Ambiguity in a trans-disciplinary stakeholder assessment of neglected and underutilized species in China, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam

Abstract

Neglected and Underutilized Crop Species (NUS) are grown primarily by traditional farmers in developing countries. They were once more widely grown but are today falling into disuse for a variety of agronomic, genetic, economic and cultural factors. While these crops continue to be maintained by socio-cultural preferences and use practices, most of them remain inadequately characterized and neglected by research and conservation. The aim of our work was to improve the agricultural portfolio by identifying promising neglected and underutilised species in China, Cambodia, Northeastern Thailand and Northern Vietnam. We began with preparing a "Masterlist" containing 260 species, based on farmer interviews and literature review. After an initial pre-selection we identiWed 1 C 17 NUS for China, 13 for Cambodia, 12 for Thailand, and 22 for Vietnam as of highest priority. These NUS then underwent a multi-criteria and trans-disciplinary assessment involving 511 stakeholders such as scientists, farmers, NGOs and policy makers. Based on the assessment we identiWed the most promising NUS for each country. We also identiWed some limitations for the promotion of so-called priority NUS regarding to some substancial disagreement between the involved stakeholders. In China and Cambodia, for example, farmers judged the potential of NUS signiWcantly lower than other stakeholders, and in Vietnam scientists and policy makers had substantially diVerent opinions on NUS compared to farmers. Addressing these ambiguous views will be highly relevant to the develoment of an improved agricultural portfolio.

Sustainable Agribusiness: Technology Diffusion Barriers to Support Sustainable Agriculture

“…In fact, the number of conventional farmers more than the number of organic farmers (Rodriguez, et al, 2009) . Conventional farmers need to use biopesticides as a way to maintain the balance and proportion of chemicals pesticide use in agricultural production (Schmidt, et al, 2008). Thus, the diffusion of biopesticides against conventional farmers should be increased.…”