Burning

Fire and heat are often overlooked as plant disease management practices. The high temperatures produced by burning may eliminate inoculum of many pathogens in the slash and burn farming system. The negative effects of burning should not be overlooked when contemplating the use of burning for plant disease management.

Slash and Burn Systems

fire.jpg Starting a fire for slash and burn plot in Mexico (Picture courtesy of Alison Power) (Size:380 K)

Clearing.jpg Clearings in Amazon Jungle for slash and burn agricultue (Size:343 K)

Slash.jpg  Slash and burn milpa  in the lowlands of Mexico (Picture courtesy of Peter Ewell) (Size:133 K)

Viet.jpg  Hillside cut and burned for slash and burn plots in Viet Nam (Picture courtesy of Larry Fisher) (Size:281K)

Rocks.jpg Hillside in Honduras after slash and burn agriculture.  Note that the soil has been destroyed and the rocky land remaining will not support further agriculture  (Picture courtesy of Roland Bunch) (Size:326 K)

Nigeria.jpg  Slash and burn plot on road to Ibadan, Nigeria (includes cassava, maize, yams, oil palms) (Size:384 K)

Sumba.jpg  Hills in Sumba, Indonesia covered by Imperata grass which came in after slash and burn agriculture had destroyed trees  (Picture courtesy of Lucy Fisher)

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More traditional agricultural methods :

| Mulching |

 | Slash/Mulch | Frijol Tapado / Web Blight |

| Manipulating Shade | Burning | Flooding |

 | Multiple Cropping | Using Organic Amendments |

| Rotations | Fallow | Raised Beds |

| Crop Diversity | Storage Practices |

| Multistory Systems |

Comments and suggestions are welcome ... hdt1@cornell.edu