ISSN 2185-159X

erd

International Journal ofEnvironmental and Rural Development

Volume 9 Number 1

June 2018

International Society of Environmental and Rural Development

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development

erdInternational Journal ofEnvironmental and Rural Development
Official Journal of the International Society of Environmental and Rural Development(Accessible from EBSCO, J-Stage, Google Scholar, CABI International, etc.)

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. Machito Mihara, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan /Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan
Managing Editors:
Dr. Jeeranuch Sakkhamduang, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation,
Southeast Asia Office / Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Thailand
Dr. Junaid Alam Memon, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Pakistan
Dr. Shinobu Terauchi, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan
Dr. Toru Nakajima, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Editorial Advisory Board:
Prof. Dr. Mom Seng, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia
Dr. Insa Kuhling, University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Dr. Carlos Onan Tovar Mendoza, Honduras Embassy in Japan, HondurasProf. Dr. Noureddin Driouech, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy
Prof. Dr. Kiichiro Hayashi, Nagoya University, Japan
Prof. Dr. Kingshuk Roy, Nihon University, Japan
Dr. Yuri Yamazaki, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Prof. Dr. Merites M. Buot, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines /UP Open University, Philippines
Prof. Dr. Salvador Catello, University of the Philippines, Philippines

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development

Prof. Tomas Reyes, Jr. Bohol Island State University, Philippines
Dr. Julian Torillo, Jr. Bohol Island State University, Philippines
Dr. Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development,
Switzerland
Dr. Anchasa Pramuanjaroenkij, Kasetsart University, Thailand
Prof. Dr. Rajendra P. Shrestha, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
Dr. Somsak Srisontisuk, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Dr. Vidhaya Trelo-Ges, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Prof. Dr. Vo Quang Minh, Cantho University, Vietnam
Editorial Section in ISERD Secretariat:
Dr. Shinobu Terauchi, Dr. Takashi Ueno and Mr. Koji Miwa
Research Center, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation (ERECON)
2987-1 Onoji Machida-Shi, Tokyo 195-0064, Japan
Tel/Fax: +81-42736-8972
E-mail: iserd.secretariat@gmail.com
Webpage: www.iserd.net
Collaborated with

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
Webpage: www.iserd.net

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Contents
Area Based Management Extension for Sustainable Rice Production: Lessons Learned from
Sustainable Rice Farmers Groups in Det Udom District, Ubon Ratchathani Province
Atthawit Watcharapongchai, Benchamas Yooprasert andBumpen Keowan

1

Policy and Socio-ecological Assessment of the Integrated Social Forestry Program after 25 Years of
Implementation in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, Philippines
Angelita B. Orias and Marlito M. Bande

7

Environmental Education and Sustainability in Mataneedol School: A Case Study of “Turning
the School Kitchen Waste into the Healthy Soil and Safety Food” Project
Arisa Iwai and Oratai Santimataneedol

14

Agroecological Assessment of Different Cultural Practices of Pineapple, Ananas comosus, (Linn) Mer.
(Var. Red Spanish) for Sustainable Fiber Production in Geo-Textile Industry in Balete, Aklan
Edrian Paolo B. Tulin and Marlito Jose M. Bande

18

Effective Utilization of Ceramic Powders for Concrete Pavement
Eiji Matsuo, Takenori Nagamatsu and Takahiko Kubodera

25

Productivity and Sustainability of Coconut Production and Husk Utilization in the Philippines:
Coconut Husk Availability and Utilization
Jimmy Pogosa, Victor Asio, Marlito Bande, Sauro Bianchi,
Jan Grenz and Frédéric Pichelin

31

New Science Tools for Spatial Distribution of Yield and Management Practices of Major Pulse
in Selected Area in Myanmar
Khin Mar Oo, Htay Htay Oo, Nyein Nyein Htwe, Mie Mie Aungand Kyaw Kyaw Win

37

Application of TOPMODELs for Assessment of Ecosystem Services: Regulating Service
in Agricultural and Forest Watershed
Kosuke Mukae, Koji Miwa, Hiromu Okazawa, Tadao Yamamoto
and Takashi Inoue

43

Enhancing Fermentation of Farmyard Manure Using Bacillus sp. in the Mid-hills of Nepal
Maskey Sarvesh and Machito Mihara

51

Effects of Legume Residues with and without Allelochemicals on Biodiversity of Plant Growth
Promoting Bacteria in Long-Term Organic Residues Amendment Systems
Phrueksa Lawongsa, Saowalak Somboon, Rattiyapon
Rungthong, Patcharee Saenjan and Patma Vityakon

57

Local Government Support for the Development of Nutmeg Industry in Fakfak Regency,
West Papua, Indonesia
Riskina Juwita, Shiro Tsuchida and S Joni Munarso

63

A Study on Cambodian Rice Farming: Comparative Analysis on Aromatic and Non-Aromatic Rice
Farming in Voatkor Commune, Battambang Province
Sereiroth Bunthan, Yuki Takahashi and Yoichi Izumida

71

Evaluation of Rates and Forms of Urea Fertilizer for Improved Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Hybrid
Maize Cultivation
Thant Lwin Oo, Than Da Min, Kyaw Kyaw Win
and Mie Mie Aung

77

The Opinion Study of Pedestrian User to Footpath Characteristics in Rajamangala University ofTechnology Thanyaburi Rangsit Center
Tripob Boontham

83

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Evaluation of Dust Generation from Animal Farm Activities
Barry N. Noller

88

Effects of Gypsum and Rice Husk Biochar on Surface Discharge and Nutrient Loss from Farmlands
in Budalangi, Kenya
Benard Onyango Odhiambo and Machito Mihara

94

Influence of Percolation Patterns on Copper Uptake, and Growth and Yield with Copper-polluted
Stratified Paddy Fields
Jinhun Fan, Choichi Sasaki, Chihiro Kato,
Nobuhiko Matsuyama, Takeyuki Annaka, Akira Endo,
Songtao Li and Kiichi Sasaki

101

Nonpoint Source Water Pollution in Rural Areas in the Upper Ayase River Basinof Saitama Prefecture in Japan
Kingshuk Roy

109

Soil Health Assessment of Soil under Miscanthus × giganteus Cultivation
Toru Nakajima, Takahiko Nakamura and Machito Mihara

116

A Model in Promoting Highland Terrace Paddy Cultivation Technology in Northern Thailand
Alisa Sahahirun and Rowena DT. Baconguis

121

Significant Contribution of Farmer First in Farmer-Trainer for Environmentally-Friendly Agriculture
and Rural Development
Eliza C. Aquino, Nina Nocon-Shimoguchi and Hiroki Inaizumi

128

Comparison of Soil Properties of Farmlands Applied with Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers
in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia
Muy Leang Kim, Toru Nakajima and Machito Mihara

135

Development of Water Harvesting Technique in Qargha Reservoir Watershed of Paghman District,Afghanistan
Shafiqullah Rahmani, Toru Nakajima and Machito Mihara

142

The Low-Cost Controlled Temperature Greenhouse Investigation for Marigold Seedlings
in Global Warming Situation
Anchasa Pramuanjaroenkij, Amarin Tongkratoke
and Siriluk Phankhoksoong

150

Strength Characteristics of Stabilized Soils Containing Bamboo Fiber Extracted by Steam Explosion
Futoshi Kawana

156

The Effectiveness of Different Net-coverings on Production Yield of Chinese mustard(Brassica juncea) at Royal University of Agriculture
Soth Hong, Lytour Lor, Borarin Buntong, Socheath Tongand Karen Legrand162

Feasibility Study of Using Vermicompost Extract on Seed Germination on Green Romaine(Lactuca sativa L. var. Jericho) and Green Batavia (Lactuca sativa L. var. Concept ) Lettuce
Vithirak Huy and Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai

168

Status and Issues in Ecological Engineering Techniques for Conserving Fishin the Paddy Field Areas of Japan
Kazuya Nishida

173

Genetic Identification of Myanmar Sein Ta Lone Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Landrace
from the Different Eco-Geographic Regions using Microsatellite Markers
Moe Moe Oo, May Thazin Htun, May Thu Kyaw,
Hnin Wai Lwin, La Min Htet Htet Aung, Moe Zaw Aung,
Htay Htay Aung and Pa Pa Aung

184

ii

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Classification by Characteristics of Farm Management for Development Aidin Rural Area of Cambodia
Shinobu Yamada, Machito Mihara and Kumiko Kawabe

191

Accumulation of Copper in Kale (Brassica alboglabra) and Soil Fertilized with Swine Manure,
Compost and Vermicompost under Different Thai Soil Series
Arphorn Thongburan and Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai

198

iii

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Research article
erdArea Based Management Extension for Sustainable Rice
Production: Lessons Learned from Sustainable Rice
Farmers Groups in Det Udom District, Ubon Ratchathani
Province
ATTHAWIT WATCHARAPONGCHAI*
School of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Nonthaburi,
Thailand
Email: doiteveryday@hotmail.com

BENCHAMAS YOOPRASERT
School of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Nonthaburi,
Thailand

BUMPEN KEOWAN
School of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Nonthaburi,
ThailandReceived 4 January 2018

Accepted 23 April 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Lessons learned by farmers’ groups in Thailand who received area based
management extension for sustainable rice production were investigated. Objectives wereto 1) study area based management extension for sustainable rice farmers’ groups, 2)analyze the current situation regarding area based management extension of these groups,
3) identify key actions for group improvement, and 4) determine the lessons learned.
Qualitative data were collected from 77 sustainable rice farmers belonging to two farmers’groups in Det Udom district, Ubon Ratchathani Province during an organized forum.
Additional data were collected and analyzed from key informants including groupchairmen and extension officers using in-depth interviews. Results were as follows: 1) the
farmers’ groups were founded as Community Rice Centers producing seed, and later joined
the Area Based Management Extension Program initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture
and Cooperatives to increase their knowledge capacity and market linkage. They also
participated in the Sustainable Rice Production Pilot Testing Project organized throughcollaboration between the Thai Rice Department and Better Rice Initiative Asia Project tolink with sustainable rice new value chains. 2) Farmers were assessed regarding theircurrent practices against their compliance score of the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP)
standard and received scores averaging 74.5%. After knowledge transfer, their scores wereaudited by an external auditor and increased to an average of 84% classified by the‘Working toward Sustainability’ level. 3) Actions for group improvement were identified
as follows: (i) Farm record, (ii) Land preparation, (iii). Planting method, (iv) Seeding
service management, (v) Fertilizer management (vi) Weed management, (vii) Combine
harvester machine management, (viii) Selling, and (ix) Internal control system management.
4) Valuable lessons learned concerning sustainable rice area based extension included: (i)Good knowledge transfer of sustainable rice production through group actions, (ii) Limitedaccess through machinery service of introduced technology, and (iii) Economy of scale inarea based management extension planning between cultivated areas and market capacity.
Keywords sustainable rice production, area based management extension, Ubon
Ratchathani Province

INTRODUCTIONⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Present day Thai rice farmers are smallholders with around 2.88 hectares per household (Apichart,2014). Generally, only 1-2 elderly people work on each farm as husband and wife and employ nopermanent labor. To provide effective extension support to smallholder farmers, the Ministry ofAgriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) has promoted area based management extension to enhancecapacity to capably deal with the rice value chain. Furthermore, the current trend of the global ricesector is looking toward sustainability in sourcing rice production and resource consumption
through global collaboration under the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP). This is a multistakeholder platform co-convened by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and theInternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to promote resource efficiency and sustainability intrade flows, production, consumption and supply chains in the global rice sector (Overview of
Sustainable Rice Platform, 2017).
The two farmers’ groups in Det Udom District, Ubon
Ratchathani Province as shown in Fig. 1, follow Good
Agriculture Practice (GAP) as ‘Best Practices Group’, and are
keen to learn about new rice farming methods. They operate
as Community Rice Centers (CRCs) and have also been
participating in Area Based Management Extension andSustainable Rice Production Pilot Testing Projects run by theThai Rice Department and Better Rice Initiative Asia
(Thailand) Project through cooperation between GIZ, Bayer,
and Olam. These two farmers’ groups have objectives toimprove the capacity of their members by applying area based
management extension to deliver rice to the market at asustainable value. Therefore, this research was conducted toinvestigate group improvements regarding their objectives.
Fig. 1 Location of farmers’ group
OBJECTIVES
The following issues were investigated to 1) study area based management extension forsustainable rice farmers’ groups, 2) analyze the current situation regarding area based management
extension of these groups, 3) identify key actions for group improvement after applying area based
management extension, and 4) appraise the lessons learned.
METHODOLOGY
Research Approach
Qualitative research was administered in the case study.
Research Population
The research population consisted of 77 farmers as members of Bua Ngam Community Rice Center(32 farmers) and Klang Community Rice Center (45 farmers) in Det Udom District, Ubon
Ratchathani Province. These two community rice centers also received support from the Ministryof Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) and the Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) Project for an
area based management extension approach.
Data Collection
1) Forums were organized to assemble qualitative data from 32 Bua Ngam Community Rice Center
Members and 45 Klang Community Rice Center members including group leaders and committee
members.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

2) Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants to collect data involvedin transferring knowledge of sustainable rice production and market linkages including groupchairmen, committee members and extension officers.
Data Analysis
Data were analyzed for content.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. General Information Regarding the Groups Participating in Area Based Management
Extension for Sustainable Rice Production
Bua Ngam Community and Klang Community Rice Centers consist of rice farmers’ groups in Det
Udom district, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Northeastern Thailand. Fundamentally, Community
Rice Centers (CRCs) are organized to provide quality seed supply to rice farmers. Seed production
requires intensive cultivation and good crop knowledge; however, the Thai seed market is limited,with pre-orders insufficient to share among all members in the group, and farmers also need to
produce their own grain. Usually, farmers produce gain as uncertified or conventional rice. The
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has been promoting area based management programs ormega-farm projects by supporting CRCs to increase their capacity for knowledge transfer andmarket linkage. These two CRCs participated in area based management extension programs togain knowledge regarding input supply management and good cultivation techniques such as seed
selection, organic fertilizer, bio-pesticides, straw and stubble management. They also received
support through the provision of certified seed, soil test analysis, and seeding machines.
In addition, these two CRCs participated in the Sustainable Rice Production Pilot Testing
Project. They now have high potential to reach a sustainable rice standard and become part of a
new sustainable rice value chain with economy of scale and good basic rice cultivation. During thepilot testing project, these two CRCs were encouraged to gain knowledge of sustainable riceproduction and sustainable rice value chain, designed with reference to SRP standards andindicators developed by the IRRI and SRP. The project began by recruiting 77 interested farmers asvolunteers. An introductory meeting was held with the two CRCs and project officials to formulate
operation plans. Initially, all interested farmers were asked to change their production practices anda production target of sustainable rice was set at 550 metric tons for the 2016/2017 crop, withpurchase guaranteed at a competitive market price.
2. Analysis of the Current Situation Regarding the Area Based Management Extension for
Sustainable Rice Farmers’ Groups
The CRCs desired to improve their rice cultivation practices and attain certification as ‘sustainable
rice standard’, with ability to link with the sustainable rice value chain. Some committee members
and members of the CRCs volunteered to implement sustainable rice production. Sustainable riceproduction knowledge was new to all the farmers. The two farming groups interacted with the
project by joining the pilot testing process implemented by the Thai Rice Department and BRIA
(2017b). The objectives were to 1) receive sustainable rice production program introduction, 2)
benchmark current practices to the sustainable standard, 3) analyze the risks faced during riceproduction, 4) attend training, 5) undergo participatory monitoring and follow-up farmers’
practices, 6) be audited by an external auditor, 7) organize a participatory harvesting plan, 8)
monitor a selling plan, and 9) participate in an after action review workshop. Before participatingin the program, all 77 interested farmers were assessed based on their current practice against thecompliance score of the SRP standard. Average score was 74.5%. After participating in the
program, their average compliance score assessed by a third-party auditor increased to 84%
classified by the ‘Working toward Sustainability’ level.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Farmers were trained to apply sustainable rice production, which complied with the standard;
however, the sustainable rice produced by these farmers also required good management anddelivery to the market as sustainable value chain. Sustainable rice was distinguished fromconventional rice. Economies of scale in terms of numbers of participating farmers, expected paddy
volumes, milling capacity and internal group management were all considered by the groups formarket linkage planning. Initially, the farmers planned to produce around 500 metric tons ofsustainable rice but when the selling season ended only 298 metric tons were delivered for milling.
Furthermore, the market linkage aspect of area based management extension enhanced farmers’
capacity to reach the market. This is an important incentive mechanism for farmers, similar to themarket-oriented extension paradigm that links the private sector and farmer (Swanson & Rajalahti,
2010).
Table 1 Challenge topic, objective, Group Action, and action result in year 2016
Challenge Topic

Objective

Group Action in 2016

1. Farm record

100% Farmers
must be able tomonitor farmrecords bythemselves.
To attain good
land leveling.

1. Farmers’ groups attended a stepby-step farm record workshop
organized by extension officers,
2. Farmers’ groups continued
recording by themselves.
1. Farmers’ groups received direct
training from extension officers.

3. Planting
methodReduce seed rateby applying aseeding method.

1. Farmers’ groups received direct
training from extension officers.

4. Seeding
servicemanagement

Provide services
to all members ontime.

5. Fertilizer
management

Increase yield andlower input costby applying
suitable fertilizer
formula atappropriate rate
and time.
Improve yield andapply safety
methods if the
farmer uses
herbicides.
All farmer canaccess a combine
harvester on time.

1. Farmers’ groups received seedingmachines from the Area BasedManagement Extension Program.
2. Farmers’ groups conducted
Demo Training on a plot for theseeding machine together withextension officers.
1. Farmers’ groups received direct
training in soil and nutrient
management by experts.
2. Farmers’ groups sent their soil tobe analyzed.

2. Landpreparation

6. Weedmanagement

7. Combine
harvestermachinemanagement
8. Selling

9. Internal
control systemmanagement

Action Results in 2016
90% of farmers could record theirown data with around 80%
completing the record sheets.
Only 50% of farmers applied
conventional leveling in small areas
due to financial difficulties andtechnology/service provider
availability in the area.
80% of farmers applied broadcasting
methods while only 20% applied aseeding machine due to lack ofmachine availability.
Only 20 % of farmers used theseeding machine as time constraints
resulted from late machine arrivaland some farmers had already planted
their crops. More planting machines
are required.
80% of farmers applied suitablefertilizers.
Soil test results came late. Farmers
applied fertilizer following generalrecommendations.

1. Farmers’ groups received direct
training from extension officers.

Only 10% of farmers applied
herbicides. 20% of farmers used hand
weeding and 70% used hand weeding
and cutting.

1. Group harvesting and selling
plans were organized for farmers’groups.

60% of farmers had access to a
combine harvester machine on time.

Deliversustainable rice
volume as agreed.

1. Group harvesting and selling
plans were organized for farmers’groups.

To have selfinspection within
farmers groups.

1. Farmers’ groups have been
implementing internal inspection
for seed production.

60% of the total crop was sold to theselected millers. This did not meet
the agreed amount because farmers
kept some rice for personal
consumption and seed.
70% of farmers could do selfinspection for seed production. This
was not yet implemented forsustainable grain.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

3. Action Identified for Farming Group Improvement after Applying Area BasedManagement Extension
The two area based management extension farmers’ groups also participated in a pilot testing
project as mentioned earlier. At the end of the sustainable rice production in 2016, the 77 farmers
participated in a workshop to review their actions and the results of their actions. Challenge topics
were identified and selected by the farming group committees, the Thai Rice Department and the
BRIA Project. Audit reports were also examined by third-party auditors. Results of the challenge,group action and action results are shown in the Table 1.
4. Lessons Learned
Valuable lessons learned from the sustainable rice area based extension model were categorized
into three aspects as follows:
4.1 Good knowledge transfer of sustainable rice production through group actions: Farmers
were audited and received an average compliance score of 84% of the SRP standard (Thai Rice
Department & BRIA, 2017a). Scores indicated a good understanding, with improvement shown by
these farmers after implementing the participatory actions of attending direct training fromextension officers (experts regarding the topics), attending special workshops, attending
demonstrations at training plots and also receiving some machines or service. There were no major
issues noted by the farmers at either of the two community rice centers; however, no farmers
implemented good land leveling due to lack of a reliable and efficient technology service providers
available in the area. Most of the farmers did not use any herbicides, pesticide, or fungicides andthis resulted in a high weed problem. Refer to post survey report from BRIA demo training plot in2017. Farmers who implemented good seeding machine technique and good weed control
increased gross profit margin by 53.90% through input cost reduction and higher yield (Departmentof Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2017). The Farmers’ Diary workshop that provided stepby-step training was a key success factor and encouraged farmers to record important data related
to crop production by themselves. Group actions significantly improved sustainable rice production.
4.2 Limited access through machinery service of introduced technology: The Farmers had agood understanding of sustainable rice production with intention to apply the newly introduced
technology; however, there were limitations with regard to machine hire service providers
including seeding machines, good land leveling machines, and combine harvesters. The farmers
realized that seeding machines could reduce their seed rate but numbers of seeding machines wereinsufficient. Demonstration of a large field project trial in Thailand using mechanized seeding(drum seeder) indicated significant gains in rice farming profitability. Farmers realized that yield
can be improved using mechanized seeding machines (Stuart et al., 2017). Farmers tried to reserve
combine harvesters when 80% to 85% of their rice grains were ripe but numbers of these machines
were limited. Therefore, as well as knowledge transfer, machine management or service provider
management should be considered in area based management extension projects.
4.3 Economy of scale in area based management extension and planning of cultivated areaand market capacity: Sustainable rice segregation requires matching milling capacity (drying andstorage capacities) and wet paddy. Participating farmers had to be well-organized with proper
management. Most farmers grew the Hom Mali rice variety. This variety is photoperiod sensitiveand ready for harvest by early November. In addition, farmers used combine harvesters and sold
wet paddy to the miller. The number of farmers and the harvested area size must match theavailable milling capacity. The capacity of one drying machine is around 500 metric tons per day.
Farmers’ groups planned, through the project, to deliver 500 metric tons from 77 farmers. It was
impossible to harvest the rice of 77 farmers in one day and deliver the product to the selected miller
to maintain full milling capacity. Another issue was that when the crop was harvested, only 298
metric tons were sold to the selected miller because the farmers kept some of their production for
consumption and seed supply. Therefore, area based management extensions must address the
economy of scale between market capacity and farmers/cultivated area as one of the key successfactors to build a new sustainable rice supply chain.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

CONCLUSION
A total of 77 farmers from two community rice centers in Det Udom District, Ubon Ratchathani
Province participated in the Area Based Management Extension Project organized by the MOAC,
and also SRP pilot testing through cooperation between the Thai Rice Department and BRIA
Thailand. The farmers received training regarding sustainable rice production through learning
activities with extension officers including attending direct training sessions and special workshops.
After participating, using the existing farmers’ group structure of mega-farm projects,
benchmarking with current practices and receiving additional sustainable rice production
knowledge, the 77 farmers were able to produce rice sustainably. In addition, the area based
management extension should involve more farmers. When farmers are introduced to a newtechnology, machine and service provider management should be taken into account. Furthermore,market linkage management in terms of economy of scale between market capacity (especiallydrying capacity of the miller) and cultivated size under area based management extension were
determined as key success factors for farmers to link with the market and develop a newsustainable rice supply chain.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research team would like to thank Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thai Rice
Department, and Better Rice Initiative Asia through cooperation between GIZ, Bayer, BASF, and
OLAM, and the community members that made this research possible.
REFERENCES
Apichart Pongsrihadulchai. 2014. Area based management extension. Handouts presented at Provincial
Agricultural and Cooperatives Meeting, Puengboon Room, Office of Agricultural Economic, February
2014, Bangkok.
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. 2017. Post survey study report. Kasetsart University,
Overview of Sustainable Rice Platform, http://www.sustainablerice.org/About-Us/ (retrieved on
November 13, 2017).
Stuart, A.M., Pame, A.R.P., Vithoonjit, D., Viriyangkura, L., Pithuncharurnlap, J., Meesang, N., Suksiri, P.,
Singleton, G. and Lampayan, R.M. 2017. The application of best management practices increases the
profitability of rice farming in the central plains of Thailand. Field Crops Research, 220, 78-87.
Swanson, B.E. and Riikka Rajalahti. 2010. Strengthening agricultural extension and advisory system,
Procedures for assessing, transforming, and evaluating extension systems. The International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, Washington DC.
Thai Rice Department & BRIA. 2017a. Overview on sustainable rice production in Thailand. Handout
presented at SRP Post Conference Tour, Thai Rice Department, October 6, 2017, Bangkok.
Thai Rice Department & BRIA. 2017b. The experience on developing the SRP training material & training
approach in Thailand. Handout presented at SRP Training Workshop, International Rice ResearchInstitute, May 3, 2017, Los Banos.

