Bangor University DOCTOR of PHILOSOPHY Indigenous

Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Indigenous ecological knowledge about the sustainability of tea gardens in the hill evergreen forest of Northern Thailand. Preechapanya, Pornchai Award date: 1996 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 05. Oct. 2021 INDIGENOUS ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE SUST AINABILITY OF TEA GARDENS IN THE HILL EVERGREEN FOREST OF NORTHERN THAILAND PORNCHAI PREECHAPANYA ITl DDEFtfYl1DIt) Yl'l Y LLYFRGELL YN UN1G ) t TO DE COHStJLTI~n IN TUb UBHAfiT OnLY A thesis submitted in candidature for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Wales June 1996 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work has been supported by grants from the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, Winrock International - F/FRED, the Thai Goverment Thailand and the UK Overseas Development Administration. I am especially grateful for the advice, encouragement, guidance and support of Dr Fergus Sinclair my supervisor from the School of Agricultural and Forest Sciences (SAFS), University of Wales, Bangor; Dr Daniel Walker, formally of SAFS, now working at the Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, CSIRO,Australia; Dr David Randell, also of SAFS and Dr Stephen Elliott, my local supervisor, in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University. I am extremely grateful to Dr David Thomas, former assistant representative and Mrs Sunanthana Kampanathsanyakorn, Executive Assistant of the Ford Foundation in Thailand, Dr John O'Tool, Senior Scientist of the Rockefeller Foundation, Thailand, Ms Lynda Mullen, the Rockefeller Foundation, USA and Dr John Raintree, former agroforestry specialist of Winrock International. All of them have helped me in obtaining research funding. I am greatly indebted to Dr Porn trip Chantaramongkol, my former teacher at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University and Mr Terry Thomas, a lecturer at School of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, both of whom introduced me to the link project between the University of Wales, Bangor and Chiang Mai University. I wish to thank Dr Garune Klunklin, a former Dean of the Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Dr Samran Lacharojana, Head of Department of Physics and Dr Kittichai Wattananikorn, the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Dr Prasak Thavornyutthikarn, Dr Kate Grudpan, Dr Amnart Rojanapaibul, Dr Pantawee Mapairoy, Mrs Jirawan Upanunt and Mrs Soyjai Rodprom, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, and Dr John B. Hall, Dr Don Harding, Dr John Healey Mrs Karen Cooper and Mrs Debbie Mitchell of SAFS, Ms Julia Ambrose, Kew Gardens, London, Mrs SucheraTheeraporn, Royal Forest Department, Ms Vanpan Sereerat and Mr Punroung Puntuhong, Office of Civil Service Commission for supporting me in the adminstration of this project iii I am extremely grateful to Dr Robert Muetzelfeldt, Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, Ms Gill Kendon, Ms Mandy Haggith and Mr David Robertson of the Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh for supporting me in the use of the AKT software. Special thanks to Mr J.F. Maxwell, Plant taxonomist who classifield the scientific names of plants at the Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, eight Thai scientists and all of the miang farmers at Ban Mae Ton Luang who granted me interviews. Dr Pibool Soothasupa and his students who helped me to interview the farmers. I wish to thank Ms Trudi Gillespie, Ms Dee Aebischer, Ms Penelope Bienz, Mr Robert W. Wills, Mr Peter Bezkorowajnyj, Dr Michelle Jones, Dr Helen Tomlinson and Ms Katharine Grantham of SAFS and Mr Roger Parry and Miss Wipakorn Chayopong advice on English. Special thanks are extended to Dr Nipon Tangtham, my former adviser when I studied for an MSc at the Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University and Mrs Yuwadee Preevapompisallecturer at Faculty of Biology, Chiang Mai University, both of them provided me with information that I could not go back to re-collect. During the course of the indigenous knowledge study, there were times not only for academics but also for friendship and enjoyment. lowe a great deal to my colleagues, Gamini Hitinayake, Nishantha Jinadasa, Felician Kilahama, Balaram Thapa, Laxman Joshi, Evelyne Kiptot and Alison Southern, for stimulating discussions and mutual support. iv III COItl~lIts To those who have filled my