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Land-use dynamics of Kerala’s agroforestry systems
Kerala‟s homegardens are ancient agroforestry systems celebrated for their ecological sustainability, their subsistence potential, and their high diversity of cultivated species. While homegardens have occupied Kerala‟s landscapes for thousands of years, some are worried that these systems are under...
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| Format: | Printed Book |
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| Online Access: | http://10.26.1.76/ks/005129.pdf |
| Summary: | Kerala‟s homegardens are ancient agroforestry systems celebrated for their ecological
sustainability, their subsistence potential, and their high diversity of cultivated species. While
homegardens have occupied Kerala‟s landscapes for thousands of years, some are worried that
these systems are under threat from comparatively profitable plantations of rubber and other
monoculture-based tree crops. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to examine the land-use dynamics in
Kerala‟s agroforestry systems between 2001 and 2013. In Chapter 2, I analyze high resolution
satellite imagery in order to broadly characterize agricultural and non-agricultural land-use
changes in three panchayats (counties) of Kerala. The results indicate that: 1) wetlands (mostly
paddy rice) are decreasing in all study regions; 2) built surfaces are increasing dramatically in all
regions; and 3) agroforestry exists in a dynamic equilibrium with other land covers. In Chapter 3,
I use a combination of quantitative surveys and semi-structured interviews to identify land-use
changes and their drivers at the homegarden scale for 115 homegardens in 8 panchayats. Results
indicate that almost all commercial and food crops, as well as livestock, are decreasing in
production on homegardens, and that no crops are increasing. Nearly every farmer interviewed
perceived a decline in agriculture in their region, and offered numerous interrelated explanations
for why this might be so. Overall, Kerala‟s landscapes are undergoing a dynamic, multi-scale
transition away from both homegarden- and plantation-based agriculture. |
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| Item Description: | A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Science |