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Research article
erd

Policy and Socio-ecological Assessment of the Integrated
Social Forestry Program after 25 Years of Implementationin St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, Philippines
ANGELITA B. ORIAS*
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Philippines
Email: angelita.orias@vsu.edu.ph

MARLITO M. BANDE
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Philippines
Received 3 January 2018

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The implementation of Integrated Social Forestry (ISF) program involved hugeinvestments from the government and donor agencies. Considering these investments, is
ISF program effective enough in attaining its objectives? In view of this question, an indepth analysis of the Panian ISFP model site was conducted. The study was conceptualized
to assess the policy implementation status and socio-ecological impact of ISFP to theCertificate of Steward Contract (CSC) holders after 25 years from project implementation.
The results of the study showed that CSC holders considered reforestation and agroforestry
activities successful due to the increase in biomass and litter production that considerablyenhances soil fertility. Likewise, the CSC holders had noticed that the water yield in thecommunity significantly improved and there is a reduction of harvest losses because ofreforestation and agroforestry interventions. However, site assessment revealed that most of
the CSC holders have not planted 20% of the area with trees as required in the contract. In
fact, it is common to find CSC areas fully planted with coconuts. This manifests that the
government recognition of forest claims further enhance the conversion of forest land into
agricultural plantations. On the other hand, the result indicated that policy concerning
delegation of responsibilities within ISFP devolution was unclear and confusing since
LGUs’ responsibilities on forest land are still under the supervision, control, and review of
DENR. The LGUs pointed out that financial problems, lack of capability, deficiency in the
management and cooperation, and lack of personnel were the factors that deter them tocontinue the support for Panian ISFP model site.
Keywords community forestry, devolution, tenurial security, forest policy

INTRODUCTION
Philippines has lost a substantial portion of its forest (Era, 2005) which arose in the 1960’s to1970’s (Harrison et al., 2004) due to high domestic and export demand for tropical timber,intensive practice of the traditional slash-and-burn or kaingin farming (Weerd et al., 2002), andurbanization (Era, 2005). The forest degradation contributed to an alarming problem in the country
such as drought, flash floods, soil erosion, siltation, and sedimentation to water bodies (Dolom,1986).
In response, the Philippine government through the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) has implemented various forestry programs to minimize the denudation of theforestlands. However, continuous conversion of forestland into agriculture driven by the influx ofpeople that have low economic opportunities in the lowlands is an incessant challenge of thegovernment. Hence, the government adopted the community-based forest management approach on
the premise that sustainability of managing forest resources necessitates building aroundcommunities living within the forestlands and adjacent barangays. This was realized through theimplementation of Integrated Social Forestry Program (ISFP) that was launched in 1981 throughⒸ ISERD

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the Bureau of Forestry Development (BFD), now the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) of the
DENR pursuant to the Executive Order 192 and Letter of Instruction (LOI) 1260.
ISFP aims to uplift the socio-economic condition of the upland dwellers through improved
incomes from the use of appropriate upland technologies while protecting the environment within
25 years duration and renewable for another 25 years as stipulated in the Certificate of Stewardship
Contract (CSC). Implementation of the program involved investments (i.e., labor, supplies andfinancial resources) from donor agencies, such as the World Bank-funded Central Visayas
Regional Project (CVRP), the Ford Foundation-funded Upland Development Program and the
USAID-funded Rainfed Resources Development Project (RRDP) (Guiang et. al., 2001).
Considering the abovementioned investments, is ISF program effective enough in attaining its
objectives especially upon reaching the expiration date of each beneficiary’s contract? In view ofthis question, an in-depth analysis of the program implementation was conducted in Barangay
Panian, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to assess the policy implementation status and the socio-ecologicalimpact of ISFP on the CSC’s holders and to the model site after 25 years of implementation.
Likewise, factors that facilitates the success of the program and problems were documented andcould be used as basis to revisit and improve the policies of upland development projects in the
country.
METHODOLOGY
Selection and location of the study site: The existence of an ISF model site, the availability of thesecondary data and accessibility of the area were the major criteria considered in the selection of
the study site. The study site is located in Brgy. Panian, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte along
longitude 125˚ 07’05.9” and latitude 10˚17’13.1” under the supervision of Community
Environment and Natural Resource (CENRO) San Juan, Southern Leyte (Fig.1).

Study site
Fig. 1 Location of the study site
Formulation and pre-testing of survey instrument: A semi structured interview schedule wasformulated in English and was translated into Cebuano dialect. The survey instrument answers thefollowing objectives; namely: (a) social, economic, and demographic characteristics of CSC
holders; (b) CSC holders’ perceptions and opinions regarding the impact of ISFP; (c) problems
encountered during project implementation; (d) factors that facilitate the success of the program;and (e) lessons learned of the CSC holders and project personnel during the policy implementation
process. The survey instrument was pre-tested among 10 selected upland farmers in Inopacan,Ⓒ ISERD

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Leyte. The purpose of the activity was to test the instrument on the following: a) comprehensibilityof the instrument; b) respondents’ sensitivity to questions; and c) appropriateness of terms used.
Calculation of sample size: The total number of respondents was calculated using the equation forsample size determination (Dargantes, 1996).
n(1)§ Nz 2 s 2 ·¨¨¸  z 2s2
2 ¸
© Nd ¹

Where n = number of respondents to be included in the survey; N = total number of respondents inthe lists; Z = coefficient at 95% level of reliability; d = error level expressed in units of the normal
variable; s2 = sample variance of the normal variable. The sample variance used in the equation
was attained using summative size (in ha.) of CSC farms per cultivator as normal variable. Fortyseven respondents were randomly selected out of the 81 CSC holders. Of the 47 respondents, 26
were original CSC holders, 20 were the next-of-kin and one was the successor of the original
holder who was not physically capable of cultivating the land.
Data collection and focus group discussion: The data collection was conducted through thecoordination with the CENRO-San Juan headed by CENR Officer (For. Alejandro Bautista); theMunicipal Mayor (Hon. Napoleon Cuaton) and Panian Brgy. Captain (Hon. Ruperto Rafols). The
data collection includes: gathering of the secondary information, key informants interview, andindividual CSC holder’s farm visit. The results of the key informant’ interview (KII) were
presented during the focus group discussion (FGD). The FGD participants were composed ofrepresentatives from all sectors that were involved during the implementation of the ISF program(i.e., CSC holder-beneficiaries, from CENRO and the Provincial Environment and Natural
Resource Management Office (PENRMO), community organizer of the Panian Model Site, Brgy.
officials and representative from Municipal Local Government Unit (MLGU)). The FGD was done
to triangulate and validate the results obtained during the interview. Secondly, the FGD provided
an avenue for the CSC holders to raise their concerns and listen to the plan of the PENRMO (local
government) and CENRO-San Juan (national government) regarding the renewal of theirindividual CSC.
Data collating and statistical analysis: The data gathered during the interview and FGD werecollated and tabulated using Microsoft Excel. Likewise, descriptive statistical analysis was
conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 shows the duties and responsibilities of the CSC holders and their perception if each duties
are done and implemented. Most of the CSC holders assumed and implemented their duties andresponsibilities as reflected in the agreement. This manifest that the CSC holders are qualified toapply for renewal. As stipulated in Administrative Order No. 4 (dated Feb. 27, 1991), the issuanceand renewal of CSC is the main responsibility of the CENRO. On the other hand, during the FGD,
the representative from CENRO-San Juan Field Office revealed that the DENR is not anymore
processing any issuance and renewal of CSC contract. The representative cited Executive Order
263 which states that forestland areas with issued CSC are included under the Community-Based
Forest Management Program and a new tenurial instrument (CBFM Agreement) will be issued.
Hence, he strongly recommended that the CSC holders should reactivate their organization toqualify and apply for the CBFM agreement. The expert advice of the CENRO representative andthe information regarding the change in DENR policy on tenure instrument (from CSC to CBFMA)
causes more confusion and even doubt of the holders to apply for the renewal of their CSC contract.
Furthermore, Table 1 shows a considerable number of respondents opted to abstain in answering
the questions during the assessment.
This was clarified during the FGD that those respondents who abstained were the next-of-kinof the CSC holders. The reason of abstaining was they have less information and no personal
involvement during the project implementation since most of them were still very young and not
qualified to attend and participate any of the program related-activity.
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Table 1 CSC holders’ compliance to the duties and responsibilities of the ISF Program (n=47)
Duties and responsibilities
1. Participate in delineation of project area and parcellary surveys

Yes
36%

No
36%

Abstain28%

2. Develop the allocated lands to productive farms

70%

4%

26%

3. Devote at least 20% of the land within the project area to tree farming ofsuitable species
4. Protect and conserve the forest growth within the project area

43%

17%

40%

70%

2%

28%

5. Preserve monuments and other landmarks indicating corners and outlinesof boundaries
6. Prevent and suppress fires

57%

0%

43%

62%

11%

28%

7. Protect and preserve trees and other vegetation within a 20-meter strip ofland from the edge of the normal high waterline of river and streams withchannel of at least 5-meter wide
8. Abstain from cutting or harvesting naturally growing timbers within andadjacent to social forestry area
9. Refrain from transferring or assigning their allocated land

53%

2%

45%

49%

19%

32%

55%

13%

32%

The study of Asio and Bande (2005) revealed that project sustainability and transfer of local
knowledge can be attained through active involvement of the youth on association’s project
activities. In the case of Panian ISF program, the implementers failed to involve the youth sector.
Hence, the social sustainability of the project was jeopardized specially that most of the original
members were dead or physically incapacitated to perform their duties and responsibilities.
Impact Assessment of the Panian ISFP Model Site: Maximize Land Productivity andEcological Stability
The area’s terrain was rolling to steep (60 to 80% slopes) with elevations ranging from 100 to 500
meters above sea level (Tabada & Escasinas, 1993) which classified the areas under timberland.
The beneficiaries were encouraged to adopt appropriate agroforestry technologies since it is the
only way to harmonize productivity and conservation efforts. Contour canal and hedgerows were
the intervention as part of the agroforestry activity. However, during ocular inspection, it wasobserved that contour canals and hedgerows were left unmaintained. Despite of this, therespondents indicated that the landslide and flooding were significantly minimized which
considerably improved their harvest. Likewise, the holders pointed out that the soil-water
conservation measures had significantly increased their on-farm income which could be one of theindicators that the agroforestry intervention was effective. According to Mr. Fredo Ramada1, before
the implementation program, the area was dominated by cogon (Imperata cylindrica) and carabao
grass (Paspalum conjugatum). Cogon grass is one of the vegetative indicators that the area isaggravated by relative low pH, highly leached infertile soil, lack of surface organic matter and highevapotranspiration rate which causes water stress (Sajise, 1990). Other factor that exhilarated thebeneficiary to participate in the reforestation was their area needs immediate rehabilitation because
it is prone to landslide and flashflood due to the geologic characteristics of the site. Moreover, theresult showed that CSC holders consider reforestation activity successful because of the following
observations: (a) biomass and litter production considerably increased that enhances soil fertility on
their CSC-issued farms, (b) water yield in the community was significantly improved due towatershed rehabilitation, and (c) reduction of harvest losses due to minimized flooding and soil
erosion.

1 Mr. Fredo Ramada - project leader of the Panian ISF model site from 1989 until 1992

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Impact Assessment of the Panian ISFP Model Site: Improvement of Socio-economic
Conditions of the Forest Occupants
Majority of the respondents depend on farming as their major source of livelihood wherein 71
percent of their total farm income was derived from the CSC-issued parcel. The agroforestry
perennial crops [i.e., abaca (Musa textilis), coconut (Cocos nucifera), and fruit trees] that were
distributed during the operation had significantly increased the on-farm income of the beneficiaries.
Some of the respondents revealed that they had started harvesting the trees [i.e., yemane (Gmelina
aborea) and mangium (Acacia mangium)] planted on their individual farm. According to the
respondents, the income was used to finance the school expenses of their children. Presently, someof the project beneficiaries’ children got decent and stable jobs because they finished a college
degree. This was one of the manifestations of direct economic benefits of the project to thebeneficiaries. On the other hand, self-confidence, trust of the local people, development of theirleadership abilities, and establishment of good rapport with the local government units including
DENR personnel were documented as positive outcomes in relation to the social impact of ISF
program.
Policy Assessment of Panian ISFP Model Site: CSC Implementation After Devolution
Based on the ocular inspection vis-à-vis CSC policy implementation assessment, the results
showed that most of the CSC holders have not planted 20% of their area with trees as required in
the contract. In fact, it is common to find CSC areas fully planted with coconut and banana. Hence,the community acceptance and government recognition (e.g. Certificate of Stewardship Contract)of forest claims enhances intensive cultivation of food crops or the conversion of forest land into
agricultural plantations (i.e., coconut and abaca). On the other hand, it was mentioned during the
FGD that there had never been support provided by the Municipal and Provincial government after
transferring the responsibility of Panian ISFP model site to the LGU. Presently, the CSC holders
are faced with problems of management, technical capability, and lack of knowledge about thechange of government policy on natural resource management and renewal of stewardshipagreement. During the FGD, it was pointed out by the Municipal Agriculturist that the minor
involvement of the municipality in the monitoring of ISFP activities was because these are usually
initiated in forest areas, and therefore, it is under DENR’s authority. The formulation of the LGUs
responsibilities within the Local Government Code on forest land is that they are under thesupervision, control, and review of DENR. Hence, the LGU’s responsibilities seemed to be barely
recognized by DENR whose officials often claimed that forest lands are under DENR’s authority
exclusively (Groetschel et al., 2001).
Policy Assessment of Panian ISFP Model Site: CSC Renewal
A serious concern brought up during the FGD was the renewal of CSC. All CSC agreements issued
during the implementation of Panian ISFP model site had expired in 2016. As stipulated in thecontract, the CSC holder is qualified for a renewal for another 25 years provided that he/she
complied with the agreement. However, the DENR has adopted and implemented Executive Order
263 (CBFM strategy) which resulted to non issuance or renewal of CSC. Considering this change
on DENR policy, it indicates that the CSC holder will lose their legal claim over the land theycultivated and developed for 25 years. The results of this study indicated that the CSC holders were
not informed about the CBFM program. This could probably lead to a conflict between the CSC
holders and government agencies.
Policy Assessment of Panian ISFP Model Site: Delegation of Responsibilities within
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The results of this study indicated that policy concerning the delegation of responsibilities within
ISFP devolution was unclear and LGUs were confused. One example was the DENR’s
responsibilities and the functions of the Environment and Natural Officers in the LGUs (bothProvincial and Municipal). It becomes difficult to distinguish respective tasks, mandates,
responsibilities, and authorities. It creates difficulties when some responsibility for ISF program
should have been completely devolved but in fact still partly under DENR’s authority. The
Municipal Agriculturist of St. Bernard reported that beneficiaries under the devolved ISF sites arecoming to their office with questions concerning stewardship renewal, demonstrating publicconfusion with respect to the continuity of the program and the responsible institutions.
Socio-ecological Factors that Influence the Panian ISFP Model Site
Majority of the problems encountered during and after the project implementation were not solved
and even continued to create conflict among project participants and implementers. The major
problems were identified, namely: (a) non-processing of CSC renewal which is inconsistent withthe existing DENR policy as stipulated in the CSC contract; (b) no proper turn-over of project
documents during the devolution of the program; and (c) failure to transfer the knowledge andinformation about the program to the next-of-kin which became a barrier in attaining social,economic, and ecological sustainability. However, the implementation of reforestation andadoption of agroforestry systems significantly improved the bio-physical and environmental
conditions of the area. During the socio-ecological assessment, the success of ISFP as a strategy incommunity-based forest conservation was due to the following salient factors: a) security of tenure;b) environmental awareness; c) commitment and community empowerment; and d) external
support. In addition, the upliftment of the community’s general living conditions and change inattitude of residents towards forest conservation and biodiversity protection in relation to increasein on-farm income was the major achievement of the ISF Program. However, government
recognition through the issuance of CSC over forest land claim further increases conversion oftimber land into agricultural plantations.
CONCLUSION
Even with the policy in place to ensure covering at least part of the land with trees, these areas arestill converted into agricultural plantations as many other cultivated areas (without CSC) in timberland. Hence, the CSC strategy to get commitment from, and time control over forest dwellers who
are operating as kaingineros is not clearly established and implemented under the ISF guidelines. If
the CSCs are to be renewed, there must be a strong commitment to comply with the rules andregulations. Noncompliance with the policy should lead to the cancellation of CSCs andreallocation of the land. Demonstrating the commitment to enforce the laws, combined with publicawareness campaign will further enhance the motivation of the CSC holders to follow the
stipulations in the contract for improvement and development of their individual land. On the other
hand, the municipal and provincial local government units are the key players in all efforts to reachthe rural population. Burdened by the devolution of offices and related tasks, and hit by weakeconomic activities within the boundaries and subsequently low tax revenues, the LGUs could
sustain the basic services for their population through sound management of their assets. Hence,
policy on increasing LGUs assets through communal forestry could be one of the major concernsof the ISF program right from the start of the implementation.
REFERENCES
Asio, V.B. and Bande, M.M. 2005. Innovative community-led sustainable forest resource conservation andmanagement in Baybay Leyte, in the Philippines. Innovative Communities People-Centered Approaches
to Environmental Management in the Asia, Pacific Region, United Nation University Press, 204-224.
Dargantes, B.B. 1996. Socio-ecological case studies on forest lands cultivation in Leyte, Philippines. Ph.D.
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Dissertation, University of Hohenheim, Germany.
Dolom, B.L. 1986. Impact of man’s activities on tropical upland forest ecosystems, Upland development
through social forestry in the Philippine experience. Program Development Section, Social Forestry
Division, BFD. Quezon City, Philippines, 407-419.
Era, M.D. 2005. Enhancing people’s participation and the role of the local government in the management of
the forest, A case of Capoocan Leyte, Philippines. Workshop on Enlarging Citizen Participation andIncreasing Local Autonomy in Achieving Society Harmony, Beijing, 2-11.
Groetschel, A., Aquino R., Bucholz, I., Mazo, T., Ibkendanz, A., Sales, N., Seven, J. and Vicentuan, K. 2001.
Natural resource management strategies on Leyte Island, Philippines. Baybay/Berlin.
Guiang, E.S., Borlagdan, S.B. and Pulhin, J.M. 2001. Community-based forest management in thePhilippines, Preliminary assessment. Institute of Philippine Culture, Ateneo De Manila University,
Quezon City, 4-112.
Harrison, S., Emtage, N. and Nasayao, B. 2004. Past and present forestry support programs in the Philippinesand lessons for the future small-scale forest economics. Management and Policy, 3 (3), 303-317.
Sajise, P.E. 1990. Alang-alang (Imperata cylindrica (L) Beauv) and upland agriculture. Biotrop Spec.
Publication, 5, Bogor.
Tabada, A.T.W. and Escasinas, V.A. 1993. Panian integrated social forestry model site, Saint Bernard, So.
Leyte. Unpublished Research Report, Center for Social Research, ViSCA, Baybay, Leyte, vi+24.
Weerd, M.V., Strijk, J. and Snelder, D. 2002. The importance of forest fragment for birds and local
communities in Northeast Luzon Philippines. SYLVATROP. The Technical Journal of Philippine
Ecosystem and Natural Resources, 13 (1) & (2).

