Indigenous Agricultural Systems Research Articles

Evidence for the Eastern Agricultural Complex Crops in the Upper Delaware Valley: Botanical Analysis from the Manna Site (36Pi4)

Abstract From the Archaic period onward, Indigenous populations across the Eastern Woodlands cultivated a suite of crops known to archaeologists as the Eastern Agricultural Complex. However, aside from squash (Cucurbita pepo) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus), little evidence exists for the cultivation of these plants in the northeastern Algonquian homeland. Botanical analysis from the Manna site (36Pi4), located in the Upper Delaware Valley, provides evidence for the cultivation of the full suite of Eastern Agricultural Complex crops. Flotation samples analyzed from Manna provide the first evidence for possible Lenape cultivation of chenopodium (Chenopodium berlandieri), squash, sunflower, and marshelder (Iva annua) from contexts dating to AD 0–1650 (Middle and Late Woodland) at Manna. Lenape cultivation of these crops complicates the traditional view of Indigenous agricultural systems in northeastern North America and raises questions about when and how these species were introduced to the region.

The biocultural heritage and changing role of indigenous yams in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa

Societal impact statementGlobal yam production is centred on West Africa, but there are significant knowledge gaps about farm‐level diversity across much of the region, and especially in Guinea. Although yam production is increasing in Guinea, in the longer term, varietal diversity and the sustainability of agri‐systems are at risk. Documentation of local crop diversity is essential as a baseline to understand trajectories of past and future varietal loss. This study utilises interdisciplinary approaches, which are needed to help understand the ways historic crop diversity is created and maintained within indigenous agricultural and food heritage systems, as well as the reasons for its loss over time.Summary Yams are important staple foods in many tropical and sub‐Saharan countries. The ‘yam belt’ extends from Guinea to western central Africa. However, yam cultivation is comparatively little researched or documented in Guinea, and the country is commonly not included within descriptions of key yam growing areas in Africa. Our study utilises ethnobotanic methods and plant specimen collections to fill these gaps in West African yam research. Interviews with over 70 farmers from six villages across the Kankan region of Guinea provide information on yam cultivation and diversity, and changes in living memory over the past 40 years. We present the analyses of ethnobotanical data from Haute‐Guinée on yam cuisine, and commercialisation, and on changes to the range of varieties grown over time. The annual cycle of indigenous yam agri‐systems remains a key part of rural life, food systems and economy. However, interviews revealed dramatic temporal changes over the last 40 years. Although yam production has increased, a narrow range of commercial cultivars is currently displacing the historically‐rooted local diversity. The expansion of yam cultivation is regarded locally as having relied on a shift to more unsustainable and extensive land use, and with herbicides and chemical fertilisers replacing intensive organic soil management. This has implications for research and development in sub‐Saharan agriculture for yams and other important native West African crops in the future.

Climatic variability and its impact on the indigenous agricultural system using panel data analysis in the Sikkim Himalaya, India.

Climate-induced extreme events with fluctuations in climatic indicators like temperature and precipitation highly influence crop productivity. This study deals with quantitative analysis of climatic variability and crop production (1990-2018) using panel data regression analysis. The focus is on variability of three crops, i.e., paddy, maize, and wheat in the Rangit river basin of Sikkim Himalaya, India. Meterological data were acquired from the Indian Meteorological Department, agricultural data from the state agricultural department and a field survey were also conducted with the farmers, using a structured questionnaire, focused group discussion, and key informant observations. The acquired data was analyzed with the help of correlation and multiple linear regression analysis to analyze the relationship between climatic variability and crop production. The result of the study shows that all three crops are dependent on rainfall; however, paddy was the most sensitive to climatic variability. It was found that the overall grain production had an inverse relation to temperature, but it had a positive correlation with rainfall. It was observed that there was a continuous decline in the overall production of paddy and wheat. During deficiency years, it was found that when - 11.33% rainfall was deficient, paddy yield declined by - 1.52%. Further, a deviation of - 13.48% led to a decline of - 54.78% in wheat. The study advocates that timely policy interventions and strategies shall reduce climatic shocks and improve productivity. This would strengthen the livelihood security of the local communities, overcome the challenges of food security, and ensure long-term sustainability of Rangit River basin.

