Further Resources on Traditional Agriculture

Recently, my major interest has been compiling and analyzing information on sustainable plant disease management practices of traditional farmers, most of which are cultural practices. Much of the literature describing traditional agricultural systems and practices was abstracted and reexamined with the objective of determining the practices, methods, and principles used by traditional farmers to control plant diseases. One result of this work was a book entitled Sustainable Practices for Plant Disease Management in Traditional Farming Systems. Likewise, an examination of the world literature concerning slash/mulch systems resulted in the book Slash/Mulch Systems: Sustainable Methods for Tropical Agriculture. And finally, a database with over 3,400 references on traditional agriculture and plant pathology has also been compiled.

Another major interest has been leading, and now participating in, an interdisciplinary working group , MOIST (Management of Organic Inputs in Soils of the Tropics) on Mulch-based agriculture funded by CIIFAD (Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development) at Cornell University. Mulch-based agriculture includes agricultural systems in which green manures, cover crops, or agroforestry species contribute to a mulch or litter layer of vegetative biomass which is left on the soil or partially incorporated. Several low-input mulch-based agricultural systems, such as frijol tapado in Central America and the velvet bean/maize system which is now found in Central America, and parts of Asia and Africa, have shown promise in providing increased productivity and yield stability on both marginal and fertile soils. The group is working with farmers and NGOs as well as research institutions and universities.

The use of green manures and cover crops is nothing new. Cato (1934), a Roman who lived in 234-149 B.C., wrote that lupines, beans, and vetch fertilized the land. The Roman Virgil (70-19 B.C.), recommended the following:

"See, too, that your arable land lies fallow in due rotation, and leave the idle field alone to recoup its strength: or else, changing the seasons, put down to yellow spelt, a field where before you raised the bean with its rattling pods, or the small seeded vetch, or the brittle stalks and rustling haulm of the bitter lupine, so too are the fields rested by a rotation of crops, and unploughed land promises to pay you."

Some other resources on Traditional Agriculture on the World World Web :

Ancient and Traditional Farming Systems - This issue (Volume V, Number 3, 1993) produced by Ag-Sieve publishing team focuses on ancient farming techniques

LEISA-Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture- This organization hs chosen the collection and dissemination of information as a means of contributing to improving the development options available to farmers, by informing those either directly involved in, or indirectly affecting, rural development. The LEISA website is the platform for the LEISA magazine. The LEISA partner organizations document and publish experiences with Low External Input and Sustain able

World Resources Institute - Wide variety of information on world resources

Management of Organic Inputs in Soils of the Tropics (Mulch-Based Agriculture) - Cornell University

Erosion of Crop Genetic Diversity - Natural Resouce Perspectives - Overseas Development Institute

Belize River Archaeological Settlement Survey (BRASS) - El Pilar - Includes information on Maya agriculture and ecology.

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor - CIRAN/Nuffic The Hague, The Netherlands

Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems - CIKS Publications On Traditional Agriculture

CICP - Indigenous Crop Protection Practices in Sub-Saharan East Africa, their Status and Significance Relative to Small Farmer IPM Programs in Developing Countries -

Page on Traditional Agriculture by Luc Kazimirski

|Introduction to Traditional Agriculture |

|Further Resources on Traditional Agriculture |Related Cornell University Courses|

|List of Personal Publications|Overview of Traditional Agricultural methods |

Comments and suggestions welcomed ...