Social capital and soil conservation: Evidence from the Philippines

The formation of social capital is hypothesised to enhance collective efforts for soil conservation. The Landcare Program in the Southern Philippines promotes simple conservation practices in upland environments by supporting community landcare groups and municipal landcare associations, thus augmenting social capital. A study was conducted in 2002 to evaluate the Landcare Program, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques. In this paper the relationship between social capital formation and adoption of soil conservation is investigated. It is concluded that, although membership in a local landcare group was not a major factor in adoption, the Landcare Program as a whole created a valuable stock of bridging social capital, with significant benefits for long-term natural resource management

Shifting cultivation and sustainable agriculture in East Malaysia: A longitudinal case study

This paper examines the sustainability of shifting cultivation in Sarawak, East Malaysia, through a case study of the responses of two villages to demographic and economic forces during the period from 1979-1980 to 1988-1989. It is concluded that the farming system of which shifting cultivation is a part (which includes perennial cash crops) is sustainable in two senses: it is resilient to exogenous disturbances; it exhibits a non-negative trend in output. Shifting cultivation makes an important contribution to the overall stability and sustainability of the farming system and should be evaluated on this basis

Erosion/productivity modelling of maize farming in the Philippine uplands. Part III: Economic analysis of alternative farming methods

Two previous papers in this series (Nelson et al., this issue) described the use of the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) to simulate the effect of erosion on maize yields from open-field farming and hedgerow intercropping in the Philippine uplands. In this paper, maize yields simulated with APSIM are used to compare the economic viability of intercropping maize between leguminous shrub hedgerows with that of continuous and fallow open-field farming of maize. The analysis focuses on the economic incentives of upland farmers to adopt hedgerow intercropping, discussing farmers' planning horizons, access to credit and security of land tenure, as well as maize pricing in the Philippines. Insecure land tenure has limited the planning horizons of upland farmers, and high establishment costs reduce the economic viability of hedgerow intercropping relative to continuous and fallow open-field farming in the short term. In the long term, high discount rates and share-tenancy arrangements in which landlords do not contribute to establishment costs reduce the economic viability of hedgerow intercropping relative to fallow open-field farming

Contingent Valuation as a Guide to Environmental Policy: An Application to the Conservation of Natural Bushland in Brisbane

This report presents an overview of the Contingent Valuation Method and describes a small-scale, exploratory application, using a bidding technique, to determine how much local respondents were willing to pay to preserve, upgrade and maintain an area of natural bushland in the Whites Hill/Pine Mountain Reserve, Camp Hill, Brisbane. Starting point bias was tested for and was found to occur, with a one dollar increase in the starting bid resulting in a $0.80 increase in the final bid. Evidence also suggested the existence of compliance bias. Respondents were unfamiliar with valuing environmental goods and appeared to use ‘cues’ in the bidding process to formulate their answers, hence the estimated willingness to pay was not considered accurate. The study did however suggest that respondents valued the area of urban bushland and were willing to pay money to preserve, upgrade and maintain the area.

Trajectories of rice-farming households in mainland Southeast Asia

The preceding chapter has demonstrated at the macro-level the importance of agricultural and economic growth for the significant reduction in rural poverty in MSEA that has occurred in recent decades. In this chapter we aim to identify and explain the major trends and trajectories of rice-farming households in the region within this macroeconomic context. We also present a typology of rice-farming households that takes account of the dynamic and diverse nature of rice-based farming systems. These household types and trajectories encompass and help to explain the specific changes in cropping and livestock systems reviewed in Chapters 4, 5, and 6

Intensification of lowland rice-based farming systems in Laos in the context of diversified rural livelihoods

The cultural and economic importance of paddy rice production for households in the lowlands of Lao PDR cannot be overstated. Annual rice production is viewed by households and the Government alike as an indicator of poverty and food security. Over the past decade the adoption of new technologies has resulted in productivity improvements in lowland rice systems, yet further gains are being sought to maintain national rice self-sufficiency. The Government of Laos has established optimistic yield targets for both the lowland rainfed and irrigated rice production systems. However, survey evidence shows that, despite the adoption of improved technologies, most rainfed farmers remain subsistence-oriented and there is a significant yield gap between the current situation and the proposed targets. The diversification of household livelihoods through wage migration has reduced farm labour availability and increased farm wages. At the same time, price fluctuations due to supply shocks and government responses have created a further disincentive to the intensification of rice production systems. An economic analysis of rainfed rice production suggests that given current conditions we are likely to continue to see the adoption of low-input, labour-efficient, and relatively stable rice production systems for most households, with small areas of high-input, commercially-oriented systems in favourable conditions. We argue that research and extension efforts should recognise this diversity of production systems and household livelihood strategies

The use of crop yield prediction as a tool for land evaluation studies in Northern Australia

Adequate prediction of crop yield is essential in quantitative land evaluation studies. The AUSCANE simulation model, local expert opinion and historical records were used to predict crop yield and ccs (a measure of sugar content in the cane stalk) for sugarcane production for land mapping units at two different scales of investigation in the Herbert River district of northern Australia. Simulations were undertaken for a period of 25 years. The model performed adequately on clay soil types; however, it generally overestimated yield and ccs values on sandy soil types and underestimated values on loamy soil types. Yield estimates were influenced by mean daily solar radiation and changes in the soil water balance. Results from the yield prediction process have played a significant role in the development of a tripartite system of land evaluation based on crop yield prediction, expert systems for biophysical and economic land suitability and risk analysis

Erosion/productivity modelling of maize farming in the Philippine uplands. Part II: Simulation of alternative farming methods

A version of the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) capable of simulating the key agronomic aspects of intercropping maize between legume shrub hedgerows was described and parameterised in the first paper of this series (Nelson et al., this issue). In this paper, APSIM is used to simulate maize yields and soil erosion from traditional open-field farming and hedgerow intercropping in the Philippine uplands. Two variants of open-field farming were simulated using APSIM, continuous and fallow, for comparison with intercropping maize between leguminous shrub hedgerows. Continuous open-field maize farming was predicted to be unsustainable in the long term, while fallow open-field farming was predicted to slow productivity decline by spreading the effect of erosion over a larger cropping area. Hedgerow intercropping was predicted to reduce erosion by maintaining soil surface cover during periods of intense rainfall, contributing to sustainable production of maize in the long term. In the third paper in this series, Nelson et al. (this issue) use cost–benefit analysis to compare the economic viability of hedgerow intercropping relative to traditional open-field farming of maize in relatively inaccessible upland areas