Ideal distribution models and the tempo of agricultural development in a windward valley of Hawaiʻi

Across the Pacific, agricultural systems have used two main complementary cultivation regimes: irrigated farming of wet environments and rain-fed cropping of drylands. These strategies have different productive potential and labour needs, which has structured their temporal and spatial distributions. Although these approaches have been studied a great deal at a general level, there has been less work on the local use and significance of these strategies. Here, the authors evaluate ideal distribution models of agricultural activities in the Punalu‘u valley on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, to assess how habitat suitability changed as a result of infrastructural investment and dynamic environmental, social and demographic change. The results are of relevance for contemporary initiatives to revive Indigenous agricultural systems in Hawai‘i and beyond.

Indigenous crop diversity maintained despite the introduction of major global crops in an African centre of agrobiodiversity

Societal Impact StatementThe global success and expansion of a small pool of major crops, including rice, wheat and maize, risks homogenising global agriculture. Focusing on the agriculturally diverse Ethiopian Highlands, this study tested whether farm diversity tends to be lower among farmers who grow more introduced crops. Surprisingly, it was found that farmers have successfully integrated introduced crops, resulting in more diverse and heterogenous farms without negatively impacting indigenous crop diversity. This is encouraging because diverse farms, comprising indigenous agricultural systems supplemented by introduced crops, may help address global challenges such as food insecurity.Summary The global expansion of a handful of major crops risks eroding indigenous crop diversity and homogenising agroecosystems, with significant consequences for sustainable and resilient food systems. Here, we investigate the farm‐scale impact of introduced crops on indigenous agroecosystems. We surveyed 1369 subsistence farms stratified across climate gradients in the Ethiopian Highlands, a hotspot of agrobiodiversity, to characterise the richness and cultivated area of the 83 edible crops they contained. We further categorise these crops as being indigenous to Ethiopia, or introduced across three different eras. We apply non‐metric multidimensional scaling and mixed effects modelling to characterise agroecosystem composition across farms with different proportions of introduced crops. Crops from different periods do not differ significantly in frequency or abundance across farms. Among geographically matched pairs of farms, those with higher proportions of modern introduced crops had significantly higher overall crop richness. Furthermore, farms with a high proportion of modern introduced crops showed higher heterogeneity in crop composition. An analysis of socio‐economic drivers indicated that poverty is negatively associated with the cultivated area of introduced crops. In our Ethiopian case study, global patterns of major crop expansion are not necessarily associated with agrobiodiversity loss at the farm scale or higher homogeneity across indigenous agricultural systems. Importantly, socioeconomic factors may influence farmers' propensity to adopt novel species, suggesting targets for agricultural extension policies. Given the rapid climatic, economic and demographic changes impacting global food systems and the threats to food security these entail, robust indigenous agricultural systems enriched with diverse introduced crops may help maintain resilience.

Effects of charring on squash (Cucurbita L) seed morphology and compression strength: Implications for paleoethnobotany

The primary crops of Indigenous agricultural systems in North America in the centuries prior to and following European colonization were maize (Zea mays ssp. mays), bean (Phaseolus spp.), and squash (Cucurbta spp.). Of these, charred maize is the best represented in macrobotanical assemblages from open-air sites in northeastern North America; macrobotanical assemblages in this region consist primarily of charred plant remains. Charred bean seeds generally occur in much lower quantities and charred squash seeds in lower quantities than charred bean seeds. Heating taphonomy experiments have been performed on maize kernels and bean seeds to determine the most likely temperature range for preservation in the archaeological record. Such studies have been lacking for squash seeds. A series of heating experiments with seeds harvested from fruits of three squash species indicate that unlike maize kernels and bean seeds, charring does not enhance squash seed preservation. The recovery of one or a few charred squash seeds from a site likely represents a high degree of use.

