Local soil knowledge and site suitability evaluation in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Mounting evidence shows that soil surveyors can learn a great deal from traditional farmers. Most studies of local soil knowledge, however, focus on unique cultural groups with centuries of accumulated knowledge of their environmental surroundings. Many farmers in the developing world are non-indigenous peasants who do not benefit from a rich cultural tradition. This paper examines peasant agriculture and awareness of soil in the Central Cordillera of the Dominican Republic. Information on soils was extracted from a geo-coded environmental database compiled by the Dominican Republic's State Secretariat for Agriculture and processed to produce site suitability ratings for six land uses (coffee, beans, grazing, pigeon peas, garlic, and rice). Farmer information dealing with environmental perception, agricultural technology, and agricultural decision-making factors was obtained in a field survey of 80 farmers. Survey statistics on technology were used to derive a numerical index of modern agricultural technology while factors conditioning choice of principal enterprise were examined using point score analysis. It is shown that peasant farmers in the Dominican Republic use a blend of modern and traditional methods that is neither productive nor ecologically sensitive. In addition, their soil taxonomy is comparatively unsophisticated. On the other hand, this study demonstrates that their empirical knowledge of site suitability is of great value for verification of scientific site suitability ratings derived from parametric indices. It is concluded that the participatory approach to agricultural research and development is particularly relevant in soil survey.