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ethnoecology and planting practices in a swidden agricultural system 1
Author(s) -
JOHNSON ALLEN
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1974.1.1.02a00050
Subject(s) - agriculture , sowing , randomness , agroforestry , task (project management) , slash and burn , geography , mathematics , agronomy , environmental science , economics , archaeology , statistics , biology , management
Two sets of data on slash‐and‐bum agriculture in Northeast Brazil are compared. The first constitutes a cognitive paradigm of land types and the rules stating which crops “like” which lands best. The second shows the actual outcomes, for forty‐four agriculturalists, of planting specific crops in specific land types. The cognitive model predicts the direction in which actual planting behavior deviates from randomness, although many interesting exceptions occur. The need for similar analyses in other cultures and spheres of activity is stressed, and techniques appropriate to the task are discussed.