Agri-Forestry East of the Andes

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ro-Forestry Systems for.the HYmid Trooics East;of the Andesby: John P. BishopPublished by:Instituto National de InvestigacionesAgropecuariasEstacion Experimental NapoCentro Amazonico LimoncochaApartado 2600Quito, EcuadorAvailable for free if readers send payment tocover postage or wish to exchange publications.Available from:John P. BishopInstituto National de InvestigacionesAgropecuariasEstacion Experimental Napo

Centro Amazonico LimoncochaApartado 2600Quito, EcuadorReproduced by permission of the U.S. Agency forInternational Development.Reproduction of this microfiche document in anyform is subject to the same restrictions as thoseof the original document.


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AGRO-FORESTRY SYSTEMSFOR THE HUMID TROPICS

EAST OF THE ANDESbY

Joh_n -9. Bishop

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AGRO-FORESTRY SYSTEMS FOR THE HUMID TROPICSEAST OF THE ANDES: I.Swine, Integrated Foodcrop,Chicken and Fuelwood Production.*

bYJohn P. Bishop**Estaci6n Experimental Napo/Centro Amaz6nico Limoncocha***Illstituto National de Investigaciones AgropecuariasApartado 2600 - Quito, Ecuador

Each region of the developing world has unique nutri-tional-demographic problems and potentials. Such problemsare compounded in the central Andean region because itspopulation has the highest density and birth rate in SouthAmerica while consumption levels of protein and caloriesare among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere. Tradition-ally most people of Colombia, Ecuador, Per6 and Bolivia havelived in highland areas.

These countries also contain vast humid tropical low-lands east of the Andes (Figure 1) into which highways arebeing built due to petroleum discoveries and colonizationplans. Such highways are leading the poorest of the ruralpoor away from over-populated.highland-areas to establishsmall farms in the eastern lowiands (8). A sizeable partof each family farm is utilized for products of primaryneed such as foodcrops, swine, chickens and fuelwood.a- Paper presented to International Conference on Ama-zonian Agricultural and Land Use Development, spon-sored by ICRAF/CIAT/RF/GTZ/NCSU, Cali,Colombia, April .16-18, 1980.script.. English translation of Spanish manu-:_ ,. _ . . _** Member of INIAP/IUFLA/IBRD Technical Assistance Mission.Author acknowledges assistance given by Summer-Institute .of Linguistics. . .:. ..'.*'++* T Average annual,,precipitation .3102 mm, elevation 243 ma&latitude 0024'S; 4... .


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A shifting form of agriculture is practiced by smallfarmers east of the Andes (25,26,32). As human populationsand expectations increase, rest periods in shifting cultiva-tion are shortened, accelerating in an alarming rate soildeterioration and weed/pest invasion, and critically decreas-ing yields precisely as needs are increasing (25, 30, 32).

One promising solution is to intensify the rest periodwith swine, chicken and fuelwood production (1,2,3,4,6,17,19,21,28). Forage and fuelwood legumes increase soil aera-tion, organic matter, nitrogen and available phosphorus,as well as control soil erosion and leaching (&,5,20,27).Swine also improve soil fertility by depositing organicmatter which stimulates legume/Kh.&obium symbiosis and bysupplying fecal microorganisms which mineralize crop resi-dv.es (4,) . In addition, swine can improve small farm income(7) al-~3 produce low cost animal protein without cerealgrains (29).

The American lowland tropics have the highest percapita swine population in the world (Table l), more thanfive times that of tropical Africa and Asia (33). Mostswine and chickens in the tropical lowlands east of theAndes are produced on small farms (Table 2) utilizing anopen range production system with banana as the principleswine feed and corn as the supplemental chicken feed.

