Environmental Impact
At present, there is debate over the environmental impact of the varied farming methods used in Burma. Some credit slash-and-burn farming methods with "destroying the forests of the country, causing soil erosion and depletion of fertility," considering it to be reckless deforestation. Recently, the Burmese Government has increased its attempted regulation of farming practices, and this includes banning slash-and-burn tactics in some villages.
However, some consider forcing a change from slash-and-burn methods to the more commercial methods of "permanent" agriculture to be even worse for the environment. They assert that the slash-and-burn method completes part of a cycle of forestation wherein a new secondary forest is allowed to grow once the land has been cultivated. Thus, devoting an area completely to a particular crop disrupts this pattern and renders the land completely unusable after a period of time.
Because Farmers in Burma rely on the monsoon season as their primary water source, they are subject to the recent fluctuating weather patterns. For example, the Burmese rice crop was negatively affected by a record high rainfall during the prolonged 2011 monsoon season which resulted in a projected 10 percent drop in production.
Read more about this topic: Agriculture In Burma
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