ISSN 2185-159X

erd

International Journal ofEnvironmental and Rural Development

Volume 3 Number 1

April 2012

International Society of Environmental and Rural Development

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

erd

International Journal ofEnvironmental and Rural Development
Official Journal of the International Society of Environmental and Rural Development

Aims and Scope:
The International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, IJERD, is an interdisciplinary journal
concerning environmental and rural development research in the education for sustainable development, ESD.
The IJERD is devoted to publishing peer-reviewed research article, review article and technical report in thefields of environmental and rural development, such as education for sustainable rural development, ruraldevelopment, environmental management or agricultural systems. Every article or report in IJERD must be
accepted by at least 2 reviewers and an editorial member.
The aims of IJERD are to publish the latest research development and achievements, to strengthen
education systems, to promote cooperation in environmental and rural development and to contribute to theprogress in sustainable development. The editorial board of this journal covers a variety of scientificdisciplines.
Thematic Areas:
The following areas are envisioned in IJERD.
Education for Sustainable Rural Development:
Environmental Education, Food and Agricultural Education, Participatory Approach, Capacity Building,Community Empowerment, Agricultural Extension, etc.
Rural Development:
Marketing, Partnership, Value Added Product, Community Development, Access to Technology,
Cultural Preservation, etc.
Environmental Management:
Bio-Diversity, Soil Degradation and Land Conservation, Water Quality Conservation, Deforestation andSustainable Forest Management, Environmental Management, etc.
Agricultural Systems:
Organic Farming, Conservation Tillage, Mechanization, Irrigation and Drainage, Nutrient and Pest
Management, Cattle Breeding, Agro-Forestry, Indigenous Technology, etc.
Infrastructural Systems:
Water Resource Development, Land Reclamation, Road Construction, etc.
Editorial Board:
Editor in Chief:
Prof. Dr. Eiji Yamaji, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Managing Editors:
Prof. Dr. Machito Mihara, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Dr. Yoko Mochizuki, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, France
Dr. Muhammad Aqil, Indonesian Center for Food Crops Research, Indonesia
Dr. Lalita Siriwattananon, Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Thailand
Editorial Advisory Board:
Dr. Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Asian Development Bank Institute, Japan
Dr. Robert J. Farquharson, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Prof. Dr. Keishiro Itagaki, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Dr. Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Prof. Dr. Arata Koga, University of Veterinary and Animal Science, Pakistan
Prof. Dr. Robert J. Martin, University of New England, Australia
Prof. Dr. Bunthan Ngo, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia
Dr. Hiromu Okazawa, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Prof. Dr. Salvador Catello, University of the Philippines, Philippines
Dr. Rajendra P. Shrestha, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
Prof. Dr. Murari Suvedi, Michigan State University, USA
Prof. Dr. Mario T. Tabucanon, United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies, Japan
Dr. Vidhaya Trelo-Ges, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Editorial Secretariat:
Mr. Julian Torillo Jr., Ms. Hidemi Sasabe, Ms. Jeeranuch Sakkhamduang and
Mr. Sergio Azael May Cuevas

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Contents
Research article
Effect of Pre-Rice Mungbean and Cattle Manure Application on Growth and Yield ofOrganic Rice
Anan Polthanee, Arunee Promkhambut and Vidhaya Trelo-Ges

1Allelopathic Activity of Peruvian Corn Varieties
Cecilia Ines Ono Morikawa, Rie Miyaura, Akimi Fujimoto,
Maria De Lourdes Tapia Y Figueroa, Victor Noriega Nalvarte
and Yoshiharu Fujii

10Introduction and Adoption of Rice Intensification System towards Low-Input
Agricultural Production in Vietnam
Kako Inoue and Eiji Yamaji

16

Effects of Eri-Culture on Promoting Environmental Awareness in Greater Phnom Penhof Cambodia
Kumiko Kawabe, Makara Tal and Machito Mihara

22

Effects of Burning Crop Residues on Soil Quality in Wenshui, Shanxi of China
Liexiang Li, Yuta Ishikawa and Machito Mihara

30

Payment for Environmental Services (PES): Case Study on Conservation Agreement on
Forest and Biodiversity Conservation in Central Cardamom Protected Forest,
Thmar Baing District, Koh Kong Province
Lyna Khan

36

Safety  of  Drinking  Water  Source  and  People’s  Choice  Behavior  in  Rural  India
Sato Morio and Yamaji Eiji

43

Fish Trade on Fishing Products in Tonle Sap Great Lake
Ratanak Ou

49

Resilience of Rice-field and Mountain-based Native Beef Cattle Raising:
A Case Study in Nakhon Panom Province, Thailand
Theerachai Haitook, Kritapon Sommart, Thewin Vongpralub,
Suradej Pholsen, Mongkol Tauon and Wareerat Pannarat

55

Estimated Maximum Daily Intake of Streptomycin Residue in Pork
Consumed by Age and Gender Groups in the Philippines
Venn Vutey, Loinda R. Baldias, Billy P. Divina and
Rio John T. Ducusin

62

Diversity and Community Structure of Terrestrial Invertebrates in
an Irrigated Rice Ecosystem
Duangrat Thongphak, Khwunchanok Promdeesan andChonlada Hanlaoedrit

68

Assessment  of  Farmer’s  Satisfaction  and  Preference  Using  Improved  Rice Varieties in the Southern Lao PDR
Inpong Siliphouthone, Yupa Hanboonsong and
Krailert Taweekul

72

Preliminary Social and Environmental Assessment of Zulfikarabad:a New Coastal Mega City Project in Pakistan
Junaid Alam Memon

78

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Hydrogen Peroxide and Peroxidase Activity as Potential Indicators on
Adaptability of Plants to Salinity Stress Condition
Nararat Poodeetip, Kanlaya Kong-Ngern, Samang Homchuen,
Bupha Toparkngam and Vidhaya Trelo-Ges

85

Suitable Timing of Compost Application and Its Effectiveness on Mung Beanin the Crop Station of Royal University of Agriculture
Sophark Tip, Bunthan Ngo, Eang Khuon, Sokha Pel,
Machito Mihara and Lalita Siriwattananon

90

Study on Suitable Moisture for Pellet Compost Making and Mechanical
Mixing TechniqueSovath Tim, Bunthan Ngo, Sophea Tim, Hak Yun,
Machito Mihara and Lalita Siriwattananon

96

Aspects of the Aging Farming Population and Food Security in Agriculture
for Thailand and Japan
Supaporn Poungchompu, Kobayashi Tsuneo andPongsagorn Poungchompu

102

Influences of Agricultural Irrigation on Regional Salinity Balance inArid Areas of Northwestern China
Abdisalam Jalaldin, Tadao Yamamoto, Taku Oikawa,
Anwaire Maimaidi and Tetuaki Nagasawa

108

Community Participation in Saline Soil Restoration Using a Diverse Tree
Planting Technique: A Case Study of Nongsim Sub-district, Borabue,
Mahasarakam, Thailand
Adcharaporn Pagdee

114

Soil Carbon Dynamics during the Amelioration of Salt-Affected Areas inNortheast Thailand
Aung Naing Oo, Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai,
Patcharee Saenjan and Bubpha Topark-Ngarm

120

Short and Long Term Fate of Environmental Pollutants and Their Management
Barry N. Noller

126

Input of Pollutants by the Tributaries of Lake Yojoa, Honduras
Carlos Onan Mendoza Tovar, Machito Mihara andHiromu Okazawa

131

Water Quality Improvement by Natural Meandering River Surrounded byWoods in Agricultural Watersheds
Hiromu Okazawa, Tadao Yamamoto, Takashi Inoue andTetuaki Nagasawa

137

An Analysis on the Policy of Promoting Rubber Trees Cultivation for Replacing
Garlic and Longan Growing: A Case Study of Chiang Mai, Thailand
Jukkaphong Poung-Ngamchuen, Nakarat Rungkawat andPanitpim Sittisak

144

Isolation of Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria from Different Fields Crop Productions
Kiriya Sungthongwises, Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai,
Masayuki Matsuoka, Kouhei Ohnishi and Sota Tanaka

150

Groundwater Resources Development by Riverbank Filtration Technology in Thailand
Kriengsak Srisuk, Laa Archwichai, Kewaree Pholkern,
Phayom Saraphirom, Sumrit Chusanatus and Sitisak Munyou

155

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Farmers and Wastewater Management - A Case Study of Integrated Urban
Wastewater Management and Agriculture in Hanoi, Vietnam
Nguyen Lan Huong and Yamaji Eiji

162

Growth Situation of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Used in Artificial
Floating Islands for Water Purification in Cold Regions
Masato Kimura, Osamu Tsuji, Toshimi Muneoka and
Hiroto Ote

168

Effective Governance Strategy: Key to Sustainable Collaborative Management
in a Wildlife Sanctuary in South-Eastern Part of Bangladesh
Rezaur Rahman, Mohammed Salim Uddin andShirley Thompson

174

Using Soil Improvement Materials for Enhancing Drought Tolerance of Rubber Plant
Suttipong Pruangka, Mongkon Ta-Oun, Thanapong Tula andSomposh Kaewrahun

181

Potential of Sunflower Varieties Grown under Different Input Levels
Pantipa Na Chiangmai, Lamduan Krittawongwiman andPaisan Laosuwan

185

Biocontrol of Phytopathogen by Pseudomonas fluorescens R21, Isolated from
Rice Rhizosphere in Thailand
Phrueksa  Lawongsa,  Nantakorn  Boonkerd,  Fergal  O’gara andNeung Teaumroong

189

Assessment of the Groundwater Quantity Resulting from Artificial Recharge
by Ponds at Ban Nong Na, Phitsanulok Province, Thailand
Sirirat Uppasit, Kriengsak Srisuk, Phayom Saraphirom andPaul Pavelic

196

Effects of Transplanting Methods on Yield of Different Rice Varieties under
Sandy Soil Conditions
Sokornthea Pin, Sophal Chuong, Vanthorn Sok and Thyda Len

202

Comparison of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Practices in Irrigated andRainfed Areas of Cambodia
Sophy Ches, Eiji Yamaji and Jun Tsurui

207

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Research article
erd

Effect of Pre-Rice Mungbean and Cattle Manure
Application on Growth and Yield of Organic RiceANAN POLTHANEE*
Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
E-mail: panan@kku.ac.th

ARUNEE PROMKHAMBUT
Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

VIDHAYA TRELO-GES
Khon Kaen University, KhonKaen, Thailand
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of different rates oforganic fertilizers with or without mungbean crop residues incorporated into the soil after
harvesting, on growth and yield of transplanted rice as well as economic return ofmungbean as pre-rice crop.  An  experiment  was  conducted  in  a  farmer’s  field  in  Muang Yai
Village, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, in 2011. A split-plot arrangement of treatments ina RCBD (randomized completed block design) was used, with pre-rice mungbean or fallow
with weeds incorporated into the soil in main plots, and cattle manure at four rates (0;3,125; 6,250; 9,375 kg/ha) as subplots. Incorporation of mungbean residue into the soil
provided 3.2 t of dry matter per ha containing 50.2 kg N, 9.8 kg P and 166.2 kg K per ha.
Incorporation of weeds in the fallow treatment provided 1.7 t of dry matter per hacontaining 11.3 kg N, 2.8 kg P and 90 kg K per ha. Mungbean residues incorporated into
the soil significantly increased plant height and tiller number per hill but had no significant
effect on top dry weight per hill of the succeeding rice crop at panicle initiation stage (PI).
At harvest, pre-rice mungbean significantly increased top dry weight per hill of rice.
Application of different rates of cattle manure significantly affected plant height at PI andharvest. Cattle manure applied at the highest rate (9,375 kg/ha) had the highest plant height.
Grain yield of rice was not significantly affected by pre-rice management. However,incorporation of mungbean residues produced an increase in rice grain yield over fallow
treatment of 416 kg/ha (or 17%). Incorporation of mungbean significantly increased
panicle number per hill. Incorporation of mungbean residue and application of cattle
manure at 6,250 kg/ha produced the maximum panicle number per hill. Cattle manure
application at the rate of 9,375 kg/ha resulted in the maximum rice grain yield (2,920
kg/ha). No significant interaction between pre-rice residue management and cattle manure
application was found on rice grain yield. Growing mungbean before rice provides theadvantage of marketable grain of mungbean to 1.6 t/ha. The net economic return was foundhighest in growing mungbean alone with transplanted rice later (2,855US $/ha) or threetimes higher than the fallow treatment.
Keywords animal manure, mungbean residue, organic rice

INTRODUCTION
The development and popularity of organic farming in Thailand have arisen due to issues that havebeen building in the country for several years. These include poverty among small farmers, theproblem of agricultural chemical residues, and the increasing consumer need for organic
agricultural products in the foreign market (Thanwa, 2001; Vitoon, 1994; Saetang et al., 2003).
Organic rice production has played an important role in recent years in boosting the income of
farmers in Northeast Thailand, due to expanding market demand in European countries since 2003
Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1(Economic Research Center, 2003). One of its conditions at the production stage is that organic ricemust be cultivated without chemical fertilizer and pesticides. With regard to soil fertility, compost,
green manure and animal manure play an important role in improving the crop yield from organic
rice farming. However, there is little information about the use of pre-rice mungbean as green
manure after pod harvesting. The objectives of the study were to investigate the effect of pre-rice
mungbean management and the application of different rates of cattle manure fertilizers on growthand yield of organic rice under rainfed conditions, as well as economic return of mungbean as prerice crop.
METHODOLOGYThe  experiment  was  conducted  in  a  farmer’s  field  in  Muang Yai village, Khon Kaen province in2011. The soil physio-chemical characteristics before planting mungbean and rice are shown in
Table 1. In general, the soil texture is sand. Before growing mungbean, soil is strongly acidic andhas low OM, total N, available P and exchangeable K. However, after incorporation of weed andmungbean residue most soil characteristics improved, particularly in the mungbean residues
incorporation treatment.
A split-plot arrangement of treatments in a randomized completed block design with four
replications was used. Pre-rice management (fallow with weeds incorporated into the soil and prerice mungbean in which residues were incorporated into the soil after pod harvesting) was the
main-plot factor, while the application of different rates of cattle manure (0, 3,125, 6,250 and 9,375
kg/ha) were the sub-plot factors.
Table 1 Soil physio-chemical characteristics of the experimental field at 0-15 cm
Soil characteristics

Before growing
mungbean

Before growing rice
FallowpHa
EC (mS/cm)b
Organic matter %)c
Total N (%)dAvailable P (mg/kg)eExchangeable K(mg/kg)f
Soil textureg
a

4.92
0.03
0.468
0.038
6.67
73.60
Sand

5.09
0.015
0.604
0.036
8.01
57.48
-

Mungbean residue
incorporated
5.15
0.024
0.741
0.045
9.06
100.44-

pH meter (1 : 1 H2O); bEC meter (1 : 5 H2O); cWalkley and Black method; dKjeldahl method; eBray II and molybdenumblue method; f1N  NH4OAc  pH  7  and  ﬂame  photometry  method  and  gHydrometer method

Table 2 Schedule of technical operations related to each treatment of the experiment in 2011
1st
plowing

2nd
plowing

MungbeansowingMungbeanharvest30 Apr.

7 May

11 May11, 20 Jul.

Mungbean
and weedincorporation
23 Jul.

Applicationof cattle
manure10 Aug.

Ricetransplanting
12 Aug.

Weeding

Flower-ing

Rice
harvest17 Sep.

23 Oct.

23 Nov.

Field managements of legume and succeeding rice crop are reported in Table 2. Before growing
mungbean,  soil  was  ploughed  twice  as  in  the  farmers’  usual  cultivation  practice  from  late  April  to  the beginning of May. The main plots of each experiment were constructed by creating bunds
surrounding areas of 4 x 17.5 m. Then cattle manure at the rate of 3,125 kg/ha were applied in the
pre-rice mungbean treatment. The cattle manure application was done as the starter for thesymbiotic fixation of N and favored the highest grain yield for mungbean. Mungbean was handseeded at a spacing of 20 × 50 cm. Pods of mungbean was harvested twice about 2 months aftersowing. Before incorporation of weeds and mungbean residues into the soil, weeds and mungbean
residues were randomly collected from 3 sites of 1 × 1 m to determine their dry weights (1,713 and
3,163 kg/ha, respectively). Total N, P and K contents of weeds and mungbean residues were also
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

analyzed (1.59%, 0.3% and 5.25% for dry weight of mungbean residue and 0.66%, 0.16% and5.25% for dry weight of weed, respectively). The amount of nutrients returned to the soil byincorporating weeds and mungbean residues into the soil was calculated as in Eq. (1)Dry weight (kg/ha) x nutrient content (%)
100

(1)

Cattle manure at different rates was applied about 18 days after the incorporation of weeds andmungbean residues. Total N, total P and total K of cattle manure were determined (1.3%, 0.3% and1.95% of dry weight, respectively). The amount of nutrients in the cattle manure applied to the soil
was calculated as in Eq. (2)Rate of application (kg /ha) x nutrient content (%)
100

(2)

Rice seedlings were transplanted 1 day after the cattle manure application. Five seedlings perhill were transplanted in the pattern of 25 x 25 cm. Rice cv. KDML 105 was used in this study.
Hand weeding was done once every 35 days after transplanting. No insecticide or fungicide wasused in this experiment.
Five hills from each plot were measured to classify their height and tiller number per hill at
panicle initiation (PI) growth stage and harvesting stage. Again, five hills from each plot outside
the harvesting area were randomly selected and oven dried at 80 ℃ for 4 days to determine top dry
weight at PI and harvest. The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents of leaves were
determined at PI. The numbers of panicles per hill in the harvesting areas were measured at harvest
time. For the same samples, ten panicles from each plot were randomly selected to determine thenumber of filled and unfilled grains and the percentage of filled grains per panicle was calculated.
The grain yield was taken from the 6 m2 harvesting area of each plot and calculated as kg/ha at 14%
moisture content. The filled grains were randomly selected from the grain yield sample todetermine the weight of 1,000 grains. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance proceduresand LSD was used to compare treatment methods when the F-test was significant.
RESULTS
Grain yield of mungbean and nutrient recycling to the soil
Grain yield of mungbean averaged 1,635 kg/ha. Incorporation of mungbean residues into the soil
provided about 4 times higher N, P and K contribution than by weeds, 50.2 kg N, 9.8 kg P and
166.2 kg K per ha, respectively (Table 3). The amount of nutrients returned to the soil was further
increased when cattle manure was applied and was higher in pre-rice mungbean treatment thanfallow treatment. Application of the highest rate of cattle manure, 9,375 kg/ha, resulted in thehighest N, P and K returned to the soil, 133.4 kg N, 71.1 kg P and 273.1 kg K per ha, respectively
under fallow treatment and 172.3 kg N, 78.1 kg P and 349.3 kg K per ha, respectively under prerice mungbean. However, the ratio of increase of nutrients among cattle manure application rates
was small in pre-rice mungbean treatment, i.e. N returned to the soil was only 3, 4 and 6 times
higher than no cattle manure application when cattle manure was applied at the rates of 3,125,
6,250 and 9,375 kg/ha, respectively. In contrast to fallow treatment, N returned to the soil was 8,15, and 22 times higher than no cattle application when cattle manure was applied at the rates of
3,125, 6,250 and 9,375 kg/ha, respectively (Table 3).
Growth of following rice
Incorporation of mungbean residues significantly increased plant height and tiller number per hillof succeeding rice but had no significant effect on top dry weight at PI growth stage (Table 4).
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Application of different rates of cattle manure affected plant height at PI but not tiller number per
hill and top dry weight. The maximum plant height was obtained at the highest rate of cattle
manure application (9,375 kg/ha), but was not significantly different from the rates of 3,125 and
6,250 kg/ha. No interaction between pre-rice mungbean management and cattle manure application
rate on plant growth at PI was observed (Table 4).
Table 3 Total N, P and K (kg/ha) returned to the soil by weed and mungbean residue atdifferent cattle manure application rates before growing rice
Cattle manure application
rate (kg/ha)

Nutrients returned to the soil (kg/ha)
Weed incorporation
Mungbean residue incorporation
N
P
K
N
P
K
0
11.3
2.8
90.0
50.2
9.8
166.2
3,125
52.0
25.6
151.0
90.9
32.6
227.2
6,250
92.7
48.3
212.1
131.6
55.3
288.3
9,375
133.4
71.1
273.1
172.3
78.1
349.3
N, P and K contents in plant tissues were analyzed by micro-kjeldahl method and indophenol blue method, wet oxidation
method and yellow molybdovanadophosphoric acid method and wet oxidation   method   and   ﬂame   photometry   method,  respectively.

(a)(b)
Fig. 1  Interactions between pre-rice management and cattle manure application rates ontiller number per hill (a) and panicle number per hill (b) of KDML 105 at harvest
Table 4 Plant growth of KDML 105 as affected by pre-rice managements and cattle manure
application rates at panicle initiation stage and harvest
Treatment
Height(cm)

PI
Tiller no.
per hill

Top dry
weight perhill (g)Height(cm)

Pre-rice management
Fallow
78.8b
10b
11.13
121.8
Mungbean
90.1a
12a
14.88
128.5
F-test***ns
ns
Cattle manure application rate
0 (kg/ha)
80.4b
10
12.57
118.7c3,125 (kg/ha)
83.5ab11
11.69
123.3bc
6,500 (kg/ha)
85.8a
11
14.15
128.2ab
9,375(kg/ha)
88.0a
12
13.60
130.4aF-test*ns
ns*
Interaction
F-testns
ns
ns
ns
CV a (%)
8.44
8.60
28.59
7.05
CV b (%)
6.04
18.21
26.57
5.28
Means followed by the same letter in the same column had no significant difference by LSD.
*,** indicate significance at 5% and 1% levels of probability, respectively. ns= not significant

HarvestTillerno. perhill

Top dry
weight per hill
(g)

7
9
ns

31.65b
42.67a
*

7
8
8
8
ns

30.99
36.45
40.37
40.81
ns

*
19.76
14.86

ns
16.77
20.87

At the harvest stage, incorporation of mungbean residues significantly increased top dry
weight of rice but had no significant effect on plant height and tiller number per hill (Table 4).
Cattle manure application rates significantly affected plant height at harvest. Application of theⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

highest rate of cattle manure gave the maximum plant height but it was not significantly different
from the rate of 6,250 kg/ha. Cattle manure application rates had no effect on tiller number per hill
and top dry weight of rice. An interaction between pre-rice mungbean management and cattle
manure application rate was found in tiller number per hill at harvest (Table 4). Under pre-rice
mungbean treatment, application of cattle manure at the rate of 6,250 kg/ha resulted in the
maximum tiller number per hill (10 tillers per hill) and was lowest in no cattle application treatment
and at the rate of 3,125 kg /ha (7 tillers per hill). Under fallow treatment, application of different
rates of cattle manure had no significant effect on tiller number per hill at harvest (Fig. 1(a)).
Table 5 Yield and yield components of KDML 105 as affected by pre-rice managements andcattle manure application rates at harvest
Treatment

Grain yield(kg/ha)Panicle(no. per
hill)

Grain
(no. perpanicle)Filledgrain(%)

Pre-rice management
Fallow
2,433.5
6.19b
109.6990.50
Mungbean2,849.9
7.50a
106.81
90.13
F-testns*
ns
ns
Cattle manure application rate
0 (kg/ha)
2,358.6b
6.13b
98.50
90.38a3125 (kg/ha)
2,578.9ab
6.88a
111.1388.63b6250 (kg/ha)
2,709.3ab
7.38a112.8791.00a9375 (kg/ha)
2,919.9a
7.00a
110.501.25a
F-test***ns*
Interaction
F-testns*
ns
ns
CV a (%)
18.57
11.46
10.35
3.22
CV b (%)
10.32
10.37
15.34
1.78
Means followed by the same letter in the same column had no significant difference by LSD*,** indicate significance at 5% and 1% levels of probability, respectively. ns= not significant

1,000 grain
weight
(g)
29.06
29.14
ns
28.90
28.92
28.94
29.63
ns
ns
3.90
3.13

Grain yield and yield components of succeeding rice
Grain yield of rice was not significantly affected by pre-rice management. However, incorporationof mungbean residues tended to increase rice yield up to 17% over the fallow treatment (Table 5).
Cattle manure application rates significantly affected rice grain yield. The maximum grain yield
was obtained at the highest cattle manure application rate (2.9 t/ha) but it was not significantly
different from other two rates. There was no interaction between pre-rice mungbean management
and cattle manure application rate in grain yield of rice (Table 5).
Growing mungbean before rice significantly increased panicle number per hill but had no
significant effect on grain number per panicle, filled grain percentage and 1,000 grain weight.
Cattle manure application rate significantly affected panicle number per hill and filled grain
percentage. Cattle manure application at the rate of 6,250 kg/ha provided the maximum panicle
number per hill but it was not significantly different from the other two application rates.
Maximum filled grain percentage was obtained when cattle manure was applied at the highest rate
(Table 5). Interaction between pre-rice mungbean management and cattle manure application rate
was found. When mungbean residue was incorporated into the soil, application of cattle manure at
the rate of 6,250 kg/ha gave the maximum panicle number per hill. However, when the field wasleft fallow, application of cattle manure at the rate of 3,125kg/ha resulted in the maximum panicle
number per hill. No cattle manure application treatment provided the lowest panicle number per
hill in both pre-rice managements with lowest in fallow treatment (Fig. 1b).
Nutrient concentration of rice at PI
Fallow and incorporation of mungbean residue into the soil had no significant effect on N and K
concentrations of KDML 105 rice leaves at PI but had significant effect on P content (Table 6).
Phosphorus concentration in rice leaves was higher in fallow treatment than mungbean residueⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

incorporation. Cattle manure application rates significantly affected N and P content in rice leaves
but not K content. In terms of N concentration, application of the highest rate of cattle manureprovided the highest leaf N concentration. Nevertheless, the highest P concentration was obtained
when cattle manure was applied at the rate of 6,250 kg/ha (Table 6). There were interactions
between pre-rice mungbean management and cattle manure application rate. When mungbean
residues were incorporated into the soil, application of the highest rate of cattle manure provided
the highest leaf N concentration. Under fallow treatment, application of different cattle manure
rates had no significant effect on leaf N concentration (Table 7).
Table 6 Nutrient concentration (%) in leaf of KDML 105 as affected by pre-ricemanagements and cattle manure application rates at panicle initiation stage
Treatment
N (%)
P (%)
Pre-rice management
Fallow
1.977
0.229aMungbean
1.948
0.209bF-testns**
Cattle manure application rate
0 (kg/ha)
1.958b0.212b3,125 (kg/ha)
1.905b0.222ab
6,250 (kg/ha)
1.946b0.235a9,375 (kg/ha)
2.041a0.206bF-test**Interaction
F-test**ns
CV a (%)
8.27
1.12
CV b (%)
3.90
8.78
Means followed by the same letter in the same column had no significant difference by LSD*, ** indicate significance at 5% and 1% levels of probability, respectively. ns= not significant

K (%)
2.225
2.323
ns
2.230
2.222
2.333
2.310
ns
ns
5.72
5.28

Table 7 Interactions between pre-rice management and cattle manure application rates on
nitrogen concentration in leaf of KDML 105 at panicle initiation stage
Cattle application rate

N concentration in leaves of rice at PI
Fallow
Mungbean
0 kg/ha
2.019
1.896bc
3,125 kg/ha
1.973
1.836c6,250 kg/ha
1.938
1.954b
9,375 kg/ha
1.976
2.1045aMeans followed by the same letter in the same column had no significant difference by LSD

Table 8 Yield, production cost, gross income and net income
Treatment

Yield
Production
Gross income
Net income(kg/ha)cost(US $/ha)(US $/ha)(US $/ha)Mungbean
Rice
Fallow
0
1,995
26
966
940
Fallow+3125 kg CM per ha
0
2,502
176
1,211
1,035
Fallow+6250 kg CM per ha
0
2,427
327
1,175
848
Fallow+9375 kg CM per ha
0
2,810
477
1,360
883
Mungbean
1,635
2,722
297
3,152
2,855
Mungbean+3125 kg CM per ha
1,635
2,656
448
3,120
2,672
Mungbean+6250 kg CM per ha
1,635
2,992
598
3,282
2,684
Mungbean+9375 kg CM per ha
1,635
3,030
748
3,301
2,553
Note: CM = cattle manure; Planting material = mungbean seed 35 baht/kg, KDML 105 rice seed 26 baht/kg and cattle
manure price 1.5 baht/kg; Market price of crop: mungbean seed 35 baht/kg and KDML 105 rice 15.1 baht/kg;
1 US$ =31.2 Thai baht
Production cost = Material cost + Land preparation for mungbean growing; Household labor is considered as farminglaborⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Economic return of growing mungbean before rice
All mungbean growing treatments provided higher net income than all fallow treatments. This isdue to the additional income from selling mungbean grains. The net income of growing mungbean
before rice without cattle manure application, however, yielded the highest net income because of
low production cost. The net income was similar when growing mungbean as a pre-rice crop andapplication of different rates of cattle manure (Table 8).
DISCUSSION
The incorporation of mungbean residues into the soil did not significantly increase the grain yieldof KDML 105 rice over the fallow treatment. However, pre-rice mungbean increased rice grain
yield over fallow treatment by 416 kg/ha (or 17%). Suriyakup et al. (2007a) reported that grain
yield of direct-seeded RD 6 rice variety was not significantly different when mungbean wasincorporated into the soil at the flowering stage. However, grain yield of transplanted RD 6 ricewith mungbean residues incorporated into the soil was increased by 355-1,399 kg/ha over the
fallow treatment with weeds incorporated into the soil (Suriyakup et al., 2007b). In India, sown
summer mungbean increased rice grain yields by 05-0.9 t/ha (Sharma et al., 2000) or 0.3 t/ha
(Sharma et al., 1995). In the present experiment, the mungbean residue provided 3,163 kg/ha dry
weight containing 50 kg N per ha, 10 kg P per ha and 166 kg K per ha. A similar amount ofmungbean residue contributed to the soil of 2,810-4,170 kg/ha dry weight and 53-57 kg N per ha(Suriyakup et al., 2007b), 2.2-3.2 t/ha dry matter and 56.8- 70.2 kg N per ha (Sharma et al., 1995)
have been reported. Bhuiyan et al. (2009) reported that mungbean residue accumulated 1.14-1.76 t
of dry matter per ha which amounted to 14.6-43.1 kg N per ha, 1.26-3.66 kg P per ha and16.3-35.9
kg K per ha. Poomthaisong (2002) reported that the amount of nitrogen fixed by mungbean was 3551 kg N per ha. However, in this study, the amount of nitrogen returned to the soil did not include
nitrogen from fixation process.
Increase in the application rates of cattle manure significantly improved rice grain yield.
Application of cattle manure at the highest rate (9,375 kg/ha) resulted in the maximum grain yield
but did not make significant difference from other application rates. Polthanee et al. (2011)
reported that application of cattle manure at 9,375 kg/ha with rice straw incorporated into the soil
provided the maximum transplanted KDML 105 rice grain yield (3,820 kg/ha) (increased 717 kg/ha
over no fertilizer plot). Grain yield of direct-seeded KDML 105 rice with cattle manure at the samerate was increased by 258 kg/ha over no fertilizer (Polthanee et al., 2008). Application of farmyard
manure at 7 t/ha did not affect yield of rice and wheat in Bhutan but it increased organic carbon in
the soil (Chettri et al., 2003). The maximum cattle manure rate in the study provided additional N,
P and K to rice at122 kg, 68 kg and 183 kg, respectively. In the present study, calculated nutrients
returned to the soil did not include nutrients from cattle manure being used as starter and nitrogen
fixation process. Abe et al (1995) reported that cattle manure applied to the rice crop supported root
growth at deeper soil layers by increasing root density and enhanced root growth.
The sufficient N concentration in leaves at the PI stage was about 2.6-3.2% of dry weight(Mikkelsen and Hunziker, 1971). In this study, the N in leaves at the PI stage was 1.905-2.041% of
dry weight for all treatments. This indicates that the N in soil was not adequate for plant growth at
PI. Dobermann and Fairhurst (2000) indicated that the N deficiency at the PI stage caused a
reduction of grain numbers per panicle and filled grain percentage. The significant differences intiller and panicle number per hill and filled grain percentage in this study may indicate that N is thelimiting factor for rice crop production in sandy soils. Applied N may be lost by leaching,denitrification or remobilisation by microbiorganisms.
The sufficient P concentration value in leaves at the PI stage was about 0.17% of dry weight(Fageria et al., 1988). In the present experiment, P in leaves at the PI stage was 0.206-0.235% of
dry weight for all treatments. This indicates that P in soil provided an adequate amount for rice
growth at PI. Similarly, in the case of K, the sufficient K concentration value in leaves at the PI
stage was about 1.0-2.2% of dry weight (Jones et al., 1991). In the present study, K in leaves at theⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

PI stage was 2.222-2.333% of dry weight for all treatments. This indicates that K in the soil was
sufficient for rice growth at PI.
In the present experiment, even though rice grain yield from the mungbean-rice cropping
system was not significantly different from fallow treatment, growing mungbean before riceprovides the advantage of marketable grain of mungbean to 1.6 t/ha. Net income of all growing
mungbean before rice treatments was 2.6-3.0 times higher than fallow treatment. Introduction ofsummer mungbean in the rice-wheat cropping system yielded 0.4-1.3 t/ha protein-rich grain in
India (Sharma et al., 2000). Nevertheless, in terms of economic return for the whole cropping
system, application of cattle manure at 3,125kg /ha at sowing date of mungbean may be sufficient
to support mungbean growth and reduce the production cost of rice growing.
CONCLUSION
The incorporation of mungbean residue into the soil did not significantly increase the grain yield of
KDML 105 rice over the fallow treatment. However, pre-rice mungbean increased rice grain yieldover fallow treatment by 416 kg/ha (or 17%). In addition, the net economic return was found higher
in all growing mungbean before rice cropping system than the fallow treatment . Application of
cattle manure at 9,375 kg/ha resulted in the maximum grain yield (2,920 kg/ha) due to the effect on
panicle number per hill and filled grain percentage. Incorporation of mungbean residue and cattle
manure application at 9,375 kg/ha could not provide sufficient N to the rice crop in this experiment.
Improvement of residue incorporation method, increase in cattle manure application rate or anotherrich N organic fertilizer source, as well as water management in the field need to be further studied
to improve rice grain yield in sandy soil.
REFERENCES
Abe, J., Songmuang, P. and Harada, J. 1995. Root growth of paddy rice with application of organic materials
as fertilizers in Thailand. JARO, 29, 77-82.
Bhuiyan, M.A.H., Mian, M H., Islam, M.S., Islam, M.R. and Alam, F. (2009) The contribution of mungbean
residue and cowdung in supplying nutrients. Bull. Inst. Trop. Agr., Kyushu Univ., 32, 35-42.
Chettri, G.B., Ghimiray, M. and Floyd, C.N. 2003. Effects of farmyard manure, fertilizers and green
manuring in rice-wheat systems in Bhutan: Results from a long-term experiment. Expl. Agric., 39, 129144.
Dobermann, A. and Fairhurst, T.H. 2000. Rice: nutrient disorders and nutrient management. International
Rice Research Institute, Philippines.
Economic Research Center. 2003. Study on developing Hom Mali organic rice for export to Europe andUnited States of America (in Thai). Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart Univ. 286.
Fageria, N.K., Wright, R.T. and Buligar, V.C. 1988. Rice cultivar evaluation for phosphorus use efficiency.
Plant Soil, 111, 105-109.
Jones, J.B., Wolf, B. and Mills, H.A. 1991. Plant analysis handbook: A practical sampling, preparation,
analysis and interpretation guide. Micro-Macro Inc., USA.
Mikkelsen, D.S., Hunziker, R.G. 1971. A plant analysis survey of California rice. Agri. Chem., 14, 18-22.
Polthanee A. and Treloges, V. 2008. Effect of rice straw management and organic fertilizer application on
growth and yield of dry direct-seeded rice. Paddy Water Environ., 6, 237-241.
Polthanee, A. Promkhambut, A. and Kaewrahan, S. 2011. Growth and yield of organic rice as affected byrice straw and organic fertilizer. IJERD, 2, 93-98.
Poomthaison, J. 2002. Growth and nitrogen fixation of some mungbean cultivars and subsequent effect ofmungbean residues on maize. Master of Science Thesis in Agronomy. Graduate School, Khon Kaen
University, Thailand.
Saetang, C., Igata, M., Niinuma, K., Goto, K., Matsuda, T. and Pitipunya, R. 2003. Present condition of theorganic agricultural products authentication system in Thailand. J. ISSAAS, 9, 179-195.
Sharma, S.N., Prasad, R. and Singh, S. 1995. The role of mungbean residues and Sesbania aculeata green
manure in the nitrogen economy of rice-wheat cropping system. Plant Soil, 172, 123-129.
Sharma, S.N., Prasad, R., Singh, S. and Singh, P. 2000. On-farm trials of the eﬀect of introducing a summer
green manure of mungbean on the productivity of a rice-wheat cropping system. J. Agr. Sci.,
Cambridge, 134, 169-172.
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Suriyakup, P., Polthanee, A., Pannangpethch, K., Katawatin, R. and Clermont-Dauphin, C. 2007a. Mungbean(Vigna radiate L.) residue and nitrogen rate affected growth and yield of direct-seeded rice (Oryza sativa
L.) in rainfed riceland. Asian J. Plant Sci., 6, 1158-1165.
Suriyakup, P., Polthanee, A., Pannangpethch, K., Katawatin, R. Mouret, J. C. and Clermont-Dauphin, C. 2007b.
Introducing mungbean as a preceding crop to enhance nitrogen uptake and yield of rainfed rice innortheast Thailand. Aust. J. Agric. Res., 58, 1059-1067.
Thawa, J. 2001. The policy of sustainable agriculture development. Kasetsart Univ. 2.1-2.15, Thailand.
Vitoon, P. 1994. Asian type organic farming. National Organic Agric. Res., Japan. 115-119.

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Research article
erdAllelopathic Activity of Peruvian Corn Varieties
CECILIA INES ONO MORIKAWA*
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: cecilia.ono@gmail.com

RIE MIYAURA
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

AKIMI FUJIMOTO
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

MARIA DE LOURDES TAPIA Y FIGUEROA
Institute of Biotechnology, National Agrarian University La Molina, Lima, Peru

VICTOR NORIEGA NALVARTE
Maize Program, National Agrarian University La Molina, Lima, Peru

YOSHIHARU FUJIITokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Received 20 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Corn (Zea mays L.) is one of the three most important cereals in the world. Peru
is one of the centers of biodiversity of corn in the world and has 35 ecotypes. In this study
we compared the allelopathic activity of Peruvian native varieties of corn using the plantbox method to evaluate the activity by root exudate and sandwich method to evaluate theactivity by leaf leachate for sustainable weed managements. An experiment using native
varieties of 6 Peruvian corn races (Cuzco, Amarillo ancashino, Morado, Piscorunto,
Chullpy, Terciopelo) was conducted at National Agrarian University La Molina, Peru.
Cuzco race (known as Giant corn) was the strongest with more than 75% of lettuce radicle
inhibition. Besides, these samples were evaluated by sandwich method using 10 and 50
mg of dry leaves (24 hours at 60 °C). Another experiment to compare Peruvian andJapanese varieties was conducted at National Institute for Agro-Environmental Science,
Japan. A total of 85 varieties (3 Peruvian varieties and 82 Japanese varieties) and 3 typesof teosinte Euchlaena mexicana were evaluated by plant box method. From thisevaluation, Peruvian varieties of Morado (known as Purple corn) and Maiz cancha, bothvarieties of soft corn type, showed a strong inhibitory activity. Kuromochikibi and otherJapanese varieties of waxy corn type showed also strong inhibition of lettuce radicle
growth. As a conclusion, we found that Peruvian native purple corn and varieties of soft
corn and waxy corn types have potent allelopathic activity and promising crop for weed
control at sustainable agriculture.
Keywords Zea mays, allelopathy, plant box method, sandwich method

INTRODUCTION
Allelopathy is a phenomenon of interaction between the compounds emitted by plants, which cancause inhibition or promotion effects to the organisms around. These compounds are called
allelochemicals and nowadays are increasing interest in use of them to suppress weeds by natural
exudation. This activity was reported from some crops and the evaluation of allelopathic potential
in different varieties or related species could be important in areas like plant breeding or weed
management (Wu et al., 2001).
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Corn (Zea mays) is one of the most important crops in the world. The global corn production
for 2011/12 is estimated around 867.5 million tons (USDA, 2011). This crop is native from Central
America and was probably introduced to Peru in an early stage. The geographical diversity
generates a high variety reflected in 51 Peruvian races and other 35 ecotypes (Abu-Alrub et al.,
2004; Salhuana, 2004; Sevilla, 2005). Corn is generally produced in monoculture and some casesof low production related to allelopathic effect of this crop have been reported (Sarobol andAnderson, 1992). Another research of continuous cropping of corn for 3 years showed a decreaseof 13% of production compared with a field with crop rotation (Lund et al., 1993). Most research
related to corn allelopathy is done with a limited number of varieties. We compare the allelopathic
activity of Peruvian varieties, as well as a large number of Japanese varieties and an ancestor ofcorn, teosinte.
METHODOLOGY
Plant materials
First experiment: The seedlings of varieties of 6 Peruvian corn races (Cuzco, Amarillo ancashino,Morado, Piscorunto, Chullpy, Terciopelo) were cultivated in sand substrate for one month in agreenhouse of Vegetable Program of National Agrarian University La Molina (UNALM). The
seeds were provided from Maize Program of UNALM. The plant box and sandwich method
experiments were conducted in laboratories of the Institute of Biotechnology of UNALM.
Second experiment: A total of 85 varieties of corn (3 Peruvian and 82 Japanese varieties) and 3
types of teosinte (Euchlaena mexicana) were evaluated by plant box method on laboratories of
National Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES), Japan. The seedlings were cultivatedin a greenhouse with sand substrate for one month.
Plant box method
Seedlings of around one month old were used for bioassay in a Magenta GA-7 vessel (6×6×10 cm,
Magenta Co. Ltd., USA)   called   ‘plant-box’,   for   evaluating   the   allelopathic   activity   through   root  exudates (Fujii, 1992). After removal of seedlings from the pot, the roots were carefully washedwith distilled water and inserted into a column of a nylon mesh (0.22 mm) that was subsequently
placed at a corner of the plant box. Then, autoclaved agar 0.75% (w/v) (Nacalai Tesque Co. Ltd.,
Japan) was placed at 40° C into the plant box. After gelatinization of the agar, a total of 33 seeds oflettuce (Lactuca sativa L., Great Lakes No. 366, Takii Co.) were sowed at different distances fromthe corner with the donor plant. The box was covered with clear wrap to prevent evaporation, andthen each box was put in a black vinyl pot to cover the roots of each seedling. Finally, all the plantboxes were kept at 20 ºC with a 12/12 h photoperiod for 5 days in an incubator (BITEC-500L,
Shimadzu Instruments Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). After incubation, the radicle and hypocotyl lengthof lettuce seedlings were measured. A plant box without donor plant was used as a control. The
experiment was conducted with three replications.
Sandwich method
Sandwich method was developed by Dr. Fujii as a bioassay to determinate the allelopathic activityof the leaches from donor plant leaves (Fujii, 1994). A total of 10 or 50 mg of dried leaves wereplaced into 3 wells of the six-well (around 10 cm2 area per well) multi-dish plastic plate(35mm×18mm, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.). Agar powder (Nacalai Tesque Inc.) was used as
growth medium (0.75% w/v). In each well, 5 ml of agar solution was added on 5 ml agar to maketwo gelatinized layers in between and 5 seeds of the test plant lettuce (L. sativa L., Great Lakes No.
366, Takii Co.) were seeded on the surface. The multi-dish was covered with plastic tape, labeled,wrapped in aluminum foil and incubated in dark at 25ºC for 3 days. The length of hypocotyl andⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

radicle of lettuce seedlings were measured on the third day; these data were used to calculate thepercent elongation to control.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONFirst experiment
The results of evaluation of varieties of 6 Peruvian corn races by Plant Box Method showed astrong inhibition in the lettuce radicle growth (11%) by variety of Cuzco race. The inhibition
activity of other varieties ranged between 22 and 35% (Table 1).
Table 1 Evaluation of allelopathic activity of varieties of 6 Peruvian corn races by plant box
method and sandwich method
Peruvian corn races

Percentage of radicle growth of lettuce(%)
Sandwich Method
Plant Box Method
10mg
50mg

Cuzco

10.9

50

21

A. Ancashino

21.9

40

17

Morado

26.6

45

21

Piscorunto

29.7

37

15

Chullpy

31.9

53

22

Terciopelo

35.0

42

13

Cuzco   (‘Giant   corn’)   corresponds to the second derivation from primitive races of Peruvian
corn. This race is cultivated on the Central Andes at an altitude of 2,300 to 3,300 m and was spreadwith the expansion of Inca Empire from Ecuador to the north of Argentina. In Peru it is mostly
consumed by being boiled or as flour (Ortiz et al., 2008; Salhuana et al., 2004).
The allelopathy activity of leaves of the varieties of 6 Peruvian races was evaluated using 10
and 50 mg of dry leaves by sandwich method. By 10 mg most of them showed around 50% of
inhibition of lettuce radicle growth; using 50 mg that was more than 80% in all varieties.
Piscorunto showed higher activity in both concentrations; 37 and 15% growth of radicle
respectively (Table 1). Piscorunto corresponds to the race derived from primitive races. This race iscultivated on the Southern Andes at an altitude of around 3,000 m (Salhuana et al., 2004).
Second experiment
The Peruvian corn varieties evaluated were Purple corn (from three commercial companies: El
Shaday, Inca's Food, Peru Cheff), Cancha corn and Chullpe corn. The other group of 82 Japanesevarieties was composed mostly by varieties of sweet corn. Another 3 types of teosinte, E. mexicana,(PI441932125, Ames8083, Ames21869) were obtained from North Central Regional Plant
Introduction Station (NCRPIS).
To compare all varieties, we classified them using the description of types of corn related tothe amount of starch in the grain (Tozawa, 2005).
Dent corn (Z.mays var. indentata): The grains have a depression on the top, with shape of
tooth. Hard starch granules are accumulated in both sides and soft starch granules are accumulated
from the top to the middle. Three-quarter of percentage of starch is soft.
Flint corn (Z. mays var. indurata): The grain has the form of hard flint, with a round shape.
The soft starch is concentrated in small amount in the center covered by hard starch.
Sweet corn (Z. mays var. saccharata): Grain endosperm is mostly sugar. The sugar transported
from leaves and stems is directly stored in the grain.
Pop corn (Z. mays var. everta): This group has a similar carbohydrate configuration of FlintⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

corn, but is different in that it contains hard starch in the endosperm and a small portion of soft
starch inside.
Flour corn (Z. mays var. amylacea): It is a round type of Flint corn. The endosperm is mostly
constituted by soft starch and the grain is light.
Waxy Corn (Z. mays var. ceratina): This type is a mutant from China. Most of the starch
consists of amylopectin with low amylose.
Table 2 Evaluation of 85 corn varieties and 3 types of teosinte by plant box methodCorn variety

Type*

Radiclegrowth(% )Corn variety

Type*

Radiclegrowth(% )Corn variety

Type*

Radiclegrowth(% )Purple corn (El Shaday)**Sf

3.02 Honey Bantam Peter 445

Sw

12.0 Hazetomorokoshi

P

16.9

Purple corn (Inca's Food)**
Kuromochikibi

Sf

3.58 Yumemi Dream

Sw

12.2 New Dent 100 LG3457

D

17.1

W

4.35 Peter CornSw

12.5 Taiyo no megumi

Sw

17.5

Cancha corn **Peter 001

Sf

4.91 Gosaku

Sw

12.6 Gold Dent KD640 [RM114]

D

18.0

Sw

5.06 SpectraP

12.6 Canberra 90

Sw

18.4

Ohisama corn 7Sw

6.00 Kyokuwase Jelly Bantam

Sw

12.9 Teosinte PI4419321250

T

19.8

Big Summer

Sw

6.74 Mirai 390

Sw

13.0 Gold Dent KD670 [MR117]

D

20.1

AjiichibanSw

6.95 MochimurasakiW

13.1 Gold Dent KD520 [RM105]

D

20.5

Cocktail E51

Sw

7.32 Miwaku no corn Gold RushSw

13.4 Canberra 86

Sw

21.6

Amaindesu

Sw

7.43 White QueenSw

13.8 New Dent 90 days ANJOU259

D

21.7

OomonoSw

7.65 Popcorn

P14.4 Dodeka corn Yusaku

Sw

23.2

MarukajiriSw

8.16 Chullpe corn**

Sw

14.5 Picnic corn

Sw

23.6

Purple corn (Peru Cheff)**
Sunny ChocolateSf

8.17 Harmony Chocolate

Sw

14.9 Silage corn NS-118

D

23.7

Sw

8.42 SnowDent Onatsu SH9904

D

15.0 Gold Dent KD772 Super [MR130]

D

24.0

Diachi no megumi

Sw

8.79 Cocktail 600

Sw

15.0 New Dent 85 days LG3263

D

24.9

Cocktail 83L

Sw

9.23 Gold RushSw

15.3 New Dent 85 days Richmond

D

25.3

Shiromochikibi

W

9.25 Woody cornSw

15.3 Pioneer 106 days 36B08

D

26.7

Kiimochikibi

W

9.85 Fleet

Sw

15.3 Bikkuri Sweet

Sw

27.2

SakichanSw

9.94 Sweets Megumi 86

Sw

15.5 Salad corn

Sw

27.3

Ohisama cornSw

10.0 Honey Bantam Peter 610

Sw

15.5 Honey Bantam Wase 200

Sw

27.5

Kiihachiretsuurukibi (Longfellow)

F

10.1 Snow Dent 118 DKC61-24

D

15.5 Baby corn

P

27.7

Cocktail 84EX

Sw

10.3 Miwaku no cornSw

15.6 Pioneer 115 days Cecilia

D

28.4

Honey Bantam Peter cornSw

10.5 Teosinte Ames8083

T

15.7 Yawaraka Gold

Sw

29.3

Yume no cornSw

10.9 Golden HoneySw

15.9 Harmony Festival

Sw

29.7

AmamichanSw

11.2 White Popcorn

Sw16.2 Super Suite Big

Sw

31.7

Lucy 90

Sw

11.4

Honey Bantam Peter 235

Sw

16.5 Gold Dent KD850 [MR135]

D

36.1

Sunny FestSw

11.5 Cynthia Neo Dent 90 SL9945

D

16.5 Pioneer 135 days 30D44

D

40.3

Honey Bantam 20

Sw

11.7 Pioneer 88 days Deer HTD

16.5 Pioneer 120 days 31P41

D

44.7

Yellow Popcorn

P11.8 Super Sweet bicolor

Sw

16.8 Teosinte Ames21869

T

49.8

Honey Bantam

Sw

11.8 AmairoSw

16.9 Strawberry corn

P

51.1

*

D Dent Corn, F Flint Corn, P Pop Corn, Sf Soft Corn, Sw Sweet Corn, W Waxy Corn, T Teosinte**

Peruvian varieties

From the total of varieties and species evaluated, the lettuce radicle growth ranged from 3 to50%. Peruvian purple corn (El Shaday) showed the strongest inhibition effect in lettuce radicle
growth (3%). Other Peruvian varieties of soft corn also showed a strong inhibition. Purple corn is
considered as one of the most important Peruvian native varieties. The main characteristic of thisvariety is the deep purple color due to anthocyanin, present in the grains and some other parts ofthe ear and plant. It is cultivated from 1,200 to 4,000 m of altitude from the Coast to the Andean
region. The purple corn is used to make a traditional Peruvian sweets and the pigment is used in thefood industry. In recent years this compound attracts attention as a health food. (Salhuana et al.,
2004; SIRA, 2005; Tenorio, 2007). The second variety with a strong inhibition was Kuromochikibi
from the group of waxy type (Kuromochikibi, Shiromochikibi, Kiimochikibi). These two varieties,
Purple corn and Kuromochikibi have same characteristic of dark color but it was not possible toknow the relation with their inhibitory activity.
From the 82 Japanese varieties evaluated, 63% of them (52 varieties) were sweet corn type
and the percentage of growth of lettuce radicle ranged from 5 to 30%. As for dent corn type, mostof the varieties showed low inhibitory activity. However, to clarify whether the differences inallelopathic activity is due to genetic differences, it is necessary to explore the ancestral lineage.
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Among the features in plant breeding is mentioned the reduction of the chemical components ofprotection (Pickersgill, 2007).
Teosinte (E. mexicana) is considered an ancestor of corn (Galinat, 1995). Three varieties were
evaluated and two of them (Ames8083 and PI4419321250) showed a percentage of lettuce radicle
growth of 16 and 20% respectively. Just Ames21869 reported a low activity (50%) compared toother types of this group.
CONCLUSION
In the evaluation of varieties of 6 Peruvian corn races by plant box, the growth of lettuce radicle
fluctuated from 11 to 35% and the strongest variety was from Cuzco race. The evaluation by
sandwich method of the same samples did not show significant differences.
The second evaluation of 85 varieties by plant box showed lettuce radicle growth percentage
from 3 to 51%. The strongest varieties were from the group of soft and waxy corn with varieties of
Purple corn (3%) and Kuromochikibi (4%) respectively.
Peruvian varieties evaluated in these two experiments showed high allelopathic activity under
the plant box method. Based on these results we can affirm that allelochemicals are exuded by theroots and activity differs according to varieties. However, it is necessary to confirm the relationshipbetween varieties and allelochemicals released from this species.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to the persons   of   the   Vegetable   Program   “El   Huerto”   and   Institute   of  Biotechnology in UNALM for providing facilities and assistance in this research.
REFERENCES
Abu-Alrub, I., Christiansen, J., Madsen, S., Sevilla, R., Ortiz, R. 2004. Assessing tassel, kernel and ear
variation in Peruvian highland maize. Plant. Genet. Resour. Newsl. 137, 34-41.
Fujii, Y. 1992. The potential biological control of paddy weeds with allelopathy: Allelopathic effect of somerice varieties. Proceedings of International Symposium on Biological Control and Integrated
Management of Paddy and Aquatic Weeds in Asia, National Agricultural Research Centre of Japan,
Tsukuba, Japan.
Fujii Y. 1994. Screening of allelopathic candidates by new specific discrimination, assessment methods forallelopathy, and the inhibition of L-DOPA as the allelopathic substance from the most promising velvet
bean (Mucuna pruriens). Bull. Nat. Inst. Agro-Environ. Sci. 10, 115-218.
Galinat, W.C. 1995. The origin of maize: grain of humanity. Econ. Bot. 49, 3-12.
Lund, M.G., Carter, P.R. and Oplinger, E.S. 1993. Tillage and crop rotation affect corn, soybean and winterwheat yields. J. Prod. Agric. 6, 207-212.
Ortiz, R., Crossa, J., Franco, J., Sevilla, R., Burgueño, J. 2008. Classification of Peruvian highland maize
races using plant traits. Genet. Resour. Crop. Evol. 55, 151-162.
Pickersgill, B. 2007. Domestication of plants in the Americas: Insights from Mendelian and Molecular
Genetics. Ann. Bot.-London. 100, 925-940, UK.
Salhuana, W., Valdéz A., Scheuch F., Davelouis J. 2004. Cincuenta años del programa cooperativo deinvestigaciones en Maíz (PCIM). Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Spain.
Sarobol, E. and Anderson, I.C. 1992. Improving yield of corn-soybean rotation: role of allelopathy. Rizvi
S.J.H. and Rizvi, V. Allelopathy basic and applied aspects. Chapman & Hall.
Sevilla, R. 2005. Magnitud e impacto potencial de la liberación de organismos genéticamente modificados ysus productos comerciales. Caso Maíz. Magnitud e impacto potencial de la liberación de organismos
genéticamente modificados y sus productos comerciales. Casos: Algodón, Leguminosas de grano, Maízy Papa. Consejo Nacional del Ambiente (CONAM).
SIRA. 2005. Ficha Técnica: Cultivo Maíz Morado. Sistema de Información Rural Arequipa (SIRA) y
Convenio SADA-GT2-IICA.
Tenorio, J. 2007. Guía Técnica del Maíz Morado. INICTEL-UNI. Peru.
Tozawa, H. 2005. The history of corn, culture, characteristics, cultivation, processing and use. Rural CultureⒸ ISERD

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Association, Japan.
USDA, 2011. World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE). Word Agriculture Outlook
Board 501, 1-38.
Wu H., Pratley J., Lemerle D., Haig T. and An M. 2001. Screening methods for the evaluation of crop
allelopathic potential. Bot. Rev., 67, 403-415.

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Research article
erdIntroduction and Adoption of Rice Intensification System
towards Low-Input Agricultural Production in Vietnam
KAKO INOUE*
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
Email: kako.inoue@gmail.com

EIJI YAMAJI
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract This paper illustrates the viewpoints   of   the   government,   farmers’   organizations,  namely Agricultural Production Cooperatives (APCs), and individual farmers in relation to theintroduction and adoption of a System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Vietnam. It also
identifies factors that can promote or impede the social shift towards fewer agricultural inputs
through the SRI method. The qualitative analysis is based on field studies in three communes
in the Red River Delta as well as interviews with relevant actors in Vietnam in order todescribe   each   actor’s   viewpoints   and   the   realities   of   farmers’   behaviors   towards   agricultural  inputs. We demonstrated that farmers could correct their overuse of pesticides and herbicides
by SRI adoption through training opportunities provided by a Farmer Field School (FFS),
inducing farmers to recognize the positive effects of SRI on pest damage and plant protection.
However, we also found that the attitude and mental barriers of some governmental bodies and
APCs narrowed the opportunities of SRI introduction at a community level. In addition,
farmers often faced initial mental barriers and managerial difficulties in adopting the fullelements of SRI even if they were trained in the SRI method, leading them to adopt a“modified”  SRI  in  order  to  meet  their  personal needs. Nevertheless, the rapid extension of SRIin   Northern   Vietnam   can   be   explained   by:   (i)   the   government’s   acknowledgement   of   SRI,  together with an administrative focus on the integrated pest management with the extension
tool of the FFS, (ii) the role of APCs in coordinating farmers to lower the entry barriers forthem  to  adopt  new  techniques,  and  (iii)  communities’  involvement  in  SRI  adoption  in  order  to  manage agricultural production collectively without pesticides and herbicides as well as
increasing   the   product’s   value,   suggesting   possible   approaches   for   small-scale farmers to
improve their livelihoods while saving agricultural input costs.
Keywords system of rice intensification, Vietnam, low input agriculture, farmer field school,
integrated pest management

INTRODUCTION
The rapid growth of agricultural production in Vietnam has often been accompanied by a heavy useof agricultural inputs, bringing serious problems of food safety and environmental stress (Van Hoi,
2009; Khanh, 2006). For many developing Asian countries, the difficult challenges of adopting
alternative agricultural methods that have less environmental burden in a sustainable mannerremain (Kada, 1998).
Aiming to identify factors behind a social shift towards low input agriculture in Asiandeveloping countries, this paper explores the realities of the uptake and spread of the System of
Rice Intensification (SRI) in Vietnam, as one of the low external-input technologies (LEIT) (Tripp,2006). SRI was first tested in Vietnam in 2002, and it has been drastically popularized in Northern
Vietnam since 2007. Approximately 780,000 farmers practiced SRI within an area of about
286,000 ha in 2010 (Plant Protection Department, 2010). The principles of SRI in Vietnam include:(i) transplanting young seedlings with two or three leaves, (ii) transplanting seedlings individuallyand spacing them widely, giving them maximum access to the sun and room to grow to their fullpotential, (iii) managing water carefully, providing intermittent irrigation to keep fields moist, butⒸ ISERD

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not continuously flooded, (iv) weeding frequently, either by hand or with mechanical weeding
devices, and (v) using organic fertilizers, such as animal and plant waste, to promote thedevelopment of a healthy soil ecosystem (http://vietnamsri.wordpress.com/). SRI enables plants togrow efficiently by means of more fertile soil and to produce healthier plants with greater root
growth.
The objective of this paper is to illustrate and analyze the viewpoints of different actors and todescribe  farmers’  actual  behaviors  on  pesticides and herbicides in relation to SRI introduction andadoption. The experience of SRI extension in Vietnam will be discussed in order to identify factors
to promote or impede the introduction and adoption of SRI as a low-input cultivation method.
METHODOLOGYThis paper is based on field studies conducted in November 2009, August and October 2010, andJanuary-February and June-July 2011. The sample population consists of three communities underthe management of three Agricultural Production Cooperatives (APCs) in the Red River Delta(RRD), namely the APC “A” of  the  Chuong  My  district  and  “B” and “C” of the My Duc district inthe Ha Noi City (former Ha Tay Province). This paper is supplemented by interviews with different
actors and informants and a literature review. The qualitative research method is used for analysis,
which is supported by semi-structured and open interviews and questionnaire surveys to target
actors, namely farmers, managers of APCs, government officials of key agencies, and donors. In
addition, the participant observation method is applied as the researcher enters the lives of farmers.
RESULTS
Introduction of SRI to rural communities by government
SRI was first tested in 2002 and 2003 at a small scale and then at a larger scale in 2005 and 2006
under the scheme of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program implemented by the Plant
Protection Department (PPD), MARD (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development). Resultsfrom 2005 and 2006 tests indicated that a significant reduction in input use was possible withoutyield drops: seed and nitrogen volume was reduced by 70-90% and 20-25%, respectively, while
average yield increased by 9-15% (Plant Protection Department, 2010). The crop also showed good
resistance against pests. Such results were reported to the Council for Science and Technology of
MARD for evaluation, sharing with other state management agencies that manage crop production,
extension, science and technology and water resource management.
Several agencies, however, interpreted that some principles of SRI contradicted their policies.
For instance, the extension policy was focused more on disseminating the direct seedling method
nationally with continued herbicide use for rice cultivation to decrease labor intensity. These
agencies  considered  that  SRI  was  applicable  to  the  “transplanting”  technique only, requiring morelabor, meaning that it was not suitable to extend SRI to southern areas where direct seedling weregenerally applied and promoted. Political contradictions perceived by several agencies of MARD
implicitly influenced the actual dissemination of SRI to limited areas (mainly Northern Vietnam),even though MARD officially admitted the technical advantages of SRI, issuing a decision in 2007.
In spite of the negative attitudes of some governmental agencies, PPD, the only state management
agency that actively disseminates SRI, considered the SRI method to be compatible and effectivewith the IPM approach, and therefore determined to extend it through its own extension tool, theFarmer Field School (FFS), which was often used to promote IPM in Vietnam. Moreover, many
IPM officers were stationed across the nation in order to teach farmers about SRI methods throughthe FFS.
It should also   be   noted   that   MARD’s   decision   to   acknowledge   SRI   provided   new  opportunities through additional support with more fund availability. In addition, someinternational NGOs included SRI extension activities in their own projects in Vietnam, as theyobserved that SRI could be an effective tool to build farmers capacity because testing SRI at theⒸ ISERD

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FFS  requires  farmers’  openness  and  confidence  towards  the  new  method  in  addition  to  a  risk-taking
attitude.
APCs’  agricultural management and organization of the FFS for SRI introduction
Characteristics of agriculture and the role of APCs: Through the policy reform in 1988 and therevised land law in 1993, the land use right of farmland was distributed equally to farmers in
Vietnam. For instance, 3-6 pieces of scattered land with a total size of 0.3-0.4 ha were allocated toeach household in the RRD. Several farmers use parts of the same paddy plots and operate andmanage farming jointly through an agreement on water management and other cultivation activities.
APCs typically operate and manage the irrigation system and provide agricultural services in the
RRD. They were originally set up as the center of collective agricultural production regime at theend of the 1950s, but transformed to become service providers for farmers along with the
Cooperative Law in 1996.
Because of the characteristics of agriculture in the RRD, especially the presence of manysmall-scale farmers, APCs can be the first contact point to coordinate farmers to introduce the new
method. In the case of introducing SRI at community level, the Provincial PPD first asked APC
managers if they wanted to introduce SRI to their communities. APC managers were given
opportunities to visit the SRI test sites in order to make decisions. Table 1 shows the different
characteristics (management style, attitudes towards new techniques and social relations with
farmers in the communities) of each APC. Only APCs A and B, but not APC C, were willing to
introduce SRI to farmers.
Table 1 Characteristics of APCs and SRI introduction to farmers
No. ofhouseholds
Paddy field area
SRI introduction
APC’s  objectives
APC’s  attitude  towards SRI
Social relation
with farmers

APC A

APC B

APC C

1,400

750

1,860

240 ha2007
Economic development
through agricultural activities
Interested in testing SRI after
being convinced by the effectduring site visit
Small local productiongroups are invited to take partin APC management

180 ha2006
Economic development
through agricultural activities
Interested in testing any newtechniques (including SRI) ona small plot

436 haNot yetAccomplishment of
assigned task
Understood  SRI’s  effect but technicallydifficult to adopt
Lack of trust between
APC and farmers
observed

APC directly coordinates andnegotiates with farmers

Attitudes: (i) APC A introduced SRI to its community after the APC confirmed its performance byvisiting  other  SRI  sites.  The  government’s  approval  of  the  SRI  method  also  provided a mental easeto the APC A in disseminating the new method to communities with governmental authorization.
(ii) APC B was the pioneer of SRI introduction at a community level. The APC wished toexperiment any new technique even if it was not well recognized. The early experiment wasperceived to be possible in the APC B, as the experiment was always started with a small area toevaluate the results first, lowering potential loss. (iii) APC C also had opportunities to visit SRI
sites, and observed that the SRI method would give better results than the conventional method did.
However, it decided not to introduce SRI because of perceived technical difficulties.
Relations with farmers: (i) APC A had seven Production Groups, which have been the social andeconomic core of local communities with historically developed territorial bonds. The APC
coordinated well with leaders of each Production Group and arranged core farmers of the
Production Groups to participate in SRI experiments at the FFS site that the APC rented fromfarmers. The APC influenced Production Groups to self-manage the production process whilesuggesting strategies to produce high-value products, providing fertilizers and high-quality rice
varieties. (ii) In APC B, not all farmers necessarily supported the introduction of SRI at the
beginning because it was an unconventional agricultural method and the APC had to negotiate welland to guarantee the productivity of SRI for farmers in advance. In addition, APC B risked itsⒸ ISERD

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reputation if the new method was to fail. However, it gained its confidence on the SRI method as
the rice grew, and eventually gained further trust from farmers after achieving higher yields with
reduced inputs. (iii) APC C felt difficulties attracting farmers to challenge SRI or any kind of newtechniques under the guidance of the APC. It provided services to the administrative area, which
had been established by merging three villages, and as a result local farmers had little attachment tothe  new  “commune”  and  the  agricultural  activities  of  the  three  villages  were  not  managed  easily  in  a unified manner. Severe criticism about the performance of the APC and farmers was typicallyheard from both sides, reflecting a lack of trust between them.
Adoption of SRI and use of external inputs by farmers
Adoption of SRI: Core farmers from APC A participated in the FFS without hesitation as it was apure learning opportunity and did not sacrifice their own fields. Those farmers were given
opportunities to evaluate rice growth through the SRI method by themselves and found that the SRI
method brought about higher benefits despite reducing labor and input costs. The difficulties that
farmers generally felt came mainly from the technical side, such as handling small seedlings at
transplanting, careful land preparation, and controlling water. Even with such difficulties, farmers
who participated in the FFS were satisfied with SRI because of its cost advantages. Core farmers
who were impressed by the advantages of SRI then became farmer-trainers in order to transfer SRI
techniques to those who did not participate in the FFS. As core farmers had been selected fromleaders of small-scale communities in which neighboring farmers have close relationships, theytended to believe and follow what the leaders learnt at the FFS. Furthermore, farmers who lived
near the FFS site had easy access to observe the progress of the SRI experiment despite not being
officially  involved  in  the  FFS’s  training  activities.  Farmers  who  lived  near  the  FFS  site  started  to  adopt SRI right after its introduction in 2007, followed by neighboring farmers.
Farmers in APC B recalled their feelings of the difficulties in accepting SRI at the beginning,as they could not believe its effects (especially not believing in using small seedlings, transplanting
with space and not keeping flooded water), and even remembered disputes among neighbors that
disagreed with SRI adoption. With compensation deals offered via the APC for any possible losses
associated with testing SRI, farmers finally accepted testing SRI through the FFS using some
portions of their own land but not taking any financial risks. The SRI experiment was started from4 ha in 2006, then expanded to 15 ha in the spring of 2007, 50 ha in the autumn of 2007, and all
fields, 180 ha, in the spring of 2008. Farmers were confident about adopting SRI in their own land
without having any compensation deal in 2009, while making flexible and innovative adjustments
to overcome their technical and mental difficulties of SRI adoption. Modifications to the SRI
method in 2010 and 2011 were: 15-18 cm space between ridges (narrower than the   FFS’s   best  results but wider than the conventional method) and the transplantation of seedlings few days older
than originally recommended. Narrower transplanting was preferred by farmers with larger
farmlands because they preferred to lessen the weeding cost, reducing weed growth with lesssunshine.
In the commune C, farmers were unfamiliar with SRI and typically conducted their own
cultivation activities, believing in the conventional method.
Use of agricultural inputs: The reduced use of seedlings and water resources is a widely
recognized characteristic of SRI because of its SRI principles. In order to understand actual
farmers’  behaviors  in  terms  of  pesticide  and  herbicide  use,  Table  2  summarizes  the  interviews  and  observation results. Farmers in A and B reduced or stopped using pesticides as they learnt throughthe experience of the FFS and SRI adoption that healthier roots with wider spaces between plants
brought about fewer occurrences of pests and diseases. By contrast, farmers in C who had notreceived any opportunities to adopt SRI believed that the more pesticides they sprayed, the morethey could protect their rice from pest attacks. These farmers tended to use pesticides in every crop
season regardless of the degree of pest damage.

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Table 2 Pesticide and herbicide use by farmers
Pesticides

Village X(*)
APC A
No useHerbicides

No useVillages Y1 and Y2
APC B Spring rice: No use Summer-autumn rice: no use or sprayonce if heavy damage is expected
Use sometimes to cover labor shortage

Villages Z1 and Z2
APC C
Spray more than twice forany crop season
Always use (at least once) tocover labor shortage

Note: Based on (i) repeated interviews with six farmers in the Village X, three farmers in the Village Y1 and Y2, andthree farmers in the Villages Z1 and Z2, (ii) interviews with APCs to confirm general behaviors and perceptions offarmers, and (iii) participatory observation results in villages.
(*) FFS site for SRI experiment was located in the Village X of the commune A.

