Growing Diversity - Latin America

TITLE OF EXPERIENCE: The tree in peasant agriculture

AUTHOR: Sur Formoseño Small Farmers' Association APEPROS, La Carpincha Cooperative, People's Cultural Institute INCUPO

COUNTRY AND REGION: ARGENTINA, Southern Formosa Province (Pirané Department), in the American Chaco Region

ECOLOGICAL ZONE: Savanna Ecosystem (Chaco húmedo).

ABSTRACT

This region's history of economic development through lumber extraction has led to the degradation and disappearance of the forest. Today it is mostly used for farming and grazing on worn-out soil with low crop yields and ongoing crises in production (cotton, green vegetables). Local small farmers' organizations, with 300 families as members, have taken action to recover their environment through native forestry management, use of trees in new peasant farming systems (agro-forestry systems), and recovery and dissemination of local seed varieties for on-farm family consumption. These activities use a methodology based on local knowledge and disseminated through peasant multipliers.

These experiences have allowed for the creation in the region of proposals for native forest management and agro-forestry. This latter activity has become an alternative for small farmers because it is ecological sustainable and more just in that it allows for the distribution of income throughout the year. While these "tree farmers" are not traditional in an eminently agricultural region (except for timber extraction), the experience with inter-cropping and native forest management is growing among peasant families, due to the promotion done by peasant organizations and training institutions, based on a peasant-to-peasant and competent technical support, particularly for the agroecological management of crops.

The advantageous results of these practices are now beginning to appear. As the years go by, trees managed in the native forest management systems along with appropriate farming techniques and associations of shading species have brought an improvement in soil quality, more retention of moisture and higher crop yields.

CONTACT: Click here for updated contact details

INCUPO - Chaco OFFICE: Catamarca 436 - 3500 Resistencia, Chaco  - Argentina, Tel/Fax (54-3722) 446 325  - E-mail:  incupochaco@lared.com.ar , ggasperi@data54.com