Farming System and Settlements in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

The Xishuangbanna Dai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture is located at the end of the southwest part of the People's Republic of China. It borders on Burma and Laos. The tropical areas including Xishuangbanna, Hainan Island etc. in China are marginal tropial areas when compared to the typical humid tropical areas like Malaysia and Indonesia and other places in Southeast Asia. In Xishuangbanna, we can find over eleven minority ethnic groups including Dai, Jinuo etc. and they practice many types of agriculture. In this paper, the authors discuss the characteristics and recent changes in agricultural land use and crop cultivation according to nationalities on the basis of the authors' field work. In the 1980's, a Responsibility System for Agricultural Production was introduced in Xishuangbanna, and they are carrying out agricultural changes that they have never undertaken before. This is centered on the expansion of modern and intensive agriculture of rubber, tea and tropical fruits. Rubber tree growing has been introduced by many minorities, and the height limit of rubber tree growing is 1,350 meters above sea level. In general, through the process of modernization in agriculture, the introduction of rubber and tea, the paddies in the basins and the slash and burn cultivation in the mountain regions have been receiving little attention in their agriculture. The result is that their cultural characteristics tend to slowly decline especially among the minorities who are non-Buddhist. We find that the minorities show a tendency to adapt to the Han people's culture. © 1989, The Association of Japanese Geographers. All rights reserved.