@article {439, title = {Traditional agriculture and plant pathology (TAPP) database [ASCII format for the Macintosh]}, year = {1990}, month = {1990}, publisher = {Cornell University Department of Plant Pathology}, address = {Ithaca, NY}, abstract = {The authors{\textquoteright} goal in developing this resource was to bring together as many as possible of the published materials on practices used by traditional farmers to manage plant diseases. The database in its present form is far from an exhaustive collection, and is an attempt to bring together the collective knowledge of several heretofore diverse disciplines. The authors hope that in doing so they have laid the groundwork for further collaboration among plant pathologists, social scientists, and othes with an interest in enhancing the vitality and viability of traditional farmers around the world.}, keywords = {agroforestry, biological control, crop density, diversity, fallow, fire, flooding, habitat selection, heat, hilling, minimum tillage, mixed gardens, mulching, multiple cropping, multistorey cropping, organic matter, pesticides, planting date, pruning, resistance, roguing, rotations, sanitation, seed treatment, selection, shade, sowing depth, storage, terraces, tillage, weeds}, author = {H. David Thurston and Neil R. Miller} } @inbook {918, title = {The Brazilian fiber belt: Harvest and management of Piassava palm (Attalea funifera Mart.)}, booktitle = {The palm -- Tree of life: Biology, utilization, and conservation symposium at the 1986 Annual Meeting of the Society for Economic Botany, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, 13-14 June 1986}, series = {Advances in Economic Botany no. 6}, year = {1988}, month = {1988}, pages = {254-267}, publisher = {New York Botanical Garden}, organization = {New York Botanical Garden}, address = {New York}, abstract = {

Piassava palm (Attalea funifera Mart.) is endemic to the coastal restinge forests of Bahia, Brazil. Its durable water resistant fiber has been commercially exploited since the 1500s, first in the fashioning of ship\&$\#$39;s anchor ropes and later in the manufacture of brooms and brushes. Although still destructively exploited on unattended land, piassava is increasingly being protected and managed as a valuable perennial crop. The leaf fibers harvested either seasonally or on a continuous basis, depending on the competing interests of the cutters and land owners. Management strategies for piassava habitat include:

  1. benign neglect
  2. burning
  3. planting

During burning, piassava\&$\#$39;s deep subterranean stems escape the flames, allowing this species to survive and numerically dominate the post-fire environment. Although widespread, the use of fire to \"improve\" piassave habitat is temporally infrequent. Land owners began planting on an experimental basis in the 1970s. Although geographical differences in fiber quality are recognized, planting is carried out exclusively with seed from local sources.

Piasava fiber exports have steadily declined since the beginning of this century due to over-exploitation and competition with other natural as well as synthetic materials. This situation has been aggravated by the rising value of the U.S. dollar. Export losses have been more than balanced, however, by the growing demand for piassava fiber within Brazil.

}, keywords = {Attalea, Bahia, fire, palms, Piassava, rainforests}, url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/17353831}, author = {Robert A. Voeks}, editor = {Michael J. Balick} } @article {561, title = {Farming, fishing, and fire in the history of the upper R{\'\i}o Negro region of Venezuela}, journal = {Human Ecology}, volume = {15}, year = {1987}, month = {March 1987}, pages = {1-26}, abstract = {Studies of R{\'\i}o Negro subsistence farming and fishing activities are used to estimate the human carrying capacity for the region and the likely pattern of human land-use during prehistory. Ceramic evidence suggests human presence in the region more than 3,000 years ago. Traditional farming is labor intensive and relatively unproductive. Nevertheless, farmers achieve an energy return of 15.2:1, and produce 2,600 kcal per work hour. Fish are the major protein source, but fish catch per unit of effort and fish yield per hectare of floodplain are very low; fishermen are probably exploiting local fish resources very close to their limit. The low human population density would suggest that the R{\'\i}o Negro forest has been relatively undisturbed. Nevertheless, charcoal is widespread and abundant in forest soils. This charcoal is probably from anthropogenic or natural wildfires. These results suggest a much more complex history for Amazonia than previously thought. (author)}, keywords = {agriculture, Amazon, energetics, fire, fishing, subsistence agriculture, Venezuela, wildfires}, doi = {10.1007/BF00891369}, url = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/4602829}, author = {Kathleen Clark and Christopher Uhl} }