Soil Conservation on Sloping Land: Technical Options and Adoption Constraints

Hilger, Thomas; Keil, Alwin; Lippe, Melvin; Panomtaranichagul, Mattiga; Saint-Macary, Camille; Zeller, Manfred; Pansak, Wanwisa; Dinh, Tuan Vu; Cadisch, Georg

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-33377-4_7

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Farmers' perspectives on benefits from agroforestry generally align with scientific findings about positive impacts of agroforestry such as soil loss reduction [10], improving soil fertility [8,71], providing food and fodder [18,71], and reducing the impact of extreme weather [72], but it was difficult for farmers to recognise some benefits that they could not observe, such as climate resilience or carbon sequestration. People's attitudes to future agroforestry options were also heavily context-and ethnic-specific.…”

Section: Ethnicity and Agroforestry Adoptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agroforestry provides benefits to soil health by increasing soil biodiversity, increasing the supply of nutrients, and reducing soil loss compared to monoculture agricultural systems [8,9]. Contour-based cropping systems reduced soil loss by 30-60% in the first year, and up to 72-98% by the third year in Thai Lan [10]. Adding trees into agroecosystems is critical for addressing climate change by slowing deforestation [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?

Nguyen¹,

Pagella

Catacutan

et al. 2021

Forests

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This article presents research about the influences of social and cultural norms on the adoption of agroforestry in the northwest mountainous region of Viet Nam. The farming systems practiced by various ethnic groups in the northwest mainly occur on sloping land, which extends over 70% of the land area in the region. Decades of intensive monoculture of annual crops has resulted in severe soil erosion, contributing to soil degradation and decline in crop yields. Integrating agroforestry practices on sloping land has the potential to halt and reverse soil degradation and improve local livelihoods, but its adoption is conditioned by the diverse social and cultural norms of different ethnic groups. This research applies knowledge-based system methods in order to understand local opportunities, preferences, and constraints influencing the adoption of agroforestry practices, using a purposive, gender-balanced sample of sixty farmers from six villages across three provinces in the northwest region comprising people from Kinh, Thai and H’mong ethnic groups. Our results show that although farmers from all groups are aware of the economic and ecological benefits of trees for soil conservation in general, they have different perceptions about the benefits of particular agroforestry practices. Behavioural norms controlling agroforestry adoption vary amongst ethnic groups, and farmers’ individual social and cultural preferences influence their aspirations and adoption decisions. We conclude that developing appropriate agricultural interventions in a culturally rich environment such as northwest Viet Nam requires understanding of the context-specific needs and interests of socially and culturally disaggregated populations. Policies supporting agroforestry are more likely to contribute to more sustainable livelihoods and ecological benefits where they are tailored to the requirements of different ethnic groups.

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Section: Ethnicity and Agroforestry Adoptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?

Nguyen¹,

Pagella

Catacutan

et al. 2021

Forests

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show abstract

“…Conservation techniques such as strip cropping, alley cropping and contour terracing can help overcome erosion risks of agricultural land located on sloping terrain (Hilger et al 2013;Baumhardt and Blanco 2014;García-Lara, Serna-Saldívar 2019). According to Safford and Vallejo (2019), contour terraces are built to reduce erosion on steep slopes, enhance soil depth for plant roots, and improve water infiltration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing soil conservation techniques on sloping lands in the humid tropics area of Indonesia in the context of maize cultivation

et al. 2023

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Abstract. Neswati R, Abdullah S, Musa Y, Nasaruddin. 2023. Assessing soil conservation techniques on sloping lands in the humid tropics area of Indonesia in the context of maize cultivation. Biodiversitas 24: 1686-1692. Sloping land is prone to severe erosion, particularly in areas with high precipitation, such as in humid tropics. In addition to slope and rain factors, crop management also influences soil erosion. This research aims to identify the most appropriate techniques to mitigate soil erosion by comparing three different techniques of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivation planted on sloping land in Indonesia's humid tropics. A field experiment was conducted in Gorontalo Regency, Gorontalo Province, Indonesia, in three maize growing seasons at a location with a slope of 15-30%. We used a split-plot design in a randomized block design, with the main factor being conservation techniques, namely no treatment (control) (K0), contour terrace (K1), strip cropping using Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. (K2) and alley cropping using Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth (K3), and the side factor was Z. mays of two varieties: Mixed variety Arjuna BC (H1) and hybrid variety NK-33 (H2). The effects of each treatment were measured in term of soil erosion, and maize growth and productivity. The results showed that the strip cropping resulted in a lower erosion level compared to the contour terrace and alley cropping. However, erosion still exceeded the tolerable soil loss in all conservation techniques. The effects on the growth and production of maize of the two varieties in growing seasons 1, 2, and 3 were not statistically different (p<0.05). Maize production can reach >6 tons ha-1 in the two varieties planted and the value of the revenue to cost (R/C) ratio of all treatments ranged between 1.77 and 2.54. The results imply that the application of appropriate soil conservation methods has the potential to reduce erosion in the sloping land-humid tropics of Indonesia without compromising growth and productivity. However, it will take a longer period to reduce soil erosion significantly in a maize-based cultivation system on sloping land.

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“…They differ from traditional forestry in term of their economic and social benefits along with water and soil sustainability and act as buffers to extreme climatic conditions. Hilger et al [16] indicated the effectiveness of hedgerows in the reduction of fertile soil loss on uplands. Slogans of proper land use and land use management for maintaining soil fertility are increasing over time in many regions of the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Soil Loss Management in Tropical Uplands: Impact on Maize-Chili Cropping Systems

et al. 2021

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Intensive land use with inappropriate land management is directly degrading South Asian uplands. A field trial was carried out on the uplands of Western Thailand with a 25% slope to examine the effect of land use management on soil loss for sustainable crop production during two consecutive years (2010–2011). Various cropping systems with soil conservation practices were compared to maize sole cropping (MSC). Results revealed that soil loss was at a minimum in the intercropping system of maize-chili-hedgerows with minimum tillage and fertilization that was 50% to 61% and 60% to 81% less than MSC and the bare soil plot during both years, respectively. Yield advantage was at its maximum, as indicated by the highest land equivalent ratios of 1.28 and 1.21 during 2010 and 2011, respectively, in maize-chili-hedgerows-intercropping with minimum tillage and fertilization. The highest economic returns (5925 and 1058 euros ha−1 during 2010 and 2011, respectively) were also obtained from maize-chili-hedgerows-intercropping with minimum tillage and fertilization. Chili fresh fruit yield was maximum in the chili alone plot during both years due to the greater area under cultivation compared with intercropping. Maize-chili-hedgerows with minimum tillage and fertilization reduced soil loss and increased land productivity and net returns, indicating its promising features for sustainable crop production on uplands.

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Soil Conservation on Sloping Land: Technical Options and Adoption Constraints

Cited by 13 publications

References 76 publications

Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?

Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?

Assessing soil conservation techniques on sloping lands in the humid tropics area of Indonesia in the context of maize cultivation

Sustainable Soil Loss Management in Tropical Uplands: Impact on Maize-Chili Cropping Systems

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