Biocultural heritage construction and community-based tourism in an important indigenous agricultural heritage system of the southern Andes

ABSTRACT Traditional agricultural systems reflect the close relationship between human communities and local ecosystems. The inheritance of knowledge, practices and beliefs, in which this relationship is materialised, or biocultural memory, is key for these systems’ conservation and adaptation to social-environmental changes. Heritage construction processes may be used in a bid to conserve and increase awareness of this inheritance. Tourism is one alternative but is not immune to controversy. Through a qualitative methodology and participatory action research, this study examines biocultural heritage construction in an Important Agricultural Heritage System (IAHS) in Mapuche-Pewenche territory in the southern Andes. Based on the community-based tourism experience of two campesino cooperatives, our study points out how local actors understand and interpret their heritage as well as the opportunities and challenges of showcasing it through tourism. We found that the inheritance is understood as the way of life associated with Mapuche rural culture and, particularly, agricultural practices that support local food systems with a strong identity component. In these experiences of community-based tourism, we identify opportunities and challenges for reinforcing biocultural memory and inheritance in an IAHS. We discuss tourism development in IAHS sites, putting the communities that inhabit and maintain them in a central position.

Survey and documentation of timber yielding plant species raised on farm lands of Bharangi Village, Sorab Taluk, Shivamogga district, Karnataka

Trees are the essential component of the indigenous agricultural systems and they are preserved or managed to meet the immediate needs of the population. The present study was undertaken to document the timber yielding species and pattern of utilization in Bharangi village. The total of 35 timber yielding species belonging to 17 families was documented. Maximum number of farmers preferred to grow Tectona grandis (80.0%) and Mangifera indica (63.33%) on their farms lands. Among the total 35 timber yielding species, maximum number of species (25) was utilized for agricultural implements and fuel wood. followed by house construction (23), furniture (10) and least for ply wood and decorative articles (4). Hence, it’s essential to raise the quality seedlings of most preferable species by the forest department nurseries and private nurseries for providing seedlings to farmers for planting purpose and in turn to reduce the pressure on forests and to conserve biodiversity.

Biodiversity-friendly Agricultural Practices in the Indigenous Agricultural Systems in the Biodiversity Corridor of the Alto Paraná Atlantic Forest (Paraguay)

Agricultural systems result of the coevolution between social and natural systems, where biodiversity and natural resources play an important role, emerging interactions between crops and the natural environment that allow the development of ecological processes which interact with external inputs. This research aims to describe the agricultural practices developed by the Guarani Indigenous people in the agricultural systems located within the biodiversity corridor of the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest. This exploratory study is focused on multiple cases, with a qualitative approach and from data collected during 2017 and 2018 in eleven indigenous communities. The main practices developed for the management of biodiversity are polyculture, rotation, and embroideries; they also practice agroforestry and livestock-raising. The main difficulty they face is the reduction of the surrounding biodiversity, which affects the sustainability of the system. This study shows ways for nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation according to current needs for greening the economy.

Indigenous farming transitions, sociocultural hybridity and sustainability in rural Senegal

For many centuries, the indigenous agricultural and cultural systems of the Serer people of Senegambia ensured soil fertility, crop rotation, tree preservation, mixed farming and herding, yielding one of the highest population densities in the pre-colonial Sahel. In the 20th century, as population grew, soil fertility declined and climate change produced regular droughts, Serer farming systems changed to creatively combine many indigenous techniques with some modern practices. The Serer hybrid farming system that emerged especially after the late 1960s is demonstrably more productive than modern or indigenous techniques practiced in pure form (Faye et al., 2020). Given the productivity of hybrid farming techniques, this article asks: Who adopts them? And under what circumstances? Building on years of participant observation supplemented with a survey of 742 Serer farmers, I tested several competing explanations from neo-liberal, feminist, and cultural ecological approaches to understand why and among whom hybrid farming occurs. Multiple regression analysis shows a strong relationship between cultural syncretism and hybrid farming. Farming techniques are not just a matter of isolated, individual choice, but also work through the social and cultural systems that support agriculture. The more these systems reflect established patterns of mixing cultural elements, borrowing from outside and blending into and transforming Serer tradition, the greater the likelihood that farmers will use hybrid techniques. These findings have implications both for agricultural sustainability and for recognizing the sociocultural embeddedness of seemingly individual choices.

