graphics. The idea is that many efficient technologies have
originated and are used in very local areas, and can be extended
to other farmers in remote areas through the distribution of the
magazine. The objective is to make resources, and particularly the
resource of knowledge, widely available. Minka emphasizes the
use of resources that are locally available and that do not require
specialized knowledge for their control. In this way, farmers can
be selective in choosing technologies or practices that have
worked for other peasants that share similar levels of capital, land
base and natural resources.





CONCLUSIONS
 It appears that there are several misconceptions in the highly
touted current view of traditional farming and the recipes for
making them "more productive." In a case study from small
farms in Botswana, Alverson (1984) convincingly shows that
many of the views on small farms are seriously flawed and
ideologically motivated, and that technology transfer is both un-
profitable and destructive of numerous indigenous institutions.
He argues that there is great potential for increased production


within traditional agriculture as it is currently practiced, with
minor changes in crop management practices and farm organiza-
tions.
 The few examples of grassroots, bottom-up rural development
programs currently undergoing in the Third World suggest that
the process of development and diffusion of appropriate
technologies for peasants must meet at least three criteria:
 1. utilize and promote autochthonous technologies;
 2. emphasize use of local and indigenous resources; and
 3. be a self-centered, village-based effort with the active par-
 ticipation of peasants.
 The ensemble of traditional crop protection practices used by
small farmers represents a rich resource for modern workers seek-
ing to create pest management systems that are well-adapted to
the ecological and socio-economic circumstances of peasants.
Clearly, not all traditional crop protection components are effec-
tive of applicable, therefore modifications and adaptations may
be necessary, but the foundation of development should be in-
digenous. Evidence suggests that in traditional farming systems,
the critical factor in the efficient use of scarce resources and in the
lowering of risks is diversity (Harwood, 1979). Maintenance of
biological diversity in these systems should then be the founda-
tion of any pest management strategy.


References
 1. Akobundu, 1.0. 1980. Weed control strategies for multiple cropping
 systems of the humid and subhumid tropics, pp. 80-100 in Weeds and their control
 in the humid and subhumid tropics. I.O. Akobundu (ed.). Inter. Inst. Trop.
 Agric., Ibadan, Nigeria.
 2. Altieri, M.A. and W.H. Whitcomb. 1979. The potential use of weeds in the
 manipulation of beneficial insects. Hort. Science 4:401-405.
 3. Altieri, M.A. and D.K. Letourneau. 1982. Vegetation management and
 biological control in agroecosystems. Crop Protection 1:405-430.
 4. Altieri, M.A. 1983. Agroecology: The scientific basis of alternative
 agriculture. Division of Biological Control, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley. 162 p.
 5. Altieri, M.A. 1984. Pest management technologies for peasants: a farming
systems approach. Crop Protection 3:87-94.
 6. Alverson, H. 1984. The wisdom of tradition in the development of dry-land
farming: Botswana. Human Organiz. 43:1-8.
 7. Augstburger, F. 1983. Agronomic and economic potential of manure in
Bolivian valleys and highlands. Agric. Ecosyst. and Environment 10:335-346.
 8. Brown, BJ. and G.G. Marten. 1984. The ecology of traditional pest
management in southeast Asia. Working Paper. East-West Center, Honolulu,
Hawaii.
 9. Brush, S.B. 1982. The natural and human environment of the central
Andes. Mountain Research and Development 2:14-38.
 10. Centro de Educacion y Tecnologia. 1983. La huerta campesina organic.
Inst. de Estudios y Publicaciones Juan Ignacio Molina, Santiago-Chile. 45 p.
 11. Chacon,J.C. and S.R. Gliessman. 1982. Use of the "non-weed" concept in
traditional tropical agroecosystems of south-eastern Mexico. Agroecosystems 8:1-11.
 12. Chiu, W.F. and Y.H. Chang. 1982. Advances of science of plant protection
in the People's Republic of China. Ann. Rev. Phytopathol. 20:71-92.
 13. Datta, S.C. and A.K. Banerjee. 1978. Useful weeds of West Bengal rice
fields. Econ. Bot. 32:297-310.
 14. deJanvry, A. 1981. The agrarian question and reformism in Latin America.
The Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore. 311 p.
 15. Egger, K. 1981. Ecofarming in the tropics-characteristics and poten-
tialities. Plant Res. and Develop. 13:96-106.
 16. Gliessman, S.R., E.R. Garcia and A.M. Amador. 1981. The Ecological basis
for the application of traditional agricultural technology in the management of
tropical agro-ecosystems. Agroecosystems 7:173-185.


 17. Harwood, R.R. 1979. Small farm development: Understanding and improv-
ing farming systems in the humid tropics. Westview Press, Boulder, CO. 160 p.
 18. King, F.H. 1927. Farmers of Forty Centuries. Cape, London.
 19. Litsinger,J.A., E.C. Price and R.T. Herrera. 1980. Small farmer pest control
practices for rainfed rice, corn and grain legumes in three Philippine provinces.
Philipp. Entomol. 4:65-86.
 20. Matteson, P.C., M.A. Altieri and W.C. Gagne. 1984. Modification of small
farmer practices for better pest management. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 29:383-402.
 21. Minka. 1981. Issues No. 5, 6, and 7. Grupo Talpuy, Huancayo, Peru.
 22. Palti, J. 1981. Cultural Practices and Infectious Crop Diseases. Springer
Verlag, Berlin.
 23. Perrin, R.M. 1980. The role of environmental diversity in crop protection.
Prot. Ecol. 2:77-114.
 24. Risch, S.J., D. Andow and M.A. Altieri. 1983. Agroecosystem diversity and
pest control: Data, tentative conclusions and new research directions. Environ. En-
tomol. 12:625-629.
 25. Shaner, W.W., P.F. Phillipp and W.R. Schmehl. 1982. Farming systems
research and development: guidelines for developing countries. Westview Press,
Boulder, CO. 414 pp.
 26. Schwartz, P.H. and W. Klassen. 1981. Estimate of losses caused by insects
and mites to agricultural crops. In CRC Handbook of Pest Management in
Agriculture. D. Pimentel (ed.), 1:15-77. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
 27. Shetty, S.V.R. and W.R. Rao. 1981. Weed management studies in
sorghum/pigeonpea and pearl millet/groundnut intercrop systems-some observa-
tions. Pp. 239-248 in Proc. Int. Workshop on Intercropping. ICRISAT, Patanchew,
India.
 28. Thresh, J.M. 1982. Cropping practices and virus spread. Ann. Rev.
Phytopathol. 20:193-218.
 29. Visser, J. and M.K: Vythilingam. 1959. The effect of marigolds and some
other crops on the Pratylenchus and Meloidogyne populations in tea soil. Tea
Quarterly 30:30-38
 30. Wilken, G.C. 1977. Interpreting forest and small-scale farm systems in mid-
dle America. Agro-Ecosystems 3:291-302.
 31. Wilson, G.F. and B.T. Kang. 1981. Developing stable and productive
biological cropping systems for the humid tropics. In B. Stonehouse (ed.) Biological
Husbandry. Butterworths, London.


PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY-VOL. XX


50