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Research article
erd

Environmental Education and Sustainability in Mataneedol
School: A Case Study of “Turning the School Kitchen Waste
into the Healthy Soil and Safety Food” Project
ARISA IWAI
Mataneedol School, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: arisaiwai@gmail.com

ORATAI SANTIMATANEEDOL*
Mataneedol School, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: prinfon@hotmail.com
Received 13 February 2018

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Environmental education and sustainability practices in schools have been
emerging as an important trend in 21st century education as the Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (DESD) launched by the United Nations. Mataneedol School is aunique school in a beautifully landscaped setting and environmental friendly located inKhon Kaen city, Northeast of Thailand. Mataneedol School is a pioneering school where
the students and teachers from all over the world can learn and thrive together. The aim of
this study was to conduct the environmental education through practices of ESD in order toenable the children to grow in an environment that helps imbibe awareness, sensitivity andthe necessary skills to be environmentally responsible citizens of mother earth. The
objective of this project was to study the benefits of the project on “Turning the school
kitchen waste into the healthy soil and produce the safety food” toward the attitude of
students. The student project on school waste management has been conducted. The 3 R(reuse, recycle and reduce) has been taught. Plant biodiversity has been monitored by
students. Workshop on vermicompost was conducted by student council president. In theprocess, students learn that food waste is not totally useless, but can be used as organic
fertilizers for plants. Students help to separate and record how much the school waste
produced per day. We become more aware about re-using waste and saving the earth. The
children are able to participate in activities that help to protect the environment, such assorting of waste, making vermicompost and use the vermicompost as a biofertilizer for theschool's garden. As they take part in these daily activities, the children understand better
how to actively protect the environment and get the safe food for them. They learn ascientific thinking through the experiment on their environmental project. The Schools
programme encourages young children to take actions to protect their environment and tobe the change for sustainabilityl.
Keywords green school, education for sustainable development (ESD), active learning,
agriculture

INTRODUCTION
Environmental education and sustainability practices in schools have been emerging as animportant trend in 21st century education as the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development(DESD) launched by the United Nations.Environmental Education for Sustainable Development(EESD) is as an essential tool to change student’s commitment, motivation, stewardship, behaviour
and attitudes (UNESCO, 2009). To achieve the goals EESD, the active learning approach is widely
recommended by several researchers. Further research demonstrated that when students are
involved in active learning process, retention of knowledge is significantly increased (Henderson
and Tilbury, 2004), there is enhanced motivation and higher-order learning and development ofⒸ ISERD

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practical skills (Lipscomb, 2014). Learning through experiences has both process and outcome
dimensions, with basic content mastery integrated with opportunities to manage complex projects,
apply critical thinking, and develop skills in inquiry that have applications beyond the classroom(Kemp, 2016).
Active learning has become an important issue for student learning. Mataneedol School,
which is located in Khon Kaen, Thailand combines the use of British and American Curriculums
and takes the approach that active learning should also be a fun experience for its students.
Mataneedol School is a unique school in a beautifully landscaped setting and environmental
friendly located in Khon Kaen city, Northeast of Thailand. Mataneedol School is a pioneeringschool where the students and teachers from all over the world can learn and thrive together. Active
teaching learning methods involve students in the learning process such as discussions, writing,asking and answering questions and engaging in their own learning. These activities in turn require
students to use critical thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to conduct the environmental education through practices of ESD inorder to enable the children to grow in an environment that helps imbibe awareness, sensitivity andthe necessary skills to be environmentally responsible citizens via the project on “Turning theschool kitchen waste into the healthy soil and produce the safety food”.
METHODOLOGY
Active Learning of Environmental Education through “Turning the school kitchen waste into thehealthy soil and safety food Project of Grade 1-6 students was conducted. This project came fromthe student’s committee lead by student council president. This approach includes students inmeaningful leadership roles in making the school more environmentally sustainable.
The methodology was a case study; the target audience were Grade1-6: 80 students from
Mataneedol School who are in their second semester of 2017 (Purposive Sampling). Research
instruments used were workshop, lesson plans, participatory observation, interviews, and student’s
tasks assessments. Data were analyzed using Qualitative interpretation.
Research Design
This research uses a case study design on “Turning the school kitchen waste into the healthy soil
and safety food” Project.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The student project on school waste management has been conducted. The 3 R (reuse, recycle andreduce) has been taught. Plant biodiversity has been monitored by students. The project on“Turning the school kitchen waste into the healthy soil and produce the safety food” was successcase. Workshop on vermicompost was conducted by student council president. In the process,students learn that food waste is not totally useless, but can be used as organic fertilizers for plants.
Student helps to separate and record how much the school waste produced per day. We become
more aware about re-using waste and saving the earth. The children are able to participate inactivities that help to protect the environment, such as sorting of waste, making vermicompost anduse the vermicompost as a biofertilizer for the school's garden. As they take part in these daily
activities, the children understand better how to actively protect the environment and get the safe
food for them. They learn a scientific thinking through the experiment on their environmental
project.

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Results found that workshop on vermicomposting that conducted by student council president
is a good way to educate students about data collection, scientific observation, decomposition,
nutrient cycles, natural biological systems and waste management. It also offers an opportunity forthem to learn a practical way that they, as individuals, can make a positive impact on theenvironment. It is opportunities to integrate math and science in school. Added food could beweighed and recorded. The time that it takes for individual food items to decompose can beobserved, as earthworm food preferences. Student could will also see earthworms at different
stages of their life cycle. Students leant about the important role that this type of worm plays innatural systems. When vermicompost was finished, student used vermicompost in plant growthexperiments. Students enjoy their science experiment to compare the growth of vegetablecompared the treatment with and without vermicompost. Student learn how important on nutrientsand they could produce the healthy vegetable and use for their school lunch. These activities
promote knowledge retention and make active learning a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Active learning in the school gardens could an inculcate scientific outlook food behaviour,
positive social and environmental attitudes/behaviours (Blair, 2009). Place-based approaches inenvironmental education are valuable for several reasons. These approaches provide students with
opportunities for learning in real situations. School garden’s practice is one component of active
environmental education advantageous for learning in the biosciences. Active learning methods
involve students in the learning process such as discussions, writing, asking and answering
questions and engaging in their own learning. These activities in turn require students to use criticalthinking skills such as analysis and evaluation (UNECE, 2012). The goal of knowledge processing
is that the learner can elaborate on applications of knowledge and student may also produce newknowledge using cognitive processes, rather than being a passive listener
CONCLUSION
It may be concluded that the active teaching learning approach is more effective in facilitating
environmental education for sustainable development among school children. Students become
more aware about re-using waste and saving the earth. The students are able to participate inactivities that help to protect the environment, such as sorting of waste, making vermicompost anduse the vermicompost as a biofertilizer for the school's garden. As they take part in these daily
activities, the children understand better how to actively protect the environment and get the safe
food for them. They learn a scientific thinking through the experiment on their environmental
project. The active learning encourages young children to take actions to protect their environment
and to be the change for sustainability. It starts in the classroom, expands to the school and fosters
change in the community.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the Integrated Water Resource Management Research and Development Centre
in Northeast Thailand and The Research Developing and Learning Centre on Earthworm for
Agriculture and Environment, Khon Kaen University for supporting the earthworm and material
for vermicomposting.
REFERENCES
Blair, D. 2009. The child in the garden, An evaluative review of the benefits of school gardening. The
Journal of Environmental Education, 40 (2), 15-38.
Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 2005-2014, http:/www.desd.org/
Henderson, K and Tilbury, D. 2004. Whole-school approaches to sustainability, An international review ofsustainable school programs. Report Prepared by the Australian Research Institute in Education for
Sustainability (ARIES) for The Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
http:/aries.mq.edu.au/projects/whole_school/ les/international_review.pdfⒸ ISERD

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Kemp C. 2016. 5 skills students need to be contributing global citizens. http://mrkempnz.com/2016/07/5skills-students-need-to-be-contributing-global-citizens.html (retrieved on September 3, 2017).
Lipscomb. 2014. Global citizenship, Essential skills for the 21st century. https://www.lipscomb.
edu/education/blog/education/2014/4/9/global-citizenship-essential-skills-for-the-21st-century (retrievedon September 3, 2017).
Towards a Green Future. 2012. A trainer’s manual on education for sustainable development. Ahmedabad,
CEE.
UNECE. 2012. Learning for the future, Competences in education for sustainable development. UNECE,
http:/www.unece.org/leadmin/DAM/env/esd/ESDPublications/Competences_Publication.pdf, Switzerland.
UNESCO. Nd. Framework for the UN DESD international implementation scheme. http:/unesdoc.
unesco.org/images/0014/001486/148650E.pdf
UNESCO. 2009. World conference on education for sustainable development. Bonn Declaration. 31 March.
2009-2 April, 2009, http:/www.esd-world-conference-2009.org/leadmin/download/ESD2009_Bonn
Declaration.pdfⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Research article
erdAgroecological Assessment of Different Cultural Practices of
Pineapple, Ananas comosus, (Linn) Mer. (Var. Red Spanish)for Sustainable Fiber Production in Geo-Textile Industry inBalete, Aklan
EDRIAN PAOLO B. TULIN*
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Philippines
Email: edrian.tulin@vsu.edu.ph

MARLITO M. BANDE
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Philippines
Received 31 December 2017

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Pineapple fiber offers a promising contribution in the developing geo-textile
industry in Balete, Aklan. To support this initiative, a study was conducted to assess thedifferent agroecological production systems of Ananas comosus var. Red Spanish for fiber
production and determine the biomass production, fiber yield, and fiber recovery of Red
Spanish grown under different agroecological production systems. Five study sites wereselected with varying socio-cultural management systems which included a) intensive
pineapple monoculture; b) traditional pineapple monoculture; c) pineapple-rambutangmelina; d) pineapple-rambutan-banana and e) pineapple-indigenous trees. Results showedthat the pineapple planted underneath the indigenous trees significantly (p≤0.05) produced
lower biomass but higher fiber yield (p≤0.05) as compared to the other four production
systems studied. It was found out that there was a significant correlation (r=0.93) between
leaf weight, length, and fiber yield. However, no significant difference on fiber recovery wasobserved between study sites. On the other hand, pineapple-indigenous trees agroecologicalsystem had higher NPK contents compared to those in the other study sites. Therefore,
integrating the pineapple with indigenous trees is the most sustainable production systemsince this will lead to better soil fertility and provide optimum fiber yield.
Keywords pineapple fiber, geo-textile industry, production systems, agroforestry

INTRODUCTION
The Red Spanish pineapple is highly recommended in the Philippines not just for its fruit but also
for its fiber. The Red Spanish pineapple is an asexually propagated crop and is normally multipliedby using crown, sucker, and slip. It adopts to a wide range of soil and climatic conditions, althougha well-drain soil which has a pH range of 4.5-5.5 was considered ideal. Most pineapple plantation,
usually has an average planting density of 33, 333 plants/ha. The Red Spanish variety yields anaverage of 12-16 long leaves per plant. The leaves are usually harvested 18-24 months after
planting to obtain the well-formed fibers. The first layer of fiber - is locally known as the “Bastos”(coarse) and the second layer – the “Liniuan” (fine) fiber. These are manually extracted from theleaves (FIDA, 2010). The inappropriate application of fertilizer, poor weed management, andirrigation are some of the factors that may affect the production of fiber (Tabora, 1977).
According to Montilona (1991), the Red Spanish should be grown in shaded or partiallyshaded area for it to produce long and pliable fibers. However, the Fiber Industry Development
Authority (FIDA, 2010) reported that when the crop is grown in an open field it produces stronger
fibers. The pineapple fiber has a good tensile strength which makes it a good material in making
geo-textiles. This makes the pineapple fiber an important material in Aklan. The Aklanons believethat these fibers could be a great potential in the local and world market. This study was conductedin Balete Province of Aklan, Philippines to assess the different cultural management practices ofⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

the growers involved in cultivating the Red Spanish pineapple. The result of this study will provide
valuable information and identify gaps to be used in improving sustainable production and supplyof pineapple fiber for geo-textile industry in Balete, Aklan.
OBJECTIVESThis study was conducted to investigate and assess the different agroecological production systemsof Ananas comosus for fiber production and determine the biomass production, fiber yield, andfiber recovery of Ananas comosus production systems on Balete, Aklan, Philippines.
METHODOLOGY
Research duration: This study was conducted from July to August 2016 in collaboration with the
non-timber forest products (NTFP) task force Philippines.
Selection and description of study site: This study was conducted in Balete Province of Aklan,
Philippines which was selected based on different cultural production practices of the growers
involved in cultivating the Red Spanish pineapple. These were: a) intensive pineapple monoculture;b) traditional pineapple monoculture; c) pineapple-rambutan-gmelina; d) pineapple-rambutanbanana; e) pineapple-indigenous trees.
Collection of soil sample: The soil samples were collected on the selected sites. About 1,000
grams of composite soil samples from each site were collected for physico-chemical analysis at theCentral Analytical Service Laboratory (CASL) of the Visayas State University (VSU). In
identifying the soil, a soil profile characterization, and observation of the soil physical properties in
the field were done.
Collection of tissue and fiber samples: The pineapple plant samples were collected randomly
from the selected plantations. This was done two days before the termination of the study. There
were 18 sample plants collected in each production site. These samples were placed in a sack andwere brought back to VSU for further laboratory analysis. The fibers were extracted using the
traditional stripper. Fibers were classified and weighed and fiber yield plant-1 was determined.
Fiber recovery plant-1 (in relation to leaf fresh weight) was calculated using the formula:𝑊

FR (leaf fresh weight) = 𝑊𝐹 x 100

Eq. 1

𝑃

Where:

FR (leaf fresh weight) = Stripped fiber recovery per plant (%)
WF = Total weight of dried fiber per plant (g)WP = Total weight of harvestable leaves per plant (g)Determination of Dry Biomass: Ten sample pineapple plants from each plantation site were
carefully selected ensuring that they were in optimum growth condition. Biomass samples werepartitioned into plant organs. For each plant fraction, fresh and dry weight (after over drying at an
appropriate temperature and time until a constant weight was reached) were determined. The tissue
samples were weighed using digital analytical balance. Then the percent moisture content andpercent dry biomass were computed using the formula as cited by Bande (2013), Lambers et al.
(1998) and Lahav and Turner (1985):
Moisture Content (%) =fresh weight (g)−dry weight (g)x 100
fresh weight (g)Fw

Dry weight = Mc
Where:

Eq. 2
Eq. 3

Fw = the mass of fresh matter in a tissue (g)Mc = moisture content in a tissueⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Mo

Biomass Proportional Distributions = Mwx 100
Where:

Eq. 4

Mo = the mass of dry matter in a tissue (g)Mw = the mass of dry matter in the whole plant (g)Statistical analysis: All data were tested for normality and homogeneity using PROC Univariateof Statistical Analysis System version 9.1 (SAS, 2003). PROC GLM (general linear model)
procedure was initially performed to assess the significant effects of production system on
pineapple’s total biomass, fiber yield and fiber recovery. The final models for each response
variables were analyzed but including only those significant main factors and interaction effects.
Duncan multiple range test (DMRT) and least squares differences (LSD) were carried out tocompare different production system means of independent variables with significant variations at
probability<0.05.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Agroecological Description of the Different Pineapple Production Systems
1. Intensive Pineapple Monoculture Production System
The study site is in Barangay Fulgencio, Balete, Aklan (11o 35ʹ 42.65ʺ N and 122o 22ʹ 25.21ʺ E) on
an alluvial terrace with an elevation of 49 meters above mean sea level and a slope of 0-3%. The
site has an average annual precipitation of 2,600 mm yr-1 and a mean annual temperature of 27.5oC.
The site was previously planted with maize (Zea maize) and banana (Musa sp.) then left underfallow for five years. This production system was established in 2015 by the members of the
Aklanon Piña Fiber Producer’s Association (APFiPA) with high planting density associated withintensive application of commercial fertilizer and weeding to attain a maximum fiber yield.
The soil analysis revealed that the texture of the surface horizon on this production site wasclay loam with 1.6% soil organic carbon which is suitable for pineapple production (Table 1).
Ficciagroindia (2007) reported that pineapple can suitably be grown on sandy and loamy soils thatis rich in humus. Otsuka, et al. (1988), and Asio (1996) reported organic C content of the A
horizons of some volcanic soils in the Philippines ranged from 0.79 to 11.1%. Organic carbon inagricultural soils contributes positively to soil fertility, soil tilt, crop production and over-all soil
sustainability (Bauer and Black, 1994; Lal, et al., 1997; Reaves, 1997). The soil chemical analysis
results revealed that NPK contents in the soil was generally low for crop production. According to
Hoffmann’s (1991), the nutritional standard for phosphorus on agronomic crops, soils with values
within the range between 0-22 mg kg-1 is classified as low (category A) for plant nutrition. On theother hand, soils having available potassium values of 67-141 mg kg-1 are moderate (category B)
for plant nutrition (Hoffmann, 1991).
2. Traditional (less intensive) Pineapple Monoculture Production System
This production system is located in Barangay Guanko, Balete, Aklan (11o 29ʹ 58.20ʺ N and 122o22ʹ 56.35ʺ E) about 15 km south of Balete town at an elevation of 156 masl. The site was selected
since traditional way of growing Red Spanish pineapple for fiber production is still being practiced.
The socio-cultural management was different from the first site since there was no application of
inorganic fertilizer and less intensive weeding was observed. In this production system, available P
and exchangeable K was considerably higher than the first study site. Based on the interview
conducted with pineapple growers, regular burning of cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica) ispracticed during land preparation prior to planting of pineapple suckers or crown. This was
confirmed on the soil organic carbon analysis where a significant difference was observed between
the SOC value in site 1. Meanwhile, the phosphorus and available potassium in this production
system qualifies under category A (low) and E (very high); respectively, based on Hoffmann’sⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1(1991) nutritional standard on agronomic crops.
3. Pineapple-Rambutan-Gmelina Production System
The site is in Barangay Guanko, Balete, Aklan (11o 28ʹ 38.17ʺ N and 122o 22ʹ 41.84ʺ E) about 15.5
km south of Balete town at an elevation of 208 masl. It is presently planted with gmelina (Gmelina
arborea) and rambutan (Nephellium lapaceum). As part of the production system, Red Spanish
pineapples were intentionally planted underneath the existing trees and/or fruit trees which
provides shade to the pineapple plants. According to the pineapple grower, he had been practicing
the production system for 5 years already which provided considerable increase in his farm income.
The soil nutrient analysis results showed that the total nitrogen was 2.4 g kg-1 while available
phosphorus was 0.05 mg kg-1 and exchangeable potassium 107.50 mg kg-1. This means that P and
K content in the soil were generally low and moderate; respectively, for plant nutrition onagronomic crops (Hoffmann, 1991).
Table 1 Soil chemical characteristics of the different Red Spanish pineapple production
systems
Study
Site
1
2
3
4
5

Agroecological Production
SystemIntensive Pineapple Monoculture
Production System
Traditional Pineapple Monoculture
Production System
Pineapple-Rambutan-Gmelina
Production System
Pineapple-Rambutan-Banana
Production System
Pineapple-indigenous trees
Production System

OC
(%)

Total
N (%)

Avail P
(mg/kg)Exch K(mg/kg)pH(1:2.5)

Exch Al(mg/kg)

0.23

0.56

64.48

4.95

12.18

3.51

0.34

2.39

661.25

4.64

7.81

2.81

0.24

0.05

107.50

4.87

17.74

2.46

0.23

0.46

247.50

4.94

18.15

3.61

0.36

3.54

308.75

4.56

12.05

1.60

4. Pineapple-Rambutan-Banana Production System
This production system is in Barangay Guanko, Balete, Aklan (11o 27ʹ 27.07ʺ N and 122o 22ʹ 17.0ʺ
E) about 15.8 km south of Balete town at an elevation of 243amsl. It is presently planted withrambutan (Nephellium lapaceum) and banana (Musa spp.). As part of the multi-strata
agroecological production system, Red Spanish pineapples were intentionally planted underneaththe existing fruit tree and bananas which provide shade to the pineapple plants. The soil nutrient
analysis results revealed that soil texture was clay loam and SOC was 2.46%. Like in study sites 1
and 3, both available P and exchangeable K in the soil were generally low for plant nutrition inagronomic crop (Hoffmann, 1991).
5. Pineapple-Indigenous Trees Production System
This production system is practiced in Barangay Guanko, Balete, Aklan (11o 26ʹ 48.73ʺ N and 122o22ʹ 17.15ʺ E) about 16 km south of Balete town at an elevation of 246 masl. The site was selected
since it is different from the other production systems where the early succession native trees wereintentionally allowed to regenerate which provides shade to the pineapple plants. Generally, thisproduction system has a higher NPK contents compared to those in the other study sites.
Biomass Production and Proportional Allocation of Dry Biomass
Total dry matter accumulation differed significantly (p≤0.05) among harvested Red Spanish
pineapple sample plants from different agroecological production systems. Results showed thatthose Red Spanish pineapple planted in the intensive monoculture system has significantlyⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Total Biomass Weight (g plant-1)(p≤0.05) higher total biomass production than the other four production systems being studied(Figure 1). This was followed by plants harvested from the traditional monoculture system which
has comparable dry matter accumulation with plants grown in the pineapple-rambutan-gmelina andpineapple-rambutan-banana production systems. The higher biomass production in the intensive
monoculture was because of the exhaustive application of inorganic fertilizer compared to the otherproduction systems.
Furthermore, farmers who are engaged in the production of Red Spanish pineapple areconcerned on the quality and quantity of leaves produced per plant since the fibers are extracted
from the leaf. Based on the results of the study, pineapple grown under the intensive monoculture
production system significantly (p≤0.05) produced more leaves than those grown using thepineapple-indigenous trees but had comparable leaf production with plants grown in traditional
monoculture, pineapple-rambutan-gmelina and pineapple-rambutan-banana production system.
25.00

a

20.00
15.00

b

10.00

bc

bc
c

5.00
0.00
1

2

3

4

5

Study Sites

Fig. 1 Dry biomasss production (g plant-1) of Red Spanish pineapple planted indifferent agroecological production systems(Note: LSD values with letter supersript (a-c) between study sites are significantly different (p ≤0.05); N = 14; 1 = Intensive Pineapple Monoculture, 2 = Traditional Pineapple Monoculture, 3= Pineapple-Rambutan-Gmelina, 4 = Pineapple-Rambutan-Banana, 5 = Pineapple-Indigenous
Trees)

Liniuan

15.00

Fiber Yield (g plant-1)

Bastos

a

12.00

b

a

9.00
6.00

Total

a

ab
bc

3.00

b

b
c

bc

bc
c

a ab

c

0.00
1

2

3

4

5

Study Sites

Fig. 2 Primary (bastos), secondary (liniuan) and total dry fiber yield (g plant-1) of
Red Spanish pineapple planted in different agroecological production systems(Note: LSD values with letter supersript (a-c) between study sites are significantly different (p ≤0.05); N = 14; 1 = Intensive Pineapple Monoculture, 2 = Traditional Pineapple Monoculture, 3 =Pineapple-Rambutan-Gmelina, 4 = Pineapple-Rambutan-Banana, 5 = Pineapple-Indigenous
Trees)Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Fiber Yield and Fiber Recovery
According to FIDA (2010), the pineapple fiber is usually composed of coarse or primary “bastos”
and fine or secondary “liniuan” fibers which are manually extracted from its leaves. The results ofthe study revealed (Fig. 2), there was a significant difference (p≤0.05) on total, primary (bastos)and secondary (liniuan) fibers yield between intensive pineapple monoculture and pineappleindigenous trees production systems to traditional monoculture, pineapple-rambutan-gmelina, andpineapple-rambutan-banana production systems. Furthermore, FIDA (2010) reported that fiberyield depends on the number of harvestable leaves and the physical characters of the leaves atharvest. It was found out that there was a significant correlation between leaf weight, length, andfiber yield. This was consistent with the result in this study where there were highly significant
correlations (r=0.93) between fiber yield and leaf weight.
On the other hand, the results on fiber recovery calculation showed no significant difference
among different agroecological production systems (Table 2). However, the pineapple grownunder indigenous trees has higher fiber recovery than the other four production systems. The dataon fiber recovery also revealed lower secondary (Fine) fiber recovery than primary (Coarse) fiber.
The low fiber recovery of the “Fine” fiber was probably due to the developed parenchyma cells
attached to the fibers and to presence of stigmata. In contrast the rough surface of primary fiber
resulted to easier extraction time and higher recovery during stripping.
Table 2 Recovery (%) of bastos (primary), liniuan (secondary) and total fiber extracted fromthe leaves of the Red Spanish pineapple in different agroecological production
systems
Fiber Recovery (%)

Agroecological Production System
Intensive Pineapple Monoculture
Traditional Pineapple Monoculture
Pineapple -Rambutan-Gmelina
Pineapple-Rambutan-Banana
Pineapple-Indigenous Trees

Fine
0.42 ± 0.11a
0.48 ± 0.11a
0.33 ± 0.11a
0.33 ± 0.09a
0.48 ± 0.09a

Coarse0.55 ± 0.14a
0.32 ± 0.14a
0.46 ± 0.14a
0.35 ± 0.11a
0.59 ± 0.11a

Total
0.97±0.22a
0.80±0.22a
0.79±0.22a
0.67±0.18a
1.08±0.18a

Note: LSD values with letter superscript (a) within columns of liniuan and bastos fiber haveno significant differences; N = 18

CONCLUSION
The pineapple grown underneath the indigenous trees significantly (p≤0.05) produced lower dry
biomass but higher fiber yield (p≤0.05) as compared to the other four production systems. However,no significant difference on fiber recovery was observed between study sites. On the other hand,pineapple-indigenous trees agroecological system had higher NPK contents compared to those in
the other four production systems studied. Therefore, it is concluded that the pineapple–indigenous
trees production was found out to be highly favorable and sustainable system for pineapple fiber
production in Balete, Aklan, Philippines since this will lead to better soil fertility and provide
optimum fiber yield.
REFERENCES
Asio, V.B. 1996. Characteristics, weathering, formation and degradation of soils from volcanic rocks in
Leyte, Philippines. Dissertation, Universität Hohenheim, 209.
Bande, M.M., Grenz, J, Asio, V.B. and Sauerborn, J. 2013. Fiber yield and quality of abaca (Musa textilis var.
Laylay) grown under different shade conditions, water and nutrient management. Industrial Crops andProducts, 42, 70-77.
Bauer, A. and Black, A.L. 1994. Quantification of the effect of soil organic matter content on soil
productivity. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 58, 185-193.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

FICCIAGROINDIA. 2007. Pineapple production guidelines (India) www.ficciagroindia.com (retrieved on
July 9, 2007), In Nakasone, H.Y. and Paull, R.E. (Ed.), Tropical Fruits, CABI Publishing, 292-326. New
York.
Fiber Development Authority (FIDA). 2010. Statistical bulletin for the fiber industry 2008 edition. DA-FIDA,
Quezon City, Philippines.
Hoffmann, G. 1991. Methodenbuch. Band 1, Die Untersuchung von Boden, Darmstadt, Germany.
Lahav, E. and Turner, D.W. 1985. Banana nutrition. Bull. 7, International Potash Institute, Worblaufen-Bern,
Switzerland.
Lal, R., Kimble, J. and Follett, R. 1997. Soil quantity management for carbon sequestration. In Lal R. et al.
(ed.), Soil Properties and their Management for Carbon Sequestration, p. 1-8, United States Departmentof Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, NE.
Lambers, H., Chapin, F.S. and Pons, T.L. 1998. Plant physiological ecology. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Montinola, L. 1991. Pina Manila Amon Foundation.
Otsuka, H., Briones, A.A., Daquiado, N.P. and Evangelio, F.A. 1988. Characteristics and genesis of volcanic
ash soils in the Philippines. Technical Bulletin No. 24, Trop. Agric. Res. Center, Minist. of Agric. Forest.
and Fish., Japan, 122.
Reaves, D.W. 1997. The role of soil organic matter in maintaining soil quality in continuous cropping
systems. Soil Tillage Res., 43, 131-167.
Region 6. Pineapple handloom industry cluster. http://fida.da.gov.ph/PI%F1al.html Salvation Available fromhttp://cool-organic-clothing.com/pineapple-fiber.html
Tabora, J.C. 1977. Piña fiber morphology. In highlights 77, PCARRD, UPLB, Los Baños, Laguna.

