WHERES THE BEEF - INCORPORATING CATTLE INTO SUSTAINABLE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM SIN THE AMAZON BASIN

Low external input agroforestry systems hold great promise as alternat ive, sustainable production systems for small-to-medium farmers in the Amazon Basin. The design of such systems is considered essential to s tabilize agricultural production and avoid the cycle of continuing des truction of primary forest [Anderson A (1990) In: Anderson A (ed) Alte rnatives to Deforestation: Steps toward Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest pp 3-23. Columbia University Press, New York]. In order to be successful, these systems must be compatible with local ecological conditions and adoptable by farmers. Currently, many small-to-medium producers in the Amazon Basin use a slash and burn agricultural strate gy that combines annual cropping with cattle grazing in mixed farming systems. While cattle play an important role in household economic sur vival, grazing-induced land degradation threatens the long-term viabil ity of these farms [Loker W (1993) Human Organization 52(1): 14-24]. T his paper presents a model of a low external input agroforestry system that incorporates farmer preferences and practices but uses well-adap ted grass-legume pastures, rotational grazing and the management of na tural forest regeneration to enhance productivity in an ecologically s ound manner. This system provides farmers with the benefits of both an nual crops and cattle raising, avoids the land degradation that charac terizes current practices and effectively incorporates trees into the production system.