Tropical cloud forest plant endemism persistence within crop-fallow systems in a Mesoamerican hotspot area

Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) under natural disturbances have shown high endemism in early successional vegetation. However, little is known about anthropogenic disturbances and plant endemism in TMCF under ancient agricultural management. In this sense, I assessed the number of species, abundance, and frequency of endemic vascular plants in temporary plots of cultivated and young fallow areas from two maize-based systems: milpa shifting cultivation (MS) and semi-permanent cropping (SP) in Oaxaca, Mexico. Overall, both agricultural stages and systems harbored endemic species, seven in total, but most of such species were found in the fallow stage than in the cropping stage, and in the MS system than in the SP system. A single Asteraceae herbaceous endemic species (Melampodium mimulifolium) was commonly recorded in cultivated fields, but almost exclusive to the SP cropping system. Seven species were recorded in fallows, where the narrow-range endemic tree species Clethra integerrima (Clethraceae) was the most abundant and frequent, but almost exclusive to the MS cropping system. In more permanent and intensified agricultural systems within biodiversity hotspots, only ruderal endemic herbaceous species can persist. In contrast, in low intensity managed agricultural systems, like ancient agroforestry, not only can endemic tree species prosper, but also restricted endemic trees can be found. Indigenous agricultural systems in biodiversity hotspots should not be seen as a threat, but rather as complementary areas for endemism conservation.

Old Ways, New Ways—Scaling Up from Customary Use of Plant Products to Commercial Harvest Taking a Multifunctional, Landscape Approach

Globally, the agricultural sector is facing many challenges in response to climate change, unsustainable farming practices and human population growth. Despite advances in technology and innovation in agriculture, governments around the world are recognizing a need for transformative agricultural systems that offer solutions to the interrelated issues of food security, climate change, and conservation of environmental and cultural values. Approaches to production are needed that are holistic and multisectoral. In planning for future agricultural models, it is worth exploring indigenous agricultural heritage systems that have demonstrated success in community food security without major environmental impacts. We demonstrate how indigenous practices of customary harvest, operating in multifunctional landscapes, can be scaled up to service new markets while still maintaining natural and cultural values. We do this through a case analysis of the wild harvest of Kakadu plum fruit by Aboriginal people across the tropical savannas of northern Australia. We conclude that this system would ideally operate at a landscape scale to ensure sustainability of harvest, maintenance of important patterns and processes for landscape health, and incorporate cultural and livelihood objectives. Applied to a variety of similar native products, such a production system has potential to make a substantial contribution to niche areas of global food and livelihood security.

Enhance indigenous agricultural systems to reduce migration

Changes in social and environmental conditions in the Western Highlands of Guatemala undermine food security and job opportunities. We describe how targeted assistance can build upon traditional agricultural systems to increase adaptive capacity, improve nutrition, provide jobs and thereby reduce pressures to migrate.

Indigenous Agricultural Systems in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka: Management Transformation Assessment and Sustainability

The tank-based irrigated agricultural system in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka is one of the oldest historically evolved agricultural systems in the world. The main component of the system consists of a connected series of man-made tanks constructed in shallow valleys to store, convey and utilize water for paddy cultivation. Up to 10,000 tanks originating from the heydays of ancient kingdoms are still integrated in the current agricultural landscape. During the last two millennia, this indigenous system has undergone many changes in technological, management and socio-cultural norms. This research aimed to analyze the current management practices and existing indigenous aspects of the Dry Zone irrigated agricultural system from the viewpoint of farmers who are the main stakeholders of the system. Altogether, 49 semi-structured interviews were conducted in seven villages in the Anuradhapura district and a detailed survey was conducted in the village of Manewa with a mixed research approach. The basic elements of the indigenous landscape, agricultural practices and management structures based on Farmer Organizations were mapped and examined in detail. The analysis of results shows that the sustainability of the indigenous agricultural system is vulnerable to rapid changes due to modernization, market changes, education levels, and inconsistent management decisions. The case study demonstrates the value of preserving indigenous agricultural systems and the negative outcomes of current management interventions that neglect the indigenous system. Therefore, careful interventions and innovations are needed to adapt the tank-based indigenous agricultural system of the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka so as to preserve ecological and socio-economic sustainability.

