Indigenous soil management in the Latin American tropics: some implications of ethnopedology for the Amazon Basin with SUSANNA B. HECHT

This chapter focuses on two main themes. First, it discusses indigenous versus modernization approaches to soil management in Amazonian research and development strategies. Kayapó systems are compared structurally with current regional agricultural strategies. While indigenous systems are complex, the principles that underlie them are not, and native land management models could inform land resource management approaches to a greater extent than they have so far. Finally, the outcomes of Kayapó colonist and livestock systems are compared in terms of soil fertility and yields.