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Publication Date

1981

Description

Agriculture based on existing forms of shifting cultivation will not be able to support and feed adequately the rapidly increasing human population of the lowland humid tropics of Africa. The forest and natural fallows have shortened and even disap• peared in some areas because of rising food demands. Crop yields are low and continue to decline. What, then, are the alter­natives? Using Cynodon as an example, an attempt is made to show that mixed farming offers an alternative whereby the nutrient status and physical properties of the soil can be maintained, erosion can be checked, weeds can be kept under control, and the buildup of pests and parasites minimized or avoided.

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Sown Grassland as an Alternative to Shifting Cultivation in Lowland Humid Tropics

Agriculture based on existing forms of shifting cultivation will not be able to support and feed adequately the rapidly increasing human population of the lowland humid tropics of Africa. The forest and natural fallows have shortened and even disap• peared in some areas because of rising food demands. Crop yields are low and continue to decline. What, then, are the alter­natives? Using Cynodon as an example, an attempt is made to show that mixed farming offers an alternative whereby the nutrient status and physical properties of the soil can be maintained, erosion can be checked, weeds can be kept under control, and the buildup of pests and parasites minimized or avoided.