In Amazonian Ecuador, studies are being realized to, __._intensify open range swine husbandry utilizing the follow-ing mixture of perennial species in a multi-strata production.system: Ile oval ifoli_lun (trgbol tropical), Ga.nnae&Li..s (achira), Mu -nata x &I. ba1b ABB (orito)and I.&a e&&i+ .(guaba) ?:, - '*.,$I- -- . r . _' ., * .- ' I.'i- _,_. . -1; :._ 1. . .The umbraphilus legume D &lfol lum constitutesthe' ground- floor (19) as forage legumks ar:e 'more pai'a:t.abler, -.. .J

s_


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and more efficiently utilized by swine than are grasses(10,14), The root forage Canna &ul& and banana Muss. .acumlnata x l!!l* ~&L~uu. ABB are local perennial cropswith low labor and soil fertility requirements and producelow cost feeds for direct consumption by swine (11,15,X6,18,24,31,33). The fast growing native legume tree IngaE&L&, improves soil fertility and structure (22) as wellas produces fuelwood (l,2,3) on an eight year rotationcycle (Figure 3):

Initially, conventional agriculture is practiced on anew plot each year: land clearing and production of shortcycle species in conformity with one or another classicalmultiple cropping system. The perennial species of.thefuture multi-strata system are interplanted during shortcycle cropping (Figure 4). Following a two year period ofshort cycle cropping, the mentioned perennial componentswill have reached a vertically stratified state of develop-ment. Four distinct strata are rapidly differentiated andthe resultant multi-strata structure and multi-species 'composition ecologically and biologically approaches asustained yield forest ecosystem (9,12,13).

A ten hectare family unit (Figure 5) is divided intoeight lots (1 ha. ea.) which are used following field crops'(Table 3)for weanling pigs, fattening pigs and breedingsows. Also, eight lots (0.2 ha. ea.) are formed and usedfollowing garden crops (Table 4) for individual farrowingpens. Six strands of barbed wire and closely woven livingJatrD C,ILCCU (piEon) posts are used as fencing (23). -Internal swine parasites are chemically controlled (leva-misole) every three months synchronized with alternate gra-zing. Also, a 0.4 ha. lot is used for the farm home, chickenhouse and fruit trees (Table 5);


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000 -

Q-20 ho. 20-50 ha. 50--100 ha. +I00 ha,Size of Farms

Figure 2. Number of farms by size in Amazonian Ecuador(SOURCE: Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderxa, 1978).


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.

Figure 3.

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Foodcrop productionIntegrated foodcrop, swine and fuelwood production.

Swine-fuelwood production.0-l 1m(Trgbol tropical - lm x lm)

Ca.nnaedulis(Ac.hira - 2m x 2m)

Mur;aaJ2UlbbXM.~~(orito - 4m x 4m)

YGY ua - 8m x 8m)

ABB

E!J I years

Cut fuelwoodPlant foodcrops


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r------a


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Field Crops Field Crops1 ha. 1 ha.

. . .._.c- --- ----- -- -- -----

30 FatteningPigs1 ha.

30 Wean1 ing@

1

.Pigs1 i-la.

1 ha.

--P1 ha.

---*IF-----

9 EreedingSCWS1 ha. 1 ha.

-- L0.2 ha I 0.2 ha. I OaO 000 0.2 ha. 0,2 ha.Farruwing 000 000 I Farrcwing I Farrming

Crops 10.2 ha. I 0.2 ha. I000,,06u00 I00==A.S-Y-mF-e w-n-- 0.2 ha.-1 0.2 ha.

ii !

- 450m I ---+--iT+ 50 m t 50 m $Om ,

80 m

80 m

80 m

80 m

40 m.

40 m

Figure 5. Integrated foodcrop, swine, chicken and fuelwoodproduction in a 10 ha family unit.


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Table 1. American countries with large swine populations(SOURCE: World Almanac, 1978).

Number of people per hog

1. Brazilr)L- Ecuador

2.32.7

3m Haiti 2.84. Nicaragua 3-35* U.S.A. 3.9

-.. .- .


