Variation in Swidden practices in four central Brazilian Indian societies

It has been suggested that indigenous tropical forest agriculture, in contrast with other agricultural systems, is characterized by a high degree of polyculture, and, being similar in diversity to the forest itself, has little disturbing effect on the generalized ecosystem that surrounds native gardens. Our comparative study of four Central Brazilian Indian groups shows, however, that while each of these groups practices polyculture to some extent, the crop mix found in their swidden plots is highly patterned, and includes single crop stands at certain stages of garden life. Different crops are planted in the same swidden plot from year to year, in accordance with variation in soil fertility within the swidden cycle. None of the swiddens we observed compares in complexity to the surrounding forest. We suggest that polyculture, rather than being regarded as the distinguishing characteristic of swidden cultivation, should be considered as a varying dimension—along with other variables such as use of wild plants, soil fertility and exhaustion, tillage practices, the introduction of novel crops, and production for the market—within the overall subsistence strategy of a group.