ラオス焼畑山村における換金作物栽培受容後の土地利用

DOI Web Site 被引用文献7件
  • 中辻 享
    京都大学大学院文学研究科 日本学術振興会

書誌事項

タイトル別名
  • Changes in Slash-and-Burn Agriculture after the Introduction of Cash Crops in the Hilly Areas of Laos
  • ラオス ヤキハタ サンソン ニ オケル カンキン サクモツ サイバイ ジュヨウ ゴ ノ トチ リヨウ ルアンパバーン ケン シェンヌングン 10バンムラ オ ジレイ ト シテ
  • A Case Study of Number 10 Village, Xiengngeun District, Luang Prabang Province
  • ルアンパバーン県シェンヌン郡10番村を事例として

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抄録

Though subsistence-oriented slash-and-burn rice production is still the major land use in the hilly areas of Northern Laos, it is now increasingly problematic, especially in areas adjacent to main roads. Due principally to increased population pressure, the period of fallow has declined and labor requirements for weeding have dramatically increased. In addition, the Lao government considers shifting cultivation to be a major cause of deforestation and has recently initiated a series of policies to restrict it. The main policy now being implemented is the 'land allocation program' which aims to stabilize shifting cultivation and to promote permanent agriculture by allocating a limited area of agricultural land to each household.<br>On the other hand, market-oriented agricultural activities of shifting cultivators, such as cash crop cultivation, collection of forest products, animal husbandry and teak plantation forestry, are now becoming increasingly important since the Lao government adopted a policy to revitalize the market from 1986. As a result, a cash income has become very important in rural and urban areas. Among these activities, cash crop cultivation is now widely adopted in some areas of Northern Laos, influencing local land use and livelihood. This is due in part to the policy of the Lao government; the government is now promoting intensive agriculture with cash crops as an alternative to slash-and-burn rice production.<br>The present study aims to reveal the influence of the introduction of cash crop cultivation on land use in the hilly areas of Laos, with a focus on Number 10 Village, which is located 25km to the south of Luang Prabang, the largest town in Northern Laos. The main ethnic group is the Khmu. In this village, the upland fields planted with both upland rice and cash crops (Job's tears and paper mulberry) were mapped by means of GPS to describe today's land use. Interviews were also conducted with every household to investigate the household economy and land use history of each field.<br>The conclusions are as follows.<br>In Number 10 Village, the land allocation program was conducted in 1996 and afterwards intensive cultivation of cash crops was promoted by the local government and international organizations as an alternative to slash-and-burn rice production. Due in part to this policy, many households have started cultivating Job's tears and paper mulberry, but it has never been an alternative to slash-and-burn rice production. Job's tears is a cereal crop which is exported to Thailand and Taiwan, and is then processed into beer, sweets and health foods. Although cultivation is usually highly profitable, households cannot rely permanently on it due to large price fluctuations. Paper mulberry is a tree crop, the inner bark of which is exported mainly to Thailand and is processed into paper. It has a rather stable price and is easy to cultivate, but is rarely cultivated intensively because of its low profitability.<br>On the other hand, upland rice cultivation is still the most important land use practice in the village, engaging 88% of households at the scale of 1.13 ha per household. Most households continue production without observing the rules established by the land allocation program. Today, they practice it under the rotation of shorter fallow and an increased cultivation period, which has caused a very significant increase in the labor requirements for weed control. If the rotation is intensified by limiting agricultural land, it cannot be continued. Therefore, many households still continue on land where cultivation is prohibited according to the rules established by the program.<br>Most households combine subsistence-oriented rice production and market-oriented cash crop cultivation. This combination has important merit for them in that they can mitigate the risks associated with cash crop failure or a fall in the market price due to this subsistence production.

収録刊行物

  • 人文地理

    人文地理 56 (5), 449-469, 2004

    一般社団法人 人文地理学会

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