tropico Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Anyone who has travelled the small rural unpaved mountain back roads of the north knows that it is not palm oil but corn that is replacing large tracts of forest. The encouragement and of course the funding for all this comes from Big-Agra concerns in Bangkok such as the rather notorious CP Group. That is not to deny the role of traditional swidden agricultural practices amongst the highland peoples which certainly includes burning to both clear the land as well as to create a layer of fertilizer, but the scope of the relatively new commercial farming of corn has taken the slash and burn to an entirely new level of intensity. The mushrooms are merely an afterthought, neither the cause nor motivation for the burning. Clearing for agriculture is definitely a problem but its the forest that is burning the most. I just travelled to khon kaen and for about 400 km from Chiang mai you can see a lot of burnt forest. Collection of non timber forest products is a big contribution to household economies. So mushrooms, bamboo, and pakwan are definitely reasons for burning. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop50 Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Was in Burma just over the border lately, saw quite some plots with young rubber trees. A new source of future income. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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