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Research article
erd

Effective Utilization of Ceramic Powders for Concrete
Pavement
EIJI MATSUO*
Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka, Japan
Email: ematsuo@ip.kyusan-u.ac.jp

TAKENORI NAGAMATSU
Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka, Japan

TAKAHIKO KUBODERA
Faculty of Engineering, Osaka Sangyo University, Osaka, Japan
Received 14 December 2017

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The effective utilization of industrial wastes has been becoming the urgent
problem for the establishment of the recycling society. Especially, there are many kinds ofthe powders-formed industrial wastes, and studies on the utilization of them have been
conducted individually and widely. The powders which do not have activity are often used
as a filler of asphalt pavement, but its supply has been already saturated in Japan. Therefore,
the methods to use them as the aggregate of concrete pavement is also studied. When theapproach method is established, it will help the reduction of the environmental load in theinfrastructure development of the field of agriculture. In this study, authors focused on the
powder exhausted in the manufacturing process of the ceramic product. This ceramic
powder (CP for short) is one of the powders-formed industrial wastes which don't haveactivity. A process of the abrasion is necessary in the production of the ceramic product. On
this occasion, ceramic fines are produced as sludge-formed drainage. Under the present
condition, the drainage is dried by the sun and solidified by the addition of cement. It isdisposed as the industrial waste in the state, and effective utilization has been expected. In
this paper, CP was investigated to be used effectively as the substitute of fine aggregate. A
part of JIS standard sand was replaced to CP by volume, being based on the mix proportionin the strength test of cements. The maximum replacing ratio was establishedexperimentally from the viewpoint of fresh properties such as mortar flow test and setting
time test and strength properties. The shrinkage properties was also obtained by the test oflength change of mortar with dial gauge.
Keywords ceramic powder, concrete pavement, workability, strength, drying shrinkage

INTRODUCTION
The effective utilization of the industrial waste becomes the urgent problem in the establishment of
the recycling society (Sogo et al., 2013). Especially, the powders-formed industrial waste exist forhaving many kinds, and a study on utilization is conducted individually and widely (Malhotra et al.,2005; Matsuo et al., 2007; Hosokawa et al., 2014). The powders which do not have activity areoften used as a filler of asphalt pavement, but its supply is already saturated in Japan. Then, themethods to use them for aggregate of the concrete pavement is also studied. When the approach
method is established, it helps the reduction of the environmental load in the infrastructuredevelopment of the field of agriculture. In this paper, authors focused on the powders exhausted in
the manufacturing process of the ceramic product (CP). CP is one of the powders-formed industrial
waste which does not have activity. A process of the abrasion is necessary in the production of theceramic product. On this occasion, ceramic fines are produced as sludge-formed drainage. Under
the present condition, the drainage is dried by the sun and solidified by the addition of the cement.
It is disposed as the industrial waste in the state, and effective utilization is expected.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Giving attention to studies on CP, Sakagami clarified the applicability as segregation control
material in the high slump concrete by replacing a part of the cement with CP (Sakagami et al.,2003). They were concerned about strength decreasing and suggested aggregate replacement notcement replacement.
In this study, CP was investigated to be used effectively as the substitute of fine aggregate. A
part of JIS standard sand was replaced to CP by volume, based on the mix proportion in thestrength test of cements. The maximum replacing ratio was acquired experimentally from theviewpoint of fresh properties such as mortar flow test and setting time test (JIS A 1147) andstrength properties. The shrinkage properties was also obtained by the test of length change ofmortar with dial gauge (JIS A 1129-3).
METHODOLOGY
1. Materials and Basic Properties
CP was dried by furnace drying to the absolute dry condition. And CP which passed 0.15mm sieve
was used to unify the particle size. Table 1 shows the ingredient analysis of CP, and the Aluminum
proportion is the most. The main materials were ordinary Portland cement (bulk density is 3.15
g/cm3) as binder, the city water as mixing water and JIS standard sand (bulk density is 2.64 g/cm3,
water absorption is 0.42%) and CP (density in absolutely dry condition is 3.71 g/cm3, non-sphere)
as fine aggregate. High performance AE water reducing agent was used, and its effect was
confirmed.

Table 1 X-ray Diffraction Analysis of CP
Element
(%)
K
0.4

Al
89.2
Ni
0.4

Si
6.6
Mn
0.3

Ca
1.1
Na
0.2

Mg
1.0
Fe
0.2

Cu
0.5
Others
0.2

Photo. 1 Ceramic powder (3000 times)
Table 2 shows the mix proportion of mortar. Unit volume water and unit volume cement wasconstant. Mixing was carried out following JIS R 5201, physical testing method for cement.
Namely, after the mixing of water and cement for 30 seconds, the fine aggregates were added andmixed for another 30 seconds. After 90 second stop, they were mixed for 60 seconds again.
Air content was measured just after mixing, and setting test and bleeding test were conducted,
each according to JIS A 1128, JIS A 1147 and JIS A 1123. In JIS A 1128, the air amount of mortar
is able to be measured by the device such as Photo.2. In JIS A 1147, the increase of penetration
resistance by time can be obtained by inserting of the bar into mortar as Photo.3. The time when
the penetration resistance was to 3.5 N/mm2 is determined as the initial setting, and that of 28.0
N/mm2 is determined as the final setting. In JIS A 1123, the water floating on the surface of themortar is absorbed in a filler directly, and the weights is measured as the bleeding (see Photo.4).
The test specimens were prisms, and the dimensions were 40*40*160 mm. Strength test was
conducted at the curing age of 3, 7, 28 and 91 days.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Table 2 Mix Proportion of Mortar (Base)W/C *CP **SR
Fresh &
Unit Weight (kg/m3)(%) (%) (%) W CSCP SR Strength
S050
00 256 512 1536
0 0
◯
S5
50
5
0 256 512 1458 108 0
◯
S10
50
10
0 256 512 1381 216 0
◯
S15
50
15
0 256 512 1305 324 0
◯
S15H1
50
15
1 256 512 1305 324 10
S15H2
50
15
2 256 512 1305 324 20
S20
50
20
0 256 512 1228 431 0
◯
S25
50
25
0 256 512 1151 539 0◯*CP: Ceramic replacing ratio by volume**SR: Shrinkage reducing agent, 1 means the standard usage
No.

Shrinkage◯◯

Dial gauge
Air Meter
Bar for inserting

Mold of mortar

Photo. 2 Measurement of air amount

Photo. 3 Measurement of setting time

Cupped to prevent
evaporation

Bleeding water is absorbed ina filler directly.

Photo. 4 Measurement of the amount of bleeding water
2. Methods of Measurement for Length Change
Table 2 also shows the mix proportions in the length change test. "S" means the replacing ratio to
CP. Based on S0 which is the mix proportion of the cement strength test, a part of fine aggregate
was replaced by volume to CP. "H" means the amount of shrinkage reducing agent, which main
ingredient is glycol ether. "1" means the standard amount and "2" means twice as much. This agent
was used and the effect was confirmed in the mix proportion of 15% of replacing ratio of CP.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Plug

Measurement Length(= about 100 mm)

Dial gauge

40 mm

Plug
Plug

40 mm

160 mmFig. 1 Specimen size and position of the plugs forlength change test

Photo. 5 Length change test

The test specimens were prisms, and the dimensions
were 40*40*160 mm as same as basic tests (see Fig.1). 3
specimens were made by every mix proportion. They weredemolded on the next day of casting, and had begun to bedried after 28 days standard curing. The environmental
condition of drying in draft chamber was the room
temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and the humidity of 60%.
The length change test was conducted according to JIS B
7503 (see Photo.5).

200

Flow (mm)180

0 times

15 times

10
20
CP Replacing Ratio (%)

30

160
140

120
100

80
0

Fig. 2 Relationship between CP
replacing ratio and mortar
Flow

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Bleeding Amount (cm3/cm2)

Figure 2 shows the relationship between CP replacing ratio
and mortar flow. As the replacing ratio increase, the mortar
flow decreases. Especially, when the replacing ratio
exceeded 15%, workability decreased remarkably, which isout of practical use. Because a particle size of CP isextremely smaller than JIS standard sand, and surface area
ratio is big, the adsorption water increased, which could be
estimated as the factor that the workability decreased.
Figure 3 shows the result of the bleeding test. When Photo. 6 Measurement of mortar flow
the replacing ratio exceeded 10%, almost none of bleeding
0.20
0.18
occurred. Even at 5% of CP replacing ratio, bleeding
0.16
became about a one-third of basic mix proportion. This
0.14
would be because the surface of CP which particle size is
0.12
0.10
very small absorbed water like flow test. From the above,
0.08
CP decreases the bleeding, but workability extremely
0.06
0.04
decreases when CP replacing ratio exceed 10%.
0.02
Figure 4 shows the result of the air content test. When
0.00
0
5
10
15
CP was mixed, the air content increased obviously. The air
CP Replacing Ratio (%)
content represented the maximum value at 5% of CP
replacing ratio, and had a tendency to decrease at 10 and
Fig. 3 Result of bleeding test
15% of CP replacing ratio. Generally, when the amount of
powders increases, the air content increases. In this study, there was too much quantity of particles,
and the mortar was too dry condition, that caused the difficulty of air entraining.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Penetragion Resistance (N/mm2)

14

Air Amount (%)

12
10
8
6
4
2

0
0

5
10
CP Replacing Ratio (%)

15

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

10
8
6
4

Initial
Final

2
0
0

5
10
CP Replacing Ratio (%)

CP=15%

Final Setting0Prizm Copmressive Strength (N/mm2)

Setting Time (Hour)

12

CP=5%

CP=10%
Initial Setting

Fig. 4 Relationship between CP replacing ratio
and air amount
14

CP=0%

5
Time (Hour)10

15

Fig. 5 Result of setting test

70
60
50

40
30
20

3 days

7 dyas10

28 days

91 days

0
0

15

5

10
15
20
CP Replacing Ratio (%)

25

Fig. 6 Relationship between CP replacing ratio Fig. 7 Relationship between CP replacing
and setting time
ratio and prizm compressive strength
Figures 5 and 6 show the results of setting test. Retardation of setting of 2 hours in S5, 5 hours
in S10 and 5.7 hours in S15, in comparison with the initial setting time of S0 (5.5 hours). And
retardation of setting of 1.8 hours in S5, 4.3 hours in S10 and 4.8 hours in S15, in comparison withthe final setting time of S0 (8.4 hours). In addition, time from initial setting time to final setting
time decreased with the increase of replacing ratio, and the difference between S0 and S15 wasapproximately 0.9 hours. From the above, it was confirmed that CP delays the setting time of
concrete.
Figure 7 shows the results of cubic compressive strength test. At 3 day material age, although
the strength did not decrease with until 15% of CP replacing ratio, strength decreased remarkably
with after 20% of CP replacing ratio. After 7 day material age, regardless of CP replacing ratio, it
was confirmed that the strength development was approximately equal to plain mortar.
Figure 8 shows the results of bending strength test. It was able to be confirmed that thestrength development was low in the case of high replacing ratio of CP in 3 day material age, andthe strength development could be obtained in every replacing ratio after 7 days material age assame as compressive strength. Figure 9 shows the change of shrinkage strain with time. In all
specimens in which fine aggregate was replaced with CP, the shrinkage strain increased incomparison with plain specimen. And as CP replacing ratio increased, the shrinkage strain also hada tendency to increase. In S15H2 which used shrinkage reducing agent, it could be improved to thesame degree as S0, and in S15H2 it was improved to degree more than S5.
Figure 10 shows the change rate of weight with time. The change rate of weight among S10 toS25 did not have the evident difference. The performance was improved in all the specimen using
the shrinkage reducing agent in comparison with plain specimen. However, CP replacing ratio andthe change rate of weight did not have the proportion relations. It is a future problem to elucidate
the reason. Fig.11 shows the change rate of specific strain with time. Here, the specific strain is thevalue that divided the shrinkage strain by the amount of evaporated water, which could beconsidered to be a resistant index for drying shrinkage. It is confirmed that the hardness has an
influence on the length change also from this figure.

Ⓒ ISERD

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14

0

12

-200
Shrinkage Strain (μ)

Bending Strength (N/mm2)

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

10

8
6
4

3 days

7 dyas2

28 days

91 days

-400

S5
S15
S25

-600
-800
-1000
-1200
-1400

0
0

5

10
15
20
CP Replacing Ratio (%)

025

Fig. 8 Relationship between CP replacing ratio
and bending strength
S0
S15

-0.5

S5
S20

0

S10
S25

-1.0
-1.5
-2.0

-2.5
-3.0
0

50
100
Drying Time (Days)

Fig. 10 Change rate of weight with time

150

50
100
Drying Time (Days)

150

Fig. 9 Change of shrinkage strain withtime
Specific Shrinkage Strain (μ/g)

0.0Change Rate of Weight (%)

S0
S10
S20

S0
S15
S15H1

-20

S5
S20
S15H2

S10
S25

-40
-60

-80
0

50
100
Drying Time (Days)

150

Fig. 11 Change rate of unit strain with time

CONCLUSION
1. When CP was mixed, the air content increased obviously and the bleeding decreased and thesetting time delayed.
2. When CP replacing ratio is high, the strength in early age is small, but the strength does notdecrease within 25% of CP replacing ratio after 7 days of curing age.
3. Without water reducing agent and so on, most adequate CP replacing ratio is 15%, considering
workability altogether.
4. Shrinkage strain have a tendency to increase with CP replacing ratio, but shrinkage reducing
agent is effective as measures, and the improvement effect is proportional to its mixing amount.
REFERENCES
Hosokawa, Y., Senga, T. and Abe. A. 2014. Properties of interlocking concrete block mixed with volcanic
ashes in southern Kyushu island. Cement Science and Concrete Technology, 67, 304-310.
Malhotra, V.M. and Mehta, P.K. 2005. High-performance, high-volume fly ash concrete. 2nd Edition.
Matsuo, E., Tamataki. K. and Yasui, W. 2007. Strength and segregation properties of super lightweightmortar made with expanded polystyrene waste as fine aggregate. Japan Society of Civil Engineers,
Journal of Materials, Concrete Structures and Pavement, E-63 (3), 368-378.
Sakagami, J., Okabe, Y. and Fujiwara, T. 2003. Applicability of the waste grime as admixture for concrete.
The Proceedings of the 58th JSCE Annual Meeting, 5 (164), 327-328.
Sogo, S., Kawano, H., Noguchi, T., Chikamatsu, R., Miyazawa, S., Naruse, H. and Mitsui. K. 2013.
Technical committee which evaluates the influence and construction on concrete performance by using
admixtures positively. Proceedings of the Japan Concrete Institute, 35 (1), 16-21.

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Research article
erd

Productivity and Sustainability of Coconut Production and
Husk Utilization in the Philippines: Coconut Husk
Availability and Utilization
JIMMY POGOSA*
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Philippines
Email: jimmy.pogosa@vsu.edu.ph

VICTOR ASIO
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Philippines

MARLITO BANDE
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Philippines

SAURO BIANCHI
Bern University of Applied Sciences, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

JAN GRENZ
Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland

FRÉDÉRIC PICHELIN
Bern University of Applied Sciences, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
Received 31 December 2017

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The technical possibility to manufacture fibreboards based on coconut husk andbonded with tannin adhesive formulation was shown. However, there were limited
information on the husk production in different coconut producing provinces in thePhilippines. Surveys and interviews were conducted to assess husk productivity andutilization by the smallholder coconut farmers. In 2014 and 2015, a total of 13 top coconut
producing provinces in the Philippines were surveyed. A total of 1,200 coconut farmers
were interviewed. A total of 200 nuts were sampled from the six provinces in thePhilippines to characterize husk of coconut. Statistical analysis results showed that theweight of husks are significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) between the provinces across theislands. The heaviest husks (dry weight) were in the province of Northern Samar (463 ± 11
grams). The mean density (ton ha-1 yr-1) of husk production in the 13 provinces wasanalyzed using the Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analyst tool. Among the
13 provinces surveyed, Davao Oriental in Mindanao had the highest density (0.70 – 1.43),
followed by Camarines Sur (0.66 – 1.29) in Luzon. In the Visayas, Northern Samar (0.55 –1.17) has the highest density.
Keywords coconut, sustainability, husk production, husk utilization

INTRODUCTION
Husk production in the Philippines is 14.69 billion nuts per year and farmers use more than 5billion of them for firewood during copra drying (PCA, 2015). The remaining husks become farm
waste and large volumes are left in the field together or without the shell. The Department ofAgriculture (DA) of the Philippines estimated 9 billion husks are left or burnt in the field (DA,2014). This massive amount of husks might represent an important natural resource (Greer, 2008).
Fibres are extracted from the husk of the coconut and are made into geotextile and a variety of
manufactured articles such as ropes, bags, mats, rugs, carpets and many other products (Kavitha,2016). Meanwhile, the coconut peat –the non-fibrous part of the husk– is also utilized asⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

component of organic plant media fertilizer (Nazari et al., 2011). In spite of all the current
applications of husk mentioned, the estimated husk utilization in the Philippines amounts to 334
tons/day (about 120,000 tons/year) which is a negligible fraction of the total husk production (PCA,2015).
Niro et al., (2016) showed the technical feasibility to produce fibreboards made of milledcoconut husk and bounded with natural adhesives, specifically tannin-based adhesive formulations.
To ensure the sustainability of the board production, the husk availability and current utilization
should be fully assessed. However, there was limited information on how much volume is actually
produced, utilized and therefore potentially available in certain provinces in the Philippines.
This study was conducted to assess husk availability, density and utilization in the majorcoconut producing provinces in the Philippines. The data were collected with the main aim toprovide baseline information for the identification of most suitable locations for the setting up of
new coconut husk processing plants, e.g. coconut husk fibreboard manufacturing.
OBJECTIVE
1. To characterize the husks in selected provinces in the Philippines;
2. To assess the husk production and utilization in major coconut producing provinces in thePhilippines; and3. To conduct spatial analysis on husk production and utilization using Geographic Information
System (GIS).
METHODOLOGY
Site Selection and Secondary Data Collection
Official visits to the regional and provincial offices of Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and
Office of the Municipal and Provincial Agriculturist was conducted to collect secondary data (i.e.,
coconut farm in hectare and production per province and municipality) on coconut production andfarming related activities in the locality. In addition, secondary data on coconut production was also
obtained from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
A total of four (4) provinces in Luzon, five (5) provinces in Visayas and four (4) provinces in
Mindanao were selected during the 2014 and 2015 survey period. These provinces were predetermined as the top coconut producers in the major island based on the official data from PCA.
Field Survey and Interview
Using the pretested survey questionnaire, primary data on farming profile which include husk
production and utilization from coconut smallholder farmers were collected. Prior to the interview
to the coconut farmers, official visits to the regional and provincial offices of PCA as well as fromthe local government units (i.e., provincial, municipal and barangay/village) were done. The visit
was conducted to coordinate the survey with local officials and PCA personnel who areknowledgeable in the area.
The survey was conducted in 2014 and 2015 constituting a total of 900 and 300 respondents(coconut farmers), respectively. During the 2014 survey period, two provinces in Luzon andMindanao while three provinces in the Visayas were surveyed. Whereas in 2015, two provinces ineach major island were surveyed. On the other hand, the respondents were randomly selected basedon their availability and willingness to provide information.
Husk Sampling
Aside from the coconut farmer and husk processor survey, 200 samples of husk were collected in
the provinces of Laguna, Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Bohol, Surigao del Norte and Agusan delⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Norte. The husks from the provinces of Laguna, Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Surigao del Norte andAgusan del Norte were collected from the newly (fresh) harvested whole coconuts. While in Bohol,
the husks were collected from already harvested stock nuts in the field. All nuts were individuallyweighed using a 25 grams mark off top loading balance right after harvesting except on the samples
from Bohol. Coconut harvesting and weighing last out an average of 4 hours.
After weighing the nuts, these were manually dehusked using a sharp and pointed tool. Rightafter dehusking, the husks were then individually weighed to obtain the fresh weight ratio of thehusk to the whole nut. After weighing, approximately 100 grams samples (fresh weight) from thewhole husk were placed and sealed in a plastic bag brought to laboratory for analysis. These husk
samples were oven dried at 70°C for 24 hours (PCARR, 1980) for moisture content determination.
The moisture content (%MC) was calculated using Equation 1:%MC = (Fresh husk weight-Husk oven dry weight) / (Fresh husk weight) x 100(1)