The regeneratedchacraof the Kichwa-Lamistas: an alternative to permaculture?

This article compares Western permaculture theory and practice with the indigenous agricultural system of the Kichwa-Lamistas in the Department of San Martin in High Amazon Peru. It draws on indigenous theory and collaborations with the Kichwa-Lamistas to argue that the bioculture of the latter represents an alternative not only to modern, industrialized agriculture but also to permaculture. The article profiles the agroecological system used by the Kichwa-Lamistas, which employs agroforestry, the use of anthropogenic Terra Preta soils, and other sustainable practices. Although both the Kichwa-Lamista chacra (farm) and the permaculture farm or garden represent, in theory, two forms of closed-loop, polycultural, agroforestry-based subsistence farming, we argue that the enactments of reciprocity and other spiritual components of Kichwa-Lamista bioculture constitute an alternative to permaculture’s rootedness in scientific, materialist, and universalist traditions, which ultimately treat the natural world as other.

Sustainable Agricultural Extension Education for Oil and Gas Producing Communities in Imo State, Nigeria

Imo State, an Oil producing state in Nigeria is bedeviled with incidences of environmental degradation that caused low food production. Oil and Gas producing communities are restive, resulting to conflicts and kidnaps. Oil and gas multinationals introduced agricultural extension services to educate farmers while Agricultural Development Programmes also embark on same. Smallholder farming system affected extension teaching methods of Private and Public sector extensions. The farmers got confused due to mixed extension education techniques. Objective(s): To: streamline extension education system to enhance farmer participation; Develop synergistic system where Private and Public sector extension interact before educating farmers; Develop indigenous agricultural extension system that would consider peculiarities of Nigerian Niger Delta region. Data were collected through semi structured interviews, focused group discussion, personal observations and questionnaire from randomly selected farmers of both sectors and extension officers. Simple descriptive statistics and Likert-type scale were used. Results showed Public sector extension without focused educational programmes. Extension agents of Public sector capitalized on non-functional system to abandon education for Private sector extension that linked extension to oil and gas production. Results revealed most farmers in oil producing communities taking extension as right and could not account for inputs under REFILS. Subject Matter Specialists became money conscious and leaving farmers’ problems unattended. Agricultural Extension sustainability indices of Acceptability, Functionality, Operability and Durability (AFOD) were developed. There is need for a unified Extension Education curriculum to be developed. Extension Education should be subjected to Sustainability test of AFOD. It therefore concluded that Extension systems should be complementary.

Modeling alternative mitigation strategies of salinity intrusion on food production by integrating SWOT and TEAM decision models

Salinity intrusion is one of the major concerns for the coastal people of Bangladesh. The impacts of salinity intrusion on food production of coastal districts are likely to severe. Since the extensive shrimp farming cultivation started in the 1970s, it has spread throughout the coastal region, increasing soil and water salinity levels. A mixed-method approach was employed by coupling with SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) models for identifying alternative mitigation strategies of salinity intrusion on food production at coastal districts in Bangladesh. A variety of stakeholders and policymakers were first interviewed, being asked to participate in an exercise identifying their perceptions of the greatest challenges facing coastal districts people due to salinity intrusion on food production. The study results reveal that large part of the land of coastal districts intrude with high salinity and a little part is under moderate and low salinity. Therefore, the agricultural land is decreasing and shifting into shrimp farming and settlements. The salinity intrusion affects the soil surface is to decrease food crop production of the study areas about approximately 0.45 metric tons every year. The integrating SWOT and TEAM models analysis were shown that the indigenous agricultural systems, NGOs activities and community people adaptive potency were the strength whereas sensitive environment and absence of strict law of environmental management and implication gap of policy options were found to be the weaknesses. Foreign aid and research results and shrimp export facilities were found to be the main opportunities. Land scarcity, food security issues and political interventions were found to be the main threats. The SWOT model identified several alternatives mitigation strategies for salinity intrusion in coastal districts context have been identified which are funding opportunities, alternative income generation, sustainable shrimp aquaculture, salinity tolerant crop varieties, climate smart agriculture and environmental education and research etc. In the end, it is a case study that might shed some useful schemes combining scientific assessment models such as SWOT and TEAM, which could feed evidence-based decision-making processes for generating alternatives mitigation strategies of environmental threats.