Farmers’  use  of  herbicides were more complex because of the trade-offs with labor costs. As
seen in APC B, farmers kept using herbicides even though they realized that earlier weedingpractice made the work easier and also acknowledged the negative influence on their own health. If
farmers decided to weed completely by hands instead of using herbicides, farmers with larger land
needed to employ additional labor for weeding. Increasing labor cost in Vietnam was a serious
burden for farmers, and therefore farmers in APC B still preferred to use herbicides to save laborcosts. On the other hand, farmers in the Village X of the commune A had already become
accustomed to using no herbicides, establishing an easier way of weeding by strictly following SRI
guidance while they were advised not to use pesticides and herbicides to obtain a certificate so that
the Production Group as a whole could sell the rice at a higher price. In addition, farmers in thesame Production Group in the village had close family-like relationships, and such united  farmers’  Production   Groups   worked   together   to   maximize   their   community’s   profit   by   producing   highquality rice without using pesticides and herbicides, planting the same varieties in order not to mix
with other varieties in the area. Farmers were able to achieve higher profits this way with less useof pesticides and herbicides and caring  for  community  members’  health  at the same time.
DISCUSSION
From the experience in Vietnam regarding the introduction and adoption of SRI, multi-layered
barriers - government,   farmers’   organizations   (i.e.,   APCs), and farmers - were found. First, thegovernment’s   belief   in   SRI’s   limitation   (i.e.,   labor-intensiveness or incompatibility with direct
seedling) led to narrowing areas of SRI introduction to Northern Vietnam. Second, the introductionof SRI into local communities was influenced by management capacity and attitudes of APCs who
could act as coordinating agencies to promote the uptake of SRI in their communities. Finally,
farmers’  attitudes  and  their  managerial  difficulties (e.g., preference to use herbicides over weedingby hands to save labor costs for large fields) could cause farmers not to adopt some elements of
SRI. By contrast, the rapid extension of SRI in Vietnam since 2007 can also be explained by efforts
made   by   the   government,   farmers’   organizations   (APCs), and farmers. The approval of SRI in
Vietnam added confidence to the PPD to disseminate it widely in Vietnam, lowering the politicalrisk for local adopters to implement techniques backed by the government.  APCs’  strategic  support  to farmers to test SRI lowered risks while the extension tool of the FFS together with IPM
experience gave opportunities for farmers to examine the effect of SRI by themselves, which
helped them make rational decisions about whether to adopt SRI, overcoming their initial prejudiceagainst it. Moreover, the introduction of SRI to the community did not only test the APC’s  managerial capacity but also provided further managerial opportunities. As seen in APC A, ricethat was grown without the use of pesticides and herbicides was differentiated by high price, which
was realized by a small-scale  community’s  bond  and  thus  secured  social  and  economic  profit  for  the overall community. Such a system to reward the effort of both individuals and the community,
together with strong community relations, worked as positive factors to reduce the use ofherbicides.

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Government-Government’s  approval  of SRI-Plant protection efforts

Discouraging

Encouraging-Government agencies’ attitudes

Farmers’ community / organization-Assistance to lower risks

Encouraging

Discouraging

Farmers-FFS to prompt farmers’ findings
Encouraging
Discouraging-Reward system-Community’s efforts for producing
Farmers with low input
value-added and safe crops-Community / organizations’  attitudes-Farmers’ attitudes-Individual managerial efforts tosave labor costs

agriculture through SRI

Fig. 1 Multi-layered actors and factors influencing SRI introduction and adoption
CONCLUSION
This research found that two communities (namely areas under APC A and B) that introduced andadopted SRI experienced community-based shifts toward lower agricultural inputs. The case of
APC A especially indicated that it was possible for a community as a whole to manage theproduction of value-added rice without using pesticides and herbicides. Factors that promoted theintroduction  of  SRI  included  the  government’s  initiative,  especially  through  the  IPM  program  with  the  FFS  and  the  management  efforts  of  farmers’  organizations  to  lower  farmers’  entry  barriers  to  adopt SRI, even though the political attitudes of some government bodies as well as the limited
capacity and attitude of agricultural organizations could also become barriers to SRI introduction.
This research also demonstrated that the social solidarity of rural communities in the RRD could bea source of competitive advantage because it could allow the Production Group to supply highquality crops without the use of pesticides and herbicides.
Although small-scale farmers in the RRD have limited capacity in the face of the marketoriented economy in Vietnam, this research suggests possible approaches to raise theircompetitiveness with community-level efforts towards safe crop production while tackling issues
related to the overuse of agricultural inputs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to Prof. Dr. Pham Thi My Dung of the Hanoi University of Agriculture
and her staff for issuing research permits and assisting with fieldwork in the villages.
REFERENCES
Kada, R. 1998. Sekai Kakkoku no Kankyohozengata Nogyo: Senshinkoku kara Tojokoku made(Environmentally-friendly Agriculture in the world: developed countries and developing countries).
Tokyo: Nosangyoson Bunka Kyokai. Japan.
Khanh, T.D. 2006. Current status of biological control of paddy weeds in Vietnam. Weed Biology andManagement, 6(1), 1-9.
Plant Protection Department 2010. SRI application in rice production in the North of Vietnam. Plant
Protection Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Vietnam.
Tripp, R. 2006. Self-sufficient agriculture labor and knowledge in small-scale farming. London: Earthscan.
Van Hoi, P. 2009. Pesticide distribution and use in vegetable production in the red river delta of Vietnam.
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 24(03), 174-185.

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Research article
erd

Effects of Eri-Culture on Promoting Environmental
Awareness in Greater Phnom Penh of Cambodia
KUMIKO KAWABE*
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: sunshinekumiko@gmail.com

MAKARA TAL
Cambodia Branch, Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation,
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

MACHITO MIHARA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Received 11 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Currently in Greater Phnom Penh of Cambodia, the majority of famers apply
agricultural chemicals such as chemical fertilizers or pesticide to maintain high levels ofcrop yield. However, agricultural chemicals released from farmlands are causing severe
problems, such as the health damage of famers or the degradation of soil and water
environment. So, an attention has been paid to approach sustainable rural development asregional challenges in the Education for Sustainable Development, ESD. This research
dealt with the evaluation of the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental
awareness of local farmers, especially regarding the reduction of chemical pesticide
applied. As eri silkworm is sensitive to agricultural chemicals, research interests have been
focused on how eri-culture affects the environmental awareness of local farmers who reareri silkworm. Eri silkworm, a kind of wild silkworms that inhabit south Asia, has been
introduced to local villages in Kampong Cham province since October 2010 for a part of
the activities of Regional Centre of Expertise in Greater Phnom Penh. The workshops havebeen organized 2 times for local farmers including the demonstration of eri-culture in
November and December 2010. Also, the training on eri-culture was conducted to each
local farmer who has started rearing eri silkworms. After 6 months from introducing ericulture in Kampong Cham province, the questionnaire survey was conducted in March2011 to evaluate the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental awareness of local
farmers. The results showed that rearing farmers wanted to reduce 92.5% of chemical
pesticide compared to the conventional way. While local farmers who just participated or
who have never participated in the workshops showed only 72.3% or 66.9% of chemical
pesticide to be reduced. So, there was a tendency the expected percentage of chemical
pesticide to be reduced for rearing farmers was remarkably higher than that for local
farmers who just participated in the workshop or who have never participated in theworkshops. Accordingly, it was considered that eri-culture has educational function for
local farmers regarding the reduction of chemical pesticide application. However, othertrainings such as sustainable farming practices may be indispensable to reduce theamounts of chemical pesticide applied with minimizing the insect damage to agricultural
products.
Keywords: eri-culture, sustainable rural development, ESD, environmental awareness

INTRODUCTION
Greater Phnom Penh is composed of Phnom Penh city and six surrounding provinces of Kampong
Cham, Kandal, Prey Veng, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhang and Takeo provinces. The total
population of those areas is 7,250,881 and the area of Greater Phnom Penh is 34,641 km2 (Source:Ⓒ ISERD

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General Population Census of Cambodia 2008). More than 70 % of population is engaged inagriculture and related sectors.
Population increases rapidly in Cambodia, which causes many problems in environment,
quality of life, education and human health. Education is always the key to develop humanresources that is necessary for the country’s development. However, there are many obstacles thatmake things difficult in Cambodia, for examples, lacking teachers, lacking school facilities, low
income of the people and lacking of educational awareness. According to the statistics 2010/2011of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Cambodia (MoEYS), while the net enrollment ratio forprimary school in Kampong Cham province is 96.8 %, the ratio for lower secondary school is
28.3% and for higher secondary school only 14.4%. As a whole, the situation in rural area is muchworse than that in urban area. After the enrollment to school, the statistic shows that the severe
situation for children to continue their study. The percentage of dropout in primary school (grade16) is 10.1%, in lower secondary level (grade7-9) is 22.4% and in upper secondary level (grade1012) is 13% (Education Indicators, 2010/2011) in Kampong Cham province, and the situation isquite same in other areas of Cambodia.
Also the majority of farmers apply agricultural chemicals, such as chemical fertilizers or
pesticides to achieve and maintain high levels of yield. However, the overuse of agriculturalchemicals caused the degradation of water regime that is released from farmlands to downstream.
Therefore, the education for sustainable development (ESD) is necessary to approach sustainable
rural development.
Regional Centres of Expertise (RCE) is a network for existing formal and non-formalorganizations to deliver ESD to local communities in respective countries. RCE Greater Phnom
Penh (RCE-GPP) has been established to promote ESD through the food, agriculture andenvironment education for sustainable development in the area of Greater Phnom Penh and wasofficially acknowledged by the Global RCE Centre of the United Nations University, Institute ofAdvanced Studies (UNU-IAS) on December 26, 2009. RCE-GPP aims to enhance the food,agriculture and environment education not only for primary schools but also for local communities
through organic farming activities under the cooperation of government, universities, local NGOs
and local communities in Greater Phnom Penh.
So, in above activities, cultivating eri silkworms called “eri-culture” has been introduced to
local villages in Kampong Cham province since October 2010 for a part of the activities of RCEGPP, which is aiming to promote the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental
awareness, especially the environmental awareness in terms of the reduction of chemical pesticide
application in local villages in Kampong Cham province, which is located in Greater Phnom Penh,
Cambodia. Due to the characteristic of eri silkworm, the usage of chemical pesticide should beconcerned. Through the introduction and implementation of eri-culture in local villages, it was
discussed how eri-culture affect to the local people for changing and improving their environmental
awareness.
METHODOLOGY
Eri-culture
Eri silkworm, Samia Cynthia ricini, is one kind of wild silkworms that inhabit south Asia (Photos.
1-3), and it is said that its origin is Assam province, India. Now not only in India, eri-culture has
been conducted in various countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam, China, Philippines, Ethiopia andCambodia. Wild silkworms inhabit all over the world with more than 500 varieties, and each hasvery different unique characters.
Not only eri silkworm but also other kinds of wild silkworms have a very unique characteristicⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

with cocoon, so called ‘nano-tube structure’ (Akai and Nagashima, 2001, 2002). This nano-tube
structure makes eri silkworm very unique with high functionalities as material, such as highultraviolet protection and high moisture absorbency.
Specializing about eri silkworm, it has very high potential to be used as hybrid yarn with othermaterials, such as silk, cotton and others. As the fiber of eri silkworm is very soft like wool orcashmere, an attention has been paid on cocoon of eri silkworm by private sectors around the world.

Photo. 1 Eri silkworm

Photo. 2 Castor leaves as host plant

Photo. 3 Eri cocoon

Eri silkworm is multivoltine and it hatches around 6 times per year (Kawabe, 2010). One
lifecycle is about 45 to 50 days. One female moth produces more than 200 eggs per time. Host
plants of eri silkworm are leaves of castor (Ricinus communis), cassava (Manihot esculenta),
papaya and a few kinds of leaves which can be found in rural areas of south Asia, and actuallyconsidered as “just leaves” with no utilization. Without any input or special care, those leaves aregrown naturally, especially near rivers or damping sites. So, farmers can easily start eri-culture
without any change of their land use. While using the natural resources in villages, farmers findthemselves to acknowledge their farming practice gradually change to sustainable agricultural way.
Eri-culture is one of the possibilities to promote sustainable agriculture, due to the sensitivity of erisilkworm to any kind of chemical substances so that farmers started to realize the harm of chemical
pesticides, smoke of cigarette, smoke of burning plastics and so on. To conduct eri-culture, farmers
need to quit using chemical substances or at least reducing the amount of usage. That is a reason
why eri-culture could be one of educational materials for sustainable rural development and also asolution to reduce chemical pesticide, which has been causing severe illness to farmers and strain
their living.
However, to promote sustainable agriculture on ESD, it is necessary to provide something as
incentive for local farmers, as their poverty level is quite high and they are eager to do anotherwork for income generation except farming, especially during the dry season, farmers go to urban
areas to look for a job for living. So, not only providing workshops or seminars regarding
sustainable rural development but also providing opportunity for income generation is the essential
factor to motivate farmers and it leads to promoting sustainable rural development in their daily life
and initiative could be taken by local farmers.
Research sites
The research sites to conduct eri-culture are located at Wat Chas village and Roung Kor village in
Baray commune, Prey Chhor district in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia (Fig. 1). Since
October 2010, eri-culture has been introduced and promoted in Wat Chas village and a little after inRoung Kor village.
In Wat Chas and Roung Kor villages, main economic activity of farmers is rice cultivation,and some amounts of vegetables in upland fields are also cultivated. There are some serious
problems related to the agricultural situation. Average area of farmland is around 0.45 ha in Wat
Chas village and Roung Kor village, which is below the average of other areas of Kampong Champrovince, thus the amount of agro-production is very limited in the small land and poverty level ishigher than other province of Cambodia (Table 1). To yield the large amount of crops, it is common
to apply chemical fertilizer and chemical pesticides into farmlands, although it causes severeⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

degradation of soil and water environment in farmlands and serious health problems for farmers(Mihara and Fujimoto, 2007).
Kingdom of Cambodia

Roung Kor village Wat Chas village
Fig. 1 Location of Wat Chas and Roung Kor villages in Baray commune,
Prey Chhor district in Kampong Cham province
Table 1 Agricultural land per rural household in Kampong Cham
Agricultural land per rural household (a)No agricultural land (landless)0.01 ha ≦a <1.0 ha
1.0 ha ≦ a < 3.0 ha
a ≧ 3.0 ha

Cambodia
15%
49%
30%
6%

Kampong
Cham
17%
55%
23%
5%

Wat Chas

Roung Kor

7%
80%
13%
0%

3%
82%
15%
0%

Source: MAFF 2004

For the first trial, two farmers haveselected and started conducting eri-culture in
October 2010, and then four more farmers in
Wat Chas village and two farmers in Roung
Kor have started to conduct eri-culture since
January 2011. Its activity has been expandedin those villages, and the number of farmers
who have already started conducting ericulture is increasing in each village (Photo. 4).
Workshops and questionnaire survey

Photo. 4 Rearers in Wat Chas village

Eri silkworm, a kind of wild silkworms that inhabit in south Asia, has been introduced to local
villages in Kampong Cham province since October 2010 for a part of the activities of Regional
Centre of Expertise in Greater Phnom Penh. As shown in Photo. 5, the workshops have beenorganized 3 times for local farmers including the demonstration of eri-culture in October,
November and December 2010. Also, the training on eri-culture was conducted to each local
farmer who has started rearing eri silkworms. After 6 months passed from introducing eri-culture in
Kampong Cham province of Cambodia, the questionnaire survey was conducted in March 2011 toevaluate the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental awareness of local farmers. The
questionnaire includes the following questions:Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1-

Whether you have already initiated eri-culture.
Whether you have ever participated in the workshop on eri-culture.
How much you want to reduce chemical pesticide compared to conventional way.
How much you enhanced communication compared to before starting eri-culture.
How much you expect that eri-culture contributes to income generation per year.

Photo. 5 Eri-culture demonstrations in workshop held at
Wat Chas in November, 2010
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Local acceptability of eri-culture
The first workshop conducted in October 2010 was a very small one where only two farmers haveparticipated in. By showing and touching eri-silkworms in effect, farmers understood the process ofrearing and active discussion was made naturally.
The second workshop conducted in November 2010 was much bigger than the first one,because more farmers were motivated by the first trial farmers and many came to see their rearing
way. Since one farmer for the first trail succeeded, she was acknowledged as “Good Practice” inthe village. Although another farmer failed to rear, due to smoke of cigarette and feeding wrong
plant such as Jatropha, the farmer took this as an opportunity to understand how chemical
substances affected eri silkworm that led to fatal event.
Totally, 45 farmers participated in the second workshop and among the participants, other four
farmers started eri-culture. Most of them failed to rear for their first time and many worms havedied because of the chemical pesticide that was contaminated in the rearing net. New rearers tried
to figure out the reason of their sudden death. Naturally, communication among farmers became
more active than before to exchange and share knowledge and experiences on eri-culture, and it
seemed their awareness to chemical substances has improved. They asked whether perfume isacceptable to worms or not, because young women wear perfume a lot in daily life in Cambodia.
Farmers implement ESD (education for sustainable development) by themselves without
being ordered to do so. Moreover, many other farmers from other villages in Kampong Champrovince showed their strong interest to start eri-culture since they consider it as a high potential
work which can be conducted easily in their villages. After second and third workshops,
communication level became high in the network formed naturally and the information andknowledge were spread. Even no support by providing necessary materials, there were many
farmers who wanted to start eri-culture.
Table 2 shows the typology of participation. According to attitude of local participants or way
to be related or involved in the project, the degree of participation can be evaluated. Based on Table
2, the change in participation level from October 2010 to March 2011 for 6 months was discussed.
Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

When the first workshop was conducted in October 2010, only two farmers participated in it. It wasa unilateral announcement without any listening to local responses. So, it could be evaluated as
Level 1, passive participation, at the initial stage in October 2010. However, through the second
and third workshops including demonstration on eri-culture, many farmers were motivated. Also,
they showed their strong and positive passion to start eri-culture. Based on attitude of local
participants and way to be related to eri-culture, it could be evaluated as Level 6, interactive
participation, as local people participated in eri-culture with forming local network to enhance ericulture with systemic learning processes based on the local communication.
Table 2 A typology of participation
Typology

Characteristics of Each Type
People participate by being told what is going to happen or has already happened. It is a
1. Passive
unilateral announcement by an administration or project management without any
participation listening to people's responses. The information being shared belongs only to external
professionals.
People participate by answering questions posed by extractive researches using
2. Participation
in information questionnaire surveys or similar approaches. People do not have the opportunity to
influence proceedings, as the findings of the research are neither shared nor checked forgivingaccuracy.
People participate by being consulted, and external agents listen to views. These external
3. Participation agents define both problems and solutions and may modify these in the light of people's
by consultation responses. Such a consultative process does not concede any share in decision making,and professionals are under no obligation to take on board people's views.
People participate by providing resources, for example labor, in return for food, cash, or
4. Participation other material incentives. Much on-farm research falls in this category, as farmers provide
for material
the fields but are not involved in the experimentation or the process of learning. It is very
incentive
common to see this called participation, yet people have no stake in prolonging activities
when the incentives end.
People participate by forming groups to meet predetermined objectives related to theproject, which can involve the development or promotion of externally initiated social
5. Functionalorganization. Such involvement does not tend to be at early stages of project cycles orparticipation
planning, but rather after major decisions have been made. These instructions tend to be
dependent on external initiators and facilitators, but may become self-dependent.
People participate in joint analysis, which leads to action plans and the formation of new
local institutions or the strengthening of existing ones. It tends to involve interdisciplinary
6. Interactive
methodologies that seek multiple perspectives and make use of systemic and structured
participation
learning processes. These groups take control over local decisions, and so people have a
stake in maintaining structures or practices.
People participate by taking initiative independent of external institution to changesystems. They develop contacts with external institutions for resources and technical
7. Selfadvice they need, but retain control over how resources are used. Such self-initiatedmobilization
mobilization and collective action may or may not challenge existing inequitable
distribution of wealth and power.
Source: Pretty (1994), adapted from Adnan et al. (1992)

Evaluation on the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental awareness
The workshops have been organized 3 times for local farmers including the demonstration of ericulture in October, November and December 2010. Also, the training on eri-culture was conductedto each local farmer who has started rearing eri silkworms. After 6 months passed from introducing
eri-culture in Kampong Cham province of Cambodia, the questionnaire survey was conducted in
March 2011 to evaluate the effects of eri-culture on promoting environmental awareness of local
farmers.
The results of the questionnaire survey showed that local farmers who rear eri silkworms
wanted to reduce 92.5% of chemical pesticide compared to the conventional way (Fig. 2). While
local farmers who just participated in the workshop or who have never participated in theworkshops showed only 72.3% or 66.9% of chemical pesticide to be reduced. So, the expected
percentage of chemical pesticide to be reduced for local farmers who rear eri silkworms wasⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

significantly higher than that for local farmers who just participated in the workshop or who havenever participated in the workshops.
Accordingly, it was considered that eri-culture has educational function for local farmers
regarding the reduction of chemical pesticide application. However, other trainings such assustainable farming practices may be indispensable to reduce the amounts of chemical pesticide
applied with minimizing the insect damage to agricultural products.
100

A*,**

Amount of chemical pesticide
to be reduced (%)

80

B*
B**

60

40

20

0
Conducting eri-culture

Only attending workshops

No idea about eri-culture

n=8, farmers who
conduct eri-culture

n=14, farmers who
n=23, farmers who
participated in thehave never participatedlast workshops
in the workshop
Different letter indicates the significant difference at 99%(**) or 95%(*).

Fig. 2 Difference in expected percentage of chemical pesticide to be reduced
between rearers and others
Evaluation on the effects of eri-culture on rural development
Through the second and the third workshops in November and December 2010, including
demonstration on eri-culture, many farmers were motivated. Also, they showed their strong andpositive passion to start eri-culture and participated in eri-culture with forming local network toenhance eri-culture with systemic learning processes based on local communication.
Corresponding to forming local network to enhance eri-culture, they deepened communicationcompared to before starting eri-culture.
0%
12.5%

7%
12.5%

13%
1. 0 - 20%

1. 0 – 20 US$

2. 20 - 40%

2. 20 – 40 US$

3. 40 - 60%

11%

4. 60 - 80%
37.5%

37.5%

4. 60 – 80 US$

62%

5. 80 - 100%7%n=8, only farmers who conduct eri-culture

3. 40 – 60 US$
5. Above 80 US$

n=45, all responded farmers

Fig. 4 Expected income generation througheri-culture per year

Fig. 3 Increase of communication comparing
to before starting eri-culture

As shown in Fg. 3, 38% of rearers acknowledged that the communication increased 40 to 60%
compared to that before starting eri-culture, and other 38% of rearers responded increasing up to 60
to 80%, while only 13% acknowledged 20-40%. Accordingly, it was evaluated that thecommunication in the network has been increased through eri-culture. In addition, Fig. 4 shows theⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

expectation of income generation through eri-culture. Over 62% of rearers expect more than 80
US$ of income increase per year. It means local famers expected that their income would increase
through eri-culture in the village.
CONCLUSION
Eri silkworm, a kind of wild silkworms that inhabit in south Asia, has been introduced to local
villages in Kampong Cham province since October 2010 for a part of the activities of Regional
Centre of Expertise in Greater Phnom Penh. Because of the characteristics of eri silkworm, ericulture was considered that it has an educational function for local farmers regarding the reductionof chemical pesticide application. This paper dealt with the effects of eri-culture on promoting
environmental awareness of local farmers, in terms of the reduction of chemical pesticide
application. After 6 months passed from the introduction of eri-culture, the questionnaire survey
was conducted for evaluating local awareness on the reduction of chemical pesticide application. In
the results, the farmers who rear eri silkworms waned to reduce 92.5% of chemical pesticidecompared to the conventional way. On the other hand, farmers who only participated in theworkshops or who never participated in the workshops wanted to reduce only 72.3% or 66.9%. The
results of the survey clearly showed that the environmental awareness of the local farmers whoreared eri silkworm was significantly higher than that of rest farmers. Accordingly, it wasconsidered that eri-culture could be one of solutions for reduction of chemical input in agriculturalland that leads to conservation of natural resources and farmlands, but also poverty reduction tocreate job opportunity in the village. However, other trainings such as sustainable farming practices
may be indispensable to reduce the amounts of chemical pesticide applied with minimizing theinsect damage to agricultural products.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation, ERECON, has been supported thepromotion of eri-culture in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia. Also, Prof. Dr. Takayuki
Nagashima, Mr. Osamu Shimizu, and Prof. Dr. Keishiro Itagaki have been advising technical andsocial aspects on eri-culture. Authors would like to express special thanks to them.
REFERENCES
Akai, H. and Nagashima, T. 2001. Structural characteristics of cocoon filament from Rothschildia silkmoth,International Journal Wild Silkmoth & Silk, 6, 25-32.
Akai, H. and Nagashima, T. 2002. Structural characteristics of cocoon filament of the African silkmoth,
Argema mimosae. International Journal Wild Silkmoth & Silk, 7, 47-52.
Kawabe, K. 2010. Eri-culture for sustainable rural development. ERECON Annual Report, Institute ofEnvironment Rehabilitation and Conservation, 2009-2010, 4. Japan.
Mihara, M. and Fujimoto, A. 2009. Sustainable farming practices for environmental conservation. Institute ofEnvironment Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan.
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Cambodia (MoEYS), http://www.moeys.gov.kh.
UNU-IAS SATOYAMA Initiative, http://satoyama-initiative.org/jp/case-studies/asia/agriculture/kampongcham-cambodia.
World Food Programme, http://foodsecurityatlas.org/khm/country/provincial-Profile/Kampong-Cham.

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Research article
erd

Effects of Burning Crop Residues on Soil Quality in
Wenshui, Shanxi of China
LIEXIANG LI
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: liexiang_1@163.com

YUTA ISHIKAWA
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

MACHITO MIHARA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: m-mihara@nodai.ac.jp
Received 16 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Large amount of crop residues are produced every year in China. Although crop
residues are rich in organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium andmagnesium, local farmers tend to burn residues in the fields in order to simplify
preparation for following cultivations and to enhance the development of economic
conditions. Thus, attention has been paid to the effects of crop residues burning on soil
environment. The objectives of this study are to observe changes in burning density and toevaluate changes in soil quality caused by burning practices in Wenshui, Shanxi of China.
Burning density was analyzed based on the Fire Information for Resource Management
System (FIRMS). In addition, onsite experiment on residue burning was conducted in
Wenshui and soil samples were collected for evaluating the change of soil quality and soil
fauna. It was observed that the burning density in Wenshui of Shanxi in 2009 was muchlarger at 0.0467 events/km2/year than that in 2001 at 0.00141 events/km2/year. Also, theresults of onsite experiment on residue burning conducted in Wenshui indicated that soil
surface temperature rose to 415 degrees Celsius resulting in the sudden decrease of
microorganism population. In addition, values of electrical conductivity (EC) and pH
increased to 219 mS/m and 9.04, respectively. However, there was a slight decrease in soil
permeability. Burning crop residues on farmland may accelerate nitrogen loss. Besides,
concentration of phosphorous in soil tended to increase with the burning process.
Therefore, it was concluded that the burning of residues significantly affects soil
ecosystem and its quality.
Keywords burning crop residues, soil quality, microorganism

INTRODUCTION

In China, the yield of crop residues is 79,454.4×104 tons per year and increases steadily at a rate of
1,251.2×104 tons every year (Zhong et al., 2003). Crop residues were important sources of energy
in many parts of China, where crop residues were mainly utilized as domestic fuel. However, crop
residues utilized as domestic fuel has been disregarded due to the adaptation of other fuel sources(Yan et al., 2005). This situation causes a significant increase of crop residues in fields as Song etal. (1995) breported that crop residues used as domestic fuel decreased about 50%. Therefore, local
farmers tended to burn residues in the field in order to simplify the preparation for the following
cultivation. Although there were many reports on the effects of crop residue burning on soil quality,
few studies have been conducted in China, especially in Shanxi. Therefore, this study has been
proposed. The objectives of this study are to observe changes in burning density and to evaluatechanges in soil quality caused by burning practices in Wenshui, Shanxi of China. On the other hand,
Srimuang et al. (2004) reported that the burning process affects soil physical and chemicalⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

properties up to 15 cm deep from soil surface. In addition, high soil temperatures may kill soil
microbes and plant roots, destroy soil organic matter, and degrade soil nutrients as well as water
holding capacity (Srimuang, 2006).
METHODOLOGY
The research site is located in Xiaqu Village, Wenshui of Shanxi Province, in the central part ofChina (37˚26’N, 112˚01’E, 767 m above sea level). The region has a continental monsoon climate
and is rather arid having an average annual precipitation around 350-700 mm. Upland field farmingis the main agricultural activity in Shanxi Province. The total area in Wenshui is 1,064 km2 inwhich upland field occupies about 400 km2 or about 40% of the total area. The dominant soil typein the study is SL as shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Soil texture of Wenshui, Shanxi, China

Depth (cm)0-20Specific
gravity
2.77

Particle size distribution (%)
Gravel Coarse sand Fine sand
0
0.38
66.54

Silt
23.80

Soil texture
Clay
9.28

SL

The burning density was analyzed based on the Fire Information for Resource Management
System (FIRMS). FIRMS integrates remote sensing and GIS technologies to deliver global MODIS
hotspot/fire locations and burned area information to natural resource managers and otherstakeholders around the world (Web Fire Mapper, 2010). The area monitored was comprised in a
30 km radius from the center of Wenshui, Shanxi of China. Data were gathered in a yearly basis
from 2001 to 2009.

2001

2009

Fig. 1 Changes in burning density around Shanxi of China
For the field burning experiment, an observation pit of 1 m wide, 1 m long and 1 m deep was
excavated in the corn field, near a burned pile of crop residues for observing soil temperature andvolumetric water content. Dried corn residues were burned within 30 minutes right beside the pit asshown in Fig. 2-a. Soil temperature and moisture were measured by using a thermocouple and awater content reflect meter inserted into the wall of the pit (Fig. 2-b) at different depths of 1, 5, 10,
20, 30 and 40 cm from soil surface. Measurements were done at 5, 10, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300,
320, 360 and 420 minutes passed after burning.
For laboratory analysis, two different types of soil were collected from field site: unburned
soil and burned soil. Both soils were collected from the same field. However, burned soil wascollected from a burning experimental plot. To observe the effects of burning on general
microorganisms, some amounts of unburned soils were burned by oven at 415 degrees CelsiusⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

1m

within 30 minutes to correspond to the condition of soil during the burning at the field site. For
burned soil as well as unburned soil, analysis of general microorganisms was carried out with anagar plate.

1m

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)
Fig. 2 Field burning experiment conducted in Wenshui Shanxi of China

In addition, saturated permeability test was conducted by falling head method. Both unburnedand burned soils were undergone for soil general bacteria, electrical conductivity (EC) and pH, tomake out the effects of residue burning on soil chemical and physical properties. Also, changes intotal nitrogen and total phosphorous in soil were analyzed under different temperatures.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Burning density was analyzed on the basis of the Fire Information for Resource Management
System (FIRMS). Results from the analysis on changes in burning density showed that burning
density in Wenshui of Shanxi in 2009 at 0.0467 events/km2/year was much larger than that in 2001
at 0.00141 events/km2/year. It was observed that burning density in 2009 was 33 times higher thanthat in 2001 as shown in Fig. 3.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Burning density (number/km2/year)

0.05
y = 0.0048x - 9.5078
R = 0.8061

0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

Time (year)

Fig. 3 Burning density occurred from the year 2001 to 2009
On site burning was conducted to measure soil volumetric water content (VWC) and soil
temperature in a corn field located at Wenshui, Shanxi of China. Experimental results indicated thattemperature of surface soil rose to 415 degrees Celsius (Fig. 4) immediately after starting theburning, and then it decreased gradually with time after ceasing the burning. Also, it was observedthat soil volumetric water content at depths of 1 cm to 40 cm decreased with burning. However,this decreasing tendency of soil volumetric water content at 1 cm deep lasted until the end of theobservation. In addition, at other depths, there was some fluctuation of soil volumetric watercontent as shown in Fig. 5.
For evaluating changes in soil quality with the burning, values of EC and pH were analyzed.
The changes in EC and pH values were measured by glass electrode method. The values of pH
increased from 8.23 to 9.04 with the burning and there was a significant difference between pH
values of unburned and burned soils at 99% confidence interval (Fig. 6). Also, values of electricalconductivity (EC) increased to 219 mS/m from 128 mS/m with the burning (Fig. 7).
surface
soil
1cm

400

5cm
10cm

300

20cm
30cm

200

40cm

100
0

0

100

200
300
Time（minute)20
Volumetric water content (%)

Temperature （℃）

500

5cm
10cm

12

20cm

8

30cm
40cm

4
0

0

100

200

300

400

Time（minute)

B**

Fig. 5 Changes in VWC with burning
B**

250

A**
200

EC (mS/m)

8
6

pH

16

400

Fig. 4 Changes in temperature with burning

10

1cm

4
2

A**
150
100
50

0
Unburned soil

0

Burned soil

Unburned soil

Fig. 6 Changes in pH with burning

Burned soil

Fig. 7 Changes in EC with burningⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

The population of general microorganisms in unburned and burned soils was measured
employing an agar plate. Results indicated that general microorganisms existing in unburned soil
were 3.0×107 cfu/g while there was no general bacteria found in the burned soil (Fig. 8). Results
indicated that general bacteria cannot live at 415 degrees Celsius that was observed in the fieldburning experiment in Wenshui, Shanxi of China. Thus, the effect on the destruction of soil
microorganisms is a big concern for soil environment researchers.
However, no significant change was observed in permeability between unburned and burned
soils. Also, a significant difference was not observed as shown in Fig. 9.
0.0040Coefficient of permeability (cm/s)

A**

General bacteria (cfu/g)

3.00E+07
3×107

2.00E+07
2×107

1×107
1.00E+07

B**

0.0030AA
0.0020unburned soil

0.0010burned soil

0.00000
0.00E+00
Unburned soil

0

Burned soil

10

20

30

40

50

60

Amount of flow (ml)Fig. 8 Changes in general bacteria with burning

Fig. 9 Changes in water permeability
with burning

The changes in total nitrogen and total phosphorous concentration with the burning are shownin Fig. 10 and Fig. 11. A tendency for total nitrogen to decrease with the burning temperature wasobserved. This tendency may be caused by the release of nitrogen components into the air with theburning (Fig.10). However, total phosphorous tended to increase with the burning temperature dueto the decomposition of phosphorus component in soil.

14

unburned soil

12burned soil

108
y = -0.0463x + 19.6
R = 0.8772

6
4
2

0
0

100

200

300

400

unburned soil

34
Total phosphorous (10-5 kg/kg)

Total nitrogen (10-5 kg/kg)

16

500

burned soil

32
30
28
26

y = 0.0162x + 22.953
R = 0.9

24
22
20
0

Temperature (℃）

100

200

300

400

500

Temperature (℃)

Fig. 10 Changes in total nitrogen with burning Fig. 11 Changes in total phosphorouswith burning
CONCLUSION
The results from the observation of changes in burning density showed that burning density in
Wenshui of Shanxi in 2009 at 0.0467 event/km2/year was much larger than that in 2001 at 0.00141
event/km2/year. Also, the results of onsite experiment on residue burning conducted in Wenshui
indicated that when soil surface temperature rose to 415 degrees Celsius, it caused the decrease of
microorganism population. Therefore, burning of crop residues significantly affects the micro
fauna in the soil. In addition, burning of crop residues also influenced the acidity of soil asⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

indicated by the increase of soil electrical conductivity (EC) and pH. Moreover, a significant
decrease of total nitrogen component in the soil was observed. However, burning of crop residue
has no significant effect on soil permeability as observed in the permeability test.
It was concluded that the burning of crop residues influenced the degradation of soil
ecosystem and its quality. Therefore, treating of crop residues such as composting, for bio-fertilizer
on crop is strongly recommended.
REFERENCES
MODIS, NASA and UMD. 2010. Web Fire Mapper. http://maps.geog.umd.edu/.
Srimuang, R. 2006. Burning effects on soil physical and chemical properties in Thailand. Ph.D. dissertation,
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan.
Srimuang, R., Mihara, M. and Komamura, M. 2004. Burning effects on soil and water environment in lower
watersheds of Nan River, Thailand. Journal of Arid Land Studies, 14(S), 21-24.
Shi, L., Zhao, Y. and Chai, L. 2005. Comprehensive utilization techniques progress of crop straws in China.
China Biogas, 23 (2), 11-14.
Song, J. 1995. The investigation and research on the straw resources in Zhejiang province. Soil andFertilizers, (2), 23-26.
Yan, L., Min, Q., Cheng, S. 2005. Energy consumption and bio-energy development in rural areas of China.
Resources Science, 27 (1), 8-13.
Zhong, H., Yue, Y. and Fan, J. 2003. Characteristics of crop straw resources in China and its utilization.
Resources Science, 25 (4), 62-67.
Han, L. and Yan, Q. 2002. Straw resources and their utilization in China. Transactions of the Chinese Societyof Agriculture Engineering, 18 (3), 87-91.

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Research article
erd

Payment for Environmental Services (PES): Case Study on
Conservation Agreement on Forest and Biodiversity
Conservation in Central Cardamom Protected Forest,
Thmar Baing District, Koh Kong Province
LYNA KHAN*
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Email: khanlyna@gmail.com
Received 19 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Cardamom mountain of Cambodia was classified as Burma’s hotspot of
biodiversity by UNESCO in 2006. It includes watershed, air filtering and many othernatural resources such as timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs), food, medicine
and construction materials. Forest has been severely degraded by chronic war and over
exploitation of wood by concession companies. Conservation International (CI) has
collaborated with Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to reform forestry laws andestablish the Central Cardamom Protected Forest. Payment for Environmental Services(PES), which is an effective concept for biodiversity conservation. The win-win approachof PES mechanism provides benefit to all villagers in return for sustainable conservation.
For this reason, an overall goal of the research is to compare Conservation Agreement(CA) features and mechanisms of CI to those of PES. This research intends to describe CA
mechanism through PES periscope, analyze institutional design and explain institutionalarrangement as well as to indicate factors inducing changes in resident behaviour. This
study was conducted inside and around the protected zone of Central Cardamom Protected
Forest (CCPF) and it covers three communes of the district. Interviews were conducted onsite with the participation of 59 people, including farmers, authorities and NGOs in the
study area. Besides, states and NGO officers involved in this research were informallyinterviewed. The results of this study showed that CA as a mechanism is similar to PES,
but it is not just PES due to its features. Although there are many features similar to PES
mechanism, it is totally a not voluntary transaction because villagers live in state forests,
so  they   don’t   have   a   legal   land  title.  They   don’t   have   a right to manage the state forests
which are controlled by forestry laws. On the other hand, CA design lacks institutional
interaction between involved institutions so it is not legally recognized. All changes inlocal behaviours may be caused by the restriction imposed by the forestry laws and aids
for community development that stop land encroachment. Conservation Agreement
enhances the community development and alleviates poverty of local settlers inside andaround CCPF by providing development training and incentives such as establishingmicrocredit, NTFPs processing and providing agriculture instruments. Overall
Conservation Agreement is not pure PES but has affected participatory conservation andpoverty alleviation.
Keywords: PES, conservation, incentive, conservation agreement, voluntary

INTRODUCTION
Ecosystem sustains human life by providing food and drinking water, maintaining stock ofcontinuously evolving genetic resources, preserving and regenerating soils, fixing nitrogen andcarbon, recycling nutrients, controlling floods, filtering pollutants, pollinating crops and more otherservices. The ecosystem is facing severe degradation caused by human activities in agriculture
expansion (FAO, 2007a). Ecosystem degradation in Cambodia is also severe due to over
exploitation of timber by concession companies after civil war (USAID, 2001). CardamomⒸ ISERD

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Mountain was defined as Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot by UNESCO in 2006 which consists ofhundreds of endangered plant and wildlife species. Many NGOs and state agencies which are
working in biodiversity conservation are concerned about biodiversity and ecosystem degradationin Cardamom Mountains (CI, 2009). Within this wide context, Conservation International (CI)
Cambodia has initiated the Conservation Agreement (CA) by paying for contribution to natural
sustainability in Cardamom Mountain area through formation of PES due to its framework andfeatures. Within this framework, a market-based mechanism, at least one service buyer, who is thebeneficiary, pays for environmental services to ecosystem service providers under conditions
specified in a contract facilitated by intermediate agents or intermediate buyers who are found as
states in many implements of PES in other countries of the world. Due to Forestry Reform since
2002, institutional arrangement and its interaction have contributed to accelerate CA and promote it
into a national level to be recognized by the states (CI, 2009). In addition, benefits from incentives lhelped to make large changes in land use practices and made the living of people better. This
research has made an overall attempt to define and explain the importance of institutions and their
institutional interactions in the design and performance of PES (Wunder, 2005) within three main
objectives: 1) To describe the CCPF Conservation agreements mechanism through the PES(indirect). 2) To analyse the institutional design and explain the current institutional arrangement(process of elaboration, factors explaining the current framework). 3) To identify the factors thatinduce changes by the practices of CAs on people (development) and on natural resources(conservation).
METHODOLOGY
Study Area: Selection of the study area was made after an exploratory trip in three communes(Thmar Dan Pouv, Russei Chrum and Tatai Leu). This study has been carried out within the scope,
objectives and availability of time for investigating the most crucial part of informative dataobtained from the target area in response to the main goal of this research.

Fig. 1 Map of study areas in CCPT
Source: CI (2009)

The study area covers three communes inside the buffer zone of Central Cardamom Forest
Protected, Thmar Baing district, Koh Kong Province. The three communes were chosen as thetarget area according to the implementation of  CI’s  Conservation Agreement, which is the core of
the present research objective and geographical and social diversity. The research areas are briefly
shown in Fig. 1 above.
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The red line indicates boundary of CCPF which is classified as state forest and controlled by
FA in cooperation with CI. There are two target located outside the CCPF boundary and one
located inside the protected zone.
Sampling size and methods: The number of interviewees was defined based on real situation of
exploratory trip. Stratified sampling method was used as principle to define the number ofinterviewees, and then classified according to their involvement in social activities and knowledgeof Conservation Agreements. Commune chiefs met and were informed of the present research intheir commune boundaries and the objectives of the survey, and were asked for general information
regarding the commune and villages (demographic, social, and economic data). A random
sampling method for villagers was chosen due to the impossibility of preliminary stratificationaccording to a set of criteria. However, as long as we got to know the villagers in the area, we tried
to stratify the interviewees according to:- Age criteria – Farmers actively engaged in social life, agricultural practices, and active
household members in age groups of 20-40, 40-75- Period of stay in the commune – Villagers living in the community for a sufficiently long time,
both indigenous (born in the area) or migrants, as they were involved in the key events;- Occupation criteria - Resident teachers, village/commune policeman, among other activities, as
they are important beneficiaries according to the Conservation agreements. The design of sample
size has been changed several times to be flexible to the real situations on field and available tovillagers and other interview targets.
Eventually, 44 households, 8 community committee members and 7 commune councils orcommune chiefs have been interviewed as shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Number of ground respondents of research interview
Commune nameTotal
interviews

Villagers

Thmar Danpouv
Tatey Leu
Russey Chrum
Total

27
19
13
59

21
13
10
44

Village and commune
chiefs and/ or
members of theircouncil3317Natural resource management
community committee members
3328

Besides on site interviews, many other states and NGOs officers involved in conservation of
the research area were interviewed to understand their views about agreement and to look for analternative approach in biodiversity conservation.
RESULTS
After many months of field study, results answer to objectives of this research in the study area.
The conservation agreement of CI has been designed with its own nature and criteria and thenimplemented by local people inside and around Central Cardamom Protected Forest. These results
also express the institutional arrangement and its interaction in the context of conservationagreement as well as the comparison to the mechanism of PES. Finally, factors that inducedchanges within and around the implementation of CA are also highlighted to elaborate the right
response to real local needs of community and help them get better off as well as to motivate them
to be voluntarily involved in biodiversity conservation.

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Design of Conservation Agreement
Conservation Agreement is a new approach of community engagement implemented byConservation International in order to earn trust and engage local people living in and around the
CCPF in forest and wildlife conservation in a sustainable way, with balance between development
and conservation. The logic scheme of CA in Fig. 2 shows the typical logic of conservationagreement implemented by Conservation International in Cambodia at grassroots level and inassisting the ministry of agriculture forestry and fishery (MAFF) and Forestry Administration (FA)in CCPF management plans.

Fig. 2 Logic scheme design of agreement

Fig. 3 Level of Awareness in obligation and benefit of CAⒸ ISERD

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This logic framework of Conservation Agreement make local community cooperate withinconditionality in conservation for incentives. It makes them cultivate in a fix land and end shifting
agriculture which is similar to conditionality and additionality in PES (Muradian, Corbera, Pascual,
Kosoy, and May, 2009). In contrast, the majority of villagers seem to have very low competence on
obligation and responsibility of CA because most of them have not clearly distinguished between
CA and forestry laws. Fig. 3 above shows the level of understanding in regulation and benefits ofCA.
Institutional design and interaction of conservation agreement
The institutional arrangement in an agreement context indicates that implementation of CA wasinitiated at grassroots level and quickly spread from commune to commune. The study found thatthe organization of this agreement has a good design at grassroots levels, where all local needs andsuggestion have clearly been recognized. However, it has never been implemented at a national
level due to the lack of technical works establishing cooperation between involved institutions,
identifying land use planning mapping, legal principles and so on. According to the results ofinterviews, involving stake holders on CA with local authorities, CI, FA and MoE show that there
is no clear legislation document supporting participatory land use planning (PLUP) of CA. On thecontrary, most of the villagers expect the so-called PLUP made by CI to be a legal process of land
entitlement. The interviewing of local villagers shows low level of understanding around all theinstitutional design of CA. Another cause of poor design on conservation process could beinstitutional interaction between involved stakeholders.
Conservation opportunity cost and distribution:
Opportunity cost was established firstly on forest land conservation. Villagers promised to stop
land encroachment in return for some amount of money for commune development. Formula ofopportunity cost was made absolutely by CI. The calculating formula for forest opportunity cost is
OCF = FL x ARy x MP (OCF: Opportunity cost for forest, FL: Size of forest encroachment per
year (ha), ARy: Annual rice/crops yield from FL (Kg/ha), MP: crops market price ($/kg)). New
forms of conservations have been expanded every year after the end of CA contract which wasmade annually. The benefits provided by agreements can be divided into 2 categories:
Conservation package- a monetary sum that reflects the opportunity cost of the foregone activities
such as forest clearing for farming activities, wildlife hunting and trading; Conservation Agreement
Management and Monitoring costs- such as patrolling salary, administrative salary for NRMC
committee, patrolling equipment and first aid kits and individual incentives for confiscated snares
and animals. Decisions on spending the Conservation Package are made jointly by CI’s  CE  team  and NRMC members in consultation with villagers. The main part of the Conservation Package
benefits are provided in-kind, such as mechanical mules (hand tractors), spare parts (cart), etc.
DISCUSSION
This design of Conservation Agreements does not identify final ES beneficiaries. It is not abeneficiary- pay scheme. NGO stands as a donor- buyer, local populations as ES providers.
Payments are conditional to the performance of the obligations rather than to the provisionof ES. The conditionality criterion is weakly enforced and sacrificed to maintaining good relations
with local communities - working with people is more important, than applying the contracts to theletter. The survey with local people showed that they have realized that they were living in states
forest controlled by FA. Most of them experienced many huge conflicts with FA law enforcement
team over the past years. They are obligated to respect the forest law against land encroachment
and wild life hunting and trading. Most of the villagers still confuse CI and FA officers.
The   additional   value   of   CA’s   has   not   been   prioritized. Baselines on forest cover andwildlife populations do not exist. CI acknowledged this weak point of the program and is to launch
flagship  species’  population  monitoring  programs.  The  data  on  net  increase  of  the  forest  cover  or  a  Ⓒ ISERD

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flagship   species   population   could   be   obtained   from   other   sources,   but   these   evolutions   can’t   be  considered as agreement-contingent.
Agreements are not truly voluntary and seen as another beneficial NGO intervention. Local
populations  don’t  have  legal  rights  on  the  land  and  resource  use,  their  rights  are  restricted  by  law  and any intervention providing additional benefits is a priori welcome. The principle of“voluntariness”  is  ambiguously  perceived:  so  most  of  the  interviewees accepted that the agreements
are voluntary, which could be explained that it does not imply big changes in their livelihood
strategies,  that  it  is  not  “serious” enough, and that they don’t  care  if  it  exists  or  not.  
Opportunity costs are not based on market mechanism and represent amounts negotiatedbetween CI and the community. They have been negotiated once and have not been changed.
Due to The   scale   of   “opportunities’   loss”   is   yet small. Relatively lower population in the
uplands, difficult access to the area makes that the demand for land is less than in the lowlands ofCambodia.   Indigenous   populations   don’t   perceive   yet   the   land   restrictions,   thus   land-use plans
introduced by Conservation agreements.
Agreements - instruments of diplomatic conciliation in the battle for law enforcement. CI
stays   as   a   “conservation-oriented”   organization   and   the   primary   objective   is   to enforce theprotected zone management. Agreements in principle enforce the law, rather than represent theholistic voluntarily negotiated market transactions between resource beneficiaries and ES providers.
Field trips allowed understanding the local perception and revealing such problems as limitedsocial activeness, limited awareness on quid-pro-quo mechanism (Wunder, 2005) of theagreements,   unequal   access   to   benefits,   elite’s   capture,   and   governance   issues   specific   to   the  Cambodian   “patronage”   systems.   CI’s   Community   Engagement   actions   on   the   field   stay   quite  relevant in helping and to responding to the imminent development needs. Their initial design as ofa strong institution based on principles of civil society met limitation in the context. Nominally,
CA’s  are  based  on  a  wide  participatory  approach,  in  practice  for a successful implementation they
have to be negotiated respecting strict hierarchical order of the Khmer local governance. In-kindbenefits   from   CA’s   were   intended   to   promote   environmentally   improved   productive   sustainable  fixing agriculture. CE team worked with local communities to restore old paddy rice fields andgave mechanical mules and water buffaloes as means of plowing. This was with an aim to increase
crops yields and support the livelihoods. Basically, only those who have rice fields could
effectively use agriculture instrument, while others prefer traditional practices in their plots of land
(planting without plowing, hand plowing hoes, abandoning land for a fallow period, shifting
cultivation). Although it is not always possible, trend should be developed in supporting suchactivities as agro-forestry, ecotourism and developing local agricultural and NTFP markets. This
would provide people with good sources of additional income and their livelihoods would rely lesson subsistence agriculture and illegal activities. Few of environmental services provided are paid
depend on forest environmental service, wildlife species protection and dragon fish protection.
Rewards have been provided without any conditionality for conservation. For instance,
conservation package provided on dragon fish conservation was made without real baseline study
on the increasing number of dragon fish fingerling.
CONCLUSION
Overall, result and discussion have clearly distinguished CA agreement as PES based on its
features and mechanism. Anyway, CA has provided a crucial lead to PES implementation in
Cambodia in the future because it clearly contributes to poverty alleviation in context ofdevelopment and biodiversity conservation through an approach of environmental economics,
providing benefit for livelihood and community development through market-based mechanism.
Establishing a legal PLUP is the most important lead for land entitle which is crucial component of
PES in the future. Institutional interaction should be improved to provide a helpful process ofestablishing legal framework for natural resources conservation and community development.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research project was jointly conducted by Faculty of Agriculture Economic and Rural
Development (FAERD) a subset of Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) on  project  “Definition  of   Environmental   Services   Provided   by   Cambodian   Agriculture   in   form   of   Payments”.   RUA, as
well as the GIDAR Master Program was supported by the FSP project funded by the French
Government and the RUA. As well, we would thank to all partners who cooperated with theresearch.
REFERENCES
CI. 2009. The management plan of Central Cardamom protected forest for watershed protection andbiodiversity conservation 2010-2014. Phnom Penh Conservation International Cambodia.
FAO. 2007. The State of Food and Agriculture: Paying farmers for environmental services Vol. 38.
Muradian, R., Corbera, E., Pascual, U., Kosoy, N., and May, P.H. 2009. Reconciling theory and practice: Analternative conceptual framework for understanding payments for environmental services. Ecological
Economics. Elsevier.
USAID. 2001. Cambodia Environmental Review: Status and Trends in Environmental Management andOptions for Future Action. Vermont 05401.
Wunder, S. 2005. Payment for Environmental Service: Somes nuts and bolts Vol. 42. Jakarta: Center forInternational Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia.

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Research article
erd

Safety of Drinking Water Source and People’s Choice
Behavior in Rural India
SATO MORIO*
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
Email: moriozisan@gmail.com

YAMAJI EIJI
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract The objective of this study was to reveal the causes of damages by diarrhea in
India. In particular, this study focused on the safety of drinking water sources and people’s
preference for it in rural India because spread of toilets is difficult there at the moment.
Two villages in Andhra Pradesh, India were selected as survey sites of this study.
Concentrations were measured for coliforms, general bacteria and iron in all water sources
and surface waters. Interviews and questionnaire surveys were conducted at a publicschool in the village. People in one village used wells and hand pumps while people inanother village used a pond for drinking purpose. It was revealed that pump was the safest
water source according to the results of measuring concentration of coliforms. Pond water,which is a surface water source, and well water, which is drawn from unconfined aquifers,
were all contaminated by excreta. On the other hand, pump water, which is pumped up
from confined aquifers and can be defined as safe water, was not contaminatedconsiderably. However, people did not have proper risk perceptions and tended to hesitate
to drink pump water because of its metallic taste and smell. Actually, concentration of ironof pump water was higher than those of the others. The pond and wells represented a highrisk of diarrhea and it was difficult to improve them because hygiene education was notenough at schools; thus wide spread of toilets seemed difficult. In order to encourage
people to use pumps, they should be made of materials which do not erode and affect thetaste and smell of water. It is also important that people have proper risk perceptions about
each water source.
Keywords drinking water, toilet, sanitation, hygiene, diarrhea, India

INTRODUCTION
About 1.5 million children of age five and below die from diarrhea every year. This is the second
cause of death for children (WHO, 2008). The most seriously affected country is India, in which
about 0.39 million children die from diarrhea (UNICEF and WHO, 2009).
Pathogens which cause diarrhea are spread from excreta to new patients through hands,
animals, water, etc. (Carr et al., 2001). Building toilets, developing water sources, improving water
quality, and improving hygiene habits can reduce the risk of diarrhea relatively (Fewtrell, 2005). In
order to prevent children’s death by diarrhea, the United Nations set a goal to “halve, by 2015, theproportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation”  in Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and many kinds of activities were conducted all over
the world. But in India, especially in rural areas, about 79% of people still do not have basic
sanitation and 69% do open defecation (WHO and UNICEF, 2010). Previous researches indicatethat this is because people are not in the habit of using a toilet (Banda et al., 2007), and thatbuilding a toilet is too expensive for them (Jha, 2003).
The objective of this study was to reveal the causes of damages by diarrhea in India. In
particular, this study mainly focused on the safety of drinking water sources and people’sⒸ ISERD

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preference for it in rural India. It is very important to keep safe drinking water sources and use
them properly in rural India, where usage of toilets is difficult to spread.
METHODOLOGY
Two villages (P-village and T-village) near Sompeta city of Srikakuram district of Andhra Pradesh
state of India were selected as survey sites of this study (Fig. 1). Andhra Pradesh state is in thesoutheastern part of India, and its average income is Rs 23,700 which is almost equal to that of theentire India, Rs 23,200. 21.9% of the population in the urban areas as well as 81.9% in the rural
areas, do not have a toilet at home. The percentage in rural areas is higher than the average of all of
India; 78.1%. Sompeta city has a population of 17,400; it is the smallest of all 6 cities in
Srikakuram district. P-village is about 1.5km away from Sompeta city and T-village is about 13km
away from it. On-site survey was conducted from 28th October to 11th November in 2011. The
survey consisted of a water quality survey, interview survey, and a questionnaire survey.
Srikakuram district

T-Village

Sompeta city
P-Village
Andhra Pradesh state

4km

Fig. 1 Survey site
In water quality surveys, concentrations of coliforms, general bacteria and iron of each water
source were measured on 21 points of P-village and 15 points of T-village (Fig. 2). Two handpumps in T-village, ‘Y’  and ‘Z’, could not be measured because they were broken. The types ofpoints measured were hand pumps, public wells, private wells, a container, ponds, and streams.
Hand pumps, public wells and containers were supplied by Rural Water Supply, which is a state
department. Public wells were the oldest water facilities and hand pumps were the newest ones.
Container was a huge water tank with some taps at the bottom. Private wells were a kind of wells
which were ordered individually and built at people’s houses. Some private wells were built inside
the houses while others were outside. The number of people who had private wells was increasingover the duration of the survey.

17

13

5

6

[P-Village]

1

18

3
15

12

20

8
11

o

2

4

Public Well
Hand Pump
Pond[T-Village]

19
14

n

16
10

a
h

21

100m

100m

e

m

7

9

Private Well
Container
Stream

c
f
k

d
j
Y g

Z

l
b
i

Fig. 2 Points of water quality survey in P-village (left) and T-village (right)
For measuring concentrations of coliforms and general bacteria, 1 mL of sampled water was
dropped on a detection paper and put into a cultivator which was kept at 37℃ for about 24 hoursⒸ ISERD

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for cultivating coliforms and general bacteria. The detection paper was SUNCOLI produced by Sun
Chemical Co. Ltd., and the cultivator was CB-101 produced by Sibata Science Technology Ltd.
For measuring concentrations of iron, a test kit of WAK-Fe produced by Kyoritsu Chemical-Check
Lab. Corp. was used. Furthermore, whether residents who lived near each water sources use it for
drinking or not were checked through interviews.
Questionnaire and interview surveys were conducted at a public school in P-village. In thisarea, children from 1st grade (6 years old) to 5th grade (10 years old) go to a primary school, andchildren from 6th grade (11 years old) to 10th grade (15 years old) go to a high school. Compulsory
education is conducted at primary and high school for ten years. Most children go to a publicschool in the village free of charge while others go to a private school in a nearby city. P-village
has both a primary and a high school, but T-village has only a primary school. Children in Tvillage go to a high school in a neighboring village.
Questionnaire survey was applied to 13 years old 8th grade children, at a public school in Pvillage (n=31). Questions focused mainly on the use of drinking water sources and toilets, diarrhea
frequency, etc. On the other hand, 10 years old 5th grade children were asked only one question:
whether they have a toilet in their house or not (n=14). School teachers were interviewed about
hygiene education at school.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Use of water sources
Table 1 shows the number of water sources and whether they are used for drinking or not. In Pvillage, hand pumps, private wells and a public well at a temple are used for drinking purpose.
Among these, the temple well was used frequently. However, other public wells, the container, andponds are not currently used. On the other hand, most of people in T-village use the pond as
drinking water source, and few people use pump or private wells. Public wells, except the temple
well, are not used for drinking.
Table 1 Number of water sources and their use as drinking water
Water Source
Public Well
Private Well
Hand Pump
Container
Pond

P-Village
Drink
Not Drink
1
1
2
0
10
1
0
1
0
3

T-Village
Drink
Not Drink
1
5
3
0
4
0
0
0
1
0

Safety of drinking water sources
Fig. 3 shows the results of measuring concentrations of coliforms at P-village and T-village.
Marks above numbers and alphabets show whether the water source was used for drinking or not.
A circle means it was used for drinking and a cross means it was not. A triangle means few people
drink it and a double circle means it was the most popular drinking water source. Only hand pumpfulfilled WHO’s guideline of drinking water quality that specifies coliforms should not be found in
1mL of sampled water. Nevertheless coliforms were detected in 4 pumps of 11 in P-village and in 3
pumps of 4 in T-village. Coliforms were also detected in all other water sources including well andpond which people used as drinking water sources.
Water from public and private wells are drawn from unconfined aquifers, thus it is easily
affected by surface water. According to the results, surface water and well water of this area wascontaminated by excreta. It was revealed that many people use ponds and well water for drinking,even though they are not safe.
On the other hand, water from hand pumps comes from confined aquifers that are difficult tobe affected by surface water and can be defined as safe water which is not contaminated. However,Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

coliforms were detected in some pumps. This may be because some pipe parts of the pump were
corroded and perforated and hence contaminated water mixed with pump water. Pump water was
safer than other sources, but it was not completely safe and a risk of diarrhea exists.
[n/mL]
60

P-Village

T-Village

40
20
0

◎

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 111213 141516 1718 192021◎◎

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n oFig. 3 Concentrations of coliforms on water sources
Possibilities of improving surface water from the point of view of hygiene education
Fig. 4 shows percentage of children whose houses were equipped with a toilet. More than 70% ofchildren do not have a toilet at home, but most of them want one. As a reason, 76% selected“convenience”. More than two out of three defecates in open spaces, and 42% in the class excrete
near a pond. For the images of open defecation, 80% selected negative keywords like “dirty”,“ugly”, “inconvenient”, and “shameful”, but 13% selected positive keywords like “good feeling”  and “cleanliness”. Many children recognized open defecation as negative, and wanted a toilet for
convenience.
There were two toilets at the public school in P-village, but children could not use thembecause they were broken and locked. According to the interview with the school teacher, children
had used toilets properly in the beginning, but they gradually stopped using them properly, andtoilets had become broken. This is because toilet users had to carry water from a hand pump, which
was 50m away from toilets. When children feel the need to defecate at the school time, they have toendure or go outside.

n

n

45

24

31

30
14

Fig. 4 Percentage of children whose
houses are equipped with toilets

Fig. 5 Frequency of instruction
to use toilet by friends or teachers

Teachers said that they taught children how to use a toilet when they taught hygiene. However,they also said that it was difficult to teach about toilet in daily life because they were broken. Fig. 5
showed frequency of instructions to use a toilet by friends or teachers. Most of the children did not
realize that they were instructed about the usage of toilet at school. From the above reasons, it canbe inferred that education about toilets was not conducted enough at school, and this is one of thefactors that prevented the spread of toilets. Therefore, it is difficult and likely to take a long time toimprove water quality of surface water.
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Factors that influence people’s choice of drinking water sources
According to the questionnaire survey at the public school of P-village, 52% of children used wells
for drinking purpose and 32% of children used hand pumps. Fig. 6 shows the percentage ofchildren who hesitate to drink water from wells and hand pumps. More than 40% of children
hesitate to drink water from pumps. The most common reason was because of its “taste”   and“smell”. No one selected “location”  as a reason. Less than 20% of children hesitate to drink waterfrom wells. The most common reason was “family and friends do not use”. “Safety/ dirtiness”  and“location”  were not selected.
Taste/Smell

Safety/Dirtiness

Family and Friends don't use

Location

No Problem(n=31)
2 0 3

Well

0

26

10

HandPump
0%

1
20%

2 0

18

40%

60%

80%

100%

Fig. 6 Percentage of children who hesitate to drink water from wells and hand pumps
In T-village, most people used pond water for drinking purposes. They mentioned a better taste
as the reason. They tended to dislike especially drinking water from pump because of its metallic
taste. However, few people think pond was safe for drinking, and so they built and use private wellor used pump for preserving their health.
Fig. 7 shows the results of measuring concentrations of iron at P-village and T-village. Marks
above numbers and alphabets show whether the water source was used for drinking or not. For‘Ponds’   and ‘Wells’, the average value was considered. In WHO’s guideline of drinking water
quality, there is a reference value about iron from a viewpoint of taste and coloring, though notfrom a viewpoint of safety. It specifies that concentrations of iron should be under 0.3mg/L. Higher
levels of iron than the reference value were detected in some pumps. Two pumps of 11 in P-village
and 3 pumps of 4 in T-village had higher levels. Particularly, values measured in pumps of T-village
were very high; the highest being above three times the reference level. However, all other kinds ofsources had a lower level than the reference value. Pump named ‘5’   has been used for handwashing instead of drinking because it is located near a pond where many people practice open
defecation.
[mg/L]
1.2
1.0

T-Village

P-Village

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

◎

Well
11 Pond Well

a

b

c

◎

Well
d Pond Well

Fig. 7 Concentrations of iron in hand pumps, average of ponds and average of wells
People who did not have proper risk perception about each water source tended to choose by
its taste and smell. Pump was the safest water source in this area, but many people hesitate to drink
it. It was clear that this was caused by high concentrations of iron.
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CONCLUSION
Water from ponds and wells used by many people for drinking contained many coliforms, and therisk of diarrhea by drinking water from ponds and wells is higher than that of hand pumps. It seems
that it will take a lot of time to improve water quality of ponds and wells by spreading toilets
because hygiene education was not conducted enough at school although most of children regarded
open defecation negatively and wanted toilet in their homes.
Hand pumps are theoretically safer because the water comes from confined aquifers, which are
difficult to be contaminated by surface water. However, coliforms were detected from some pumps
on the actual site. In order to keep and use pumps as a safe drinking water source, regularinspection of water quality is needed.
However, people did not have proper risk perception about each drinking water source, andthey chose and used source by other factors like taste. People especially hesitated to drink waterfrom pumps, which was safer than others, because its concentration of iron tended to be high andits taste and smell got worse. Pump should be made of material which does not erode and affect thetaste and smell of water. It is also important for people to have proper risk perception about eachdrinking water source in order to stop using unsafe water and then reduce the risk of diarrhea.
Future studies should investigate ways to disseminate a proper risk perception among people tochange their behavior.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Indian NGO Green Basics for assisting on-site survey in these areas.
REFERENCES
Andhra Pradesh state, AP Online, http://www.aponline.gove.in/, 13 th Dec 2011 access.
Banda, K., Sarkar, R., Gospal, S., Govindarajan, J., Harijan, B.B., Jeyakumar, M.B., Mitta, P., Sadanala,M.E., Selwyn, T., Suresh, C.R., Thomas, V.A., Devadason, P., Kumar, R., Selvapandian, D., Kang, G.,
Balraj, V. 2007. Water handling, sanitation and defecation practice in rural southern India: a knowledge,
attitudes and practices study. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 101,1124-1130.
Carr, R. and Strauss, M. 2001. Water quality: guidelines, standards and health; Assessment of risk and risk
management for water-related infectious disease. International Water Association on behalf of WHO,
89-113.
Fewtrell, L., Kaufman, R.B., Kay, D., Enanoria, W., Haller, L., and Colford, J.M., Jr. 2005. Water, sanitation,and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrhoea in less developed countries: a systematic review andmeta-analysis. The Lancet Infectious Disease, 5, 42-52.
Jha, P.K. 2003. Health and social benefits from improving community hygiene and sanitation: an Indian
experience. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 13, S133-S140.
Registrar General and Census Commissioner 2001. Census of India.
UNICEF, WHO. 2009. Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done.
WHO. 2008. The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 update.
WHO, UNICEF. 2010. Progress on sanitation and drinking-water: 2010 update, joint monitoring programme
for water supply and sanitation.

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Research article
erd

Fish Trade on Fishing Products in Tonle Sap Great LakeRATANAK OU*
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Email: ratanakoulaotav@gmail.com
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Looking to daily activities in Tonle Sap Great Lake and fish markets, the topic“Fish  Trade on Fishing Products  in  Tonle  Sap  Great  Lake”  has  been  conducted  to  where  fish products in Tonle Sap are exported, as well as of the way of fish processing. The
study aims to (1) Identify the distribution of fish yields for domestic markets and fish
species for processing; (2) Identify the distribution of fish yields for processing anddifferent types of processing to domestic markets; (3) Evaluate the supply of the fresh fishyields in Tonle Sap to satisfy the demand of people in Cambodia; (4) Study market
channels and values added by each transaction on fresh and processed fish products into
domestic markets. Informally purposive sampling is selected for the research. The analysis
shows the fish yields vary from each year in which the data has been recorded by the
Fisheries Administration. However, during 2010, Tonle Sap Authority data shows the fishyield is about 537,000 tons, nearly triple of that of the Fisheries Administration of about
173,450 tons and equal to about 50% of Cambodian fish consumption. There are manyfish species involved in the trade both domestic and international market such as bronzefeatherback, chevron snakehead, boeseman croaker, asian bonytongue, clown featherback,silver barb, giant snakehead, reddish sheatfish, frecklefin eel, blackspotted catfish, sickle
fin barb, giant barb, peacock eel. The main actors of the supply chain of fisheries products
are the fishing lot owners, fishers, fish collectors, wholesalers, trader-middleperson, andretailers. So, the fish market channel is from the first fishers until the final consumers. Fishmarket transaction is added from a transaction to another about 30% to over 80%, and thefish prices among domestic markets are not quite different from each other, just below
1,000 riel.
Keywords Tonle Sap Great Lake, fisheries product, fish trade, domestic fish products

INTRODUCTION
Currently, Tonle Sap Great Lake is a stock pool for many fish species and is one of the great lakes
in South-East Asia, and is generally mentioned as the heart of Cambodia, which is illustrating thesociety, the economy, the environment, and the culture. In fact, this lake is not just a uniqueecosystem of inundated flooded forest, fish habitats, and subsistence for agriculture; it is also avital part of historical and cultural heritage of Cambodia’s  national  identity  (Campbell et al., 2006).
It was a natural pool absorbing roughly 20% of the water flow from Mekong River and rich of thenatural resources. Nearly half a million people are currently surviving and depending on the lake.
Most people work as fisherman; some people plant crops, vegetables, rice, and other agricultural
products. Various things to be considered were that fish supply would not be sufficient for current
demands and for next generations. The main reason for the decline of all freshwater species wasoverexploitation and deforestation. The decrease of the natural resources and the rapid increases in
the population had already resulted in the decrease of living standard throughout the lake area, as
well as the entire country. Freshwater fish was further one of the most trading commodities inwhich the sellers sold them fresh in containers, fresh on ice, or in a wide variety of processing
products. There were many steps and buying competitions involved in fish markets including thestorage, handling, shipment, sale bargain, and product quality. Middlemen came and bought thefishing products from Tonle Sap Great Lake; then sold them by adding prices to the next buyers.
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There were two main markets for fish products. Most of the exporters traded fish both fresh andprocessing products to the domestic markets in Phnom Penh, and also to foreign markets.
METHODOLOGY
The study collected the annual fish yield to estimate the fish products in 2009 only. Three mainmarkets, Chong Koh, Kampong Luong, and Chong Kneas (Tonle Sap Great Lake) were chosen to
study about fish market channels and fish prices. The study continued to ask for more informationof fish prices from fishers, middlemen, retailers, and other key informants. Moreover, three more
main domestic markets in Phnom Penh: Orussey Market, Chbar Ampov Market, and Doeumkor
Market, were studied for the final fish prices. Three main methods were used to collect data fromfishers and other key informants such as observation, semi-structure interview, and in-depth
interview. The purposively selective sampling method was the main for accomplishing the study.
The information was collected from the fishers about fish species and their prices. After that, thestudy continued to stock-wholesalers and retailers in domestic markets. Using prepared
questionnaires, nearly 114 semi-structured interviews were carried out with fishers (60), traders or
distributors (30), fish processors (21), and government officials (3) for three selected provinces inTonle Sap Great Lake during the prohibited fishing season. There were three main markets in
Phnom Penh and a fish distribution in Chrang Chamres Fish Distribution Center. The 91-prepared
questionnaires were asked for the fresh and processed fish prices and fish species at Doeumkor
market 20 out of 40 fresh fish retailers and 07 out of 15 processed fish sellers, at Orussey market 20
out of 25 fresh fish retailers and 07 out of 20 processed fish sellers, at Chbar Ampov market 20 out
of 40 fresh fish retailers and 07 out of 20 processed fish sellers, and at Chrang Chamres FishDistribution Center 10 out of 19 distributors.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Identification of fish distribution
Tonle Sap Great Lake looks like the pool for many fish species. According to FiA (2009),
freshwater fish exploitation in 2009 was 390,000 tons in total. The exploitation from fishing lots
and middle-scale fishing was about 120,000 tons while the small-scale fishing was roughly 155,000
tons. The data of rice-field fishing around 115,000 tons was also included. However, the study was
focused mostly on the 06-provinces adjoining to Tonle Sap Great Lake, so the total amount ofindustrial and middle-scale fishing products is 65,050 tons. TSA (2010) showed that the area inTonle Sap Great Lake was around 1,500,000 hectares during the rainy season but in the drought
period, it would recede to 250,000 hectares.