Gross and Net Husk Density Determination
The gross and net husk density (dry weight) was determined using the harvest yield data collectedduring the field survey. These was calculated based on the following formulae:
Husk density (gross) = (Total dry husk weight) / (Coconut farm area)(2)

Husk density (net) = Husk density (gross) x (1- (Percent annual husk utilization) / 100)

(3)

Data Encoding and Statistical Analysis
All figures gathered during the survey were collated, encoded and summarized using an electronic
spreadsheet editor (Microsoft Excel 2013). A numerical code was provided for each variable of therecorded data.
The data were analyzed using the Statistical Packages for Social Studies (SPSS Version 20).
The variabilities of the means on husk fresh and dry weight, moisture content (wet basis), and husk
production were analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). In case significant
variations at p ≤ 0.05 were identified, Duncan multiple range test (DMRT) and least squares
differences (LSD) were carried out to compare means of independent variables between different
provinces for each major island and between islands. Data with no significant relationship (e.g.
husk utilization) were qualitatively analyzed by SPSS.
Mapping of the Spatial Gross and Net Husk Production
The Global Positioning System geographical coordinates of each interviewed farmer was used in
mapping the spatial distribution of husk production and utilization. Secondary geo-data of polygon
vector at municipal and/or barangay level was obtained from PhilGIS. Using the vector polygon,
basic maps on the spatial husk availability were generated using ArcGIS (version 10.2) program
through the Spatial Analyst and Network Analyst tools. The mean value on gross and net
availability of husks density (ton ha-1 yr-1) were spatially presented using the PhilGIS vector
polygon at the barangay/village level. In addition, the ArcGIS feature to point data management
tool was used to generate representative point locations on the husks density data in a barangay
level. Using the kriging spatial analyst tool, interpolation of the husk data was performed following
the ordinary linear semivariogram model in a 100 meters raster cell size.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Coconut Husk Biomass ProductionⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Husk weight (g)The weights of the fresh husk were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) within the provinces andacross the major islands (Fig. 1). The heaviest husks were in the province of Northern Samar(1,183 ± 29 grams) while Bohol fresh husk weight was the lowest. The weight of fresh husks from
Laguna and Bohol does not differ significantly. The observed differences in the weight of fresh
husks between some provinces could be the effect of variety and maturity of nuts during harvest.
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0

a

b

c
d
e

e
C

D
LagunaSorsogon

Luzon

A
C

C

Bohol

Northern
Samar

VisayasB

Surigao del Agusan del
Norte
Norte
Mindanao

Fresh husk
Dry husk
Provinces per Major Island
Fig. 1 Fresh and dry husk weight (grams) from the selected provinces the Philippines
Average and standard deviation bars are reported. Values with different superscript letter
across province are significant at p ≤ 0.05; n=200

The dry weight of husks showed as well significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) and followed
similar trend with the fresh husk weights (Fig. 1). Significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) were observed
between the provinces of Northern Samar, Agusan del Norte and Laguna. No significant
differences were instead detected between the dry husk weight from the provinces of Sorsogon,
Bohol and Surigao del Norte.
Coconut Husk Utilization
The husk utilization by farmers in the three major islands is presented in Fig. 2. The highest
percentage of husk use was firewood. Only a small portion of the husks were utilized for handicraft
and cococoir (fibres + peat) related productions.
In the three major islands, Visayas has the highest uses of husks for firewood. This is likely
related to different copra processing methods in the islands. It was in fact recorded during theinterview that in Visayas the copra are dried by the farmers in the field prior to selling to the local
buyers. In Luzon and Mindanao island instead, most of the farmers delivers the fresh copra or thewhole nut to the buyers. Cococoir processing is mostly concentrated in Luzon and Mindanao.

Fig. 2 Percentage of husk utilization by farmers in the provinces from three major islandsⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Husk Availability in the Different Provinces
Among the top coconut producing provinces in the Philippines, Quezon in Luzon has the largest
area of coconut farm of 338,723 ha (Table 1). This was followed by Davao Oriental in Mindanao
and Leyte in Visayas with a total coconut area of 143,584 and 126,873 ha, respectively.
Table 1 Gross and net husk density (ton ha-1 yr-1) and production from the selected provinces
the Philippines
Major
IslandLuzon

VisayasMindanao

Province

Total area
cultivated withcoconut (ha)*Husk density(tons ha-1 yr-1)
Gross
Net

Husk production(tons yr-1)
Gross
Net

Laguna62,2001.03

0.52

63,75532,033

Quezon338,723

0.93

0.48

315,012160,893

Camarines Sur

119,045

1.29

0.66

153,568

77,974

Sorsogon

97,1531.18

0.60

114,641

57,806

Northern Samar

85,6611.17

0.55

99,795

47,114

Western Samar

49,0000.99

0.47

48,51022,785Biliran

20,2450.84

0.40

17,006

7,997

Leyte

126,873

1.06

0.50

133,851

62,802

Negros Oriental

45,5250.80

0.38

36,42017,072

Surigao del Norte

60,7290.63

0.32

38,25919,433Agusan del Norte

33,4860.71

0.35

23,775

11,720Misamis Oriental

103,244

0.54

0.27

55,23627,360

Davao Oriental

143,584

1.43

0.70

204,607

100,509*Source: Philippine Coconut Authority (2015)

A

B
Husk density (tons ha-1 yr-1)

Fig. 3 Gross (A) and net (B) coconut husk production in selected provinces in the Philippines
On the other hand, the highest husk density (Fig. 3) is located in Davao Oriental with a value
ranges from 0.70 – 1.43 tons ha-1 yr-1. This was followed by Camarines Sur and Sorsogon withdensities ranges from 0.66 – 1.29 and 0.60 – 1.18 tons ha-1 yr-1, respectively. However, the highest
gross and net production of husk is still found in Quezon province. Then again, Davao Oriental
ranked second followed by Camarines Sur. The highest husk production is primarily attributed tothe total land area planted to coconut. Looking into the husk density between provinces within
major islands, Camarines Sur in Luzon, Northern Samar in Visayas, and Davao Oriental in
Mindanao were the provinces with the highest husk densities compared to the other provinces.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

CONCLUSION
The statistical analysis results showed that the fresh and dry weight of husks are significantly
different (p ≤ 0.05) between the provinces across the islands. The heaviest husks were located in
the province of Northern Samar.
The gross and net husk density (ton ha-1 yr-1) was highest in the province of Davao Oriental in
Mindanao compared to the other provinces surveyed. The highest total husk production wasrecorded in the province of Quezon.
The gross and net husk density are the major parameters in selecting the site for fibreboards
made of milled coconut husk processing plant. Based, on the result of GIS spatial analysis Davao
Oriental province with the highest density of husk is the most suitable site of a husk processing
plant.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We extend our gratitude to the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development(SNSF-SDC r4d programme) for their financial support of the study.
REFERENCES
Department of Agriculture, 2014. Value chain analysis for Coco Geonets in Albay and Camarines Norte.
drive.daprdp.net/iplan/vca/Geonets%20VCA%20(CAMARINES%20 NORTE).pdf (retrieved on April 21,2015).
Greer, S. 2008. Converting coconut husks into binderless particle board. Master’s Thesis submitted to
Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masterof Science in Mechanical Engineering.
Kavitha, M. 2016. Production process of coir and coir Products. International Journal of Research in
Business Management, 3 (3), 39-48.
Nazari, F., Farahmand, H., Khosh-Khui, M. and Salehi, H. 2011. Effects of coir as a component of potting
media on growth, flowering and physiological characteristics of Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis L. cv.
Sonbol-e-Irani). Universal Research Publications. International Journal of Agricultural and Food Science,
1 (2), 34-38.
Niro, J.F.V.M., Kyriazopoulos, M., Bianchi, S., Eusebio, D.A., Arboleda, J.R., Lanuzo, M.M. and Pichelin, F.
2016. Development of medium and low density fiberboards made of milled coconut husk and bound withformaldehayde free tannin-based adhesive.
Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA). 2015. History of the coconut industry in the Philippines. http://www.
pca.da.gov.ph/index.php/2015-10-26-03-15-57/2015-10-26-03-19-51.
Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research (PCARR). 1980. Standard methods for analysis
of soil, plant tissue, water, and fertilizer. Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

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Research article
erd

New Science Tools for Spatial Distribution of Yield andManagement Practices of Major Pulse in Selected Area in
Myanmar
KHIN MAR OO*
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar
Email: khinmaroo06@gmail.com

HTAY HTAY OO
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

NYEIN NYEIN HTWE
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

MIE MIE AUNG
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

KYAW KYAW WIN
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar
Received 31 December 2017

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Pulses are one of the major agricultural exports in Myanmar. About 70 percent of
all pulses are normally grown immediately after monsoon rice in middle and lower region.
Farmers are not achieving the optimum yield due to inappropriate crop management andinsufficient technological solutions although modern varieties are cultivated extensively.
The introduction of applying new science tools such as GPS, GIS and drone image candevelop timely and accurate estimation of crop areas and forecasting its production. It may
also provide governments, planners, and decision makers with essential information to
make a successful plan of appropriate technologies in regard to import/export. The study
was conducted at Kyee Inn Village, Pyinmana Township, middle Myanmar from December
2016 to May 2017 to expose mapping for spatial distribution of yield and management
practices. Drone flying had done by using DJI Phantom 4 drone and Litchi software. Drone
photos were consolidated and prepared for digitizing and analyzing with pix 4D softwareand ArcGIS. Seventy farmers were selected as sample respondents for collecting groundtruth information of yield and management practices based on pulses cultivated area. The
study revealed that the major pulse grown in target area was black gram with yields ranging
from 0.16 to 2.29 MT/hectare. The majority of respondents were found to have low level
adoption of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) of black gram recommended by Agricultural
Department. It is urgently needed to upgrade full adoption of improved recommended
package of practices by supporting training institutions to train the farmers and recommend
technological solutions for the increase of productivity. Thus, new science tools such as
GPS, GIS and drone image must be applied in agricultural system for increasing crop
productivity as well as improving livelihood of the farmers.
Keywordsp pulses, new science tools, mapping, yield, management practices

INTRODUCTION
Pulses are one of the major agricultural exports in Myanmar. The major pulses exported are blackgram, green gram, pigeon pea, kidney bean and cow pea. Pulses are grown on 4.20 - 4.30 million
hectares of area with an annual production of 5.04 -5.16 million tons (GAIN, 2017). About 70
percent of all pulses are normally grown immediately after the harvest of monsoon rice in middleⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

and lower region. Farmers are not achieving the optimum yield due to inappropriate crop
management and insufficient technological solutions although modern varieties are cultivatedextensively (Phway Su Aye et al., 2013).
Spatial data incorporating with socioeconomic information relating to pulses cultivation ispossible to perform appropriate technological solutions for constraints of their cultivation.
Currently, nationwide pulses production area has been obtained with statistically-based groundsurveys but there has been seldom precise information on spatial distribution of yield, management
practices and constraints of major pulses. Indeed statistical data are costly, time-consuming and do
not provide sufficient detailed information to determine either the extent or the geographicaldistribution of major crops.
The introduction of applying new science tools such as Global Positioning System (GPS),
Geographical information systems (GIS) and drone image can develop timely and accurate
estimation of crop areas and forecasting its production (Wyland, 2009). Geographical information
systems (GIS) technology in combination with ground surveys can relate spatial distribution ofcrop yield and management practices that would determine the extent of major crop production andconstraints to their cultivation (Sreedevi et al., 2009). Moreover, it may provide governments,
planners, and decision makers with essential information to successfully plan and deploy
appropriate technologies in the most effective manner in regard to import/export.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of this research was to expose mapping for spatial distribution of yield andmanagement practices of major pulse in selected area using new science tools.
METHODOLOGY
Study area: The research was conducted at Kyee Inn Village, Pyinmana Township, middle regionof Myanmar, which lies between north latitudes 19q42'30'' and 19q43'40'' and east longitudes
96q13'30'' and 19q15'30'' from December 2016 to May 2017 (Fig 1.). Total study area is 483ha andpulses are grown just after the harvest of monsoon rice as double cropping (Table 1).

Kyee Inn Village

Fig. 1 Study area at Kyee Inn Village,
Pyinmana Township, Myanmar

Fig. 2 Sample plots taken in study area
using grid sampling system

Table 1 Total cultivable area and major pulses growing area in study area, 2016
Block No.
1698
1699
1708
1709
Total

Cultivable area (ha)
120
100
114
149
483

Major pulse Area (ha)
107
84
100
137
428

Source: DoALMS Pyinmana TownshipⒸ ISERD

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Percent (%)
89.17
84.00
87.72
91.95
88.61

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Data collection: Using 300m × 300m grid sampling system, total numbers of 104 grid squares
were taken in the study area (Fig 2.). Grid squares located outside of the study area were removed
and left 78 grid squares which had been cultivated with pulses. One plot from each grid squares
was randomly selected as a sample plot and surveyed in the field for ground truth data. Seventy
farmers occupied in sample plots were selected as sample respondents and interviewed with thehelp of well-structured questionnaire. The data collected were demographic characteristics of the
respondents, yield and cultivation of major pulses practiced by the respondents, source of seedavailability and constraints of management practices related to major pulses cultivation in the study
area.
Field basemap hardcopy used as the base layer for digitizing and required secondary data weregathered from Department of Agricultural Land Management and Statistics (DoALMS), Pyinmana
Township, Union of Myanmar.
Drone Flying: Drone flying had done by using DJI Phantom 4 drone and Litchi software at analtitude of 120 meters above the ground. Drone photos were consolidated and prepared for
digitizing and analyzing with pix 4D software to provide digital base map of the study area.
Thematic mapping for spatial distribution of yield and management practices were provided using
ArcGIS Desktop [software] from Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Cultivation Conditions of Major Pulses in the Study Area
Major pulse grown in the study area was black gram (Vigna mungo (L.). Figure 3 shows total sown
area possessed by sample respondents ranging from 0.2 to 11.0ha. Most of sample respondents(72%) were experienced with pulses cultivation in 4-10 years, 26% in 11-20 years and only 2% in
21-30 years respectively (Fig 4.).

Fig. 3 Sown area possessed by sample
respondents in study area

Fig. 4 Pulses cultivation experience ofsample respondents in study area

Cultivation Practiced by Sample Respondents in the Study Area
Seed source and variety used: Figure 5 reveals that most of the sample respondents in study area
applied their own seed or dealer seed for sowing. Only 5% of them applied quality seed fromresearch station. They usually practiced by storing their own seed or exchanging with dealer seed at
the time of crop harvest. This clearly indicates that the necessity of quality seed multiplication
program should be undertaken with cooperative farmers by Department of Agriculture (DOA).
The black gram varieties commonly sown by sample respondents were Yezin-6 (Sepae),
Yezin-5 (Paenat) and Yezin-2 (Matpae Yoeyoe) (Fig 6.). Among them, Yezin-5 is more longer
duration (100-110 days) than Yezin-6 (90-95 days) and Yezin-2 (70-75 days).

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Fig. 5 Seed source of sample respondents
in study area

Fig. 6 Black gram varieties sown by sample
respondents in study area

Time of sowing and method of sowing: In the study area, 4%, 59% and 37% of sample
respondents sowed black gram in October, November and December, respectively. The optimum
time of sowing for black gram recommended by Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) is
during mid-October to end of November. It was found that some of the farmers in study area could
not sow black gram timely. The reason given by the farmers was late harvest of monsoon rice
possibly relating with late onset of monsoon or irregular rain during harvesting of monsoon rice inthat area.
All of the sample respondents in study area used broadcasting practice in seed sowing.
Although Department of Agriculture (DOA) endorses line sowing method for pulses cultivation, allof the farmers in study area did not adopt that practice. The constraints for adoption of practice as
expressed by a majority of farmers were labor shortage and insufficient mechanical implements forline sowing.
Applying basal fertilizer and seed treatment: The majority of sample respondents (94%) did not
apply fertilizer as basal application during land preparation. Because of the high cost of fertilizers,
they usually apply basal fertilizer for monsoon rice and rarely for black gram. Moreover 96% ofthem did not treat the seed with pesticide and fungicide at the time of sowing. Perhaps they may
not familiarized with the practice of seed treatment.
Seeding rate and plant population at vegetative growth stage: It was noticed that 59% of
sample respondents practiced the optimum seeding rate (60kg/ha) recommended by DOA whereas
less seeding rate by 10% and 31% applied more than the optimum rate. Furthermore, it wasobserved that 59% of sample respondents achieved normal plant population while 4%, sparse and37%, dense at vegetative growth stage. Probably normal plant population may be concerning not
only with seeding rate but also adequate amount of residual soil moisture at sowing time.
Spatial Distribution of Yield and Management Practices
According to spatial distribution of grid squares, it was found that black gram variety applied inmost of the sample plots was Yezin-5 in western part and Yezin-6 in eastern part of study area.
Moreover the trend in spatial distribution of yield also revealed that yield per hectare in westernpart was lower than that in eastern part of study area (Fig 7.). It may be in agreement with thepotential yield of black gram variety, 1.6-2.0 ton/ha for Yezin-5 and 2.5-3.3 ton/ha for Yezin-6,
reported by Department of Agricultural Research (DAR, 2016).
Generally, it was clear in Fig 7 that the yield of Yezin-2 and Yezin-6 variety in most of thesample plots were not considerably affected by time of sowing although a few days later thanrecommended sowing time. In contrary, the yield was diminished by late sowing time in the sample
plots applied with Yezin-5. It indicates that crop duration of the variety should be considered if thesowing time will be late because of the dependence on residual soil moisture for crop’s success.
Spatial distribution of management practices such as weed management, spraying frequencyof foliar fertilizer and pesticide were shown in Fig 7. It was found that weed management practices
are not applied in sample plots at the middle of study area. About 2-12 spraying frequency for thewhole season was applied in half of the sample plots (54%) and the rest applied till to 15.
Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1(a) Yield (ton/ha)(b) Variety(c) Time of sowing(d) Weed management(e) Foliar fertilizer spraying frequency
for the whole season(f) Pesticide spraying frequency
for the whole season

Fig. 7 Spatial distribution of yield and management practices based on sample plots
randomly in each grid squares in study area
Regarding to foliar fertilizer and pesticide spraying frequency mapping, it was noticed thathigher spraying frequency were applied in the sample plots at the middle and eastern part of thestudy area. The reason said by the sample respondents was that higher spraying frequency was
required to increase black gram yield starting from 15 days after emergence to 15 days before
harvest.
Constraints for Good Agriculture Practices of Black Gram
The data regarding the constraints for Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) of black gram perceived
by sample respondents were stated in Table 2.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Table 2 Constraints for good agriculture practices of black gramGood Agriculture Practices (GAP)

Constraints- To apply good quality seed for sowing- Insufficient supply of quality seed- To sow timely with recommended
sowing time
- To apply line sowing method- Late harvest of monsoon rice

- To apply fertilizer as basal- To apply seed treatment with pesticideand fungicide- Labor shortage and insufficient mechanicalimplements for line sowing- High cost of fertilizers- Not familiarized with the practice

CONCLUSIONS
Use of drone image along with GIS helps quick and accurate analysis on huge data. According to
the results, mapping allows to identify easily the correlation between spatial distribution of yieldand management practices of black gram in the study area. Since a thematic map has a table ofcontents that allows adding layers of information to a basemap of the study area. The majority of
respondents were found to have low level adoption of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) of black
gram recommended by Agricultural Departments. It is urgently needed to upgrade full adoption of
improved recommended package of practices by supporting training institutions for training of the
farmers and advising technological solutions for the increase of pulses productivity. It was clearthat another study can be extended across the country as the present study. The use of new science
tools are cost effective and time saving, thus it must be applied in agricultural system for increasing
crop productivity as well as improving livelihood of the farmers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the generous financial and technical training support of Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Project for Capacity Development of Yezin Agricultural
University. We also gratefully acknowledge Chief Advisor Professor Tanaka Koji, Dr. Yamamoto
Yosi, Dr. Kazuo Watanabe and Mr. Nihsimoto Goro for their generous technical and intellectual
support and valuable involvement in this study. We are also appreciative to the authorized persons
from Department of Agricultura (DOA) and Department of Agricultural Land Management andStatistics (DoALMS) for data provision.
REFERENCES
Department of Agricultural Research (DAR). 2016. Official recommendation on yield characters and cultural
practices of high yielding black gram (Vigna mungo (L.). Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Irrigation (MOALI), Union of Myanmar.
Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN). 2017. Grain and feed annual, Burma - Union of Myanmar.
GAIN Report Number BM 7003, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.
Phway Su Aye, Hsu Wai Htun and Thaw Phone Myat. 2013. Myanmar’s beans and pulses trade, risks andprospects. Thura Swiss Special Report, Union of Myanmar.
Sreedevi, T.K., Wani, S.P., Kesava Rao, A.V.R., Singh, P. and Ahmed, I. 2009. New science tools for
managing community watersheds for enhancing impacts. Journal of SAT Agricultural Research, 7.
Wyland, J. 2009. Burma - Union of Myanmar grain and feed annual, agribusiness grows with crop-specificmaps. Best practices, GIS for agriculture, www.esri.com/agriculture.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Research article
erdApplication of TOPMODELs for Assessment of Ecosystem
Services: Regulating Service in Agricultural and Forest
Watershed
KOSUKE MUKAE
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan

KOJI MIWA
Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Tokyo, Japan

HIROMU OKAZAWA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Studies, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 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, Japan
Received 13 January 2018

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract According to Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, ecosystem services are divided
into four services. Among them, regulating services include water regulation and natural
hazard regulation which regulate water-discharge to rivers and mitigate flood risk by forest
ecosystem. This research investigated characteristics of river flow changes at the time ofrainfall runoff in two different land-use types, i.e.,1) watershed forest in Soebethu riverwatershed in Hokkaido and 2) intermixed watershed forest and pastureland in Igarashi riverwatershed in Hokkaido. A semi-distributed hydrological model, TOPMODEL was applied
to simulate the amount of water discharge to the rivers. The conventional TOPMODEL wasapplied to the watershed forest, and the developed version of TOPMODEL to theintermixed watershed and pastureland. Monte Carlo simulation was used to identify
unknown parameters required for the simulation. By comparing the identified parameters in
the two different watersheds, flood control effect was evaluated in both land-use watersheds
and each watershed and pastureland separately in the intermixed land-use. As the results ofcomparing the unknown parameters between the different land-use in the intermixed
watershed and pastureland, the model showed that watershed forest has higher regulating
service than pastureland. In addition, the research found that the difference of the type of
surface soil influenced the amount of water discharge, that is, flood control effect. As theconsequence, TOPMODEL was applicable for quantitative assessment of water regulation:
the regulating service of the forest ecosystems.
Keywords TOPMODEL, ecosystem services, hydrological model, watershed, land-use