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Table 2. Percentage of swine by farm size in Ecuador(sO~JRCE:1978). Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderra

Farm size % of swine

0 - 20 ha. 81.7 %20 - 50 ha. 10.7 %

+ 50 ha.

.- _ -_.. . -.


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Table 3. Major foodcrops in Amazonian Ecuador.

Local name Scientific name-MafzYuca?15tanoPapa mandiPapa china

l!!hEZL-XM. haJ&siana AAB

Variety

INIAP VS-2Native

. Local

LocalNative_


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Table 4. Minor foodcrops in Amazonian Ecuador

Local nameMani:Frgjol corn&2 IFr6jol rat8nFrgjol vahnitaHabas nativasHaba blancaAshipaFiGaCoconaBadeaGranadillaMafz peque%oCamotePapa de sogaPujXn 'AchochaTomate criolloZapalloCuchicolCebolla criollaCa%a de azkar

Variety-NativeLocalLocalLocalNativeLocalNativeNativeNativeNativeNativeLocalNative _NativeNativeNative.LocalNativeNative ~..LocalLocal

.


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Table 'j. Fruit trees in Amazonian Ecuador- ---

Local name

L irn6n mandarinaLimaNaranja criolloFlanf de &-bolGuaba IltaArbol de panCacao blancoZapote-AbiyuAnonaUvillaGuaba comiinGuaba machetonaAguacateGuanabanaChonta duroGuayaba

Variety

LocalLocalLocalNativeNativeLocalNativeNativeNative .NativeNati.ve .NativeNativeNativeNativeNativeNative


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1. Bishop, J. P. 1978. The development of a sustainedyield agro-ecosystem in the upper Amazon.Ecosystems, 4: 459-461. Agro-2. Bishop, J. P. 1978. Desarrollo y transferencia detecnologra para peque"nas fincas en la Regi6nAmazdnica ecuatoriana. En: Seminario sobre Manejode 10s Sistemas Ecoldgicos y Alternativas de Pro-duccidn Agro-Silvo-Pastoril en la Regidn AmazcnicaEcuatoriana, patrocinada por el Instituto Nationalde Colonizaci6n de la Regidn Amazsnica Ecuatoriana,'Limoncocha, Ecuador. 8 PP*3. Bishop/J. P. 1979 9 Produccik familiar agro-porcino-forestal en el tr6pico hfimedo hispanoamericano. En:Taller sobre .sistemas Agro-Forestales en AmgricaLatina Tropical,alba, Costa Rica. patrocinada por CATIE/UNU, Turri-9 PP*4 . Bredero, T. J. 1977. The role of farmyard manures andgreen manures in soil fertility restoration in thehumid tropics. Abstr. Trop. Agric. 3: g-17.5m Bredero, T. J. 1973. Green manuring and the N and Psupply of swamp rice.248-257. Nigerian Agric. J., 10:6. Breitenbach, C. A. 1974.and subtropics. Farming systems for the tropicsIn: Guide for Field Crops in theTropics and the Subtropics;' USAID, Washington, D. C.,22-28 pp. , .i*7* CIAT, 1971.En: Sistemas de producci6n de-ganado porcine.Informe Anual. Centro International de Agri-cultura Tropical, Cali, Colombia. 41-52 pp.8. Crist, R. E. and Nissly, C. M. 1973. East from theAndes.

No. 50.Univ. Florida Social Sciences Monograph

Univ. Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida.166 PP-99 'Dubois, J. 1977. Investigaciones sobre Trb ice HfimedoAmericano. En: Seminario sobre Ecolog a de1 Trb-tpica Hfimedo Americano, IICA-TROPICOS, Mkica, Vene-zuela. IX AI-IX AI0 pp.