Fig. 1 Total catch of industrial and middle-scale fishing products (2001-2009)Ⓒ ISERD

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In Table 1, the study focused on the catchment of fishing products in six provinces incooperation with FiA (2009) and TSA (2009). There are three main parts to be considered:industrial and medium-scale fishing products (IFMSF), small scale fishing products (SSF), andsmall scale fishing in the rice field (SSFiR). The data of TSA (2009) was used for the study.
Table 1 Annual freshwater fish catch (Tons) in 6 provinces
No
Kampong Chhnang
PursatBattambang
Banteay
Siem Reap
Kampong Thom
Total

IF-MSF

SSF

SSFiR

FiA

TSA

17,00012,50010,5001,550
11,50012,00065,05014,00011,50011,0003,500
13,20013,00066,200

9,000
7,500
7,200
2,500
8,500
7,500
42,200173,450537,000

Table 2 Fish distribution on the different uses in 2009
Fresh fish products
Dry and smoke fish products

Processed fish products
Fermented fish paste called Brahoc
Bait fish products

Domestic market

56,000Foreign market

14,000

Domestic market

12,800Foreign market

3,200

Domestic market

307,200

Foreign market

76,800

Domestic market

N/A

Foreign market

67,000Total (tons)

537,000

Table 3 Fish species of fresh and processing fish products for domestic market
No

Khmer nameCommerce nameScientific name1

Trey andaing

Walking catfish

Clarias macrocephalus

2

Trey chanteas phluk

Asiatic minnow

Paralaubuca typus

3

Trey chhkok

Giant barb

Cyclocheilichthys enoplos

4

Trey chhlonh

Peacock eel

Macrognathus siamensis

5

Trey chhlang

Blackspotted catfish

Hemibagrus nemurus spp

6

Trey chhpin

Goldfin tinfoil barb

Hypsibarbus suvattii spp

7

Trey chrorkaing

Sickle fin barb

Puntioplites falcifer

8

Trey diep/chdor

Giant Snake Head

Channa micropeltes

9Trey damrey

Marble goby

Oxyeleotris marmorata

10

Trey kahè

Silver Barb

Barbodes gonionotus

11

Trey promah

Boeseman croaker

Boesemania microlepis

12

Trey slat

Bronze featherback

Notopterus notopterus

13

Trey sanday

Sheatfish

Wallagonia attu

14

Trey ta aun

Butter catfish

Ompok hypophthalmus

15

Trey riel top

Siamesae mud carp

Henicorhynchus siamensisⒸ ISERD

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The data of FiA and TSA in 2009 are quite different from each other because the method tocollect data was different. Because the study was under the department of Tonle Sap Authority, thestudy used data of TSA for reference. After collecting data of fishing products around the lake, thestudy separated it with various uses as in Table 2.
The study had asked for the fish species collected from Tonle Sap Great Lake. There weresome usual sold-species from the lake into domestic markets as described in Table 3. However,there were about 10 fish species that were listed.

Fig. 2 Fresh fish products supplied in 2010 by Tonle Sap Great Lake
As shown in Fig. 2, the supply of fisheries products from Tonle Sap Great Lake is about 49%
and the rest is from other sources while the demands of fish products reached about 1,102,500 tons
a year for the current population, 2010.
Table 4 Type of fish processing in Tonle Sap Great Lake
Types

Smoke fish

Salt dried fish

Sun dried fish

Fermented fish
paste called
BrahocPasted fish called
Pa OrkFrozen fish

Fish Species, Khmer

Commerce nameScientific nameTrey riel top

Siamesae mud carp

Henicorhynchus siamensis

Trey linh

Lesser bighead carp

Thynnichthys thynnoides

Trey kesh

Reddiish sheatfish

Wallago attu

Trey Phtong

Congaturi halfbeak

Hyporhamphus limbatus

Trey promah

Boeseman croaker

Boesemania microlepis

Trey kanchos

Striped catfish

Mystus atrifasciatus

Trey kanchos

Striped catfish

Mystus atrifasciatus

Trey phtuok

Chevron snakehead

Channa striata

Trey promah

Boeseman croaker

Boesemania microlepis

Trey riel top

Siamesae mud carp

Henicorhynchus siamensis

Trey linh

Lesser bighead carp

Thynnichthys thynnoides

Trey kawmphleanh

Three spot gourami

Trichogaster microlepis

Trey phtuok

Chevron snakehead

Channa striata

Trey diep

Giant snakehead

Channa micropeltes

Trey chhlonh

Peacock eel

Macrognathus siamensis

Trey chhlang

Blackspotted catfish

Hemibagrus nemurus spp

Trey chdor

Giant snakehead

Channa micropeltes

Trey kesh

Reddish sheatfish

Wallago attu

Trey slat

Bronze featherback

Notopterus notopterusⒸ ISERD

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Identification of market channel and value added in domestic markets
The most alerting component of the fish marketing system in Cambodia was the supply chain anddistribution channels before fish products reached consumers. There were many middlepersons
essential for the fish trade. The fish market channel started from fishers/lot owners/cage/pond
culture to collectors/middleman, to wholesalers/traders, to semi-wholesalers/second traders, toretailers, and to domestic consumers. Table 5 shows value added from each transaction regardingsome fish species, which was estimated by the study..
Table 5 Value added of fresh fish products for domestic markets
Fresh fishing products
Walking catfish
Striped catfish

Chevron snakehead
Giant snakehead

FisherTraderDistributor

ConsumerMarginPrice (r/kg)

3,500

4,500

6,000

7,000

3,500

% of final price

50%

64%

86%

100%

50%

Price (r/kg)

2,000

3,000

3,500

4,500

2,500

% of final price

44%

67%

78%

100%

56%

Price (r/kg)

4,500

7,500

9,000

14,2009,700% of final price

32%

53%

63%

100%

68%

Price (r/kg)

6,000

13,00014,00016,30010,300% of final price

37%

80%

86%

100%

63%

Marketing margins for the eight species study ranged from about 50 to 80 percent. Prices
offered to fishers represent only about 25-45 percent of the final retail price. According to Yim andMckenney (2003) the marketing margin of three species ranged from 65 to 75 percent of theconsumer’s  prices.  These  showed there was not so much difference in the value added in 2003 and2010, but the prices of fish products were higher in 2010 than those in 2009 because of the inflationand the higher demand.
Table 6 Value added of processed fish products
Marketing process
Fermented
Small fish
paste

Three spot
gouramiSmoke Fish

Reddishsheatfish

Sun Dried
Fish

Giant
snakehead

Salt Dried
Fish

StripedcatfishPrice(r/kg)
% of
final
Price
(r/kg)
% of
final
Price
(r/kg)
% of
final
Price
(r/kg)% offinal

Fisher2,500

Trader
6,000

Distributor
7,100Consumer
8,300

Margin
5,800

30%

72%

86%

100%

70%

12,00080,000105,000

117,000

105,000

10%

68%

90%

100%

90%

7,000

30,00035,00040,00033,000

18%

75%

88%

100%

83%

3,500

10,00013,00015,60012,100

22%

64%

83%

100%

78%

Marketing margins for the four fish processing study ranged from about 65 to 90 percent.
Prices offered to fishers represent only about 15-35 percent of the final retail prices but theconsumers have to add about 50-90 percent of the final fish prices. The highest prices are generally
added to the reddish sheatfish and giant snakehead. They are sold at the highest prices in the market.
These are connected to the demand preferences and the human behavior at the fish marketing.

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CONCLUSION
There were many fish species involved in the trade of both domestic market such as bronzefeatherback, chevron snakehead, boeseman croaker, asian bonytongue, clown featherback, silverbarb, giant snakehead, reddish sheatfish, frecklefin eel, blackspotted catfish, sickle fin barb, giant
barb, and peacock eel. Moreover, the price changed from each transaction. The main actors of the
supply chain of fishery product markets were the fishing lot owners, fishers, fish collectors,
wholesalers, trader/middleperson, and retailers. Therefore, the fish market channel was fromfishing lot/pond/cage owners to the consumers. The existing infrastructure of marketing and tradingof freshwater fisheries products was still poorly developed in terms of landing, storage, preserving,transportation, and retail facilities. The study described the market channel of the fish species inTonle Sap Great Lake and showed mostly the fish market transaction in which the fish value wasadded from hand to hand.
REFERENCES
Campbell, C.I., Poole, C., Giesen, W. and Jorgensen, V.J. 2006. Species diversity and ecology of Tonle Sap
Great Lake, Cambodia. Aquat. Sci. 68, 355-373.
Fisheries Administration 2009. Data of freshwater fish products in cooperation with the project. Freshwater
Fishing Management of Cambodia, Cambodia.
Tonle Sap Authority. 2010. Report of assessment on potential of Tonlé Sap Great Lake and surrounding area
as a master plan, Guideline map, Khmer version, Department of Bio-Diversity and Exploitation,
Cambodia.
Yim, C. and McKenney, B. 2003. Domestic fish trade, A case study of fish marketing from the Great Lake toPhnom Penh, Working paper 29, Cambodia Development Resource Institute, Cambodia.

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Research article
erd

Resilience of Rice-field and Mountain-based Native Beef
Cattle Raising: A Case Study in Nakhon Panom Province,
ThailandTHEERACHAI HAITOOK*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: theeha@kku.ac.th, pae-ait@hotmail.com

KRITAPON SOMMART
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

THEWIN VONGPRALUB
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

SURADEJ PHOLSEN
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

MONGKOL TAUON
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

WAREERAT PANNARAT
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Native beef cattle raising by small-scale farmers in the rural areas of Thailand isvulnerable to ecological, institutional and technological changes. Decrease of vulnerability
can be achieved by increasing resilience. The study of the resilience of rice field andmountain based native beef cattle raising in Nakhon Panom province, Thailand wastherefore conducted as a case study to assess the resiliency level of the system. A focusgroup workshop and survey were used in this study. Animals were raised in harvested
rice-fields and shifted to a free-grazing area in a forest-mountain area over the wet season.
The results indicated that the system was resilient. For this reason, it is felt that native-beefcattle raising in these two ecologies are sustainable. The resilience of the system can be
manifested into eight elements: 1) good governance among rural communities and nationalparks in terms of policy and cooperation; 2) socio-economic enhancement and a sound andsustainable livelihood; 3) well integrated natural food resources in the forest with abundantcrop residues and natural grasses in the rice field; 4) adaptation of land-use and the lesssignificant need to support the basic infrastructure; 5) sound orientation and awareness ofrisks in the system (therefore, risk reduction stems from the integration between
indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) and proper technology for herd management); 6)
farmers’   awareness   of   early   warning   signs   of   identified risks that alert them to prepare,protect and prevent the loss of animals; 7) well preparedness and undertaking ofprocedures established for animal protection such as diseases outbreak, heavy rain andsupporting networks; and 8) in-place plans of action for the recovery of food resources anda herd management plan. Improvement needed, farmers focus on value adding within
integration to husbandry practices and increasing an adaptation capacity for changes in the
future.
Keywords mountain, native beef cattle, resilience, rice-fieldⒸ ISERD

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INTRODUCTION
The native beef cattle production system in the northeast of Thailand, has played an important rolein the sustainable livelihood at household and community levels over the past century. The system
is a natural synergism of agriculture and the forest ecosystem. Rice cultivation is a major crop in
the region and is well integrated in the raising of native beef. Accordingly, changes in socioeconomics and the ecosystem have greatly affected production of native beef cattle. As a result, theproduction system has a resilience level which reflects sustainability (Adger, 2000). Adopting thetools to assess the level of resilience will assist the understanding of the system, further improving
and promoting production in the region. The aim of the study is then to assess the existingproduction system in the realm of ecosystems. Nakhon Panom province has been selected as thetarget ecosystem where native beef cattle are raised under natural conditions.
METHODOLOGY
Focus   group   is   composed   of   group’s   leaders   and   members   of   native   beef   cattle   raising,   mixed  gender with age of 40-70 years old. Discussions were held to assess the resilience of rice-field andmountain-forest beef cattle raising systems in the Nakae district of Nakhon Panom province. Dataand information were collected by application of the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tool,
integrating the modification guidelines from the Coastal Community Resilience (CCR) developedby the US Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (US-IOTWS, 2007). The eight basic elementsof CCR represent the desired conditions necessary to support resilience of the system. Eachelement contains benchmarks that can help determine the extent to which the element is addressedor operating to enhance resilience. The eight elements are: 1) governance, 2) society and economy,3) natural resource management, 4) land use and infrastructure, 5) risk knowledge, 6) early warning
system, 7) emergency response, and 8) recovery. Interviewees were asked to rate the level ofresilience for each element presented in the questionnaire. A rating score of 1-5 was provided,
where 1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = moderate, 4 = high, and 5 = very high. A weighted average index(WAI) is then calculated for each element and illustrated in the spider diagram as shown in Fig.1.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Characteristics of the ecosystem and overall resilience in the production system
The components of the studied ecosystem consist of a rice-field, which is adjacent to both amountain and a settlement. The rice field serves as a habitat, with available feeding resources, suchas straw, grass and drinking water in the dry season.

Fig. 1 The resilience diagram reflects resilience levels of native beef cattle raising in the ricefield and mountain forest-based system in Nakhon Panom province, Thailand (blueline)
Level of resilience: Low resilience (less than 3); resilience (equal to 3); and higher resilience (more than 3)Ⓒ ISERD

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The mountain location provides natural grass, plant leaves, forest fruit, medicinal herbs, anddrinking water. Resilience of the native beef cattle raising system in the component ecosystem is
illustrated in Fig.1. Every element has a WAI score greater than three. It clearly indicates that theoverall dimension of the production system is highly resilient. This reflects a system ofsustainability over the past century. The details of each element are described in the following
sections.
Governance of community-based, native beef cattle raising management
Good governance facilitates the consensus on development, responsibility, accountability andsuccessfulness. The main focus is on institutional context, as the study is initiated formally via
farming groups. The aim is to coordinate and strengthen the production system. The group has
cooperated within and has been linked closely to policies from the Provincial Department ofLivestock Development (DLD). The DLD supports technical services, including the developmentof in-place production plans and guidelines. Management and implementation of procedures wereclosely monitored by the committee. The group exhibited great cooperation with national parks
regarding conservation and utilization of forest resources. Forest use purposes were for either
native beef raising or sustainable household living. The community attempted to make significant
contributions to protect, conserve and rehabilitate the forest ecosystem.
Community-based socio-economics of native beef cattle rising
Socio-economics reflects the production  system’s  resilience  and  is  well  integrated  to  the  livelihood  of the community. Native beef cattle production is highly resilient in term of socio-economics andis adapted to both society and culture. The agricultural system of the study area, dominated withnative beef cattle, rice cultivation and non-timber forest production, has provided a sustainable
livelihood  for  more  than  a  century.  Regarding  beef  cattle  farming  today,  it  is  said  that  “native  beef  cattle   raises   the   farmer”   rather   than   the   cattle being raised by farmers. It is ranked second inimportance   after   the   paddy   field.   It   provides   security   as   the   community’s   food   source,   either  directly or indirectly; and a significant annual cash income. Additionally, cattle manure used as
fertilizer to sustain soil fertility (Pholsen, 2005) is an equally important by-product. Normally,
native beef cattle are ready to be sold when they return from the mountain-forest. One to two headof cattle per farmer are expected to be sold, at either a community event or outside market. Due tolow production costs, farmers may decide not to sell their cattle if the price is too low or experiencea high demand to sell, when prices are high. They normally decide to keep the herd though
maintaining the herd size is not cost effective.
Community-based natural resources management for native beef cattle
Overall community-based forest resource management reflects the high resiliency for sustainabilityof the beef raising system. In the study area, farmers allow the native beef cattle to graze for six
months in the mountain-forest during the rainy season, and six months in the post harvest ricefields surrounding the village in the dry season. This is the normal practice for the typical
combination of two ecosystems. As previously reported (Duanyai, 2009), the switching of the two
ecosystems was due to insufficient feeding resources in the mountains and unavailable grazing land
during rice cultivation. Natural resources in the ecosystem are considered to be most important forbeef cattle raising. In general, natural resources are well protected and monitored by communities,
local government and national parks. These communities demonstrate strong leadership in terms ofconservation and forest resource management, with national parks and other stakeholders. The
greatest reduction in beef cattle capacity is due to the prohibition of the use of rice fields
surrounding the village and/or national parks. The number of cattle may be reduced to only one
from ten in proportion. This reflects the importance of the rice-field ecosystem for the production
system. The sensitivity of habitats, ecosystems and natural resources are protected and maintained
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encroachments. Communities are actively engaged in planning and implementing forest
management activities, which are well integrated to their livelihoods.
Community-based land use and infrastructure for raising native beef cattle
Communities expressed a high resilience for the land use system. They have established measuresthat reduce the risks from forest fires and other hazards that negatively impact their livelihood andbeef cattle raising in the long term. In general, communities have incorporated a better
infrastructure in raising native beef cattle, such as creating a reservoir or canal to supply water tothe rice fields. This serves agricultural activity in the dry season, enhances household income, andincreases the security of beef cattle raising. Other infrastructures in the community are maintainedsuch as a tap-water supply pipe, road accessibility, a broadcasting system, and effective mobilephone communications. Therefore, marketing systems for beef cattle are well established between
merchants and farmers regarding both the exchange of information and the sale of cattle. An
equally important infrastructure is the servicing network of animal production from the DLD. The
establishment of livestock volunteers in the community link villages for the purpose of disease
prevention and other services.
Risk knowledge and mitigation measures on native beef cattle raising
Communities are aware of the risks and hazards that affect beef cattle raising, as seen in Table 1.
The table shows all possible risk factors affecting the different levels of the native beef production
system  in  the  study’s  two  combination  ecosystems.  The  highest  risk  factors  (scoring  7-10) show theunavailability of food resources in the mountains, rice straw in the rice fields, capital for firstinvestment, and prohibition from national parks. Most risk factors are reduced via proper
mitigation   measures.   This   knowledge   has   been   integrated   into   the   community’s   livelihoods   by  means of both formally and informally exchanging information related to activities learned fromthe past. Other minor hazards are fever, injury, and lesions and/or wounds due to scratching in theforest. Disease outbreaks are a major hazard risk that can heavily affect the loss of cattle
nationwide. However, mitigation measures provided regular vaccinations for cattle prior to placing
them in mountain-forest areas. And, while forest fires in the dry season damage natural mountaingrasses, fires in successive seasons may permanently damage natural grass, affecting native beef
cattle raising in the rainy seasons as well. The measure to protect forest fires in the dry season has
been taken with the cooperation of national parks., conducting preparedness to protect forest-fires
in the dry season. In the rainy season, the hazard risk is at low level. Therefore, market pricefluctuation is generally less affected, due to the existence of more marketing channels and seasonal
summer events; such as marriages and festivals. Improving the quality of native beef meat byfattening is unfavorable among Thai farmers, as the return from the fattened beef is not
significantly higher than from natural raising. It therefore leads to higher risk from increased
investment.
Community-based early warning system for native beef raising
Effective warning mechanisms and understanding early warning messages helps to reduce the lossof   beef   cattle.   Since   farmers’   awareness   of   hazards   and   information   of   risks,   including   their  accessible capacity of cattle, provide a better herd management and advance preparedness in
reducing the loss of animals. For enhancing a faster recovery of the production system, thecommunity has established a communication network within the community, DLD, national parks,
and beef cattle merchants. These networks facilitate a better flow of information for vulnerable
beef cattle rising activities, such as any unidentified causes of death, diseases outbreaks, andgovernment policies related to the DLD, agriculture and national parks, as well as market price andsupply and demand within the local area. The community has various teams to monitor the native
beef cattle activity in the mountain-forest area. Any cause for alarm will reach the cattle ownerwithin a few hours so that they can respond swiftly.
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Table 1 Risk factors affecting native beef cattle raising, from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest)
Risk Factors

Rankof
Impact1. No community person fortreatment of traditional
disease
2. Impact due to suddenchange of season
3. Less food resources in theforest-mountain
4. Onset of disease outbreak

5

5. Risk from lack of skill in
new farmers

2

6. Fluctuation on price ofbeef cattle
7. Unavailability of native
beef market

2

8. Unavailability ofconcentrated feed
9. Unavailability of rice straw

1
10

10. Unavailability of capital10

11. Risk from type of current
breed of cattle

1

12. Fattening program fornative beef cattle
13. Hybrid Brahman beef
cattle.
14. Prohibition from nationalparks
15. Unavailability of rice
fields surrounding thecommunity
16. Accidents causing death.
17. Onset of forest fire

6

1
8
4

1

4
7
9
<1
9

18. Unavailability of village
livestock volunteers
19. Unavailability of groups

3

20. Unavailable DLD Officers

65

Description and Mitigation Measures
Number of farmers will be decreased about 50% as they are
unsure of the survival of cattle in the forest-mountains due tolack of services for sick or injured cattle
No effect on native beef cattle, as they have a high capacity
for adapting to the change of weather
Without food resources in the forest-mountain, it is of no use
to raise native beef cattle in the forest-mountain
Available volunteers service at the right time of disease
outbreakAnyone can start raising 1-2 head of cattle without knowledge
background, due to husbandry techniques based on indigenous
technical knowledge, transferred from generation to
generation
Low production costs and low risks. Farmers can continue
raising them until the price is better
It can be sold at farm-gate by local merchants or thru thecommunity’s   consumers   mostly   through   local   events   and  festivals.
It is unnecessary for native beef cattle. It is needed for theskinny beef. Fattening is unnecessary
It is the major feed resource. Farmers reserves rice-straw athome sufficiently throughout the dry season and partly in wet
seasonNecessary for starting the business. But it is not considered asa riskThe native breed is the most suitable to the natural resourcesand environment. It has high tolerance to weather, insects,
parasites and diseases, therefore adapting to the low quality of
feed resources
Fattening programs are a risk, considered unnecessary
because prices are insignificant to normal raising beef cattle
Low adaptation capacity and low reproductive performance.
A high effect, especially in the rainy season, when insufficient
rice straw may reduce the numbers of beef cattle around 70%
Significantly affect the long term, as rice fields provide year
round resources, which may be reduced around 90% of thecurrent total
Less effect to the number of cattle, as it is rarely happens
Complete damage to the natural grass in the forest, for 1-2
years.
Important in providing services, but has little effect to the herdsize.
For better coordination among members and otherorganizations
Lack of support for disease prevention and for emergency care

Mitigation, preparedness and emergency response for native beef cattle raising
Proper actions taken to reduce the loss of animals, enhance the resilience of the production system.
Farmers are experienced in emergency response procedures to prevent the loss of animal life in the
production system. Many emergency cases such as cattle fever, injury and wound require special
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emergency response to such cases, as well as right-time artificial insemination, and search andrescue of missing cattle. This includes accessibility to Provincial DLD for all emergency cases. In
the area of risk management, and in the case of cattle evacuation or relocation; the shorter-route
will be taken. That is to say, that the owner would decide to slaughter the animal rather than moveit. Well preparedness and mitigation measures provide shelter from changing weather, andsafeguard the welfare of the beef cattle; including guarding and monitoring the herd and populationof cattle in forest-mountain areas.
Community-based native beef cattle raising recovery
The collapse of raising systems may be caused by various risk factors. The advance collaborationof related organizations would reduce risks from policy changing. However, this rarely takes place,due to the current policies of the DLD and national parks as well as community-based participationand co-management for forest protection, conservation, and utilization. Therefore, government
policies are in place for damage compensation due to the loss of an animal from disasters, drought,
flood, storm, and thunderstorms. The subsidies have been undertaken by local authorities, andprovincial disaster prevention and mitigation through the Ministry of Interior. Thus, groups ofnative beef cattle raising farmers were formed to support the recovery function, especially in theloaning of feed resources and coordination support. Hence, social cohesion and strong leadershipamong groups have encouraged adaptation to change and facilitated a rapid product system
recovery.
Challenge and sustainable development
The results of this study of the native beef raising system in a dual combination ecosystem reflect a
synergism between man, native beef cattle and the ecosystems. It is agreed that ecosystems are themost vital component of the production system. A change in the ecosystem due to policies,
technology, and damage caused by man-made or natural disasters, have a severe effect on animalhusbandry. This has been clearly realized by stakeholders in the area. Native beef cattle adapt innature with the abundance of natural resources in the ecosystem. Management adapts theIndigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) integrated with new technology. This approach facilitates
unsophisticated adoption and enhances the resilience of the production system. Sustainability of
production systems is strengthened through concrete plans for conservation and rehabilitation of
the two ecosystems, with a proper utilization of natural resources and proper land-use planning.
Establishments of beef cattle raising group can promote self reliance. Strengthening the capacities
is crucial via training courses, technical advisement, encouraging the development of planned,
assistance in implementing, following-up, and evaluating the successfulness of the program.
CONCLUSION
Native beef cattle raising in the two ecosystems is a highly resilient system. Vulnerability of the
production system is reduced from various mitigation measures undertaken to sustain the
production system. It is recommended that the sustainability of native beef cattle can be enhanced
via maintaining the ecosystems and increasing the capacity of stakeholders in conservation practiceand proper utilization of natural resources and land-use planning.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to give thanks to the Northeastern Agricultural Research and Development
Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University for the funding support. Sincere thanks to
the Nakhon Panom Department of Livestock Development and group of native beef cattle raising
farmers in supporting valuable information of the native beef cattle production system.

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REFERENCES
Adger, N.W. 2000. Social and ecological resilience: Are they related? Progress in Human Geography, 24 (3),347-364.
Duanyai, S. 2009. Natural beef production: Carcass and meat quality.  Kingmongkut’s   Agricultural   Journal,  28 (2), 9-16.
Pholsen, S., Lowilai, P. and Sai-ngarm, Y. 2005. Effects of urea and cattle manure on yield and quality ofsignal grass (Brachiaria decumbens Stapf. cv. Basilisk) in northeast Thailand. Pakistan Journal of
Biological Science. 8,1192-1999.
US-IOTWS 2007. How resilient is your coastal community? A Guide for Evaluating Coastal Community
Resilience to Tsunamis and Other Coastal Hazzards, IOTWS Program. Bangkok, Thailand.

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Research article
erd

Estimated Maximum Daily Intake of Streptomycin Residue
in Pork Consumed by Age and Gender Groups in thePhilippines
VENN VUTEY*
Faculty of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom
Penh, Cambodia
Email: vennvutey@gmail.com

LOINDA R. BALDIAS
CVM-UPLB, Philippines

BILLY P. DIVINA
CVM-UPLB, Philippines

RIO JOHN T. DUCUSIN
Chair of Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, CVM-UPLB, Philippines
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 7 February 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Dietary intake of significant amounts of residues can lead to adverse healtheffects and the development of antimicrobial resistance in the population. This study was
conducted to determine dietary intake of antibiotic drug residues in pork consumed in thePhilippines. The specific aim was to estimate maximum daily intake of streptomycin
residue (EMDISTC) by age and gender groups. Parameters such as maximum residue limits(MRL), 90th percentile food consumption, body weight, age and gender groups weregathered from local and international institutions. A mathematical equation was used to
calculate EMDISTC from MRL multiplied by the 90th percentile food consumption andadjusted by body weight. In the present study, the EMDISTC for infants from birth to lessthan 12 months of age had the highest intake ratio of streptomycin residue followed bychildren, adolescents and adults where males were significantly higher than females(p<0.05). Based on the findings of the present study, it is concluded that streptomycin
detected in pork affects infants from birth to less than 12 months that are more likely to
consume it and more vulnerable due to physical activity. This is the first attempt toestimate dietary intake of antibiotic residues in the Philippines. Improvement ofmathematical models used in this study is proposed to prioritize better models forveterinary drug residues to ensure the safety of food produced from farm to table.
Keywords: dietary intake, pork, antibiotic residue, age-gender group, Philippines

INTRODUCTION
Food needs to be consumed for maintenance of human functions. Food has to be safe for humanconsumption. Food safety is imperative for the development and maintenance of a healthy
population (Titus, 2007). Consequently, health effects and safety aspects of food are important
issues   for   today’s   consumers.  There   are   increasing   public   health  concerns  that   drug   residues   and  their metabolites could be found in meat and other foods of animal origin may and cause adverse
effects  on  consumers’  health  (EFSA,  2007).
Through time livestock production has evolved from small scale to large scale integrative
farming (NMIS, 2006). This required the increased use of veterinary drugs. These are used to cureor prevent diseases in animals, to increase feed efficiency or growth rate, and to sedate animals inorder to minimize the effect of stress (Botsoglou and Flatouris, 2001; Doyle, 2006). With theⒸ ISERD

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widespread use of veterinary drugs in animal production, there is global concern about theconsumption of foods of animal origin that may contain residues and their possible adverse effects
on human health (Huss et al., 2004). For instance, with the use of antimicrobials in animal
production, there is a possibility for the creation of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in animals that
may be transferred to man (FSIS, 2000; Doyle, 2006). Boden (2005) cited that drug residues infood   are   regarded   as   very   important   from   the   public  health’s   point   of   view.   Moreover, there has
been concern about carryover of veterinary drug residues in meat, eggs, and milk to people
consuming these foods (Botsoglou and Flatouris, 2001; Doyle, 2006). Potential hazards associatedwith the presence of veterinary drug residues in edible tissues have been reported to cause toxic orallergic reactions, anaphylactic reactions, headache, and severe aplastic anaemia (WHO, 1999;
Kelly, 2005).
Thorough literature search revealed no available study on estimated antibiotic drug residues inpork consumed using mathematical equations in the Philippines. With the increase in reports ofoccurrence of risk of veterinary drug residues in foods of animal origin in the last two decades(Health Canada, 2003a, Sumner et al., 2004), there is a strong need to study dietary intake ofveterinary drug residues. To date, there is no local study conducted on the prediction for residual
antibiotics in the Philippines. Thus, this study aims to derive an estimated maximum daily intake of
streptomycin residues in pork consumed by age and gender groups in the Philippines.
The overall objective of the study is to determine dietary intake of antibiotic drug residues inpork consumed in the Philippines. The specific aim is to estimate maximum daily intake of
streptomycin residue by age and gender groups.
METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted using secondary data collected from local and international institutions
for estimating EMDI (estimated maximum daily intake). For instance, local data like the report onveterinary drug residue (2003-2008) from National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS),
recommendation on Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) published by the Bureau of Aquaculture
Fisheries and Product Standard (BAFPS), the report of Food Consumption Survey in 2003 andRecommended Energy and Nutrient Intake in 2002 published by Food and Nutrition ResearchInstitute (FNRI), and the development of antimicrobial resistance from Research Institute forTropical Medicine (RITM). International data came from Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC)
on amount of antibiotic drug residues, the procedural guidelines on residues of veterinary drugs infood from JECFA, and from an updated report of the 32nd session of the Codex Veterinary Drug
Residues in Food 2009.
EMDI modelling combines MRL data with 90th percentile food consumption data and bodyweight factor to estimate EMDI. The basic EMDI model is of the form:
EMDI = [MRL X 90th percentile food consumption] ÷ weight factor
where EMDI is an estimate of drug residue intake expressed in µg/kg BW/day.
RESULTS
Streptomycin is active against a wide range of gram-negative organisms and some gram-positive
pathogens in pigs, cattle and sheep. Streptomycin was evaluated by the Codex Committee at its 12 th
meeting in 1969, 43rd meeting in November 1994, 48th meeting in 1998, report of the 11th session of
the Codex Committee on residues of veterinary drugs in food in September 1998 and updated as of
the 32nd session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in July 2009. The committee proposed atemporary  MRL’s  for  streptomycin  at  600  µg/kg  (muscle,  liver,  fat).
The reference weight for adults, 59 kg for males and 51 kg for females, and the average
weight in the Philippines, 55 kg (FNRI, 2003) as well as the 90 th percentile food consumption percapita in the Philippines and three islands are shown in Table 1.

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Table 1 Mean one-day per capita pork consumption (gram, raw, as purchased) 2003
food consumption survey
Fresh Meat
Pork
Mean
95% Cl
P90

Philippines

Luzon

VisayasMindanao

31.80
31.76, 31.83
108.2139.89
39.84, 39.93
127.31

23.07
23.01, 23.14
88.50

18.24
18.19, 18.30
57.29

Source: FNRI, 2003

However, the weight difference between age groups: infants, adolescents, adults and older; the90 percentile food consumption per capita; and average weights in the Philippines were calculatedusing Eq. (1) below.
th

The 90th percentile food consumption difference age groups = [average weight difference agegroups × the 90th percentile food consumption per capita in the Philippines] ÷ average weights
in the Philippines(1)
Using Eq. (1), the 90th percentile food consumption different age groups was calculated
separately by ages (infants, children, adolescents, and adults), gender, average weights in different
age groups, and average weight in the Philippines. A summary for computation of the 90th
percentile food consumption in the Philippines is shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Summary of 90th percentile pork consumption per capita by age group and average
weight in the Philippines, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
Weight(kg)

Philippines
(g)

Luzon
(g)

Visayas(g)

Mindanao(g)Birth- <6 (3)
6-<12 (9)

6
9

12
18

14
21

10
15

6
9

1-3 (2.5)
4-6 (5.5)
7-9 (8.5)

1
19
24

26
37
47

30
44
55

21
31
39

13
20
25

10-12 (11.5)
13-15 (14.5)
16-18 (17.5)

34
50
58

67
98
114

79
115
134

55
81
94

35
52
60

10-12 (11.5)
13-15 (14.5)
16-18 (17.5)

35
49
50

69
96
98

81
113
115

57
79
81

36
51
52

19-49
50-64
65 and over

59
59
59

116
116
116

136
136
136

95
95
95

61
61
61

19-49
50-64
65 and over

51
51
51

100
100
100

118
118
118

83
83
83

53
53
53

Age Groups
1. Infants, mo

2. Children, y

3. Adolescents, males, y

4. Adolescents, females, y

5. Adults, males, y

6. Adults, females, yEq. (2) was used to calculate the EMDI of streptomycin residues by adaptation from the valueof Eq. (1) then multipled by MRL muscle tissue and adjusted by weight factor as recommended byⒸ ISERD

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Codex committee and Philippines National Standard. Then comparison of estimates of
streptomycin residues intake was computed.
EMDISTC= [MRL × the 90th percentile food consumption difference age groups] ÷ average
weights differences age groups(2)
Table 3 summarizes the EMDI of streptomycin residue for all locations. Particulars for thecomputation of EMDI of streptomycin residue in the Philippines, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
are shown in Appendix B Tables 2 to 5 (Venn et al., 2010).
Table 3 Summary of EMDI of streptomycin residue intake of fresh pork in the Philippines,
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
Age Groups

Philippines(µg/kgBW/day)Luzon(µg/kgBW/day)Visayas(µg/kgBW/day)Mindanao(µg/kgBW/day)Birth- <6 (3)
6-<12 (9)Average1.20001.20001.20001.40001.40001.40001.00001.00001.00000.60000.60000.60001-3 (2.5)
4-6 (5.5)
7-9 (8.5)
Average
Adolescents, Males, y10-12 (11.5)
13-15 (14.5)
16-18 (17.5)

1.20001.1684
1.17501.18111.38461.3894
1.37501.38300.96920.97890.97500.97430.60000.63150.62500.61881.1823
1.17601.1793

1.39411.38001.38620.97050.97200.97240.61760.62400.6206Adolescents, Females, y10-12 (11.5)
13-15 (14.5)
16-18 (17.5)

1.18281.1755
1.17601.38851.38361.38000.9771
0.96730.97200.61710.62440.6240

Average

1.17861.1854

0.97180.6212

1.1796
1.1796
1.17961.38301.38301.38300.96610.96610.96610.62030.62030.620319-49
50-64
65 and over

1.1764
1.1764
1.1764

1.3882
1.3882
1.3882

0.9764
0.9764
0.97640.62350.62350.6235

Average

1.17801.1856

0.97120.6219

Infants, moChildren, yAdults, males, y
19-49
50-64
65 and over
Adults, females, yFig. 1 shows that EMDI of streptomycin residues for infants is 1.2 µg/kg BW/day from birth
to less than 12 months of age. 1.2 µg/kg BW/day was calculated as 600 µg/kg of MRL multipliedby 90th percentile food consumption infant of 0.012 kg divided by the average weight of infant at 6kg. It is equivalent to children from one to three years of age. In general, infants had consumed
more streptomycin residues than children (1.1811 µg/kg BW/day) followed by adolescents (1.1786µg/kg BW/day) and adults (1.1780µg/kg BW/day). Moreover, EMDI for males was significantly
higher than that for females (p<0.05).

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Fig. 1 Estimated maximum daily intake of streptomycin residue for females and males
from different age and weight groups in the Philippines
DISCUSSION
Prediction of EMDI of streptomycin residues from dietary intake of pork using a stepwise approachis a step forward to provide an estimate potential exposure of the population. Hence, analysis of
EMDI found that infants from birth to less than 12 months of age had the highest intake of
streptomycin residue in the Philippines, followed by children, adolescents and adults.
A similar study on the exposure assessment of chemical from packaging materials in food byPocas and Hogg (2007) mentioned that food consumption by infants and small children is muchhigher, based on the body weight, than by conventional adult model of 1 kgfood/60 kg BW. In
addition, infants and children, because of their higher food consumption rates per kg BW, weregenerally expected to have a higher dietary daily intake of substances (Kroes et al., 2002). However,
the assessment on dietary Melamine exposure, Xu et al. (2009) reported that infants of threemonths old had the highest intake estimate of melamine and with the increase in age, the intake
decreased. Another example was conducted on dietary exposure to copper in the European Union.
Steve (2008) reported that in most studies in EU member states, age and sex differences were more
apparent than regional differences. Young and middle-aged adults have higher mean intake thanelderly or very elderly.
CONCLUSION
Based on findings of the present study, streptomycin residue have been detected in pork whichinfants from birth to less than 12 months are more exposed to and more at risk, because of theirhigher food consumption rates per kg of body weight, and they are generally expected to have ahigher exposure level due to physical activity.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTSFirst, my thanks go to Veterinary Drug Residue Section of NMIS, Quezon City Philippines forallow using the new report of veterinary drug residue monitoring program and laboratory
technicians of this study. I am thankful to Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program Team of
RITM and National Epidemiology Centre, Muntinlupa City, Philippines. I also wish to thank Foodof Nutrition Research Institute Team, who has given the 2003 food consumption survey andpercentile data released of fresh pork in the Philippines and RENI-FNRI-DOST, Metro Manila,
Philippines.
REFERENCES
Boden, E. 2005. Black’s  Veterinary  Dictionary,  21st edition.
Botsoglou, N., and Fletouris, D. 2001. Drug residues in foods. Pharmacology, Food Safety, and Analysis,
Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
CAC. 1999. Procedural manual, tenth edition, Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1997. Definitions for "risk management" and "riskcommunication" were adopted as revised texts at the twenty-third session of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission.
Doyle, E. 2006. Veterinary drug residues in processed meats-potential health risk. A review of the scientific
literature. Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
EFSA. 2007. Annual EU pesticide residues monitoring report. The European Food Safety Authority.
FSIS. 2000. Blue Book. 2000. FSIS National Residue Program. Food Safety and Institution Service, USDA.
Huss, H., Ababouch, L., and Gram, L. 2004. Assurance of seafood quality. Danish Institute for Fisheries.
Research Department of Seafood Research. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States,
Rome, Italy.
Kroes, R., Muller, D., Lambe, J., Lowik, M., van Klaveren, J., Kleiner, J., Massey, R., Mayer, S., Urieta, I.,
Verger, P. and Visconti, A. 2002. Assessment of intake from the diet. Food and Chemical Toxicology.
40, 327-85.
Kelly, L. 2005. Risk analysis framework. Risk analysis, application to chemicals. Food Standards Australia
and New Zealand.
FNRI. 2003. Food consumption survey. Food and Nutrition Research Institute. Philippines.
Health Canada. 2003. Setting standards for maximum residue limits (MRLs) of veterinary drugs used infood-producing animals. Ontario, Canada.
NMIS. 2009. Veterinary Drug Residue Monitoring Program. Veterinary Drug Residue Section, Laboratory
Services Division, National Meat Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture, Philippines.
Pocas, M. and Hogg, T. 2007. Exposure assessment of chemicals from packaging materials.
RITM. 2009. The report on antimicrobial resistant surveillance program. Research Institute for Tropical
Medicine. Philippines.
Steve, J.C. 2008. Background paper on dietary exposure assessment. Prepared for the WHO Expert Meetingon Toxicological and Health Aspects of Melamine and Cyanuric Acid. Geneva.
Sumner, J., Ross, T., and Ababouch, L. 2004. Application of risk assessment in the fish industry. Fisheries
technical paper, 442. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy.
Titus, S. 2007. A NOEL model developed for quantitative microbial risk assessment in the pork food chain.
A dissertation of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Venn, V., Loinda, R.B., Billy P.D., and RioJohn T.D. 2010. Dietary exposure assessment of antibiotic
residues in pork consumed in the Philippines. MVM thesis. 199.
WHO. 1999. Joint FAO/NACA/WHO study group on food safety issues associated with products fromaquaculture. WHO Technical Report Series No. 883. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Dong, Z., Li N., Wang Z.T., Zho Y.F., Wu Y.N., and Yan W.X. 2009. Assessment on dietary melanine
exposure from tainted infant formula. 100-103.

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Research article
erd

Diversity and Community Structure of Terrestrial
Invertebrates in an Irrigated Rice Ecosystem
DUANGRAT THONGPHAK*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand,E-mail: duathg@kku.ac.th

KHWUNCHANOK PROMDEESAN
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

CHONLADA HANLAOEDRIT
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Received 18 December 2011

Accepted 12 March 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Diversity and community structure of terrestrial invertebrates in rice ecosystems
were studied in rice fields under irrigated condition from January to April 2011. The
research revealed that terrestrial invertebrate fauna comprised 84 species of insects in 72
families and 10 orders. Arachnids are the most abundant with 18 species in 10 families,
amounting to a total of 102 terrestrial invertebrate species from irrigated rice ecosystem inKhon Kaen. The majority of insects belonged to Order Hymenoptera (29 species) followedby Homoptera (15 species), Coleoptera (11 species) and Diptera   (9 species). The
community structure of terrestrial invertebrates consisted of natural enemies (70 species)
followed by insect pest (26 species), insect visitor (5 species) and scavenger (2 species).
Keywords terrestrial invertebrate, irrigated rice ecosystem, community structure

INTRODUCTION
Irrigated rice fields are managed as wetland ecosystems that operate on a short temporal scale andprovide a rich diversity of organisms (Heckman, 1979). The system is dominated by micro, meso
and macro invertebrates (especially arthropods) inhabiting the soil, water and vegetation subhabitats of the rice fields. The terrestrial arthropod community in rice fields mainly consists ofinsects and spiders. The occurrence of terrestrial arthropods in a rice ecosystem is mainly
influenced by the rice plants. The different communities of terrestrial arthropods in the rice field
include rice pests, their natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) and other non-rice pest insects
that inhabit or visit the vegetation. The composition of the arthropod communities is known tochange with the growth of the rice crop (Heong et al., 1991). Dale (1994) stated on over 800
species of insects damaging the rice plant. There are only a few studies that examine the overallterrestrial arthropod community in rice fields. Heong et al., (1991) and Schoenly et al., (1995)
studies carried out in the Philippines provide an insight into the arthropod communities and theirguild structure in irrigated rice fields. In Thailand, studies on terrestrial arthropods in rice fields are
confined to surveys documenting the distribution of major rice insect pests and their natural
enemies (Ruay-aree, 1994) while no attempts have been made to document the structure anddiversity of terrestrial arthropod communities in rice fields. Such a study carried out oversuccessive rice cultivation cycles would provide useful information for the development ofeffective and safe integrated rice pest management strategies.
The objective of this study was to determine the contribution of the terrestrial arthropod
community to the irrigated rice field ecosystem.

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METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted at conventional irrigated rice fields in Khon Kaen province, Muang
district, located in the northeastern region of Thailand. Photoperiod-insensitive variety Pitsanulok2
was used. Sampling of the terrestrial arthropod community was conducted to determine species
composition using standard sweeping net. This was done at fortnightly intervals after planting,from January to April of 2011. Specimens were collected from 20 sweeps per replication and were
sorted and counted later in the laboratory. They were divided into different insect and spider taxa
and counted.
The insects and spiders collected from the rice fields were identified and classified into thesmallest possible taxa using available keys and guides for the different taxa. Barrion and Litsinger(1994) study was used as a reference for rice pests, their predators and parasitoids. The Araneae
were identified using Barrion and Litsinger (1995). Following the identification of the terrestrial
arthropods collected from the rice habitats, they were assigned to guilds according to Moran andSouthwood (1982) and Heong et al., (1991). These guilds were based on feeding habits andincluded phytophages (rice pests and non-rice pest visitors), predators, parasitoids and scavengers
decomposers.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A total of 102 arthropod species were recorded from the irrigated rice field during the study. A
terrestrial arthropod fauna comprising 84 species of insects that belongs to 72 families and 10
orders, and 18 species of arachnids in 10 families. The majority of the insect species documented
from the studied rice field belonged to the order Hymenoptera (29 species in 18 families),
dominated by the family Braconidae and Ichneumonidae (Fig.1). The second largest insect order
recorded was Homoptera, consisted of 19 species, in 5 families, dominated by the family
Cicadellidae (14 spp.). Coleoptera was the third largest insect order, with 13 species in 11 families.
Coccinellidae and Bruchidae were dominant among the Coleoptera. In order Diptera, 9 species
were identified in 20 families. Order Hemiptera included 9 species in 7 families. The hemipterans
were dominated by family Reduviidae (2 species) and Miridae (2 species). The Odonata included 2
species in 2 families. The Orthoptera included 3 species identified in 4 families. The Lepidoptera
included 3 species in 3 families. The remaining 2 insect orders (Neuroptera and Thysanura)
included one specy each. The Arachnids consisted of 18 species of Araneae (spiders) in 10 families.
Amongst the spiders, family Araneidae had the highest number of species (4 spp.) followed by thefamily Theridiidae (3 spp.).
Terrestrial arthropods recorded from the rice ecosystem were assigned to guilds based on food
habits of the species. Accordingly, five arthropod guilds were identified. The majority of thesearthropods were predators (36 spp.) (Table 1), where spiders were the dominant predatory groupwith 18 species followed by Hemiptera with 5 species, Coleoptera and Diptera with 4 species each.
From the 5 species identified, all of them were visitors and non rice pest insects that wereassociated with weeds in the rice field. The visitor guild was dominated by Coleoptera (3 spp.)
followed by Diptera and Lepidoptera with 2 species each. The phytophagous insects comprised 26
species of rice pests represented by sap feeders, leaf feeders, stem feeders and root feeders (Table1). Homopterans (15 spp.) were the dominant phytophagous pest group, closely followed byhemipterans pests (2 spp.). The parasitoid guild comprised 32 species of insects being dominatedby hymenopterans (30 spp.). The scavenger/decomposer guild contained the fewest number of
species, dominated by the order Diptera and Coleoptera with one species each. The overall species
composition reflects a high richness of arthropod natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) in
relation to the rice insect pests, where the natural enemy to pest ratio is 2.8:1. A majority of theparasitoids recorded attack rice insect pests.
This study highlights the richness of the terrestrial arthropod fauna associated with an irrigatedrice field ecosystem in Khon Kaen province. The terrestrial arthropod fauna comprising 102
species was recorded during the present study. The study also reflects the importance and the role
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of one single group of insects; the Order Hymenoptera with the largest number of species
represented almost entirely by beneficial insects including natural enemies of paddy pest insects
and pollinators. The richness of the predatory spider fauna inhabiting the rice fields is evident fromtheir species composition, abundance and distribution within the rice ecosystem.

Thysanoptera
Orthoptera
Odonata

Arthropod Order

Neuroptera
Lepidoptera
Hymenoptera
Homoptera
Hemiptera
Coleoptera
DipteraAraneae
0

5

10

15

20

25

30

No. of spp. families

35
Species

FamilyFig. 1 Species composition and taxonomy of arthropods in irrigated rice ecosystem, at Khon
Kaen province documented from January to April of 2011.
Table 1 Number of terrestrial arthropod in difference guilds in the rice habitat based on
sweep net collection
Guild

Phytophagous
Rice Pests

Visitors(non-rice
pests)

Predators

Parasitoids

Order
SF
DFM
SB
RF
Araneae18
Coleoptera
1234Diptera1
1
2
3
1
Hemiptera2
5
Homoptera
15
Hymenoptera
529
Lepidoptera22
Neuroptera
1
Odonata2
Orthoptera
2
1
2
Thysanoptera
1
Total
18
5
1
2
5
45
30
Note: Pests: SF – Sap feeders; DFM – Defoliators/miners; SB – Stem borers; RF – Root feeders

Scavengers/
decomposers

1
2
3

The guild structure of the arthropod fauna further emphasizes the importance of the predators(36 spp.) and parasitoids (32 spp.) that outnumbered the phytophagous rice pests (26 spp.). Thus,Ⓒ ISERD

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the natural enemies accounted for 70.8 % of all the terrestrial arthropod taxa collected. The
composition of the rice field arthropod fauna, while highlighting the high biodiversity in a
monoculture crop, confirms the long term stability of the rice agroecosystem in respect to pests andnatural enemies. As is evident from the present study, the significant positive relationships between
the pest insects and their natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) exhibit the natural balance thatexists among arthropod guilds in the rice field ecosystem. A high species richness among arthropod
natural enemies in rice ecosystems has been observed by previous researchers as well (Heong et al.,1991).
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the composition and structure of the arthropod communities in an irrigated rice
ecosystem in Khon Kaen was classified, which order Hymenoptera (29 species) was dominantfollowed by Homoptera (15 spp), Coleoptera (11 spp), and Diptera   (9 spp). The community
structure of terrestrial invertebrates consisted of natural enemies (70 spp) followed by insect pests(26 spp), insect visitors (5 spp) and scavengers (2 spp). The findings highlight the existence ofstable relationships between the rice insect pests and their arthropod natural enemies, underminimal biocide application. The population of arthropod natural enemies in rice fields could beconserved and enhanced through the maintenance of a rich weed flora during the fallow period,
management of weed communities on the bunds through partial slashing and by minimal use of
biocides when needed, to avoid economic damage by specific insect pests.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research project is partially supported by the research project funding 2010, Khon Kaen
University.
REFERENCES
Barrion, A.T. and Litsinger, J.A. 1994. Taxonomy of rice insect pests and their arthropod parasites andpredators. Biology and Management of Rice Insects, 13-362.
Barrion, A.T. and Litsinger, J.A. 1995. Riceland spiders of South and South-East Asia. CAB International,
UK & IRRI, Philippines.
Dale, D. 1994. Insect pests of the rice plant. Their biology and ecology. Biology and Management of Rice
Insects, 363-487.
Heckman, C.W. 1979. Rice field ecology in north east Thailand. Monogr. Biol. 34, 228.
Heong K L., Aquino, G.B. and Barrion, A.T. 1991. Arthropod community structures of rice ecosystems in
the Philippines. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 81, 407-416.
Moran, V.C. and Southwood T.R.E. 1982. The guild composition of arthropod communities in trees. Journalof Animal Ecology, 51, 289-306.
Ruay-aree, S. and Sa-nguansaj, T. 1994. Study on the seasonal occurrence of major rice insect pests on
recommended rice varieties. Thai Agricultural Research Journal, 12(1), 4-15.
Schoenly, K., Cohen, J.E., Heong, K.L., Litsinger, J A., Aquino, G.B., Barrion, A.T. and Arida, G. 1996.
Food web dynamics of irrigated rice fields at five elevations in Luzon, Philippines. Bulletin of
Entomological Research, 86 (4), 451-460.

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Research article
erd

Assessment of Farmer’s  Satisfaction and Preference Using
Improved Rice Varieties in the Southern Lao PDR
INPONG SILIPHOUTHONE*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: inpong007@gmail.com

YUPA HANBOONSONG AND KRAILERT TAWEEKUL
Faculty of Agriculture,Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Received 18 December 2011

Accepted 12 March 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Since 1993, more than 21 improved rice varieties have been released to Lao
farmers.    However,  there  is  no  study  conducted  yet  on  farmer’s  satisfaction  on  the  use  of  improved rice varieties. Hence, the purposes of this study were to 1) evaluate the level offarmer’s  satisfaction  on  using  improved  rice  varieties;;  and  2)  farmer’s  preferences  on  rice  characteristics. Purposive and simple random samplings were used to select the samples.
Intervals   mean   score   was   used   to   measure   the   level   of   farmer’s   satisfaction.   The   target
population was farmers who have grown rice under irrigated and rainfed conditions in thelowland areas. A total of 118 farming households in the rice producing areas of
Savannakhet and Champasak provinces were surveyed through structured questionnaires
from March to April 2011. The study found that all rice grown under irrigation were
improved varieties. In rain-fed condition, about 96% were improved varieties and about
4% were traditional varieties. The average rice yield in irrigated areas was higher than in
rainfed conditions. Popular improved rice varieties grown in the study areas werePhonengam 3 (PNG3), followed by Thasano 3 (TSN3) and Thadokkham 1 (TDK1). The
level  of  farmer’s  satisfaction  on  using  improved  rice  varieties  ranged  from  high  to  highest
level. However, the aroma characteristic was at a medium level. High yielding
characteristic was the most preferred by farmers, followed by the grain size, early maturity,
tolerance to drought, and resistance to pest and diseases.
Keywords: improved rice variety, satisfaction, preference, southern Lao PDR

INTRODUCTION
Agriculture  is  one  of  the  most  important  sectors  in  Lao  People’s  Democratic  Republic  (Lao  PDR).  
The share of agriculture in economy accounted for 34.4 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)and provided around three-quarters of the total workforce (Department of International Corporation,2011). Rice is the main staple food of the Lao people and accounted for more than 903,501 ha(80%) of the total cropped areas with a total production of 3,102,368 tons, the average rice yieldwas 3.44 t ha-1 (Department of Planning, 2009). The rice production systems in Lao PDR can beclassified into three broad ecosystems: irrigated lowland, rain-fed lowland and upland. Irrigatedand rain-fed lowland are mainly located in central and southern regions. Savannakhet andChampasak provinces are the main rice growing areas in southern region. In 1990, about 95 % ofrice grown in the lowland were traditional varieties with average yield of 2.32 t ha-1 (Linquist et al.,2006). To achieve self sufficiency at the national level the Lao-International Rice ResearchInstitute (Lao-IRRI) project was set up in 1990 to increase rice production in the country (Shrestha
et al., 2006). The main purposes of this project were the following: 1) to develop improved rice
varieties or modern rice varieties (MVs) for lowland areas in the Mekong River Valley; and 2) to
supply Lao farmers with varieties with high yield potential, resistance to the major pests anddiseases, and broad adaptability to Lao condition (Schiller et al., 2000). Since 1993, more than 21
MVs were released such as Thadokkham (TDK1 to TDK11), Phonengam (PNG1 to PNG6),Ⓒ ISERD

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Thasano (TSN1 to TSN5) and Namtanne (NTN1) (Inthapanya et al., 2006; Bounphanousay, 2010).
Most of these varieties were glutinous rice varieties, photoperiod non-sensitive, high yielding andfertilizer-N responsive, resistant to plant diseases such as brown plant hopper (BPH), good millingand eating quality. Since the release of MVs to farmers in 1993, no study was conducted so far toassess  farmer’s   satisfaction   level   with   improved   rice  varieties   in   the   country.   This  information  is  vital to guide rice breeders and extension workers to facilitate wider acceptance of further released
varieties. Furthermore,   the   information   on   farmer’s   preference   to   rice   characteristics   is   also  essential for the rice breeders to know the characteristics farmers need. This study aimed toevaluate   the   level   of   farmer’s   satisfaction   on   using   MVs   and   farmer’s   preferences   to   rice
characteristics.
METHODOLOGY
A purposive sampling technique was used to select the representative areas. In consultation with
the National Rice Research Program (NRRP), the study areas were selected from the two largest
rice growing provinces (Savannakhet and Champasak) in the southern parts of Lao PDR. District
with both irrigated and rain-fed rice production where the farmers had experiences in growing MVs
were selected. Face to face interviews with household heads were conducted using structured
questionnaires in 4 villages: Kor and Phaleng in Champhone district, Savannakhet province, andNakham and Tomoh in Pathoumpone district, Champasak province. Sample size was calculatedusing the Taro Yamane formula (Yamane, 1960). Out of 191 households, 118 were randomly
selected using simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire was pre-tested before theactual survey.
Farmer’s  satisfaction  level  was  evaluated  using  a  rating  scale  from  1-5, with 5 for the highest
satisfaction level, and 1 for the lowest satisfaction level (Table 1). Farmers were asked to select the
improved rice variety most planted in their rice fields. Farmers were then invited to express theirsatisfaction level base on seed, agronomic, postharvest, cooking and eating quality characteristicsof the their selected varieties (Table 3). To determine what rice characteristics were most preferred,a set of photographs were shown to farmers, and allowed them to select the image they most
preferred, and asked the reasons of their choice.
Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software program was used for data analysis.
The analysis included frequency, mean, percentages and t-test.   Farmer’s   satisfaction   levels   were  determined using interval mean scores, dividing into five interval levels (Chantrasouvan, 2002).
The intervals mean score (Table 1) was calculated using Eq. (1) below. For example, using highest
score of 5, lowest score of 1, and number of interval levels of 5, the resulting interval mean score
was 0.08. Using Eq. (2), the highest point of the first level was 1.79.

Thehighest point of thefirst level = Thelowest score + intervalscore - 0.01
Intervalscore =Highest score - Lowest score
Number of intervallevel

(1)
(2)

The calculation of interval mean scores shown as follows:
Intervalscore =5 -1
 0.085(3)

Table 1 Measurement of the satisfaction levels
Description
Highest satisfaction
High satisfaction
Medium satisfaction
Low satisfaction
Lowest satisfaction

Rating score
5
4
3
2
1

Source: Chantrasouvan (2002)Ⓒ ISERD

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Range
4.20 – 5.00
3.40 – 4.19
2.60 – 3.39
1.80 – 2.59
1.00 – 1.79

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Rice varieties used in Southern Lao PDR
Results of the household survey showed that 100% of the rice varieties grown in dry season(irrigated) were MVs. About 96.0% of the varieties grown in wet season (rainfed) were MVs while
only 4.0% were TVs. PNG3 was the variety most grown in the study areas which accounted for
21.6% in dry season and 15.9% in the wet season (Table 2). Other MVs widely grown in the study
areas were TSN3 and PNG6. PNG3, a high yielding and photoperiod non-sensitive glutinous rice
variety, has good eating and milling qualities and suitable to drought prone areas such as in central
and southern regions of Lao PDR. However, this variety is susceptible to low temperature, and tosome pests and diseases such as bacterial leaf blight, gall midge and brown phanthopper. The MVs
commonly grown by farmers included TDK4, TDK5, TDK6, TDK7, TDK11, PNG5, PNG6, TSN1,
TSN2, TSN4, TSN5, TSN7, RD6, and RD10, while TVs grown were Khao-teay, E-pa, E-teay, Lanard, E-dengnoi and Damdane. About 95% of the rice varieties grown were glutinous rice, and only
5% were non-glutinous rice (i.e Homsavan, KDML 105 and CR 103).
Table 2 Popular rice varieties and percent of each variety planted in the study area during
dry and wet season
Name of Rice varieties
Phonengam 3 (PNG3)
Thasano 3 (TSN3)
Thadokkham 1 (TDK1)
Phonengam 6 (PNG6)
RD10
Thadokkham 7 (TDK7)
Thadokkham 4 (TDK4)
Phonengam 5 (PNG5)
Thadokkham 5 (TDK5)
Other rice varieties
Total% of rice varieties planted underirrigated condition
21.6
19.7
12.7
11.9
8.2
6.0
0.0
4.5
3.7
11.7
100.0

% of rice varieties planted underrain-fed condition
15.9
7.0
11.4
10.0
5.5
5.0
9.5
4.0
2.2
29.5
100.0

The average yield of MVs in dry season (irrigated) was 3.08 t ha-1 and about 2.74 t ha-1 in wet
season (rain-fed). The average yield of TVs was about 2.26 t ha-1 (only in wet season). TDK8 had
the highest yield (3.63 t ha-1) under irrigated condition (dry season), while TSN3 was the highest
yield (3.39 t ha-1) under rainfed condition (wet season). Average rice yield under irrigated condition
was higher than that under rainfed condition. This is mainly attributed by good solar radiation
during dry season which is essential for good photosynthetic activities of the rice plant. Farmers
under irrigated areas (dry season) generally used higher chemical fertilizer input than in rainfed
areas. Moreover, farmers with access to irrigation water also had better control and thus less risk to
droughts and weed problem. In the wet season, flooding is a common problem of rice farmers.
Based from the survey, farmers also indicated the importance of avoiding prolong use of same
varieties in the same field. According to them, changing varieties regularly would increase rice
yield and avoid incidence of pests and diseases. Sources of MVs seed were the following: 1) rice
research center (Thasano Rice Research Center in Savannakhet province, and Phonengam Rice
Research Station in Champasak), 2) exchange with neighboring farmers, 3) support from District
Agriculture and Forestry Office (DAFO) and 4) Rice Productivity Improvement Project or RPIP.
Farmer’s  satisfaction  using  improved  rice varieties
This   study   measured   the   farmer’s   satisfaction   level   on   MVs   based   on:   seed,   agronomic,   postharvest  characteristic,  and  eating  and  cooking  quality.  Results  found  that  farmer’s  satisfaction  was  generally high and the highest level based on the characteristics evaluated by farmers (Table 3).
With respect to seed characteristics, seed germination ability of MVs was at the highest satisfactionⒸ ISERD

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level. According to farmers, the time needed to germinate seeds was shorter (soaking period of
MVs took only 24 hours while the TVs took 48 hours), and percentage germination was higher
compared to TVs. In terms of agronomic characteristics, the seedling growth rate of MVs was at
the highest satisfaction level, MVs seedlings can be transplanted at a younger age (about 20 daysold) compared to TVs (about 30 days old).
Farmers were also extremely satisfied (highest satisfaction level) with harvesting, yield andmilling qualities of MVs. Farmers perceived that yields of MVs were higher than TVs because of
their superior number of panicles per hill and grains per panicle. Due to their uniform plant height,
the harvesting operations of MVs were easier than TVs. MVs was also perceived as lodging
resistant especially during wet season when lodging can cause severe loss of production. In term of
milling quality, farmers reported that polished grains from MVs were more appealing to thembecause they were whiter and lower percentage broken rice. Cooking (softness) and eating qualities
of MVs were also mainly at highest level. However, the aroma of cooked rice was at a moderatesatisfaction level only. TVs have better aroma than MVs. Since most rice produced by farmers ismostly for home consumption, softness (when cooked), whiteness and aroma were very importantfor farmers. Cooking and eating qualities are affected by grain amylase content (Shiller et al., 2006).
Sall et al. (2000) indicated that amylose content is the most important chemical characteristic anddetermines the hardness of cooked rice. After cooking, rice grain with intermediate amylase
content  will  produce  “soft”  cooked  rice,  while  those  with  high  amylase  content  will  produce  “hard”  cooked rice. The majority of respondents were satisfied in PNG3 rice variety due to its agronomic
characteristics (high yield, long panicles, uniform plant height), good for eating (soft and tasty) andmilling quality (less broken rice and white polished grain).
Table 3 Percent frequency distribution of farmers according to satisfaction levels, and meanvalue of satisfaction levels with improved rice varieties
Characteristics ofimproved rice variety
I.Seed characteristic
Grain shape and size
Seed germination
II.Agronomic
characteristic
Growing
Seedling growing
Tillering ability
Leaf structure
PaniclePlant height
Pest resistanceDisease resistanceLodging resistanceMaturity
III. Post harvest
Harvesting
Grain weight
Yield
Milled rice
IV. Cooking andeating quality
Softness
Eating quality
Aroma
Overall Satisfaction

Satisfaction level
MediumLow(3)(2)

Highest
(5)

High
(4)

Lowest(1)

Mean(n=118)

S.D(±)

Meaning

36.5
50.0

40.7
39.8

18.6
10.2

4.2
0.0

0.0
0.0

4.09
4.40

0.84
0.66

High
Highest

33.9
39.8
37.3
16.1
30.5
20.3
14.4
10.2
25.6
25.4

52.5
50.8
44.9
57.6
46.6
55.1
48.3
46.6
53.0
54.2

12.7
8.5
16.9
22.0
19.5
22.9
28.8
35.6
18.8
20.3

0.8
0.8
0.8
4.2
3.4
1.7
7.6
7.6
1.7
0.0

0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.8
0.0
0.9
0.0

4.19
4.30
4.19
3.86
4.04
3.94
3.68
3.59
4.01
4.05

0.68
0.65
0.74
0.73
0.80
0.70
0.84
0.77
0.77
0.67

High
Highest
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High

67.8
39.0
44.1
45.8

24.6
44.9
39.8
43.2

6.8
11.9
11.0
9.3

0.8
2.5
5.1
1.7

0.0
1.7
0.0
0.0

4.59
4.17
4.23
4.33

0.65
0.86
0.84
0.71

HighestHigh
HighestHighest

50.8
50.0
14.4
34.3

39.8
40.7
27.1
44.75

9.3
6.8
42.5
17.49

0.0
2.5
14.4
3.15

0.0
0.0
2.5
0.31

4.42
4.38
3.36
4.10

0.65
0.7
0.98
0.75

HighestHighestModerateHighⒸ ISERD

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Satisfaction levels of male and female farmers on using MVs were also compared. Among thecharacteristics considered, only those in harvesting were significantly different. Based on the meanscore of harvesting difference, the satisfaction level of the female group was higher than the malegroup because the harvesting activities were carried out mainly by the female group. According tofemale interviewees, MVs had uniform plant height, thus facilitating harvesting. The p-value ofsatisfaction between male and female farmers on MVs in term of seed characteristic, agronomic
characteristic, grain weight, milled rice, cooking and eating quality are statistically not significant.
The mean score between the two groups were also not significantly different.
Farmers’  preference  on  rice  characteristics  for  future  improvement  The   results   of   farmer’s   preference   are presented in Table 4. Varieties with high yielding
characteristics were the most preferred by farmers for they assure an abundant harvest for family
consumption, and extra income to support household expenditure. Big and long grains were alsopreferred as farmers perceived that these were indicators of good grain quality. The third
preference was early maturity characteristic of the variety. Some farmers grew more than one rice
variety in their rice field, but the lack of manual labor at peak of harvesting season was one of thepredicaments of the farmers in the study areas. So, planting a number of early maturing varieties
would facilitate better scheduling of labor during harvesting season. Farmers could harvest first the
short duration (early maturity) varieties, then medium and late duration varieties. In addition, somehouseholds usually used up their rice stock in the storages before the peak of harvesting season, so
the short duration varieties were very important for them. The fourth preference was the drought
resistant characteristic of the variety. As farmers are also facing global warming effects, whichhave caused uneven and uncertain distribution of rainfall, planting drought resistant varieties wereneeded especially in rainfed conditions. The fifth preference was on resistance to pests and disease.
According to farmers, a number of MVs are susceptible to pests and diseases, and therefore MVs to
be introduced in their areas should be resistant. The preferences and perceptions expressed by
farmers were similar to that of Manzanilla et al. (2011).
The study found that lack of water was the main problem for irrigated condition. Farmers
indicated that the water from irrigation system was not enough after transplanting due to inefficientwater delivery and unmaintained irrigation facilities and thus caused significant yield loss. In thewet season, pests and diseases problems such as rice bug, thrip, stem borer, gall midge, andgrasshopper were the main concerns.
Table 4 Farmer’s  preference  on  rice  characteristics
Characteristic of rice varieties
High yielding
Good quality of grain
Softness
Need less fertilizer
Early maturity
Resistance to drought
Tolerant to flood
Resistance to pests and diseases
Resistance to lodging
High priceCan grow in DS and WS

First
345
65
15
25
30
45
15
20
15
15
0

Score  of  farmers’  preference  *SecondThird
Fourth
96
30
12
120
69
30
48
45
16
12
24
24
52
66
22
44
42
30
4
0
8
56
30
36
24
27
42
16
12
12
0
9
4

Fifth
7
14
16
6
9
11
6
16
21
7
5

Total
score
490
298
140
91
179
172
33
158
129
62
18

Rank
1
2
6
8
3
4
10
5
7
9
11

Note: * Score for each preference: for first preference multiply total frequency by 5; for second multiply by 4; forthird multiply by 3; for fourth multiply by 2, and for fifth multiply by 1

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONThis study concluded that the majority of farmers in southern region of Lao PDR have adopted
improved rice varieties. The most popular rice varieties were namely PNG3, followed by TSN3,
TDK1 and PNG6. The average rice yield in irrigated area (dry season) was higher than rainfed area
(wet  season).  The  farmer’s  satisfaction  levels  using  MVs  were  mainly  high  and  the  highest  levels.  
Characteristics with the highest satisfaction levels included seed germination, seedling growing,
harvesting, yield,  milled  rice  characteristics,  and  eating  quality.  The  level  of  farmer’s  satisfaction  for aroma characteristic was at moderate level as traditional varieties have better aroma comparedto improved varieties. This means that rice breeders should enhance the aromatic smell of the
improved  varieties  to  facilitate  higher  satisfaction  level  from  farmers.  The  farmer’s  preference  on  rice characteristic indicated that high yielding potential was most preferred by farmers, followed bysize and shape of rice grain, early maturity, resistance to biotic (pests and diseases) and abiotic(drought, flooding, lodging) stresses. Rice breeders need to consider these characteristics in theirrice breeding program to facilitate wider acceptance of improved varieties.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to Northern Upland Rice-based Farm (NURiFaR project), Ministry ofAgriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR for supporting this research work. We also would like toacknowledge NRRP staffs and farmers in the study areas for providing their time to assist in fielddata collection.
REFERENCES
Bounphanousay, C. 2010. Interview. Deputy Director of Rice Research and Cash Crop Research Center.
National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Vientiane,
Lao PDR.
Chantrasouvan, S. 2002. Statistic for social science research. Department of Social and Humanity Science,
Faculty of Humanity and Social Science, 53.
DOP. 2009. Department of Planning. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry: Agriculture Statistics Year Book
2009. Vientiane Municipality, Lao P.D.R.
Inthapanya, P., Boualaphanh, C., Hatsadong. and Schiller J.M. 2006. The history of lowland rice variety
improvement in Laos. Rice in Laos. International Rice Research Institute. Philippines. 325-340.
Linquist, B.A., Keoboualapha, B., Sipaseuth. and Inthapanya, P. 2006. Rice production of Laos. Rice in Laos.
International Rice Research Institute. Philippines. 29-45.
Manzanilla, D.O., Paris, T.R., Vergara, G.V., Ismail, A.M., Pandey, S., Labios, R.V., Tatlonghari, G.T.,
Acda, R.D., Chi, T.T.N., Douangsila, K., Siliphouthone, I., Manikmas, M.O.A.and Mackill, D.J. 2011.
Submergence   risks   and   farmers’   preferences:   Implications   for   breeding   Sub1   Rice   in   Southeast   Asia.  
Journal of Agricultural Systems, 104, 335-347.
Sall, S., Norman, D.and Featherstone, A.M. 2000. Quantitative assessment of improved rice variety adoption:
The  farmer’s  perspective.  Journal  of  Agricultural  Systems, 66, 129-144.
Schiller, J.M., Inthapanya, P.and Hatsadong 2000. Rice variety recommendation for the wet-season lowland
environment of the Lao PDR. National Rice Research Program, National Agriculture and Forestry
Research Institute.
Shiller, J.M., Appa Rao, S., Inthapanya, P. and Hatsadong 2006. Glutinous rice in Laos. Rice in Laos.
International Rice Research Institute. Philippines. 197-214.
Shrestha, S., Boupha, T. and Khamphoukeo, K. 2006. Sowing seeds in Lab and Field: Socioeconomic
impact of the Lao-IRRI Rice Research and Training Project. Los Banos (Philippines): International Rice
Research Institute.
Yamane, T. 1960. Statistic: An Introduction Analysis. Singapore: Harper International Edition.