INTRODUCTION
Ecosystem services that prosper by the coexistence with agriculture provide various benefits tohuman life. According to Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) initiated by the United
Nations, ecosystem services are categorized into four services, ‘Provisioning’, ‘Regulating’,‘Cultural’ and ‘Supporting’ services. Regulating services that this paper focuses on, contain theflood risk alleviation by water storing function of forests such as riparian forest, and risk reductionof flood and sediment disasters by vegetation cover. In general, valuing ecosystem services can bedone by monetary valuation such as hedonic approach and travel cost (Smith, 1993). However,Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

such monetary valuation is considered an incomplete method to evaluate ecosystem services (Kateet al., 2007). Although there is also qualitative method to evaluate environmental value except formonetary valuation, there is no previous study which evaluated the regulating service in Japan.
This research applied a hydrological model, TOPMODEL to evaluate the flood control effectof forestland and pastureland. The target areas are two watersheds which differ in land-use fromone another. One is a simplex land-use formed by only forestland, and another is the complex landuse by forestland and pastureland. TOPMODEL is a semi-distributed model, to predict waterrunoff within a watershed scale (Beyen et al., 1979), and a conceptual model where has been
confirmed its applicability in many parts of the world (David, 1993; Tada et al., 2002; Ali et al.,2015; Gao et al., 2015). TOPMODEL is a distribution model that divides a watershed into grids
and calculates the surface flow generated in each grid. However, it regards the groundwater flow as
a lumped model by considering the flow as one group in a watershed. Therefore, TOPMODEL iscalled a semi-distributed model. For this reason, the conventional TOPMODEL was applied to asimplex land-use watershed, and a developed TOPMODEL was developed to enable the prediction
in a complex land-use (Mukae et al., 2017). TOPMODEL is mainly applied to a watershedconsisted of a simple land-use, for example a watershed only consisting of forest (Tada et al., 2002).
On the other hand, there are few studies which applied to an agricultural watershed which both offorest and agriculture lands are mixed.
OBJECTIVE
This research applied the conventional TOPMODEL to a simplex land-use watershed and adeveloped TOPMODEL to a complex land-use watershed. It aimed to evaluate the applicability ofboth models for the prediction of water-runoff and the flood control effect in the different land-use
types of the watersheds. Unknown parameters between the conventional and the developed models
were compared to evaluate them.
METHODOLOGY
Research Site

Fig. 1 The Shubuto River Basin, Hokkaido, JapanThe objective sites of this research are watersheds of the Igarashi River and the Soebetsu River.
Both of them, in fact, are the size of stream rather than river and tributaries of the Shubuto River,located in southwestern Hokkaido, Japan (Fig. 1 and 2). The Igarashi River watershed has the areaof 6.9 km2 and the river length is 7.3 km. This watershed consists of a complex land-use with 2.7
km2 of pastureland in the downstream basin and 4.2 km2 of forestland in the upper and middle
basin, which covers 31% and 69% of the watershed respectively. This pastureland is mainly used
for livestock and there is cropland land in a part of the upper basin. Therefore, this watershed
contains the land-use of agricultural and forest lands. On the other hand, the watershed area of theSoebetsu is 11.5 km2, and the river length is 11.1 km. It is a simplex land-use only consisted offorestland. Since these watersheds are close to each other, the meteo-hydrological data such as
precipitation amount and evapotranspiration for the both areas are similar.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Fig. 2 Land-use of Igarashi River Watershed (Left) and Soebetsu River Watershed (Right)
This research used data of the daily record of river discharge and precipitation from June 1,
1998 to October 31, 1998 observed by Okazawa, et al. (2002). With these data, the applicability ofthe developed version of TOPMODEL is analyzed. Penman-monteith method (Allen, 1998) isapplied for calculation of daily evapotranspiration. The daily data of temperature, wind speed andhours of sunshine which are required to calculate daily evapotranspiration, are obtained from
AMeDAS in Kuromatsunai Town managed by Japan Meteorological Agency.
TOPMODEL
TOPMODEL is a semi-distributed model suggested by Beven et al. (1979). This model divides soil
layer into root zone, unsaturated zone and saturated zone. The semi-distributed model calculates
the upper layer which contains root and unsaturated zones by each grid as a distribution type. For
the lower layer, which is saturated zone, it is calculated as concentration type, thus every grid has
the same value. TOPMODEL has a character that calculates the status of drying state of surface
layer of basin from the topographical index (TI) induced from digital elevation model (DEM) andspatially evaluates the amount of the surface-flow. TI is calculated from flow accumulation areaand slope of each grid. If TI’s value is large, the grid can be storage more water. But, If TI's value
is small, the grid can be storage little water. So, Unsaturated zone is distribution model because it iscalculated using Topographic Index. So, Soebethu river watershed can be storage little water than
Igarashi river watershed.
Computational Procedure of TOPMODELTOPMODEL considers three storage parts, root zone, saturated zone and unsaturated zone as seenin Fig. 3, and calculates in each grid in the watershed as described below.

Fig. 3 Histogram of Topographic IndexⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

a) Water balance equation of root zone: In root zone, the amount of water that can be stored
within the root zone is calculated from the water balance of rainfall (R) [L], actual
evapotranspiration amount (ETa) [L], water available amount within root zone (SRmax) [L] andstorage deficit in root zone (SRZ) [L]. When redundant water, (EXi) [L] is caused in root zone
(SRZ<0), the redundant water is supplied to unsaturated zone and added to storage water (SUZi)[L]in that zone. Potential evapotranspiration (ET0) is calculated by Penman-Monteith (PM) method,and ETa is treated as the function of ET0, SRmax and SRZ.
ET
E Aa

§
SRZ t ·¸¸
ET0 ¨¨1 © SRMAX ¹(1)b) Water balance equation of saturated zone: The base-flow Qsub [LT-1] from the wholewatershed is treated as the concentrated amount per watershed. Base-flow is calculated by thefollowing equation using the mean value of downslope transmissivity when the soil is just saturated(Te) [L2T-1], the mean topographic index of watershed (λ) [-], the mean storage deficit in watershed,( ) [L] and model parameter (m):
Qsub

§ S ·
Te exp  O exp ¨  i ¸
¨ m¸
©
¹

Si

m  ln

UZi

SUZi
Si  td(2)c) Water balance equation of unsaturated zone: Unsaturated zone is a temporary water storage
zone that connects between root zone and saturated zone. It is calculated as a distribution model.
The mean storage deficit amount in the watershed at the starting point of calculation, is obtained
from Eq. (3), assuming that the initial discharge at the start is Q0 [LT-1].
Q0
Te exp  O(3)
Si in Fig. 4 expresses the storage deficit of each grid [L] and obtained from Mukae et al.
(2017). UZi is the amount of water supply from unsaturated zone to saturated zone [L], i is thenumber of grid. However, because a grid which has the same value as TI is regarded ashydrological similarity, a grid is calculated in each status class of TI rather than that the wateramount is calculated in each grid (Fig. 4).
If Si is 0 or negative, that class is regarded as saturation. Therefore, the excessive water inflow
from root zone is return surface-flow (EXi). If Si is positive, the excessive water inflow is
temporarily added to SUZi. UZi is(4)
where td is a parameter that expresses the period of retention.
These [LT-1] are the concept of TOPMODEL. Operation of the model requires to determine
five unknown parameters,”m”, “Te”, “td”, “SRmax”, and “SRZ0”. This research determined the
optimal value of five parameters by Monte Carlo method. Monte Carlo method is the generic termof a numerical simulation that uses random numbers.

Fig. 4 Concept of TOPMODELⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

TOPMODEL for Combined Forestland and Pastureland
In general, TOPMODEL is applied to a simple land-use at forest watershed. However, this study
discusses the applicability of the developed TOPMODEL which considers the difference of landuse between forestland and pastureland, that is, a watershed with a complex land-use (see Fig. 5).
The followings explain how this research calculated the complex land-use.
1) Land-Use Division
The area of forestland and pastureland in the Igarashi’s watershed is obtained from the 100 m meshdata of Land classification in National Land Numerical Information provided by the Ministry ofLand, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan. The ratio of land-use for each forestland andpastureland was 61% and 39 % respectively. From this, the mean topographic index of forestland,(λ1) and pastureland (λ2) is calculated.
2) Computational Procedurea) Water balance equation of saturated zone: From Eq. (5), the base-flow of the wholeforestland, Qsub1[LT-1] and the base-flow of the whole pastureland, Qsub2[LT-1] are calculated. Then,the summation of the both values is regarded as the base-flow from the whole watershed.
(5)

Qsub = Qsub1 + Qsub2b) Water balance equation of unsaturated zone: It is necessary to gain the initial river discharge(Q01，Q02)[LT-1] from forestland and pastureland to gain the storage shortage (Si1, Si2) of each gridof forestland and pastureland. Here it assumed that the ratio of flow amount from the both offorestland and pastureland is always constant, and obtained the initial value of the river discharge
in the following equation.
Q0 = KQ0 + (1 - K )Q0(6)
Here, it assumed that the ratio of water outflow from the forestland to the whole watershed isK(0<K<1), the ratio of pastureland is (1-K), and K is an unknown parameter.
c) Other calculation: When it calculates root zone, UZi, it divides the watershed into forestlandand pastureland. From this, it determines the eleven unknown parameters “m1”, “Te1”, “td1”,“SRmax1”, “SRZ01”, “m2”, “Te2”, “td2”, “SRmax2”, “SRZ02” and “K” for the developed TOPMODEL.

Fig. 5 Concept of Developed Version of TOPMODEL
Method of Identification and Comparison of Unknown Parameter
This research determined the optimal values of the 11 unknown parameters for the developed
TOPMODEL by using Monte Carlo method. Through the method, generating random numbers forⒸ ISERD

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each 11 unknown parameter, “m1”, “Te1”, “td1”, “SRmax1”, “SRZ01”, “m2”, “Te2”, “td2”, “SRmax2”,“SRZ02” and “K”, 100,000 sets of combination were created. As the result of 100,000 times ofcalculation, it obtained the combination that accords the closest between the actual value of flow
amount and the estimated value.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The actual value of rainfall and river discharge and the predicted values generated by bothconventional TOPMODEL and developed TOPMODEL are shown in Fig. 6 for the Igarashi and
Fig. 7 for the Soebetsu. Both models estimated changes of river discharge according to the changesof rainfall accurately. In addition, the developed TOPMODEL showed the closer value to the actual
value than the conventional one when the river discharge decreases after it reached the peak point.
The compatibility of the actual value of river discharge and the estimated value is evaluated byNash-Sutcliffe coefficient (NS value) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). Regarding theaccuracy of prediction in the function value, the conventional TOPMODEL showed 0.823 for NS
and 1.069 for RMSE. On the other hand, the developed TOPMODEL showed 0.853 for NS and
0.973 for RMSE. From these values, it confirms that the developed TOPMODEL has the higher
accuracy of prediction of river flow changes by rainfall than the conventional one throughout thetarget period.
The optimal value of unknown parameters of the conventional TOPMODEL and thedeveloped TOPMODEL were determined by the Monte Carlo method as seen in Table 1. The
developed model showed the higher value in Te and td than the conventional one. Besides that, thedeveloped model showed that these two values are higher in forestland than those in pastureland.
As Te expresses the downslope transmissivity when the soil is just saturated, forestland has bettertransmissivity than pastureland. According to Ohte et al. (1989) and Ohta et al. (1989),
transmissivity of forestland is generally high in Japan. This is because the transmissivity inpastureland is lowered due to soils compressed by tiller machine or tractor. For this reason, it isvalid that Te is higher in forestland than pastureland.
A parameter, td expresses the delayed time caused by when water moves from unsaturated tosaturated zone. That is, it shows that water flows more slowly from unsaturated to saturated zone in
the developed model than the conventional one.
Comparting the unknown parameters between the forest watersheds in the Igarashi and theSoebetsu, the values except coefficient of saturated hydraulic conductivity showed the almost samevalues. The reason for the same value is that forest watersheds in the Igarashi and the Soebetsu are
adjacent to the watershed, both of which are considered to have forestland. On the other hand, thecause of the gap in the coefficient of saturated hydraulic conductivity is probably attributed to thesurface soil. The surface soil is composed by conglomerate and sandstone in the Igarashi watershed,
and by mudstone in the Soebetsu watershed. Since transmissivity is lower in mudstone thanconglomerate and sandstone (Ogata et al., 1992), it is considered that coefficient of saturated
hydraulic conductivity in the Soebetsu watershed is lower. From these, it confirms that in case thatwatersheds have the same water system and land-use, the unknown parameters except coefficientof saturated hydraulic conductivity can be the same values and the difference of the coefficient iscaused by the surface soil.
Table 1 Comparison of Unknown Parameters
unknown parameterm (mm)Te (mm/d)

td (mm/d)

SRZ 0 (mm)SR max (mm)Sobetsu (Conventional)

26.1

1.0×104

0.02180.13

0.88

Igarashi (Conventional)

46.0

2.5×1040.01040.52

0.62

0.02060.42

0.85

0.01980.43

0.49

Igarashi(developed)

forestland

24.5

9.0×104

grassland

81.6

6.5×104Ⓒ ISERD

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K

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

RainfallQobs

Qsim conventional model

Qsim developed model
0
50
100
150

10

200
250
300

Rainfall mm/d（(mm/d)
Rainfall（River-discharge（
mm/d（River-discharge (mm/d)

100

350
1
1-Jun

400
16-Jun1-Jul

16-Jul

31-Jul15-Aug30-Aug

14-Sep29-Sep14-Oct29-OctFig. 6 Comparison between the conventional and the developed TOPMODEL
RainfallQobs

Qsim Conventional
0
100
200

10

300
400
500

1
1-Jun

Rainfall mm/day（(mm/d)
Rainfall（River-discharge (mm/d)
River-discharge（
mm/day（100

600
16-Jun1-Jul

16-Jul

31-Jul15-Aug30-Aug

14-Sep29-Sep14-Oct29-OctFig. 7 Comparison between the conventional TOPMODELCONCLUSION
By comparing the unknown parameters between a simplex land-use and a complex land-use withapplication of the conventional TOPMODEL and developed TOPMODEL, it showed the result that
forest watershed has higher flood control effect than pasture watershed. Besides that, it is expectedthat the value of coefficient of saturated hydraulic conductivity is related to the type of surface soil.
For these reasons, this research clarified if the water system and land-use are the same, theunknown parameters except coefficient of saturated hydraulic conductivity in TOPMODEL gain
the close values, and coefficient of saturated hydraulic conductivity is influenced by surface soil.
Therefore, flood control effect as a regulation service which one of the ecosystem services isevaluated by the application of the conventional TOPMODEL and developed one.
For future study, this research result should apply to other agricultural and forest watersheds
and different water system by using the same method to evaluate the ecosystem service moreaccurately.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by the grant-aid from Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan, andby the joint usage/research program of the Institute of Materials and Systems for Sustainability(IMaSS), Nagoya University.
REFERENCES
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methodology. Water Resour. Manage., 30, 3159-3173.
Allen, R.G., Pereira, L.S., Raes, D. and Smith, M. 1998. Crop evapotranspiration, Guide-lines for computing
crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage, Paper No. 56, 300, FAO, Rome.
Beven, K.J. 1997. TOPMODEL, A CRITIQUE. Hydrological Processes, 11, 1069-1083.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Beven, K.J. 2012. Hydrological similarity, distribution functions and semi-distributed rainfall-runoff models.
In Rainfall-Runoff Modelling, Wiley-Blackwell, 186-229.
Beven, K.J. and Kirkby, M.J. 1979. A physically based, variable contributing area model of basin hydrology.
Hydrological Sciences Bulletin, 24 (1), 43-69.
David, M.W. 1993. Simulating the variable-source-area concept of streamflow generation with the watershed
model TOPMODEL. Water-Resources Investigations Report, 93, 4124.
Gao, J., Holden, J. and Kirkby, M. 2015. A distributed TOPMODEL for modeling impacts of land-use charge
on river flow in upland peatland catchments. Hydrological Processes, 29 (13), 2867-2879.
Kate, A.B., Gretchen, C.D., Duarte, T.K. and Harold, A.M. 2007. The nature and value of ecosystem services,
An overview highlighting hydrologic services. Environ. Resour., 32, 67-98.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being. Synthesis, Island Press, 155.
Mukae, K. Miwa, K. Okazawa, H. and Fujikawa,T. 2017. Ecosystem service assessment in agricultural
watershed by using TOPMODEL.
Ohta, T., Katagiri, M. and Kohno, Y. 1989. Measurement of the saturated hydraulic conductivity of forest
soil with a large-scale sampler (II). Japanese Forestry Society, 71 (4), 164-167.
Ohte, N., Suzuki, M. and Kubota, J. 1989. Hydraulic properties of forest soils (1), The vertical distribution ofsaturated-unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. Japanese Forestry Society, 71 (4), 137-147.
Okazawa, H., Nagasawa, T., Inoue, T. and Yamamoto, T. 2002. Effect of previous flood on suspended
sediment transport during rainstorm runoff. Proceedings of 12th ISCO Conference, Vol. II, 26-32.
Smith, V.K. 1993. Nonmarket valuation of environmental resources, An interpretive appraisal. Land
Economics Feb., 69, 1-26.
Tada, A., Namihara, A., Tanakamaru, H. and Hata, T. 2002. Application of TOPMODEL to long-and shortterm runoff of small forested catchment. Journal of Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources, 15(4), 399-412.

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Research article
erdEnhancing Fermentation of Farmyard Manure Using
Bacillus sp. in the Mid-hills of Nepal
MASKEY SARVESH
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: 45516008@nodai.ac.jp

MACHITO MIHARA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: m-mihara@nodai.ac.jp
Received 31 December 2017

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Farmers in the mid-hills of Nepal have been using farmyard manure formaintaining soil fertility for their lands. However, there has been a decrease in productionof farmyard manure. Less application of farmyard manure has led to declined soil fertility
and reduced nutrient balance. Soil degradation through nutrient depletion is a serious issue.
Soils in mid hills have very low nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus
concentration. Sustainability of hill agriculture depends on how farmers use the available
resources. Application of incompletely fermented and decomposed farmyard manure could
have low nutrient contents, cause health risks as plants can uptake pathogenic bacteria
through soil. Also, imbalances in nutrient content of manure mainly nitrogen andphosphorus can pollute water sources through leaching and runoff. An experiment was
conducted to determine the action of Bacillus sp. as an inoculant for composting. Threedifferent concentrations of Bacillus sp. liquid were extracted from locally available rice
husk, which were 6.0×1010, 6.0×1012, 6.0×1014 cfu mL-1. An experiment was conducted
for 60 days comparing samples with and without Bacillus sp. liquid. Results showed that
Bacillus sp. helped in enhancing the fermentation process and better decomposition oforganic matter, mineralization and the heat generated during the process helped in theelimination of pathogenic bacteria. Further, a growth experiment was conducted where
Brasicca rapa was grown on the compost prepared. The results of growth experimentshowed application of Bacillus sp. is good for development of plants.
Keywords Nepal, mid-hills, farmyard manure, Bacillus sp., soil fertility

INTRODUCTION
Farmers in the mid hills of Nepal (Fig. 1) have been using farmyard manure for maintaining soil
fertility for their lands. However, there has been decreasing production of farmyard manure. Less
application of farmyard manure has led to decline soil fertility and reduce nutrient balance (Regmi
et al., 2005). Soil degradation through nutrient depletion is also a serious issue (Lal, 2000). Soils in
mid-hills have very low nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus concentration (Shah andSchreier 1991; Brown 1997; Westarp et al., 2004).
Application of farmyard manure, which is not completely fermented, raises health risks asplants can uptake pathogenic bacteria. Also, imbalance in nutrient contents of manure mainly from
nitrogen and phosphorus can pollute water sources through leaching and runoff.
Adding of microbial inoculants often referred as effective microorganisms (EM) have beenused in composting process. Li et al., (2013) suggested improvement of crop residue composting
using Bacillus sp. Also, Kuroda et al., (2009) stated better quality compost using the same. Studies
have been conducted addressing the use of microbial inoculants with the purpose of accelerating
composting and improving the final product (Zeng et al., 2009; Figueiredo et al., 2013). García etal., (2006) observed in their studies that the use of bacterial inoculants (Bacillus and actinobacteria)
in the composting of vegetable products increased the final humification of the compost andⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

consequentially improved the agricultural quality of the product. Nevertheless, further information
about the composting system is necessary.
Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of Bacillus sp. in composting processby evaluating the mineralization and its effect in eliminating pathogenic bacteria.

Fig. 1 Digital elevation model map of Nepal and study site
METHODOLOGYIsolation of Bacillus sp.
In this study, Bacillus sp. solution was extracted from rice straw and husk. Ten grams of rice husk
and straw was added in 90 mL of sterile water and kept overnight in shaker. Serial dilutions weremade and inoculated in nutrient agar plates which was incubated for 24 h at 30 °C. Serial plate
count method was used to determine the number of colonies on nutrient agar. Three different
Bacillus sp. solutions were made which were 6.0×1010, 6.0×1012 and 6.0×1014 cfu mL-1 wasmade in nutrient broth. The Bacillus sp. solution was made 200 mL for each cfu mL-1.
Sample Preparation
Cow manure and leaves were used in this composting experiment, where 1 kg of cow manure was
mixed with 1 kg of leaves to make a total mass of 2 kg. Physical, chemical and microbial
experiments were conducted to analyze the initial condition of materials used. Four treatments weremade which were Control, Treatment 1, Treatment 2 and Treatment 3 (Table 1). In treatments otherthan Control, 200 mL of Bacillus sp. liquid was added and mixed thoroughly.
Table 1 Preparation of samples for composting experimentControl

Treatment 1

Treatment 2

Treatment 3

Cow manure 1kg

Cow manure 1kg

Cow manure 1kg

Cow manure 1kg

Leaves 1 kg

Leaves 1 kg

Leaves 1 kg

Leaves 1 kg

200 mL of

200 mL of

200 mL of

6.0×1010 cfu mL-1

6.0×1010 cfu mL-1

6.0×1014 cfu mL-1

Bacillus sp. added

Bacillus sp. added

Bacillus sp. added

No Bacillus sp. addedⒸ ISERD

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Composting Setup and Experiment
An apparatus was designed where composting treatments were kept in glass containers. These
containers were kept in a tank containing water and temperature was maintained at a range of 3035°C (Fig. 2) by heating water with an electric rod. Composting was performed for 60 days andsamples were taken for 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days. Moisture content was maintained at 50-55% withfrequent checking and testing. According to Gajalakshmi and Abbasi (2008), the ideal moisture
content for an efficient composting lies between 50-60%, which is ideal for microbial metabolism.
Carbon content, pH, nitrogen concentration, phosphorus concentration, C/N ratio, temperature andE. coli colony formed units were measured.

