A Natural Ecosystem Analog Approach to the Design of a Successional Crop System for Tropical Forest Environments

Abstract

A crop system analogous to a natural successional plant system in a tropical forest environment is described. Field-experiment results and comparisons between the successional crop system and crop systems described by other investigators suggest that the successional crop system has agronomic potential. This potential is related to characteristics of the crop system which reduce weed competition and the energy required to manage the crop system. There is evidence to support a hypothesis that agricultural viability of a particular crop system is directly related to the degree of similarity of that crop system to a natural plant system in the same environment. TROPICALAGRICULTURAL RESEACH has been characterized by a search for high-yielding varieties of crops. The new varieties often require irrigation, fertilizer, and additional labor (Paddock 1970). Farmers have been reluctant to accept some of the new varieties because they require the use of these expensive subsidies. Another reason for the slowerthan-expected acceptance of these varieties may be that the farmers' management unit is the farm rather than the crop species. The use of a new variety often requires changes in farm management the farmer may not be willing or able to make. This situation suggests that agronomic research should be applied to a management unit larger than the crop species. The crop system is a management unit currently receiving considerable attention in multiple