Agrodiversity: Lessons from the highlands of northern Thailand

Introduction The Montane Mainland of Southeast Asia (MMSEA) covers about half of the total area of six countries, viz., Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (Figure 1) and is home to many ethnic minorities (Table 1). Ethnic minorities account for about 15% of total population of the region. Food security is a major concern of local communities as well as national governments. Shifting cultivation, the traditional land use in uplands, is being replaced by other land use systems (Table 2).