English

Longstanding relationship (amicable and hostile) has existed between Awi andGumuz nationalities since Aksumite era. Their early relationship had been full of pain because of the fact that the successive highland kings had appointed Awi chiefs to run state affairs in Gumuz community, which left bad seed on the future relation between two generations.  As time went on, a shift from hostile to friendly relation marked since the change of politics in 1974 because of socio-political developments and the dynamic nature of the interaction. The study focused on driving socio-political and economic developments which promoted tolerance, cohabitation and diffusion of the indigenous agricultural knowledge system between these two people. The Gumuz and Awi inhabited Woredas of Awi and Metekelzonez were selected for this study. The researcher attempted to consult wide ranges of primary and secondary sources.  Elders from Awi and Gumuz are extensively interviewed. They responded that agricultural alliance leads to the shift of indigenous knowledge such as traditional agricultural activities, management of crop production etc from Awi to Gumuz. The sources are critically collected, scrutinized and analyzed. The validities of the sources are cross-checked one against the other. Key words: Peaceful- coexistence, indigenous knowledge system.

Amerindian Agriculture in an Urbanising Amazonia (Rio Negro, Brazil)

This article explores the transformations undergone by indigenous agricultural systems in periurban areas of the Rio Negro (Amazonas, Brazil). Rather than losing their characteristics, these systems have basically been transposed from a forest context to periurban areas, maintaining multi‐plot cultivation, dynamic management of agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge. But this agriculture is confronted by the values of modernity embedded in urban agriculture. The recognition of the ecological and cultural relevance of indigenous practices depends on new kinds of market integration and partnerships.

Geospatial modeling of pre-contact Hawaiian production systems on Molokaʻi Island, Hawaiian Islands

The geographic distribution and relative importance of traditional agricultural systems in Hawaiʻi, based on ethnohistoric and archeological data, is only partially understood. Knowledge of the size and distribution of these systems is critical in estimating island populations, production, and surplus, as well as for assessing societal dynamics and the sustainability of indigenous agricultural systems. We employ geospatial modeling using rainfall, elevation, soil type, streamflow, slope, and substrate age, to create a geographic information system (GIS) model for the distribution of four major production systems on Molokaʻi Island – intensive pondfield irrigation, intensive dryland cropping, extensive colluvial slope agriculture, and fishpond aquaculture. Model results were checked against archaeological data sets for known areas, testing for goodness of fit between model predictions and empirical field evidence. Our model predicts that Molokaʻi could have sustained 9.52 km 2 of irrigated pondfields, 7.98 km 2 of intensive dryland systems, and 18.5 km 2 of colluvial slope agriculture. Fishponds are estimated to have yielded 17.98 metric tons of fish protein per year. The total agricultural production for the island is calculated to be 41,490 metric tons per year (wet weight), with pondfield, dryland, and slope systems yielding 46, 17, and 37 percent of total production respectively. Our results indicate that colluvial slope cultivation, which has been largely ignored in previous studies, was a major contributor to Hawaiian agricultural production, especially on the geologically older islands. Pondfield irrigation and colluvial slope systems had higher caloric efficiency than intensive dryland field systems, providing greater surplus to labor ratios in areas with abundant land suitable to irrigation and slope cultivation. Surplus discrepancies likely influenced population distribution as well as sociopolitical dynamics between districts and among neighboring islands. The model has applicability to the entire Hawaiian archipelago and to other islands in Polynesia, where it may be used to estimate pre-contact agricultural production and carrying capacities, two main factors influencing pre-contact social and political dynamics in Hawaiʻi and other island groups.