THE ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY OF SLASH-AND-BURN AGRICULTURE

Slash-and-burn agroecosystems are important to rural poor and indigeno us peoples in the developing world. Ecologically sound slash-and-burn agriculture is sustainable because it does not depend upon outside inp uts based on fossil energy for fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation. One means of demonstrating the soundness of slash-and-burn agroecosys tems is to prove empirically the ecological compatibility of this syst em of crop production. This paper examines the ecological sustainabili ty of slash-and-burn agriculture based on the productivity of soil res ources.