10. Eyles, D. E.,l963. .-farming. In: Integration of pigs into grksslandAnimal Health, Production and- Pas--ture. Longmans, London, 359-383 pp.:


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11. Hcrklots, G. A. 1972. Vegetables in South-East Asia, *Hafner, New York. 525 PP.12. Holdrige, L. R. 1959. Ecological indications of theneed for a new approach to tropical land-use. Eco-nomic Botany, 13: 271-280.139 Janzen, D. H. 1973 m Tropical agroecosystems.182: lzlz-izig. Science,14. Jones, D. W. and Wallace, H. D. 1974-a Grain andforage crops for swine. I.n: Swine Productionin Florida. Florida Department of Agriculture,Bull. No. Zl', 93-99 pp.15. Kay, D. E. 1973. Queensland Arrowroot. In: TPICrop and Product Digest, No. 2 Root Crops, Tropi-cal Products Institute, Overseas Development

Administration, London. 129-lZ,&pp.16. Kurita, K. 1967 l The cultivation of Can& &ul&,and its value as a feedcrop.11 (l-2): 5-8. Japan J. Trop. Agric.,17. Kirby, J. M. 1976.. Agricultural land-use and thesettlement of Amazonla.105-131. Pacific Viewpoint, 15:18. LeDividich, J. 1977. Feeding value of Canna &ulisroots for pigs,

267-274.J. Agric, Univ. P. R. 61 (3):

19. Masefield, G. B. 1965 lculture. A Handbook of Tropical Agri-Oxford, London, 196 pp.20. Moore, A. W. 1967 9 Changes in soil moisture andorganic matter under different covers at Ibadan,Nigeria. Plant Soil, 27: 463-467.21. Nye, P. H. and Greenland, D. J. 1960. The Soil underShifting Cultivation. Commonwealth Bur. Soils,Tech. Commun. 51, Harpenden, U. K. 156 pp.22. Ochse, J. J., et. al. 1961.Agriculture, Tropical and SubtropicalVol. 1. Macmillan, New York, 760 pp.23. Payne, W. J. 1973. Disposici6n y Manejo de fincas'tropicales. En: Ganaderra en 10s Tr6picos. Aso-ciacidn Venezolana de Criadores de Ganado Cebfi.Caracas, Venezuela. vol. 1, 563 pp. l ,24. Purseglove, J. w:- 1972. +- :.Tr.opical Crops: Monocoty-ledons. Wiley, New York. 607 PP~


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25a Sanchez, P. A. 1977. Alternativas al sistema deagricultura migratoria en Amgrica Latina. En:Reuni6n sobre Manejo, Conservaci6n de Suelos yAgricultura Migratoria en Am&rica Latina, FAO/SIDA, Lima, Perb. 44 pp.26. Sgnchez, P. A. 1973. Manejo de Suelos bajo sistemasde roza. En: Un Resumen de las InvestigacionesEdafolbgicas en la Am&rica Latina Tropical. N. C.Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bull. 219: 51-74.

27. Singh, A. 1967. Long-term effects of green manuresin sub-tropics. Indian J. Agric. Sci., 37: 226-233.28. Sprague, H. B. 1976. Combined crop/livestock farmingsystems for developing countries of the tropics

and sub-tropics. Technical Series Bulletin No.19, Office of Agriculture, Technical AssistanceBureau, Agency for International Development,Washington D. C., 30 pp.29. Thomsen, M. 1978. The Farm on the River of Esmeralds.Mifflin, Boston. 329 PP* :309 Tosi, J. 1gpL Desarrollo forestal del,tr6pico ameri-can0 frente a otras actividades econ6micas. En: Reunidn International sobre Sistemas de Producci6npara el Trbpico Americano. Informes sobre Cursos,Conferencias y Reuniones No. 41, IICA. Zona Andina,Lima, PerC. 13 PPm31 Walker, R. H. 1953* Some notes on'the edible canna -and its use in feeding pigs on the Lehmann system; -Govt. Kenya; Report of an enquiry into the generaleconomy of farming in the highlands. PP~ 56-57-32. Watters, W. F. 1971. Shifting cultivation in LatinAmerica. FAO Forestry Dev. Paper No. 17. 305 PP*33* Williamson, G. and Pyne, W. J. 1975. La GanaderTa en -Regiones Tropicales. Editorial Blume, Barcelona.468pp..