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Research article
erdPreliminary Social and Environmental Assessment ofZulfikarabad: a New Coastal Mega City Project inPakistan
JUNAID ALAM MEMON*
Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad, Pakistan
E-mail: memon@gmx.us
Received 16 December 2011

Accepted 12 March 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract This article presents the preliminary social and environmental assessment ofZulfikarabad Mega City Project that is underway in the coastal region of Sindh Province inPakistan. Four parameters comprising the existing land use, hazard profile at the site,
occupational structure of the local communities and existing land property rights are
examined. Data sources included remote sensing imagery, questionnaire survey, rapid
appraisals, literature survey and official records. Findings of the land use analysis revealthat most parts of the City would be built by clearing the mangrove areas which have been
declared protected forests since 1950s. Besides, the location is prone to the modest
frequency of earthquakes and cyclones which in some cases were not only devastating forthe lives and properties of local people but also had brought significant economic losses tothe regional economy. Numerous villages of varying sizes are located on the proposed sitewhere the majority of the population ekes out their living from agricultural and fishingactivities. There is a clear indication that  the  Government’s  prime  attraction  towards  this  location is the ‘availability’ of so-called ‘wastelands’. This standpoint is contested in thelight of land use analysis. Considering that the City is still in its planning stage, the findingof this study will serve as a useful guide for more in-depth studies on some of theemerging concerns over the megacity project.
Keywords coastal mega cities, city and regional planning, Indus delta, mangroves
clearance, Zulfikarabad

INTRODUCTION
Megacities, on one hand are recognized as global junctions, engines of economic growth,
agglomerations for cost-effective provision of facilities to civilians, and markets of surplus rurallabor; while on the other hand, these geographies are portrayed as unmanageable, subjects ofpoverty and disparities, and polluted environs impressing heavy footprint on local environments(Haiqing, 2003; Juha I, 1998). Over the last few decades, rapid urbanization has resulted in the
proliferation of megacities in hazardous regions of the developing countries and has left billions ofpeople exposed to natural disasters (Juha I, 1998; Wenzel, Bendimerad and Sinha, 2007). A natural
disaster can be conceptualized as a function of natural hazard, exposure or propinquity of humans
or their properties to a hazard, and vulnerability or propensity to suffer a loss (Juha I, 1998).
Occurrence of a natural hazard is almost always beyond the control of humankind and little can bedone in this regard at least in the short run. Ideally, however, exposure to a hazard can be
minimized for existing megacities but various practicalities limit the prospect to relocate these huge
masses in safer zones. The only front where humans can intervene is the vulnerability; whereentities exposed to hazards can be made resilient and prepared through improved construction
techniques, early warning systems and specific disaster preparedness measures. Although various
practicalities limit the prospect of reducing the exposure of existing coastal megacities to natural
hazards, any new urban development should be allowed only in safer zones so as to preempt futuredisasters. Nevertheless, in some regions such as the Arabian Gulf, countries like UAE, Qatar, SaudiⒸ ISERD

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Arabia, Dubai and Bahrain has developed various new townships without considering their
exposure to natural hazards (Kumar, 2009).
Pakistan is busy with its second planned city after independence following the conventional
justification of reducing pressure from the unmanageable Karachi megalopolis (Government of
Sindh, 2011). After considering the ‘availability’ of one million ha of land, the location of
Zulfikarabad is finalized at four coastal sub-districts of Thatta district in Sindh Province (District
Government Thatta, 2010). This paper presents the preliminary social and environmental
assessment of Zulfikarabad Mega City site based on four parameters comprising the existing landuse, hazard profile, the occupational structure of local communities and existing land property
rights. The next section describes the methodology and is followed by a section on the results offour analyses as mentioned above. The last section makes discussion and draws important policy
implications and recommendations. The study highlights some of the emerging concerns about thesafety of future inhabitants of the new coastal city and livelihoods of the communities currently
living in the area.
METHODOLOGY
Required information was collected using primary and secondary sources. For land use analysis,
five classes namely: Mangrove vegetation, Agriculture and non-mangrove vegetation, Deltaic
land/wet mudflats, Inland residential and uncultivated agricultural areas, and Water, were
determined. Classification was performed on satellite image LT51520432011058KHC00 fromLANDSAT TM dated: 27th February, 2011 using a hybrid classification approach that combined
unsupervised and supervised classification techniques. At first, the selected image was classified
into 100 classes using Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Technique Algorithm (ISODATA)
of unsupervised classification method. Signatures obtained through ISODATA classifier wereidentified and labeled based on the maps given in Memon (2011) and high resolution satellite
imagery of Google Earth. Merging of signatures was conducted in accordance with thepredetermined classes. Since the histograms of all bands were normally distributed, the finalclassification was performed through Maximum Likelihood method. The classification accuracy
was assessed based on 256 randomly selected Ground Control Points which indicated the overall
accuracy of 85.16 percent and Kappa Coefficient of 0.80 suggesting the acceptability ofclassification results.
Information on the occurrence of two kinds of hazards, earthquakes and tsunamis, wasgathered from various secondary sources as indicated in Table 3 and elsewhere in the text. Records
on different categories of land rights were obtained from the District Revenue Office, Thatta.
Information on the occupations of the local communities was obtained from two sources. Out of
total 343 households (Table 4), the occupational affiliation of 107 households representing thecommunities which live on the fringes of the active delta was extracted from the raw dataset
compiled for a study on mangroves conducted by Memon (2011) in 2009. The occupational
affiliation of the remaining 236 households was obtained through rapid appraisals in four randomly
selected inland villages where the village heads, in consultation with their advisers, reported theoccupations of each household in their village registers. Since, only one parameter, namely theoccupational engagement of local communities was to be assessed, this method was deemed
appropriate all in terms of time, human and financial resources.
RESULTS
Existing land cover of Zulfikarabad site
Zulfikarabad is planned in the Indus Delta located along the southeastern coast of Pakistan (Fig. 1).
The site is under the administrative jurisdiction of District Thatta. A little more than two-thirds ofthe site area falls in the intertidal zone (Fig. 1), which comprises mangroves on 7.2 percent, wetmudflats on 40.2 percent and water in major and minor creeks on about 20 percent (Table 2).
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Mangrove vegetation is dominated by Avicennia marina species (locally called Timir) while small
stands of planted Rhizophora mucronata species could also be found. The deltaic mudflats remain
empty for most part of the year, until monsoon and subsequent freshwater regimes in the Indus
River facilitate the natural growth of Porterasia coarctata species (locally called Sohan) in thenorthern part of the site (Fig. 1). The remaining one third of the site is located further inland and isa part of abandoned delta that comprises agriculture and inland vegetation on about 09 percent anduncultivated agricultural and residential areas on 24 percent (Table 2). The major crops cultivatedin the area include sugarcane, vegetables, banana and sunflower while the wild vegetation
comprises shrubby stands of Prosopis juliflora (locally called Devi or Kekar).

Fig. 1 Location of Zulfikarabad, its existing land use and the demarcation of protected areas
Almost half of the mangroves cover, significantly higher than one third of wet mudflats andabout one third of the water bodies constituting Zulfikarabad site are declared protected areas since1956 (Table 2) and are managed by Shah-Bandar Subdivision of Sindh Forest Department (Memon,
2011).
Table 2 Existing land use of Zulfikarabad  site  and  land  under  ‘Protected  Area’  category
Entire Site
Area (ha)%a54,7087.20
66,6888.77
305,87040.25
182,67524.04
150,053
19.74
759,995
100

Major Land Cover/Land Use
Mangroves vegetation
Agriculture and non-mangrove vegetation
Deltaic land/ wet mudflats
Inland Residential and uncultivated agricultural areas
Water
Total
a.

b.

Protected
Area (ha)%b26,726
48.85
1,088
1.63
114,98737.59
14,355
7.86
47,42631.61
204,581
26.92 aPercentage of the total
Percentage of relavant land cover class

Hazard profile of the region
Zulfikarabad site is exposed to extreme geological and atmospheric disturbances and has witnessedvarious cyclones, tsunamis and earthquakes in the Past. Although the locations and magnitudes ofsome ancient earthquakes are doubtful (Ambraseys, 2004; Bilham et al., 2007), various others arewell documented. For example, in 1819, Allah Bund Fault (ABF) generated an earthquake of 7.7
Mw that formed a 90 km long dam across Kori Creek (Jordan, 2008; Khan, Abbasi, Hadi, Laghari
and Bilham, 2002) – flowing 10 km south of Zulfikarabad site. Furthermore, the ABF earthquake
caused a crustal displacement of 7-9 meters that generated a large tsunami submerging Sindri town
in India (Jordan, 2008). The ABF created another earthquake in 1896, causing extensive damage inShah Bandar town (Pararas-Carayannis, 2006) that is the headquarters of one of the constituting
sub-districts of Zulfikarabad. In the northwest of Zulfikarabad, the Makran Subduction ZoneⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1(MSZ) is also seismically very active. On 28 November 1945, MSZ generated an earthquake of 8.1
Mw with its epicenter at the distance of about 450 km from Zulfikarabad. The quake and Tsunami
killed more than 4,000 people along the Makran Coast and a few in Kachchh and Mumbai (Jordan,
2008; Pararas-Carayannis, 2006). The Tsunami generated by the MSZ earthquake swept 12
fishermen (Pararas-Carayannis, 2006) and destroyed various fishing villages near Dabo Creek of
Keti Bandar that is another sub-district constituting Zulfikarabad (Jordan, 2008; PararasCarayannis, 2006). Some recent disasters, for which statistics are considerably reliable, are moreindicative of the nature and magnitude of natural hazard exposure and vulnerability of the site
(Table 3). The Tropical Cyclone 02A of 1999 and the Bhuj earthquake of 2001 created disasters
which went unparallel in the 20th Century (Table 3).
Table 3 Some recent natural hazards and disasters in the coastal region
HazardCycloneTC – 02A,
May 19, 1999
Category 3 hurricane

Bhuj Earthquake,
January 26, 2001
(7.9 Mw on the Richterscale) in India

Cyclone Yemyin, June
21-26, 2007 causing
severe flood

Disaster‒ The cyclone had landfall near Keti Bandar and caused widespread anddestruction in 160 km coastline of Sindh Province. It caused 56 breaches inthe tidal link, wiped away 73 settlements1, collapsed 75,000 houses andpartially damaged 59,000 houses2. At least 168 people and 10,000 livestock
died1, 2. It inundated 0.16 million ha of farmlands2, destroyed 1,800 boats andpartially damaged 642 boats1. The loss to infrastructure and fishing assets of thelocal communities exceeded PKR 1,000 million1‒ Negligible human loss along Sindh Coast but the quake devastated almost
everything within 300 km radius of the epicenter3 in India. The aerial distance
between epicenter4 and Zulfikarabad was less than 150 km. Reportedly5 20,000
persons died, about 166,000 injured of whom 20,700 sustained serious injuries
and 247 persons were missing. Livestock deaths also exceed 20,0005. In India,
it affected 21 districts, destroyed about 187,000 houses and partially damaged
500,000 houses5 in 800 villages. Together with these losses, severe damages tothousands of schools, about 750 km of the Indian National Highway andtelecommunication networks suffered an estimated loss of INR 214,620
million5.
‒ The cyclone caused 460 deaths in Baluchistan, 89 deaths in Karachi and 38
deaths in Thatta and Badin6. Reportedly in Keti Bandar7, it killed three persons,injured a dozen more, collapsed 750 houses totally and 1,050 houses partially.
Besides, it destroyed 26 boats completely and 174 boats partially7. An estimatedpopulation of 22,424 living in 2,822 households7 in the northern part ofZulfikarabad site was affected.

Sources: (NDMA, 2007b)1, (Khan and Nomani, 2002)2, (Khan, M.A. et al., 2002)3, (Indian Metrological Department in
Malik, Nakata and Sato, 2001)4, (Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India in CESNED, 2001)5, (NDMA, 2007a)6(WWF-Pakistan, undated) 7

Occupational structure of the local communities
Zulfikarabad site is sparsely inhabited with a population density of not exceeding 40 persons per
km2. Nevertheless, about 275,888 persons are living in 277 villages in four sub-districts identified
as the site of Zulfikarabad (District Government Thatta, 2011). Furthermore, various small
settlements may also exist on the site as the village list prepared for Sindh Rural Development
Project (SRDP) in 2005 indicates 709 settlements in the four sub-districts ranging between two andfour hundred households. The majority of the local people earn their livings from surrounding
natural resources comprising sea, mangroves and land. Marine fishery is a major primary andsecondary occupation followed by crop cultivation and livestock herding as the second and third
important occupations, respectively (Table 4). Besides these major occupations, some people werealso formally employed as non-fishing laborers or were engaged in other occupations such as
venders and village artisans (Table 4). It was gathered that almost half of them had a secondary
occupation that was almost always the marine fishery, crop cultivation or livestock herding (Table4). The majority of marine fishers and livestock herders (specialized in camel herding) were settled
on the fringes of the delta while those engaged in agriculture were settled further inland.
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Table 4 Occupations of the local communities residing on Zulfikarabad site
Occupation

Dependent households (N=343)
Primary
Secondary
54.23
26.53
12.24
7.87
4.08
–
16.91
12.24
6.12
–
3.21
–
3.21
2.62
–
50.73
100
100

Marine fishery
Livestock herding
Boat driving
Crop cultivation
Formal jobs (Govt, NGO and Private sectors)
Daily wage labor (other than marine fishing)
Other occupations
No Occupation
Total

Land property right on the proposed site
The State is the major landholder owning more than three-fourths of the land in the four coastal sub
districts constituting Zulfikarabad (Table 5). Two other categories of land which can havesignificant influence of the state are Running Grants and the land for Public Purposes. Running
grants are the lands which the government has allotted to any individual but the actual transfer ofrights to the allotted party remains pending till they complete installments payable against theallotment. Meanwhile, the allotted party can take the possession of land and cultivate it. The landfor   ‘Public   Purpose’   is   the   one   that   is   utilized   for   villages,   schools,   hospitals,   roads   and   similar  purposes and was reserve for the welfare of local inhabitants. Thus the remaining one fourth of theland which comprises the land for Public Purpose (3.02 percent), Private Land (7.44 percent),
Private land for which Transfer Orders (TO) has been issued (6.94 percent) and Running Grants(5.38 percent), is the land where local communities has a direct stake (Table 5). Besides, it is also
noteworthy that 204,581 ha or roughly 35 percent of the state owned land that is considered as‘available’  for  Zulfikarabad  City  is  the  area    declared  as  ‘Protected’  mangrove  areas  since  1950s  (Fig. 1 and Table 2).
Table 5 Land property rights in four coastal sub districts of Thatta district

Keti Bandar

Total area of
sub district inhectares1
61,885

Kharo Chan

92,366

Shah Bandar

295,453

Jati

266,880

Total2

716,584

Name of sub
district

Major categories in Land Register – area in hectares (%)
PublicPrivatePrivate land Running
State
Other
purposeland
T.O issued
grants
Land
Land
2,969
14,952
2,340
4,967
37,253162(4.80)(24.16)(3.78)(8.03)(60.20)(0.26)
2,834
5,766
1,643
3,876
79,154–(3.07)(6.24)(1.78)(4.20)(85.70)
3,583
20,205
17,208
11,987
239,605
5,547(1.21)(6.84)(5.82)(4.06)(81.10)(1.88)
12,26812,45728,571
17,749190,325–(4.60)(4.67)(10.71)(6.65)(71.31)
21,65453,38049,762
38,579546,337
5,709(3.02)(7.44)(6.94)(5.38)(76.24)(0.80)

Source: (ZDA, 2011)1.
Area as per the land register which is different from the total geographical area of the sub district2.
A small difference of 1,165 ha bringing about a difference of 0.16% is due to typographical errors in the official
records

DISCUSSIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONSIn the wake of climate change, hazard exposure and disaster vulnerabilities of existing coastal
megacities are already a major concern for researchers and policy makers. Nevertheless, somecountries such as those located in the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean are establishing new
coastal townships and cities in the regions which had experienced a number of severe atmosphericⒸ ISERD

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and geological hazards in the recent past (Kumar, 2009). Surprisingly, the location of Zulfikarabad
Mega City Project in Pakistan is also guided by the   ‘availability’   of   the   land. Government's
tendency to build new cities in hazardous zones seems unabated and ignorant of the pastexperiences. For example, Islamabad – the first planned city and capital of Pakistan – was also built
in a high seismic zone that experienced an unprecedented earthquake in 2005 causing 87,000
deaths and destroyed about 32,335 buildings in various towns and cities including the collapse of
Margalla Towers in Islamabad (USGS, 2011). Even the argument that   “the   land   required   forZulfikarabad   City   is   available   in   the   Indus   Delta”   also   cannot be justified since the major
proportion of the said government land is ‘Protected Mangrove Areas’ while the remaining land isunder some form of private or communal property (Table 2). Drawing on the mangrove coverstatistics provided by Memon (2011), this study gathers that Zulfikarabad will cost the clearance ofabout 50 percent of the mangrove cover of Pakistan, half of which are already declared as protected
forests by the government (Table 2). Furthermore, the City is going to be constructed in a region
that is more exposed to the oceanic disturbances and seismic activities of Kachchh than the
coastlines of the Arabian Gulf.
Loss of mangroves coupled with the large scale ‘development’ on account of Zulfikarabad
City may further aggravate the ferocity of meteorological and geological hazards and pose a threat
to the lives and properties of future inhabitants of the proposed city. These findings of the  site’s  exposure to meteorological and geological hazards are consistent with Bilham et al. (2007) andPararas-Carayannis (2006) who suspected that the seismic disturbances originated in Kachchh
region of India could endanger Karachi megalopolis (located 300 km Northwest of Kachchh) andthus are valid threats for Zulfikarabad site that is juxtaposed to the source of various past quakes.
Regardless of the disaster vulnerability of Zulfikarabad site, the local livelihoods primarily arelinked with the surrounding natural resources including mangroves, marine fishery and agriculture.
Memon (2011) reported that upstream diversion of the Indus River has already resulted in loss of
livelihoods of erstwhile paddy farmers and camel herder who coped with the situation by shifting
their occupation to marine fishery. Certainly Zulfikarabad will make it impossible for them tocontinue their fishing activities and thus push back them in a similar position where they were left
few decades ago following the construction of dams and barrages. Considering that thedevelopment work of the city is still in its planning stage, it is recommended that more in-depth
studies on the above mentioned aspects need to be carried out before starting the onsite
development of Zulfikarabad Mega City.
REFERENCES
Ambraseys, N. 2004. Three little known early earthquakes in India. Current Science, 86(4), 506-508.
Bilham, R., Lodi, S., Hough, S., Bukhary, S., Khan, A.M.and Rafeeqi, S.F.A. (2007) Seismic hazard in
Karachi, Pakistan: Uncertain past, uncertain future. Seismological Research Letters, 78(6), 601-613.
CESNED. 2001. Some statistics of January 26, 2001 Earthquake for India. Newsletter Cowasjee Earthquake
Study Centre NED, 1(2), 4.
District Government Thatta. 2010. Upcoming Mega Projects in Thatta District. District Government Thatta.
(http://www.districtthatta.gos.pk/Mega_Projects.htm).
District Government Thatta. 2011. Taluka (Sub District) Adminstration of District Thatta. (http://www.
districtthatta.gos.pk/Taluka%20Administration.htm).
Government of Sindh. 2011. Zulfikarabad to lessen pressure on Karachi, says CS, Press Release by Chief
Secretary, Sindh, Dawn.
Haiqing, L. 2003. Management of coastal mega-cities - a new challenge in the 21st century. Marine Policy,
27(4), 333-337.
Jordan, B.R. 2008. Tsunamis of the Arabian Peninsula a guide of historic events. Science of Tsunami
Hazards, 27(1), 31-46.
Juha I, U. 1998. The geography of disaster vulnerability in megacities: A theoretical framework. Applied
Geography, 18(1), 7-16.
Khan, F.Q. and Nomani, U. 2002. Corporate social responsibility and natural disaster reduction in Pakistan.
Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

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Khan, M.A., Abbasi, I.A., Hadi, S., Laghari, A. and Bilham, R. 2002. Bhuj earthquake of January 26, 2001:
effects in the Thar-Nagar Parkar region of Sindh, SE Pakistan. Geological Bulletin University ofPeshawar, 35, 9-26.
Kumar, A. 2009. Reclaimed islands and new offshore townships in the Arabian Gulf: Potential natural
hazards. Current science, 96(4), 480-485.
Malik, J.N., Nakata, T. and Sato, H. 2001. January 26, 2001, the republic day (Bhuj) earthquake of Kachchh
and active faults, Gujarat, western India. (Active Fault Research) 20, 112-126.
Memon, J.A. 2011. Management, utilization and status of mangroves in the Indus River Delta of Pakistan.
PhD Dissertation, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.
NDMA. 2007a. Disaster management in Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan: Flood-2007. Islamabad: National
Disaster Management Authority, Government of Pakistan.
NDMA. 2007b. National disaster risk management framework Pakistan: National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA), Government of Pakistan.
Pararas-Carayannis, G. 2006. The potential of tsunami generation along the Makran Subduction Zone in thenorthern Arabian Sea. Case study: the earthquake and tsunami of November 28, 1945. Science of
Tsunami Hazards, 24(5), 358-384.
USGS. 2011. Earthquakes with 1,000 or More Deaths since 1900. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/world_deaths.php.
Wenzel, F., Bendimerad, F.and Sinha, R. 2007. Megacities - megarisks. Natural Hazards, 42(3), 481-491.
WWF-Pakistan. (undated) Keti Bundar: Disaster, rescue and rehabilitation. Indus For All Programme WWFPakistan (Ed.). Karachi.
ZDA. 2011. Zulfikarabad : Proposed land use. Presentation to the President Islamic Republic of Pakistan on
31-12- 2010 (at Karachi) & 28-01-2011 (at Islamabad). Zulfikarabad Development Authority.

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Research article
erd

Hydrogen Peroxide and Peroxidase Activity as Potential
Indicators on Adaptability of Plants to Salinity StressCondition
NARARAT POODEETIP
Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

KANLAYA KONG-NGERN*
Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: kkanla@kku.ac.th

SAMANG HOMCHUEN
Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

BUPHA TOPARKNGAM
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

VIDHAYA TRELO-GES
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 12 March 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate whether hydrogen peroxide content aswell as peroxidase enzyme activity in the leaves of the cultivars can be used asindicatorsof the adaptability of plants to salinity stress conditions. For this purpose, leaves of 6
cultivated plant species: Cassaia siamea, Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia magium,
Pithecellobium dulce, Combretum quadrangulare and Albizia lebbeck were collected frompreviously high salinity areas where the salinity of soil have been improved by plantcultivation, and the relationships between soil characteristics, plant species and the content
of hydrogen peroxide and peroxidase enzyme activity were examined. The results showthat C. quadrangulare has low hydrogen peroxide content and high peroxidase enzyme
activity compared to other plants at the same electrical conductivity (0.16 dS m-1),
suggesting that this plant has less stress than the others. In other words, C. quadrangulare
can adapt to high salinity stress conditions better than the others. A.magium andA.auriculiformi are the second best. Based on the present results, C. quadrangulare is thebest promising species for growing on high salinity areas.
Keywords salt affected area, hydrogen peroxide, peroxidase enzyme activity

INTRODUCTION
Soil salinity is one of the most significant abiotic stress factors that decrease productivity. High salt
concentration in soil or in water affects plant growth, nutrient uptake and metabolism through thedecrease in the amount of water available for plants, through ion imbalance or disturbances in ion
homeostasis by disturbance of essential intracellular ion concentrations, and through ion toxicity
due to excessive Na+ or Cl- uptake (Greenway and Munns, 1980; Gossett et al., 1994; Zhu, 2001;
Parida et al., 2004). An excess of exchangeable Na ion is harmful to plants, principally because it
induces undesirable physical and chemical conditions of the soil. In addition, Na influences soil
structure, resulting in a decrease of water infiltration and gas exchangeability. Salinity affects thegrowth of plants by decreasing the availability of water to the roots due to the osmotic effect ofexternal salt and by toxic effects of excessive salt accumulation within the plant. Drastic changes inⒸ ISERD

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ion and water homeostasis lead to molecular damage, growth arrest and even death (Munns, 1993;
Munns et al., 1995).
There is now conclusive evidence that production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is
enhanced in plants in response to different environmental stress conditions such as salinity, drought,
water logging, temperature extremes, high light intensity, herbicide treatment and mineral nutrient
deficiency. The most stable ROS is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which is highly reactive and cancause serious oxidative damages to membrane lipids leading to loss of membrane integrity andincrease in electrolyte leakage and cell death. ROS were considered to be toxic by-products ofaerobic metabolism (Wise and Naylor, 1987; Mittova et al., 2000; Zhu, 2001; Mittova et al., 2002;
Slesak et al., 2008).
Salt tolerant plants maintain their growth and have many mechanisms to maintain ionichomeostasis, osmotic homeostasis and detoxification pathways (Dubey, 1994; Zhu, 2001; Parida
and Das, 2004). It is known that plants containing high concentration of antioxidants show
considerable resistance to the oxidative damage caused by   free radicals (Ashraf and Harris, 2004;
Parida and Das, 2004; Slesak et al., 2008).
Several authors have discussed the effect of salt stress on the amount of H2O2. One mechanismthat underlies the tolerance of plants to salt stresses is the ability of plants to detoxify ROS andscavenging systems by antioxidative pathways. The salt-tolerant plant presented lower increase in
the amounts of ROS and antioxidant enzymes than the salt-sensitive plants. Therefore, theincrement in ROS such as H2O2 content and antioxidant enzymes activity in leaves depended upon
the levels of salt tolerance (Dubey, 1994; Zhu, 2001; Parida and Das, 2004; Slesak et al., 2007).
Chen et al. (1993) and Duand (1997) proposed that peroxidase and catalase are two major systems
for the enzymatic removal of H2O2 in plants. Until now, the information about the biochemicalparameters of each plant that can grow on high salinity soil is insufficient. Therefore, in this study,
we use H2O2 and peroxidase enzyme as potential indicators to detect the ability of plants to growon high salinity areas.
METHODOLOGY
Soil and plant samples were collected in May, 2010 at the area near Akkrasathsoonthorn Reservoir,
Somsanuk Village, Borabue District, Mahasarakam Province, where the high salinity of soil has
been improved by tree plantation during the past 2 years. The study area at the beginning wasclassified into high salinity (6.23 dS m-1) and very high salinity (18.9 dS m-1) areas. After 2 years oftree plantation, the salinity of both areas decreased to slight salinity (< 1 dS m-1).
Electrical conductivity and pH of soil were measured by using a conductivity meter and a pH
meter, respectively, based on a soil-water ratio of 1:5 by weighing10 g of soil in a beaker. The soil
sample was left for 30 minutes to measure the electrical conductivity and for an hour to measure
pH value.
Hydrogen peroxide content in the leaves was determined according to the method of Sergiev
et al. (1997). Leaf tissues (0.5 g) were homogenized with 5 ml of 0.1% (w/v) trichloroacetic acid
(TCA) on an ice bath. Crude extract was centrifuged at 12,000 x g for 15 min and 0.5 ml of thesupernatant was transferred to a 15 ml test tube. The supernatant was added with 0.5 ml of 10 mM
potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), 1 ml of 1 M KI, and mixed by vortexing briefly. The
absorbance of mixture was read at 390 nm. A mixture without the supernatant served as a blank.
The content of H2O2 was calculated from a standard curve and the concentration was expressed asmole g-1 fresh weight.
Peroxidase activity was determined using the guaiacol oxidation method (Chance and Maehly,1955) in a 3 ml reaction mixture containing 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.4), 8 mM guaiacol,
100-200 l crude extract and 2.75 mM H2O2. The increase in absorbance was recorded at 470 nm
within 30 s (linear phase) after H2O2 was added. One unit of peroxidase activity was expressed as
A470 min-1 mg protein-1.

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Soluble protein content of the crude extract was determined according to the method of
Bradford (1976) using the Bio-Rad assay kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, USA) with bovine serum
albumin (BSA) as a calibration standard.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In the present study, the H2O2 content and the peroxidase activity in the leaves of 6 plant species
harvested from various salinity areas were measured. With increasing EC value in soil, salinity had
a significant effect onthe amounts of H2O2 and peroxidase enzyme activity in all 6 cultivated plant
species. The data show that the leaf H2O2 contents in 6 cultivated plant species were increased anddifferent (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 The effects of salinity of the soil on hydrogen peroxide content and peroxidase
activity in leaves of 6 plants.

Combretum quadrangulare (A), Pithecellobium dulce(B), Albizia lebbeck (C), Acacia auriculiformis (D),Cassaia siamea (E), Acacia magium (F)With the increase of EC value in soil, the relation between salt tolerant plants and the amountof H2O2 and peroxidase enzyme activity under salt stress can be classified into 2 groups: group I(less responsive to salt stress than group II) consisting of 4 plant species: C. quadrangulare, A.
auriculiformis, C. siamea, and A. magium, that showed a slight increase in both the amount of H2O2
and the peroxidase activity; and group II (more responsive to salt stress than group I) consisting of
P. dulce and Albizia lebbeck, that showed increase in both H2O2 content and peroxidase activity inleaves. The result indicated that C. quadrangulare is the most tolerant plant based on its ability toⒸ ISERD

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maintain the lowest H2O2 content value (ranging from 0.2 - 0.3 mol/g FW) when compared theothers. Besides, it showed the lowest peroxidase enzyme activity (ranging from 1-3 units min-1 mg1protein). Thus, the ability of salt tolerance in C. quadrangulare did not depend on the peroxidase
activity. This means it may be equipped with some mechanisms which help protect it from H2O2.
These results support previous reports such as Fadzilla et al. (1997) that described an increaseof H2O2 production, occurred gradually in response to salt stress in rice plants. In addition, Uchida
et al. (2002) reported that the most tolerant cultivar (Pokkali) had a lower level of H 2O2 than thesalt-sensitive Pusa Basmati 1. Also, Vaidyanathan et al. (2003), studied the effect of NaCl stress(100-300 mM) on two rice cultivars differing in salt tolerance. They found that the salt-tolerant
Pokkali showed higher activity of catalase and lower levels of H2O2 than the salt-sensitive Pusa
Basmati 1.
Moreover, in the group I, C. siamea also showed a slight increase in both the amount of H2O2
(ranging from 0.2 - 0.5 mol/g FW) and the peroxidase activity (ranging from 2 - 4 units min-1 mg-1
protein) with increasing EC value in soil. In contrast, in A. magium, the H2O2 content and theperoxidase activity increased with salinity levels, but the peroxidase activity decreased at 0.16 dS
m-1 and 0.93 dS m-1values. The result indicated that it has low efficiency to produce peroxidase
activity when it grows on high salinity areas. While, in A. auriculiformis, though the H2O2 content
and the peroxidase activity increased with salinity levels, the H2O2 content decreased at 0.16 dS
m-1. This means that A. auriculiformis has high efficiency to produce antioxidant enzyme todetoxify H2O2. Also, when comparing to the others in group I, A. auriculiformis is the best

species for growing on high salinity areas.
Lesstolerant plant

Albizia lebbeck
Pithecellobium dulce
Acacia auriculiformis
Cassaia siamea
Combretum quadrangulareMoretolerant plant

Acacia magium

H2O2(µmol g-1FW)

Peroxidase activity(Δ470min  mg-1protein)

Fig. 2 The effects of salinity of the soil (0.16 dS m-1) on hydrogen peroxide content andperoxidase activity in leaves of 6 plants
When comparing the amount of both parameters at the same electrical conductivity (0.16 dSm ) in the leaves of 6 plant species (as shown in Fig.2), the amount of H2O2 and peroxidase
enzyme activity may be depending upon the levels of salinity in soil and also depending on theplant species.
-1

CONCLUSION
The results presented here revealed that salt affected both the content of hydrogen peroxide and theactivity of peroxidase in the cultivated plant species. This study confirms that with increasing ofEC value in soil, halophytes do not accumulate H2O2 uniformly. Both biochemical parameters may
be used as potential indicators to detect the ability of plants to survive and grow in their respective
areas. This study also indicated that hydrogen peroxide content and peroxidase activity were clearly
related to the ability of survival in each plant and the ability to detoxify H2O2, respectively. In
summary, the accumulation of both important substances in plants could be used as an index toⒸ ISERD

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indicate the salt tolerance of plant and the best promising species to improve saline soil and toserve as plant energy was C. quadrangulare.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the research group of Soil Problem in Northeast Thailand, and theresearch group of Integrated Studies on Ecology and Classification of Saline Soils for Sustainable
Agriculture and Environment, Thailand.
We wish to acknowledge the support of the Khon Kaen University Publication Clinic,
Research and Technology Transfer Affairs, Khon Kaen University.
REFERENCES
Ashraf, M. and Harris, P.J.C. 2004. Potential biochemical indicators of salinity tolerance in plants. Plant
Science, 166, 3-16.
Bradford, M.M. 1976. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantification of microgram quantities of protein
utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Analytical Biochemistry, 72, 248-254.
Chance, B. and Maehly, C. 1955. Assay of catalase and peroxidases. Methods Enzymology, 11, 764-775.
Dionisio-Sese, M.L. and Tobita, S. 1998. Antioxidant responses of rice seedlings to salinity stress. Plant
Science, 135, 1-9.
Fadzilla, N.M, Finch, R.P. andBurdon, R.H. 1997. Salinity, oxidative stress and antioxidant responses inshoot cultures of rice. Journal of Experimental Botany, 48, 325-331.
Gossett, D.R., Banks, S.W., Millhollon, E.P. and Lucas, M.C. 1996. Antioxidant response to NaCl stress in acontrol and an NaCl-tolerant cotton cell line grown in the presence of paraquat, buthionine sulfoximine
and exogenous glutathione. Plant Physiology, 112, 803-809.
Liu, J. and Shono, M. 1999. Characterization of mitochondria-located small heat shock protein in tomato(Lycopersicon esculenlum). Plant and Cell Physiology, 40, 1297-1304.
Lin, C.C. and Kao, C.H. 1996. Proline accumulation is associated with inhibition of rice seedling growthcaused by NaCl. Plant Science, 114, 121-128.
Mittova, V., Guy, M., Tal, M. and Volokita, M. 2004. Salinity up-regulates the antioxidative system in root
mitochondria and peroxisomes of the wild salt-tolerant tomato species Lycopersicon pennellii. Journalof Experimental Botany, 55, 1105-1113.
Munns, R. 1993. Physiological processes limiting plant growth in saline soils: some dogmas and hypotheses.
Plant, Cell and Environment, 16, 15-24.
Munns, R., Schachtman, D.P. and Condon, A.G. 1995. The significance of a two-phase growth response tosalinity in wheat and barley. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology, 22, 561-569.
Myers, B.A., Neales, T.F. andJones, M.B. 1990 The influence of salinity on growth, water relations andphotosynthesis in Diplachne fusca P. Beauv. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology, 17(6), 675-691.
Parida, A.K. and Das, A.B. 2004. Salt tolerance and salinity effects on plants: a review. Ecotoxicology andEnvironmental Safety. 1-26 (Article in press).
Prasad, T.K., Anderson, M.D., Martin, B.A. and Stewart, C.R. 1994. Evidence for chilling-induced oxidative
stress in maize seedlings and a regulatory role for hydrogen peroxidase. Journal of Plant Physiology, 6,65-74.
Sergiev, I., Alxieva, V. and Karanov, E. 1997. Effect of spermone, atrazine and combination between themon some endogenous protective systems and stress markers in plants. Comp. Rend. Acad. Bulg. Sci., 51,
121-124.
Slesak, I., Libik, M., Karpinska, B., Miszalski, S.and Miszalski, Z. 2007. The role of hydrogen peroxidase inregulation of plant metabolism and cellular signaling in response to environmental stresses. Acta
Biochem. Pol, 54, 39-50.
Slesak, I., Libik, M. and Miszalski, Z. 2008. The foliar concentration of hydrogen peroxide during saltinduced C3-CAM transition in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum. L. Plant Science, 174, 221-226.
Uchida, A., Jagendorf, A.T., Hibino, T., and Takabe, T. 2002. Effects of hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxideon both salt and heat stress tolerance in rice. Plant Science, 16, 515-523.
Vaidyanathan, H., Sivakumar, P., Chakrabarty, R. and Thomas, G. 2003. Scavenging of reactive oxygen
species in NaCl-stressed rice (Oryza sativa L.) differential response in salt-tolerant and sensitive
varieties. Plant Science, 165, 1411-1418.
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Research article
erdSuitable Timing of Compost Application and Its
Effectiveness on Mung Bean in the Crop Station of Royal
University of Agriculture
SOPHARK TIP*
Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation, Cambodia Branch
Email: tip.sophark@gmail.com

BUNTHAN NGO
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

EANG KHUONRoyal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

SOKHA PEL
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

MACHITO MIHARA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanLALITA SIRIWATTANANON
Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Pathum Thani, Thailand
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 12 March 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Agriculture is one of the main sectors for Cambodian economy since 85% of
citizens live in the countryside, and among which 75% are farmers. They use the same soil
every year for farming, which causes the soil to become infertile. To solve this problem,
adding organic fertilizer is the best method to improve the stability of soil fertility.
Compost is one type of organic fertilizers which can be applied to improve soil properties
such  as  the  soil’s  physical, chemical and biological properties. Because of these reasons,an experiment on suitable timing of compost application and its effectiveness on mungbean was conducted. The experiment aimed to determine which kind of organic fertilizers
is appropriate for mung bean growth and yield, and to identify the suitable timing ofcompost application for the mung bean crop. There were 4 kinds of compost for
conducting the experiment: conventional compost, pellet compost, neem conventional
compost and neem pellet compost, and two different timings of compost application (oneweek before seeding and during seeding of mung bean). Plots were designed as
randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with three blocks. In each block there werenine treatments including the control. As a result, there was no significant difference
between different timings of compost application (one week before seeding, and whileseeding). We had the highest yield by application of neem compost one week before
seeding, which was 2.056 t/ha. The next was neem compost during seeding=1.850 t/ha,and the lowest yield was found in the control treatment=1.341 t/ha. According to theresults above, application of neem compost one week before seeding is suitable to gethigher yield of mung bean though there was not a significant difference between timingsof compost application.
Keywords conventional compost, pellet compost, neem conventional compost, neempellet compost, timing of applicationⒸ ISERD

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INTRODUCTION
To produce rice and other crops from year to year, it is necessary to apply nutrients continually. So,
organic fertilizers have been applied into the soil in order to keep the soil fertility and ensuresustainable agriculture. Compost is one type of organic fertilizer which is made from plant residues,that can offer nutrients to soil, decrease the level of compacted soil, and improve chemical andphysical properties of soil (soil quality) (Mihara and Fujimoto, 2009; Aero Sun Time, 1990).
According to the experiment of Ungsa (1990-1991) about the effectiveness of fertilizer and spacing
on quality and mung bean yield, it was concluded that the application of chemical fertilizer did not
improve the quality of mung bean significantly, but the applied compost increased mung bean yieldsignificantly.
Pellet compost or granular compost was developed by Institute of Environment Rehabilitation
and Conservation (ERECON) and Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA) (Mihara and Fujimoto,2007). Pellet compost is made of conventional compost, clayey soil, and molasses in the proportionof 10:1:0.01 (Mihara and Fujimoto, 2007). 0.01 units of molasses is the most suitable proportion
for making pellet compost (Mihara, et al, 2005). Between conventional compost and pellet compost,
conventional compost is more likely to be prone to erosion than pellet compost, as the molasses
plays roles as connectors for compost aggregate. It means that nutrient losses of farm land appliedwith pellet compost can be reduced compared to the conventional compost (Mihara and Fujimoto,2007). Siriwattananon and Mihara (2008) concluded that pellet compost application is an effective
way for reducing soil fertility loss which is one way to contribute to the practice of sustainableagriculture.
Neem compost is a type of compost made from neem leaves and other materials. Neem
compost is used to increase soil quality, soil fertility, and it also provides more nutrients to soil andcrops. Neem compost is being used by many farmers and agronomists because of the discovery of
its benefits such as the increase of pest resistance for plants, which can be applied to all kinds ofplants and crops, improvement of soil condition, and the prevention of some kind of root diseases(Oil seeds shop, 2010).
Harvesting age of mung bean is 70-90 days depending on the variety (Sokha, 1997), andnutrient releasing rate of compost is slower than chemical fertilizer (Mihara and Fujimoto, 2007).
Hence, different timings of compost application should be studied.
Based on good features of these organic fertilizers and the above-mentioned factors, anexperiment was conducted about the suitable timing of compost application and its effectiveness onmung bean in the crop station of Royal University of Agriculture. The objectives of this experiment
aimed to determine which kind of organic fertilizers is appropriate for mung bean growth and yield,
and to identify the suitable timing of compost application for the mung bean crop.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Conventional compost, pellet compost, neem conventional compost, and neem pellet compost weremade at ERECON CaM-branch (Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation,
Cambodia Branch). The field experiment was conducted in the crop station of Royal University ofAgriculture.
Materials such as cow manure, water hyacinth, siam weed, morning glory, grass, chaff ash,rice husk, vegetables, tree leaves, neem leaves, and fertile soil were collected to make compost(Kinal, et al., 2007). After putting materials into the compost box, water was used to moisturize thesolution. Then compost was turned regularly until it became mature. After that, conventional
compost, and neen conventional compost were sieved with 1.5 millimeter diameter sieve to get
powdered compost for making pellet compost by mixing it with clayey soil, and palm sugar in theratio of 10:1:0.01.

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Fig. 1 Experimental plots design
After getting organic fertilizers, conventional compost, pellet compost, neem conventional
compost, and neem pellet compost, they were applied at the time set at the rate 18t/ha (Mihara andFujimoto, 2007) by using CARDI   CHEY   variety―mung   bean variety released by Cambodian
Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) in 2001.
Total experimental site was 310 square meters (31m x 10m). Plots were designed throughrandomized complete block design (RCBD) consisting of 3 replications with 9 treatments for eachblock. The space between blocks and treatments was 0.5m. The size of treatment was 3m x 3m, andmung bean was seeded with 30cm spacing in row and 40cm spacing in column.
Data collection
To measure the effectiveness of those fertilizers, indicators such as plant height (cm), total numberof pods per plant (number), weight of 1000 seeds (g), and mung bean yield (t/ha) were collectedfrom 15 random plants of each treatment.
Data analysis
Collected data was calculated and determined the significant difference of each treatment by testing
analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference (LSD) by using Microsoft Excel and
SPSS software.
Table 1 Result of N P C, and OM analysis of compostType of compost
Conventional compost
Pellet compost
Neem conventional compost
Neem pellet compost

Total N(x10-5 kg/kg)
263.5
234.3
241.3
367.2

Total P
(x10-5 kg/kg)
60.2
98.7
187.3
120.9

Total OM
(x10-2 kg/kg (=%))
13.0348
11.4161
20.2767
13.3969

Total C(x10-2 kg/kg (=%))
7.29946.393911.3549
7.5022

Source: Compost analysis at laboratory of Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan, 2010

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the experiment were summarized in Table 2. There was not a significant differenceof plant height (P>0.05) among different treatments. Similar to the result of Sithradeth (2008), theexperiment on effect of cow manure and N P K application on the same mung bean variety(CARDI CHEY variety), demonstrated that plant height was not significantly different between
treatments. Anyway, Table 2 showed that the average plant height of all treatments in which
compost was applied were higher than the control, which was the same result of Ungsa (19901991), where compost treatments improved agronomic characteristics of mung bean.

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Table 2 Results of the experiment
Treatments applied
T0: Control
T1: Conventional compost one
week before seeding
T2: Pellet compost one week
before seeding
T3: Neem conventional compost
one week before seeding
T4: Neem pellet compost one
week before seeding
T5: Conventional compost whileseeding
T6: Pellet compost while seeding
T7: Neem conventional compost
while seeding
T8: Neem pellet compost whileseedingsignificant difference between
treatment
Coeficient of Variance(C.V=%)

Plant height(cm)
64.326

Total pods per plant(number)
36.42cWeight of 1000
seeds (g)75.91bYield(t/ha)
1.341c65.11138.85bc

81.21abc

1.598bc

64.48839.62bc

79.62bc

1.703b

64.40042.5a

81.04ab2.056a65.13341.73ab78.99bc

1.764ab65.48840.68ab83.26a1.660bc

64.64438.05bc

78.90cd

1.757bc

64.88840.11b81.98ab1.850ab65.91138.88bc

80.81abc

1.686b

Ns

*

**

*

5.94

4.49

2.11

11.94

*= significant difference at P< 0.05, **= significant difference at P< 0.01, ns= Non significant difference

Fig. 2 Total pods per plant of different treatments

Fig. 3 Weight of 1000 seeds of different treatments

Fig. 4 Mung bean yield of different treatmentsⒸ ISERD

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Total pods per plant of each treatment was significantly different (P<0.05). Treatment appliedwith neem conventional compost one week before seeding (42.50 pods) had more total pods perplant than the treatment applied with neem pellet compost one week before seeding (41.73 pods).
These two treatments applied neem compost; according to the result of N P C and OM analysis ofcompost (Table 1), neem conventional compost (P=187.3 x10-5 kg/kg) and neem pellet compost(P=127.9 x10-5 kg/kg) contained more phosphorus (P) than other composts. Sokha (1997) foundthat phosphorus was very important for mung bean to improve root growth, and especiallyphosphorus  was  very  active  to  make  mung  bean’s  flower  and  pods  good.  The  treatment that had theleast pods per plant was the control (36.42 pods) (Fig. 2) and (Table 2). Ungsa (1990-1991) pointed
out that compost application could improve the total pods per plant more than control and chemicalfertilizer application.
Among all treatments, the highest weight of 1000 seeds was the treatment applied withconventional compost while seeding (83.26 g), then neem conventional compost while seeding(81.98 g), conventional compost one week before seeding (81.21 g), neem conventional compost
one week before seeding (81.04 g), neem pellet compost while seeding (80.81 g), pellet compost
one week before seeding (79.62 g), neem pellet compost one week before seeding (78.99 g), andthe lowest weight of 1000 seeds was the control (75.91 g). There was a significant difference
between treatments (P<0.01) (Table 2 and Fig. 3).
The treatment that applied neem conventional compost one week before seeding got thehighest yield (2.05 t/ha), followed by the neem conventional compost while seeding (1.85 t/ha),neem pellet compost one week before seeding (1.764 t/ha), pellet compost while seeding (1.757t/ha), pellet compost one week before seeding (1.703 t/ha), neem pellet compost while seeding(1.686 t/ha), and conventional compost one week before seeding (1.598 t/ha). The lowest yield wasobserved in control (1.34 t/ha). Treatments were significantly different (P<0.05) (Table 2 and Fig.
4). Similarly, Ungsa (1990-1991) determined that application of compost increased yieldsignificantly.
CONCLUSION
Based on the above results, applying compost one week before seeding or during seeding had no
significant difference. In the case of mung bean yield between treatments of the same organic
fertilizers at different timings: conventional compost (T1) and (T5), pellet compost (T2) and (T6),neem conventional compost (T3) and (T7), and neem pellet compost (T4) and (T8), had no
significant difference in yields. However, the most suitable timing of compost application was one
week before seeding due to the higher yield of mung bean than that of mung bean yield withcomposts applied while seeding. The most suitable compost for mung bean to get higher yield wasneem conventional compost (based on comparision of yield got from each treatment).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to ERECON for supporting me to learn and practice how to make compost, pellet compost,
and other technical knowledge to successfully conduct this experiment. Also, special thanks toRoyal University of Agriculture and faculty of Agronomy for supporting and providing many
agricultural courses and field experiments.
REFERENCES
Aero Sun Time 6/90. All about compost. New Western Energy Show factsheet, 1-15.
Kinal, K., Dimang, C., Sophornrith, R. and Lyda, H. 2007. Easy way for making compost. Cambodia, 1-15.
Mihara, M. and Fujimoto, A. 2007. Sustainable Agriculture with organic fertilizer. Institute of Environment
Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan, 20-27. Japan.
Mihara, M. and Fujimoto, A. 2009. Sustainable Farming Practices for Environmental Conservation, Instituteof Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan, 11-19. Japan.
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Mihara, M., Srimuang, R., Ichimaya, M. and Siriwattananon, L. 2005. Reducing nitrogen losses in surface
runoff by application of pellet compost. Journal of Environmental Information Science, 33-5, 21-26.
Oil seeds shop 2010. Neem compost (http://www.oilseedsshop.com/neem-compost.html).
Sarom, M. 2005. Cambodian Journal of Agriculture, CARDI, Cambodia, 5-6, 13-14.
Siriwattananon, L. and Mihara, M. 2008. Efficiency of granular compost in reducing soil and nutrient losses
under various rainfall intensities. Journal of Environment Information Science, 36-5, 39-44.
Sithradeth, M. 2008. Effect of cow manure and different rates of N P K application on mung bean. Royal
University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sokha, P. 1997. Tropical crop. Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Ungsa, M. 1990-1991. Fertilizer and spacing effect on mung bean yield and quality. Kasetsart University,
Nakon Pathom, Thailand.

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Research article
erdStudy on Suitable Moisture for Pellet Compost Making andMachanical Mixing Technique
SOVATH TIM*
Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation, Cambodia Branch
E-mail: tsovath@gmail.com

BUNTHAN NGO
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnon Penh, Cambodia

SOPHEA TIM
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnon Penh, Cambodia

HAK YUN
Royal University of Agriculture, Phnon Penh, Cambodia

MACHITO MIHARA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanLALITA SIRIWATTANANON
Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Thailand
Received 16 December 2011

Accepted 12 March 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Pellet compost contributes to sustainable agriculture systems in Cambodia. It
also inspires Cambodian farmers to use organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers inagricultural practices. According to the sustainable agriculture program for environment
conservation of the Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation (ERECON),
one topic for study concerns machine and mixing techniques with suitable moisture formaking pellet compost. The purposes of the experiment are to study about the process ofmaking pellet compost with two kinds of machines (diskpelleters and mincing machines),
and to identify appropriate moisture for practical use of each machine. There are someparameters for studying the process of making pellet compost of those machines, such as
potential of each machine, percentage of good pellet compost, length of the granule, andcharacteristics of the granule. In identifying moisture, five treatments and three
replications were selected, each of which was added with different amounts of water: T1=
750 ml, T2= 900 ml, T3= 1050 ml, T4= 1200 ml, and T5= 1350 ml into 5.505 kg ofcompost mixture compound with 23.36% of water content, which consists of conventional
compost, termite-mound soil and palm sugar with a ratio of 5:0.5:0.005. As a result, forthe diskpelleter machine experiment, we got the best result for treatment T2 which wasadded with 900 ml of water and had 45.42% of water content. The producing capacity ofthis machine was 139.75 kg/h in dry mass. For mincing machine, treatment T3, added with
1050 ml of water and having 48.69% of water content, got the best result, with aproducing capacity of 64.39 kg/h in dry mass. Therefore, 45.42% of water content incompost mixture was the best moisture for making pellet compost with the diskpelletermachine and 48.69% of water content in compost mixture was the best moisture formaking pellet compost with the mincing machine.
Keywords: conventional compost, termite-mound soil, pellet compost, water content.

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INTRODUCTION
Pellet compost making is an activity that contributes to the sustainable agriculture system in all
agricultural countries, especially in developing countries like Cambodia. Currently, soil
degradation has been widespread around the world due to agricultural practices depending on
chemical fertilizer only. Therefore, it should be improved from the viewpoint of soil nutrient
substance. Pellet compost combined with conventional compost, soil, and molasses at the ratio of
10:1:0.01 by adding some amount of water has been used for sustainable agriculture (Mihara, M.
and Akimi, F., 2007). According to Mihara et al., (2005) adding 0.01 unit of molasses withmoisture is suitable for crop growing, but if molasses is added in higher amount, the crop growth isreduced and has a shorter life than when normal fertilizer is applied. The compost pellet size
produced by mincing machine was 0.5 cm in diameter and 1 cm in length with the same ratio
above mentioned (Siriwattananon, L. and Mihara, M., 2008). There are many kinds of plant
residues for making conventional compost such as rice straws, sugar cane leaves, corn trees,
grasses or leaves, bean residues, saw dust, bean trees and animal manure that can be used as raw
materials (Mihara, M. and Akimi F., 2007). According to CEDAC (2008) there are several
composting materials such as liquid bio-fertilizer, chicken manure, bat manure, palm sugar, hill soil,
surface soil, ash, and bean residues at the ratio of 50:50:5:3:100:100:50:5, respectively. Moisturedetermination of compost mixture was very important for Extruder machines and Diskpelletermachines. Moisture of compost mixture has a strong effect on compost cohesion and on the speedof pellet compost process. The suitable moisture for Extruder machine was from 35% to 45% andfrom 25% to 35% for diskpelleter machine (Hara, 2001). Furthermore, conventional compost isvery important for making pellet compost, so we should make sure that it does not contain hardwaste and stones that can damage the machine, thus requiring more spending on machine repair.
Pellet compost is used as an organic fertilizer and its production is expensive because it should be
produced with high quality standards, and nutrient substances (Hara, 2001). Advantages of pellet
compost  include  the    ompost’s  bulk  density,  being  for conventional compost 1.9g/cm3, that is, lessthan soil bulk density which is 2.7g/cm3, so whenever rainfall or surface runoff water occurred,conventional compost could be washed out easily. On the other hand, pellet compost stays in thesoil and prevents soil nutrient erosion, is very effective and it is easy for transporting (Mihara, M.
and Akimi, F., 2009). Pellet compost can be used on any kind of crops that will grow well andproduce high yield. Moreover, it does not have an impact on human health and it is economical,
and so farmers can earn money from selling pellet compost (CEDAC, 2008). Therefore, theobjectives of the research are to study the process of making pellet compost with two kinds ofmachines (diskpelleter and mincing machines), and to identify an appropriate moisture for practical
purposes with each machine.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The research was carried out at the Royal University of Agriculture and it is focused on two
purposes: the processes of making pellet compost with two kinds of machines, and the suitablemoisture of compost mixture for each machine. The materials for this research are: mixture
machine, two pellet compost machines, oven machine, conventional compost, termite-mound soil,
palm sugar and water. According to Hara (2001), the process of making pellet compost has eightsteps, which are: composting, mixture agitator, mechanized sieve, molding machine, dryer,
mechanized packaging in bags, distribution and storage, and this method was used in the present
research. Diskpelleter machine and mincing machine were used for making pellet compost
combined with conventional compost, termite-mound soil, and palm sugar in the ratio of
5:0.5:0.005. In order to determine the suitable moisture of compost mixture, 5 treatments were
defined and each treatment contained 5.505kg of compost mixture compound added with 5
different levels of water; T1: 750 mm, T2: 900 mm, T3: 1050 mm, T4: 1200 mm, and T5: 1350
mm. Moreover, replications for producing pellet compost of each treatment were completed threetimes, as R1, R2, and R3. Data of experiment were collected, such as moisture of compost mixtureⒸ ISERD

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by selecting sample and putting it in oven machine, potential of each machine by weighing totalcompost pellet product with timing during making, compost pellet length by measuring in metersand good pellet compost by separating good and broken compost pellet. Furthermore, according to
Chrun Rithy (2009), the water content of compost mixture in dry mass was calculated by the Eq.(1)(Norman, 1987).
Md = Ww / Wd x 100(1)

where, Md is the moisture content, d.b. (%), Ww is the weight of water (g) and Wd is the weight ofdry sample (g).
Several software programs were used to analyze all data, based on objectives of the present
study. Those programs were Microsoft Excel and SPSS 15 used to compare the significant
difference of 5% for the treatments by analyzing a variance of one-way ANOVA and LSD.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The pellet compost making processes
The pellet composting process was considered, each stage being done in order and all materials
prepared for pellet composting. There are seven stages of making pellet compost by using
diskpelleter machine and mancing machine, as shown in Fig. 1

Function

Process

Controlling-Producting high-quality ofpellet compost

Getting materials:
Conventional compost,
termite-mount soil, sugarplum, water-All materials are in theratio of 5:0.5:0.005-Mixture of all materials
become a solution

Use of mixer machine-Duration: 10 minutes withmoisture content 45%-48%

Use of Pellet compost
machine-Making compost pellet-Prevention of quality
degradation (Water content
reduced to 20% or less)-Collection of compost pellet
Keeping pellet moisture
stable and easy fortransportation-For supporting human needs-Diskpelleter machine andMinching machine

Drying pellet compost-Drying under the roof for
4 to 7 days

Separating pellet compost-Plastic or wire net with adiameter of 1.5 mm

Packing in bags
Distribution and storage

Fig. 1 Process for making pellet compostⒸ ISERD

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Fig. 2 Moisture of compost mixture (%)
Firstly, materials for making pellet compost include conventional compost, termite-mound soil,
and sugar were mixed at the ratio of 5:0.5:0.005 by adding a suitable water amount. We had tomake sure that the conventional compost and termite-mound were in good condition. Secondly, allmaterials were mixed by mixer machine until it became a fine mixture, for about 10 minutes.
Thirdly, the compost pellet was produced by the diskpelleter machine and the mincing machine. In
this stage, compost mixture with suitable moisture was put into the machines, resulting in the
production of pellet compost. Fourthly, after producing pellet compost, this was dried under theroof around 4 to 7 days so its water content could be reduced to 20% or less, being this a suitablemoisture for storage (Hara, 2001). When drying pellets, some of them were cracked, and so it wasnecessary to separate them by sacking with a plastic net. Then, pellet compost was packed inplastic bags in order to keep stable moisture. Finally, pellet compost was distributed and stored
under a roof or cool place. The results of the moisture of compost mixture (Fig. 2) showed thatwater content of conventional compost (CC) was 25.34%. After being mixed with termite-moundsoil and sugar, the water content of compost mixture (CM) was reduced to 23.36%. The treatment
T1 was to add 750 ml of water on 5.505 kg of compost mixture compound, and its water content
increased to 41.65%. 150 ml of water was added, increasing from one treatment to another: T2, T3,
T4, and T5 and water content increased to 45.42%, 48.69%, 52.28%, and 55.49% respectively.
The potential of diskpellet machine for producing pellet compost
According to the results in Fig. 3, the potential of treatments using the diskpelleter machine
decreased while water content increased in T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5. The highest potential of thismachine was T1: 49.96 g/s or 180 kg/h in dry mass, that had a higher significant difference than theother treatments (P<0.05). The lowest potential was T5: 25.01   g/s or 90   kg/h in dry mass. In
contrast, even though the treatment T1 had the highest potential value, the compost pellet was alittle bit dry, and so it was easy to be cracked. Furthermore, the good compost pellet after sacking it
is not different to those of T2 and T3 with a significant difference level of P>0.05 (Fig.4). The
results of the experiment in Fig. 5 show that the length of compost pellet is not significant among
treatments (P>0.05). The longest compost pellet length from diskpelleter machine was in treatment
T5: 11.24 mm and the shortest was in treatment T1: 8.93 mm; these compost pellets were 5 mm indiameter.
A survey was applied to 20 people to evaluate moisture and length of pellet compost for eachtreatment. Scores ranged from one to five, with one being very bad to five being very good. Fig. 6
shows that the most popular treatment was T2: 3.65 marks for pellet moisture and 3.7 marks forpellet length. Therefore, the best treatment was T2: 45.42% of moisture and 9.43 mm of compost
pellet length using the diskpelleter machineⒸ ISERD

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Fig. 3 Potential of diskpelletermachine (g/s)* Significant difference at P<0.05

Fig. 6 Suitable characteristicof compost pellet

Fig. 4 Percentage of goodcompost pellet (%)

Fig. 5 Length of compost
from diskpelletermachine (mm)* P<0.05

Fig. 7 Potential of mincing
machine (g/s)

Fig. 8 Percentage of goodcompost pellets (%)* Significant difference at P<0.05* P<0.05

Fig. 9 Length of compost pellet from Fig. 10 Suitable characteristic of compost
Mincing machine (mm)pellet
The potential of the mincing machine for making pellet compost
According to the results in Fig. 7, the potential of treatments using the mincing machine increased,
when water content increased in T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5. The highest potential of this machine wasin T5: 18.88 g/s or 68 kg/h in dry mass and it was not significantly different to treatments T3 andT4 (P>0.05). The lowest potential was T1: 10.5   g/s or 37.8   kg/h in dry mass. In contrast, eventhough the treatment T5 presented the highest value, the compost pellet was too wet, and so it
stuck together and became a big aggregate. The good compost pellet after being separated had asignificant difference to other treatments with a significant level of P<0.05 (Fig. 8). The results ofthe experiment in. Fig. 9 show that the length of compost pellets was non-significant among
treatments (P>0.05). The longest compost pellet length was in treatment T1: 17.52 mm and theshortest was in treatment T5: 14.07 mm. Those compost pellets were 5 mm in diameter. A surveyⒸ ISERD

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was applied to 20 people to evaluate moisture and length of compost pellets for each treatment.
Scores ranged from one to five, with one being very bad to five being very good. Fig. 10 showsthat the most popular treatment was T3: 3.2 marks for pellet moisture and 3.5 marks for pellet
length. Therefore, the best treatment was T3: 48.69% of moisture and 17.33 mm of compost pellet
length with the mincing machine.
Discussion
According to Hara (2001), the most suitable moisture of compost mixture was 35% to 45% for the
Extruder machine and 25%-35% for the Diskpelleter machine. However, the most suitable moistureof compost mixture in this research was 48.69% of water content for the mincing machine. In
addition, the water content of compost mixture from 45.42% to 52.28% could be applied with thismachine, while 45.42% of water content of compost mixture was the most suitable for making
compost pellet by the diskpelleter machine. Moreover, the water content of compost mixture from41.65% to 48.69% could be applied with this machine, too.
CONCLUSION
Based on the results of this research, it can be concluded that the diskpelleter pellet compost
machine has potential to produce pellet compost from 90 kg to 180 kg per hour, while the mincing
machine can produce from 37 kg to 68 kg per hour. According to the results of LSD analysis andsurvey on 20 people about compost pellet characteristics (moisture and length) the optimal choice
when using the diskpelleter machine is treatment T2 added with 900 ml of water on 5.505 kg ofcompost mixture with 23.36%, being the water content of compost mixture after adding water
45.42%. For the mincing machine treatment T3 was the most suitable, which was added with 1050
mm of water on 5.505 kg of compost mixture, and the water content of compost mixture after
adding water was 47.69%.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to express their deepest gratitude to the Faculty of Agricultural Technology
and Management, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia for their kindly support, and special
thanks to Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation (ERECON) Cambodia branch
for research funding.
REFERENCESCEDAC 2008. Farmers experience, Cambodia.
Hara, 2001. Fertilizer pellet made from composted livestock manure. Extension Bulletins, An International
Information Center for Farmers in the Asia Pacific Region.
Mihara, M. and Fujimoto, A. 2007. Sustainable agriculture with organic fertilizer. Institute of Environment
Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan.
Mihara. M., Srimuang, R., Ichimiya, M. and Siriwattananon, L. 2005. Reducing nitrogen component losses insurface runoff by application of pellet compost, Journal of Environmental Information Science, 33(5),21-26.
Mihara, M. and Fujimoto, A. 2009. Sustainable farming practices for environmental conservation, Institute ofEnvironment Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan.
Norman, T. 1987. Paddy drying manual. Food and Agriculture Organization, 14.
Siriwattananon, L. and Mihara, M. 2008. Efficiency of granular compost in reducing soil and nutrient losses
under various rainfall intensities. Journal of Environment Information Science, 36(5), 39-44.