life with encouragement and love- My mother, Ai See Ka My wife, Arpom My daughters, Arada and Chayapom In loving memory of my beloved father, Ai Bug Haing v Co,.U"u ABSTRACT These studies on indigenous ecological knowledge were carried out as a case study of the sustainability of miang tea gardens in hill evergreen forest at a remote village setting in the highlands of northern Thailand. The study focused on the miang tea farmers' knowledge associated with decision making criteria in managing their gardens as an agroforestry system. Knowledge was investigated relating to how farmers presently manage their garden ecosystems and the underlying biodiversity of the plants and the interactions occurring between tea trees and biotic components. These were forest trees, ground flora and cattle in relation to microclimate and processes of water and nutrient cycling, soil erosion and plant succession. The knowledge acquired from key informants was evaluated in terms of its representativeness of the knowledge of the community as a whole and the extent to which it was complementary or contradictory to scientific knowledge. The extent to which indigenous and scientific knowledge could be usefully combined was investigated. The indigenous knowledge was collected from interviewing a small number of key informants who were representative of the target popUlation and who were people knowledgeable about the ecology of the gardens. The elicited information was recorded and accessed using knowledge-based system techniques. An indigenous knowledge base was created in terms of diagrams, hierarchies and text statements and stored in a durable, accessible and transparent form. The research demonstrated that the indigenous ecological knowledge collected from key informants was explanatory, predictive and of technical relevance. It was also representative of most of the farmers in the community. The combination of indigenous and scientific knowledge provided a more powerful resource for improving the sustainability of the tea garden ecosystem than using either knowledge system alone but required further quantification for solid management recommendations to be formulated. The knowledge elicited had a useful role to play in furthering scientific understanding about the ecosystem and suggested new lines of research that may be more appropriate for promoting incremental change to miang tea production systems than extending conventional technology packages involving tea monoculture. vi ColllenU CONTENTS DECLARA nON ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ill ABSTRACf vi CONTENTS vii LIST OF FIGURES xiii LIST OF TABLES xvi LIST OF ABBREVIA nONS AND ACRONYMS xxi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.1.1 General characteristics and problems of highlands in the north of Thailand 1 1.1.2 The role of traditional miang tea gardens 5 1.2 Research objectives 9 1.3 Background 11 1.3.1 Tea plantations 11 1.3.2 Fermented tea (miang) plantations 13 1.3.3 The forest - tea plantation system as indigenous agroforestry 15 1.4 Thesis structure 21 Chapter 2 Study site 23 2.1 Introduction 23 2.2 Objectives 24 2.3 Methodology 24 2.3.1 Site selection 26 2.3.2 Collecting secondary data 27 2.3.3 Compiling the village profile 28 2.3.4 Mapping the study site 28 2.3.5 Vegetation inventory 28 2.3.6 Socio-economic and demographic information 30 2.4 Results and discussion 30 2.4.1 Location 30 2.4.2 Soil 32 2.4.3 Oimate 32 vii Conten" 2.4.4 Land use pattern 34 2.4.5 Vegetation 37 2.4.5.1 Natural forest 40 2.4.5.2 Miang tea gardens 42 2.4.5.2.1 Comparison of tree cover in miang tea gardens and and natural hill evergreen forest 45 2.4.5.2.2 Ground flora 46 2.4.5.2.3 Seedlings 47 2.4.5.2.4 Parasitic and epiphytic plants and lichen 48 2.4.5.2.5 Plant disease 48 2.4.5.3 Homegardens 48 2.4.6 Socio-economic and demographic profile 50 2.4.6.1 History 50 2.4.6.2 Social structure and religion 53 2.4.6.3 Population structure 54 2.4.6.4 Employment 56 2.4.6.5 Marriage 57 2.4.6.6 Education 57 2.4.6.7 Administration 57 2.4.6.8 Land ownership and tenure 58 2.4.6.9 Miang tea production 59 2.4.6.10 Other crop production in miang tea gardens 61 2.4.6.11 Animal husbandry 62 2.4.6.12 Gathering of non-wood product 64 2.4.6.13 Income 65 2.4.6.14 Production costs 66 2.4.6.15 Other household expenditure 67 2.4.6.16 Infrastructures 67 2.4.6.17 Communications 68 2.5 Conclusion 68 Chapter 3 Acquistion of indigenous ecological knowledge 70 3.1 Introduction 70 3.2 Objectives 71

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