fodder and income generation. Shortage of labour. A need for technologies that can help increase production per unit area. Table 3: Summary of the reasons for and inputs of shifting cultivation This paper is extracted from the author s Masters Thesis: Shifting Cultivation Practices by Hmong, Khamu and Lao ethnic categories in the Nam Nan Watershed, Nan District, Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Rural Development Studies, Uppsala, Author: Houmchitsavath Sodarak, frclpb@laotel.com Improving Livelihoods in the Uplands of the Lao PDR was produced in 2005 by NAFRI, NAFES and NUOL. 70 Improving Livelihoods in the Uplands of the Lao PDR