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Research article
erd

Aspects of the Aging Farming Population and Food
Security in Agriculture for Thailand and Japan
SUPAPORN POUNGCHOMPU*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen,, Thailand
Email: psuppap@kku.ac.th

KOBAYASHI TSUNEO
Coastal Bioenvironmental Center, Saga University, Saga, Japan

PONGSAGORN POUNGCHOMPU
Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 12 March 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract This paper highlights the aging farmer population and food security inagriculture, an issue for both Thailand and Japan. The increase of elderly population inboth countries is particularly marked in the agricultural labor force as the number ofagriculture labor force has continually decreased due to the exodus of young farmers fromagriculture. This has significantly impacted food security. The 152 Thai and 10 Japanese
respondents, consisting of farmers aged over 55 years were sampled using a purposive
sampling technique that was based on the interviewing survey carried out on AugustDecember 2011. For techniques of data analysis, the descriptive statistics and cohort
method were used. The results present an increasing trend of aged farming population andaging farmers mainly engaged in farming aging 65 and over in both countries. In case of
the increase in Japan, it can be explained by the number of post-retirement farmers. It isinteresting to note that the aging trend increases in number partly due to a slower rate ofexiting from farming. The disadvantage is that older farmers would be much less efficientin agriculture, especially rice cultivation. However, the role of maintaining a farm land canbe entrusted to the aging famers. From the survey, it was found that food insecurity is arisk due to a reduction of the farm labor force and the aging society. Yet, most farmers inboth countries believed that a shortage of farm labor force has probably not given rise to a
problem of food insecurity because in modern agriculture less labour is needed and the useof machinery is increasing. Thus, the government should improve access to modern
technology and machinery to increase efficiency for coping with the above situations.
Keywords older farmer, post-retirement farmer, population mainly engaged in farming,
cohort method, part-time farmer, full-time farmer

INTRODUCTION
In most countries, population aging tends to be greater in rural areas than in cities (Gerardo, 2005).
This is because rural-to-urban migration is usually highly age-selective, involving mostly young
adults who migrate to cities to seek urban employment (Gustavo, 2008). As a result, the population
left behind in the countryside typically have higher proportions of older people (Gerardo, 2005).
According to National Statistical Office (2011), in Thailand the agricultural population, over 65
year old occupied nearly 10% of the population. For Japan, over the 50-year period, from 1960 to2010, an annual rate of decrease of roughly 1.16% for farm household has brought the agricultural
population down to 6.50 million in 2010 (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries(MAFF),
2011). As the younger population has moved out of agriculture, the aging farming population has
become more prominent. Consequently, the agriculture sector will increase the reliance on theelderly population for labour. The aging of producers in the low capital-intensive agricultural
sectors of many developing countries could imply lowering of the productivity of labor (Philippe,Ⓒ ISERD

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2011). Probably labour productivity is one of the greatest stress areas that the rural exodus
exercises on the food stability of these countries.
To date, there has been little research into the aging farm labor force in Thailand and Japan.
This issue is a major problem for rural development, so there is a need for more research toquantify the current situation. Thus, this study has focused on the change in population
demographics as its impact on food security in both Thailand and Japan and the prospective role of
the aging population as a farm labor force for agricultural development.
METHODOLOGY
The research used secondary data to analyze the expected rural population and numbers predicted
to be engaged in farming for the next 25 years in both Thailand and Japan. It also used primary datafrom a survey carried out in Khon Kaen, Thailand in 4 villages; Nonkaow village, Wangto village,
Nontoon village and Tarae village; and in Tottori prefecture, Japan. A total of 162 respondents
made up of farmers aged over 55 years in Thailand and Japan were sampled using a purposive
sampling technique. 10 respondents from Japan also were members of Inaba Japan Agricultural
Cooperative (JA). This research was based on an interviewing survey that was carried out during
August-December 2011. For techniques of data analysis, the descriptive statistics and cohort
method were used. With a differentiation of data collection period, Japan began in 2005 (Uchida,1998) but Thailand since 2003 (National Statistical Office, 2011). For prediction, in Japan it can becalculated at provincial level as Tottori prefecture; but in Thailand, it must be forecasted on anational level due to a lack of data at provincial level. In case of the total number of agricultural
population,  less  than  14  years  has  been  estimated  according  to  Uchida’s  method  and  the  group  aged  over 75 years was compared with the general population aged over 75 years in Tottori province forJapan and in national level for Thailand (Uchida, 1998). This study also collected data from a
discussion with Japanese scholars and professors in Tottori University.
RESULTS
Current Situation and Tendency of Aging Population in Agriculture
According to the 2010 Census of Agriculture and Forestry (MAFF, 2011), in Japan, the number offarmers has fallen by half since the 1980s. The number of Japanese working in agriculture andforestry declined to 2.6 million in 2010, down from 5.43 million in 1985. The average age ofJapanese working in agriculture and forestry was 65.8 in 2010 (Figure 1-a). The rate of aging
population aged over 65 years increased by 34.3 % in 2010 compared to 8.2 % in 1960.
Thus, the total number of farm household members will have steeply fallen, as the number ofaging farmer household members will be rising. In Thailand, on the other hand, the aging farmers
have shown an increasing number of agricultural workforces from 4.5 % in 1980 to 16.7% in 2008
while agricultural workforce aged 15-39 represented the fallen proportion to 37.2 % in 2008. In
contrast to this group, the agricultural workforce aged 40-59 increase by 36.1 % in 2008 compared
to 27.4% in 1985 (Fig. 1-b). From this analysis, it can be concluded that the reduction in the young
farming labor force has had effects of rapidly aging of the agricultural workforce. Table 1 showedthat the rising portion of older farmers is due to an absolute increase in their numbers as well as asteady decrease in the number of farmers aged under 65 in both Japan and Thailand.
For Tottori prefecture, Japan, in the next 25 years the agricultural population aged over 65 is
expected to be reduced from 34,656 persons in 2005 to 33,743 persons in 2030; and from 74,468
persons in 2005 to 12,725 persons in 2030 for the population aged under 65. In contrast, for
Thailand, the total number of farming population aging under 65 is expected to decline from 18.07
million in 2003 to 16.64 million in 2028 or around 19% in 2003-2028. But the total agricultural
population and population mainly engaged in farming aging 65 and over has a greater number thanother age groups similar to Japan (Table 1). From this viewpoint, the aging trend is partly due to aslower rate of quitting from farming. Regarding Japan, the number of farmers aging 65 and over
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shows an increasing figure. This increase may indicate the number of post-retirement farmers1. The
post-retirement farmers can be classified into 3 categories based on pension income as follows:First, post-retirement farmer at early retirement age who are aged 50-54 years; Second, postretirement farmer at first period retirement age who are aged 55-59 years and Third, postretirement farmer at second period retirement age who are aged 60-69 years (Sawada, 2003;
Supaporn and Tsuneo, 2005). The number of post-retirement farmers began rising from the 1990s;
especially, in 2005-2010 period. This increase was due to the number of those who were born at thepeak period of births;;  the  post  war  “baby  boom”  of  1945-1949.

a) Japan, 2010b) Thailand, 2008

Fig. 1 Farming population by age group
Table 1 Prediction of the number of farming population and population mainly engaged infarming for the next 25 years for Tottori province of Japan and for national level ofThailand
Tottori Province, Japan (person)
farming population
population mainly engaged in farming

Age
group
Under
30
30-54
55-64
Over
65
Total

2005
29735

2010
17454

2015
11469

2020
7836

2025
5714

2030
4246

2005
2551

2010
1044

2015
619

2020
438

2025
332

2030
251

30481
14252
34656

20378
16309
32528

13624
14169
35023

9584
9400
38312

7107
5259
37266

5064
3415
33743

4439
7050
27031

2681
6743
22965

1794
5281
22081

1360
3088
22451

1166
1833
21253

979
1283
19955

109124

86669

74285

65132

55346

46468

40171

33433

29775

27337

24584

22468

2003
7482

2008
5711

2013
6496

2018
5940

2023
6144

2028
5992

2003
1077

2008
616

2013
1057

2018
679

2023
1081

2028
1029

8037
2154
3587

11053
2082
3867

8663
1986
4454

2947
574
320

2653
609
255

3412
548
291

2442
550
349

3780
573
393

2193
502
449

19718

23146

21095

4918

4133

5308

4020

5827

4173

Thailand (1000 persons)
Under
30
30-54
8697
8538 10482
55-64
1894
2496
1936
Over
1560
2050
2775
65
Total
19633 18795 21689
Source:  author’s  calculation

Older farmers in agriculture of Japan
From the survey applied to 10 respondents, the majority of the farmers were averagely 66.7 years
old. Seven were high school graduates and only three farmers were college graduates. The average
number of family members who reside together was 2 but most households involved in farming are
elderly couples that can receive some assistance from the children who live in the cities and returnhome on holidays like Golden Week. The type of farming work for households can be divided into1

The post-retirement farmer is defined as farm household members who mainly engage in a non-farming job and change to only afarming job after retiring from a non-farming job.

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2 categories as follows: (1) part time farmers; that is, farmers who regularly do non-farm jobs but
help farming on weekends (Saturday and Sunday). They do farming part time before retiring fromtheir regular jobs; and then, after retiring they work as full time farmers. These farmers generate
income from not only their pension but also their farming job. The share of pension amounts tomore than 50% of total income. (2) Full time farmers; that is, farmers who work in farming job
before and after 60 years as full time farmers. Of the 10 farmers, most have changed from part time
farmers to full time farmers. They are post-retirement farmers at second period retirement age whohave been working as farmers for around 6-7 years after retirement and will expect to do farming
activities for around 10 years more. Only 3 farmers have always been full time farmers, and havefarming experience of 45 years. They intend to continue farming for next 10-15 years. The
motivation of this farmer type is to protect their land because they have no successor to continue
farming. Moreover, most landholdings are small in size of 2.53 ha for rice paddies and of 2 ha for
upland fields (Table 2). There are four types of agricultural cultivation; that is, rice-vegetable, ricevegetable-flower, vegetable-flowers and vegetable that are operated by four, one, two and one
farmers respectively. The fruits grown are persimmon, plum and lemon and the vegetables grown
are tomato, Japanese radish, kidney bean and goya etc. Only two farmers grow flowers for salesuch as pansy and lily. They grew rice once a year due to a very cold winter, and they worked 6.5hours/day in planting period and 8 hours/day in harvesting period. They also cultivate crops inurban areas around houses, making vegetable plots and then bringing their small amount of
products to sell through Japan Agricultural Cooperative (JA). As above mentioned, the farm size ofrice paddy is small leading to be much less efficiency in agriculture. However, the older farmers
have been conservative on rice cultivation leading to slow down in the number of farm households
growing rice. They expand the area of their farm land through the use of rental lands.
Table 2 Farm size of landholding and cultivated area in Japan
Farm size(ha)0.1-0.3
0.4-0.6
0.6-0.9
1.0-3.0
3.0-6.0

Landholding (No, %)Paddy field
Upland field
1(10)
2 (20)
4 (40)
4 (40)
3 (30)
3 (30)Rice
1 (10)
4 (40)
2 (20)

Cultivated Area (ha, %)Vegetable
Flower2 (20)
1 (10)
2 (20)
1 (10)
3 (30)
1 (10)
2 (20)Fruit
1 (10)
1 (10)
1 (10)

Older farmers in agriculture in Thailand
For over 90% of farm households, farming is the main occupation. The remainders have non-farmjobs as main jobs. The average age of farmers is 63.5 years. 5.3% (8 households), four farmers
previously worked in non-farm jobs as government workers and after retirement entered into
farming. These farmers moved from part time farmers to full time farmers. Three farmers worked
in factories and after reaching the age of 55 and over, changed to farming. Formerly, they helped
farming activities such as rice harvesting. Just one farmer has had a small private business while
doing a farming job until now. The motivation of continuing farming activities is being successors(42.8%), generating income (3.2%), occupying a farm land (38.2%), and no successor (15.8%).
Regarding the size of landholding, most farmers have 1.0-2.99 ha and only five households have abigger size of land. Just two households do not own land. Most farmers grow rice with less than 1.0
ha, while a small number grows either cassava or sugarcane in areas less than 1.0 ha and 1.0-2.99
ha respectively (Table 3). Although they do farming with small size lands, they can protect farmlands from other sectors same as Japan and also support farm activities especially rice cultivation,
leading to be conservative rice cultivation farmers like Japan. With most of the farmers growing
rice in a single crop, this research has focused on the number of working days and hours as shownin Table 4. It was found that they mostly used working days and hours in transplanting, applying
fertilizer and harvesting. The main farm labor force is the farming couple but their children helptransplanting and harvesting. Also, some households have hired labor and used machinery intransplanting and harvesting.
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Table 3 Farm size of landholding and cultivated area in Thailand
Farm size(ha)<1.0
1.0-2.99
3.0-5.99
6.0-9.0

Landholding(No, %)
34 (22.4)
84 (55.3)
27 (17.8)
5 (3.3)

Rice
72 (47.3)
68 (44.7)
6 (3.9)-Cultivated Area (No, %)Cassava
Sugarcane
9 (5.9)10 (6.6)5 (3.3)12 (7.9)
2 (1.3)5 (3.3)-

Table 4 Average number of working days and working hours for a single crop
Activities
Soil preparation
Transplanting
Applying fertilizer
Weed control
Harvesting

Number (day)
3.89
5.31
5.45
3.93
6.43

Number (hour/day)
1.61
5.56
2.06
1.83
5.61

Older farmers and food security for Japan and Thailand
The opinion of aging farmers in both countries regarding the food security issue was that foodsecurity is an issue caused by the reduction of farm labor force and the aging society. However,most believed that the shortage of farm labor has not actually given rise to a problem of foodsecurity as modern agriculture needs smaller labor force and the shortage of labor can be coveredby the use of modern machinery. In addition, the impact of high oil prices has partly led to foodinsecurity because food prices are increasingly corresponding to the price of oil. This is also
because of a rise in production costs, such as fertilizers. Another factor is the increasing demand
due to the increase of population and income (Table 5). In the same table it was found that no
significant difference in opinion of food security in agriculture could be detected between Japanand Thailand. As above mentioned, Thai farmers have recommended that the production patternshould be diversified by growing crops other than main crops such as perennials  while Japanese
farmers thought that they should change commercial production to sustainable production; that is,increasing crop diversification to increase self-reliance leading to be a source of food support for
consumers.
Table 5 Opinion of food security in agriculture for Japan and Thailand
Items
Increasing aging farmer
Impact of high oil prices
Shortage of farm labor
Increasing demand
Total

Japan
Frequency Percentage
(%)
3
40
1
10
5
30
1
10
10
100

ThailandFrequency Percentage
(%)
49
32.24
27
17.76
68
44.74
8
5.26
152
100

Test of Difference*
2.047ns*

Difference was compared using chi-square test; ns = non-significant

DISCUSSION
With an increasing trend of aging farming population, agriculture and rural development will be
increasingly encouraged by older persons (Gustavo, 2008). Older farmers have expansive
knowledge and experience of agricultural production that are conservative traditional agricultural
practices and they can transfer their experience to young farmers in spite of that older farmers areless incentive for investment and innovation in agriculture (Stloukal, 2000) and are slower to adapt
to the change in agriculture (Siamwalla, 2004). In other words, the aging of producers in the low
capital-intensive agricultural sectors could imply a lowering of the productivity of labor (Philippe,Ⓒ ISERD

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2011). However, the role of maintaining farm land can be entrusted to the aging famers withsupport from outside and use of mechanization. Thus, governments should improve thetechnological and crop seed development as well as machinery availability to increase production
efficiency to offset production decreasing.
CONCLUSION
Population aging 65 and over has an upward trend in both counties. Older farmers in both countries
have played a key role of farm land maintenance involving rice cultivation. In order to maintainfood security both Thai and Japanese farmers should increase crop diversification other than main
crops.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research is supported by The Sumitomo foundation. The author is sincerely grateful to
Associate Professor Kumi Yasunobu and scholars in Tottori University for the assistance of farmsurvey and valuable discussion.
REFERENCES
Gerardo, G. 2005. Population aging sustainable development and food security in rural areas of Bolivia andChile. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Gustavo, A. and Libor, S. 2008. Rural population change in developing courtiers: lessons for policy making.
European view, 7, 309-317.
National Statistical Office. 2011. Agricultural census in Thailand (http://www.nso.go.th). Ministry ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) 2011. The 2010 Census of Agriculture and Forestry.
(http://www.maff.go.jp.). Phillippe, F. 2011. Agricultural productivity and the aging process.
(http://www.eui.eu) Sawada, M. 2003. The various routes of engaging in agriculture and post-retirement
farmer. The view of the development and the various routes of engaging in agriculture, 88-117. Tokyo,
Japan. (In Japanese).
Siamwalla, A. 2004. The aging of Thai agriculture: Past and present prospects of the rural scene. 2004
Technical seminar, Bangkok, Ministry of Resources and Environment and the Thailand Development
Research Institute, Thailand.
Stloukal, L. 2000. What can agricultural censuses tell us about rural population aging in developing
countries? FAO Population Programme Service (SDWP).
Supaporn, P. and Tsuneo, K. 2005. Role of post-retirement farmer in agricultural production. The Food,
Agricultural and Resource Economics Society of Japan, 55(2), 63-71.
The Thailand research fund. 2011. Entering aging society of farm population. Bulletin TRF Policy, 1, 11(April). Bangkok, Thailand.
Uchida, T. 1998. The Reform of agricultural cooperative and the change in the elderly person in farm village.
Research Report of Agriculture and Forestry Centre, Bank report of Agriculture and Forestry Central
Bank research, 40:2013. Japan.

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Research article
erdInfluences of Agricultural Irrigation on Regional Salinity
Balance in Arid Areas of Northwestern China
ABDISALAM JALALDIN*
College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Xinjiang University, Xinjiang, China
Email: asalam188@hotmail.com

TADAO YAMAMOTO
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan

TAKU OIKAWA
Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, JapanANWAIRE MAIMAIDI
Xayar Water Resource Agency, Xinjiang, ChinaTETUAKI NAGASAWA
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 2 April 2012(* : Corresponding Author)

Abstract It is widely recognized that saline transfer and distribution are importantconsiderations in arid areas, where salinization is prevalent, not only for sustainableagricultural production but also for regional environmental conservation. This study
discusses the saline balance of the irrigation area in the Tarim River basin of northwestern
China. Water quality was investigated at irrigation and drainage channels from 2007 to
2011. The regional water balance was calculated using the water supply and drainage
volume data owned by the Xayar Water Management Office and its branches. Comparing
the quality of irrigation and drainage water, the concentration of cations (except K+) in
drainage water was found to be 15 times more than that in irrigation water. Based on theestimation of water balance, it was confirmed that only approximately 5% of the irrigationwater flowed out as drainage water. The remaining supplied water is used forevapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge was considered. In addition, the output loadof K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ was lower than the input load. However, the output load of Na+
increased by approximately 20% of the input load. This indicates that continuous irrigation
does not necessarily promote saline transfer and that salinity is retained in groundwater orsoil in this region. Finally, because of the substantial exhaustion of Na+, it is necessary toconsider the influence of increased levels of Na+ in downstream drainage areas.
Keywords salinization, saline movement, irrigation and drainage, water balance, water
quality

INTRODUCTION
In arid areas where salinization is prevalent, an important question to consider is where the salinity
moves. If saline simply moves downstream through drainage, then water containing saline
nourishes irrigated areas and natural vegetation in the downstream areas. If saline does not move
downstream through drainage, it may accumulate in the groundwater or soil and lead to problems
in future groundwater use. Thus, it is widely recognized that saline transfer and distribution areimportant considerations in arid areas, where salinization is prevalent, not only for sustainableagricultural production but also for regional environmental conservation.
While many studies have described soil salinization and prevention of salinization in the field(Chen, 2010, Barrett-Lennard, 2002), research concerning saline movement and saline balance over
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wide areas, particularly in arid areas such as the Tarim River basin, is lacking. In the Tarim Riverbasin, soil salinization has occurred in approximately 80% of the irrigated area (Yamamoto et al.,2006). Consequently, it is necessary to examine saline movement and saline balance not only at thefield level but also over wide areas in this region.
METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted at the Xayar County in Xinjiang, northwest China (Fig. 1). Xayar County
is located in the Ugen River basin. Ugen River is a branch on the upper stream of the Tarim River.
The county population is approximately 180,000 and its area is 31.97×103 km2. The main local
crop is cotton and other crops such as wheat and corn. The cultivated area is 0.632×103 km2,
where cotton plants cover approximately 50% of the total cultivated area. Irrigation relies mainly
on surface water from the Ugen River and ground water is used mainly in cotton and fruit fields fordrip irrigation. Annual rainfall is 47.3 mm, potential evapotranspiration is 2000.7 mm and theannual mean temperature is 10.7°C (maximum temperature, 41.6°C and minimum temperature,-28.7°C) (Xayar Government HP).

Fig. 1 Outline of Investigation Area
The regional water balance was calculated by using the 2007 - 2009 data of daily water supply
and drainage discharge owned by the Xayar Water Management Office. Each discharge wascalculated several times a day by flow measurement. Evapotranspiration data was derived from Ge
Gao et al. (2007) because it was not available for this site. Water was collected at irrigation anddrainage canals several times in 2007-2011 only during which water flowed, and then thesesamples were analyzed in the laboratory. Electric conductivity (EC) was measured by EC meter(HANNA Instruments) and sodium (Na+), calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+) and magnesium (Mg2+)
were analyzed by ion chromatography (SHIMADZU Corp).

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Discharge of irrigation and drainage and water balanceTo estimate the water balance in Xayar County, the irrigation and drainage discharge data suppliedby water management office were used. In addition, the drainage volume flowing through Xayar
and Xinhe counties was estimated by multiplying the irrigation distribution rate by the totaldrainage volume. Irrigation water from Ugen River is distributed to these counties at a constant rate
(Xayar, 32.5%; Xinhe, 28.0%; Kuqar, 39.5%) at Longkou headwork located at the upper point ofthese counties (Abdisalam Jalaldin, 2005) and the drainage discharge was assumed to depend on
the irrigation requirement as rainfall runoff has little influence. To estimate evapotranspiration in
Xayar County, we multiplied potential evapotranspiration by the constant 0.1. This constant is theratio of annual actual evapotranspiration to annual potential evapotranspiration during 1971 - 2000
(Ge Gao et al., 2007). Fig. 2 shows the monthly change in irrigation and drainage discharge and Fig.
3 shows the annual water balance in 2007 - 2009.
The largest discharge of irrigation water occurs in March and in summer season because water
demand rises during the sowing and growing periods. In addition, irrigation water is required in
November for sowing wheat in autumn. The largest discharge of drainage occurs in March andApril, decreasing in summer. Drainage discharge is believed to increase when shallow groundwater
outflows by thawing of the frozen soil layer. In contrast, drainage discharge is believed to decrease
when outflow from shallow groundwater is restricted by soil drying that is a result of increasing
evapotranspiration potential in summer.
The water balance in 2007 and 2008 showed the same tendency. However, the supplied water
volume decreased in 2009. This reduction is believed to have been caused by decreasing water
intake from the river resulting from improved water-conserving irrigation techniques, suchtechniques being introduced widely to farmers at the beginning of 2007 (T. Yamamoto et al., 2010).
Water balance data suggest that approximately 800-1000 mm y-1 of supplied water seeps into theground. Water management office data suggest that water-conserving irrigation techniques havebeen implemented in 10% - 20% of the total cultivated area. The net water requirement of cotton is
540 mm y-1 in this area. If this volume is pumped up from groundwater in the water-conserving
irrigation area, we can estimate that 5% - 13% of seepage water was utilized, which is equal to the
reduction in water supplied during this period.

Fig. 2 Irrigation and drainage discharge(2007-2009)

Fig. 3 Water balance (2007-2009)

Water quality of irrigation and drainage water
Table 1 shows water quality of irrigation and drainage water on each sampling day. Changes in EC
values were small in irrigation water except for August 2007. Concentration of Na + varied
considerably, but concentrations of other cations exhibited only small changes. In particular, Na +concentrations tended to decrease during summer and increase during winter. EC values ofⒸ ISERD

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drainage water were stably higher. Changes in cation concentrations in drainage water were lower
according to the variation coefficient, but the concentration of each cation measured was higher
than that in irrigation water. In addition, the seasonal changes in cation concentrations were notconfirmed. When the average quality of irrigation and drainage water was compared, theconcentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in drainage water were found to be 15 times higher than those inirrigation water. Na+ concentration in drainage water was also 20 times higher than that in
irrigation water. This indicates that the soil in this region is naturally saline or has turned saline
because of irrigation with water that became concentrated with salts before running off. In contrast,
K+ concentration in drainage water was only 4 times higher than that in irrigation water. This is
likely because the concentration of K+ was lower than that of other cations, and K+ in supplied
water is absorbed by plants more than other ions because K+ requirement for plants is higher.
Sodium adsorption rates (SAR) were measured based on the average concentrations. The SARof irrigation water was 3.6 and that of drainage water was 19.8. These levels indicate that based on
the standards of water quality for agriculture, the risk of soil salinization when irrigation waterfrom the river is used is slight to moderate, but the risk is extremely severe when drainage water isused (Soil Survey Division Staff., 1993, R.S. Ayers & D.W. Westcot, 1994). However, in the lower
basin where water shortage occurred, soil salinization might have been promoted because drainage
water was used for irrigation.
Table 1 Water quality of irrigation and drainage water
Irrigation water
Sampling
date
2007/6/6
2007/8/10
2007/11/25
2007/11/26
2008/3/29
2008/3/31
2008/12/17
2009/6/5
2009/8/9
2009/8/10
2010/3/12
2010/3/14
2010/7/21
2010/7/26
2010/11/26
2010/11/22
2011/7/27
2011/7/29
AverageSD
Variation
Coefficent

EC-1(dS m )

Draingae water-1

Concetration (mg L )
+
+
2+
2+
Na
K
Mg
Ca

0.1
0.7

49.3
117.7

2.0
14.6

ND 6.3
ND 28.4

0.7

44.8

8.6

28.4

28.0

0.9

155.3

19.3

11.5

ND

0.6

19.3

7.6

33.8

5.7

0.7

25.0

17.9

33.5

18.8

0.4
0.9

14.5
35.2

ND 29.7
ND 9.2

3.6
55.9

0.6

171.6

17.3

16.6

13.0

EC
Concetration (mg L-1)
-1
+
+
2+
2+
(dS m )Na
K
Mg
Ca
1220.1
33.1 349.3 341.0
15.4
1271.135.0 301.7 264.6
9.2
11.5

1458.5

10.0
9.5
12.4

ND
ND
ND
ND
937.2
80.2 448.2 239.5
918.2 124.1 496.6 329.1

9.2

1271.1

35.0

13.7
12.1

ND
2110.7

ND
22.1

ND
ND
ND 370.5

11.1

1860.018.1

ND2179.51576.1
528.3

76.5 369.7 459.5
48.1 386.6 322.4
37.2
71.9
70.2

0.3

0.6
0.2

70.3
61.0

12.5
6.5

22.7
11.0

20.4
17.3

18.0
12.3
2.6

0.4

0.9

0.5

0.5

0.8

0.2

31.0

0.8

354.4

301.7

0.2

275.0

264.6

ND

0.2

Saline movement and balance
The saline load balance in Xayar district area located in the Ugen River basin was calculated fromthe difference between input load and output load. Each load is calculated by multiplying the
average concentration of irrigation and drainage water by monthly irrigation and drainage
discharge. The average concentration was calculated from the values of Table 1. In our
examination, it was assumed that input derives only from supplied water for irrigation and output
was the outflow through the drainage canal.

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25
20
15
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20

Input

OutputBalance

Input

4.0

21.0

K+ Load (× 106 kg)

Na+ Load ( × 106 kg)

Figure 4 shows the monthly change in saline balance. Input loads increased compared with
output loads in summer and vice versa in winter. Even when drainage discharge was low, theoutput load was high because the concentration of drainage water was higher than that of supplied
water. The change in saline balance was divided into outflow and retention types (Table 2). Na+
was outflow type and other cations were retention type. As determined by three year averages, theoutput loads of K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ decreased compared with the input loads; however, the output
load of Na+ increased by approximately 20% of the input load. Because the soil adsorptive propertyof Na+ is lower than that of Ca2+ or Mg2+; plants require less Na+ compared with K+; Na+ poorly
retained in this region was assumed to run off. In addition, each load balance tended to decrease.
This characteristic of decrease is because the cations retained in this region gradually flow out todrainage canals and that supplied water decreases. In addition, Ca2+ and Mg2+ loads indicate that
continuous irrigation does not necessarily promote saline transfer and that salinity is retained ingroundwater or soil in this region. Moreover, it is necessary to consider how Na+ outflow to
downstream areas affects the lower basin and Tarim River at long term.
Outputbalance

3.73

3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
-0.55

-18.1

-1.0 Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct

Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct

Fig. 4 Monthly change in saline load
Table 2 Saline load balance in 2007-2009
Na+
Input
2007
2008
2009
Average

K+

Output Balance Input

106
96
82
95

89
134
125
116

17
-38
-43
-21

19
17
14
17

Mg 2+

Output Balance Input
3
4
4
4

16
13
11
13

34
31
26
31

Output Balance Input

Ca2+
Output Balance

22
12
31
18
13
33
-2
28
27
1
31
-4
24
25
-2
28
2
27
24
4
(Balance = Input - Output, Unit; x10 6 kg)

CONCLUSION
We analyzed discharge water and the quality of irrigation and drainage water and discussed waterand saline balance in the Tarim River basin in Xayar County. We found that the saline
concentration of drainage water was considerably higher than that of irrigation water. Water
balance data showed that approximately 80% of supplied water was seeped into groundwater orsoil. In addition, Na+ runoff from this area was greater than that of other cations and the exhaustionof other cations was smaller than that of Na+ because Na+ was not efficiently consumed or retained.
Considering the high exhaustion rates of Na+, it is necessary to consider the influence on
downstream areas when developing irrigation strategies in future.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Xayar County Government, Xayar Water Management Agency and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region Water Resource Management Bureau supported this research. This study is a part of theacademic research (No.21405031) supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) from Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
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29(1), 186.
Barrett-Lennard, E.G. 2002. Restoration of saline land through revegetation. Agricultural Water Management,
53, 213-226.
Chen, W., Hou, Z., Wu, L., Liang, Y. and Wei, C. 2010. Evaluating salinity distribution in soil irrigated withsaline water in arid regions of northwest China. Agricultural Water Management, 97, 2001-2008.
Gao, G., Chen, D., Xu, C. and Simelton, E. 2007. Trend of estimated actual evapotranspiration over China
during 1960-2002. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, D11120, 5.
Jalaldin, A., Nagasawa, T. and Yamamoto, T. 2005. Irrigated agriculture and regional environment in the
Tarim River watershed - Case study of the Shaya irrigated district in the Ugen River basin. Transactionof Rural Planning, 7, 73-78.
Soil Survey Division Staff 1993. Soil survey manual, Soil Conservation Service. U.S. Department ofAgriculture Handbook, 18, 108.
Yamamoto, T., Jalaldin, A., Maimaidi, A. and Nagasawa, T. 2010. Land reclamation and water management
in an arid region - A case study of Xayar county in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, China.
Sustainable Irrigation Management, Technologies and Policies III, WITpress, 3-14.
Yamamoto, T., Nagasawa, T. and Jalaldin, A. 2006. Irrigated agriculture and the environment in the Tarim
River watershed - Case study of the Shaya irrigation district in the Ugen River basin. Sustainable
Irrigation Management, Technologies and Policies, WITpress, 303-312.

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Research article
erdCommunity Participation in Saline Soil Restoration Using a
Diverse Tree Planting Technique: A Case Study of Nongsim
Sub-district, Borabue, Mahasarakam, Thailand
ADCHARAPORN PAGDEE*
Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
E-mail: adcpag@kku.ac.th
Received 19 December 2011

Accepted 2 April 2012(* Corresponding Author)

Abstract: This research aims to restore saline soil areas using a diverse tree planting
technique: a case study of Nongsim sub-district, Borabue, Mahasarakam, Thailand. The
study focuses on community participation aspects in the restoration attempt, including
community perspectives toward the research project, participation motivations andcommunity’s   use   of   saline   soil   areas.   Diverse   trees   both   native   and   introduced   species  were planted in an approximate 1.6 ha experimental plot adjacent to a village reservoir in
2008. Community surveys were conducted on a yearly basis since 2009 to examine
villager perspectives toward the project, together with workshops to inform the community
about research findings and get their feedbacks. In the 4-year period, 23 tree species,
including eight fast-growing natives, four fast-growing introduced and 11 coastal habitat
species, over 2,000 individuals were planted, but 20 species survived. Consideringsurvival and growth rates, potential species for saline soil restoration are Combretum
quadrangulare Kurz., Casuarina equisetifolia J. R.&G. Forst., Pandanus odoratissimus  L.f. and Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. Community surveys, including group interviews of 11
village leaders and questionnaires of over 350 villagers from all villages in Nongsim subdistrict, reveal that the community strongly agreed with the research project because theywanted crop yield improvement by restoring saline soil. Planting trees could also help
increase community green areas. The majority of villagers were willing to plant trees intheir farmlands, but limited land and amounts of seedlings hinder them from doing so.
Furthermore, the majority of farmers (94.7%, n=76) encountering saline soil problems,
used their farmland especially for rice cultivation, despite low yields because of limited
amount of land. The economic value estimated in 2010 from use of saline soil paddies forrice growing is 45,577.12 Baht/household/year (n = 66)  or 4,245.22 Baht/Rai (1 ha = 6.25
Rai).
Keywords community participation, saline soil, restoration, diverse tree planting
technique, Borabue

INTRODUCTIONThe United Nations Environment Program estimates that approximately 20% of agricultural landand 50% of cropland in the world is salt stressed (Flowers and Yeo, 1995). Salt-affected soils occur
in more than 100 countries of the world with a variety of extents, nature and properties(Rengasamy, 2005). Worldwide, they cover a total area of about one billion hectares (Toth et al.,2008). Table 1 summarizes the potential risks of salinisation in all over the world. Salts, mostly
NaCl accumulate at the soil surface and a saline crust is formed during the dry season throughcapillary action (Quantin et al., 2008). The excessive salt amounts adversely affect soil physicaland chemical properties, as well as microbiological processes (Lakhdar et al., 2009). Subsequently,
salinity and sodicity affect plant growth and crop yields because of osmotic effects and sodium
toxicity (Marschner, 1995).

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Table 1  Percentage of salt-affected soils  in different countries worldwide
Country
Australia
Egypt
Hungary
Iran
Kenya
Nigeria
RussiaSyria
ThailandTunisiaUSA

Salt-affected area
30% total area
9.1% total area
10% total area
28% irrigated land
14.4% total area
20% irrigated land
21% agricultural land
40% irrigated land
30% total area
11.6% total area
25–30% irrigated land

References
Rengasamy (2005)
Mashali et al. (2005)
Varallyay (1992)
Khel (2006)
Mashali et al. (2005)
FAO (2000)
Dobrovol’skii and Stasyuk (2008)
FAO (2000)
Yuvaniyama (2001)
Mashali et al. (2005)
Wichelns (1999)

Source: Lakhdar et al., 2009

Salt affected soil is a serious problem in Thailand, especially in the Northeast Plateau where
salt bearing rocks are common (Mahasarakam formation). Yuvaniyama (2003) reported that saline
soils cover areas of approximately 38.7 million Rai (6.25 Rai = 1  ha)  of  the  region’s  land  area,  of  which 1.5 million Rai was classified severely saline soil, while 19.4 million Rai was considered
areas of potentially affected saline soil. Usually saline soils appear in lowlands or discharge areasin which lands are suitable for rice cultivation. Arunin (1987) stated that the reason for the spreadof salinisation is primarily the removal of forest cover leading to increased groundwater recharge.
This factor has been exacerbated by anthropogenic activities including dam construction, lowtechnology salt extraction, groundwater use and irrigation.
Soil salinity partly contributes to a major agricultural, economic and social problem in the
Northeast. It drastically affects soil fertility and rice productivity (Quantin et al., 2008), which inturn affects farmer’s   income   since   the   majority   of   northeasters   are   rice   farmers.   Rice   yields   and  economic returns are about one third when grown in saline soil compared with nearby unaffectedareas (Hall et al., 2004). Furthermore, the Research Institute for Thailand Development (2007)
estimated the average economic costs of saline soils in 2,518 million Baht each year. Saline soil
restoration is therefore very crucial for rice productivity improvement, which means possible
increase of  farmer’s  income.    
Many different methods are used on reclamation, as physical amelioration (deep plowing, subsoiling, sanding, and profile inversion), chemical amelioration (amending of soil with various
reagents: gypsum, calcium chloride, and limestone), and electro-reclamation (treatment withelectric current) (Raychev et al., 2001). Alternatively, growing salt tolerant species represents the
only cost effective means of revegetation although this means a significantly different species mix
to that which existed before disturbance (Ho et al., 1999; Abdelly et al., 2006). Although many ofthese salt tolerant species can survive in saline soils and transpire sufficient water to lower watertables (Barrett-Lennard, 2002), they are not often used by farmers. Therefore the farmers are
discouraged from participating in revegetation activities, which require long-term care. Many
revegetation areas are abandoned after the restoration project is over while saline soils remain
unsuccessfully treated. This research aims to restore saline soil areas using a diverse tree planting
technique: a case study of Nongsim sub-district, Borabue, Mahasarakam, Thailand. The study
focuses on community participation aspects in the restoration attempt, including community
perspectives  toward  the  research  project,  participation  motivations,  and  community’s  use  of  saline  soil areas.
METHODOLOGYDiverse tree species planting
This research project began in 2008 by planting diverse tree species in the approximate 1.6 ha
experimental plot in a discharge salt affected soil area, adjacent to Akkasatrsuntorn Reservoir,Ⓒ ISERD

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Nong Sim Sub-district, Borabue District, Mahasarakham Province, Thailand. The land is stateowned under the Royal Irrigation Department authority, but villagers are allowed to access the land
for grazing and fishing at the Reservoir. A workshop was conducted prior to the planting in which
village leaders, Nongsim Sub district Administrative Organization (SAO) officials, governmental
authority representatives and villagers participated in to discuss on tree species selection andpossible participation in the research project. Two main criteria for the selection are survival
potential and possible use of trees by the locals. Diverse trees both native and introduced species
were planted in the late rainy season of 2008 with a planting space of 2x2 m. New trees wereplanted the following years to replace dead trees and to maintain the area with tree coverage. Treemonitoring, consisting of estimates of survival Eq. (1) and growth Eq. (2) rates, was done twice ayear in March and September from 2008 to 2011.
Survival rate of a species =(1)

Where Nt = number of individuals of a species counted from the current monitoring period
N0 = number of individuals of a species counted from the previous monitoring period
Growth rate of a species =(2)

Where Ht = average height of a species measured from the current monitoring period
H0 = average height of a species measured from the previous monitoring period
Community participation survey
Community participation is one of the keys to effective natural resource management (Pagdee et al.,2006). The study aims to examine community perspectives toward the research project,participation motivations,   and   community’s   use   of   saline   soil   areas.      Community   surveys   were  conducted on a yearly basis from 2009, including village leader interviews and semi-questionnaire
surveys. At the end of each research fiscal year (in September) a workshop was organized at
Nongsim SAO office to inform the community about research findings and obtain their feedbacks.
Data analysis is descriptive-based, including evaluation of community participation and economic
valuation of saline soil areas used by the locals.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
During four years (2008-2011), 23 tree species, including eight fast-growing natives, four fastgrowing introduced, and 11 coastal habitat species, over 2,000 individuals were planted and 20
species survived with an overall survival rate of 82.27% (Table2). Considering survival and growth
rates, potential species for saline soil restoration are Combretum quadrangulare Kurz., Casuarina
equisetifolia J. R.&G. Forst., Pandanus odoratissimus   L.f., and Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. In
addition to high survival and growth rates, villagers can use these trees for firewood, fodder andfiber. Furthermore, these planted trees help revegetate the area in which about 30% was barren
land and the rest was only covered with grasses and forbs when the planting was started in 2008.
The survey conducted in March 2011 showed that 100% of the experimental plot is now vegetated
and the maximum tree height reached 3m (Fig. 1).
The community surveys (2009-2011) involved group interviews of all 11 village leaders andquestionnaires of over 350 household representatives from all villages in Nongsim sub-district. The
questionnaire surveys in 2008 and 2010 revealed that the majority of participants (55.5%, n=200 in2008 and 50.3%, n=171 in 2010) did not recognize the project, and even those who did so did not
clearly   understand   the   project’s   main   objectives.   The   number   had   decreased   because of more
persistent attempts to inform villagers about the project through village leaders, Nongsim SAO,
village broadcast and project post. Nevertheless, the community strongly agreed with the researchⒸ ISERD

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project because they wanted crop yield improvement by restoring saline soil. Planting trees could
also help increase community green areas. Table 3 presents villager perspectives toward theresearch project. Providing sufficient tree seedlings and distributing them throughout a group ofvillagers scored the highest   number   of   “disagreement”. Villagers expressed that they were notinformed of when and where tree seedlings would be distributed. As a result, only a small group ofvillagers, especially those who lived in a coordinating village received seedlings, while villagers infarther away villages did not. Furthermore, the majority of villagers were willing to plant trees intheir farmlands for saline soil restoration, but limited land and amounts of seedlings hinder themfrom doing so.
Table 2 Tree species, number of individuals survived and average tree heightNo.

SpeciesNumber of individuals
survived (%)
1
Acacia auriculiformis Cunn.
77 (100.00)
2
Acacia mangium Willd.
123 (87.86)
3
Acacia tomentosa Willd.
1 (1.28)
4
Calphyllum inophyllum L.
17 (36.96)
5
Cassia siamea Lam.
169 (64.26)
6
Sesbania grandiflora Desv
22 (95.65)
7
Barringtonia asiatica (Linn.) Kurz
1 (14.29)
8
Cerbera odollam Gaertn.
6 (60.00)
9
Pandanus odoratissimus L.f.
15 (100.00)
10
Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz
10 (100.00)
11
Hibiscus tiliaceus L.
11 (100.00)
12
Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth.
152 (100.00)
13
Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol. ex Correa
8 (100.00)
14
Tamarindus indica Linn.
26 (96.30)
15
Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth.
188 (78.99)
16Casuarina equisetifolia J.R. & G. Forst.
50 (47.62)
17Casuarina  junghuhniana  Mig.
0 (NA)
18
Combretum quadrangulare Kurz.
475 (99.16)
19
Azadirachta indica Juss. var. siamensis Valeton
89 (91.75)
20
Melaleuca cajuputi Powell
5 (NA)
21
Heritiera littoralis Ait.
2 (100.00)
22
Derris indica (Lamk.) Bennet
10 (83.33)
23
Simarouba glauca DC
0 (NA)
Total
20 species survived
1,457 trees survived
Note: data recorded on March 27, 2011, NA = not applicable for calculation

Mar. 2008

Jul. 2008

Average height in cm(% change)
125.06 (145.22)
116.72 (25.50)
0.00 (NA)
15.02 (0.14)
46.31 (78.11)
5.68(-18.93)
1.50 (50.00)
61.08 (1.79)
87.21 (40.66)
66.45 (44.47)
183.17 (46.53)
51.13 (21.74)
61.93 (-8.92)
8.04(-10.62)
72.63 (23.10)
192.51 (27.49)
0.00 (NA)
42.39 (11.56)
9.11 (13.83)
105.33 (NA)
13.00(-59.38)
38.72 (-9.95)
0.00 (NA)Mar. 2009170 cmlevel line

Mar. 2011

Sept. 2010

Mar. 2011

Fig. 1 Change of vegetation cover in the experimental plot (2008-2011)Ⓒ ISERD

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Table 3 Community perspectives toward the saline soil restoration project (n=171 in 2010)
Item

Percent of respondents
(3)  

(2)  

(1)  

(0)  

1) Effectively inform villagers about the project

51.2

39.5

8.1

1.2

2) Clear research objectives and activities

36.0

38.4

20.9

4.7

3) Providing equal opportunity for villagers toparticipate in the tree selection meeting

44.2

27.9

20.9

7.0

4) Tree species planted can be used by villagers

32.6

53.5

12.8

1.2

5) The project encouraged the community to startsimilar saline soil restoration activities in otherareas in the sub district6) Trees planted could help reduce soil salinity in thecommunity7) Community participation in tree planting andmonitoring was one of the keys to project success

32.6

52.3

11.6

3.5

43.0

43.0

11.6

2.3

44.2

44.2

11.6

0.0

8) Providing enough tree seedlings and thendistributing them to a large number of villagers

55.3

20.0

14.1

10.6

9) Villagers gained knowledge about soil salinity

36.0

53.5

9.3

1.2

Note: (0) = disagree, (1) = slightly agree, (2) = moderately agree, (3) = strongly agree

In addition, the workshops got positive feedbacks from the community. Villagers expressed abetter understanding about saline soils and reclamation techniques. Moreover, they could exchange
ideas and experiences with researchers and villagers from other villages, which helped broaden
their visions. Some villagers expressed their interests in participating in salt-affected soil
restoration. They would start planting trees in their farmland, but needed supports fromgovernmental agencies, especially in providing tree seedlings. Finally, the majority of villagers(94.7%, n=76) encountering saline soil problems used their farmland, especially for rice cultivation
despite low yields because of limited amount of land. The economic value estimated in 2010 fromuse of saline soil paddies for rice growing is 45,577.12 Baht/household/year (n = 66)    or 4,245.22
Baht/Rai (1ha = 6.25 Rai).
CONCLUSIONS
Soil salinity is one of the main land resource problems in the Northeast of Thailand. This research
illustrates that planting diverse tree species can help to revegetate areas affected by salts. The
selection of tree species needs to consider not only survival potential but also possible use by the
locals. The latter will encourage villagers to participate in restoration activities since they canperceive some benefits gained from doing so and not the burden instead. Finally, informing thecommunity on a regular basis about the restoration project, including research findings will help
villagers to better understand about soil salinity as well as making them feel being part of the study.
As a result, a long-term care and commitment can be possible when local communities involve inthe restoration.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was funded by Khon Kaen University Research Funds (2007-2011). Time andcontributions from all villagers, village leaders and Nongsim Sub-district Administrative
Organization are greatly appreciated. Special thanks go to Somsanook Village leader who helps tocoordinate with the locals and looks after the experimental plot throughout four years of the study.
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REFERENCES
Abdelly, C., Barhoumi, Z., Ghnaya, T., Debez, A., Ben Hamed, K., Ksouri, R., Talbi, O., Zribi, F., Ouerghi,
Z., Smaoui, A., Huchzermeyer, B. and Grignon, C. 2006. Potential utilization of halophytes for the
rehabilitation and valorization of salt-affected areas in Tunisia. Biosaline Agric. Salinity Tolerance
Plants: 163-172.
Arunin, S. 1987. Manageent of saline and alkaline soils in Thailand. Paper presented at the Regional Expert
Consultation on the Management of Saline/Alkaline Soils, FAO. FAO Regional Office for Asia and thePacific, Bangkok.
Barrett-Lennard. 2002. Restoration of saline land through revegetation. Agricultural Water Management, 53,
213-226.
Dobrovol’skii, G.V. and Stasyuk, N.V. 2008. Fundamental Work on Saline Soils of Russia, vol. 41. Eurasian
Soil Science, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 100-101.
FAO. 2000. Global Network on Integrated Soil Management for Sustainable Use of Salt-affected.
Flowers, T.J. and Yeo, A.R. 1995. Breeding for salinity resistance in crop plants: where next. Australian
Journal of Plant Physiology 22, 875-884.
Hall, N., Greiner, R. and Yongvanit, S. 2004. Adapting modeling systems for salinity management of farms
and catchments in Australia and Thailand. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 64, 319-327.
Ho, G.E., Samaraweera, M.K.S.A. and Bell, R.W. 1999. Revegetation directly on salt affected gold ore
refining residues - A case study. M.H. Wong, J.W.C. Wong, & A.J.M. Baker (Eds.). Remediation andManagement of Degraded Lands. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, 123-135. USA.
Khel, M. 2006. Saline soils of Iran with examples from the alluvial plain of Korbal, Zagros mountainsSoil
and Desertification-Integrated Research for the Sustainable Management of Soils in Drylands.
Proceedings of the International Conference, Hamburg, Germany, May 2006.
Lakhdar, A., Rabhi M., Ghnaya, T., Montemurro, F., Jedidi, N. and Abdelly, C. 2009. Effectiveness ofcompost use in salt-affected soil. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 171, 29-37.
Marschner, H. 1995. Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants.2nd Edition. Academic Press, London, UK, 437.
Mashali, A., Suarez, D.L., Nabhan, H. and Rabindra, R. 2005. Integrated management for sustainable use ofsalt-affected soils.FAO. Soils Bulletin, Rome.
Pagdee, A., Yeon-su, K., and Daugherty, P.J. 2006. What makes community forest management successful:
A meta-study from community forests throughout the world. Society and Natural Resources, 19, 33-52.
Quantin, C., Grunberger, O., Suvannang, N. and Bourdon, E. 2008. Land management effects onbiogeochemical functioning of salt-affected paddy soils. Pedosphere 18(2), 183-194.
Raychev, T., Popandova, S., Jozefaciuk, G., Hajnos, M. and Sokoowska, Z. 2001. Physicochemical
reclamation of saline soils using coal powder. Int. Agrophys, 15, 51-54.
Rengasamy, P. 2005. World Salinisation with emphasis on Australia. Comp. Biochem. Phys. A141, 337-348.
Toth, G., Montanarella, L. and Rusco, E. 2008. Updated map of salt affected soils in the European Union
threats to soil quality in Europe. European Communities. 61-74.
Yuvaniyama, A. 2001. Managing problem soils in northeast Thailand, in S.P. Kam, C.T. Hoanh, G. Trebuil,
B. Hardy (Eds.), Natural Resource Management Issues in the Korat Basin of Northeast Thailand: An
Overview, IRRI Limited Proceedings, 7, 147-156.
Yuvaniyama, A. 2003. Saline soil mitigation and management (in Thai). Academic handout from a researchand development group for saline soil management. Soil Management Research and Development
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Varallyay, G. 1992. Soil data base for sustainable land use - Hungarian case study. in Proc. Int. Symp. on soil
Resilience and Sustainable Land Use. Bp, 28, September-2 October, 1992.
Wichelns, D. 1999. An economic model of water logging and salinization in arid regions. Ecol. Econ. 30,
475-491.

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Research article
erd

Soil Carbon Dynamics during the Amelioration of SaltAffected Areas in Northeast Thailand
AUNG NAING OO
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
E-mail: ano1972@gmail.com

CHULEEMAS BOONTHAI IWAI*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
E-mail: chulee_b@kku.ac.th

PATCHAREE SAENJAN
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

BUBPHA TOPARK-NGARM
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Received: 15 December 2011

Accepted 2 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract An understanding of the effect of salinization on soil carbon (C) sequestration isimportant for environmental management. This study aimed to investigate the effect ofsalinity on soil organic carbon dynamics in salt-affected areas under a tree plantation, at
Amphur Borabue, Mahasarakam province, Northeast Thailand. The study area has been
established with tree plantation for three years and was divided into 3 zones based on theplant community found in each zone, correlated with the flooding situation and soil
salinity. Soil samples were taken from three different zones and a fallow soil (control) at
the same depth (0-20 cm) with three replications beginning from the rainy season of 2010
to the summer of 2011. The results from a three year old tree plantation showed decreasing
ECe and increasing soil organic carbon when compared with the fallow soil. Moreover,microbial activities were greater under the tree plantation soils when compared to thefallow soil. It could be concluded that soil organic carbon and biological properties were
improved after establishment of a tree plantation in salt-affected soils. Therefore, it
indicates that tree plantations are an effective strategy for carbon sequestration to reducethe buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Keywords salinity, carbon sequestration, microbial activity

INTRODUCTION
An understanding of the effect of salinization on soil carbon (C) sequestration is important forenvironmental management. Soils in Northeast Thailand are salt-affected due to the presence of salt
bearing rocks (Land Development Department, 1991), particularly in Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon
Kaen, Roi Et and Mahasarakham provinces (Department of Mineral Resources, 1982). Because of
their age and the extent of weathering that has taken place in the past, soils in those areas are also
relatively infertile. Levels of soil fertility are often strongly influenced by soil organic carbon(SOC), with low organic matter contents due to low biomass inputs and rapid turnover.
Since the amount of C present in the soil is dependent on C inputs and losses, increasing
salinity levels have the potential to decrease C inputs into the soil through their effects onvegetation and impact on C dynamics. Not only high salinity directly impacts upon plant vigour
through changes in osmotic potential, ion toxicities and ion deficiencies, but indirect effects onvegetation can result from altered soil conditions such as increased dispersion and decreased
permeability. Changes in salinity affect soil physical (Boivin et al., 2004) and chemical properties(Sumner, 2000), which subsequently alter nutrient cycles, aggregation and biotic activityⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1(Zahran,97; Sardinha et al., 2003; Rietz and Haynes, 2003) and also influence on plant growth andyield (Marschner, 1995). Among them, changes in mineralization of C and N with increasing
salinity have been observed (Nelson et al., 1996; Pathak and Rao, 1998). Despite the large area
affected by salinity, both in Thailand and globally, data on the changes in soil C stocks in thesedegraded environments is scarce.
Carbon sequestration refers to the storage of atmospheric CO2 in the plant biomass and soils ofa particular ecosystem during a period of time. Tree-based plantation is a land management optionthat has C sequestration potential for two reasons. First, tree biomass contains more C than annual
crops, leading to more C storage in tree plantation systems than conventional agricultural systems(Sharrow and Ismail, 2004; Peichl et al., 2006). Second, tree plantation systems are expected tohave more SOC due to the greater annual C input from leaf litter, tree root turnover and tree root
exudates, compared to agricultural crops. Organic residues from trees are lignin-rich and containother resistant compounds (e.g., tannins) that are slowly decomposed and thus stabilized in the
SOC pool (Montagnini and Nair, 2004). Garg (1998) also reported that salt-affected soils may bereclaimed by growing salt-tolerant tree species, which improve the physical and chemical
properties as well as biological activity in the soil. Therefore, ecological management utilizing tree
plantations in salt-affected areas has the potential to alleviate salinity stress and increase soilorganic carbon. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of salinity on soil organiccarbon dynamics under tree plantations in salt-affected areas of Northeast Thailand.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study area
This study was carried out at Ak-Kasatsuntorn water reservoir, Tambon Borabue, Mahasarakam
Province, Thailand at latitude of 16° 01' N and longitude of 103° 05' E, and at an elevation of 178
m from mean sea level. The study site has been established for three years with a tree plantation(2710 plants of 17 species). Woody plants such as common ironwood ( Casuarina equisetifalia J.R.
& C. Forst.) and fruit plants such as manila tamarind (Pithecolobium dulce) are growing in a saltaffected area with a covering of native grasses and weeds, i.e., torpedograss (Panicum repens L.).
The study area was divided into 3 zones based on the plant type located in each area where they
were correlated with the flooding situation and soil salinity. Zone 1 is more prone to flooding
situation and high salinity, followed by Zone 2 and Zone 3.
Soil sampling and analysis
Soil samples were taken from three randomly selected locations at each zone and from a fallow soil
near the experimental site (control) at a depth of 0–20 cm beginning from the rainy season of 2010
to the summer of 2011. Samples were analyzed to determine soil chemical and microbial properties
in the laboratory at the Land Resources and Environment section, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon
Kaen University. Electrical conductivity in saturated paste extracts (ECe) was measured following
the method described by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA, 1954). Total soilorganic carbon (SOC) was determined by the method of Walkley and Black.
Microbial biomass C and N were determined in field moist subsamples immediately after
sampling by the chloroform fumigation extraction method. For microbial biomass C (MBC), 20 gof fumigated and unfumigated soil were extracted with 100 ml of 0.5 M K 2SO4. MBC in theextracts was determined after oxidation with K2Cr2O7. For microbial biomass N (MBN), 20 g ofsoil was extracted with 100 ml of 1 M KCl. Extracts were taken from non-fumigated samples
immediately after sampling. MBN was determined by the ninhydrin-reactive N method (Amato andLadd, 1988). MBC and MBN were calculated as the difference between fumigated andunfumigated values, using kEC and kEN factors of 0.33 (Sparling and West, 1988) and 3.1 (Amato
and Ladd, 1988) to convert extracted organic C and N to microbial C and N, respectively.
Microbial activity was studied by basal soil respiration using the titrimetric method (Zuberer, 1991).
This method was based on the determination of CO2 evolved from incubated soils. Field moist soil
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was placed in an airtight jar containing a vial with 15 ml of 1.0 M NaOH and incubated at 28°C.
After one day of incubation, the NaOH vital was removed from the jar, 5 ml of excess 0.5 M BaCl 2
and 2-3 drops of phenolphthalein added to precipitate carbonate out from the NaOH solution as
insoluble barium carbonate, and finally the excess NaOH was titrated with 0.5 M HCl. Soil
respiration, i.e., evolved CO2-C, was computed according to the Eq. (1) described by Anderson(1982).
CO2-C (mg) = (B-V) NE(1)

where B is the volume (ml) of acid (HCl) used to titrate the alkali (NaOH) of a blank solution(not incubated with soil), V is the volume (ml) of acid used to titrate the alkali solution incubatedwith the soil sample, N is the normality of acid (HCl), and E is the equivalent weight of CO 2-C.
The metabolic quotient qCO2 (Anderson and Domsch, 1986) of each sampling period was
calculated as in Eq. (2).
qCO2 = CO2-C / MBC(2)

where CO2-C (mg kg-1 soil) is soil respiration and MBC (mg kg-1 soil) is microbial biomass C.
Statistical analysis: The data analysis was done using Statistix 8.0 (Analytical Software, 2003)
to compare each zone at 5% probability level by using least significant different (LSD) method.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results from a three year old tree plantation with cover of native grasses showed significant
effects on soil properties of this salt-affected soil. Soil texture of study area was sandy soil. There
were significant differences in ECe among the zones in all seasons (Table 1). The fallow soil(control) and zone 1 were saline soils (greater than 4 dS m-1) while the others were non-saline (lessthan 4 dS m-1), according to the classification of the USDA (1954). In the rainy season, the average
ECe was 9.02 dS m-1 and then decreased during the winter season (6.06 dS m-1) and peaked in thesummer season (12.22 dS m-1), presumably due to salts in the groundwater moving up in the soil
profile, accumulating on the soil surface, and consequently increasing the salinity in the summer
season (Topark-Ngarm et al., 1990).
Table 1 Electrical conductivity (ECe) and total soil organic carbon (SOC) in salt-affected soils
after three years plantation

Control
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3Mean
F-testCV (%)

Rainy
17.83 a15.54 a1.25 b
1.45 b9.02*
17

ECe (dS m-1)
Winter
14.20 a9.41 b0.34 c0.28 c6.06**
27

Summer
26.87 a17.39 b2.83 c1.80 c
12.22
**
14

Rainy
1.80 b
3.51 ab4.90 a4.97 a3.79*
24

SOC (g kg-1)
Winter2.80 c4.04 b
5.30 a5.50 a4.41**
9Summer
1.71 c2.10 c4.21 b
5.27 a3.32**
7

Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 5% level by the LSD test,**    significantly  different  at  P≤0.01,  *    significantly  different  at  P≤0.05

Total soil organic carbon was significantly higher in the tree plantation zones than in thefallow soil (control) in all seasons, with the highest value being in zone 3 (Table 1). It might be dueto the accumulation of humus from decomposition of leaf litter and root decay, which increased
soil organic C. The results confirm the findings of Mishra et al. (2004). SOC contents of all zones
were higher in the winter season, whereas values for the rainy and summer seasons were lower. It
could be explained that the leftover leaf and root masses might have contributed to the increase OC
content during the winter season.
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The activity of MBC was greatly influenced by salinity (Table 2). It was significantly higher
in the zone 2 and 3 when compared to the control in all seasons. It was not different between thezone 1 and control in the summer season, indicating that the zone 1 was still affected by salinity. In
the rainy and winter seasons, there was significant difference between the zone 1 and control,
probably due to high soil organic carbon in the zone 1 (Table 1). Among seasons, the highest
average MBC was recorded in the rainy season. In contrast, the lowest was in summer whensalinity was the highest, probably due to capillary rise of salty groundwater associated with
evaporation (Topark-Ngarm et al., 1990). Soil salinity can decrease the microbial activity during
summer season (Rietz and Haynes, 2003), and it is probably one of the environmental stresses for
microbial growth and proliferation in soil. In this study, the values of MBC were higher in soils
with higher SOC contents, as a similar result of Sparling, 1997. The values of MBN showed asimilar pattern to those of MBC (Table 2). It was lowest in soil with highest ECe.
Table 2 Soil microbial biomass carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in salt-affected soils after three
years plantation
LocationControl
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3Mean
F-testCV (%)

Microbial biomass C (mg kg-1)
Rainy
WinterSummer
99.4 c60.1 c43.8 c164.4 b135.7 b45.3 c176.0 b175.9 ab151.5 b228.5 a202.1 a183.9 a
168.2
143.5
106.1
*
**
**
18
22
11

Microbial biomass N (mg kg-1)
Rainy
WinterSummer
15.6 b8.1 c
7.3 c
17.6 b
11.4 c9.0 c28.6 a22.6 b
18.4 b
35.9 a28.5 a23.9 a
24.4
17.6
14.7
**
**
**
21
13
11

Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 5% level by the LSD test,**    significantly  different  at  P≤0.01,  *    significantly  different  at  P≤0.05

Soil respiration, as a good index of the activity of microorganisms, was consistently lower inthe control when compared to the tree plantation zones in all seasons (Table 3). It was highest in
the zone 3 with highest SOC content that supports more CO2 respiration. Variability in soil
respiration mainly depends on weather variables (Kucera and Kirkham, 1971) and soil moisture(Gupta and Singh, 1981), along with the salt content of salt-affected soils (Garcia and Hernandez,
1996).
Table 3 Soil microbial basal respiration and metabolic quotient in salt-affected soils after
three years plantation
LocationControl
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3Mean
F-testCV (%)

Soil microbial basal respiration(mg CO2-C kg-1 day-1)
Rainy
WinterSummer
18.7 b9.5 b
4.1 b
22.6 a10.6 a5.0 b22.7 a12.7 a10.1 a23.1 a17.6 a11.6 a
21.8
12.6
7.7
*
*
**
6
19
11

Metabolic quotient (qCO2)(μg  CO2-C mg-1 MBC h-1)
Rainy
WinterSummer
8.0 a
7.1 a
3.9 c
5.8 b
3.3 b
3.1 c
5.5 b
3.0 b
2.8 b
4.2 b
3.6 b
2.6 a
5.9
4.3
3.1
*
*
*
16
28
14

Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 5% level by the LSD test,**    significantly  different  at  P≤0.01,  *    significantly  different  at  P≤0.05

The metabolic quotient (qCO2) was higher in the control when compared to the tree plantation
zones in all seasons. It was probably as a result of stress by salinity on soil microflora (Anderson
and Domsch, 1993; Rasul et al., 2006), whereas it tended to lower in the tree plantation zones. A
low metabolic quotient implies that the microbial populations were energetically efficient, i.e.,
allocating proportionally more carbon to growth (biosynthesis) than to maintenance (Zak et al.,Ⓒ ISERD

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1994). It was highest in the most saline soils, which may indicate low substrate quality (Smith,1993) and low efficiency of organism functioning (Anderson and Domsch, 1990).
There were negative correlations between ECe and SOC (r= -0.90, P≤0.01,   n=36),   between
ECe and MBC (r= -0.78, P≤0.01,  n=36),  between ECe and MBN (r= -0.77, P≤0.01,  n=36),  between
ECe and soil respiration (r= -0.42, P≤0.01,   n=36). These relationships revealed the detrimental
effects that soil salinity had on the soil microbial activity. There was also a positive correlation
between MBC and SOC (r= 0.83, P≤0.01,  n=36), possibly because MBC is a part of SOC (Sparling,1997). According to Rao and Pathak (1996), carbon is an important factor influencing microbialactivity in salt-affected soils. Therefore, increased soil microbial activity might be due to theameliorative effects of trees and consequently organic matter inputs.
CONCLUSION
The amelioration of salt-affected soil grown with tree species showed decreasing of ECe andincreasing of soil organic carbon. In addition, there were greater microbial activities in salt-affectedsoil under tree plantations. It could be concluded that soil chemical and biological properties were
improved after establishment of a tree plantation in salt-affected soil. Therefore, it indicates thattree plantations are one of the most effective strategies for carbon sequestration to reduce thebuildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study   was   supported   by   the   research   project:   “Problem   Soils   in   Northeast   Thailand”,   Khon  Kaen University, Thailand and   the   research   project   “Using   Soil   Biota   for   Biological   Monitoring  and Ecological Zoning in the Salt-Affected   Area  in  Northeast  Thailand”. Also, we would like toexpress our gratitude to the Highyer Education Research Promotion and National Research
University Project of Thailand, Office of the Higher Education Commission, WNEC and GWRC,
Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
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Research article
erd

Short and Long Term Fate of Environmental Pollutants
and Their ManagementBARRY N. NOLLER*
The University of Queensland, Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Australia
Email: b.noller@uq.edu.au
Received: 19 December 2011

Accepted: 2 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract There has been an increasing demand of chemical substances during this and thelast century. The use of chemicals for a long time has been identified as a negative impact
on the environment since it became apparent that residues could be transferred through thefood chain; remain in soil or sediment as intractable substances. Chlorinated pesticides
stand as a classic case of intractable substances and their residues remain dispersed
throughout the world. Even though banned, their use continued because of theireffectiveness as insecticides and availability. The effective use of DDT(dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) for control against malaria was recognized following its
removal but was reinstated for controlled situations. Arsenic is another classic casebecause its residues from the application of its compounds as insecticides for cattle dips
remain as buried residues that are intractable. The soil from such repositories requires
remediation. The recognition of problems associated with the lifetime of long persistence
substances led to the need to use low persistent pesticides for insect control. The impact ofincreasing use of pesticides and herbicides is now offset by available data which showsthat for many compounds, residues are undetectable in soil and groundwater. The USGS
found no significant build-up of low persistence pesticides in groundwater over a 15 years
period. Long-persistence or intractable compounds require specific techniques of soil
remediation to deal with their effects on plants and animals. Examples of substances that
may require soil remediation are arsenic, dioxins and DDT. A classic case of dioxin in soil
was spotted at Bien Hoa, Vietnam, where 1 ppm TCDD (2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-pdioxin) was found in soil. A remediation plan was put in place and the TCDD residues
were excavated and disposed in a repository. While exceptions occur, it is important torecognise that degradable chemicals should be used wherever possible in order to avoid
future remediation problems.
Keywords: pesticides, fate, long and short persistence, soil remediation

INTRODUCTION
The use of chemicals by mankind has become a necessary and inseparable activity for the
maintenance of livelihood, industrial, agricultural and recreational activities. Such use has led toinnumerable cases of contamination and transfers through the food chain damaging ecology andpoisoning people as occurred with methyl mercury at Minamata, Japan. The use of chemicals withlong persistence in the environment has been identified as a negative feature since it became
apparent that residues could be transferred through the food chain; remain in soil or sediment as
intractable substances. Chlorinated pesticides stand as a classic case of intractable substances as
their residues remain dispersed throughout the world. Even though banned, their use continued
because of their effectiveness as insecticides and availability. The use of DDT for control against
malaria was recognised following its removal but was reinstated for vector control and remained inuse under limited and controlled situations.
The recognition of problems associated with the lifetime of long persistence substances led to
the need to use low persistent pesticides for insect control. Although firmly in place, the general
theory is that all pesticides, including those having low persistence, are bad because of theⒸ ISERD

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reputation of previously-used compounds, e.g. DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), dieldrin,
chlordane, etc. The impact following the increasing use of pesticides and herbicides is now offset
by available data which shows that residues are undetectable in soil and groundwater for many
compounds in use. Exceptions are compounds like endosulfan which is essentially a chlorinatedcompound and is often found as a residue in sediment (Boonthai-Iwai, 2007). The USGS (Gilliam
et al. 2006) found no significant build-up of low persistence pesticides in groundwater over a 15
years period. However, organochlorine pesticide compounds that were found in stream bed
sediments and fish tissue were no longer in use by 1990. Only dachtal, endosulfan, lindane,
methoxychlor and permethrin were used during the study period (Gilliam et al. 2006).
Long persistence or intractable compounds require specific techniques of soil remediation todeal with their effects on plants and animals. In-situ treatments are preferred for their removal fromsoil. Management practices that control erosion of soil may also help to reduce transport ofpesticides and their degradates to streams. However, in some cases, it may be necessary to remove
soil and treat it elsewhere to remove contaminants. Examples of substances that may require soil
remediation are arsenic, dioxins and DDT. While exceptions occur, it is important to recognise that
degradable chemicals should be used wherever possible in order to avoid future remediation
problems.
The key aspects to be considered with particular reference to pesticides and herbicides are: (i)persistence of chemicals in the environment; (ii) long persistence causes intractable residues andcontaminated waste; (iii) benefits of short term persistence chemicals and (iv) role ofenvironmental management to minimise risks.
GENERAL PERSISTENT CHEMICALS IN THE ENVIRONMENT
There are many examples where the use of persistent chemicals has led to serious pollution
episodes.
The use of arsenic compounds is a classic case. Residues from application as insecticide forcattle dips in Australia remain buried and intractable (Ng et al., 2003). The soil from suchrepositories requires remediation as it is contamination from an anthropogenic source. Arsenic
solutions for cattle tick control were widely used in Queensland and New South Wales from 1895
to 1955. Chemical investigations (Beard et al., 1992) of arsenic contaminated soils, obtained fromaround 1600 government-owned cattle dip sites near north eastern NSW, have revealed levels ofarsenic ranging up to 3000 mg/kg in the soil. Comparative bioavailability data were determined in
16 randomly selected soil samples with arsenic concentrations ranged from 700 to 2100 mg/kg andshowed that a large proportion of arsenic (III) was present (Table 1) (Ng et al., 2003). An extensive
cleanup program has been in place for several years to deal with the clean-up of contaminatedcattle dip soils.
Table 1 Arsenic speciation from 16 cattle dip soil samples (Ng et al., 2003)
Soil I.D.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Total Arsenic (mg/kg)
730
730
860
1300
700
2000
1400
980
750
2100
800
1000
1100
2000
830
900

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Arsenic (III) %
68
70
38
75
70
71
57
72
30
59
43
74
88
67
80
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A classic example of dioxin in soil is located in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, where 1 ppm; 2,3,7,8tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD or TCDD) was found. The build up from the residues
of TCDD in Agent Orange storage at the former US air base resulted in a highly concentrated zone
(Quynh, 2005). Run-off accumulated in a nearby lake led to accumulation of TCDD in fish andother food items consumed by local people who received a significant dose of TCDD and thus wereaffected. A remediation plan was put in place and the TCDD residues have been excavated anddisposed in a repository.
Although many toxic organochlorine pesticides are now banned in Vietnam, they are still in
use and cause concern to people. Herbicides used during the Vietnam War severely polluted areasof Southern Vietnam. The study of the distribution of chemical impurities from herbicide
application during the war has been useful for finding appropriate control measures (Quynh, 2005).
Methods for sampling and analysis of organochlorines in soils, animal, human fat tissue and blood
sample collection were applied and samples sent to international laboratories for dioxin analysis byhigh resolution gas chromatography – high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC-HRMS). A studyof organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in food samples from Ho Chi
Minh City 1989 showed that the most notable compound detected in biological tissue was DDT.
Concentrations of DDT, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in
the soil in Tay Ninh and Binh Duong provinces in 1992 were also high where DDT was sprayed.
PCBs contamination of cultivated land occurred during the war. Organochlorine pesticides and
PCB levels in food samples from various sites were measured in Vietnam in 1992 and showed thepresence of pollution of foodstuffs with PCBs, DDTs, HCHs, aldrin and dieldrin that werewidespread in Vietnam. Dioxin accumulation has been observed in soil, animals and humans. In
some limited sites it has been observed under geographical conditions, where Agent Orange
herbicide drums were stored. The development of measures to solve contamination problems andprevent effects to the health of people has continued.
BENEFITS OF SHORT PERSISTENCE CHEMICALS
Chemicals which act quickly to induce an action or to control a pest are clearly preferred to thosewhich remain active for decades. Pesticides are widely used in agriculture to control pests (weeds,
insects or pathogens) and thereby increase yield and farm income. They remain an essential tool for
agricultural industries in the production of high quality products and are a key component ofintegrated crop management (ICM) in cropping systems worldwide with around 2.56 million
tonnes used per year (Pretty, 2005). Pesticides are generally applied as sprays to produce coverageof droplets containing the active ingredient on the target (e.g. an insect, leaf surfaces or part of aplant). Spray may be lost to non-target areas within a crop such as deposition on the soil or nontarget plant surfaces and the action of wind may result in spray moving from the sprayed area.
There are increasing concerns over the effect of pesticides in the environment, particularly when
they move beyond a field boundary. By utilising techniques that maximise deposition on the spraytarget, it is possible to both improve the efficacy of pesticide applications and limit the movementof liquid droplets away from their point of release, both within and outside a target area.
For optimum control of pests and weeds in agricultural cropping situations, the grower isrequired to take careful consideration of many factors (Dorr et al., 2006). These include chemical
selection, crop type, pesticide resistance, crop yield, costs of production, farmers revenue, spraying
equipment (e.g. type of sprayer, nozzle selection, operating parameters), spraying techniques (e.g.
buffer zones, no spray areas), meteorology (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed anddirection) and sensitive areas downwind (e.g. non-target crops, livestock, aquatic organisms andareas that people occupy). Managing these factors in an integrated, holistic manner is often very
complex. It requires combining tools, resources and information from several sources to optimise
the application. Many parameters can also change during application (e.g. wind speed anddirection) and application techniques must then be modified to prevent possible contamination of
non-target areas. Failure to rapidly and appropriately manage these complex inter-relatedparameters has been the reason behind many pesticide drift incidents.
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An important observation in the USGS study (Gilliom et al., 2006) was that the pesticides
most frequently detected in streams and groundwater were those with greatest use either during thestudy period or in the past and with the greatest mobility and/or persistence in the hydrologicalsystem. Subsurface drains may help protect deep underground water, but increase pesticidetransport to streams.
ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT TO MINIMISE RISKS
Risks to public health and the environment associated with pesticide use can be minimised if
correct management decision is made. For a spray operation to be effective it needs to control pests(and hence increase crop yield and gross income) with a minimum of off-target environment andpublic health damage (Dorr et al. 2007). By combining spray models which give pesticide exposureand dose-response models with decision theoretical tools, various management options can beevaluated to maximise the effectiveness of plant protection products and minimise risks to publichealth and the environment from agricultural spraying activities. Risk assessment is a process fororganising what we know about health and environmental risk and making judgements about risk
(Ricci, 2006). It commonly adopts the following model: (i) Hazard Identification; (ii) Dose –Response (Toxicity) Assessment; (iii) Exposure Assessment; and (iv) Risk Characterisation.
In the risk assessment process, exposure studies of biota need to take account of formulationof the pesticide and its bioavailability. It is necessary to combine good quality application data withpesticide chronic toxicity data, generally the data required for registration of a pesticide. The risks
to the environment need to take account of effects on: (i) terrestrial species; and (ii) aquatic species(Suter II, 1995). Other key areas include drinking water area exposure assessments and protection of
non-target sensitive crops.
The control of contaminated waste is best dealt with by minimising its creation. Prevention ofpollution requires attention to source reduction, the use of recycling, treatment and disposal options.
Pollution prevention more broadly requires managing chemicals to reduce risk by identifying theirpresence and estimating all releases. Waste minimisation can be enhanced by applying source
reduction and introducing product changes.
The recognition of the limits of science and technology has been proposed as reasons why
science and technology alone cannot solve pollution problems or meet the challenges of sustainable
development (Huesmann, 2003). The key aspects cited were: (i) Failure of reductionism; (ii) Limits
imposed by conservation of mass principle; (iii) Order at expense of more disorder; (iv) Myths
about recycling and renewable energy – trapping in environmental cycles; (v) Technology factor
cannot be eliminated in order to improve eco-efficiency; and (vi) Long term protection of theenvironment and sustainable life style are not primarily technological but social and moral issues.
It is recognised that both biology and chemistry determine the availability of toxic chemical
species in soils and sediments. The transport of solutes in soil is dominated by diffusion and isdemonstrated by the significant presence of more polar herbicides such as atrazine foundextensively in US streams (Gilliom, 2006). The precise nature of chemical and biologicalinteractions depends on bioavailability and the role of bioturbation-driven chemical releaseprocesses.
Existing standards and guidelines for exposure to individual pesticides may not address all
potential effects because actual exposure is most often a mixture of multiple pesticides anddegradates (Gilliom, 2006). Additional research is required regarding the toxicities of mixtures tohumans, aquatic life, livestock and wildlife because of the wide range of chemicals now found inorganisms (Hileman, 2007).
CONCLUSIONS
An increasing demand for chemical substances during the last century led to the use of chemicals
with long persistence in the environment. This activity has been identified as a negative featuresince it became apparent that residues could be transferred through the food chain, remains in soil
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or sediment as intractable substances. Chlorinated pesticides stand as a classic case of intractable
substance and their residues remain dispersed throughout the world. Even though banned, their use
continued because of their effectiveness as insecticides and availability. Arsenic is another classic
case and its residues from application of its compounds as insecticides for cattle dips remain asburied residues that are intractable and requiring remediation. The recognition of problems
associated with the lifetime of long persistence substances led to the need to use low persistentpesticides for insect control. The impact of increasing use of pesticides and herbicides is now offset
by available data which shows that many compounds residues are undetectable in soil andgroundwater. The USGS found no significant build-up of low persistence pesticides in groundwaterover a 15 years period. Long-persistence or intractable compounds require specific techniques ofsoil remediation to deal with their effects on plants and animals. Examples of substances that may
require soil remediation are arsenic, dioxins and DDT. A classic case of dioxin in soil could beseen in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, where 1 ppm TCDD was found in soil, requiring a remediation plan toexcavate and dispose the TCDD residues in a repository. While exceptions occur, it is important torecognise that degradable chemicals should be used wherever possible in order to avoid future
remediation problems.
REFERENCES
Beard, J., Williams, J., Stevens, R., Grinter, M., Wickens, J and K.W. McDougall, K.W. 1992. Report on the
management of contaminated waste at cattle tick dip sites in North Eastern New South Wales. NSW
Government, Australia.
Boonthai-Iwai, C., Sujiya, H., Somparn, A., Komarova, T., Mueller, M. and Noller, B. 2007. Monitoring
pesticides in the paddy field ecosystem of North-eastern Thailand for environmental and health risks .
Rational Environment Management of Agrochemicals Risk Assessment, Monitoring, and Remedial
Action., Washington, DC. 259-273, USA.
Dorr, G., Noller, B., Woods, N., Hewitt A., Hanan, J., Adkins, S. and Ricci, P.F. 2007. Development of adecision-making tool to minimize environmental and public health risk of pesticide application.
Rational Environment Management of Agrochemicals Risk Assessment, Monitoring, and Remedial
Action, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC. 53-65, USA.
Gilliom, R.J., Barbash, J.E., Crawford, C.G., Hamilton, P.A., Martin, J.D., Nakagaki, N., Nowell, L.H., Scott,
J.C., Stackelberg, P.E., Thelin, G.P. and Wolock, D.M. 2006. The   quality   of   our   nation’s   water:  Pesticides   in   the   Nation’s   Streams   and   groundwater   1992-2001. National Water-Quality Assessment
Program. Circular 1291. US Department of the Interior US Geological Survey, Virginia, USA.
Hileman, B. 2007. Tracking the chemicals in us. C&EN April 23, 32-34.
Huesemann, M.J. 2003. Recognising the limits of Environmental Science and Technology. Environ. Sci.
Technol. July 1 24A-26A.
Ng, J.C., Noller, B., Bruce, S. and Moore, M.R. 2003. Bioavailability of metals and arsenic at contaminatedsites from cattle dips, mined land and naturally occurring mineralisation origins. Proceedings of theFifth National Workshop on the Assessment of Site Contamination. National Environment Protection
Council. Adelaide, Australia..
Pretty,J. 2005. Sustainability in agriculture, Hester, R. E. & Harrison, R. M., Eds. RSC Publishing, U.K.
Quynh, H.T. 2005. Organochlorine pesticides and dioxin in Vietnam. report on workshop on contaminatedagricultural land management and remediation. OPCW Hanoi, Vietnam, 11-13.
Ricci, P.F. 2006. Environmental and health risk assessment and management: principles and practices.
Springer: Dordrecht, NL.
Suter II, G.W. 1995. In Fundamentals of Aquatic Toxicology, 2 Ed, 803-816.