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AGRO-FORESTRY SYSTEMS FOR THE HUMID TROPICSEAST OF THE ANDES:II. Integrated Cattle and Timber Production.*bY

John P. Bishop**Estaci6n Experimental Napo/Centro Amazdnico Limoncocha*** 'Instituto National de Investigaciones AgropecuariasApartado 2600 - Quito, Ecuador

The humid tropics east of the Andes are presentlyundergoing large scale deforestation in favor of cattle de-velopment. Forests are substituted with pastures followingshort-term cropping. Such development has provoked severecrislcism as there occurs serious soil deterioration andfew Ilcrr;tures persist, Today many of these pastures arefound abandoned (1, 9, 13).

One suggested solution is to associate forage grasseswith forage legumes and timber trees (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,14,15,16). Forage legumes and timber trees can fulfillthe following functions: a) significantly increase.soilnitrogen by root associations with bacteria and fungi, b)significantly fertilize soil through leaf-fall, c) notablyimprove soil texture and aeration by physical and chemicaleffects, and d) substantially increase income from smallfarm pastures by sale of timber. d \

-* Paper presented to International Conference.on Ama-zonian Agricultural and Land Use Development, spon-sored by ICRAF/CIAT/RF/GTZ/NCSU, Cali, Colombia, April16-18, 1980. English translation of Spanish manuscript.** Member of INIAP/UFLA/IBRD Technical Assistance Mission.Author acknowledges assistance given by Summer Instituteof Linguistics; \*** Average annual precip4tation ,3102 mm, elevation 243 masl,latitude O"24'S. '


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_ 3-

In Amazonian Ecuador, studies are being realized toevaluate the forage grass Wa&iaCa humidicola (kikuyo.amazGnico), legume V ovalifol (trgbol tropical)and timber tree Cordia aJl.._iorlOrR (laurel) in a silvo-pastoralsystem (Figure 1).

At the beginning of the rainy season the B. huand li. ovralfolium are established using vegetative materialand planting stick. The !Z. ;~lliodora is also transplanted(&OO/ha) at this time using rootstumps (Figure; 2 & 3).

The newly established pastures are not grazed for oneyear or until timber trees are three meters high. Twoyears after reforestation, trees are thinned to 200/ha andag,ain after four years leaving 100 high-grade trees perhectare (Figure 4).

One hectare of pasture maintaining two bovines with25%. extraction per year will produce ten bovines in twentyyears. Estimating each adult bovine at US $300, cattleincome per hectare in twenty years will be US $3009.,

One hundred Cordia trees per hectare can produce 100 m3of timber in twenty years. Estimating each.:m3 of Cordia atUS $30, forest income per hectare in twenty years would beus $3000.

Therefore, timber production has great potential toimprove the economic productivity, ecological stability.and sociological viability of small cattle farms in thehumid tropics east of the Andes. ._ , 1

. For technology transfer to,the rural masses, smallIfarmer training materials' are being .prepared for use inlocal adult .education classes,: regional radio-educationcourses and practical classes in rural schools. .-i-,-e-'. / !'3 ,:._...:

. . .


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,

4 AI Thin Cord to loo/ha,Thin Cardia 'to 200/ha.

Begin grazing

I

'C

Plant: CorrliR m(laurel). . .PPslTl&Jum pvalif(trebo+ tropical). .BracU h~~.~~ldla(kikuyo amaz6nicoFigure 1. Integrated cattle and timber production.

. .

Sell timberRenovate patircReforest


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c

Figure 2.

350300

250

200150

0 N 0 J F M A M J J A S' 0 months

---------- 1Kikuyo amazbnico II

---N---B-- 1 *

Average precipitation (15 years) and planting sequence in theCentro Amazdnico Limonc-ocha,


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-t-lcd.I:a::+J


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- .,-._ ,)

-

--

-

-

--2h

- ---_-__._.--.-..-0.21-Yt_... _..

