Land Use and Farming Systems in Dry Zone, Myanmar: A Case Study in Kani, Sagaing Region

摘要

The dominant features of the Myanmar Dry Zone include erratic rainfall, soil with low nutrient content and high temperatures. The majority of the people depend on agriculture. In order to determine how the local people adapted themselves to their agro-environment, land types and agricultural systems in four villages in the Sagaing region were analyzed, based on field observations and interviews. In the surveyed villages, a sesame-pigeon pea intercropping system has predominated since long time ago. Other upland field crops such as groundnut and a fruit tree, jujube, were also cultivated. Groundnut and sesame oil mainly fulfilled home consumption. Pigeon pea and jujube were cash crops exported to Tndia and China. The existing cropping systems were able to secure their home consumption with adaptability to the environment, in addition to supply of the income. In the recent decades, however, the farmers have faced a reduction in the productivities of the present major crops. They are considering the possibility of introducing more profitable new cash crops than those in the present cropping systems to provide a higher economic viability.