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Research article
erd

Input of Pollutants by the Tributaries of Lake Yojoa,
HondurasCARLOS ONAN MENDOZA TOVAR
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: onan14@yahoo.com

MACHITO MIHARA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: m-mihara@nodai.ac.jp

HIROMU OKAZAWA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 2 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Lake Yojoa is the only freshwater lake in Honduras. Its principal water sources
are Yure and Varsovia Rivers and Cianuro Creek. There are three principal contaminantsof the Lake Yojoa: agrochemical contaminants, microbiological pathogens and heavy
metals. So, the main objective of this study is to evaluate and quantify the amounts ofpollutants that each water source deposits in the Lake Yojoa. Based on the historical dataof precipitation over the watersheds, water samples taken from each water source wereanalyzed for calculating specific load in each watershed. The specific load was calculated
by multiplying the water flow with the concentration and then divided by the area of eachwatershed. In addition, statistical analysis was conducted employing   “SPSS   15”.   As   a  result, there was no statistical difference in the amounts of monthly rainfalls amongwatersheds. The water flow, concentration as well as load and specific load differedamong water sources. The results indicated that there was a tendency for Cianuro Creek tobe the highest in specific load of organic matter and the only one in nitrogen as nitrite
among water sources. The highest in specific load of potassium and chlorine was observedin Yure River. In addition, the quantity of pollutants discharged into the Lake Yojoa fromwater sources presents a threat of water degradation, especially eutrophication. A need of
mitigating and reducing the amounts of pollutants is a reality. The high load of sulfate
released by Cianuro Creek and Yure River present a threat not only for wild life, but also
for humans that live near the lake. It was proposed that a filtering system should be
prepared specifically to extract the pollutants carried by water sources that can be easily
applied.
Keywords pollutants, eutrophication, specific load, Lake Yojoa

INTRODUCTION
Lake Yojoa is the only freshwater lake in Honduras and was designated as Protected Area Number
5 in the category of multiple uses according to the 71st decree of 8th of December 1971 by thegovernment of Honduras. It is located 75km to the south of San Pedro Sula in the area where thedepartments of Comayagua, Santa Bárbara and Cortés converge. It is a monomictic lake, that is, thewater mixes once a year.
The lake is surrounded by the National parks Meámbar and Cerro Azul and the mountain
Santa Barbara from where 100% of the water is provided to the lake. Its principal water sources are
Yure and Varsovia rivers. These two are artificially diverted to the lake, and the Cianuro Creek thathas the higher water flow comparing to the other creeks,such as Horconcitos, La Jutosa, Balas, and
La Pita creeks.
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Table 1 General information of Lake Yojoa
Altitude(masl)
632

Length
(km)
16.2

Width
(km)
4

Perimeter(km)
88

Surface(km2)
54

Averagedepth (m)28

Averagetemp. (oC)24

Source: AMUPROLAGO, 2010

LEGEND
Sport fisheries
Agriculture andcattleFish production

1

1.- Cianuro watershed
2.- Varsovia watershed
3.- Yure watershedΟ Precipitation stations

3

Hotels andrestaurants
Mining2

Archeologicalsite

Fig. 1 Land use map of Lake Yojoa
In the world, different water management techniques have been developed (de Vries et al.,2008; UNDP, 1999; Pebbles, 2003; Lee, 2005). Most of the treatments are focused on reservoirs
rather than on their water sources. Another approach is the management of water usage of thereservoir  and  other  zones  for  reduction  of  water  degradation  (Queen’s  printer,  1999;;  British  Land  Company, 2008; Georgia Water Council, 2008). And the last is the maintenance of storm water toimprove the water quality of a reservoir (Heiker, 2005).
There are three principal contaminants of the watersheds of the Lake Yojoa: agrochemical
contaminants, mostly nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N P K), microbiological pathogens,mostly from coli forms, and finally heavy metals. There is nearly no information on agrochemical
contaminants in the lake or the water sources, little on the microbiological pathogens and certain
quantity of information on heavy metals. Most of the investigations done are focused on the lake
(House, 2002; Studer et al., 2007; Figueroa, 1976) although (Borjas et al., 1999) water quality datataken from the top part of the Meámbar zone resulted in no contamination from the highest parts.
Data presented by Vaux et al. (1993) showed coli form level in the lake to be higher than thosepermitted in public beaches in USA (200 cfu/100 ml); but showed that the samples taken were very
different from site to site. Samples varied from 1 cfu up to 240,000 cfu per 100ml.
Currently, water pollution in Lake Yojoa has become a big concern in Honduras. So, attention
has been paid to the amounts of pollutants discharged into the Lake Yojoa. So, the main objectiveof this study is to evaluate and quantify the amounts of pollutants that each water source deposits in
the Lake Yojoa. Also a secondary objective is to determine the need for a pollution mitigation plan
to be set up and carried out.

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METHODOLOGY
Research site
The watershed of Cianuro Creek is located to the west of Lake Yojoa and has an extension of
6,212.89 ha, where Las Vegas municipality represents 84% of the total extension. Las Vegas is thebiggest human settlement in the region.
The Varsovia River watershed is located to the south east of Lake Yojoa. It has an extensionof 5,379.17 ha. This river does not drain directly to the Lake Yojoa but is connected to it by a man
made earth channel.
Yure River watershed is located to the south east of the Lake Yojoa, north to Varsovia
watershed. It has a territorial extension of 3,558.41 ha. Although this river does not drain directly tothe  lake,  it’s  connected through a concrete channel.
Table 2 Land coverageRiverwatershed

Total area

FarmlandWoodland

Pasture

(ha)

Human
settlement(ha)

Wetland

(ha)

Water
bodies
(ha)

(ha)

Naked
land
(ha)

(ha)

(ha)

Cianuro6,212.89(100%)

252.32(4.06%)

1,082.82(17.43%)2,792.76(44.95%)

1,965.11(31.63%)0.03(0.0004%)15.50(0.25%)

104.35(1.68%)

Varsovia

5,379.17(100%)

35.48(0.66%)

268.61(4.99%)

3,747.45(69.67%)1,280.68(23.80%)0.90(0.02%)

12.23(0.23%)

33.82(0.63%)

Yure

3,558.41(100%)

34.59(0.97%)

66.95(1.88%)

2,503.62(70.36%)882.62(24.80%)45.27(1.28%)

15.44(0.43%)

9.92(0.28%)

Source: AMUPROLAGO, 2010

The land considered as overused is represented by the percentage of farmland and pasture that
does not have a resting period. Mining is the main income source for the population in Cianuro
watershed. Overused land is 43.26%. Agriculture and cattle husbandry are the main income sources
for the population in Varsovia watershed. The overused land in Varsovia watershed is 22.68%.
Cattle production is the main income for the population in Yure watershed. The 23.59% of the land
is in overuse.
Research methods
Historical data recorded by the Honduran National Electric Energy Company (ENEE) on
precipitation over the watersheds of the main rivers and creek that discharge to the Lake Yojoa was
acquired. Precipitation data comprised the monthly precipitation from 1988 to 2010. Collecting
stations are placed strategically in sites representing the three main watersheds to Lake Yojoa (Fig.
1). Due to the high percentage of woodland in all the sites, calculations for pollutants were madefrom water collected before the effect of human activities during the day to avoid alterations in thequality.
Six water samples were taken from the water sources on July 21st 2011. The samples weretaken as follows.
Two samples were taken from each river at the same time; the samples were taken at 6:30 am
and 7:30 am as to avoid human activities of that day. Each sample site was marked by a GPS. At
the same time span, the water flow of each river was observed in sites.
Water samples were analyzed for organic matter (OM), pH, electric conductivity (EC),phosphorus (P), potassium (K), chlorine (Cl-), nitrogen as nitrite (NO3-), and sulfate (SO42-).

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Samples taken from each water source were analyzed for calculating specific load in eachwatershed. All the data were introduced   to   “SPSS   15   for   Windows”   program   for   the   statistical  analysis  (α=0.05). The specific load was calculated as follows.
SL = ( Q x C ) / A(1)

where SL (kg/s/km2) is specific load, Q (l/s) is water flow, C (kg/l) is concentration and A(km ) is area of the watershed.
2

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Precipitation and water flow
The rainfall data collected showed that there was no statistical difference in the amounts ofmonthly rainfall among watersheds. The water flow showed statistical differences among water
sources although precipitation did not show statistical difference. Table 3 shows the mean of thewater flow of each water source during the sampling period.
Average Rainfall by Watershedlocation
600.00

CianuroVarsovia
Yure

Rainfall (mm)Rainfall (mm/month

500.00400.00300.00200.00100.00

0.00
January
March
February

May
April

July
June

September
NovemberAugustOctober
DecemberMonth
Average 1988-2010

Fig. 2 Average monthly rainfall by watershed 1988-2010
Table 3 Average water flow towards the Lake (July, 2011)
Water source

Cianuro (m3/s)

Varsovia (m3/s)

Yure (m3/s)

Water Flow

2.48c±0.16

3.65b±0.04

5.66a±0.13

Different super indexes indicate statistical difference at 99% between columns

Input of pollutants to Lake Yojoa
The analyzed water samples showed that none of the three rivers transported phosphorus. In almost
all of the analyzed nutrients there were statistical differences, placing the Cianuro Creek as thehighest NO3 carrier. In spite of this difference, to determine which river transports more amount ofpollutants to the lake, the specific load was used. In Table 4, the specific loads of each water source
were summarized.
The analysis showed that there was a statistical difference between Yure and the other two
water sources and no difference between Cianuro and Varsovia water sources regarding pH,
organic matter and chlorine. Yure River had the highest specific load of potassium, chlorine andsulfate. No difference in the potassium load among the sources. Cianuro Creek indicated thehighest specific load of nitrogen in the form of nitrate that may create an environment for the super
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dissolved   oxygen   at   night   causing   problems   to   the   lake’s   water   life. These nitrogen components
may be derived from fertilizers applied to the farmlands in the watersheds.
Table 4 Mean separation of specific loads of each river (July, 2011)
Water source

pH

CianuroVarsovia
Yure

7.72a
7.68a
7.10b

EC
(mS/cm)28.50a41.00a19.00aOM(kg/s/km2)
0.13a
0.15a
0.03b

K
(kg/s/km2)
0.11a
0.26a
0.66a

Cl
(kg/s/km2)
0.42b
0.49b
1.13a

NO3
(kg/s/km2)
0.38a
0.00b
0.00b

SO4
(kg/s/km2)
1.29a
0.37b
1.51a

Means in the same column with different letters are statistically different at a significance of 0.05

Vevey (1990) took samples of the sediments inside the Lake Yojoa and found high levels ofcontamination of heavy metals, the highest point near the outflow of Cianuro Creek. Althoughthese high levels were found, they were not bio-available as the concentrations in fish and wildlife
are very low.
Table 5 Land use versus specific loads of pollutant by Pearson correlation
Correlations
Human settlement
FarmlandWoodland
PastureWater bodies
Wetland
Naked land

pH
0.470
0.682
-0.5580.440-0.970**-0.959**0.717

EC-0.0930.064
0.032-0.113-0.473-0.505
0.095

OM
0.270
0.509
-0.3670.238-0.948**-0.959**0.551

K-0.558-0.7160.625-0.5340.842*
0.816*-0.741Cl-0.500-0.7140.589-0.4690.996**
0.984**-0.750NO3
0.933**
0.919**-0.936**0.930**-0.479-0.3930.909*

SO4
0.408
0.148
-0.309
0.439
0.636
0.712
0.097

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 (2-tailed)**Ccorrelation is significant at the 0.01 (2-tailed)Nitrate is affected by human settlement, farmland and pasture creating an increase in the loadas the extension of land use increases. Woodland affects negatively the NO3 specific load due tothe high amount of absorption by trees concerning water and nutrients. Cianuro Creek was the only
water source that presented NO3. This is due to the amount of farmland, pastures and naked land
located in the watershed.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSLake Yojoa, the only freshwater lake in Honduras, needs to be protected. The amount of pollutants
carried by the water sources has to be evaluated in order to further protect the Lake Yojoa fromeutrophication and other types of contamination.
Nitrate concentration was affected heavily by the land usage and that effect in time can easilybe the same for all of the other pollutants.
The high load of sulfate released by Cianuro Creek and Yure River presents a threat not only
to wild life but also to humans that live near the lake.
As a recommendation, a filtering system should be prepared specifically to cover all of thepollutants carried by rivers that can be easily applied to all the water sources of the Lake Yojoa.
This system has to remove organic materials and nutrients directly from the water.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to the Ministry of Education of Japan Scholarship (MEXT) for allowing me the opportunity
to study in Japan. Special thanks to AMUPROLAGO, Honduras for all the support.

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REFERENCESAMUPROLAGO. 2010. Asociación de Municipios para la protección del lago de Yojoa, Información
General. AMUPROLAGO, Tegucigalpa Honduras.
Borjas, G., Casco, R., Flores, S., Erazo, R. and Myton, B. 1999. Evaluación de la contaminación orgánica enel lago de Yojoa y sus tributarios. DEPTO DE BIOLOGIA-UNAH. Honduras.
British Land Company. 2008. Water management Plan. London, UK.
De Vries, F.P., Aquay, H., Molden, D., Scherr, S., Valentin, C. and Cofie, O. 2008. Learning from brightspots to enhance food security and to combat degradation of water and land resources. Conserving land,
protecting water, international water management. Institute in association with www.cabi.org and
CGIAR challenge program on water & food. Cambridge, USA.
Figueroa, S. 1976. Porque se mueren los peces en el Lago de Yojoa, Honduras.
Georgia Water Council, 2008 Georgia comprehensive state-wide water management plan, USA.
Heiker, T. 2005. Leon county surface water management activities (presentation), Leon county, Tallahassee,
USA.
House P.R. 2002. Diagnostico ambiental del Lago de Yojoa, Honduras, revision bibliográfica. Asociacion deMunicipios del lago de Yojoa (AMUPROLAGO), Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Lee, P.O. 2005. Water management issues in Singapore. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.
Pebbles, V. 2003. Measuring and estimating consumptive use of the Great Lakes water. Great Lakes
Commission, USA.
Queen’s  Printer. 1999. Water management, policies guidelines provincial water quality objectives. Ontario,
USA.
Studer E., De Alencastro L., Mérida J. and Ferrary M. 2007. Proyecto ENAC La Contaminación ambiental
del lago de Yojoa: Un estudio bibliográfico respecto a un Sistema de indicadores ambientales. CESCCOy AMUPROLAGO, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 1999. Mainstreaming gender in water management, A
resource guide. United Nations.
Vaux, P., Baepler D., Jennings R., Soden D., Galvez E., Discua J. and Vargas E. 1993. Una evaluación
ambiental del lago de Yojoa y Su Cuenca Tributaria. USAID.
Vevey, E., Ramos D., Munguia L. and Tarradellas J. 1990. Contaminacion del lago de Yojoa por metales
pesados. Inst.  Du  Genie  de  L’Environnement  Ecotoxicoligie  Lausanne  Suisse,  CESCO.

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Research article
erd

Water Quality Improvement by Natural Meandering River
Surrounded by Woods in Agricultural Watersheds
HIROMU OKAZAWA*
Faculty of Regional Environmental Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email:h1okazaw@nodai.ac.jp

TADAO YAMAMOTO
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan

TAKASHI INOUE
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, JapanTETUAKI NAGASAWA
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 2 April 2011(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Changes on nitrogen concentration and load of river water during down flow
were examined in five rivers flowing through agricultural watersheds in the Tokachi
district of eastern Hokkaido, Japan. The upper reach of each watershed is intensively
covered by cropland whereas the lower reach is covered by forest. The river form also
differs between the upper reaches, which have been artificially straightened by meander
cutoff, and the lower reaches, which remain in their natural meandering condition. The
lower the reach measured was, the lower the nitrogen concentration was, and this decreasein concentration was even more pronounced in the natural meandering sections than in thestraightened sections. The decrease of nitrogen load by natural purification in straightened
sections and natural meandering sections was examined using Lself, which was introduced
as an index of natural-purification-related nitrogen load decrease. In contrast to thechanges in concentration, nitrogen load did not decrease in the natural meandering section.
Keywords cropland, straightened river, naturally meandering river, nitrogen,self-purification

INTRODUCTION
River water contamination by agricultural nitrogen has been a serious problem in the Tokachi
district of eastern Hokkaido, Japan, where cropland cultivation is the major industry. A survey ofriver water quality in agricultural areas in the Tokachi district by Tabuchi et al., (1995), Okazawa
et al., (2009, 2010, 2011), Woli et al., (2002, 2004) revealed a strong correlation between the
proportion of cropland area in a watershed and the concentration of nitrate nitrogen in the riverwater. They showed that the relationship between the two could be expressed as a linear function.
As a result, it is suggested that decreasing the area of cropland as a proportion of the watershedarea would be effective in decreasing the nitrogen concentration in the river water; however, such ameasure is not realistic because reducing the area of cropland would reduce the agricultural
production.
It has been known since ancient times that the water in meandering rivers (i.e. those whosechannels have not been artificially straightened) is purified by natural mechanism of selfpurification (e.g. Ajayi et al., 1984). It has been proven that, in such naturally meandering rivers,
biological, chemical and physical processes eliminate contaminants from the water during thecourse of the water’s flow through the meander sections (Heidenwag et al., 2001).
In formulating river improvement plans for areas whose main industry is cropland farming,
improvement of a river’s natural ability to purify itself can be an effective way of solving problemsⒸ ISERD

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in the water environment of the area. Preservation of natural watercourses and the use of
construction methods to restore streams (i.e. ecological and near-nature hydraulic engineering) canbe effective.
This study reports two years of water quality observations in watersheds in the Tokachi districtof Hokkaido. The subject area has croplands at the upper reaches and forests at the lower reaches of
its rivers, and we call such an area a “combined  agricultural area”. We clarified the self-purification
ability of the natural streams at the forested lower reaches by observing the degree of naturaldegradation of the nitrogen components emitted from the cropland field areas at the upper reaches.
METHODOLOGY
Study sites
The subject watersheds are shown in Fig.1. The survey was conducted in the watersheds of sevenrivers in the Tokachi district of Hokkaido. The basic data on each river and the watershed areshown in Table 1. The watersheds denoted as PE, PA, UR, PO and PN are those whose upper
reaches are mainly cropland fields and lower reaches are forest or pasture. Hereinafter, thesubscripts “U” and “L” will respectively denote the upper and lower reaches.
PEU, PAU, URU, POU and PNU croplands account for 70% to 86% of the total area, which ishigh percentage. In these areas, the rate of forest is 11% to 27%, and most of the forests arewindbreaks for croplands. Potatoes, legumes, wheat, feed corn and sugar beets are the main crops.
Cattle farming is also common in these upper-reach areas. Rivers have been converted to drainage
canals by straightening of the channels and concreting of the banks.
In areas at the lower reaches (PEL, PAL, URL, POL, and PNL), the rate of forest is 59% to 94%.
Cropland accounts for 6% to 41% of the areas, a large portion of which are pastures of the National
Livestock Breeding Center (NLBC). Naturally meandering river channels are preserved in the
NLBC.
Watersheds BO and SY are at the NLBC. The rate of cropland is 55% and 63%, respectively,
for these watersheds, and most of the area is pasture. The streams in the two watersheds arenaturally meandering.

Fig. 1 Location maps of the investigated watershedsⒸ ISERD

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Table 1 Characteristics of investigated watershed
River

Reach

Upper
Lower
Whole area
Upper
Pankeuretoi
Lower
(PA)
Whole area
Upper
Uranenai
Lower(UR)
Whole area
Upper
Ponchin
Lower(PO)
Whole area
Upper
Penkechin
Lower
(PN)
Whole area
Bokujyo
BO
(BO)
Syuba
SY
(SY)
Penkeuretoi(PE)

Sampleing
point
PE1
PE2
PA 1
PA 2
UR 1
UR 2
PO 1
PO 2
PN 1
PN 2

Area
Land use (%)(km 2 ) Cropland Forest Other
5.16
83
13
4
2.04
35
65
0
7.20
69
28
3
4.38
84
13
3
2.04
6
94
0
6.42
59
39
2
2.68
85
12
3
4.39
27
73
0
7.07
49
50
1
12.39
70
27
3
6.46
26
73
1
18.85
54
43
3
31.04
33
64
2
3.82
41
59
0
34.86
34
61
2

Straightened Meanderingriver (km)river (km)
7.67
0.00
0.58
1.43
8.25
1.43
8.01
0.00
0.00
3.05
7.96
3.10
3.93
0.00
1.59
5.03
5.59
4.96
14.41
0.00
4.90
4.70
20.41
3.60
17.44
9.48
1.34
5.36
14.46
19.16

Total
CattleSample(km) （Head） Number
7.67
21
2.01
21
9.68
509
8.01
18
3.05
18
11.06
102
3.93
19
6.62
19
10.55
104
14.41
9
9.60
9
24.01
145
26.92
18
6.70
18
33.62
1,079

BO 1

1.82

55

45

0

0.00

0.96

0.96

25

SY 1

2.09

63

37

0

0.00

2.67

2.67

20

*Cropland consist of upland and pasuture.

Hydrological survey method
The survey period was from June to November in both 1999 and 2000. Discharge measurement andriver water sampling were done once or twice per month when the rivers were at normal waterlevel. Sampling locations for the watersheds PE, PA, UR, PO and PN are denoted by adding thesubscript  “1”  for  upper  reaches  and  “2”  for  lower  reaches.  River water samples for each sampling
location numbered between 9 and 25.
The items for water quality analysis are total nitrogen (T-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), nitrite
nitrogen (NO2-N) and ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N). Ion chromatography was used to analyze
NO3-N and NO2-N, and a technique recommended by the JIS was used to analyze T-N and NH4-N.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
River discharge: upper vs. lower reaches
The mean and standard deviation (S.D.) of the river discharge measured at each observation point
are shown in Fig.2. The river discharge values at PE, PA, UR, PO and PN are higher for the lowerreach points than for the upper-reach points (significances, P<0.01). This reveals that in thesewatersheds, large amounts of inflow are supplied from areas at the lower reaches of the river.
Comparison of upper-reach vs. lower-reach points in terms of nitrogen concentration
Fig.3 shows nitrogen components measured at each observation point. NO3-N accounts for 60% to
80% of the T-N at the observation points on the rivers in areas PE, PA, UR, PN and PO. Therefore,
the high proportion of NO3-N in T-N in the river waters in areas PE, PA, UR, PO and PN are
attributed to the high proportion of cropland fields in those areas.
Fig.4 shows the mean and standard deviation (S.D.) of T-N in river water sampled at eachobservation point.
At BO and SY, T-N concentrations are 0.50 mg/L and 0.53 mg/L respectively, which are
lower than those of other areas. The values are lower than 1 mg/L, being this value theenvironmental standard of Japan, based on which it was determined that the water environment of
the areas is good. The watersheds of BO and SY consist mainly of forest and pasture.
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Fig. 2 Mean and standard deviation (error bar) of river discharge for each investigated point
Statistically significant differences (P<0.01) were observed between discharge at upper-reachpoint and at lower-reach point in the watershed  “PE,  PA,  UR,  PO  and  PN”

Fig. 3 Percentage of nitrogen components for each investigated point

Fig. 4 Mean and standard deviation (error bar) of T-N concentration for each investigatedpoint
Statistically significant differences (P<0.01) were observed between nitrogen concentration at upper-reach point
and at lower-reach point in the watershed  “PE,  PA,  UR,  PO  and  PN”
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Nitrogen fertilizers are not used in forest or on pasture, and the water flowing from such areas
contains only small amounts of nitrogen, which accounts for the low nitrogen concentration in theriver water. However, in rivers in areas PE, PA, UR, PO and PN, nitrogen contamination exceeding
the T-N environmental standard of 1 mg/L is observed.
When T-N concentrations for the upper and lower observation points of areas PE, PA, UR, PO
and PN are compared, T-N concentrations for the lower-reach points are found to be lower thanthose for the upper-reach points. For each river, the difference in T-N concentration between theupper-reach point and the lower-reach point is significant (P<0.01). The above findings clarify thatwater high in nitrogen flows from cropland field areas at the upper reaches through rivers to thelower reaches. It was also clarified that the nitrogen concentration of the river water from theupper-reach areas decreases while flowing through the naturally meandering rivers in the forested
areas at the lower reaches.
Nitrogen load balance at the lower reaches
The nitrogen balance at the lower reaches is shown in Fig.5. Equations (1) and (2) for nitrogenbalance are also shown below. By using these two equations, the self-purification ability (Lself ) ofriver at the lower reaches was evaluated.

Fig. 5 Concept of nitrogen balance in the combined agricultural area
(The  watershed  “PE,  PA,  UR,  PO  and  PN”)
L2＝L1＋L0＋Lself∴ Lself ＝ L2−L1−L0 ＝ (C2･Q2) － (C1･Q1) －[(Q2－Q1)･CS]

(1)
(2)

L1 : Load at the upper reaches (g/s)
L2 : Load at the upper plus lower reaches (g/s)
L0 : Load from the areas at the lower reaches (g/s)
Lself : Self-purification and self-contamination of nitrogen at the river of lower reaches (g/s)
C1 : Nitrogen concentration at the upper-reach point (mg/L)
C2 : Nitrogen concentration at the lower-reach point (mg/L)
CS : Nitrogen concentration in water sampled at the natural river section of the watershed PA(0.75 mg/L, Table 2)
Q1 : Discharge at the upper-reach point (m3/s)
Q2 : Discharge at the lower-reach point (m3/s)
Q2－Q1 : Discharge from the lower reaches (m3/s)
When Lself<0, the nitrogen load is purified in the naturally meandering streams; when Lself>0,
the nitrogen load flows out of the naturally meandering streams. L0 was obtained by multiplying thesurplus discharge at the lower-reach point relative to the discharge at the upper-reach point (Q2-Q1)
by the mean nitrogen concentration of the water from tributaries that flow into the natural river
section (0.75 mg/L, Table 2).
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Table 2 Mean nitrogen concentration of inflow water from PA1 to PA2
T-N

NO 3 -NNO 2 -N

NH 4 -N

Mean

0.75

0.03

0.03

0.00

S.D.

0.40

0.04

0.02

0.00

n =12,〔mg/L〕
2As shown in equation (1), L2 consists of L1，L0，and Lself. Fig. 6 shows the mean and standard
deviation of L1, L0, and Lself . Lself for each river was smaller than the load from the upper reach (L1),which means that the total nitrogen load from the upper reaches cannot be totally purified at thelower reaches. The mean Lself for rivers in watersheds UR and PN showed negative values, which
confirms that the natural sections of these rivers have high purification ability. In all of thesurveyed rivers, the standard deviation of Lself is greater than the mean Lself, because of which Lself
can take a positive or a negative value. In the naturally meandering sections of the surveyed rivers,
natural purification at the lower reaches and nitrogen inflow from land at the lower reaches canoccur. Natural purification occurs, but the reduction in nitrogen load is thought to be small.

L1 : Load at the upper reaches (g/s)
L0 : Load from the areas at the lower reaches (g/s)
Lself : Self-purification and self-contamination of nitrogen at the river of lower reaches (g/s)
If Lself is a positive value (+), the nitrogen load flows out of the naturally meandering streams.
If Lself is a negative value (−),  the nitrogen load is purified in the naturally meandering streams.

Fig. 6 L1, L0, Lself of mean and standard deviation (error bar) for each river
CONCLUSION
The following was clarified in this study.
1. Water contaminated with nitrogen at high concentrations from the cropland fields in the areas at
the upper reaches flows into the natural river sections at the lower reaches.
2. Nitrogen concentration in the river water decreases during the course of the water flowing down
to the lower reaches. This is attributed to dilution by abundant inflow of water with low nitrogenconcentration from areas at the lower reaches.
3. In a watershed  where  land  use  is  categorized  as  “combined  agriculture”  consisting  of  croplandfields at the upper-reach areas and forest at the lower-reach areas with naturally meandering rivers,Ⓒ ISERD

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it was suggested that the nitrogen load supplied from the upper reaches to the lower reaches may bedecreased  by  the  river’s  self-purification ability. It is clarified that nitrogen load is also generated innaturally meandering river sections.
The above findings suggest that naturally meandering rivers are able to achieve selfpurification and self-contamination. Future studies should clarify the self-purification mechanismsof naturally meandering rivers. By clarifying the conditions that foster a river’s self-purification
ability, it is possible to enhance that ability by establishing engineering technologies for conserving
river water.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) from the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan. We would like to express our
gratitude to Prof. Dr. Ysushi Takeuchi (Tokyo University of Agriculture) and Mr. Yasushi Sato
(Shizuoka prefecture). The authors are also grateful for the research assistance provided by thestudents of the laboratory of Land improvement and management, Graduate school of agriculture,
Hokkaido University.
REFERENCES
Ajayi, S.O. and Osibanjo, O. 1984. Self-purification constants for a Nigerian stream. Water Research, 18-4,
505-506.
Heidenwaga, I., Langheinricha, U. and Lüderitza, V. 2001. Self-purification in upland and lowland streams.
Acta Hydrochim. Hydrobiol. 29-1, 22-33.
Okazawa, H., Takeuchi, Y. and Samura, I. 2009. Relationship between land-use agglomeration and nitrate
nitrogen concentration of river water in the Shari and Abashiri region of Hokkaido, Japan. Transactionsof the Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Engineering, 259, 53-59.
Okazawa, H., Yamamoto, D. and Takeuchi, Y. 2010. Influences of riparian land use on nitrogenconcentration of river water in agricultural and forest watersheds of Northeastern Hokkaido, Japan.
International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, 1-2, 1-6.
Okazawa, H., Muneoka, T., Kudo, Y. and Takeuchi, Y. 2011. Effect of land use agglomeration on nitrogenconcentrations in river water in the Tokachi River. International Journal of Environmental and Rural
Development, 2-1. 37-42.
Tabuchi, T., Yoshino, K., Shimura, M., Kuroda, S., Ishikawa, M., and Yamaji, E. 1995. Relation between
land use and nitrate concentration of outflow water from watersheds of agricultural and forest area.
Trans. of JSIDRE, 178, 129-135.
Woli, K.P., Nagumo, T. and Hatano, R. 2002. Evaluating impact of land use and N budgets on stream water
quality in Hokkaido, Japan. Nutr. Cycle. Agroecosyst., 63, 175-184.
Woli, K.P., Nagumo, T., Kuramochi, K. and Hatano, R. 2004. Evaluating river water quality through land
use analysis and N budget approaches in livestock farming areas. Sci. Total Environ., 329, 61-74.

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Research article
erd

An Analysis on the Policy of Promoting Rubber Trees
Cultivation for Replacing Garlic and Longan Growing:
A Case Study of Chiang Mai, Thailand
JUKKAPHONG POUNG-NGAMCHUEN*
Faculty of Agricultural Production, Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Email: jukkaphong@mju.ac.th

NAKARAT RUNGKAWAT
Faculty of Agricultural Production, Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

PANITPIM SITTISAK
Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 2 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract The   acceptance   of   farmers’   participation   in   promoting   rubber   trees   cultivation  for replacing garlic and longan growing has been studied. Interview schedule, in-depth
interview and focus group discussion techniques were used to obtain required data fromeighty participants, sixty-two non-participants of rubber cultivating project and three
representatives from the Office of Rubber Replanting Aid Fund. The collected data wereanalyzed by descriptive statistics. It was found that more than one-third (38%) of farmers
decided to participate in the project and the rest (71.98%) did not want to participate
because the cultivation area was under drought. In 2003, there were 1,127 farmers in
Chiang Mai participating in the project with a total cultivation area of 6,770 acres. Thirty
participants (37.50%) changed longan orchard to rubber cultivation, 218 acres in area.
This was equivalent to 422 farmers and 3,074 acres of cultivation area comparing to thetotal number of participants and rubber cultivation area in Chiang Mai. During 2003-2004,
Chiang Mai had a total longan cultivation area of 94,925 acres. However, this project
could help reduce longan cultivation area by only 3.23%. Meanwhile, few participantschanged garlic cultivation area to rubber cultivation area. It indicated that only longan
orchard area could be reduced but garlic cultivation area could not. Besides, someparticipants changed other crop growing areas to rubber cultivation area. These would
have effects on long-term food security of Thailand. Moreover, during 2011-2012,
participants begin to earn income from rubber latex. This might motivate some nonparticipants to take part in the project due to high prices of rubber latex. However, theyshould place importance on the appropriateness and cares of rubber cultivation areas. As awhole, the policy was not successful as it should be.
Keywords policy, rubber trees cultivation, longan orchard, Chiang Mai

INTRODUCTION
The launching of Chino-Thai free trade caused import of agricultural products from China,
especially garlic. This has lowered the prices of Thai garlic. At the same time, there was anoversupply of longan yields. Thus, Thai government prepared a guideline for reducing garlic andlongan growing areas. That is, rubber trees cultivation has been promoted since 2003. At the initialstage it took about 3 years (2004-2006), supported and promoted by the Office of Rubber
Replanting Aid Fund (ORRAF). In fact, most of the farmers who got involved in the project had
never done rubber cultivation before (Sriprasit, 2008). The supporting fund for project promotion
was worth 1,397 million baht (Noonsong, 2003). For the second period, the rubber trees growing
promotion was conducted in 7 northern provinces, namely: Chiang Mai, Chiangrai, Lamphun,Ⓒ ISERD

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Phayao, Lampang, Tak and Mae Hong Son. This was particularly done in the areas where garlicyield was lower than 390 kg per acre. It was expected that 5,139.79 acres of land would be replacedwith rubber trees cultivation with the supporting budget of 16,950,000 baht (the Or Por Thor News,
2009).
The previous policy of promoting rubber trees cultivation for replacing garlic and longan
growing in Chiang Mai faced a lot of problems. This was because of top-down approach of
government. Therefore, it is essential to explore problems in farmer’s adoption of this policy aswell as their needs. The purpose of this study was to explore how to promote farmers to changegarlic and longan growing to rubber trees cultivation in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
METHODOLOGY
Purposive sampling was used from the population of 925 farmers in 17 districts of Chiang Mai,
who were participants in rubber cultivating project. The sample group consisted of 10% of farmers
in Phrao, Fang, Chaiprakarn and Hod districts which were leading garlic and longan growing areasof Chiang Mai. The sample group was divided into 2 sub-groups: 1) 80 farmers participating in the
project and 2) 62 farmers who did not participate (they still grew garlic and longan but some ofthem did rotation cropping such as rice and garlic in a year). They were chosen by simple random
sampling. In addition, there were 3 representatives of the ORRAF, Chiang Mai.
A set of scheduled interviews were used for data collection. Besides, in-depth interview andfocus group discussion techniques were used. Data analyses were done by descriptive statistics.
RESULTS
General information of participants and non-participants of rubber cultivating project
Most of the farmers were male. Percentage of male among participants was 81.25% and that for
non-participants was 85.48%. Average ages of both groups were close. They had 4 family members
on average. The proportion of fourth year elementary school was 37.50% and 51.61%, respectively.
They have worked in agricultural sector. The participants had 2 years of experience in agriculture.
Less than one-half of participants(40.00%) were dependent on rain for farming. However, morethan one-half of non-participants (58.06%) used public water sources for farming. It was also foundthat the ratio of full time farmers among non-participants was higher than that for the participants(56.45 and 46.25% respectively). Both groups were similar in agriculture career and supplementary
job career (Table 1). This implied that agriculture production alone could not generate enoughincome for daily expenses, even though some of them changed to grow rubber trees.
In addition, most of the participants (85.00%) had their own land (9.68 acres on average).
Very few of them (1.25%) encroached reserve forest for farming. However, less than one-half of
non-participants (45.16%) had their own land and an income from the agricultural sector was
higher than that of those who attended the project (281,854.84 and 172,045.45 baht per year). Thismight be because many farmers still wanted to grow garlic and longan. Most of the farmers of bothgroups were members of the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperative (BAAC). Besides,
they got a short-term loan for farming from the bank. However, sums of their loans for nonparticipants were higher than those of e participants (179,137.93 and 62,727.27 baht, respectively).
The interest of the loan was 7.50 baht per year (Table 1). This meant that income earned from theagricultural sector of non-participants was higher than that of participants due to high cost of theinvestment.
Farmer adoption to participate in the project
Most of farmers received project news through the Office of Sub-District Agriculture and Office ofDistrict Agriculture (81.25%) and had no knowledge about rubber trees before (80%).

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Table 1 General information of participants and non-participants of rubber cultivating
project
Participants(n=80)
F%

Non-participants(n=62)%
F

Male
Female

65
15

81.25
18.75

53
9

85.48
14.52

40 years and below
41-50 years
51-60 years
More than 60 years

9
29
23
19

11.25
36.25
28.75
23.75

2
21
32
7

3.23
33.87
51.61
11.29

General information
Sex
Age

52.41
Educational attainment
Fourth year elementary school
Sixth year elementary school
Lower secondary school
Upper secondary school
Higher certificate and higher
No. of family members
1-3 peoples
4-6 peoples
More than 6 peoples

52.95

30
9
13
17
11

37.50
11.25
16.25
21.25
13.75

32
14
7
7
2

51.61
22.59
11.29
11.29
3.22

21
55
4

26.25
68.75
5.00

19
40
3

30.65
64.51
4.84

4.25
Agricultural experience
20 years and below
21-30 years
More than 30 years

27
21
32

3.90
33.75
26.25
40.00

25
18
19

27.44
Water used for agriculture
Rain
Public canal
Irrigation and others
Main and supplementary job career
Full-time farmer
Agriculture and trading
Agriculture and hired worker
OthersLand holding for farming
Own
RentalOwn and rental
Others
Source of income
Agricultural sector
Non-agricultural sector
Agricultural and non-agricultural sector
Annual income from agricultural sector in average
External capital source (n=51, n=47) *The BAAC
Village Fund
Agricultural Cooperatives

146

25.37

32
23
25

40.00
28.75
31.25

0
36
26

0.00
58.06
41.94

37
13
17
13

46.25
16.25
21.25
16.25

35
14
0
13

56.45
22.58
0.00
20.97

68
1
4
7

85.00
1.25
5.00
8.75

28
12
21
1

45.16
19.35
33.87
1.62

37
46.25
3
3.75
40
50.00
172,045.45

34
54.84
0
0.00
28
45.16
281,854.84

43
5
3

40
1
6

*Only farmers who have got an external capital source for rubber tree cultivationⒸ ISERD

40.33
29.02
30.65

84.31
9.80
5.89

85.11
2.12
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More than a half (68.75%) decided to participate in the project due to the governmental
promotion (not more than 5.93 acres). But 31.25% of them were farmers having potential in thecapital for investment. More than one-third of them (37.50%) grew rubber trees in the areas
ichused longan orchards (about 213.49 acres). This was equivalent to 422 farmers and 3,074 acresof cultivation area comparing to the total number of participants and rubber cultivation area in
Chiang Mai, respectively. During 2003-2004, Chiang Mai had a total longan cultivation area of
94,925 acres (Longan Information Center, 2010). However, this project could help reduce longan
cultivation area only to 3.23%. Surprisingly, only one farmer (1.25%) grew rubber trees in the
areawhichused to garlic growing. It indicated that Longan orchard area could only be reduced intoa small number but not for garlic cultivation area.
About one-half of farmers (51.25%) were not sure about the return obtained from rubber
cultivation. However, some of them (20.00%) expected to earn a monthly income from rubber
cultivation for about 1,000 baht. They believed that the project was a good one. Less than one-halfof them (41.24%) stated that it was because there was staff of the ORRAF that often gave them
advice about rubber trees growing. About one-fourth of them (23.75%) thought that their livelihood
would be better due to an increase of income. Only 10% of the farmers stated that the project took
long time to give yields and it was costly for care-taking.
The  project  implementation  in  accordance  with  the  government’s  policy
The project implementation in 2003 lacked readiness in various aspects such as a number ofconcerned personnel, budgets and that farmers did not have knowledge and understanding aboutrubber trees cultivation. At the initial stage, farmers must register to be enrolled in the project at the
Office of District Agriculture. They had to grow rubber trees alone without assistance of c or any
suggestion. This was due to limited budgets allocated to concerned agencies. In 2004, however,
government had allocated the budgets through ORRAF, aimed to provide knowledge andunderstanding about rubber trees cultivation for farmers. It takes 7 years and 6 months for rubber
trees to give yields. Nowadays, ORRAF is still responsible for providing knowledge andunderstanding about rubber trees cultivation.
The ORRAF revealed that the project was not so successful because of the following factors:
1. The project implementation was based on political objectives. Thus, at the initial stage of the
project there was no concerned agency for project monitoring. Moreover, farmers in northern
Thailand did not have experience in rubber trees cultivation before.
2. Farmers did not adequately take care of rubber trees which they had grown i.e. grass mowing,fertilizer application, prevention of insects and diseases.
3. Budgets allocated by government were small
Based on the farmers, the following was concluded:
1. The prepared rubber seedlings were inadequate.
2. Lack of knowledge, extension, and monitoring caused farmers to misunderstand rubber trees
cultivation, e.g. distance between rubber trees; growing rubber seedling with longan and weeds.
These had an effect on growth performance of rubber trees.
3. There were no concerned agencies for giving farmers advice when they had problems. Thus,
farmers had to do trial-and-error by themselves.
Needs of the farmers who did not participate in the project
More than one-half of non-participants (64.90%) used to receive policy news through television.
Nevertheless, they did not attend the project because they did rotation cropping. They were
cultivating rice from July to December and garlic from January to April, and so that the cultivation
land areas were inappropriate for growing rubber trees. Some of them (14.52%) stated that longan
and garlic were giving yields even though their prices were quite low. So, they needed thegovernment to assist them in terms of price of longan and garlic, reduction of production costs andagricultural products imported from neighboring countries, especially from China.
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1. Inappropriateness of the cultivation areas - Most of the cultivation areas were rice paddy fields
which were inherited from parents and limited. Some farmers sold their lands to capitalists andcould not expand their cultivation areas because they were close to reserved forest.
2. Worthiness - Longan growers did not want to cut their longan trees since they were giving yields
once a year. Longan trees were worthy since longan growers only had to work hard at harvestingseason. On the other hand, it took a long time for rubber trees to give yields.
3. Agricultural experience - Farmers were confident in their long time longan and garlic growing
experiences, and believed that they were better at growing longan and garlic than rubber trees. Yet,some farmers showed interest in growing rubber trees and they were waiting to see the success ofrubber trees growing of others.
4. Assistance of the government
4.1 Farmers wanted the government to assure their income and yields. This was because they were
not able to grow other crops since they had long experience in longan and garlic growing. If thegovernment could do it, it might motivate the new generation to grow rubber trees. Surely, sellingthe cultivation lands to capitalists would be decreased.
4.2 Farmers wanted the government to provide them with production factors e.g. fertilizer,
pesticide, insecticide, etc. This could be done through the village fund management by thecommunity.
4.3 The government should reduce import quota of Chinese garlic. This was because its price islower than that of Thai garlic. Although there are garlic and red onion grower cooperatives inThailand,Thai garlic could not compete against garlic from China.
DISCUSSION
It is essential that the policy determination for local development be relevant to the needs of thecommunity. Also, it must place importance on environmental conditions. This must be supported
by various social sectors as well as local people. Besides, collaboration and coordination among
concerned parties based on the participatory process are required in order to achieve the goals(Mingchai and Yotsuk, 1998). As the rubber trees cultivation replacing garlic and longan growing
is the political policy, it lacked the readiness in planning, personnel, and budgets. There were a lotof problems at the initial stage. Moreover, farmers did not have experience in rubber tree growing.
More than 200 farmers failed to join the project. This was a wasteland in providing budgets forrubber seedling. After the government had allocated the budgets to ORRAF in 2004, someconcerned agencies assisted and provided knowledge to the farmers more than ever. However, theproject was not so successful on promoting the reduction of longan and garlic growing areas. Thiswas because few farmers that joined the project changed to grow rubber trees (213.49 acres, 442
farmers). In fact, Chiang Mai has longan growing areas of 92,738.45 acres (Longan Information
Center, 2010). However, this project could decrease longan growing area at a very low level. At thesame time, garlic growing areas could not be decreased at all. Some farmers used the areas usuallyfor growing other crops to grow rubber trees. This might have a long-term effect on food securityof the country and the world.
Based on the policy, SWOT analysis revealed that the policy is supported by the government
focusing on agricultural  development  and  villagers’  livelihood. There were some concerned parties
assisting the project such as Office of District Agriculture; Office of Provincial agriculture, andORRAF. On the other hand, the project was under urgent polic, and sothe government sometimes
made modifications which might have an effect on the project management and discontinuation ofcare-taking. Moreover, farmers did not have enough knowledge about rubber trees cultivation.
Besides, lack of holistic operation and no complete coordination among concerned agencies werethe  policy’s  weaknesses.  Farmers might be interested in joining in the project due to a high demandof rubber in the world and an income might satisfy them. But, it is difficult to expand rubber
growing areas since there is a limitation on land holding and reserved forest encroachment. Also,
the limitation on external loan sources and high interest rates  are  the  policy’s  threats.

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CONCLUSION
The project was under a policy of promoting rubber trees cultivation for replacing garlic andlongan growing. This aimed to avoid the competition of yields against the neighboring countries
due to China-Thai Free Trade Agreement and to increase the income of farmers for better
livelihood. Since it is an urgent policy, there were problems to be resolved in terms ofthe : 1)
structural deficiency - this policy needs coordination among concerned parties such as the Ministryof Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, the Ministry of Commerce, and other agricultural
institutes, which was not found in this project; 2) the deficiency on risk management - risk factors
include natural calamities, diseases, insects, etc. Indeed, the government did not promote yieldassurance management as well as rubber market; 3) development of agricultural sector for the
reduction of unfair treatment - Goals of the project did not focus on unfair treatment such as
income and yield assurance systems and the diffusion of information about said systems; and 4)
stakeholder participation - the policy still lacked collaboration among production sector, market
sector and concerned agencies in terms of agricultural planning and development for the reductionof environmental impacts.
As a whole, the initial stage of the project was not so successful. However, there is a hightendency that farmers of the two groups will join the project and expand rubber growing areas in
the future. The farmers who did not join the project were waiting for the project outcomes
performed by their neighbors. The rubber trees will give first yield during 2011-2012. They might
become interested in growing rubber trees if they find that it is worthwhile to grow them. Thus, theproject might be successful in a long-term if there is further investigation and evaluation in the near
future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researchers are grateful to the National Research Office for granting fund of this research.
Many thanks go to all concerned farmers and staff of the Office of Rubber Replanting Aid Fund forspending their valued time.
REFERENCES
Longan Information Center. 2010. Statistics on longan growing in Chiangmai, 2000-2009. http://www.
ardanews.arda.or.th/longan.
Mingchai, J. and Yotsuk, P. 2008. Organic farming: The local public policy for agricultural survival in thenorth of Thailand. Conference on Local Political Science and People Politics Leading to Sustainable
Development.10-11 November, 2008. School of Administrative Studies, Maejo University. Thailand.
Noonsong, A. 2003. CP and the failure in rubber seedling provision. http://www.thaingo.org/writer/view.php?id=142.
Prachatham Office. 2008. Northern Garlic begins to face problems due to the rubber growing promotion of
the government. http://www.newspnn.net.
Sriprasit, S. 2008. Failure of Rubber Tree Cultivation in Northeastern Thailand.
The Office of Agricultural Extension and Development, Region 6, Chiangmai. 2010. Information andstatistics of cash crop production in northern Thailand. Information and Strategy Group, Department ofAgricultural Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. Thailand.
The Or Por Thor News 2009. The establishment of northern rubber center to cope with the Chinese market.
1-15 February, Volume, 2009. 22.

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Research article
erd

Isolation of Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria from Different
Fields Crop Productions
KIRIYA SUNGTHONGWISES*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
E-mail: skiriy@kku.ac.th

CHULEEMAS BOONTHAI IWAI
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

MASAYUKI MATSUOKA
Research and Education Faculty, Kochi University, Kochi, JapanKOUHEI OHNISHI
Research and Education Faculty, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan

SOTA TANAKA
Research and Education Faculty, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract There are many factors involved in the availability of P through phosphatases
efficiency such as the microbial fauna, soil temperature, bacteria communities, plant
physiological state, type of rooting system, age of the plant and the location ofectomycorrhiza on the root. To assess the effects of different crop productions on thediversity and the efficiency of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB), this study isolated
phosphate-solubilizing bacteria from paddy fields and eggplant fields before and after
harvest in Kochi prefecture in Japan. The results showed that a total of 9 heterotrophic
bacterial isolates present different degrees of mineral tri-calcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2)solubilizing activities. Klebsiella pneumonia in the paddy field with water and in the
eggplant fields which solubilize Ca3(PO4)2 better than FePO4 and AlPO4. Especially,
Klebsiella pneumoniae strain M-AI-2 and Gluconacetobacter sp. isolate code Ek01 in the
eggplant fields seem to have the capacity to solubilize insoluble forms of AlPO4 andFePO4 which are the main forms of insoluble phosphates in acid sandy soils.
Keywords phosphate solubilization, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, field crop production

INTRODUCTION
Phosphorus is considered as the principal yield-limiting nutrient along with nitrogen (Zahran,1999). Phosphorus deficiency is a primary constraint to plant growth in many terrestrial ecosystems(Bonser et al., 1996) especially, in acid sandy soils with high levels of P fixation by Fe and Al
oxides. Plants use phosphorus for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis. ATP is an essential
energy-provider molecule for the metabolism of organic compounds containing P such as sugar
phosphates, phospholipids, nucleic acids, nucleotides and coenzymes which are key molecules forbiological metabolisms (Schachtman et al., 1998). Plants dependent on symbiotic N2 fixation havetherefore high ATP requirements for nodule development and function (Ribet and Drevon, 1996)
and need additional P for signal transduction and membrane biosynthesis.
Normally, plants and microorganisms produce phosphatases which are released in therhizosphere and catalyze the hydrolysis of organic phosphate esters to orthophosphate anions.
Radersma and Grierson (2004) concluded that root exudation of acid phosphatases and organic
acids increase the P solubility in the rhizosphere. The phosphatases efficiency is related to various
factors such as the microbial fauna, the soil temperature and humidity and more particularly theⒸ ISERD

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associated bacteria communities (Zahran, 1999). Phosphatases activity can be induced by low
inorganic phosphorus concentrations in the soil solution, but other factors can play a significant
role as the environmental conditions, the physiological state of the plant, the type of rooting system,
the age of the plant and the location of ectomycorrhiza on the root (Antibus et al., 1997).
Within the rhizosphere, the solubility of phosphate can be enhanced by the secretion oforganic acids in root exudates and enable phytic acid to be more available to microorganisms
responsible for its mineralization. Despite its importance in soils and particularly in different crop
productions, the isolation of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria and their P solubilization capacity inthe phosphorus cycle remains poorly studied and only few studied have aimed at exploring the
microbial diversity and its role in the regulation of the cycle of the phytic acid. Finally, the analysisof the ability of bacterial isolates to hydrolyze phytic acid will enable to create a highly valuablebasis for the use of these isolates as bio-inoculums or for the use of enzymes in the food industry.
The objectives of this research were to isolate phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) from different
field crop productions in Kochi, Japan, evaluate their P solubilization capacity and identify the PSB.
METHODOLOGYIsolation of phosphate solubilizing bacteria by enrichment culture
The experiment was conducted in Kochi prefecture, Japan. Kochi prefecture is characterized by asemiarid tropical climate with a distinct rainy season from May to September. Soil samples werecollected from paddy fields and eggplant fields from the soil surface until a depth of 10 cm. To
isolate phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, 5 g of soil samples were transferred to the National
Botanical Research Institute phosphate growth medium (NBRIP). Per liter, this growth liquidmedium contains 10 g glucose with 5 g of different insoluble forms of phosphate (AlPO4,
Ca3(PO4)2 and FePO4), 5 g MgCl2·6H2O, 0.25 g MgSO4·7H2O, 0.2 g KCl and 0.1 g (NH4)2SO4.
Additionally, modified NBRIP media, containing either FePO4 or AlPO4 as the sole source of P,
were also used for the initial screening step. The pH of the agar medium was adjusted to 7.0.
Tricalcium phosphate was autoclaved separately and the other sterile ingredients were aseptically
mixed after autoclaving. Erlenmeyer flasks containing 50 mL of the medium with inoculants wereincubated for 7 days at 30 °C on a IWAKI Incubator shaker at medium speed (150 cycles min −1).
For the following week, 5 ml of this incubated medium with inoculants were transferred into 50
mL Erlenmeyer flasks again with new liquid medium for 7 more days at 30 °C on a IWAKI
Incubator shaker at medium speed (150 cycles min−1). At the end of each week in NBRIP growthliquid media, aliquots of each dilution were spread on NBRIP medium and incubated at 30 °C for
14 days. Colonies were selected from the plates on the basis of the appearance of a clear halo; theclones were further purified on minimal medium based on each insoluble phosphate forms.
Mineral phosphate solubilization assays
The phosphate solubilizing (PS) activity of each of the isolates was determined by molybdenumblue method (Murphy and Riley, 1962). The isolates were grown in NBRIP liquid medium
containing different insoluble forms of phosphate (AlPO4, Ca3(PO4)2 and FePO4) for 3 days at
30 °C on a IWAKI Incubator shaker at medium speed (150 cycles min−1). The solubilization
efficiencies were determined by reaction with ammonium molybdate for phosphorus compounds asammonium phosphomolybdate and reduced with a compound ascorbic acid to molybdenum blue.
Then, the isolates were incubated for 30 min at room temperature for color development. And
finally, the absorption of light in the wavelength range 595 nm was measured by 680 XR
Microplate Reader.

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PCR amplification of 16S rRNA and sequencing
The gene-encoding 16S rRNA was amplified from selected strains by the polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) using bacterial universal   primers   proR2   (5′-AGAGTTTGATCMTGGCTCAG-3′)  and 907R  (5′-CCGTCAATTCCTTTRAGTTT-3′)  (Weisburg et al., 1992). The PCR mix consistedof  0.25  μM  of  each  primer,  1X  PCR  buffer  and  0.2  U  of  Taq  DNA  polymerase.  A  suspension  of  cells on MilliQ water, coming from a fresh colony grown on Nutrient Agar, was used as target
DNA. The following cycle conditions were used: 85 °C for 5 min, followed by 35 cycles of 95 °C
for 1 min, 55 °C for 1 min and 72 °C for 2 min, and a final extension step at 72 °C for 3 min (Lane,
1991).
The PCR products were purified from agarose gels with the PCR Clean-up Gel Extraction Kit(Macherey-Nagel, Germany) and sequenced. The nucleotide sequences were compared using theBlastN program (Altschul et al., 1997), and the closest match of known phylogenetic affiliation
was used to assign the isolated strains to specific taxonomic groups.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Isolation of PSB from soil samples
The screening strategy employed during this research enabled the identification of PSB colonies on
NBRIP medium containing different insoluble forms of phosphate (AlPO4, Ca3(PO4)2 and FePO4)
as sole P source. No colonies exhibiting a clear halo were observed on agar plates supplemented
with either FePO4 or AlPO4. Approximately 9 bacterial isolates showed clear halos of Ca3(PO4)2
solubilization. Some obvious differences in the size of the halos of different isolates were observed(not shown). This preliminary observation suggested the existence of bacterial isolates exhibiting
different degrees of PS efficiencies in the soil samples collected. To confirm this observation, the 9
purified isolates were tested following the protocol of Murphy and Riley (1962), a method previously
shown to be a reliable and qualitative indicator of the PS activity of different bacterial isolates.
Table 1 shows the OD595 nm shift of the culture supernatants of each of the 9 PSB isolates after a
3-day cultivation period in NBRIP medium. Indeed, some isolates did not show any significant
change in the absorbance of the supernatant while others exhibited OD595 nm changes in theabsorbance. Furthermore, we noticed that the most dramatic changes in the color of the supernatantcorrelated with a total solubilization of Ca3(PO4)2 in the medium. Based on these results weselected 9 isolates exhibiting the highest PS activities for further studies. The solubilization
efficiencies of these isolates were calculated and are shown in Table 1. After evaluating their P
solubilization capacity, we concluded that all of the 9 isolates can solubilize Ca 3(PO4)2   better than
FePO4   and AlPO4   especially the isolates with the codes Rk02, Rk03 and Ek04. Moreover, isolate
codes Ek01 and Ek04 look interesting for solubilizing FePO4   and AlPO4, which are the main forms
of insoluble phosphates in acid sandy soils.
Table 1 Phosphate solubilizing effectiveness of tested bacteria, 3 days after inoculation
Isolate Code
Rk01
Rk02
Rk03
Ek01
Ek02
Ek03
Ek04
Ek05
Ek06

Solubilized Phosphate (mgP/l) from
Ca3(PO4)2
FePO4
AlPO4
1,015b0c0b1,534a0c0b1,580a
0c
0b
805d
93a
0b
941bc
0c
0b
943bc
0c
15b
1,548a
47b
161a
770d
0c
0b
912c
0c
0b

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Identification of PSB isolates
Nucleotide sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes and sequence comparison withavailable data in the GenBank using the BLAST algorithm (Altschul et al., 1997) allowed us to
identify the majority of the PSB isolates (Table 2). Based on a sequence identification of 94% or
greater (Van Waasbergen, 2004),   they   were   all   affiliated   to   the   β- or   γ- sub-divisions of theProteobacteria: three isolates were similar to species of the Klebsiella genus, another three weresimilar to Gluconacetobacter sp. and one was closely related to Sphingobacterium sp. Klebsiellapneumonia in the paddy field with water and in the eggplant fields which solubilize Ca 3(PO4)2  better than FePO4   and AlPO4. Klebsiella pneumonia strain M-AI-2 seems to be more interesting tosolubilize AlPO4   and FePO4. Moreover, Gluconacetobacter sp. isolate code Ek01 in the eggplant
field in Kochi University can solubilize FePO4 as well.
Table 2 Identification of PSB isolates from soil samples of paddy fields and eggplant fields in
Kochi by 16S rRNA sequencing after inoculation

Rk01
Rk02
Rk03
Ek01
Ek02
Ek03
Ek04

Length of 16SrRNA genesequenced  
503
814
488
546
710
990
938

GenBank
accessionno.
lcl/23633
lcl/45645
lcl/20369
lcl/19025
lcl/39135
lcl/26231
lcl/51159

Ek05

966

lcl/30399

Ek06

983

lcl/27533

IsolateCode

Most closely related organism/
Species (Strain)

Accession no.  

Gluconacetobacter sp.
Klebsiella pneumoniae/ BRp_2A
Klebsiella pneumoniae/ BRp_2A
Gluconacetobacter sp.
Gluconacetobacter sp.
Gluconacetobacter sp.
Klebsiella pneumoniae/
M-AI-2
Uncultured bacterium
clone MS-115
Sphingobacterium sp. 21

EF493039.1
JN644536.1
JN644536.1
EF493039.1
EF493039.1
EF493039.1
FJ828890.2

Gene
identity  
(%)
97
100
99
99
99
99
99

GQ477848.1

99CP002584.1

94

CONCLUSION
Klebsiella pneumoniae showed the highest P solubilization capacity in the paddy field with waterand eggplant fields. Klebsiella pneumoniae strain M-AI-2 and Gluconacetobacter sp. isolate code
Ek01 in the eggplant field in Kochi University seem to have the capacity to solubilize insoluble
forms of AlPO4 and FePO4.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported thanks to a cooperation between the Japan Society for the Promotionof Science and Kochi University under the Invitation Program for East Asian Young Researchers
on Field science towards the resolution of environmental and food problems in Southeast Asia.
Finally, thanks to the kind support of the research institute of molecular genetics at Kochi
University (Japan) and Khon Kaen University (Thailand).
REFERENCES
Altschul, S.F., Madden, T.L., Schaffer, A.A., Zhang, J., Zhang, Z., Miller, W. and Lipman, D.J. 1997.
Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: A new generation of protein database search programs. Nucleic
Acids Research. 25(33), 89-3402.
Antibus, R.K., Bower, D. and Dighton, J. 1997. Root surface phosphatase activities and uptake of 32Plabelled inositol phosphate in field-collected gray birch and red maple roots. Mycorrhiza, 7, 39-46.
Bonser, A.M.Y.M., Lynch, J. and Snapp, S. 1996. Effect of phosphorus deficiency on growth angle of basalroots in Phaseolus vulgaris. New Phytol. 132, 281-288.
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Lane, D.J. 1991. 16S/23S rRNA sequencing, E. Stackebrandt, M. Goodfellow, Editors, Nucleic Acid
Techniques in Bacterial Systematics, Wiley, Chichester. 130-141.
Murphy, J. and Riley, J.P. 1962. A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate innatural waters. Anal. Chem. Acta. 27, 31-36.
Radersma, S. and Grierson, P.F. 2004. Phosphorus mobilization in agroforestry: Organic anions, phosphataseactivity and phosphorus fractions in the rhizosphere. Plant Soil. 259, 209-219.
Ribet, J. and Drevon, J.J. 1996. The phosphorus requirement of N2-fixing and urea-fed Acacia mangium.
New Phytol, 132, 383-390.
Schachtman, D.P., Reid, R.J. and Ayling, S.M. 1998. Phosphorus uptake by plants: from soil to cell. Plant
Physiol, 116, 447-453.
Van Waasbergen, L.G. 2004. What makes a bacterial species? When molecular sequence data are used, isrRNA enough?, In R.V. Miller, M.J. Day, Editors, Microbial Evolution: Gene Establishment, Survival
and Exchange, ASM Press, Washington, DC, 339-356.
Weisburg, W.G., Barns, S.M., Pelletier, D.A. and Lane, D.J. 1992. 16S ribosomal DNA amplification forphylogenetic studies. Journal of Bacteriology, 173, 697-703.
Zahran, H.H. 1999. Rhizobium-legume symbiosis and nitrogen fixation under severe conditions and in anarid climate. Microbiol. Molecu. Bio. Rev. 63, 968-989.

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Research article
erd

Groundwater Resources Development by Riverbank
Filtration Technology in Thailand
KRIENGSAK SRISUK*
Groundwater Research Center, Faculty of Technology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen,
Thailand
Email: kriengsk@kku.ac.th

LAA ARCHWICHAI, KEWAREE PHOLKERN AND PHAYOMSARAPHIROM
Groundwater Research Center, Faculty of Technology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen,
Thailand

SUMRIT CHUSANATUS AND SITISAK MUNYOU
Department of Groundwater Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,
Bangkok, Thailand
Received 19 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Riverbank Filtration (RBF) is the influx of river water to the aquifer induced bya hydraulic gradient and it is a low-cost and efficient alternative water treatment for
drinking-water applications. The objectives of the project are to study the feasibility of
RBF technology, design the pilot system,  evaluate the feasibility of the project on socioeconomic and environmental impact and transfer the knowledge of RBF technology to thestate enterprise organizations, local administrative authorities and other related parties.  
The  project  consists  of  3  phases,  fesibility  study  (11  months),  design  and  construction  (14  months)  and  operation  and  maintenance  (12  months).  Therefore,  the  specific  objective  of  this  paper  is  to  review  the  basic  concepts  of  the  first  phase  and  present  some  case  studies  such  as  Kompahangpet  area  for  detailed  study  prior  the  design  and  construction  phase. The
target areas are initially focused along the main river courses in Thailand such as Mekong,Ping and Chaophraya Rivers. The study procedure consists of detailed investigations:hydrology, hydrogeology, water demand, suitable socio-economic conditions, andappropriate environments. Mathematical groundwater modeling will be employed toevaluate the suitability of the selected sites. Then we will design pilot system for large
scale groundwater resources development to verify that the method could be successfully
employed for water resources management and could be further expanded to other areas
and extended to other interested parties or organizations in the future.
Keywords riverbank filtration technology, groundwater and surface water conjunctive use,hydrology, hydrogeology, water resources management

INTRODUCTION
Riverbank Filtration (RBF) is the influx of river water to the aquifer induced by a hydraulicgradient. Collector wells located on the banks in a certain distance from the river (Figs. 1 and 2)
create a pressure head difference between the river and the aquifer, which induces the water fromthe river to flow downward through the porous media into the pumping wells. By applying thissystem of water supply extraction, two different water resources (surface and shallow groundwater)
are in conjunctive use. Riverbank Filtration (RBF) is a low-cost and efficient alternative water
treatment for drinking-water applications. There are two immediate benefits to the increased use of
RBF: minimizing need for adding chemicals like disinfectants and coagulants to surface water tocontrol pathogens, and decreasing costs to the community without increased risk to human health.
RBF has been successfully practiced for more than 100 years in European countries and is a currentⒸ ISERD

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method for water supply in many countries. For example, 50% of potable water supplies in the
Slovak Republic, 45% in Hungary, 16% in Germany and 5% in the Netherlands are obtained fromthe riverbank filtration system (Grischek et al., 2002; Hiscock and Grischek, 2002; Tufenkji et al.,2002 and Lee and Lee, 2010). RBF has also been applied to acquire drinking water in many cities
in the United States.
In Thailand, the Department of Groundwater Resources (DGR) awarded financial support to a
consultant consortium to carry out the study on the feasibility of developing the RBF project along
the major rivers to mitigate water shortage problem and provide optional supplementary water
sources for domestic and industrial consumption. One of the main tasks in the RBF development
project is the first phase, which is costly and time consuming. It is expected that after the pilot RBF
system in Thailand is constructed and completed, the knowledge and know-how from the projectwill be used for the development of the master plan for the RBF system in the whole country. The
RBF project, if successful, will demonstrate the systematic and sustainable integrated managementof surface water-groundwater conjunctive use so as to increase efficiency in the mitigation andremediation of yearly water shortage problem in the future.

