sloping land. Soil loss is minimal for permanent crop systems
which are prepared and planted only once over many years. The
following sections describe these farming systems.

Short-cycle Sole Crop Systems on Irrigated Land
 These systems are located on lowlands. The four crops rotated
include rice, beans, peanut and maize (Table 6).
 Rice is planted once a year, maize and peanuts are planted
twice and beans three times. Land preparation is the same for the
four crops: with oxen and a plow. For 0.6 ha of rice, a nursery bed
of 10 m, where 45 kg of seed are broadcast, is prepared.
 Although four major types of farming systems emerged from
the classification, this paper is concerned mainly with short-cycle
sole and associated crop systems on irrigated and on rainfed land.
The emphasis placed on these systems is related to soil conserva-
tion concerns. Short-cycle crop systems require land preparation
one to three times a year. This permits soil erosion when farming

TABLE 5. Associations of beans, maize and pigeon pea in the 182 surveyed farms in
Las Cuevas watershed, Dominican Republic, 1982.


Association Area (ha)


Bean-pigeon pea 17

Bean-pigeon pea-maize 16

Bean-maize 10

Other bean associations 8

Other pigeon pea associations 10
Other maize associations 5

Total bean associations 51

Total pigeon pea associations 43

Total maize associations 31


 Rice transplanting by hand occurs one month after land
 preparation. A seed drill with a mule is used to plant the other
 three crops. Seed rates are about 73 kg ha- 1 for rice, between 73
 and 87 kg ha I for beans and for peanuts and maize 73 and 22
 kg ha 1, respectively.

 Fertilization practices are absent in peanuts and maize.
 However, from 145 to 363 kg ha I urea are applied twice to rice,
 and urea or the formula 15-15-15 are used on beans at a rate of
 between 73 and 254 kg ha .

 Weeding is done with machetes in all four crops. No insec-
 ticides are applied to either rice or maize. Beans receive an ap-
 plication of insecticide mixed with liquid N, while powdered in-
 secticide is applied once to peanuts.
 Harvesting dates vary among the four crops and wide yield
 fluctuations are present. In the case of beans, most of the farmers
 harvest by "convite." Under this system, the owner of the farm
 prepares a large meal for the men, women and children working
 in the harvest and no cash payment is involved. The people are
 willing to provide their labor because they receive the same help
 when they harvest their own crops. This is a system of mutual ex-
 change of labor for mutual help among the farmers and is carried
 out in a festive mood. The "convite" is also practiced in other
 systems where beans are involved; i.e., beans as sole crop and
 crop mixtures on rainfed land. Perhaps one contributing factor is
 the more complex harvesting and packaging process involved in
 bean harvesting. After being pulled by hand, the dry plants are
 collected over a canvas and mules are passed over them to thresh
 out the grains. Then the grains are cleaned and sacked.
 Marketing for beans and maize is through middlemen at the
farm gate on these lowland farms where access to roads is more
general. Rice is sold to local millers. All peanut production is
bought by "La Manicera," which is the only peanut processing
plant in the country. This company finances all peanut produc-
tion and deducts that money at harvest time. Farmers feel that
peanut production is not profitable but they plant this crop as a
means of obtaining cash from the loan to subsist during the
period when they do not have another feasible choice.


TABLE 6. Characteristics of short-cycle sole crops systems on irrigated land in Las Cuevas watershed, Dominican Republic, 1982.


Land Preparation Planting Fertilization
 Rate Rate


Weeding Harvestin
 Yie


Crop Rotation Time Means Time Means (kg ha-1) Time Type (kg ha-1) Time Means Pesticides Time (kg ha-1) Marketing


Rice (R) B P Feb.- Oxen Apr.- Hand 73 May(l) Urea 145-363 May- Hand None Aug- 1450-3630 Local millers
 with May June(1) Jun.(machete) Sep.
 March Flow


Bran (B) R B March Oxen Apr. Seed 73-87 May Urea 73-254 May Hand 1 applic. Jul) 72L-1452 Middlemen
 Aug. with Sep. drill Oct. or Oct.(machete) of insect. Dec. at farm gate
 Dec. plow Jan. with Feb. 15-15-15 Feb. mixed with March
 mule liquid
 N

Peanut(P) R B M March Oxen Apr. Seed 73 None May Hand 1 applic. July 544-1452 Processing
 Aug. with Sep. drill Oct.(machete) of powdered Nov plant
 plow with insect.
 mule


Maize (M) B P March Oxen
 Aug. with
 plow


Apr. Seed
Sep. drill
 with
 mule


May Hand None
Oct.(machete)


VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY


July-
Aug. 363-2250
Dec-Jan.


Middlemen
at farm gate


22


None


53