REGENERATION OF AGRO-FOREST-ECOSYSTEMS IN SUBSAHARAN AFRICA

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Introduction : It seems very promising to solve food and environmental crisis in West Africa by breeding of Asian lowland paddy, Sawah, based rice farming with the indigenous farming systems of tropical Africa. In this report, Nupe's indigenous rice farming systems were characterized to find ways for long-term sustainable farming systems through crossing the cultures between tropical Asia and Africa.Materials and Methods : A typical Nupe village, Gadza was selected for intensive survey. The village is located the middle of the Nyenkpata river watershed, Niger State, Central Nigeria, West Africa. Major ethnic groups are Nupe rice-based farmers and Fulani cattle nomad. Ethnopedological surveys were done during August to December in 1994 and June to November in 1995. Information on soil, toposequense, classifications and land use in Nupe language were collected from local farmers, and Nupe's lowland farming systems were characterized in detail.Results and Discussion : Nupe's upland farmin … More g is characterized by bush fallow intercropping systems with cereals, such as sorghum, millet and maize, and vegetables, as groundnuts, okra, onion, spinach, sweetpotato and cowpea. In Lowland, during rainy season, farmers crop rice and produce vegetables during dry season, forming many types of ridges and mounds. Seven forms of land preparation were observed in the low land. These are ; Togoko kuru, Togogi kuru, Togoko naafena, Togogi naafena, Ewoko, Baragi and Gbaragi (Fig.1). The differentiation of the forms seem to relate to micro-toposequence and water regime. Before planting dry season crops, Nupe farmers make mounds, ridges or both of them, and then after harvesting they break them down and spread the soils as preparation for rice cropping in rainy season.Each form is seasonally modified with each pattern depending on rice and weed growth, water condition and crop varieties (Fig.2).It is also a labor saving method during the peak farming seasons. The dates of operation are changed according to each form. Moving the soil seems to have effects on controlling weeds, improving the soil nutritional and physical characters and conserving the soil and water conditions.Nupe have detail classifications on soil and land relief. They also recognize that soil tyoes are different along the toposequence. Their evaluation of soils seem to closely relate to clay contents. Nupe have advanced skills in lowland rice farming systems. Their indigenous rice based farming systems are most advanced and adaptable soil management systems to the ecological environment such as sandy and low nutrition soil, and variable rainfall in Guinea Savanna zone of West Africa. Less