Fig. 1 Generalized schematic section of a riverbank
filtration site (After Ray, 2002)

Fig. 2 Cross section and plan view of ahorizontal collector well (After Hunt,2010)

METHODOLOGY
There are five main tasks conducted during the feasibility study phase (I) as shown in Fig. 3,
namely 1) Data collection, compilation and analysis, 2) Selection of the potential areas for RBF
construction (at least 8 sites), 3) Field investigations, 4) Public dissemination and participation,and 5) Formulation of the master plan of RBF for Thailand.

Public Information
Dissemination and Public
Participation

Data Collection ,Compilation and Analyses

Selection of the Potential Areas for RBF(At least 8 areas)

Field Investigation- Groundwater Resources- Surface Water and Irrigation System- Land use- Water Uses and Water Demand- Water Balance- Mathematical Groundwater Modeling- Initial Environmental Evaluation- Socio-economic Base line Data
- Preliminary Design of the RBF System- Rank the suitability of each area for development RBF

Master plan for Large Scale Groundwater Resources Development Using
Modern Riverbank Filtration Technology

Fig. 3 Protocol of the feasibility study phase (I)Ⓒ ISERD

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE SELECTION PROCEDURE
In this study, the development of the site selection criteria for the RBF was initiated by reviewing
and compiling existing RBF case studies worldwide. The various site selection criteria from theavailable case studies were focused upon the key performance indicators for RBF system. Essential
data clusters and necessary specific parameters were identified and categorized. The selection
procedure is divided into 3 steps (Fig. 4), namely; Step 1: Potential River Basin Level, attempts to
identify the RBF potential areas in Thailand at the river basin (regional) scale; Step 2: Potential
Local Areas Level, attempts to identify the RBF potential local areas within the potential river
basins obtained from Step 1; Step 3: Potential Site Level, attempts to identify the RBF potentialsites and locations within the local areas obtained from Step 2. The potential sites and locations
obtained from Step 3 will be used for more detailed site investigations to determine the RBF key
performance parameters for the RBF system design and construction. After more detailed
examination of existing available data was carried out, a new adjustment and arrangement of datagroups and selection procedure was conducted. Considering the site selection procedures, steps andselection criteria in Fig.4, a series of thematic maps were compiled or prepared for each selection
steps. River basin map in Thailand (Fig. 5) and the distribution of areas 2-km away from mainriverbank were acquired to overview the availability of surface water. The thematic map from
Quaternary geologic map was overlaid on the groundwater quality map to obtain the RBF
hydrogeologic suitability map. The preliminary potential areas for the RBF system derived from
Fig. 6 covering approximately 15,839 km2. The river hydrograph information shows that the river
flow of the main rivers varied from 4 - 12 months flow duration.
Step  1:  Potential  areas  at  river  basin  scale  level
Geoloy/Geomorphology

Hydrogeology-Unconsolidated aquifers, groundwater  -Quaternary Geology

quality  with  TDS  <  1,500  mg/l.

Hydrology- Main  river  system  in  25  river  basins

Step  2:  Potential  areas  at  local  scale  level
Hydrology- Rivers  with  river  f low  duration  not  less  than  9  months  period

Hydrogeology-  Aquifers  with K>  1   m./day    -  No  clay  layers  capping  the  river  bed
-  Aquifer  thickness  greater  than  10 m.

Water  Quality- Surface  water     quality  of  type  1  to  type  4  -  Not  affected  by  sea  water  or  saline  water

Step 3:  Potential areas at sites and locations scale level(for RBF feasibility study and design)   Hydrology- Maximum  river  flow  velocity-  River  f low  duration

Landuse  Hydrogeology-  Aquifer  permeability  -  Aquifer  thickness

  Water  supply  production  (Provincial  Water  Supply)-  Water  supply  shortage  duration-  Present     watersupply  production

Water  Quality  -  groundwater  quality  (TDS), -  surface  water  quality  ( surface  water  typs)    Potential areas/sites for RBF feasibility study and preliminary design

Fig. 4 Overall procedures for RBF site selection
River water quality map was obtained from the Department of Pollution Control. The RBF
aquifer thickness and aquifer permeability were reviewed and compiled from the existing RBF
system case studies and the range of practical aquifer thickness and aquifer permeability values
were identified and the suitable range was selected to fit the existing available data for Thailand. A
total number of 13,581 available groundwater wells were compiled from the National Groundwater
Database, DGR. A number of 4,881 groundwater wells with well logs were sorted and 414 wells
satisfied the criteria. The distribution of 414 groundwater wells were prepared as well asⒸ ISERD

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hydrologic data consisting of existing 190 river gauging stations, river cross sections and profiles,
river hydrographs, and river flow velocity were compiled and analyzed. Land use data and maps ofvarious scales were compiled from the existing database of the Department of Public Works andthe Department of Land Development. The expected main water users from the RBF system inThailand are the Provincial Waterworks Authority. Water demand for provincial water supply is,therefore, considered as one of the parameters for RBF system site selection. The water demand forprovincial water supply as of 2010 was compiled.
At the local and site suitability scale level, the considered site selection criteria include 5components, namely, hydrology, hydrogeology, water quality, land use, and provincial watersupply production capacity as categorized, scored and weighted in Table 1. Based on the scoring
and weighting of the selection criteria, there are twelve potential areas as indicated in Fig. 6.
Subsequently, the RBF system key performance parameters for preliminary RBF system will besystematically analyzed for designing and constructing for the first two sites in the phase II. The
site investigation data determined from this stage of data acquisition as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9
are representing one of the detailed case studies (Kamphaengphet area).
Table 1 Scoring and weighting of selection criteria
Selection  Criteria

Type
1

2

3

Score

Unit

1

Weight3

5100

Hydrology
1.1 River  Flow  Velocity

m/sec

0.5-1

1-1.5

≥  1.510

1.2 River  Flow  Duration

Month

9

10-11

12

15

2.1 Aquifer  Thicknessm.

10 – 14.9

15 – 19.9

≥  20

20

2.2 Aquifer    permeability

m./day1 – 4.9

5 – 9.9≥  10

10

Hydrogeology

Water  Quality
3.1 Surface  Water  3.2 Groundwater    (TDS)

4

Landuse (RBF systemconstruction site)

5

Water  Supply  Production  (Provincial  Water  Supply)
5.1 Raw  water  shortage

5.2 Present Water Supply Production

Water  Type

4

3

1- 2

5

Mg/l

601 - 1,500

301 - 600

≤  30010Landuse Type Community/ AgricultureindustryOpen/public

5

Month

<1

1- 3

≥    3

5

mil.  cu.m.  /year

<1

1-5

≥  5

20

CASE STUDY
Kamphaengphet area (No. 6 in Fig. 6) was selected by a ranking procedure, where the detailed
study including hydrologic and hydrogeologic investigations was conducted. The Ping River is the
major river flowing across Kamphaengphet Province which is located in Central Thailand.
Hydrologic investigation consists of the study of river morphology, infiltration tests (field andlaboratory), stream profile measurements and water quality sampling as shown in Fig. 7. There are
32 observation wells (diameter of 2 inches) and 12 test wells (6 inches), pumping tests and quantityand quality monitoring of surface and groundwater was conducted over the area of 70 km2 during
the year 2011. A hydrogeologic map under a scale of 1:50,000 was constructed in order to evaluate
the yield of shallow groundwater and interaction between river water and shallow groundwater.
Subsequently, detailed physical and chemical parameters were analyzed and then a numerical flow
model was applied to determine the available yields of groundwater and the behavior of interactionof river water and groundwater. Moreover water demand from Provincial Waterworks Authority ofKamphaengphet Province and initial engineering design, public hearing and SWOT analysisⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1(Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) from the local communities will be evaluated for the
final site selection prior the construction phase (Phase II).

Fig. 5 Locations of the potential
areas for RBF feasibility
study

Fig. 6 Twelve areas delineated for potential RBF
system detailed feasibility study and design
Case study: Kamphaengphet Area

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSRBF has the potential to supply water to numerous cities around the world. Many cities are
currently using surface water that is often of poor quality. Gradual conversion of surface water
intakes to bank filtration can help improve the water quality. The development of the site selection
criteria for the RBF system was initially commenced by identification of selection criteria forregional area scale site selection and then zoom-in into the local area scale level and finally to thesite and location scale level. The established key performance criteria for the RBF system site
selection include 5 groups of data sets, namely; hydrology, hydrogeology, water quality, land use in
the construction site, and water demand. Once the potential sites or locations for the RBF system
are finally selected, a detailed field investigations program was made for the RBF sitecharacterization. The obtained site parameters will be used for preliminary RBF system design andpilot construction.
By the way, RBF system is a new technology of conjunctive use of surface and groundwater
resources for Thailand. RBF also offers an innovative solution for water resources management of
the project. It offers many advantages in terms of low cost, simplicity, robustness etc. A successfulproject depends upon strong technical understanding combined with support by government, waterauthorities and communities.

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Fig. 8 Hydrogeologic investigations: observation
well and test well drilling and monitoring

Fig. 7 Topography and hydrology ofKamphaengphet area

Fig. 9 Hydrogeologic cross sections of the potential RBF site (Kamphaengphet Area)Ⓒ ISERD

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our appreciations and thanks are delivered to the Department of Groundwater Resources (DGR),
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand, for providing financial support to thefirst phase of the RBF project. Special thanks to the participating research staff from the
Groundwater Research Center (GWRC), Khon Kaen University, for assistance in graphic
preparation and arrangement.
REFERENCES
Archwichai, L, Srisuk, K., Chusanatus, Pholkol, K., Munyou, S. and Saraphirom, P. 2011. Development of
the site selection criteria for Riverbank Filtration Project, Thailand. Proceeding Conference on Geology,
Geotechnology and Mineral Resources of Indochina (GEOINDO2011), 350-359, 1-3 Grischek, T.,
Schubert, J., Jasperse, J.L., Stowe, S.M. and Collins, M.R. 2007. What Is the Apppropriate Site for RBF,
ISMAR6 Proceedings, 466-474. Phoenix, USA.
Grischek, T., Schoenheinz, D. and Ray, C. 2002. Siting and design issues for riverbank filtration schemes, C.
Ray et al.(eds.), Riverbank Filtration, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, 291-302.
Grischek, T., Schoenheinz, D., Worch, E. and Hiscock, K.M. 2002. Bank filtration in Europe - An overview
of aquifer conditions and hydraulic controls. Dillon, P., ed., Management of Aquifer Recharge for
Sustainability, Balkema, Rotterdam, 485-488.
Hunt, H.C. 2010. Riverbank filtration to improve raw water quality. New England Water Works Association
Conference, Rockport, Maine, 59.
Lee, S.I. and Lee, S. 2010. Development of site suitability analysis system for river bank .
Ray, C., Grischek, J., Schubert, J., Wang and Speth, T. 2002. A perspective of riverbank filtration. Journal of
American Water Works Association, 94(4), 149-160.
Sandhu, C., Grischek, T. and Kimothi, P.C. 2009. Annual report cooperation centre for riverbank filtration(CCRBF) Haridwar, India.
Department of Groundwater Resources (DGR) 2011. Progress 1. Report of Large Scale Groundwater
Resources Development Using Modern Riverbank Filtration Technology Phase 1: Feasibility Study on
Large Scale Groundwater Resources Development Using Riverbank Filtration (RBF) Technology.
Groundwater Research Center, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.

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Research article
erd

Farmers and Wastewater Management - A Case Study ofIntegrated Urban Wastewater Management andAgriculture in Hanoi, Vietnam
NGUYEN LAN HUONG*
National University of Civil Engineering, Hanoi, Vietnam
Email: lanhuong1184@gmail.com

YAMAJI EIJI
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
Received 16 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract The amount of wastewater utilized by urban farmers worldwide is expected toincrease due to the rising amount of wastewater generated from urban population. Despite
the contribution of urban farmers to generate vast quantity of urban waste including solids
and wastewater through agricultural practices, these activities are little recognized bymunicipal’s   management   authorities   or looked down by the communities, resulting in
informal, unplanned and spontaneous practices. Twenty nine farmers from two
communities in peri-urban area of Hanoi were involved in the participatory investigationof individual managerial capacity on farming related to wastewater irrigation, i.e., personal
characteristics and skills. GIS application and water sampling technique were employed to
study the physical environment; questionnaires, in-depth interviews and participatory
observation were used to investigate the social, economic and institutional environmentthat was hypothesized to influence farmers’ managerial capacity. From the assessment ofwater quality, it can be seen that wastewater irrigation has the potential to be reused forfarmers in terms of nutrient recovery and income generation as well as brings high risk forhuman health relating to pathogens. The factors that influenced farmer’s capacities ofwastewater irrigation governance can be categorized into: Internal factors: (1) age of
farmers, (2) experience in wastewater irrigation, (3) knowledge and skill, (4) motivation in
wastewater agriculture; External factors: (1) institutional environment including
regulation on agricultural wastewater use, decentralized/centralized wastewater
management, spatial separation on governance responsibilities of different department,
state of participatory in local cooperatives; (2) physical environment such as climatechange, diseases outbreak, constituent in wastewater; (3) social environment consists ofsocial linkage and norms; (4) economic environment: consumer buying behavior andincome from wastewater agriculture. This research concludes that the farmers’ managerial
behavior were driven more by economical and physical factors, while institutional andsocial factors appeared to discourage farmers from high performance in wastewater
farming.
Keywords farmer managerial capacity, wastewater irrigated agriculture, sustainability andurban wastewater management.

INTRODUCTION
Due to the improper management of wastewater in many cities in Vietnam, a large number ofurban and peri-urban farmers are engaged in the practice of wastewater for irrigation andaquaculture. Especially in Hanoi, the total area irrigated with wastewater is 43,778 ha involving
658,300 farmers (Raschid-Sally and Jayakody, 2008). Despite the amount of wastewater utilized byurban farmers, it is expected to increase due to the rising amount of wastewater generated fromurban population, and the contribution of urban farmers to generate vast quantity of urban wasteⒸ ISERD

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including solids and wastewater through agriculture practices (Brody Lee et al, 2010), these
activities neither received much recognition by   municipal’s   management   authorities   (Do et al.,2006) nor looked down by the community. Hence, wastewater unitization by urban farmers
remains as informal, unplanned and spontaneous practices.
The farmers’   managerial capacity of wastewater irrigation was studied from both individual
aspect  of  farmers’  management  capacities  (i.e.  personal characteristics and skills including drives
and motivations, abilities and capabilities and biography) and farmers’ performance in theenvironment that is influenced by various factors. Boehlje and Eidman (1984) distinguished four
major dimensions: (1) the institutional environment; (2) the social environment; (3) the physicalenvironment; and (4) the economic environment.
MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY
Study area: Two communities in peri-urban, Thanh Liet and Dong Ba in Hanoi were selected dueto their typical practices of wastewater irrigation and characteristics of participatory irrigation
management (Fig. 1).
Thanh Liet is located about 9 km to the southwest of Hanoi along the 2 major drainage riversof metropolitan areas of the city (To Lich River to the East and Nhue River to the Southwest).
Domestic and industrial effluent from urban areas of Hanoi is diverted to the field with an area ofapproximately 194.51 ha through pumping stations along the Tolich River, which involved 201
Farmer Households. There were 105 ha of agriculture land used for cultivating rice; however, due
to contamination of wastewater, those rice paddies were converted to integrated rice paddy, aquaticplant and fish ponds. Fish and aquatic plant cultivation generates main income for farmers in Thanh
Liet.

Fig. 1 Agricultural land use map of study areas: Thanh Liet (left) and Dong Ba (right)
Dong Ba is located about 15 km from the centre of Hanoi. In dry season due to water shortage,
24 ha of agricultural area are irrigated with diluted wastewater which is the mixture of rainwater
and wastewater generated by the village’s daily activities. The dominant crop is rice with a yield of
5.15 ton/ha. 525 farmer households in Dong Ba only produce rice for family consumption.
Compared to Thanh Liet, agriculture production in Dong Ba does not have much economical value.
Site survey and water sampling: GIS device was used to map the study area, irrigation systems,
water sampling points and cropping pattern. Physical characteristics of irrigation water(temperature, pH, conductivity) were measured onsite using Hanna Instruments, portablemeasurement instrument. Chemical characteristics were measured onsite using test kits from
Kyoritsu Chemical Check Lab. Corp, Japan. Samples were stored in plastic bottles (PET) toⒸ ISERD

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examine Coliform and E.coli in laboratory using bacteria detection paper from SUNCOLI, Japan.
The samples were then diluted and incubated in 35-37 oC for 24 hours.
Data from water sampling (Table 1) showed that many water quality parameters in both areas
neither meet the National technical regulation on surface water quality - QCVN 08: 2008/BTNMT
nor National Standard -Water quality guidelines for irrigation - TCVN 6773:2000, especiallyshowing very high value of detected E.coli and total coliforms. However, when distributing into theplots, the quality of water showed some improvement from flowing through long distance ofchannels and undergone natural treatment (Fig. 2).
Table 1 Irrigation water quality in the study area at different points in March 2011
Parameter
Sample ID
pH
Conductivity (mS/cm)
Dissolved oxygen (mg/l)
Total Dissolved Solid (mg/l)
Chemical oxygen
demand (mg/l)
Ammonia Nitrogen(mg/l)
Nitrate-Nitrogen (mg/l)
Phosphate –Phosphorus(mg/l)
Total Iron Fe3++Fe2+ (mg/l)
Copper Cu(mg/l)
Zinc Zn (mg/l)
Lead Pb (mg/l)
E.coli (MPN/100ml)
Total coliforms(MPN/100ml)

QCVN

TCVN

Dong Ba
DI31
DD9
8.56
7.52
0.27
0.32
>9
6
130
150
5
20

TD22
7.37
0.67
4
345
20

Thanh Liet
TD24 TD31
7.42
7.46
0.65
0.89
<1
<1
342
460
45
120

TD32
7.46
0.99
<1
500
120

5.5 - 94
30

5.5 - 8.5
10+3(1)
-

0.5
10
0.3

-

1
2

5
2
0.2

>10
2.2
1.5

>10
0.1
1.1

>10
0
2

>10
0
2

1.5
0.5
1.5

<0.3
<0.5
(2)
0.2
1
5(3)
0.1
200(4)
200- 38x104

<0.3
<0.5
0

0.4
<0.5
0.5

0.8
<0.5
0.5

0.5
<0.5
0.5

0.5
<0.5
0.2

-

0.2
233
26x1
04

0.5
1400
23x1
05

0.5
-

0.5
-

0.05
100
7500

Note:
DI31: sample taken at the inlet of Dan Phuong water gate.
DD9: sample taken at the drainage canal to the pump stationin Dong Ba
TD24: sample taken at the Tolich river
TD22, TD31, TD32: samples taken at the Ba Xa drainage
canals(1) applied for agriculture land with irrigation
system(2) applied for agriculture soil with pH6.5(3) applied for agriculture soil with pH>6.5(4) applied for restricted crops ( vegetables andcrops that eaten raw)

Fig. 2 Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) variation along main channels, March 2011
The risk of diarrheal disease from consumption of vegetables irrigated with wastewater were
estimated of 2 x 10–3 (WHO, 2006). Wastewater irrigation in the studied areas has some potentialⒸ ISERD

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to be reused by farmers in terms of nutrient recovery (e.g. rich content of Nitrogen and Phosphorus)
and income generation. However, it brings about high risk for human health relating to pathogen
and other hazardous substances.
Interview and participatory observations: General information of the communities andagriculture activities of the farmers were obtained from key informants. Combined informalinterviews and participatory observation were conducted to farmers either at the field whenworking or at their homes.
A total of 29 farmers were interviewed from both areas (Thanh Liet 13/Dong Ba 16). The
number of female participants outnumbered men (18 female /11 male farmers). Most farmers
interviewed were between age 40 and 60 (72.4%); all were literate with primary and upper
education and most were involved in rice cultivation. Farmers in Thanh Liet were more exposed towastewater than Dong Ba farmers in terms of exposure time and concentration of wastewater
because they spend more time on the field for vegetable farming. Most farmer households haveaccess to hygienic latrines with septic tank while fewer farmer households have access to tap water.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Perceptions on wastewater irrigation: Farmers in Thanh Liet have more experience inwastewater agriculture compared to farmers in Dong Ba. They have more knowledge about thecontaminants and risk posed by wastewater, mainly from physical symptoms and experience ofdiseases. Dong Ba farmers on the other hand are more concerned about invisible risks since they
were informed by various channels such as the media or relatives or neighbors, but they insisted
that the irrigation water in Dong Ba is from Red river, and therefore it is clean.
Regarding willingness of farmers to adopt measures in 2 study areas, 59% farmers agreed towear protective clothes; and 76% consider that keeping food and drinks hygienic are effective tokeep their physical health.
Behavioral outcome: It is observed that many farmers in Thanh Liet wear protective clothes,especially rubber gloves and rubber boots to protect the skin from contacting the wastewater. This
practice can be seen on both women and men. In contrast, very few farmers in Dong Ba answeredthat they wear gloves and boots, and many of them said it is not necessary and uncomfortable.
Endogenous environment: Managerial capacity can be reflected from age and experience of
farmers. Most farmers interviewed were aged above 40. Hence, they gained more experience inmanaging the farm including irrigation to increase productivity compared to younger farmers.
Through practicing wastewater agriculture they receive more knowledge and develop management
skill to minimize wastewater risks on crops and health. But on the other hand, old farmers weremore hesitating to new technology adoption or carry out new experiments on crops; they prefertheir own way of farming that resulted from many years of experience or learnt from parents.
Motivation in farming also affects farmer’s managerial behavior by encouraging them todevelop knowledge and skills, invest labor and money in wastewater irrigation techniques toincrease productivity. Income from fish and flower farming in 2009 ranges from about 150 mil to
700 mil VND (7,500- 35,000 USD) per ha a year, therefore farmers have more motivation to invest
money and labor to improve irrigation condition, i.e. making settling ponds or pumping oxygen to
boost wastewater treatment processing in the pond and extracting groundwater.
Exogenous environment: The quality of water seems to affect the crop pattern. Thanh Liet
farmers show more adaptation than Dong Ba farmers, they shift from rice to other aquaticvegetables. For over the past 10 years, it is estimated that rice paddies were converted to more than
60 ha of fish pond area of a total of 85 ha in Thanh Liet. While in Dong Ba, 9 ha area of rice paddy
were converted to flower field (Fig. 1).
Sewage and drainage systems in Thanh Liet and Dong Ba were not served by Hanoi Sewage
and Drainage Company (SADCO) but were provided by local irrigation, drainage and sewerage
sectors under the Commune’s PCs. Wastewater discharged from the communes’ everyday activities
were collected through combined covered sewage ditches. These ditches transport wastewater toopen drains or nearby ponds, being the water area in the commune without any treatment ofⒸ ISERD

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effluent. Some ditches are connected directly to irrigation channel or drain channel in the
agriculture areas. Wastewater irrigation management by farmers in these areas were recognized as
informal, short-term and self-interested due to the separation of farmers from urban wastewater
management, ignorance of wastewater irrigation agriculture in the urban food supply chain andlack of regulation relating wastewater reuse and food safety for wastewater irrigated crops. In
addition, centralized urban wastewater system in Hanoi makes barriers for farmers in utilizing
nutrients in wastewater without bearing the risks of hazardous constituents.
Participation in wastewater irrigation is a fundamental concern for wastewater governance at
local level. However, farmers are less motivated to participate and are more dependent on LCs
management scheme (normally 2 or 3 times a week), or by the state if the water is taken from Red
River through Dan Phuong water gate (about 1.5 km away from Dong Ba). They only need to pay
for irrigation service fee and leave the rest to the LCs’ responsibilities.
Physical environment includes weather, diseases on crops and state of wastewater influence on
productivity, cropping pattern and agricultural land use. These physical factors could either
encourage or discourage farmers’ motivation to improve the irrigation condition.
Weak social linkage among farmers, between farmers and local authorities, and between
farmers and consumers influence the information sharing, which prevent them from applying
innovation in farming. Moreover, the contamination of irrigation water seems invisible and is notconsidered important compared to the normal understanding of dirt. These results are not enoughmotivation to improve irrigation quality, while more efforts are put on making products look freshand clean.
Economic environment plays an important role in controlling farmers’ behavior toward
economic benefits and consumer buying habits. Most of wastewater crops and fish were supplied tourban or nearby markets. However, consumers are not aware of the irrigation aspect but only careabout appearance and price. This further induces farmers to produce cheaper products with niceappearance, while, according to farmers, investment in better irrigation conditions does not bringmuch benefit compared to selling wastewater irrigated products.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Wastewater irrigation system in Hanoi peri-urban agriculture and urban wastewater management
system were found as an integrated system. Despite being linked together regarding urban
wastewater and urban food chain, waste-water farmers behaved independently and self interested
among peers and others, which results in some short terms measures such as to generate income
from wastewater fed fish ponds, aquatic plants or non-food crops, to reduce occupational healthrisks or to keep food and drinks clean to improve health.
Factors that influence farmer’s capacities of wastewater irrigation governance are determined
as: internal factors: (1) age of farmers, (2) experience, (3) knowledge and skill, and (4) motivationin waste-water agriculture; external factors: (1) institutional environment including regulation onwastewater use in agriculture, decentralized/centralized wastewater management, spatial separation
on governance responsibilities of different departments, state of participatory in local cooperatives;(2) physical environment such as climate change, diseases outbreak, constituent in wastewater; (3)social environment consisting of social linkage and norms; and (4) economic environment:
consumer buying behavior and income from wastewater agriculture.
Farmers’ behavior was more driven by economical and physical factors while institutional andsocial factors appeared to discourage farmers from high performance of farming.
Findings from this research were more focused on personal characteristics of farmers and theexternal factors that influence management capacity of farmers on wastewater irrigated agriculture.
However, it is suggested that farmer’s managerial capacity should involve decision making process
to try to optimize, or at least influence the technical and biological process at farms and to include
the assessment of farm results. Nevertheless, a farmer who has favorable characteristics is more
likely to have good results in management practices even if there might have some faults in his
decision making process.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
From the dynamics of internal and external driving factors, the authors suggest that more efforts
should be made in institutional and social aspects of urban wastewater management relating toreuse of wastewater taken by farmers. The resilience transition of the system could be enhanced byempowering farmers’ managerial capacity toward institutional and social environment. Twomechanisms for strengthening farmers’ managerial capacity on wastewater governance via
wastewater irrigation are proposed, i.e. strengthening social participation and institutional
involvement of farmers.
Farmers should be more involved in the management of wastewater irrigation practice. Thereis a need for a farmer organization, which acts as a wastewater user association. This organization
should be given full authority including planning, design, operation, maintenance, re-habilitation,
resource mobilization and conflict resolution.
Cooperation of different governmental bodies and stakeholders along the urban wastewater
chain and food chain are vital for supporting and strengthening farmers’ managerial capacity. Eachstakeholder has to recognize the common goal of safe wastewater irrigated products. Farmers
should be recognized as the stakeholder in the management of urban wastewater systems. In thismanner, farmers could have access to information to get control over risks and to optimize benefits
from wastewater reuse and at the same time, have responsibility over their products. This could
therefore prevent farmers from behaving like self-interested or spot-market, and could lead to moresustainable and long-term management.
Projects relating farmer capacity building for wastewater irrigation in particularly, NGOs anddonors should consider managerial capacity of farmers within the wastewater farming. Farmers are
more likely to participate in irrigation management if they have more motivation in wastewater
agriculture and they could count on wastewater irrigation as the provision of their livelihood.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, Sports
and Culture (MEXT) for the financial support, as well as professors, staffs, colleagues and friends
from Graduate Program in Sustainablity Science (GPSS) and Agro-Environmental Engineering
Laboratory, The University of Tokyo for their supports and encouragement.
REFERENCES
Boehlje, M.D.and Eidman, V.R. 1984. Farm management. New York, John Wiley & Sons.
Do, T.T., Hoek, W., Vinh, K., Phung, C.D., Nguyen, H.V. and Dalsgaard, A. 2006. Low risk for helminth
infection in wastewater-fed rice cultivation in Vietnam. Journal of Water and Health, 321-331.
Lee, B., Binns, T. and Dixon, A. 2010. The dynamics of urban agriculture in Hanoi, Vietnam. Urban
Agriculture, The Journal of Field actions.
Raschid-Sally, L. and Jayakody, P. 2008. Drivers and characteristics of wastewater agriculture in developing
countries: Results from a global assessment. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management
Institute.
WHO. 2006. The WHO Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and grey water in agriculture.
Volume II: Wastewater use in agriculture. France: The WHO Press, 06.

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Research article
erd

Growth Situation of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Usedin Artificial Floating Islands for Water Purification in Cold
Regions
MASATO KIMURA*
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido, Japan
Email: masa-k@obihiro.ac.jp

OSAMU TSUJI
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido, JapanTOSHIMI MUNEOKA
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido, JapanHIROTO OTE
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido, Japan
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract In this study, growth experiments of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin., used aspart of artificial floating islands for water purification, were conducted. The Lake
Mizusawa, which is the study area, is located in Biei Town, Hokkaido. The area aroundthis lake is hilly and mostly comprises farm fields . Due to the topography and land use,soil particles and fertilizer flow into the lake after heavy rains. This is the most importantcause of lake eutrophication. One way to clear up this eutrophied lake is to place artificial
floating islands using the Phragmites on the lake surface. The Phragmites used for theartificial floating islands absorb nitrogen, including the contained in lake’s water, topromote lateral buds sprouting. After that, grown lateral buds are cut and hence thepollution is carried away outside the system. However, this method has been little tested incold regions such as Hokkaido. Thus, on July 2010, we put artificial floating islands in the
biotope which was developed on a drained paddy close to the lake. The Phragmites grewsteadily. There were about four hundreds lateral buds sprouting by October 2010, and the
maximum plant length of lateral buds was 0.74 meters. Observed artificial floating islands
were left in the biotope during winter. In 2011, the lateral buds sprouted and grew in ashorter period of time compared to 2010. Similarly, maximum plant length of lateral buds
was 1.86 meters. Ear emergence was also observed, although it was not observed in 2010.
Therefore, it is considered that there was no damage to the Phragmites due to the cold.
From these results, it was found that the Phragmites used for the artificial floating island
were able to grow in cold region. Thus, this method is a promising way to improve water
quality of Lake Mizusawa.
Keywords water purification, Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin., lake eutrophication,
cold region

INTRODUCTION
Biei-cho, Hokkaido, is one of the areas with the most beautiful scenery in Japan. Lake,Mizusawa arepresentative scenic spot, is known as a stopover for migratory birds and is familiar to people as aprecious waterside space. Conservation activities are therefore undertaken in this area to protect the
beautiful landscape and local environment.
However, Lake Mizusawa suffers from a significant eutrophication problem arising from thetopography and land use of this area. The terrain around this lake is hilly and mostly comprisesⒸ ISERD

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farm fields. During periods of agricultural production, large amounts of fertilizer are applied to thefields to increase yield. However, following heavy rains, soil and fertilizer flow into the lake. Thisis the most important cause of lake eutrophication, which negatively affects the ecosystem andlandscape around the lake and leads to occurrence of blue-green algae and generation of an
unpleasant smell. Therefore, to preserve this beautiful landscape and local environment, it isnecessary to improve water quality.
One way to clear up eutrophied lakes is to place artificial floating islands of Phragmites
australis (Cav.) Trin. on the lake surface. However, this method, which was suggested by Uchida etal. (1999, 2001), Uchida and Maruyama (1998), and Tazaki et al. (2002), has been little tested incold regions such as Hokkaido. Tsuji et al. (2009) studied the artificial floating islands ofPhragmites and confirmed sprouting of lateral buds. However, they were unable to fully examine
the subsequent growth because most Phragmites plants could not adapt to the changing water leveland died as a result of dehydration.
In the present study, we observed the growth of Phragmites for 2 successive years. In the firstyear, the artificial floating islands of Phragmites were placed in the biotope in July, and the growthof Phragmites was examined. The artificial floating islands were left in the biotope during thesubsequent winter to examine the winter hardiness of Phragmites. In the second year, the growth
was examined from July to September. The results were used to assess the possibility of using theartificial floating islands of Phragmites for water purification.
METHODOLOGY
Study area
The study area was at Lake Mizusawa (Fig. 1), a man-made lake at  latitude  43°32′14′′  north  and  longitude   142°29′41′′   east located at Biei-cho in the central part of Hokkaido. The area
(approximately 2 × 106 m2) around this lake comprises hillside farms. Most farms in this area growpotatoes, beet, and corn, which require large amounts of fertilizer. According to Ote et al. (2011),
the amount of nitrogen applied on these hillside farms was 1.8 × 103 kg in 2010. Because the rateof nitrogen runoff from farms was 11%, the nitrogen loading into Lake Mizusawa was estimated tobe 2 × 103 kg (Ote et al., 2011).
The biotope on which the artificial floating islands were placed adjoined Lake Mizusawa. This
biotope was developed on a drained paddy.

Biei-cho

Biei-cho

Mizusawa Lake

Fig. 1 Study area in Lake Mizusawa located at Biei-cho, Hokkaido
Construction of artificial floating islands
Figure 2 shows the drain mat (Yoshiharakakou Co., Ltd.) used to form the artificial floating islandsof Phragmites. The mat measured 0.50 m × 0.50 m × 0.02 m (length × width × height). The
completed island comprised a drain mat and stems of Phragmites plants that were growing wildaround Lake Mizusawa. As shown in Fig. 2, 5 stems cut to about 0.50 m were inserted into holes in
the mat. Twenty-one artificial floating islands were constructed in this way and they were wiredⒸ ISERD

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each other (Fig. 3). As shown in Fig. 3, the mats were arranged in two rows and were placed in the
biotope.

Five stems of Phragmites inserted
into a mat.

Fig. 2 Drain mat used to make artificial floating islands for water purification

Fig. 3 Artificial floating islands wired each other and placed on biotope surface
Growth of Phragmites andabsorption of nitrogen
Lateral buds sprouting

Nitrogen in the water
Outside the system

Phragmites inserted intoa mat
Fig. 4 Outline of the water purification scheme using artificial floating islands of Phragmites
Figure 4 shows the outline of the water purification scheme using the artificial floating islandsof Phragmites. The scheme comprises the following 3 steps: First, the artificial floating islands areplaced on the surface of eutrophied water, and lateral buds sprouting from nods of Phragmites
plants are inserted into the drain mat. Second, after lateral buds have sprouted, they grow andⒸ ISERD

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absorb large amounts of nitrogen, including nitrogen from the eutrophied water. This is an
important step in water purification using Phragmites. Finally, in autumn, Phragmites plants,
which accumulate nitrogen, are cut and transported outside the system. The artificial floatingislands are left in place during winter and reused next year.
Growth of Phragmites
The stem length and sprouting rate of the plants were recorded every 2 weeks in 2010 and 2011.
The sprouting rate is the ratio of the total number of sprouts to the total number of nods. Because
more than 2 lateral buds sprout from a nod, the sprouting rate generally exceeds 100%.
In 2010, growth was assessed from July 4 to October 31. After the last assessment in 2010, theartificial floating islands were left in the biotope to evaluate their winter hardiness. The growth ofthe overwintered Phragmites plants was assessed between July 7 and September 21 in 2011. In
addition, to check the growth of rhizomes, the mats that were fixed to the ground surface in the
biotope were dug up on October 21, 2011.
RESULTS
Growth of Phragmites in 2010

0.8

180

0.7

160

0.6

140

120

0.5

100

0.4

80

0.3

60

0.2

40

0.1

20

0

Average stem length
Maximum stem length
Sprouting rate

Sprouting Rate (%)

Length (m)Figure 5 shows changes in the sprouting rate and maximum and average stem length during 2010.
The artificial floating islands were placed in the biotope on July 4. After 2 weeks, sprouting oflateral buds was observed. At this time, the sprouting rate and maximum stem length were 4% and0.15 m, respectively. From late July to mid-September, both the sprouting rate and maximum stem
length increased steadily with increasing air temperature. However, the maximum stem length
stopped increasing on September 8. In contrast, the sprouting rate increased moderately after thatdate because lateral buds continued sprouting. On October 31, 419 lateral buds sprouted and thesprouting rate was 153%.The maximum stem length was 0.74 m. After examination in 2010, theartificial floating islands were left in the biotope during winter to examine the winter hardiness of
Phragmites.

0
7/4 7/20 8/5 8/21 9/6 9/22 10/8 10/24

Date

Fig. 5 Seasonal changes in sprouting rate and average and maximum stem length in 2010
Growth of Phragmites in 2011
The growth of Phragmites plants that had overwintered on the floating artificial islands wasassessed in 2011. Figure 6 shows changes in the sprouting rate and maximum and average stem
length. As shown in Fig. 6, the overwintered plants grew more steadily in 2011 than in 2010. WhenⒸ ISERD

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2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

850

Average stem length
Maximum stem length
Sprouting rate

800
750
700
650

600

Sprouting Rate (%)

Length(m)
Length(m)the first evaluation was made on July 7, 2011, the sprouting rate was already 578% and the
maximum stem length was 1.35 m. However, although the sprouting rate increased steadily untillate September, the maximum stem length showed little increase after August. In contrast, ear
emergence was observed in 2011, although it was not observed in 2010. Figure 7 shows a
Phragmites rhizome photographed during growth examination on October 21. This figure showsthat Phragmites took root in the biotope.

550

500
7/7

7/21

8/4

8/18
Date

9/1

9/15

Fig. 6 Seasonal changes in the sprouting rate and average and maximum stem length in 2011

Fig. 7 Phragmites rhizome on October 21, 2011DISCUSSIONOn October 31, 2010, the sprouting rate and maximum stem length were 153% and 0.74 m,
respectively (Fig. 5). In summer, both these values increased rapidly with increasing air
temperature, indicating that Phragmites plants used to form the artificial floating islands were able
to grow in the warm season in a cold region such as Hokkaido. However, the artificial floatingislands were left in the biotope during the subsequent winter to evaluate the growth of Phragmites
plants that had overwintered.
The Phragmites plants on the artificial floating islands grew more steadily in 2011 than in
2010, and on September 21, 2011, the sprouting rate and maximum stem length were 788% and1.89 m, respectively (Fig. 6). Two factors were considered to cause the difference in growthincrement: first, the Phragmites plants were not damaged by cold and second, the plants could
absorb nutrient salts more effectively because their rhizomes had grown steadily (Fig. 7).

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These results show that Phragmites used in the artificial floating islands for water purification
can grow for multiple years without difficulty. Thus, this method could be put to practical use forwater purification of the eutrophied Lake Mizusawa.
CONCLUSION
The use of the artificial floating islands of Phragmites was suggested to improve water quality ofthe eutrophied Lake Mizusawa. However, because this method has been little tested in cold regions,we placed the artificial floating islands in the biotope near Lake Mizusawa and examined thegrowth of Phragmites plants on these islands in 2010 and 2011. The plants grew steadily both in2010 and 2011. From the results obtained in 2011, we observed that the Phragmites plants were notdamaged by cold during the preceding winter. These results indicate that Phragmites plants on theartificial floating islands can grow in cold regions. Thus, it could be possible to improve water
quality by use of the artificial floating islands of Phragmites.
REFERENCES
Ote, H., Tsuji, O., Muneoka, T. and Kimura, M. 2011. Purification of water quality of Lake Mizusawa by
artificial floating island used Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Biei-cho. Proceed. 60th Annu Conf. Jpn.
Soc. Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Eng., Hokkaido Branch, 98-101.
Tazaki, F., Uchida, T. and Maruyama, J. 2002. Elongation of lateral buds in segments of each organ and nodeorder of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. J. Jpn. Soc. Reveget. Tech., 28, 49-54. Tsuji, O., Murakami,
N.and Tokura, Y. 2009. Purification of water quality of Mizusawa Lake by artificial floating island in
Biei town. 58th Annu. Conf. Jpn. Soc. Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Eng., Hokkaido Branch, 114-115.
Uchida, T. and Maruyama, J. 1998. A new attempt to seedling production of common reed (Phragmites
australis (Cav.) Trin.). J. Jpn. Soc. Reveget. Tech., 24, 104-108.
Uchida, T., Andoh, Y.and Maruyama, J. 1999. Studies on the efficiency of shoot production using lateral budof Culm and Rhizome of common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin.). J. Jpn. Soc. Reveget. Tech.,25, 13-24.
Uchida, T., Tazaki, F.and Maruyama, J. 2001. A new method on waterfront revegetation using Phragmites
australis (Cav.) Trin. Culm. J. Jpn. Inst. Landsc. Architect., 64, 507-512.

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Research article
erd

Effective Governance Strategy: Key to Sustainable
Collaborative Management in a Wildlife Sanctuary inSouth-Eastern Part of Bangladesh
REZAUR RAHMAN*
Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

MOHAMMED SALIM UDDIN
Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

SHIRLEY THOMPSON
Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Email: s_thompson@umanitoba.ca
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract The Forest Department of Bangladesh piloted collaborative management, also
known as co-management, in five protected areas, through its Nishorgo Support Projectfrom 2004 to 2009. This paper documents one of the pilot co-management sites,
specifically for the Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary comparing actual governance to theframework for good governance for protected areas. Through stakeholders and key
informant interviews and observation of council and committee meetings, the research
revealed that the co-management structure was   an   appendum   in   the   forest   department’s  organizational structure. Unwillingness to share responsibilities and decision-making was
the major obstacle to effective co-management in the protected area. The lack of legal
recognition and limited functional arrangements to support co-management resulted in
weak managerial performance and poor governance. Thus, extraction of resources fromthe reserve continued. Moreover, no quick solutions to deal with environmental threats ofland encroachment inside the sanctuary were undertaken. For co-management to result in
effective forest and wildlife conservation, more focus on good governance and provisionof socio-economic opportunities is needed.
Keywords protected area, Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary, co-management, governance

INTRODUCTION
Depletion of forests is occurring worldwide. In Bangladesh, only 10.2% of the country’s  landmass  remains under forest cover (Laurance, 2007). Forests continue to be degraded due to encroachmentof forest land for habitation and cultivation (Muhammed et al., 2008) with 50% of   the   nation’s  forests destroyed in the last two decades of the 20th century (Huda & Roy, 1999). To halt thisdestruction and preserve biodiversity, the Government of Bangladesh established one protectedarea in the 1980s and increased the number of protected areas to 28 in 2011 (Chowdhury et al.,2009). However, due to ineffective management, protected areas are subject to the samedegradation as state forests, wetlands and other land-use resources (FSP, 2001). DeCosse & Roy(2005) found that the principal cause of destruction of parks and other protected areas in
Bangladesh are the local elites who extract resources from protected areas for their own benefit, notthat of the poor. Commercial demand for timber and firewood is the leading cause of forest loss
with the poor engaged as hired hands to carry out this work for the elites (DeCosse & Roy, 2005).
Realizing the importance of protected areas for biodiversity conservation, a collaborative
management approach was formally introduced in the protected areas of Bangladesh in the year
2004 (Sharma et al., 2008; Roy & DeCosse, 2006). One of the major emphases of applying comanagement in protected areas was to ensure a congenial situation for governance as a recognizedⒸ ISERD

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requirement for sustainable development (DFID, 2001). The Forest Department initially piloted comanagement in five protected areas in 2004. The focus of this paper is to look at co-management in
one of these areas, namely the Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS), located at 210 00′  N  and  920 20′  E in the Teknaf Peninsula of  Cox’s  Bazaar  district  in  south-eastern Bangladesh. The total area ofthe sanctuary is 11,615 hectares, which is composed of tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen
forests (Green, 1990). This sanctuary is surrounded by 115 settlements with a total population of
119,950 (Mollah et al., 2004). The wild elephant, sambar, barking deer, leopard, Bengal tiger,
panther etc. were common in this area but now most of these animals are extirpated or the
population has dwindled, due to habitat destruction. Now, megafauna are restricted to a few small
areas (Mollah et al., 2004; IPAC, 2009). In 2004, only a few small patches of natural forest
remained in the sanctuary (Mollah et al., 2004) due to economic activities diminishing the forest
by: fuel wood collection for household use and brick making; illegal timber extraction forcommercial sale; non-timber forest products (mainly bamboo and rattan) collection; betel-leaf
cultivation; and grazing of domestic animals (Studd, 2004).
Governance is considered to be the single most important factor for sustainable forest resource
management (Larson, 2004), which highlights the need for analyzing the quality of governance at
TWS. Realizing good governance is needed to ensure wildlife conservation and biodiversity, a twotier governance structure consisting of a 1) co-management   council   (henceforth   called   ‘council’)  and 2) a co-management executive committee (henceforth called   ‘committee’)   that   was   formed  with diverse stakeholders (NSP, 2006). Stakeholders include tribal people, forest villagers, local
resource users, the middle class and elites. The business class has a strong role in land
encroachment, including local elites, political leaders, law enforcing agencies, and forest headmen(Mollah et al., 2004), and must be engaged to prevent further habitat destruction and shift practice.
Principles of good governance for protected areas
Governance determines who has power and makes decisions, how other stakeholders make their
voices heard and what accountability measures are in place. Sustainable protected area
management usually requires participation of local people in decision-making process, devolutionof power, equitable benefit sharing, and building transparent and responsive institutions to ensure
good governance (UNESCAP, 2007). Governance is also influenced by history, culture, legal andcustomary rights, access to information, economic outlook etc. Creating a suitable system ofgovernance for protected areas in a country is of high importance in which government agencies at
the national level usually play an eminent role (Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2005). An analysis ofgovernance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making, implementing
the decisions made, and the structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement thedecisions (UNESCAP, 2007). Analyzing and taking action about governance of protected areas
provide a powerful and insightful learning process. The management authority or stakeholders canestablish criteria, principles and values to guide action to achieve good governance (BorriniFeyerabend, 2003).
Five principles of good governance for protected areas developed by Graham et al. (2003)
based on United Nations governance principles are: 1) legitimacy and voice, 2) accountability, 3)
performance, 4) fairness, and 5) direction. These five principles are harmonized with the eight
major characteristics of good governance principles namely 1) participation, 2) consensus-oriented,3) accountability, 4) transparency, 5) responsiveness, 6) effectiveness and efficiency, 7) equity andinclusiveness, and 8) devotion to rule of law, identified by the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, 2007), in Table 1.
METHODOLOGYThis in-depth case study used semi-structured interviews and participant observation from August
2007 to February 2008. Six interviews were conducted with site coordinators of the project andForest Department (FD) officials for the three ranges namely Whykong, Shilkhali and Teknaf.
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Information about the governance structure of the council and committee formation process, legal
matters, working mechanism of those bodies and experiences from performing activities throughco-management was collected.
The researchers attended committee and council meetings to observe participation ofrepresentatives from different stakeholders. Each of the three committees was comprised of 18-19
members who were elected from 51-55 council members in those ranges. Formal interactive
interviews were conducted with local government, non-government organization (NGO) groups,
local elites, ethnic communities, forest department, resource user and other government
representatives in committee using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive responses from theinterviewees were gathered and cross-checked through field observation and discussion with key
informants working at forest beat level (smallest administrative unit for forest management)
including individuals from tribal community, forest villagers and patrol team members. Overall, an
inductive approach was followed in the research process by moving to broader generalization from
specific observations and results. Direct observation methods were followed to observe
phenomenon and collect information on participants’ behavior and field condition. Based on thesefindings an analysis of actual governance compared to the framework for good governance forprotected areas developed by Graham et al. (2003) and (UNESCAP, 2007) were made in Table 1
which is a similar approach to that taken by Lockwood (2010) for other projects.
RESULTSThe changes in governance attained by the re-arranged governance structure developed for comanagement are analyzed by each governance principle (Table 1) and explained below.
Governance by co-management authority in TWS.
1. Legitimacy and voice: participation and consensus oriented (principle one)
Co-management was legitimated by a 2006 government gazette notification, which establishedthree co-management committees and assigned them responsibilities. However, only 12% of thecommittees are made up of resource users, limiting their influence. The committees have a numberof business persons with vested interest in the sanctuary, who do not play a convening role. A NGO
representative in Whykong committee said: “I  did  not  get  any  direction  to  interact  with  other  local  NGOs   and   don’t   know   how   I   will   collaborate.” Forest Department workers are not included incouncil and committee and often do not attend field meetings, which results in suboptimal effort inco-management activities and is of concern to Community Patrolling Groups, as they needassistance and enforcement from these field level employees.
Attendance in monthly committee meeting is poor as some members are unwilling to provide
voluntary service  but  attendance  is  better  for  council  meeting  representatives.  Forest  users’  group  meetings often do not take place due to lack of both participants and representatives from thecommittee. Activities at the field level are highly influenced by planning made at higher levels asactivities and financing are not decided at the site office.
2. Accountability and transparency (principle two)
The co-management   committee   members’   accountability is demanded only at the monthly
meetings. The committees do not have access to information on operations and budget expendituresof a part of the Nishorgo Support Project (NSP) as it was implemented by the Forest Department(FD) only. Committee  members’  do  not  have  any  established  mechanism  to  convey  learning  and  engage their own constituency. Although linkages have been established between forest usergroups and community patrolling groups with the Forest Department, activities and requirements ofthe groups were not monitored: a Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) refers to this divide: “It  is  not  pleasing for FD to work with local NGOs in co-management. Some of our staffs have shared theiruncomfortable feeling on losing territorial  control  and  authority  in  their  work  with  groups  in  field”.  

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Table 1 Analysis of whether the Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary Co-management meets good
governance principles and responsibilities
Good governancePrinciples
1. Legitimacy andvoice

Governance responsibilities
1.1.1 Free expression of views
with no discrimination

1.1 Participatory

1.1.2 Dialogue and collective
negotiation

1.2 Consensusoriented

1.2.1 Stakeholders trust eachother and have the feeling ofowning the rules

2. Accountability
and transparency

2.1 Accountability should beaccessible to all
2.2 Accountability is linked toappropriate rewards andsanctions

3. Performance
3.1 Responsiveness3.2 Effectivenessand efficiency

4. Fairness
4.1 Equity &inclusiveness2.3 Clarity and transparency of
responsibility
3.1.1 Capable administration
with sufficient institutional andhuman capacity to carry out
required responsibilities
3.2.1 Dealing with complaints
and criticisms in constructive
manner
3.2.2 The management structure
should be robust, resilient, andcapable to perform adaptive
management
4.1.1 Conservation efforts
should not humiliate or harm
people’s  normal  life
4.1.2 Vulnerable ones shouldhave opportunity to maintaintheir own happiness

4.2 Rule of Law

4.2.1Consistent application oflaws and regulations
4.2.2 Fair opportunities forconflict management and nondiscriminatory option to justice

5. Direction
5.1 Strategic vision

5.1.1 Peoples concerns should
be listened and effective
leadership with consistentvision for long term
development should prevail
5.2.1 Context of the area should
be clearly understood andinnovative ideas and processes
should be supported

5.2 Embracing
complexities

How governance principles and responsibilities areworking in the study area?
All committee members are encouraged to express theiropinion in meetings.
Field  level  employees  and  group’s  representatives  still  too  vigilant to speak before elites.
Interaction occurs but dialogue is limited to project
objective specific agendas. Limited discussion was
performed on burning but sensitive issues.
Lack of trust is evident from absence of important
stakeholders in meetings.
Rules and agendas are fixed ex-situ having local
stakeholders at supportive role on site.
Very limited accountability of committee members andForest Department staff.
Rewards and sanctions mechanism is not free fromnepotism by influential members.
No graduated sanctions are applied de facto for extracting
resources and illegal felling.
No posting of names & duties of committees, ongoing
activities and budget in site offices.
Co-management council have symbolic role only.
Insufficient staff and dissatisfaction of working groups
made large area conservation tough.
Committee and participants are learning from training andvisits to other protected areas.
Lively discussion on co-management activities in meetings.
Forest Department staff will not give up control but
linkages with field groups are made.
Activities depend on project funding but earning moneyfrom eco-tourism has started.
The co-management institutions on site are precarious andhas not attained self-sustaining situation yet.
Tribal community, forest users and women were minimally
involved.
Alternative income generating initiatives were few
compared to needs of forest depended households.
Tribal community was not integrated well in decision
making process and received little financial and material
support for community economic development
Committee is often reluctant to apply regulations tocommittee members. A number of committee members are
known well for past illegal activities in the sanctuary.
Community people depend on local leaders for conflict
resolution. Conflicts related to the sanctuary are discussed
in monthly committee meeting.
A vision for efficient co-management of the sanctuary is
discussed but committee and council members seldom playleadership role or start initiatives.
Innovative ideas like establishing biogas plant, fuelefficient improved cooking stove making are encouraged
through arranging demonstration and training programs.

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3. Performance: responsiveness and efficiency (principle three)
Co-management authorities empowered under government order are reluctant to apply rules tocontrol extraction of resources, which allows widespread breaking of the rules. The field levelgroups cannot hand-over any violator to law enforcing agencies without consulting FD employees.
With very limited alternative income generating support and other financial incentives, the forest
patrolling groups are unwilling to provide voluntary service. On the other hand, NSP field staffs
working in remote locations are unsatisfied with governance and facilities. A project field staff
said: “Major decisions and planning of co-management activities on ground is performed at higher
levels which don’t   reflect  the   acceptance  of  field  level   employees   and   conscious   people.   But  the  system of adding our field experience to  planning  is  not  well  established”.  
Senior project staffs and academics discussed three aspects that mainly have prevented FDfrom efficient management of the sanctuary. These are: 1) administrative faults 2) policy & legal
loopholes and 3) weak enforcement of rules. Co-management did not result in any organizationalor logistical changes in FD, as this has to be approved by central government in cabinet.
4. Fairness: inclusiveness and rule of law (principle four)
The three committees include 57 representatives from the different stakeholder groups of which 31(54%) are from local government or are local elites who rarely visit the sanctuary, 14 (24.5%) areinstitutional stakeholders and 12 (21%) are from resource user including ethnic communities. Only
six (11%) were women (Rahman, 2008). Although some effort was made to be inclusive, theinclusion of different stakeholders did not result in a concerted effort towards viable income
generating activities. A head from tribal community in Whykong union complained about lack ofresources for performing co-management activities:“We  are  not  included  in  [the]  true  sense  in  most  of  the  development  initiatives  in  TWS  area  including activities under the Nishorgo Support Project. We are given responsibilities to implement
small-scale projects like making handicraft[s] but incentives provided for implementing those werevery insufficient. So, it is difficult to sustain these businesses. Again, we take part in performing
big responsibilities like preventing illegal logging in the sanctuary but often do not get information
about the proceedings and do not have decision-making power. We are not happy with activities ofboth  FD  and  NSP  officials”.  
One of the FD field level officials reported about how the corruption disrupts law and order:“Many  times  we  are  bound  to  do what the influential people in the area want. FD employees
are asked to give privileges to them and gets [an] offer to take [a] bribe even from committee
members, otherwise we will be harmed. TWS is a very dangerous area for prevalence of armed
robber groups, smuggling gangs and illegal migrant. Local law enforcing agencies find it muchdifficult to keep control over the fragile law and order  situation”.
5. Direction: strategic vision and embracing complexities (principle five)
A participatory visioning exercise named ‘Nishorgo   vision   2010’ was conducted with thestakeholders by FD staff, which identified a number of future threats to TWS and other protectedareas, and identified co-management as an effective way to deal with these threats (FD, 2007).
Innovative ideas, like planning for ecotourism, public-private partnership, local entrepreneurshipetc., were identified as promising prospect in co-management.
CONCLUSION
Considering the constant deterioration of forest in the TWS and decline in the population of floraand fauna, effective co-management is necessary to prevent unlawful use and extraction of
resources from the sanctuary. The governance framework linking institutions with different
stakeholders in the community holds promise to reduce forest degradation. Some good governanceprinciples were observed, which include finding direction through both strategic vision exercisesand embracing complexities. As well, fairness was evident in efforts to include many diverse
stakeholders on committees. Regarding the fairness principle, efforts were made to support
alternative income generating initiatives but these were small relative to the need. Improvements
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build the trust required for a true consensus-orientation. A real weakness was the lack of
accountability and transparency. As well, performance was poor in its effectiveness and efficiency
with insufficient staff for the large conservation area resulting in continued environmental
degradation. However, justice and the rule of law were not applied with many committee members
continuing to engage in the sanctuary based illegal businesses. This study was useful for
scrutinizing governance performance of the organizations involved in co-management in TWS but
ongoing mechanisms for review would improve the governance function.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We sincerely thank committee and council members, the Forest Department and Nishorgo Support
Project (NSP) staff, University of Manitoba and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs(NORAD) for financial support.
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UNESCAP. 2007 What is good governance? An article from the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Poverty reduction section, Bangkok, Thailand. www.unescap.org/
pdd/prs/projectactivities/ongoing/gg/governance.pdf.

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Research article
erdUsing Soil Improvement Materials for Enhancing Drought
Tolerance of Rubber Plant
SUTTIPONG PRUANGKA*
Faculty of Technology, Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Udon Thani, Thailand
Email: dr.suttipong@yahoo.co.th

MONGKON TA-OUN
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

THANAPONG TULA
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

SOMPOSH KAEWRAHUN
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen , Thailand
Received 20 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract A study on the effects of applying a type of clay minerals on drought toleranceof rubber plant was carried out by incorporating bentonite at 0, 2, 4, and 8 percent w/w
into loamy sand soil (Roi-et series). Factorial arrangement in CRD (complete randomized
design) with 3 replications was performed in this research study. It was found that mixing
bentonite 0-16 percent w/w with sugarcane bagasse, coconut fluff, peanut husk, blackburned rice husk, and fresh rice husk caused the water holding capacity to be in the rangesof 41.50-58.88, 44.3-105.0, 9.1-20.4, 128.6-154.2,   and   3.1-21.3   percent, respectively.  
After 14 days of application for rubber varieties RRIM600 and RRIT251 grown on loamy
sand, using bentonite 0, 2, 4, and 8 percent w/w caused the drought tolerance without
irrigation to be 31-35 and 29-47 days, respectively. It was also found that small andmedium sizes of rubber seedlings showed higher drought tolerance than those of big sizes
because they still survived without irrigation 40-48, and 38-43 days, respectively. All sizesof RRIM600 seedling started wilting at moisture contents 4.9-5.9 percent and then showedpermanent wilting at 3.30-3.39 percent w/w. Clay minerals used as basal application underfield experiment significantly increased drought tolerance of young RRIM600 to be 158
days after planting whereas no application on the rubber tree could stand by the age of 92135 days or averagely 111 days after planting.  Increasing 15-15-15 concentration as basal
fertilizer by the rates 100, 200, 400, and 600 g/plant significantly accelerated thetermination of rubber tree. According to this, the rubber tree died at the age of 166, 149,
107, and 102 days after planting. Chemical fertilizer associated with clay mineral as basal
application showed a trend of extending rubber age.
Key words soil improvement materials, bentonite, rubber, drought tolerance

INTRODUCTION
Since 2007 under the government policy, rubber plantation area in Northeast Thailand has been
extended to 450,000 hectares. However, large land area of the Northeast contains various andcomplicated soil types and soil properties that will directly affect the success of this policy,
particularly rubber tree younger than 5 years which should be intensively cultivated due tounsustainable root system during this growth stage (Office of Agricultural Economics, 2009).
Naturally, 85 percent of roots are in deep zone whereas effective roots for nutrients absorption, 15
percent, are spreading in topsoil (Rubber Research Institute of Thailand, 2004). A preliminary datafrom survey research revealed that clay mineral used in substrate culture for seedling stage canⒸISERD181

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

improve drought tolerance of rubber plant. This research aimed at applying some types of organic
material associated with bentonite clay mineral to improve drought tolerance of young rubber tree.
METHODOLOGY
There were 3 main methods used in this study as follows:
1. Effect of organic materials and clay mineral on soil water holding capacity
Five types of organic materials were used: sugarcane bagasse, coconut fluff, peanut husk, blackburned rice husk, and fresh rice husk. A 5x7 factorial arrangement in completely randomized
design (CRD) with 3 replications was performed. Factor A was the ratio of mixing between organic
materials and bentonite 0, 2, 4, 8, and 16 percent w/w, while factor B was the period of water
deficit 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 days, respectively.
2. Effect of bentonite on drought tolerance
Both rubber varieties RRIM 600 and RRIT251 were used as experimental materials. A 4x3
factorial arrangement in CRD with 3 replications was performed. Factor A were bentonite 0, 2, 4,
and 8 percent w/w of loamy sand. Factor B were rubber sizes, small, medium, and large. Survival
rate after water deficit was investigated.
3. Effect of mixed bentonite and basal fertilizers applied under field condition on droughttolerance
RRIM 600 was used as experimental material. A 2x5 factorial arrangement in CRD with 3
replications was performed. Factor A were bentonite mixed with organic matterials 0, and 10
percent w/w. Factor B were basal chemical fertilizer 15-15-15 at the rates of 0, 100, 200, 400, and
600 g/plant. Period of drought tolerance was collected.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The research findings are as follows:
1. Water holding capacity
After 2 days from watering at saturated moisture content, bentonite mixed with coconut fluff
showed the highest water holding capacity and then black-burned rice husk, sugarcane bagasse,
peanut husk, and fresh rice husk. The remaining moisture contents were 134-205, 130-154, 72-94,
31-64, and  23-61 percent. At the day of 14th, they were 46.8-100.8, 86.0-96.3, 41.6-57.2, 10.2-20.4,
and  3.6-19.4 percent, respectively (Table 1).
Table 1  Effect of bentonite mixed with organic materials on water holding capacity(percentage of moisture contents)  Organic materials  used for mixing withbentonite 0-16  percent w/w
Sugarcane bagasse
Coconut fluff
Peanut husk
Black-burned rice husk
Fresh rice husk

Remaining moisture contents at the days
after saturation (percent)2 Days
14 Days                  72.0-98.1
                                        41.5-58.8
                  132.9-207.7                                         44.3-105.0                  30.4-62.9                                        9.1-20.4
                  128.6-154.2                                         89.3-106.1
                  20.6-65.6
                                        3.1-21.3

CV  (%)
                                      3.30
4.74
10.24
4.12
2.70

2. Effect of bentonite on drought tolerance
Applying bentonite, 0, 2, 4, and  8 percent w/w on loamy sand increased drought tolerance of both
RRIM600 and RRIT251 rubbers averagely from 31 to 55 days after water deficit for RRIM600 and
29 to 47 days for RRIT251. Small and medium sizes of rubber seedling showed better droughttolerance than large size. The period of surviving could last until 40-48 days for RRIM600 and 3843 days for RRIT251 (Table 2). Increasing the amount of clay mineral can increase soil microporesand then reduce bulk density. This will increase available water capacity (Russell, 1973; Brady andWell, 2002).
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Table 2 Number of the days that rubber died after water deficit among rubber varieties andsizes, and bentonite application rates
Rubber sizes  of RRIM600
Small
MediumLarge
Average*
CV = 9.30%
Rubber sizes of RRIT251
Small
MediumLarge
Average*
CV = 7.58%

Bentonite application rates
Average*
0%
2%
4%
8%
31.67
41.67
46.67
55.00
43.75b
35.00
43.33
51.67
61.67
47.92a
28.33
38.33
45.00
48.33
40.00c31.67d41.11c47.78b55.00a43.89
LSD bentonite rates = 3.972, LSD rubber sizes  = 3.440 at 95% level
Bentonite application rates
Average*
0%
2%
4%
8%
33.33
43.33
48.33
46.67
42.92a
28.33
43.33
48.33
48.33
42.08a
26.67
38.33
43.33
45.00
38.33b
29.44c41.67b
46.67a46.67a41.11
LSD bentonite rates = 3.033, LSD rubber sizes  = 2.627 at 95% level*Means in the same column/row followed by the same letter are not significant difference (p<0.05)  under DMRT(Duncan's New Multiple Range Test)

3. Effect of mixed bentonite and basal fertilizers applied under field condition on droughttolerance
In case of applying bentonite mixed with organic materials and basal fertilizer applied under field
condition on drought tolerance of rubber, it was found that RRIM600 significantly increased
survival period for all sizes (small, medium, and large) of young rubber tree, particularly the small
size could last until 158 days comparing with no application that could last for only 92-135 days or
averagely 111 days (Table 3).
Table  3 Number of the days that rubber (RRIM600) died after planting among rubber sizes,
application rates of bentonite mixed with organic materials, and basal fertilizer
rates of 15-15-15
Small size
No application
Mixed bentonite
CV = 23.71%
Medium size
No application
Mixed bentonite
CV = 18.47%
Large size
No application
Mixed bentonite
CV = 28.61%

0
134.7
162.7
148.7a
0
131.0
214.0
172.5a
0
135.0
168.7
151.8ab15-15-15  (g/plant)
100
200
400
128.7
115.0
84.7
202.3
182.3
129.0
165.5a148.7a106.8b15-15-15  (g/plant)
100
200
400
140.0
119.3
96.7
208.7
169.7
112.0
174.3a144.5a104.3b15-15-15  (g/plant)
100
200
400
144.0
132.0
89.0
202.7
167.7
101.0
173.3a149.8a95.0bcAverage*
600
91.7
113.0
102.3b
600
72.0
112.0
92.0b
600
72.0
94.0
83.0c

110.9b157.9a134.4
Average*111.8b163.3a137.5
Average*
114.4b146.8a130.6*Means in the same column/row followed by the same letter are not significant difference (p<0.05)  under DMRT(Duncan's New Multiple Range Test)

Because of high specific surface areas, clay mineral as inorganic colloid generally increases
cation exchange capacity (CEC); therefore, it induces the sustainability of soil fertility. Plant
nutrient retention and availability are increased (Brady and Well, 2002). When organic materials
are decayed, cementing agent will increase soil aggregation process and then increase soil water
holding capacity (Tester, 1990; Asher et al., 2002). Applying 15-15-15 as basal fertilizer at the rateof over 200 g/plant increased the termination of RRIM600 at 92-102 days after planting. MediumⒸISERD183

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size seedling could stand for drought tolerance better than the other small and large sizes.
Averagely, rubber died within 138, 134, and  131 days for medium, small, and large sizes,
respectively.
CONCLUSION
Bentonite 0-16 percent w/w mixed with coconut fluff showed the highest water holding capacity
and then black-burned rice husk, sugarcane bagasse, peanut husk, and fresh rice husk. The
remaining moisture contents were 46.8-100.8, 86.0-96.3, 41.6-57.2, 10.2-20.4, and 3.6-19.4 percent,respectively. Bentonite 2-8 percent w/w increased drought tolerance 29.81-50.86 percent for  RRIM600 and 41.54-58.52 percent   for RRIT251. Small and medium sizes of rubber seedlingshowed better drought tolerance than large size. They were 42.9-43.3, 42.1-45.0, and   38.3-39.1
days, respectively. RRIM600 was better than RRIT251 in terms of drought tolerance. They were31.6 days, and 29.4 days, respectively. Applying bentonite mixed with organic materials and basal
fertilizers under field condition increased survival period for all sizes (small, medium, and large) of
young rubber tree. Applying over 200 g/plant of 15-15-15 as basal fertilizer increased thetermination of seedlings. Averagely 88-100 days or 3 months after planting with no rainfall, rubber
died.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research project was funded by The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) under2008-2010. Thanks are extended to the Division of Land Resource and Environment, Faculty ofAgriculture, Khon Kaen University for the conveniences and equipments in laboratory test.
REFERENCES
Asher, C., Greendon, N. and Menzies, N. 2002. How to unravel and sole fertility problems. ACIAR(Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) Monograph No. 83, Canberra, Australia.
Brady, N.C. and Well, R.R. 2002. The nature and properties of soils. Macmillan Publishing Company, NewYork.
Office of Agricultural Economics 2009. Agricultural data of Thailand. Ministry of Agriculture andCooperatives. Bangkok, Thailand.
Rubber Research Institute of Thailand 2004. Guideline for rubber plantation in Northeast Thailand.
Department of Agriculture. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Bangkok, Thailand. 37.
Rusell, E.W. 1973. Soil condition and plant growth. 10th ed. Longman. London.
Tester, C.F. 1990. Organic amendment effects on physical and chemical properties of sandy soil. Soil Sci.
Soc. Am. J. 54, 827-831.

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Research article
erd

Potential of Sunflower Varieties Grown under Different
Input Levels
PANTIPA NA CHIANGMAI*
Faculty of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Technology, Silpakorn University, Phetchaburi,
Thailand
Email: m_surin@yahoo.com, pantipa@su.ac.th

LAMDUAN KRITTAWONGWIMAN
Chaipattana-Mae Fah Luang Reforestation Project, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand

PAISAN LAOSUWAN
Faculty of Science and Technology, Hatyai University, Songkhla Province, Thailand
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract This experiment was aimed to investigate the potential of sunflower varieties(Helianthus annuus L.) grown under different levels of inputs. Sunflower varieties
consisted of two hybrids (Pacific 77 and Olison 3) and two synthetic varieties (Suranaree(S) 471 and Suranaree (S) 473). Input levels were low, medium and high packages whichwere obtained from the combination of levels of weed control and fertilizer applications.
The study was conducted in a strip-plot design in the dry season of 2010 and 2011 at
Chaipattana-Mae Fah Luang Reforestation Project, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand. The
results showed that both synthetic varieties outyielded the two hybrids. S471 produced thehighest yield of 2,269 kg ha-1. However, the oil content of Pacific 77 was the highest, with
42 percent. The responses of sunflower varieties to levels of input were not significant
almost for all characters except for oil content. Seed yields were 1,931, 2,025 and 2,375 kg
ha-1 for low, medium and high input packages, respectively. Seed size showed positive
association with the levels of input. However, the oil content did not increase with theincrease of input levels. The net income of all varieties grown under different levels of
input were estimated by using the farm gate price. The highest net income of 21,500 bahtha-1 was obtained from S471 grown under the lowest input level. For this study where thesoil is quite fertile, the lowest input levels should be used for all varieties of sunflower.
Keywords Sunflower, Helianthus annuus, synthetic varieties, packages of input

INTRODUCTION
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has been grown widely in the central part of Thailand for oil,seed meal and tourist attraction. Hybrid varieties have been used mostly by farmers as they foundthat these varieties produced well and give uniform performance for most characters. However, thecost of seed is high because it has to be imported. To reduce this problem in Thailand, many
synthetic varieties were developed to be used as stop gap varieties (Kaewmeechai et al., 1989;
Laosuwan, 1997). High yield is usually favorable regardless the levels of inputs in terms ofchemicals and labor. However, what farmers should need most is the highest net income. Therefore,
certain measures for crop production were called package of input by Laosuwan and Macartney in
1992, which were tested in many crops; especially peanut (Laosuwan and Macartney, 1992). This
also should be used to evaluate the potential of sunflower production on-farm. The objectives ofthis study were to evaluate the potential of hybrid and synthetic varieties of sunflower for yield andother characters. They were also evaluated for net income due to the application of different levels
of input.

