ABSTRACT
This chapter considers shifting cultivation practised by the Cuyonon, who originated from Cuyo Island, but who migrated to Palawan Island in large numbers, particularly after World War II, intermingling with and partly displacing the Tagbanua and the Batak. It then focus on the significant role of tree crops, a role that is variously associated with subsistence, fallow management, participation in the cash economy, household-developmental cycling and land tenure. Some Cuyonon migrated seasonally, to grow or otherwise obtain rice in other locations and some of these seasonal migrants decided to become permanent agricultural settlers. It considers the short-fallow system of shifting cultivation found on densely populated Cuyo Island and the suite of distinctive and sometimes ingenious practices that Cuyonon farmers there use to make swiddens on dry and rocky land. However, while Cuyonon swidden agriculture persists on Palawan, it is inevitably changing, and within the systems and practices discussed in this chapter, several evolutionary trends may be identified.