Fig. 2 Apparatus designed for composting

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Evaluating Fermentation with Bacillus sp.
The result of temperature (Fig. 3) shows that there is difference in highest temperature obtained
compared with control and Bacillus sp. added treatments. The highest temperature obtained byControl, Treatment 1, Treatment 2 and Treatment 3 were 55 °C, 59 °C, 58 °C, 60 °C respectively.
The high temperature can be corresponded to heat generated by microbial activity of added
Bacillus sp. compared to control. The temperature did not reach a very high level (above 65 °C),
which is considered harmful for microbial growth (Valente et al., 2009). Also, very low
temperature is unfavorable for composting as it delays decomposition (Bernal, Alburquerque andMoral, 2009).
Maintaining an appropriate pH in a compost pile is vital for the survival of beneficial
microbes. The pH of all the treatments was in between the range of 6.8 to 7.5 (Fig. 4), whichindicated that a favorable condition existed for growth and metabolism of microorganisms.
8

70

50
40

Control
Treatment 1

30

pH

Temperature (°C)

607Control
Treatment 1

Treatment 2
Treatment 3

20
10

Ambient temp.

05

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

Treatment 2
Treatment 3

6
0

30

45

60

No. of composting days

No. of composting days

Fig. 3 Changes in temperature with time15

Fig.4 Changes of pH with timeⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Table 2 shows the total numbers of colonies formed of E. coli for different treatments. After
15 days of composting, there were no colonies formed with Bacillus sp. added treatments. This canbe attributed to the heat generated during metabolism and competition of nutrients by microbes.
According to Haug et al., (1980) pathogenic microbes die if there is temperature above 55°C for 3
or more days. On the other hand, there were 5.1× 103cfu g-1 of E. coli colonies in control during thefirst 15 days. At 30 days of sampling colonies of E. coli were not found in control as well.
Table 2 E. coli (cfu g-1) in different treatments
Control
Treatment 1
Treatment 2
Treatment 3

0 days9.3 × 103
9.3 × 103
9.3 × 103
9.3 × 103

15 days
5.1× 10300030 days000045 days000060 days00
00

Of the many elements required for microbial decomposition, carbon and nitrogen are the mostimportant. Carbon provides both an energy source and the basic building block making up about 50
percent of the mass of microbial cells. As seen in Fig. 5 the carbon percent decreases with increasein composting days. After 60 days, carbon percent of Control was 40.2, Treatment 1 was 38.45, 2
Treatment 2 was 38.45 and Treatment 3 was 36.18 percent. This result can be explained as numberof colonies of added Bacillus sp. increased there was higher decomposition of organic carbon.
Similarly C/N ratio (Fig. 6) observed, had significant difference in decrease between control andBacillus sp. added treatments.
60

60

Length ofplantCNratio(cm)

30

20

50

Control
840
40 Treatment
1
Treatment
230
430 Treatment 3
0

20

20

Control
Control

Treatment
Treatment 1 1
Treatment 2

Treatment 2

A**

0

15

30 No. of days45

40 Control
A**

B**
B**
B**

B**
Treatment
1
B**
B**

30 Treatment 2

Treatment 3

Treatment
3
30 15 4560 45
30
0 15 0days
0No. of composting
3
6 of
9
12days 15
No.
composting

12
A**

A**

B**
B**
B**

B**
B**
B**

60

12

C N ratio

40(**) denotes significance difference p < 0.01

B**
B**

50

60

50

Carbon %C N ratio

50

70
16
B**

(**) denotes significance difference p < 0.01

Length ofplantCNratio(cm)

60

70
16

60

18 20

A**

50

Control
840Treatment 1

2
Treatment 3 Treatment
30
4Treatment 3
21

60

0

24 20

No. of composting days

Control
Treatment 1
Treatment 2

Control

A**
A**

B**
B**
B**

B**
B**
B**

Treatment 3

Treatment 1
Treatment 2
Treatment 3

30 15 45 30
60 45
0 15 0days
0No. of composting
3
6 of
9
12days 15
No.
composting

60

18

21

No. of days

Fig. 5 Decrease in carbon percent with time

Fig. 6 Decrease in C/N ratio with time

According to Tumihairwe et al., (2009) large organic loss suggests pronounced microbialactivity. This supports the obtained result where added Bacillus sp. had resulted in increased
decomposition rate of carbon decreasing the carbon percentage and C/N ratio.
The nitrogen (Fig.7) and phosphorus concentration (Fig.8) of all the treatments showed
increase with increase in composting days. The final concentration of total nitrogen at 60 days forcontrol, treatment 1, treatment 2 and treatment 3 were 6825.07, 7728.02, 7835.02 and 8457.71 mg–
kg
respectively. According to Viel et al., (2007) increase in total nitrogen value might increase due
to nitrogen fixing bacteria that commonly occurs at the end of composting. The results obtained
contradict to Tognetti et al., (2007) who showed that total nitrogen decreased during composting.
Decrease in nitrogen content may occur due to leaching and volatilization, but this experiment was
conducted in a closed container nullifying the effects of leaching.
Likewise, After 60 days of composting the total concentration of phosphorus for Control,
Treatment 1, Treatment 2, and Treatment 3 were 2728.1, 3178.29, 3168.52, 2920.52 mg kg–1

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

respectively. The result obtained matches with those of Felton et al., (2004) and Chandna et al.,(2013) where they found increase in total phosphorus.
8000

3000

mg/kg

mg/kg

6000
Control

4000

Treatment 1
Treatment 2

2000

2000

Control
Treatment 1
Treatment 2

1000

Treatment 3

Treatment 3

0

0

0

15

30

45

60

0

15

30

45

60

No. of composting days

No. of composting days

Fig. 7 Change of nitrogen concentration
with time

Fig. 8 Change of phosphorus concentration
with time

Plant Growth Experiment
A plant growth experiment was conducted to analyze the effects on growth of plants using thecompost that was made. The plant used was Brassica rapa (Komatsuna). Twelve pots were used;
three each for Control, Treatment 1, Treatment 2 and Treatment 3 (unit area is 1/10000 a, and aheight of 150 mm). Six hundred grams of soil was used in each pot with 350 grams of compost
applied. 100 ml of water was put in the pots after three days interval. Environmental conditions like
temperature, light were made constant for all the pots. The height of the plants was measured after
3 days. The experiment was conducted for the period of 30 days from July 2017 to August 2017.
Table 3 Physical and chemical properties of soil used
Water content (%)
10.7±0.10
Organic content (%)
14.87±0.17
EC (mS/cm)
1.33±0.03pH
5.22±0.04
Total nitrogen Mg Kg-1
1590.36±0.72
Total phosphorus Mg Kg-1
907.65±0.03
Note: Values are mean ± SD (n=3).

In the result (Fig. 9) of plant growth experiment, the treatments with added Bacillus sp. had
higher crop height compared to control with significant difference at 99%. There was no significant
difference in height of plants with Bacillus sp. added treatments. The heights of plants for
Treatment 1, Treatment 2 and Treatment 3 were 14.97, 14.56 and 14.3 cm respectively. With theobtained results it can be said that plants grown in compost made with added Bacillus sp. can help
in growth of plants which coincides with results obtained by Toyota and Watanabe (2013) who
found that Bacillus sp. helps in development of plant by suppressing disease and enhancing plant
growth.
60
16(**) denotes significance difference p < 0.01

B**
B**
B**

Length of plant (cm)C N ratio

50

40

12

0

30
45
0 15
0No. of composting3
6 days 9

ControlA**

Treatment 1

B**
B**
B**

Treatment 2
4Treatment 3

20

controlA**

Control
8
Treatment 1

30

Bacillus sp. added
treatment

Treatment 2
Treatment 3

60
12

15

18

21

24

No. of days

Fig. 9 Increase in plant growth with time

Fig. 10 Plant grown for two treatmentsⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

CONCLUSION
This research was conducted to examine if adding of Bacillus sp. is beneficial for enhancing
fermentation, better decomposition of farmyard manure and also elimination of pathogenic
microbes from it. The results showed that adding of Bacillus sp. was effective in increasing thetemperature, thus eliminating of pathogenic microbes. Additionally, increased microbial activity
helped in better decomposition of carbon matter and better C/N ratio. Further, there was increase innitrogen and phosphorus concentration in Bacillus sp. added treatments compared to control. The
plant growth experiment proved that compost prepared with added Bacillus sp. can help indevelopment of plants.
Thus, with the observed results we can conclude that adding Bacillus sp. is beneficial for
better farmyard manure. Further research is required to identify specific species of microorganisms
involved during composting. Also, field experiments should be conducted to determine the loss ofnutrients through leaching, runoff and volatilization.

REFERENCES
Benito, M., Masaguer, A. and Moliner, A. 2003. Chemical and microbial parameters for the characterizationof the stability and maturity of pruning waste compost. Biol. Fert. Soils, 37, 184-189.
Bernal, M.P., LAlburquerque, J.A. and Moral, R. 2009. Composting of animal manures and chemical criteria
for compost maturity assessment, A review. Bioresource Technology, 100 (22), 5444-5453.
Chun-Ming Gong, Koshida, J., Moriyama, N., Xiaodan, W., Udou, T., Inoue, K. and Someya, T. 2005.
Occurrence and survival of coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli and Salmonella in various manure andcompost. Journal of the Science of Soil and Manure, 76, 865-874.
Figueiredo, V.R., et al. 2013. Microbial inoculation during composting improves productivity of sunmushroom (Agaricus subrufescens Peck). African Journal of Microbiology Research, 7 (35), 4430-4434.
Gajalakshmi, S. and Abbasi, S.A. 2008. Solid waste management by composting, State of the art. Critical
Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 38 (5), 311-400.
Garcia, M.C.V., et al. 2006. Influence of microbial inoculation and co-composting material on the evolutionof humic-like substances during composting of horticultural wastes. Process Biochemistry, 40 (6), 14381443.
Haug, R.T. Compost engineering: principles and practice. 1980, Michigan, Ann Arbor Science Publisher.
Li, L., Ishikawa, Y. and Mihara, M. 2013. Effects of adding Bacillus sp. on crop residue composting andenhancing compost quality. International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, 4 (2), 33-37.
Regmi, B. and Zoebisch, A.M. 2004. Soil fertility status of bari and khetland in a small watershed of midhill
region of Nepal. Nepal Agricultural Research Journal, 5, 38-44.
Shah, P.B. and Schreier, H. 1991. Workshop in issues in soil fertility and erosion in the middle mountain of
Nepal, ISS/IDRC/UBC, 1-2, Vancouver, Canada.
Takarada, K. and Mihara, M. 2009. Enhancing plant residue composting using Bacillus sp. in semi-arid
regions. Journal of Arid land Studies, 19 (1), 145-148.
Tognetti, C, Mazzarino, M.J. and Laos, F. 2007. Improving the quality of municipal organic waste compost.
Bioresour. Technol., 98, 1067-1076. 10.1016/j.biortech.2006.04.025.
Toyota, K. and Watanabe, T. 2013. Recent trends in microbial inoculants in agriculture. Microbes. Environ.,28, 403-404.
Viel, M., Sayag, D. and Andrre, L. 1987. Compost, production, quality and use. Optimisation of agricultureindustrial waste management through in-vessel composting. Edited by Bertoldi, I., Elsevier, Applied
Sciences, 230-23.
Zeng, G.M. et al. 2009. Effect of inoculating white-rot fungus during different phases on the characteristics
of humic acid. Chemosphere, 68 (4), 368-374.

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Research article
erd

Effects of Legume Residues with and without
Allelochemicals on Biodiversity of Plant Growth Promoting
Bacteria in Long-Term Organic Residues Amendment
Systems
PHRUEKSA LAWONGSA*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: phrula@kku.ac.th

SAOWALAK SOMBOON
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

RATTIYAPON RUNGTHONG
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

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

PATMA VITYAKON
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Received 7 January 2018

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Application of organic residues into infertile soil is one way to restore the fertility
and productivity of arable soils. However, organic residues have different qualities(especially chemical compositions including allelochemicals) that may influence theactivity and type of microorganisms present in the soil. Therefore, this study aims toinvestigate the effect of allelochemicals on plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB)
biodiversity in 17 years long-term field experiment continuous application of different
quality residues, groundnut stover (Arachis hypogaea) (high quality organic residue; withallelochemicals) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) (intermediate quality organic
residue; without allelochemicals), compare to control (no organic residue applied). PGPB
isolates were screened for their plant growth promoting factors such as production ofindole-3-acetic acid (IAA), phosphate solubilizing activity and their ability to grow innitrogen-free medium. In addition, the biocontrol activities which are protease production
and antagonistic activity against Fusarium sp. were investigated. PGPB biodiversity wasdetermined on a basis of amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). The majority ofbacteria were found to belong to the genera of Bacillus, Staphylococcus, andBrevibacterium. In addition, at 52 weeks after residue application, PGPB richness oftamarind treatment was higher than groundnut treatment. The findings of this study also
indicated that long-term legume residues amendment with and without allelochemicals canaffect PGPB richness and biodiversity.
Keywords plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB), groundnut stover, tamarind residue,
allelopathy

INTRODUCTION
Application of organic residues into infertile soil is one way to restore the fertility and productivityof arable soils. In addition, incorporating organic matter into soil affects on the biological, chemicaland physical properties of the soil and its overall health. However, organic residues have different
qualities (especially chemical compositions including allelochemicals) that influence the numberⒸ ISERD

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and type of microorganisms present in the soil (Aciego Pietri and Brooks, 2009; Marschner et al.,2003). Among allelopathic plants, tamarind is well known for its allelopathic potential. There areseveral allelochemicals playing role as allelopathic substances were found in tamarind leaves suchas tannins, phenolic compounds, flavoniod and alkaloids (Bhadoriya et al., 2011; Lewis andNeelakantan, 1964). Total phenols such as gallic acid, Caffeic acid were observed in tamarind
leaves for 14 g/kg and tannic acid for 8 g/kg. These chemicals also showed antimicrobial activities(Lawongsa et al., 2016a) and leaf extract of tamarind which showed decreasing bacterial
population in sandy soil (Somboon et al., 2017). Moreover, applications of different quality oforganic residue also have a tendency to induce plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) in soil
(Rungthong et al., 2013). The PGPB represent numerous species of soil bacteria which, whengrown in association with a host plant, result in stimulation of growth of their host. PGPB are used
as inoculants for biofertilization, phytostimulation and biocontrol (Bloemberg and Lugtenberg,
2001). PGPB can directly benefit plant growth by fixing nitrogen, which can subsequently be usedby the plant, thereby improving plant growth when the amount of nitrogen in the soil is limiting(Vessey and Buss, 2002), produce phytohormone such as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) (Ahemad andKhan, 2012; Sachdev et al., 2009) and phosphorus uptake (Rodriguez et al., 1999). Indirectly, byincrease resistance to pathogen and stimulate activation of induced systemic resistance (ISR) andsystemic acquired resistance (SAR) pathways (Duffy and Défago, 1999). The accumulation oflegume residue with allelochemicals into soils beyond certain threshold levels to overcome soil
degradation is may affect PGPB diversity.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of allelochemicals on plant growthpromoting bacteria (PGPB) biodiversity in 17 years long-term field experiment continuous
application of different quality of legume residues, groundnut stover (Arachis hypogaea) (highquality organic residue; without allelochemicals) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.)(intermediate quality organic residue; with allelochemicals), compare to control (no organic residue
applied).
METHODOLOGY
Study Sites and Soil Sampling
The long-term field experiments were established at the research station of the Agriculture and Cooperatives of Northeast at Tha Phra subdistrict, Khon Kaen province, Thailand (16°20´ N; 102°49´E) since 1995. This experiment has been designed as the randomized complete block design(RCBD). Three treatments apart from control soil (C; soil with no organic residues applied), there
were two legume residue treatments applied in early May every year including:, groundnut stover(Arachis hypogaea) as high quality organic residue (GN; C/N ratio: 17.1, Lignin: 67.6 g/kg;
Polyphenols: 12.9 g/kg) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) leaves + petiole litter as intermediate
quality organic residue (TM; C/N ratio: 31.5, Lignin: 87.7 g/kg; Polyphenols: 31.5 g/kg) at the rateof 10 Mg/ha/year to bare soil plots. The organic materials were incorporated to a depth of 20 cm ina 4 x 4 m2 plot. The average of soil moisture content in the control field, GN field and TM field allyear were 6.24%, 6.26% and 6.6%, respectively. Weeds were controlled at approximately monthly
intervals. For the present study, soil samples were obtained in April 2012, 17 years after the field
experiment had started. Three random soil samples from each of three replicate plots of eachtreatment were collected at 0-15 cm depth for PGPB analysis at 0, 26, 52 weeks after residue
application. The soil in this study was characterized as a Khorat sandy loam (fine loamy siliceous
isohyperthermic Typic (Oxyaquic) Kandiustults (USDA, 2014). Soil texture of all plot sites were
sand. The proportion of sand in the topsoil (0–15 cm depth) was between 93.86 - 94.93 %. The pHof all soil samples were found to vary from 5.1 to 6.62 which indicated the slight acidity of soils.
The soil pH values of 5.10, 6.37 and 6.62 were obtained from C, GN and TM, respectively. TheⒸ ISERD

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electrical conductivity (EC) values of all soil samples were found in the range of 33.66 to 64.66µS/cm indicated that all soil treatments were low in salinity. The soil samples were placed inplastic bags and stored at 4°C for further microbial analysis.
Isolation of PGPB from Soil Samples
Bacterial strains were isolated from soil samples by serial dilution plate technique on nutrient agar
medium (NAM). The bacterial colonies were isolated and maintained on NAM slants at 4°C. One
hundred isolates obtained from serial dilution plate technique of each treatment were screened fortheir plant growth promoting factors like production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), phosphatesolubilizing activity and their ability to grow in N-free medium. In addition, their biocontrol
activity like protease enzyme production as well as antagonistic activity against Fusarium sp. wasinvestigated.
Total Genomic DNA Isolation
PGPB isolates were grown in a nutrient broth at 28°C overnight and then were harvested bycentrifugation at 5,000xg for 5 min and washed twice in 500 µl of TEN buffer (50 mM Tris, 20
mM disodium EDTA, and 50 mM NaCl, pH 8.0). Cell lysates were prepared by mixing the cellpellet with 200 µl of 20% (w/v) sucrose in TEN buffer to this 20 µl of 2 mg/ml of lysozyme and 20µl of 10 mg/ml of RNase was added. Cell mixtures were incubated at 37°C for 60 min. Then 75 µlof 5 M NaCl and 100 µl of 10% SDS were added before gentle mixing. The solution was purified
twice by using phenol:chloroform:isoamyl-alcohol (25:24:1, by volume). The upper phase wascollected and precipitated by using isopropanol and 3 M sodium acetate. The DNA pellet was
resuspended in sterilized deionized-water and total genomic DNA was kept at -20°C before use(Sambrook and Russell, 2001).
Amplified rDNA Restriction Analysis (ARDRA)
The selected promising plant growth promoting traits were continued analyzed for biodiversity
analysis using ARDRA. The 16S rDNA universal primers fD1 (5’-AGA GTT TGA TCC TGG
CTC AG-3’) and rP2 (5’-AAG GAG GTG ATC CAG CC-3’) (Weisburg et al. 1991) were used toamplify a 1.5-kb internal region of the 16S rRNA gene. An initial denaturation at 95°C for 5 min
was followed by 35 cycles with denaturation at of 95°C (30 s), annealing at 58°C (1 min) andextension at 72°C (2 min), and a final extension at 72°C for 7min. Restriction analysis was
performed with 5 µl of amplified product and 10 µl of restriction buffer containing 2 U of either the
restriction enzymes AluI. After a 4 h digestion at the appropriate temperature, the enzyme wasinactivated by heating the preparations at 65°C for 20 min. For each isolate, PCR amplification andrestriction analysis were performed at least three times. Calculation of the pair-wise coefficients ofsimilarity was based on the presence or absence of bands. A cluster analysis with the UPGMA
algorithm was performed with the NTSYS-pc numerical taxonomy and multivariate analysis
system. Then, Representatives of each group were selected for cloning and partial 16S rRNA genesequencing to retrieve sequence similarity and bacterial identity from sequence databases.
Diversity Index Analysis
Based on these clusters, PGPB community richness and diversity index (Shannon) was calculated.
The formula is as follows:Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

where H’ is the species diversity index, s is the number of species, and pi is the proportion ofindividuals of each species belonging to the species of the total number of individuals (Nolan andCallahan, 2006).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONPGPB Richness
The PGPB diversity was estimated by Shannon’s index. Shannon value can reflect the species
diversity of the community, affected by both species richness and species evenness, that is the twovalues also consider the abundance of each species. The greatest PGPB richness was observed in
GN (0.14) and TM (0.14) at 26 weeks after residue application (Table 1). At 52 weeks after residue
application, PGPB richness of tamarind treatment was higher than groundnut treatment. This study
indicated that application of legume residue with allelochemicals like tamarind induced PGPB
richness overtime. In a relatively study showed that a large number of bacteria and fungi have theirability to degrade allelochemicals (Zhang et al., 2010; Chen et al., 2011). These microorganisms
could mineralize the allelochemicals as its sole source of carbon and energy. This could be certified
to the fact that the PGPB richness can increase eventually.
Table 1 PGPB richness from the three treatments
Treatments*
C
GN
TM

Shannon’s index (weeks after residue application)
0
26
52
0.02
0.10
0.07
0.02
0.14
0.10
0.02
0.14
0.12

*Treatments (C; no long-term application of organic residue in tropical sandy soil, GN; long-term applicationof groundnut strover in tropical sandy soil, TM; long-term application of tamarind in tropical sandy soil)

ARDRA Analysis and 16S rRNA Gene Partial Sequencing on PGPB Isolates
The cluster dendrogram of ARDRA analysis of PGPB isolates obtained from soil samples of 17
years long-term field experiment is illustrated in Fig. 1. Digestion of amplified 16S rDNA with
AluI revealed seven main clusters of ARDRA dendrogram. Cluster I, II, III and V of ARDRA
dendrogram showed representative of genera/species from all treatment. Cluster IV contained
representative of PGPB genera/species only from groundnut treatment while, cluster VI and VII
showed representative of PGPB genera/species only from tamarind treatment. Remarkably, Cluster
I, IV and V of ARDRA dendrogram showed representative of genera/species from all weeks after
residue application. No representative of PGPB genera/species isolated at 0 week after residue
application was observed in cluster II, III, VI and VII of ARDRA dendrogram. In addition, no
representative of PGPB genera/species isolated from 0 and 52 weeks after residue application wasobserved in cluster VI and VII of ARDRA dendrogram.
On the basis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, in excess of 1 kb fragments weresequenced for most of isolates, with similarities ranging between 88 and 99%. Thirteen isolates
were identified as Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Brevibacterium spp., Ralstonia spp.,
Pseudomonas spp., Brevundimonas spp., Sphingomonas spp., Stenotrophomonas spp.,
Paenibacillus sp., Burkholderia sp., Acinetobacter sp. and Lysinibacillus sp.
Further, Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Brevibacterium spp. were observed in alltreatments. The PGPB in the genus of Brevundimonas was only found in groundnut treatment. In
addition, the Sphingomonas spp. was only found in tamarind treatment.
The previous study reported that long-term application of organic residues strongly affectedbacterial and fungal community structure and diversity (Lawongsa et al., 2016b; Kamolmanit et al.,2013). This study suggested that not only application of legume residue with or without
allelochemicals can alter bacterial and fungal diversity, but also PGPB diversity.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1* The different isolates were designated T followed by the weeks after residue application (0, 26, or 52), treatment name(G;groundnut or T; tamarind) and by progressive numbers of PGPB isolation.