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METHODOLOGYThis experiment was conducted at the Chaipattana Mae-Fah Luang Reforestation Project at
Prachuap Khiri Khan in 2010-2011. Four varieties of sunflower including two hybrid varieties(Pacific 77 and Olison 3) and two synthetic varieties (Suranaree (S) 471 and Suranaree (S) 473)
were used. Three input levels were formulated to explore the response of sunflower and to estimate
the net income. These input levels were (1) low input level: no fertilizer was applied and weed
control was made only once, (2) medium input level: 187.5 kg ha-1 of 15-15-15 NPK fertilizer wasapplied only once at planting and the weed control was made only once, and (3) high input level:
250 kg ha-1 NPK fertilizer was applied at planting and 1,250 kg ha-1 of organic fertilizer wasapplied before the flowering stage. In this treatment package, the weed control was continuously
made to provide a weed free condition.
The study was conducted in a strip-plot design with four replications. Six rows each 5 m long
were used for each plot with spacing of 0.75 m between rows and 0.25 m between hills. The data
were recorded for seed yield and seed size. The seed sample was taken from each treatment toanalyze for oil contents.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Data for seed yield, seed size and oil contents are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Although the results
were not statistically different, S471 tended to give the highest yield, S473 ranked second, Pacific
77 ranked third and Olison 3 gave the lowest yield (Table 1). This study showed that synthetic
varieties tended to give higher seed yield than hybrids or at least similar. However, otherexperiments showed that synthetic varieties usually yielded lower than hybrids (Kaewmeechai etal., 1989; Laosuwan, 1997; Satjawattana, 2001).
Table 1 Seed yield of 4 varieties of sunflower grown under 3 input levels in 2010-2011 at
Chaipattana-Mae Fah Luang Reforestation Project, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand
Variety
Pacific 77
Olison 3
Suranaree (S)471
Suranaree (S)473
Mean (kg ha-1)

Low
1,988
1,506
2,231
1,981
1,931

Environment (E)Varieties (V)Input levels (I)

ns
ns
ns

Mean (kg ha-1)

Input levels
Medium
2,138
1,506
2,262
2,075
2,025

High
2,294
2,231
2,319
2,675
2,375

VxI
VxE
IxE
VxIxE

ns
ns
ns
ns

2,150
1,775
2,269
2,238

Table 2 Seed size (1,000 seeds weight; g) and oil content (%) (in parentheses) of 4 varieties ofsunflower grown under 3 input levels in 2010-2011 at Chaipattana-Mae Fah Luang
Reforestation Project, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand.
Variety
Pacific 77
Olison 3
Suranaree (S)471
Suranaree (S)473
Mean
Environment (E)Varieties (V)Input levels (I)Low
46 (42 ab)
43 (38 ab)
56 (40 ab)
50 (32 b)
49 b (38 a)** (**)** (**)** (**)

Input levels
Medium50 (44 a)
50 (35 ab)
60 (39 ab)
57 (35 ab)
54 a (38 a)
VxI
VxE
IxE
VxIxE

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186

Mean
High
59 (40 ab)
50 (41 ab)
61 (33 ab)
54 (32 b)
56 a (36 b)
ns (**)
ns (**)
ns (**)
ns (**)

52 b (42 a)
47 c (38 b)
59 a (37 c)
53 b (33 d)

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Data for seed size (Table 2) showed that S471 gave the largest seed and the smallest seed wasfound for Olison 3. However, both synthetic varieties gave lower oil content than hybrids, while thehighest oil content was given by Pacific 77 and the lowest by S473.
Responses to levels of input were found for all characters observed in the study except seedyield. However, the high input level gave the highest seed yield and the low input gave the lowest.
The same responses were found for seed size where the character increased due to the increase of
input levels. However, the low and medium input levels gave higher oil contents than the highinput level, indicating that a negative response was obtained for this character.
The cost of input levels were roughly estimated for this experiment and many details may havenot been considered (Table 3). However, it was considered that input levels are important foreconomic yield of all crop production by subsistent farmers.
Table 3 Cost of different input levels used in the experiment at Chaipattana-Mae Fah Luang
Reforestation Project, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand
Input costFertilizer input
Fertilizer
Labor
Weed control
Others  1
Total  1

Low input
0
0
0
1,250
10,125
11,375

Medium input
3,125
1,875
1,250
2,500
10,12515,750High input
5,000
3,125
1,850
3,750
10,12518,875

Cost due to land preparation, disease and pest controls; labors for planting, harvesting, threshing, etc.

Table 4 Net income for all varieties of sunflower grown under different levels of input
estimated by using the farm gate price
Variety
Pacific 77

Olison 3

S471

S473

1
2

Cost-income
Low
1,988
15
29,82011,3752,125
16,3201,500
1522,50011,375
2,125
9,000
2,225
15
33,375
11,375500
21,5001,975
1529,625
11,375500
17,750

Yield  (kg ha-1)
Farm gate price (baht kg-1)
Gross income (baht ha-1) 1
Production cost (baht ha-1)
Seed cost (baht ha-1)
Net income (baht ha-1) 2
Yield  (kg ha-1)
Farm gate price (baht kg-1)
Gross income (baht ha-1)
Production cost (baht ha-1)
Seed cost (baht ha-1)
Net income (baht ha-1)
Yield  (kg ha-1)
Farm gate price (baht kg-1)
Gross income (baht ha-1)
Production cost (baht ha-1)
Seed cost (baht ha-1)
Net income (baht ha-1)
Yield  (kg ha-1)
Farm gate price (baht kg-1)
Gross income (baht ha-1)
Production cost (baht ha-1)
Seed cost (baht ha-1)
Net income (baht ha-1)

Gross income = Yield x farm gate price
Net income = Gross income - production cost - seed cost

Input levels
Medium2,138
15
32,07015,7502,125
14,195
1,588
15
23,82015,750
2,125
5,945
2,262
15
33,93015,750500
17,6802,075
15
31,12515,750500
14,875

High
2,294
15
34,41018,8752,125
13,4102,231
1533,46518,8752,125
12,4652,319
1534,78518,875500
15,4102,675
15
40,12518,875500
20,750(1)(2)

The net income for all varieties of sunflower due to the applications of all input levels areshown in Table 4. The highest net income of 21,500 bath ha-1 was obtained from S471 grown under
the low input level followed by 20,750 bath ha-1 from S473 grown under the high input level. TheⒸISERD187

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net incomes obtained for hybrid varieties were lower than those of synthetic varieties for all input
levels. This partly due to the high seed cost which was about four times higher than that ofsynthetic varieties.
CONCLUSION
This experiment showed that sunflower can have a good production at the location where farmers
may grow sunflower for seeds and tourist attraction. In this study, synthetic varieties gavecomparable seed yield as hybrid varieties but their oil contents were lower. However, theadvantages of synthetic varieties are that farmers can continuously produce their own seeds for the
next planting without having to buy expensive imported hybrid seeds. This experiment showed that
S471 can be used for further planting, although it is too early to recommend at this stage. The
responses of sunflower to input levels were found for all characters. All characters, except oil
content, increase when increasing input level. However, the high net income may be obtained fromcertain varieties grown under the low input level.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank the Chaipattana-Mae Fah Luang Reforestation Project, Prachuap Khiri
Khan, Thailand, for providing the field for experiment. This work was financially supported by the
Chaipattana foundation, Thailand.
REFERENCES
Kaewmeechai, S., Pudhanon, P.and Dangpradub, S. 1989. Sunflower breeding: line performance testing.
Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technology Research (TISTR) Report for Oilseed Crops
Development Project, 79-86.
Laosuwan, P. 1997. Sunflower production and research in Thailand. Suranaree J. Sci. Technol, 4, 159-167.
Laosuwan, P. and Macartney, J.C. 1992. On-farm research methology for extension. A Case Study from
Oilseed Crops. EC-TISTR Oilseed Crops Development Project. Thailand Institute of Scientific andTechnological Research, Bangkok, Thailand.
Satjawattana, K. 2001. The development and yield trials of synthetic varieties of sunflower. Master degree
dissertation, Institute of Agricultural Technology, Suranaee University of Technology.

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Research article
erd

Biocontrol of Phytopathogen by Pseudomonas fluorescens
R21, Isolated from Rice Rhizosphere in Thailand
PHRUEKSA LAWONGSA*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: phrueksa@gmail.com

NANTAKORN BOONKERD
Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand

FERGAL  O’GARA
University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland

NEUNG TEAUMROONG
Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
Received 14 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Secondary metabolites produced by fluorescent Pseudomonas play key roles inthe suppression of various soilborne plant pathogens. However, the performance of thisbiocontrol agent varies depending on the environment and host plant species. In this study,
In vitro antagonistic activity against phytopathogens by Pseudomonas fluorescens R21,
which was isolated from rice rhizosphere in Thailand, was investigated in comparison to
Pseudomonas fluorescens F113, which was isolated from sugar beet rhizosphere in
Ireland. The result of in vitro antagonistic activity showed that Pythium spp. wassuppressed by strains R21 and F113. Then, strain R21 that has the ability to produce IAA
and to control plant pathogen was investigated for in vivo antagonistic activity and also
was screened for the production of secondary metabolites such as pyoluteorin, pyrrolnitrin,hydrogen cyanide and 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG). The result of in vivo
antagonistic activity confirmed that Pythium spp. was suppressed by strains R21 and F113.
In addition, the application of strain R21 to rice seeds significantly increased plant height,
shoots dry weight and roots dry weight of rice while the application of strain F113 to riceseeds showed no significant difference when compared to control.
Keywords Pseudomonas, rice, Pythium spp.

INTRODUCTION
Agriculture over the past few decades is heavily dependent on the application of chemical inputs.
However, many chemical pesticides are very toxic and thus result in contamination of environment.
Biological control is thus being considered as an alternative or a supplemental way of reducing theuse of chemicals in agriculture (Compant et al., 2005; Welbaum et al., 2004).
The introduction of P. fluorescens as a biocontrol agent offers a promising alternative tomanage soilborne plant pathogens. However, the production of an antimicrobial compound varies
among cultivars of the same species, and this has hampered the commercialization (Notz et al.,2001). The studies of the ability to produce antibiotic secondary metabolites and their plant growthpromoting potential are important not only for understanding their ecological roles in therhizosphere and their interaction with plants, but also for any biotechnological applications.
In this study, P. fluorescens R21, isolated from rice (Oryza sativa) rhizosphere in Thailand,that has the ability to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) was selected (Lawongsa et al., 2008).
Strain R21 was investigated for in vitro and in vivo antagonistic activity of pathogenic fungi andalso screened for secondary metabolites production. These results will facilitate overcomingⒸISERD189

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existing limitations in the understanding of plant-microbe interactions of strain R21. In this work, P.
fluorescens F113 isolated from sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) rhizosphere in Ireland was used as thereference strain to compare with strain R21.
MEHODOLOGY
Bacterial strains and culture conditions
Isolation of rice rhizosphere strain R21 was carried out by serial dilution. Nutrient agar andPseudomonas isolation agar (Sigma-Aldrich) were used. Strain R21 was identified on the basis of
growth characteristic, microscopy and biochemical tests. The strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens
were maintained on Luria-Bertani (LB) agar at 4°C and grown at 28°C overnight, shaking at 150
rpm.
In vitro biological control assay
An inhibition of phytopathogen by the Pseudomonas strains on Potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates
was performed as detailed in previous study (Lawongsa et al., 2008). Bacterial suspension ofstrains F113 and R21 was spotted 2 cm from the edge of the plate, and 0.1-0.3 cm square plug froma culture of Pythium spp. was placed at the center of the plate. The results were assessed after 3
days by measuring the distance between the edges of the bacterial colony and the fungal mycelium.
Rice and soil preparation for the assay of in vivo antagonistic activity
The cultivated rice (Oryza sativa cultivar Pathum Thani 1) was obtained from Pathum Thani Rice
Research Center, Pathum Thani, Thailand. The rice seeds were surface-sterilized with 70% ethanolfor 1 min and shaken in 10% (w/v) NaOCl solution for 30 min. Seeds were then washed three times
with sterilized distilled water by shaking (15 min each) (Prakamhang et al., 2009). Surface
sterilized seeds were gnotobiotically germinated on sterilized wet tissue paper. After 3 days, riceseedlings in each treatment were transferred into pots (cm in diameter, 60 cm high) containing
autoclaved soil. Three rice seeds were planted to a depth of 1 cm in each pot. Three replications foreach treatment were done. Rice pots were placed in growth chambers maintained at 25 °C (± 1 °C)
with 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness (Kato-Noguchi and Kanesawa, 2003).
Preparation of bacterial inocula and seed treatment for the assay of in vivo antagonistic
activity
Cells of antagonistic bacteria for use in the assay of in vivo antagonistic activity were grown inKing’s   Medium   B   broth   (KMB)   into a late exponential phase at 28°C with shaking at 150 rpm
overnight. Cells were then harvest by centrifugation (5000 rpm/min for 5 min), washed twice andresuspended in 0.5% sterile NaCl solution. The rice seeds were soaked with bacterial suspensionthat was adjusted to about 108 colony forming units (CFU/ml) for each experiment and appliedwith Pythium spp. (1 × 106 spores/ml) (Timms-Wilson et al., 2000). Control treatments were
inoculated in sterile distilled water and seedling with disease symptoms were recorded 4 weeks
after planting. Plants were arranged in a randomized completed block design with three replications.
Percentage of disease incidence was assessed 4 weeks after planting. Rice plants were sampled 4
weeks after planting to measure plant height, shoot and root dry weight.
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was performed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by
Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5 % level using the statistical package of the social
sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. The data presented are means standard deviation (SD) of three
replicates.
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Detection of pyoluteorin and pyrrolnitrin biosynthetic lociPrimers PltBf2 and PltBr were used for detection of the pyoluteorin biosynthetic locus of pltB.
Primers PrnCf and PrnCr were used for detection of the pyrrolnitrin biosynthetic locus of prnC.
PCR amplification was carried out in 25 l reaction mixture containing 1× Taq DNA polymerase
buffer, 200 M each of dATP, dTTP, dGTP, and dCTP, 20 pmol of each primer, 1.5 mM MgCl2,
and 0.06 units of GoTaq DNA polymerase (Promega). The PCR cycling program consisted ofinitial denaturation at 94°C for 2 min followed by 29 cycles of 94°C for 1 min, 58°C for 45 s, and72°C for 1 min. The amplification products were electrophoresed in 1% agarose gels in 1× TAE
buffer for 40 min at 100 Volt at room temperature, stained with ethidium bromide, andphotographed under UV light (Mavrodi et al., 2001).
Detection of hydrogen cyanide production
The production of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) was measured as described by Castric, 1975. Whatman
3MM paper was soaked in a chloroform solution containing copper (II) ethyl acetoacetate (5mg/ml) and 4,4'-methylene-bis-(N,N-dimethylaniline) (5 mg/ml), and subsequently dried andstored in the dark. A piece of paper was placed in the lid of a Petri dish in which bacteria had beenplaced on SA agar. The Petri dish was incubated overnight at 28 °C. Production of HCN by thebacteria was indicated by blue coloration of the paper (Castric, 1975).
Detection of genes involved with DAPG production by PCRStandard PCR mixtures and PCR conditions were employed: typically, an initial denaturation stepat 96°C for 3 min followed by 30 cycles of denaturation at 94°C for 30 s, then 30 s of primer
annealing with temperatures dependent on the primer pairs used, and an extension of 1 kb per min
at 72°C. DAPG genes were determined using phlD gene specific primers, Phl2a and Phl2b(Raaijmakers et al., 1997), and phlA gene specific primer, phlA-1f and PhlA-1r (Rezzonico et al.,2003).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In vitro antagonistic activity
The antagonistic activity from both strains R21 and F113 was summarized in Table 1.
Table 1 Measurement of diameter of fungal inhibition ring (cm) of P. fluorescens R21
against Pythium spp.
PathogenDiameter of fungal inhibition ring (cm)R21F113
1.4 ± 0.05
1.4 ± 0.05

Pythium spp.

The in vitro antagonism experiments with Pythium spp. (Figure 1) revealed that strain F113
showed the same level of antagonistic activity when compared to strain R21.
Assay of in vivo antagonistic activity
After two weeks, rice seedling inoculated with strains R21 and F113 showed damping-off
symptoms. An initial symptom was developed as lesions on sheaths of lower leaves near the water
line. After 4 weeks, the disease intensity in the treatment inoculated with Pythium spp. and strain
R21 was 58.3 % while the disease intensity in strain F113 was 66.7 %. However, there is no
significant difference in the disease intensity between applications of strain R21 and strain F113
against Pythium symptom (Fig. 2 and Table 2). These results indicated and confirmed the result ofⒸISERD191

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in vitro antagonistic activity that the colonization of roots by Pythium spp. was suppressed by bothstrains R21 and F113. Additionally, there is no significant difference in plant height, shoots dry
weight and roots dry weight of rice between applications of strain R21 and strain F113 against
Pythium spp. Interestingly, the application of strain R21 to rice seeds showed significantly
increased plant height, shoots dry weight and roots dry weight of rice when compared with control
while the application of strain F113 to rice seeds showed no significant difference when compared
to control.

Fig. 1 In vitro antagonistic activity against Pythium spp. by strain R21 and strain F113

Fig. 2 In vivo antagonistic activity of strain R21 and strain F113 against Pythium spp.
Table 2 Disease incidence, plant height, and dry weight of shoots and roots of riceinoculated with strain R21 grown in the presence of Pythium spp.
Sample% incidenceControl
R21
F113
Pythium spp.
R21+Pythium spp.
F1113+Pythium spp.
%CV

0c
0c
0c
100±0.00a
58.3±14.43b
66.7±14.43b
22.22

Plant height(cm)
21.70±1.57bc
28.77±2.81b
22.40±1.44b
9.40±3.65d
18.77±2.85bc
17.67±1.59c
12.46

Shoot dry mass
(mg)
32.47±2.50b
56.57±6.14b
33.00±7.05b
7.90±0.98d
23.57±5.95c
22.57±1.05c
15.94

Root dry mass
(mg)
11.44±0.30b
22.22±3.89b
10.15±3.21b
2.17±0.75c
5.56±0.70c
5.82±0.98c
20.36

Means in columns followed by different letters are significantly different at 5 % level according to the Duncan's Multiple
Range Test (DMRT)

Detection of secondary metabolites
Most biocontrol strains of Pseudomonas spp. with a proven effect in plant bioassays produce one orseveral antibiotic compounds. Pyoluteorin is composed of a resorcinol ring, derived throughⒸISERD192

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polyketide biosynthesis (Nowak-Thompson et al., 1997). It is an antibiotic that inhibits oomycete
fungi, including the plant pathogen Pythium ultimum, and suppresses plant diseases caused by thisfungus (Howell and Stipanovic, 1980). The pyoluteorin biosynthetic gene cluster pltLABCDEFG isrequired for pyoluteorin biosynthesis (Nowak-Thompson et al., 1999). In this experiment, strain
R21 was screened for the presence of pyoluteorin. P. fluorescens Pf-5 and CHA0 were used to be
the positive control. The PCR result showed no PCR product was amplified from strain R21 with
the PltBf2 and PltBr primers that amplified the predicted 773-bp fragment for detection of thepyoluteorin biosynthetic locus of pltB (Fig. 3). Pyrrolnitrin is a secondary metabolite derived fromtryptophan and has strong antifungal activity (Zhou et al., 1992). DNA region confers the ability to
produce pyrrolnitrin that contains four genes, prnABCD, each of which is required for pyrrolnitrin
production. Pyrrolnitrin has been described as an inhibitor of fungal respiratory chains (Tripathi
and Gottlieb, 1969) and synthetic analogues of pyrrolnitrin have been developed for use as
agricultural fungicides (Ligon et al., 2000). In this experiment, strain R21 was screened for thepresence of pyrrolnitrin. P. fluorescens Pf-5 and CHA0 were used to be the positive control. The
PCR result showed no PCR product was amplified from strain R21 with the PrnCf and PrnCr
primers that amplified the predicted 719-bp fragment of prnC (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 PCR analysis of genes involved in pyoluteorin (pltB) and pyrrolnitrin (prnC)
production. Lane 1, 100 bp ladder (Invitrogen); lane 2, R21; lane 3, Pf-5;
lane 4, CHA0
HCN is a volatile compound which plays a role in biological control of some soilborne
diseases (Haas and Defago, 2005). The cyanide ion derived from HCN is a potent inhibitor of many
metalloenzymes, especially copper-containing cytochrome c oxidases (Blumer and Haas, 2000). In
this experiment, strain R21 was screened for the presence of HCN. P. fluorescens Pf-5 and F113
were used to be the positive control for HCN detection. Strain R21 showed a negative result ofhydrogen cyanide production (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4 Hydrogen cyanide production assay of strains Pf-5 (a), R21 (b) and F113 (c)DAPG is the best-known phloroglucinol compound in a family of related molecules that
includes MAPG and uncharacterized condensation products of DAPG and MAPG (Heeb et al.,2002). DAPG causes membrane damage to Pythium spp. and is particularly inhibitory to zoosporesof this oomycete (de Souza et al., 2003). In this experiment, strain R21 was screened for thepresence of DAPG. P. fluorescens Pf-5, CHA0, and F113 were used to be the positive control. The
result showed that the positive amplification PCR product was revealed by strain R21 usingⒸISERD193

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primers Phl2a and Phl2b that amplified the predicted 745-bp fragment of phlD (Fig. 5) and primers
phlA-1f and phlA-1r that amplified the predicted 418-bp fragment (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5 PCR analysis of genes involved in DAPG production (phlD and phlA).
Lane 1, 1 kb ladder (Promega); lane 2, R21; lane 3, Pf-5; lane 4,
CHA0; lane 5, F113
CONCLUSION
Among biocontrol agents, P. fluorescens producing the polyketide antibiotic DAPG are importantgroups of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) that suppress root and seedling diseases ona variety of crops. In this study, the results of in vitro and in vivo antagonistic activity showed that
Pythium spp. that caused damping-off and root rot was suppressed by strain R21 and F113.
Interestingly, the application of strain R21 to rice seeds showed a significantly increased of plantheight, shoots dry weight and roots dry weight of rice when compared with control while theapplication of strain F113 to rice seeds showed no significant difference when compared to control.
This information indicated that the ability to colonize rice roots is variable between rhizobacteria,
being these characteristics a reflection for their ability to compete for ecological niches in therhizosphere. Moreover, the exertion an appropriate biological control of soil borne fungi relies on
their ability to colonize roots efficiently; otherwise, their biocontrol character would be unusable.
Thus, introduction of biocontrol agent to agriculture requires appropriate and compatible PGPR for
the goal of making agriculture more sustainable. Moreover, an understanding of how biocontrol
bacteria regulate the inhibition of pathogens is important for predicting the optimum environmental
conditions of the bacteria to produce antagonistic compounds.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by a grant from Thailand Research Fund and Suranaree University ofTechnology.
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Heeb, S., Blumer, C. and Haas, D. 2002. Regulatory RNA as mediator in GacA/RsmA-dependent global
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Research article
erd

Assessment of the Groundwater Quantity Resulting from
Artificial Recharge by Ponds at Ban Nong Na, Phitsanulok
Province, Thailand
SIRIRAT UPPASIT*
Faculty of Technology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: sirirat_upp@hotmail.com

KRIENGSAK SRISUKFaculty of Technology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

PHAYOM SARAPHIROM
Faculty of Technology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

PAUL PAVELICInternational Water Management Institute, Hyderabad, India
Received 19 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Ban Nong Na Phitsanulok Province, has been facing continuous groundwaterlevel decreases, from 1-2 m below ground surface in the past 25 years to 7-8 m in thepresent due to overexploitation for irrigation. This area was selected as a pilot site toconstruct and conduct the recharge experiment. The objective of this research is toquantify groundwater mound resulting from the recharge experiment using
MODFLOW2000. Two recharge ponds A and B, which have an area of 660 and 600 m2,
respectively, were constructed in the selected site of the study area. The experiment
duration was July to November, 2010 using raw water with turbidity less than 100 NTU.
The total recharge amount is 25,797 m3. The results showed that under the experimentconditions the designed recharge pond can provide a moderately good analysis of therecharge water. The mounding results of the simulations were compared with the fieldobservation; both were found to be compatible. After 5 days of the fifth test, themaximum rise of the mound was 3.33 m and covers an area of approximately 6,000 m2.
Keywords artificial recharge, groundwater mound, Phitsanulok

INTRODUCTION
The Groundwater Research Center (GWRC), Khon Kaen University, was invited by the
Department of Groundwater Resources (DGR), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, toconduct the research on “Pilot   Study   and   Experiment   on   Managed   Aquifer   Recharge   Using  Ponding System in the Lower North Region River Basin, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, and Pichit
Provinces”   to  test  the  feasibility   of   using   artificial   groundwater recharge to reverse the declining
trend. The project duration was between April 2009 and April 2011. The project area was identified
from the Lower North Region River Basin areas of about 21,300 km2 covering the areas ofPhitsanulok, Sukhothai, and Pichit Provinces using a zooming-in technique ultimately focusing inon the Ban Nong Na pilot area of approximately 4.12 km2, and a construction site for the artificial
recharge pond system of about 0.01 km2. Ban Nong Na pilot project area is suitable for theconstruction site of recharge pond system because it fits various suitability indices such as; (i)hydrogeological suitability, which include thin top clay layer of less than 3 m thick, thick shallow
strata (10-15 m) of sands and gravels with good continuity of strata; (ii) there are about 100
agricultural wells for target water user; (iii) suitable distance from raw surface water source; (iv)availability of electricity and access road; and (v) availability of land and good cooperation fromⒸISERD196

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

local people and local organization (DGR, 2011). Uppasit et al (2011) described the sitecharacterization for the ponding recharge system at Ban Nong Na and used the finite difference
groundwater flow model, MODFLOW2000, (Harbergh et al, 2000) in order to assess thegroundwater flow and groundwater balance.
The objective of this study is to quantify the groundwater mound resulting from the recharge
experiment using numerical modeling technique in the study area.
STUDY AREA
General description
The study area covers Ban Nong Na, Tambon Nong Kula, Amphoe Bang Rakham, Phitsanulok
Province. Topographic elevations range between 43-50 meters above mean sea level (m amsl).
Low elevations are found in the central and northern part and to the southeast of the study area
which are mainly dominated by paddy fields. High elevations are found in the southwestern part,
where landuse is mainly dominated by villages and sugarcane fields. Soil types of the study area
consist of loamy sand, clay, and loamy clay (Fig. 1). Important sources of surface water are Klong
Lan Ba and a drainage canal. Klong Lan Ba is located in the northern part of the study area andflows from West to East with a total catchment area of 30.38 km2. The canal is used to drain waterfrom paddy fields. It flows from west through the central part, and drains into Klong Lan Ba in
northern part with a catchment area of 6.54 km2. Average runoff of the drainage canal is about 0.75
million (M) m3/y. Surface water quality is good and with no contamination of chemical fertilizers
under the standard of notification of the national environmental board No. 8. Surface water
turbidity  frequently  exceeded  the  “recharging  waste  water  into  groundwater  wells  regulation”  of  50  NTU established by the Ministry of Industry, Thailand. Manganese concentration ranges from 5-8
mg/L (the standard is 1 mg/L; DGR, 2011). The water of the canal is used to recharge the aquifer
using the pond system.
Hydrogeology
Detailed hydrogeological characteristics of the study area were obtained from the field
investigation. Forty seven wells were drilled and installed in the main directions of groundwaterflow since June, 2009 to explore geology, and monitor the groundwater level and quality. These
include 32 wells for shallow depths of less than 15 m and 15 wells for depths greater than 15 m.
Uppasit et al (2011) described the hydrogeology of the study area, underlain by alluvial fan
deposits (Qaf) consisting of sand, gravel and clay; and flood plain deposits (Qff) composed of sandand gravel (Fig. 2). The area is overlain with clay layer of varying thickness of 0-3 m. Shallow
aquifers deposited at the depth of 6 to 20 m below ground level. Thin clay layer of 2 to 7 m
separates the shallow and deeper aquifers. The deep aquifer consists of gravelly sand and is foundat 17-27 m depth (Fig. 3). The shallow aquifer has a transmissivity (T), hydraulic conductivity (K),and storativity (S) of 2,000-3,400 m2/d, 2.43x10-3 - 3.90x10-3 m/s, and 0.001-0.090, respectively.
The deep aquifer has T and S values of 30-150 m2/d, and 0.001-0.040, respectively. The main
groundwater moves from the southern part area with a head of 38.5-39 m amsl to the northern part
area with a head of 36-36.50 m amsl (Fig.2). Shallow groundwater depths range from 7-9 m below
the ground surface. The groundwater recharge of the study area is about 6 to 21% of annual rainfall(1,300 mm). The groundwater balance study using mathematical groundwater model simulationsin the study area showed that the total groundwater recharge rates, use and deficit are about 1.2, 1.5 and0.23 Mm3/y, respectively. Groundwater level in the current condition showed a declination of 0.25 m/y.

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Fig. 1 Map of the study area showing topography and landuse

Fig. 2 Hydrogeological map of the study area

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The thirty nine groundwater samples from the groundwater wells were monitored prior andduring the recharge experiments and analyzed for physicals, chemicals, and toxic elements
following the standard of characteristics discharged into deep wells of the Notification of the
Ministry of Industry, No. 5 B.E. 2521 (1978) and analyzed for volatile organic compounds, heavy
metals, and pesticides following the groundwater quality standards of the Notification of the
National Environmental Board No. 20, B.E. 2543 (2000). It was indicated that the samples are ofgood quality and do not show signs of contamination from fertilizers or pesticides (DGR, 2011).
METHODOLOGY
The methods used in this paper consist of (1) data compilation including climate, physiography,hydrology and hydrogeology from the literature review and field investigation of DGR (2011) andUppasit et al (2011); (2) recharge pond experiment, groundwater level and quality monitoring; and(3) numerical modeling of groundwater flow, balance and mound prior and resulting from therecharge experiment.
Recharge pond system and experiments
The recharge pond system was constructed in the central part of the study area closely to thedrainage canal (Fig. 3). The construction site consists of two main systems; four constructedwetlands for raw water quality treatment, and two recharge ponds. The constructed recharge ponds
A and B have ground surface areas of 1,250 and 1,160 m2 and the bottom floor areas of 660 and
600 m2, respectively. The depths of the ponds A and B are 2.66 and 2.75 m with the maximum
storage capacity at the storage level of 2 m of 1,830 and 1,690 m3, respectively. The side slope of
the ponds was designed at 1.5:1 to ensure slope stability. The bottom floor of the ponds werecovered with filter sand layer of 0.5 m thick and the side walls and bottom floors were lined withsynthetic filtering blankets for sediments filtering and protection of erosion (DGR, 2011).
The twenty two shallow groundwater wells situated along the major groundwater flow
direction were installed to monitor the water level fluctuation during experimental of artificial
recharge. The recharge pond experiment was made 5 times for 55 days during July to November
2010, the recharge vary from 3,953-4,439 m3 using surface water with the average turbidities
varying from 27.2 to 89.9 NTU. The total recharged water is 25,797 m3 as shown in Table 1 (DGR,
2011). During the longest experiment of 30 days in the fifth test, the groundwater level underneaththe recharge ponds rises to the highest level of 3.33 m from normal immediately after 5 days ofartificial recharge operation and after that gradually lowers to normal level (Fig. 3). The
groundwater flows from the recharge pond area to the surrounding region and the north withaverage flow velocity of 0.07 m/day. The results of the physical, chemical and biochemical
groundwater quality monitoring show no indications of groundwater quality changes (DGR, 2011).
Groundwater numerical modeling
The simulation area is 2.6 km in width and 2.7 km in length. The size of the grid cells increase
from 5 m x 5 m at the recharge pond area to 20 m x 20 m at the remainder of the model. The model
height ranges from 0-50 m amsl. Model was divided into three layers; shallow aquifer, deep
aquifer, and confining layer. For the shallow aquifer, the southern side was selected as groundwater
divided boundary, eastern and western boundaries as parallel with groundwater flow line, andnorthern side set as river boundary. For the deep aquifer, western and eastern sides are designed asprescribed flux, and southern and northern boundaries as parallel with groundwater flow line.
Ponds A and B were assigned as recharge boundaries.
The recharge from rainfall and the pilot experiment was assigned using recharge boundary.
Groundwater usage was simulated by the well package. The hydraulic property values are assigned
based on the range of field hydrogeological testing results. The model was calibrated with the waterlevel data both in prior and during the recharge experiment. In current condition, the water level
data of 59 monitoring wells observed during monthly basis since December 2009 to NovemberⒸISERD199

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

2010. During the recharge test, water level data in daily basis of 22 monitoring wells were
calibrated.

Fig. 3 Cross sections showing groundwater mound during the fifth experiment.
Table 1 Field data of the recharge pond experiment
No.

Pond

Duration (days)

1
2

B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B

3
4
5
Total

Recharged water
Turbidity (NTU)

Artificial recharge(m3)

Jul 13-15, 2010 (2)52.6

Aug 3-8, 2010 (5)27.2

Aug 25-Sep 8, 2010 (14)71.9

Sep 19-23, 2010 (4)65.5

Oct 23-Nov 22, 2010 (30)

89.9

814
4,439
896
1,918
4,157
2,835
1,901
4,884
3,953

Jul 13-Nov 22, 2010 (55)

25,797

RESULTS AND DISSCUSSION
Groundwater flow pattern in natural condition shown that groundwater flows from the southernpart of the study area or at Ban Nong Na with recharge rates of 6 to 21% of rainfall to the cone ofdepression area in the northern region nearby Klong Lan Ba and is characterized by low recharge
rates of 3 to 5%. Groundwater heads surrounding the recharge ponds A and B were 36.70-36.30 m
amsl (Fig. 4a). Groundwater balance during the recharge experiment can be summarized as thefollowings: the total recharges to the study area were 1.37 Mm3 including the total of artificial
recharge of 25,735 m3, and seepage from the river was 0.17 Mm3. The total annual draft throughpumpage was 1.40 Mm3. The subsurface horizontal inflows and outflows were 0.17 Mm3. The
result shows a deficit balance of 0.20 Mm3. A continuous trend of groundwater decline of 0.22 m/ycan be found for the study area. The mounding results of the numerical model simulations werecompared with the field observation; both were found to be compatible with the Root Mean Square(RMS) of 0.48 m.
During the recharge experiment, it was found that groundwater mounded underneath therecharge ponds as shown in Fig. 4b and Fig. 4f. Groundwater flows from the central part of theⒸISERD200

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

mound to the surrounding area. The mound geometry that develops in the unconfined aquifer
beneath the recharge ponds depends on several factors including the aquifer hydraulic properties,
aquifer thickness, duration and quantity of the artificial recharge.

(a)  before the recharge
experiment   (July 2010)(b)  First recharge experiment(July 15, 2010)(c)  Second recharge experiment(August 8, 2010)(d)  Third recharge experiment(September 7, 2010)(e)  Fourth recharge experiment  (September 22, 2010)(f)  Fifth recharge experiment(November 22, 2010)

Fig. 4 Simulations of groundwater levels before and during the recharge pond experiment
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Groundwater recharge mound from the recharge experiment can be quantified using numericalmodeling technique. It can provide a clarification of recharge mechanism, water balance, andmounding characteristics. Results from the simulations indicated that groundwater deficit in Ban
Nong Na could be controlled by constructing an artificial recharge system in the highly abstractionof groundwater areas. Based on the results of pilot experiments, to keep the water table in Ban
Nong Na area as the current condition, the volume of artificial recharge in this area have to be
increased to not lower than 0.23 Mm3/y, which indicated that more than 6 six recharge systems
need to be implemented in this area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This  study  was  carried  out  as  part  of  the  research  project,  “Pilot  Study  and  Experiment  on  Managed  Aquifer Recharge Using Ponding System in the Lower North Region River Basin, Phitsanulok,
Sukhothai,  and  Pichit  Provinces”  financed  by  the  Department  of  Groundwater  Resources,  Ministry  of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand. The authors also acknowledge the participating
research staff from the Groundwater Research Center (GWRC), Khon Kaen University, for theirfield technical support, and graphic preparation.
REFERENCES
Department of Groundwater Resources (DGR) 2011. Pilot study and experiment on managed aquifer
recharge using ponding system in the lower north region river basin, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, and Pichit
Provinces. Groundwater Research Center, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
Harbaugh, A.W., Banta, E.R., Hill, M.C. and McDonald, M.G. 2000. MODFLOW-2000. The U.S. geological survey modular gound-water model-user guide to modularization concepts and the ground-waterflow process, U.S. Geological Survey. Open-File Report 00-92.
Uppasit, S., Srisuk, K., Phongsatitpat, A. and Nadee, S. 2011. Site characterization for ponding recharge
system at Ban Nong Na, Phitsanulok Province, Thailand. The International Conference   on   “Geology,  Geotechnology  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Indochina”, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand.
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Research article
erd

Effects of Transplanting Methods on Yield of Different
Rice Varieties under Sandy Soil Conditions
SOKORNTHEA PIN*
Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation, Cambodia branch
Email: sokornthea.pin@gmail.com

SOPHAL CHUONG
Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

VANTHORN SOKRoyal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

THYDA LEN
Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Received 16 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012(*: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Rice is a staple food for Cambodians and it is also a main source of income forfarmers’   livelihood  in  rural  areas. However, rice yield is low so it is vitally important toincrease rice yield through promoting new rice varieties and cultivation methods. To
promote new knowledge for famers, an experiment regarding the effect of transplanting
methods on rice yield of different varieties was conducted in experimental station. The
experiment investigated the interaction of different transplanting methods on rice varieties
and identified the best variety and transplanting methods for rice cultivation. The
experimental design was based on Randomize Complete Block Design (RCBD) which had
six treatments: Riang Chey variety with straight-row transplanting, Riang Chey variety
with conventional transplanting, Phkar Rumduol variety with straight-row transplanting,Phkar Rumduol variety with conventional transplanting, IR66 variety with straight-row
transplanting, IR66 variety with conventional transplanting and three replications. Hill
spaces were 25 cm x 25 cm for straight-row transplanting method, and 15 cm to 25 cm forconventional transplanting method. The result of the experiment showed that yieldcomponent, panicle number per hill, percent of filled grains per panicle and total yield of
three varieties transplanted straight–row transplanting method had significant differencewith conventional transplanting method. However, the yield components, panicle lengthand 1000-grain weight of three varieties transplanted by using straight–row transplanting
method had no significant difference from conventional transplanting. Also, the rice yieldcomponents had no interaction with the three varieties and the transplanting methods. IR
66 variety with straight–row transplanting method had the highest yield with 6.145 t/ha inaverage compared to conventional transplanting method with only 5.630 t/ha in average.
In conclusion, among three varieties and two transplanting methods, the potential andhighest yield was IR66 variety transplanted by using straight-row transplanting method.
Keywords cultivated method, conventional transplanting, straight-row transplanting,yield component

INTRODUCTION
Cambodian agriculture sector has played a vital role in increasing national economy as it has
provided many jobs for 85% of people in rural areas, and contributed with 34.4% of GDP (Sarun,
2007; MAFF, 2009). Rice is a main stable crop which ensures food security and is a main source ofincome for Cambodian people in rural areas (Helmer, 1997).

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In rainfed lowland rice, 70% of farmers cultivate rice with traditional methods and use
traditional varieties. They also transplant rice seedlings that were 40 to 80 day olds and 4 to 5
seedlings per hill, and transplant too much of rice seedling hills in paddy field that reached 800,000
hill/h (Rickman et al., 1997). Rice yield is low comparing to other Asian countries because 91% of
total rice productivity depends on rainfall, damage from pests, and decreasing soil fertility (Javier,1997).
Makara et al. (2001) reported that to increase rice yield, it is necessary to develop new
varieties which produce high yield, are resistant to climate stress and pests along with newcultivation techniques which are suitable for each rice agro-ecosystem. More importantly, the newvarieties and the new cultivated techniques should be promoted and taught to local farmers. In 2000,
system of rice intensification (SRI) was introduced to farmers by CEDAC, Cambodian NGO, andin 2005 SRI technique was promoted widely to local farmers by MAFF and other NGOs. However,some principles of SRI were not applied by farmers, and there are few farmers who have applied
SRI techniques (Sarun, 2007; Sothy and Rattana, 2008).
The objectives of this research are to determine the interaction of different transplanting
methods on rice varieties and to identify the best variety and transplanting methods for ricecultivation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Site description
Soil condition: This study was carried out at the crop experimental station of the Royal Universityof Agriculture, Cambodia. The soil condition of experimental site is Prateash Lang soil type (85%is sandy soil). Prateash Lang soil has low fertility so it needs be applied with organic fertilizer
combined with chemical fertilizer. The properties of this soil are detailed in Table 1.
Climatic conditions: In 2009 annual average temperature at experimental site was 28.40 oC.
Minimum average temperature was 26 oC in December and maximum average temperature was30.50 oC in May. For rainfall, 2009 annual average rainfall was 137.06 mm, and higher average
rainfalls were recorded in August and September, 290 mm and 289.60 mm respectively (Fig. 1)
Table 1 Soil properties in experimental site
Soil property

Prateah Lang soil
(Red yellow podzol)

Organic matter (OM) %C%
N%P (ppm)K (meq/100g soil )Mg (meq/100g soil )Ca (meq/100g soil )Na (meq/100g soil )pH
C:N Ratio

0.26
0.156
0.035
113
0.12
1.25
2.5
0.86
5.5-7.5
5

Source: Soil result analysis, department of Agronomy
and soil improvement, 2005

Fig. 1 Average temperature and rainfall
level during 2009

Experimental design
Three common rice varieties including Riang Chey, Phkar Rumduol and IR6 developed by CARDI
were selected to conduct the experiment in the station in 2009, and these rice varieties were
cultivated with two different transplanting methods: straight-row transplanting method with hill
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space of 25 cm x 25 cm and conventional transplanting method with variable hill space from 15 cm
to 25 cm. The experimental plots (9 m2) were organized based on randomized complete block
design (RCBD) with 6 treatments and 3 replications set up at the crop station. Each plot wasapplied with 10 t/ha of compost manure before transplanting.
Data analysis
Parameters for data collection of rice yield components including panicle, panicle length, filled
grain, 1,000-grain weight and grain yield were calculated for means and significant difference
determined between treatments by analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% and 1% of significant
level. In addition, multiple comparison of the treatment was tested for high significant difference
by Muncan’s   Multiple   Range   Test   (DMRT) at 5% of significant level. Also, simple linear
regression was performed to determine relationships of yield component and grain yield by using
Microsoft Excel.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The result of statistical analysis indicated that the yield components of three rice varieties had
significant difference at 1%. Also, the two transplanting methods had effect on panicle per hill,
filled grain and grain yield of the three varieties. However, panicle length and 1,000 - grain weightof each variety had no significant difference between the two transplanting methods; and there was
no interaction between three varieties and two transplanting methods on rice yield component(Table 2).
Table 2 Summary of statistical analysis of rice yield component
Rice
Varieties

Transplanting
methods

Raing
Chey

STM
CTM
STM
CTM
STM
CTM
Variety
MethodVariety* Method

Phkar
Rumduol
IR66

F-testC.V (%)

Panicle(no./hill)
13.84b
8.95d
11.48c8.49d19.51a14.25b
**
*
ns
6.92

Paniclelength(cm)23.83b
23.73b
24.90a24.43a23.01c22.88c
**
ns
ns
2.18

Yield components
Filled grain
1,000-grain(no./panicle)
weight(g)164.80a23.37bb
134.6022.99b110.86c27.22ad
82.27
26.86a118.40c21.59cd
93.03
21.42c
**
**
*
ns
ns
ns
5.64
1.70

Grain yield(t/ha)
4.872c4.427d3.654e3.347f6.145a5.630b
**
*
ns
5.60

* = Significant at 5%, **= Significant at 1%, ns = Non significant difference
Different letters were DMRT test by significant difference at 5%
STM: Straight-transplanting method, CTM: Conventional transplanting method

The results of the experiment showed that IR 66 variety had more panicles per hill than Raing
Chey and Phkar Rumduol varieties, and for straight-transplanting method IR 66 had more panicles
per hill than when it is transplanted by using conventional transplanting method (Fig. 2). Raing
Chey variety had more filled grain per panicle than Phkar Rumduol and IR 66 variety, and withstraight-transplanting method, Raing Chey variety got more filled grain than when it is transplanted
by using conventional transplanting method (Fig. 3).
Fig. 4 shows that IR 66 variety (average grain yield was 6.145 t/ha) cultivated by using
straight-transplanting method got higher grain yield than Raing Chey and Phkar Rumduol variety,by using conventional transplanting method which was only 5.630 t/ha in average.

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Straight-transplanting method made rice to produce more panicles per hill than ricetransplanted by using conventional method. The relationship between panicles per hill and grain
yield showed that increasing IR 66 yield was correlated highly with panicle per hill. Furthermore,grain yield of Raing Chey and Phkar Rumdoul variety did not only depend on panicle per hill but
also on filled grain (Fig. 5 and Fig. 6).

*STM: Straight- transplanting method,
CTM: Conventional transplanting method

Fig. 3 Number of filled grain per panicleof each variety with different
methods of transplanting

Fig. 2 Panicle number per hill of each variety
with different methods of transplanting

Fig. 4 Grain yield of each variety withdifferent methods of transplanting

Fig. 5 Relationship between panicle number
perhill and grain yieldFig. 6 Relationship between filled grain per hill and grain yield
Cultivation of rice by using straight-transplanting method provides the potential for rice toabsorb nutrients from the soil, and sunlight to make photosynthesis higher; it also increased rice
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yields from 25% to 39%, higher than conventional transplanting. Contrastingly, conventionaltransplanting can cause rice yield to decrease from 20% to 30% (IRRI, 1987; Men Sarom, 2007).
Takan and Kiyochika (1993) reported that shade affects filled grain and weight of grain, and yieldcomponent will decrease if sunlight intensity decreased. Shouichi (1981) also reported that sunlightintensity is vitally important in dough grain stage and mature grain stage. Rice will grow well whenintensity of sunlight is higher than 250 cal/cm2, and if light intensities reached 300 cal/cm2, rice
yields will increase to 5 t/ha.
CONCLUSION
This study has indicated that the yield component of each variety is significantly different. Panicle
per hill, filled grain and grain yield of the three varieties were significantly different between
straight-transplanting and conventional transplanting. However, panicle length and 1,000- grain
weight were not significantly different between the two transplanting methods. Also, there was nointeraction between these varieties and two transplanting methods. Therefore, IR66 variety
transplanted by using straight-transplanting method got yields in average 6.145 t/ha higher thanthose of IR66 transplanted by using conventional transplanting method. As a result, among thethree varieties, IR66 variety has the potential for producing higher yields than Raing Chey and
Phkar Rumdoul variety. The best method for transplanting rice is straight-transplanting methods.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) for supporting andproviding experimental site, and special thanks to ERECON, especially to Prof. Machito MIHARA for
his support.

REFERENCES
Helmer, K. 1997. Rice in the Cambodian economy: past and present. Rice Production in Cambodia,
Cambodian-IRIRI-Australia Project. IRIR, Philippines.
IRRI .1987. Method of planting rice (http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/plantingrice/ plantingrice.pdf).
Javier, E.L. 1997. Rice ecosystems and varieties. Rice Production in Cambodia, Cambodian-IRIRI-Australia
Project. IRIR, Philippines.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery, Cambodia. 2009. Annual report of activities and achievement
2008-2009 and plan 2009-2010 of agriculture, forestry and fishery.
Makara, O., Sarom, M. and Nesbitt, H.J 2001. Rice production systems in Cambodia. Increased lowland riceproduction in the Mekong region. Proceeding of International Workshop, Vietnamese, Laos, ACIAR
Proceeding, 101.
Makara, O. et al. 2001. Rice varieties released by the varietal recommendation committee of Cambodia(1990-2000), CARDI, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Rickman, J.F., Pyseth, M. and Sothy, O. 1997. Farm mechanization. Rice Production in Cambodia,
Cambodian-IRIRI-Australia Project. IRIR, Philippines.
Sarun C. 2007 Guideline of System of Rice Intensification, Khmer version, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sothy, I. and Rattana, H. 2008. Annual Report of SRI Secretariat in February 2007 to January 2008, Phnom
Penh, Cambodia.
Shouichi, Y. 1981. Foundation of the rice crop science, the international rice institute, Los Banos, Laguna,Philippines.
Takan, M. and Kiyochika, H. 1993. Science of the rice plant, Food and Agriculture Policy Research Center,
Tokyo.

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Research article
erdComparison of System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
Practices in Irrigated and Rainfed Areas of Cambodia
SOPHY CHES*
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan
Email: sophy_ches257@yahoo.com

EIJI YAMAJI
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, JapanJUN TSURUI
Sustainable Inc.
Received 15 December 2011

Accepted 18 April 2012

( *: Corresponding Author)

Abstract Based on principles of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) practices,
farmers need to manage properly the water level in the paddy fields to get higher yields. It
is only in the irrigated area where farmers can control the water level. However, thepractice of SRI has been disseminated to farmers also in rain-fed areas in Cambodia.
Therefore, the study aimed to compare the SRI results done so far by farmers in irrigatedand rain-fed areas and explain the SRI practices in both areas. Irrigated and rain-fed areas
in Kampong Speu Province of Cambodia were selected as study areas. In irrigated areas,
five farmers from upstream and downstream were selected. In rain-fed areas, five SRI
farmers were also chosen. In-depth interview was conducted with field observation. The
results showed that farmers at upstream can grow rice twice (late ripening variety-LRV
and early ripening variety-ERV) per year. Farmers at downstream and in rain-fed areas cangrow rice only one time (ERV) per year. There is an irrigation system at downstream area,
but farmers cannot grow rice twice due to the lack of irrigation facilities, poor water
distribution, and geographic condition. In rain-fed area, drought occurs in some years; sowater availability is a big concern. In both areas, LRV conventionally provides the yieldfrom 2.31 to 2.36t/ha. SRI way can improve the yield up to 3.30t/ha to 3.70t/ha. Besides
same provided yields, farmers have applied almost same SRI principles such as reducing
seeds for sowing (up to 50%) and chemical fertilizers (20% to 40%), raising nursery bed,
and transplanting with fewer seedlings. So, the study concludes that SRI practices in rainfed areas are similar with ones in irrigated area. Although irrigation system is a big
advantage, controlling water in paddy fields in both areas is still a problem since irrigatedfacilities are poor.
Keywords system of rice intensification (SRI), irrigated area, rain-fed area,
early ripening variety, late ripening variety

INTRODUCTION
In spite of the fact that several big NGOs such as Oxfam/GB and GTZ have played an importantrole in supporting local NGOs to implement and disseminate SRI in several provinces in Cambodia(CEDAC, 2004), most Cambodian farmers cannot practice SRI well due to inadequate irrigation
systems and other inputs. Proper management of water level in paddy fields is one of thefundamental practices of SRI that produces higher yield. Today only 16% of total cultivated areas
have been irrigated, revealing that Cambodia is using only 1% of its total water resources inAgriculture (Ngin, 2010). However, currently, SRI techniques are being promoted in rain-fed areas(Tsurui, 2010). This is surprising since it is hard for farmers in rain-fed areas to practice SRI
without proper irrigation systems. Thus, it is worthwhile to know how much farmers in rain-fed
areas earn after applying SRI techniques since only irrigated farmers can benefit from theseⒸISERD207

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

techniques before. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the SRI results produced by farmers inboth irrigated and rain-fed areas, and to explain the SRI practices in both areas.
MEHODOLOGY
The study was conducted in Kampong Speu province in Cambodia. Two types of SRI farmers in
Chbar Mon City were selected as key informants for irrigated areas. Five Farmers in Srae Thnal
village (upstream) are represented as Farmers A1-A5, and five Romleang village farmers(downstream) are represented as Farmers B1-B5. The other five SRI farmers in Samraong Tong
District were selected as key informants for rain-fed areas. They are represented as Farmers C1-C5.
Qualitative and quantitative approaches were mainly used. Primary and secondary data collections
were utilized to get needed information from various existing sources and field works.
Primary Data: The research employed the following data collection to get the needed data:
In-Depth-Interview: Fifteen classified farmers (A1-5, B1-5, and C1-5) were thoroughly questioned
about SRI results, performances, perceptions and willingness to continue SRI.
Village observation: Village resources, farming land and the status of agricultural practices in thevillage can be noticed in order to create real images for the research.
Secondary data: Documents related to the concept of SRI are reviewed. Those documents can bereached by accessing the websites, libraries, reports, or research journals, etc.
Data analysis is done by using both descriptive and statistical analysis. Data are condensed andcritically analyzed in order to respond to the above-mentioned objectives.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Comparison of rice yield between SRI and Conventional ways
Before following the SRI techniques, farmers were told that SRI can provide higher yields. Thisestablished a reason for farmers in study areas to decide to apply these techniques. Based on theinterviews with SRI selected farmers, some have made comparisons of SRI to conventional
methods by applying these techniques in different plots. Without conducting experiments, a
researcher simply asked farmers to compare the yields of conventional plots and SRI plots during
2009-2010.
Table 1 Comparison of average rice yield between SRI and Conventional ways
Area(t/ha)
Irrigated
Upstream

Farmers
A1-A5

Irrigated
Downstream

B1-B5

Rain-fed

C1-C5

SeasonsDry(2009)
Rainy(2009, 2010)
Rainy(2009, 2010)
Rainy(2009, 2010)

Varieties
ERV
LRV
LRV
LRV

Methods
Conventional
SRI
Conventional
SRI
Conventional
SRI
Conventional
SRI

Average Yield
2.25
3.51
2.31
3.70
2.36
3.20
2.31
3.30

As shown in Table 1, in the upstream portions of the irrigated areas, the average yield for Late
Ripening Variety (LRV) conventionally is 2.31 t/ha; while SRI way can improve the yield up to
3.70 t/ha. For the downstream and rain-fed areas, the average yield of conventional methods isalmost the same as upstream yields, approximately 2.31 to 2.36 t/ha. SRI method yields are slightly
less compared to those of upstream, at roughly 3.20 to 3.30 t/ha. However, the difference was not
as much as expected. It can therefore be concluded that SRI practices in both areas provide nearlyⒸISERD208

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the same results because they have not applied all the SRI techniques. Moreover, irrigation systems
in irrigated area do not greatly help improve the SRI results. Although there are irrigated facilities,
good water distribution and the functions of facilities remain poor. It can be said that irrigation
systems in Cambodia are not on big scale but of a small farming scale. Therefore, it is hard forfarmers to use the irrigated facilities to full capacity because they have a limited knowledge inoperating those facilities.
Rice cultivation practices in irrigated area and rain-fed area
In irrigated areas, most farmers are able to perform rice cultivation two times per year for the earlyripening variety (ERV) and late ripening variety (LRV); especially in upstream villages because of
the water availability through canals and rainfall. Some farmers still practice conventional farming;
while some farmers have practiced SRI. In the case of the selected upstream farmers (A1-A5),
some of them apply both conventional and SRI methods in different plots to be compared. The
others have already applied SRI method for all of the plots. On the other hand, upstream farmers
are likely to use water inefficiently. Although there are irrigation facilities, water is not distributed
properly because farmers have limited knowledge on operation of these facilities. This makes
downstream farmers suffer from water shortage. Then downstream farmers including selected
farmers (B1-B5) do their farming one time per year for LRV only. As with upstream farmers,
downstream farmers apply both conventional and SRI methods in separated plots or two-partdivided plots.
In rain-fed areas, the majority of farmers are able to perform rice cultivation only once per
year for LRV due to insufficient water or less rain. The main water storage for rain-fed area is a big
reservoir. In case that there is no enough rain, farmers need to save water in the reservoir for otherworks such as daily life use, animal raising and vegetable watering. Under the support from NGOson the SRI dissemination, farmers in the rain-fed areas have learnt what SRI is. According to the
conducted interviews, some of the selected farmers (C1-C5) have applied both conventional and
SRI methods in different plots for comparison. Nevertheless, some farmers have fully applied SRI
to all the plots. Again the interviews with farmers reveal that in some years with little rain, rice
plants are in tiller and panicle initiation stages. This significantly worsens the yield. However, if
there is enough rain from early in the cultivation season, the rice plants will grow well and provide
a high yield. But some farmers hesitate to drain water out when there is too much water in the
paddy field because they are afraid of facing water shortages. This is one reason that SRI farmers inrain-fed areas face difficulty controlling water in the paddy field since the water availability isunpredictable.
Degree of Adoption of SRI principles by selected farmers in study areas
Under the past support from CEDAC (Cambodian Center for Study and Development inAgriculture), selected farmers started to practice SRI techniques since 2006. CEDAC introduced
SRI with 12 principles and strongly recommended farmers to follow them (JICA, 2008). However,according to the interviews with the 15 selected farmers about their farming practices during 2009
and 2010, once CEDAC was removed, farmers became unable to follow all the principles. In
irrigated areas as well as in rain-fed areas, farmers cannot apply all the 12 SRI principles (Table 2).
In irrigated areas, roughly 76% of upstream farmers can adopt the SRI principles; compared with
only 62% of downstream farmers. In addition, in rain-fed area, 68% of farmers can adopt SRI
principles. Two principles stood out as being adopted by rain-fed and downstream farmers but not
by upstream farmers. Those include the principle to "transplant seedlings younger than 15 days"
adopted at level of 40%, 10% and 0%; and the principle to "transplant seedlings 25-40 cm apart"
adopted at level of 60%, 80% and 0% by rain-fed farmers, downstream farmers and upstream
farmers respectively. Nevertheless, there is one principle adopted only by upstream farmers. It isthat which says to "weed at least 2-4 times a season" with adoption rate 40%. For the rest, theaverage rates of adoption are somehow the same. Therefore, it can be said that rain-fed farmers
have stronger commitments towards following SRI principles. On the other hand, most farmersⒸISERD209

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generally have difficulty in keeping less water in their paddy fields. Even in the irrigated area, theact of keeping less water in paddy fields is still a big problem for farmers. This is because of
insufficient irrigation facilities and geographic conditions. In rain-fed areas, water is not fully
available all the time, so even though there is abundant water in the paddy fields, farmers do not
dare to drain it out because they are afraid of future water shortage.
Table 2 Degree of SRI principles adoption by selected farmers (2009-2010)
Farmer A1-A5

Farmer B1-B5

Farmer C1-C5

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

Level the paddy field and provide drainage

4

80

4

80

5

100

Keep less water in the paddy field

3

60

2

40

3

60

Raise nursery beds or use dry nursery beds

5

100

3

60

5

100

Select purified and dense seedlings for sowing

5

100

4

80

5

100

Transplant seedlings younger than 15 days

0

0

1

10

2

40

Transplant big seedlings immediately

4

80

4

80

4

80

Transplant one plant per hill

3

60

3

60

2

40

Transplant seedlings shallowly with horizontal roots

5

100

5

100

5

100

Transplant seedlings with square pattern or in line

4

80

2

40

2

40

Transplant seedlings 25-40cm apart

0

0

4

80

3

60

Apply natural fertilizer as much as possible

5

100

5

100

5

100

Weed at least 2-4 times a season

2

40

1

10

0

0

SRI Principles

Average of adoption

67

62

68

Change in using seeds
Revealed in the interviews with selected farmers, it seems that all farmers do feel positive about thedecrease of seeds used for sowing and transplanting. They said that applying SRI in their fields canhelp reduce a large amount of seeds per year. Saving seeds can help them use the remaining seeds
for food and for storage in the following year (save space for storing seeds).
Table 3 Change in use of seed on average during 2009-2010
Seed(kg/ha)Before
SRI
After
SRI
Ratio
(%)

A1

A2

A3

A4

A5

B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

C1

C2

C3

C4

C5

100

250

80

50

230

65

60

162

108

114

90

80

200

175

75

36

83

50

25

110

35

30

50

50

71

30

40

80

50

38

64

67

38

50

52

46

50

69

54

38

67

50

60

71

49

A decreased weight of seeds is what farmers can notice quickly when they start to apply SRI.
It is also another reason why they decide to apply SRI. Table 3 shows that farmers can reduce theweight of seeds from 38% up to 71%. The majority of farmers can also decrease the weight ofseeds up to 50%. This is because most farmers know how to select full-inside seeds, to raise
nursery beds for sowing and to select big healthy seedlings for transplanting.
Change in application of chemical and natural fertilizers
The effect on environmental understanding is noticeable since farmers have changed their habits,
started to reduce the weight of chemical fertilizers and increase the use of natural fertilizers. DuringⒸISERD210

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

interviews with selected farmers, they were asked to reveal the weight of the chemical and natural
fertilizers they used before and after practicing SRI. These changes are shown below:

Fig. 1 Change in application of chemical and natural fertilizers
According to Fig.1, the weight of chemical fertilizers decreased remarkably. Previously,
farmers had used chemical fertilizers from 7 kg/ha up to 500 kg/ha for conventional farming, but
afterwards farmers reduced this amount to 4 kg/ha to 120 kg/ha for SRI practice. This results inalmost 20% to 40% decrease from previously used conventional practices. This shows that farmers
have understood the impact of chemical fertilizers on soil fertility, health, expenditure andenvironment.
In contrast, there is also a noticeable increase in the weight of natural fertilizers as shown in
Fig. 1 as well. On average, conventionally farmers used 3 ox carts of natural fertilizers per ha up to
25 ox carts. However, for SRI practices, farmers can increase from 4 ox carts of natural fertilizers
to 35 ox carts. Although there is not much improvement in the use of natural fertilizers, it is evident
that some farmers are still making attempts to increase the use of natural fertilizers. Moreover, it
can be said that farmers have used the resources available near their living areas on the fields inorder to reduce the expenses of chemical fertilizers. Therefore, farmers have gained a better
understanding since SRI techniques require farmers to use natural fertilizers in order to sustain andenrich the soil quality over a long period.
Benefits and difficulties in Practicing SRI
According to interviews with selected farmers, there are various key benefits from practicing SRI.
These include increased yields, saving of seeds, decreased amount of chemical fertilizer, reductionof labors, and time saving. Among these benefits, saving seeds is the most popular answers from
SRI farmers. 15 farmers out of 15 (100%) said that they can save a lot of seeds after applying SRI.
14 farmers of 15 farmers (93%) also said that their yields increased after practicing SRI compared
to previous practices. The other three popular answers about the benefits of practicing SRI are thereduction of labors, decreased amount of chemical fertilizer, and time saving with the percentage ofanswers 66%, 46% and 20% respectively. Nevertheless, some difficulties arise while practicing
SRI. 53% of the responses from 15 SRI farmers complained about transplantation in a line. They
faced difficulties in making a line, or did not have the equipment to make a line in their paddy
fields. In addition, other reported difficulties included water management (53%), weeding (26%),
preparation of nursery beds (6%), and plowing (6%). The percentage of weeding is very low
because farmers do not have weeding tools and they need to do it by hand. That is why farmers do
not care much about weeding, which requires intensive labor.
ⒸISERD211

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

CONCLUSION
Although SRI techniques are believed to provide higher yields than conventional methods, most
farmers still cannot apply all 12 SRI principles due to insufficient irrigation systems, labor
shortages, and time consuming activities. It can be said that farmers` behaviors toward SRI
technique are somehow positive and that they will be able to apply all principles if all thoseinconvenient things mentioned above can be resolved.
Upstream farmers can grow rice twice per year for LRV and ERV; while downstream andrain-fed farmers can grow only once per year for LRV. In comparison with conventional methods,
all selected farmers can get the average LRV yield of 2.31 to 2.36 t/ha. The SRI method for LRV isaround 3.30 to 3.70 t/ha. The differences of yield between the SRI method and the conventional
method are roughly the same for irrigated and rain-fed areas. This means that in both irrigated andrain-fed areas, SRI results are higher than the conventional method by around 1 to 1.5t/ha. In
addition to the SRI method providing the same yields in irrigated and rain-fed areas, farmers also
applied nearly identical SRI principles such as reducing seeds for sowing (up to 50%) and chemicalfertilizers (20% to 40%), raising nursery bed, and transplanting with fewer seedlings. Therefore,
this study concludes that SRI practices in rain-fed areas are similar with those in irrigated areas.
Although irrigation systems provide big advantages, controlling water in paddy fields in both areas
is still a problem since irrigation facilities are poor. Nevertheless, all selected farmers have also
faced the same problems in practicing SRI such as transplanting in line, doing weeding, andmanaging water. Finally, some farmers still have strong intentions to continue SRI, and also havewillingness to share these techniques with other farmers. However, others have given up due to alack of external supports.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author is deeply grateful to the farmers in Chbar Mon City and Samraong Tong District in
Kampong Speu Province for friendly cooperating and kindly spending their times for theinterviews. Furthermore, many thanks are granted Ms. Kako Inoue for providing useful comments
and encouragement. Without these kind supports, this paper would not be finished. Finally otherbig thanks are given to Mr. Chris Malcolm for kindly helping editing this paper.
REFERENCESCEDAC. 2004. An assessment of ecological system of rice intensification (SRI) in Cambodia in wet season
2002. Field Document, 5.
JICA. 2008. Draft final report on the study on comprehensive agricultural development of Prek Thnot Riverbasin in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Ngin, C. 2010. Overview of SRI application and adaptation in Cambodia. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries. Cambodia.
Tsurui, J. 2010 Improvement in practicing system of rice intensification (SRI) principles by farmers in rainfed Area of Cambodia. 2nd ICERD Abstracts Book, 52.

ⒸISERD212

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

erd

International Society ofEnvironmental and Rural Development

Philosophy of ISERD:
Recently, in developing countries, subsistence agriculture is being converted to export-oriented mono-culture,and the amounts of agricultural chemicals applied to the farmland are increasing every year. The appliedchemicals in farmland cause serious environmental problems downstream such as eutrophication, unusual
growth of aquatic plants, decrease in dissolved oxygen and accumulation of bottom mud in water resources.
Also, there seem to be many cases in which people apply agricultural chemicals without understanding its
impact to health and food safety. Therefore, it is necessary to promote and enhance understanding ofsustainable rural development among local stakeholders including farmers.
Sustainable rural development aims to meet human needs while preserving the natural environment. As
it should cover not only social and economic development but also natural environment conservation, no
single organization can achieve sufficiently the aspirations of sustainable rural development. Collaboration
among international, governmental and non-governmental organizations, together with the academe andscientific sector, is indispensable.
The knowledge and intelligence accumulated in universities and research institutions are also expected
to make the programs facilitated by the international, governmental and non-governmental organizations
more adequately implemented and meaningful to societal development. However, these cases especiallythose implemented locally have been scattered without having been summarized well or recorded in annals
academic or scientific societies.
So, the International Society of Environmental and Rural Development founded in 2010, aims to discussand develop suitable and effective processes or strategies on sustainable rural development focusing on
agricultural and environmental aspects in developing countries. The ultimate goals of the society are tocontribute to sustainable rural development through social and economic development in harmony with thenatural environment, and to support the potential or capacity building of local institutions and stakeholders in
the rural area with academic background.
Purposes of ISERD:
The primary purposes of ISERD are to contribute to sustainable rural development through social andeconomic development in harmony with the natural environment and to support the potential or capacity
building of local institutions and stakeholders in the rural area with academic background.
In order to enhance the realization of the primary purposes of ISERD, the secondary purposes are;- to facilitate interaction among international, governmental, non-governmental organizations and local
communities,- to hold conferences or symposia on environmental and rural development,- to publish the International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, and- to encourage and develop local awareness concerning sustainable rural development.
Membership:
There shall be two categories of membership.
(a) Individual(b) Organizational
An application for membership of ISERD shall be submitted to the secretariat of ISERD, Institute ofEnvironment Rehabilitation and Conservation (Japan) or Association of Environmental and Rural
Development (Thailand) by writing or by other appropriate means.
Council of ISERD:
The affairs of ISERD shall be governed and managed by the ISERD Council. The councilors are as follows.
President
Prof. Dr. Mario T. Tabucanon, United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies, Japan
Deputy President
Prof. Dr. Bunthan Ngo, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2012) 3-1

Executive Secretary
Prof. Dr. Machito Mihara, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Editor-in-ChiefProf. Dr. Eiji Yamaji, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Managing Editors
Prof. Dr. Machito Mihara, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Dr. Yoko Mochizuki, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, France
Dr. Muhammad Aqil, Indonesian Center for Food Crops Research, Indonesia
Dr. Lalita Siriwattananon, Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Thailand
Treasurer
Dr. Lalita Siriwattananon, Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Thailand
Regional Vice Presidents
Prof. Dr. Robert J. Martin, University of New England, Australia
Prof. Dr. Mom Seng, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia
Prof. Dr. Dieter Trautz, University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Dr. Siaw Onwona-Agyeman, African Program on Field Oriented Leaders in Environ. Sectors, Ghana
Dr. Muhammad Aqil, Indonesian Center for Food Crops Research, Indonesia
Dr. Hiromu Okazawa, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Dr. Junaid Alam Memon, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Pakistan
Prof. Dr. Elpidio T. Magante, Bohol Island State University, Philippines
Prof. Dr. Anan Polthanee, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Prof. Dr. Murari Suvedi, Michigan State University, USA
Dr. Vo Quang Minh, Cantho University, Vietnam
ISERD Secretariats:
Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation (ERECON)
2987-1 Onoji Machida-Shi, Tokyo 195-0064, Japan
Tel/Fax: +81-42736-8972
E-mail: iserd.secretariat@gmail.com, iserd@int-erd.org
Webpage: www.int-erd.org
Association of Environmental and Rural Development (AERD)
93/64 Moo.3, Sinsab village 2, Bungyeetho sub-district, Thanyaburi district,Pathum Thani 12130, Thailand
Tel/Fax: +66-2957-8064
E-mail: iserd.secretariat@gmail.com, iserd@int-erd.org
Webpage: www.int-erd.org

All articles and reports published in this journal were accepted through a peer-review process. However,most articles and reports published in this journal were presented at the 3rd International Conference on
Environmental and Rural Development that was co-organized by United Nations University-IAS.