!ho

1 ha--

-+ -25Gm.+

I! . i

Cattle and timber production (4-O ha)

Foodcrop, swine, chicken and fuelwoodproduction (10 ha)

.:r . ,

- . .1.;

.- 3.Figure 4. Mixed production system for 50 ha farms..,. _i-.. . - _I _: T .I .i/, y:i*.


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1. Anon. 1978. Forestry for local community development.FAO Forestry Paper No, 7, Rome, 114 pp.2. Bishop, J. P. 1978. The development of a sustained .yield tropical agro-ecosystem in the upper Amazon.

Agro-Ecosystems,4: 459-461,3m Bishop, J. P. 1978. Desarrollo y transferencia detecnologfa para peque?ias fincas en la Regi6nAmaz6nica Ecuatoriana. En: Seminario sobreManejo de 10s Sistemas Ecoldgicos y Alternativasde ProducciFn Agro-Silvo-Pastoril en la Regi6nAmazdnica Ecuatoriana, patrocinada por el Insti-tuto National de Colonizacibn de la Regi6n Ama-z6nica Ecuatoriana, Limoncocha, Ecuador.4. Bishop, J. P. 1979. Producci6n ganadera-forestal en

el trdpico hfimedo hispanoamericano. ikl: XIIIConferencia Anual sobre Ganaderia y Avicultura enAmgrica Latina, patrocinada por la Universidad deFlorida, Gainesville.5* Bishop J. P. and Mu"noz, K. 1979. Producci6n ganadera-forestal en la Regidn Amazdnica Ecuatoriana. En:Reuni6n de Trabajo sobre Pastos Tropicales, patro-cinada por el Centro International de AgriculturaTropical, Cali, Colombia.6. Cook, B. G. and Grimes, R. F. 1977. Multiple land-use of open forest in south-eastern Queenslandfor timber and improved pasture: Establishmentand early growth. Trop. Grasslands, 11:239-245*7* Gregory, E. W. 1972. Integration of grazing in tropicalforestry---An experiment in combining cattle raisingwith pine plantation forestry in Fiji. SeventhWorld Forest Congress, Buenos Aires.8. Kennard, D. E. and Walker, B. H. 1973m Relationshipsbetween tree canopy cover and I>anicum maximun in

the vicinity of Fort Victoria. Rhodesian J.Agric. Res., 11: 145-153.. .._, _"9a -King, K. F. S. and Chandler, M. T. 1978. The wastedlands. International Council for Research inAgro-forestry, Nairobi.10. Kirby, J. M. 1976. Agricultural land-use and thesettlement of Amazonia. Pacific Viewpoint, 15:'105-131../ _- ;. . .11. Kirby, J.M. 19+6... .', .' ., ..,_ IForest grazing:' -.A technique for -

the tropics. World Crops, 28: 248-251.


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12.

13@14.

1.5.

16.

17.

Knowles, R. L., Klomp, B. K. and Gillingham, A. 1977.Report for the Fiji Pine Commission on forest gra-zing research. Rotorua. New Zealand Forest Service13 P*Farson, J.J. 1976. Forest to pasture: Developmentor destruction?121-138. Rev. Bio. Trop., 24 (Supl. 1):Payne, W. J. 1976. Possibilities for the integra-tion of tree crops and livestock production inthe wet tropics. J. Sci. Food Agric., 27:888.Peck, R. B. 1977. Sistemas agro-silvo-pastoriles corn0una alternativa para la reforestacisn en 10s trb-picas americanos. Bogota, Colombia, CONIF, 73-84 p.Thomas, D. 1978. Pastures and livestock under treecrops in the humid tropics.dad) 55: 39-44. Trop. Agric. (Trini-Wyatt-Smith, J. 1979. Agro-forestry in the Tropics:A new emphasis in rural development. Span 22: 65-67

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Agri-Forestry East of the Andes