Farmers’ Management of Fallow Sucession in Thailand

Fallow management is a common practice of traditional shifting cultivation in Southeast Asia and it survives throughout the region for many centuries (Spencer 1966). The systems are often found among the ethnic minorities in the region but governments, on the other hand, see the system as a primitive form of agricultural production, destruction to the forests and watersheds, wasteful and unproductive. The negative view of traditional shifting cultivation has much influence on government policy to “stop” the traditional cultivation and replace the system with alternative practices with no fallow. The alternatives often turn out to be less productive and unsustainable, e.g., construction of bench terrace and vegetative strips to support sedentary agriculture in Northern Thailand (e.g., Harper 1986 and Enter 1996. Removal topsoil in the bench terrace construction could reduce yields of subsistence crops for a number of years before soil stabilization takes place.