GEOG 1265 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Arctic Hare, Mofongo, Mollisol
26 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Agricultural practices have been going on for 1000s of years. Shifting cultivation (swidden, slash and burn: the way indigenous groups practice agriculture, process of slash and burn: Harvest was it available in new plot. Burn everything (but not to a crisp) Polycropping of multiple plant varieties land races: genetic variety provides some resistance to pest, drought, etc. Weeds/insects become more of a problem (mostly) abandon fields and shift to new site. Return to old field periodically to collect tree crops, etc. Repeat process with new plot of land. Manioc: most important source of carbs: yuca, mofongo, tapioca. Aland-intensive system need sufficient field for 20-25 year fallow period to allow accumulation of biomass on field before burned again. Access improved with road building: many roads built for petroleum exploitation, built pipeline and road to service pipeline. New agricultural pioneers using large scale, monocrop agriculture leads to extensive deforestation, often on marginal lands. Fertility maintained with large inputs of chemical fertilizers, pesticides.