Fig. 1 Dendrogram of PGPB isolates representing each ARDRA group
CONCLUSION
In this study, thirteen bacterial strains isolated from 17 years long-term field experiment continuous
application of different quality residues, groundnut stover (Arachis hypogaea) (high quality organic
residue) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) (intermediate quality organic residue), compare tocontrol (no organic residue applied) were characterized. Most of the bacteria were member in thegenera of Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Brevibacterium spp., Ralstonia spp., Pseudomonas
spp., Brevundimonas spp., Sphingomonas spp., Stenotrophomonas spp., Paenibacillus sp.,
Burkholderia sp., Acinetobacter sp. and Lysinibacillus sp. The bacterial communities were
dominated by Bacillus spp. (42.86%), Staphylococcus spp. (11.90%) and Brevibacterium spp.
(9.52%). Interestingly, the richness of PGPB strains showed no different between groundnut
treatment and tamarind treatment at 0 and 26 weeks after residue application. However, therichness of PGPB strains of tamarind residue had increased at 52 weeks after residue application.
Notably, only the Brevundimonas spp. was only found in groundnut treatment. In addition, theSphingomonas spp. was only found in tamarind treatment. These findings suggested thatapplication of legume residue with allelochemicals like tamarind can alter PGPB richness anddiversity. The direction of the future research should thus consider, apart from studying PGPB, also
decomposing fungi and archaea in long term field experiment. This may include phylogenetic
studies and functional genes to identify microbial community directly involved in the degradationof organic materials in soils.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by a grant from Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center for
Sustainable Economy and Soil Organic Matter Management Research Group, Khon Kaen
University.

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Rungthong, R., Nittayachit, T., Pnomkhum, P., Vityakon, P., Saenjan, P. and Lawongsa, P. 2013. Screeningof bacterial isolates containing plant growth promoting traits in organic residue-treated soils. Khon Kaen
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Research article
erd

Local Government Support for the Development of Nutmeg
Industry in Fakfak Regency, West Papua, Indonesia
RISKINA JUWITA*
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: 46716001@nodai.ac.jp

SHIRO TSUCHIDA
Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies, Tokyo University of Agriculture, JapanS JONI MUNARSO
Indonesian Center for Agricultural Postharvest Research and Development, Bogor, Indonesia
Received 4 January 2018

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the impact of the local government support in farmers’level and to analyze the potential of rural development through the improvement of nutmeg
production system in Fakfak Regency. The results can be concluded as follows: (1) Nutmeg
industry in Fakfak Regency has been developed intensively by the support of local
government; (2) The nutmeg industry is deeply connected with traditional culture.
Meanwhile, the recent development efforts including local government support seem tomeet many obstacles when confronted with tradition; (3) However, there are farmers who
showed positive attitudes towards development, especially those who realize the importanceof sustaining production for their future generations; (4) Farmers will be highly motivatedto improve their skills and production when they can personally prove that their efforts candirectly lead to the increase of their family income.
Keywords nutmeg production, local government, local culture, rural development

INTRODUCTION
Papuan nutmeg (Myristica argentea Warb) is one of nutmeg varieties indigenous to Fakfak
Regency (Musaad et al., 2016) and has been traditionally grown in the wild forests by theindigenous people of Fakfak (INOBU, 2017). Development of nutmeg cultivation in Fakfak
Regency has been carried throughout generations. With a total cultivated area of 16,733 hectares(UNIPA, 2013), nutmeg is a major commodity of Fakfak Regency and plays a key role to the local
economy as an important source of income.
On the other hand, nutmeg industry in Fakfak Regency faces two major problems, namely low
productivity and low-quality products. Low productivity occurred due to inappropriate
management practices in cultivated lands. In farmers’ level, nutmegs are planted naturally in highdensity, narrow planting spaces (about 3x3m) and random distribution of male-female ratio, while
the ideal planting space is 10x10m (Gardner et. al., 1991; Deptan, 1986) and recommended
composition of male-female ratio is 1:10 (Hadad and Syakir, 1992). It has been identified that thecurrent planting condition may have caused the low productivity and emergence of disease
infection (Musaad et al., 2016). Meanwhile, low-quality products were caused by lack of awarenessduring harvesting, processing and distribution, such as early-harvest, incomplete drying process
and high-humidity storage. To solve these problems and enhance the development of nutmeg
industry in Fakfak Regency, the local government has been conducting support programs since2011. However, the impact of the support programs and the actual condition of nutmeg production
in farmers’ level are still unclarified.
OBJECTIVESⒸ ISERD

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This study aims to evaluate the impact of the local government support in farmers’ level and toanalyze the potential of rural development through the improvement of nutmeg production system
in Fakfak Regency.
METHODOLOGY
Data Collection and Selection
This study is conducted through interview and questionnaire surveys of nutmeg farmers andgovernment officials in Fakfak Regency, West Papua Province, Indonesia. The first interview
survey of the government officials of Regional Estates Crops Office of Fakfak Regency (therepresentative of the local government) was carried out in October 2016. Through the assistance of
this office, a total of 39 nutmeg farmers from 10 districts were selected using conveniencesampling method due to distance and time constraints during data collection. The 39 respondents
were interviewed to clarify the characteristics of nutmeg industry in the regency and to identify theform of local government support in farmers’ level. In order to evaluate the impact of the current
local government support, the second survey was carried out in September 2017 through structured
questionnaires and in-depth interviews with 9 farmers who showed important characteristics interms of production and sales among the 39 nutmeg farmers.
Data Analysis
Based on primary data of 39 farmers, the average values and component ratios were calculated toclarify the general condition and the characteristics of nutmeg industry in Fakfak Regency (i.e.
cultivating areas, cropping and harvesting patterns, and yield). Cost and profit analysis was
conducted to estimate the economic values of nutmeg industry in farmers’ level. Moreover,questionnaire was also structured using Likert Scale scoring method to grasp quantitative values on
farmers’ evaluation of the local government support. Lastly, through the case study of selected
farmers, descriptive analysis was used to describe the actual condition of nutmeg production andsales in farmers’ level.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Characteristics of Nutmeg Industry in Fakfak Regency
Nutmeg production is distributed widely in 14 districts out of the 17 districts across Fakfak
Regency and has been an indispensable part of Fakfak society (Disbun Fakfak, 2017). Based on thelocal culture, lands and nutmeg trees are inherited by the family members. The ownership of lands
is divided equally among the male members of the family. However, the female members also havethe rights to collect nutmeg fruits during harvest seasons.
Nutmeg cultivations spread from seacoast to semi-mountainous and mountainous areas atlatitude between 0 and 700 meters above sea level with different patterns and productivity (Musaad
et al., 2016). Survey of 39 farmers revealed seven (7) main results, namely (1) Generally, farmers
in Fakfak Regency own lands in 3 different areas with an average cultivated area of 4.8 hectares
per farmer; (2) Nutmeg fruits in Fakfak Regency can be harvested twice a year. The first harvest
season called as “The Big Harvest” usually starts from around October to February. Meanwhile, thesecond harvest usually starts around April to June with the quantity of nearly half of the firstseason; (3) Farmers usually start the harvest from lands in seacoast area and continue up to themountain area; (4) On the average, nutmeg farmers can produce around 30,000 fruits per hectareduring “The Big Harvest”; (5) Nutmeg fruits in Fakfak Regency are processed into nutmeg spices.
Farmers usually count harvested fruits while separating seeds and mace to be used for nutmeg
spices and leave out flesh on the ground as natural fertilizer for the trees; (6) Nutmeg seeds andⒸ ISERD

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mace will be dried separately before sold to the buyers; (7) Depends on the cultivation areas,
weight of dried seeds and dried mace per 1,000 fruits vary from 8-15 kg and 1-1.5 kg, respectively.
Local Government Support for Nutmeg Industry
Indonesian central government under the 5-Year Strategic Plan of Ministry of Agriculture 20152019 aimed to realize sustainable agriculture and bioindustry system that produces varieties ofhealthy foods and high added value products from regional resources (Secretariat General ofIndonesian Ministry of Agriculture, 2014). Through the support of this strategic plan, the local
government has been conducting the various support programs based on two main objectives,
namely, to preserve the sustainability of the Papuan nutmeg and to increase their local production.
In relation to the former objective, the local government conducted three programs, such as
Certification of Geographic Indication Commodity for Papuan nutmeg, Issuance of the Local
Regulation, and Distribution of Papuan nutmeg varieties. On the other hand, in relation to the latter
objective, farm rehabilitation and extensification of nutmeg cultivating lands have been intensively
conducted with the assistance of Regional Estate Crops Office of Fakfak Regency. Specifically,
these support programs can be categorized into three different stages: cultivation, processing, andsales.
In the cultivation stage, farm rehabilitation and extensification are the main programs. Local
government started the programs by spreading information through radio broadcasting. Then, local
extension workers from Regional Estate Crops Office will do on-site counseling and training byconducting one-day seminar and making sample plot in selected villages. Due to budget limitation,
on-site activities are conducted in 10-13 selected villages annually. Leaders of the selected villages
will propose several farmers as participants of the programs. Selected farmers will receive supportof seedlings and fertilizer to be used in their own lands. Pesticides were also distributed to farmers
whose lands have been infected by diseases. In the farm rehabilitation, farmers are encouraged toreduce numbers of trees, replace old trees with young seedlings, and clean up their cultivated lands.
Meanwhile, in the extensification program farmers are obligated to implement proper cultivation
method in newly opened lands.
In the processing stage, the local government put efforts to preserve the quality of nutmeg
spices. As nutmeg spices from Fakfak Regency are mostly exported to international market, priceof nutmeg spices highly depends on its quality. Recently, the local government has set the quality
standard of Fakfak’s nutmeg spices, which mainly includes appropriate harvesting period anddrying method, determination of moisture content, and grading classification for nutmeg seeds andmace. Under the supervision of Industrial and Trade Office of Fakfak Regency, wholesaler
companies are required to undergo quality control before shipping nutmeg spices.
In the sales stage, through the Certification of Geographic Indication Commodity program
managed by the central government, the local government has been working to certify nutmegs
produce in Fakfak Regency. During the certification, 300 farmers were randomly selected to checkthe whole production processes, from seedlings selection to cultivation, harvest, and processing
methods. Through these processes, the local government was able to clarify and legally issue theLocal Regulation (PERDA) regarding the quality standard of their nutmeg products.
Implementation of Local Government Support in Farmers’ Level
To analyze the implementation of the support programs in farmers’ level, the second survey was
conducted through structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews with 9 farmers from 2
different areas. Selected farmers were asked to evaluate their own condition in each stage using
specified scoring methods. Table 1 shows results of farmers’ evaluation towards their personal
condition.
Farmers in central Fakfak own 9.8 hectares of cultivated areas which are 5 times bigger thanin eastern Fakfak (1.8 hectares). The interview also confirmed that farmers in central Fakfak
generally have cultivated lands in three different areas, seacoast, semi-mountainous, andmountainous areas. Meanwhile, farmers in eastern Fakfak mostly own lands in seacoast area only.
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Table 1 Farmers’s evaluation towards personal condition
Nutmeg cultivation areas
Average distances from city center (km)Number of surveyed farmers (persons)Average cultivated land areas (ha)Average harvested land areas (ha)Personal evaluation on nutmeg cultivation
Satisfaction towards own cultivation 1)
Percentage of nutmeg trees infected by diseases2)

Knowledge and skills of nutmeg cultivation method 3)
a. Adjusting planting spaces
b. Adjusting distribution of male/female ratioc. Preventing disease infection
Personal evaluation on nutmeg harvesting
Importance during harvesting process (%) 4)
Time effectivenessQuality of harvested fruits
Personal evaluation on nutmeg processing
Knowledge and skills of nutmeg spices processing method 3) 5)
Knowledge and skills of nutmeg flesh processing method 3)
Personal evaluation on nutmeg sales
Satisfaction towards own sales condition 1) 6)

Central Fakfak
12
4
9.8
3.0

Eastern Fakfak
40
5
1.8
1.4

3.5

4.6

1.8

1.0

2.0
2.0
1.0

1.2
0.8
1.6

25
75

100
0

2.0

1.2

1.8

1.6

2.0

1.9

Source: Author's calculation based on survey data in 2016 and 2017.
1) Questions were answered using 5-level scoring system (1-very bad, 2-bad, 3-average, 4-good, 5-very good).
2) Question was answered using 5-level scoring system (1-0%, 2-25%, 3-50%, 4-75%, 5-100%).
3) Questions were answered using 3-level scoring system (0-not understand, 1-understood, 2-understood & implemented).
4) Numbers showed are percentage of respondents.
5) Knowledge and skills about nutmeg spices processing method consist of the following items: a) Conducting postharvest treatment, b) Drying processes of nutmeg seeds, c) Drying processes of nutmeg mace, d) Separating seeds skin,and e) Classifying grade of nutmeg spices. Respondents were asked to answer each item using 3-level scoring system,and numbers showed are the average score of all items from all respondents.
6) Satisfaction towards own sales condition consists of satisfaction towards the following items: a) Sales quantity, b)
Current price, and c) Current buyers. Respondents were asked to answer each item using 5-level scoring system, andnumbers showed are the average score of all items from all respondents.

In the cultivation stage, farmers in central Fakfak felt less satisfied on their own cultivation(3.5/5.0 points). This is because some of them realized that they spent less time to manage theirlands, especially in mountainous areas. It is also confirmed that there has been disease infection
found in central Fakfak (around 25%), while there is none in eastern Fakfak (0%). However, theinterview revealed that farmers in central Fakfak have not received any support on disease
infection. Although some farmers have personally tried to prevent further infection by burning
infected trees, collective actions are necessary before diseases infections spread to other areas.
Moreover, to evaluate farmers’ understanding and awareness in proper cultivation method,
farmers were asked whether they know and apply ideal spacing and male-female ratio in planting
nutmeg trees. The survey clarified that farmers in Fakfak Regency face difficult barriers inapplying the proper method. There are beliefs in society that cutting nutmeg trees means cutting thehands of their ancestors since trees were inherited throughout generations, hence farmers havehesitated to apply the proper method when cutting trees is required. However, despite of thiscondition, the survey also showed that farmers in central Fakfak have understood and been trying
hard to implement the method in their lands (2.0 points). Although it is still difficult to cut old trees,
some farmers have felt that applying proper method (e.g. at least cleaning their lands) has increased
their production. The assistance of local extension worker who lives in same village also helpsⒸ ISERD

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farmers to get information. Despite of no formal program from the local government, farmers feltthat there is a person available for consulting their problems. Hence farmers’ awareness andmotivation increase when they fully understand the importance of conducting the proper method.
On the other hand, farmers in eastern Fakfak still have resistance to apply the proper method.
One of the reasons is because they have not actually seen the results of applying proper method in
nearby areas. Moreover, farmers refused to use seedlings distributed in the programs because they
could not trust and guarantee that those seedlings would properly bear fruit. They also did not use
the fertilizer and pesticide because they were afraid that trees would depend on those chemicalmaterials once it was given. Thus, it can be highlighted that besides dealing with traditional custom,
it is important for the local government to gain trust from farmers and provide proof of benefits ofthe programs.
In the processing stage, there are clear differences in both areas in relation to harvestingprocess. Seventy-five percent of farmers in central Fakfak pay attention to quality when harvesting
fruits, while 100% of eastern Fakfak farmers consider more on time efficiency. The survey also
confirmed that farmers in central Fakfak have properly applied processing method (2.0 points).
Although there is barely significant support on processing method from local government, farmers
in central Fakfak have closer access to the market and local government offices. Thus, once
information is received, farmers regularly share it with their fellow farmers during village gathering,which helped them to get updated to the current condition. Moreover, farmers in central and eastern
Fakfak mentioned that they have received training on nutmeg flesh processing method (1.8 and 1.6
points, respectively). In Fakfak Regency, farmers only use seeds and mace to produce nutmeg
spices. Every year there are about 2.4 million kilograms of nutmeg flesh being wasted and left tothe ground. To maximize the use of fresh fruits into more value-added products, the local
government has conducted training on nutmeg juice and syrup processing to housewives of nutmeg
farmers. However, interview revealed that producers still find it difficult to sell the processed
products to the market, hence some of them conduct order-based processing or only produced byorders and some were not really motivated to continue their productions.
On the other hand, all farmers gave same responses towards sales condition. Farmers were
unsatisfied with their current sales, including quantity, price, and buyers (2.0/5.0 and 1.9/5.0
points). Farmers had no bargaining power on sales and no access to information on where and how
their nutmeg spices were distributed once sold to buyers. Although the local government has
legally issued the Local Regulation for quality standard of nutmeg spices and conduct quality
control in wholesalers’ level, it seems that it has not been implemented in farmers’ level. Currently,
there is also no regulation for standard selling prices in local market.
Impact of Local Government Support in Farmers’ Level
To evaluate further the impact of local government support in farmers’ level, Table 2 shows theactual condition of nutmeg production of 4 farmers in central Fakfak. Farmers were asked to record
their production between October 2016 to September 2017 to calculate their actual cost and income.
Farmers O and P live in the same village. Farmer O was known for his hard work in managing
his land. Before formally participated in the farm rehabilitation program, he has been implementing
approximately 5x5m planting spaces in his own land. Aside from nutmeg cultivation, farmer O also
plants other crops such as taro and coconut trees. He learned that by giving enough spaces, plants
grow bigger and less diseases. Hence, with high motivation to sustain his nutmeg production, he
implemented the same method to his nutmegs and was able to maximize his production and reach
30,000 fruits per hectare regardless of relatively small cultivated area than other farmers in central
Fakfak. Meanwhile, farmer P started implementing proper method after receiving support programs.
The interview revealed that before implementing proper method, he barely cleaned his lands, hence
his production was rather small. Despite of owning 3 hectares of cultivated areas, his production
only reached around 20 to 30 thousand fruits per year. However, in 2016 he was able to produce
50,000 fruits. Thus, among all farmers, farmer P gave a very positive response to the support
programs. He stated that he was able to get more knowledge and improve his production throughthe programs and have felt the benefits of the programs himself.
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Table 2 Profile of selected farmers in Central Fakfak (Production Year 2016)
Nutmeg Farmers (age years old)O (41)P (47)Y (41)A (46)

Number of household members (persons)

5

5

6

7

Total areas of nutmeg cultivated lands (ha)

1

4

10

24

Targeted buyers of nutmeg products

Middlemen

Middlemen

Middlemen

Wholesaler

Selling price of fresh fruits (IDR/piece)

350

350

350

500

Selling price of dried seeds (IDR/kg) 1)

40,00045,00060,00065,000

Selling price of dried mace (IDR/kg)

110,000

110,000

108,000

Support programs received from local
government

Farm
rehabilitation

Extensification;
Farm
rehabilitation

Nutmeg fruits yield (pieces)

30,00050,00090,000
Selected highproducing
farmer;Extensification
164,850

Harvested land areas (ha)

1

3

5

Yield per hectare (pieces/ha)

390,000
12

30,00016,66732,97032,500Total sales (IDR/year)

13,350,000

24,000,000

91,491,750

240,630,000

Total production cost (IDR/year)

1,419,750

4,523,750

35,950,000

100,498,750

Hired labor cost (IDR/year)--

28,848,750

97,500,000

Firewood cost (IDR/year) 2)

960,000

3,360,000

5,120,000-

Tools and machinery (IDR/year)

333,750

883,750

1,901,250

2,868,750

Transportation cost (IDR/year)

126,000

240,000--

Taxes (IDR/year)-

40,00080,000130,000

Net profit (IDR/year)

11,930,250

19,476,250

55,541,750

140,131,250

Net profit per hectare (IDR/year)

11,930,250

6,492,083

11,108,350

11,677,604

Net profit per family member (IDR/year)
2,386,050
3,895,250
9,256,958
20,018,750
Source: Author's calculation based on survey data in 2016 and 2017.
1) Selling price of dried seeds shown on the table is price of SS grade dried seeds. SS grade is the classification of mixed
dried seeds with skin, the most common type of dried seeds sold in the local market.
2) Firewood cost was calculated from the time spent by farmers to gather firewood for drying nutmeg seeds. Firewood
cost for farmer A was included in hired labor cost.

Farmer Y was categorized as one of high producing farmers (a total yield of 164,850 fruits),
who reached more than an average yield of 30,000 fruits per hectare. Thus, during the certification
program he was selected as one of High-producing Farmers (i.e. farmers whose lands produce
good quality of nutmegs and chosen as seedlings resources) for his good production. Hence, thegovernment has issued instructions to use seedlings from high-producing farmers to be distributedin the support programs. However, interview revealed that before being chosen as high-producing
farmer, farmer Y has never actually received any program. He has been personally implementing
proper method (i.e. 5x5m planting spaces) by learning from experience and sharing knowledge
with other farmers who have participated in the program. Unlike other farmers who mostly conduct
all activities by family members, farmer Y hires laborers during harvest season to maximize his
production, while tries to manage lands on his own by conducting weekly cleaning with his family.
On the other hand, farmer Y seems to be unsatisfied with the program. He stated that regardless of
being selected as high-producing farmer, he cannot get higher price when selling his nutmeg
products. Thus, at this moment farmer Y has not personally felt any benefit of the program.
Farmer A was the only surveyed farmer who has not participated in any program. However,
he was one of the biggest land-owners in Fakfak Regency and his family was known as the early
generation of Fakfak’s nutmeg farmers. He owns 12 hectares of cultivated lands and currently is
expanding his cultivation by opening new lands in privately owned wild forest. Despite of notparticipating in any program, farmer A manages to conduct proper method by himself. His father
used to travel outside Fakfak Regency to learn about agriculture and try new method in his lands.
Thus, farmer A took after his father and continued implementing the methods. Because of theirⒸ ISERD

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hard work and high production, his family was able to connect with local wholesaler and gain trust
to regularly supply nutmeg spices to this buyer. Farmer A stated that he is satisfied with his current
production and sales, since he has been able to sell all his products in higher price than average. His
good relationship with the buyer also helps him to get the latest information of nutmegs’ market
regardless of no support from the local government.
Based on cost and profit calculation, it is clarified that farmers earn significant incomes fromnutmeg production. The bigger the lands are cultivated; the more incomes can be earned. For
farmer O and P, nutmeg production has become an important source of household income,
combined with incomes from other on-farm activities (i.e. vegetables, fruits, and livestock). As forfarmer Y, with his good production, he was able to earn stable incomes and reach the same level ofIndonesia’s middle-class households with incomes between IDR 36-120 million per year (Deloitte,2016). Moreover, with large cultivation areas, farmer A can be categorized as the high-income
farmer. Hence, by conducting proper methods, there is a high potential for nutmeg farmers inFakfak Regency especially those who have more than 5 hectares cultivating areas to earn as muchas incomes of the middle-class households in Indonesia.
CONCLUSION
This study has clarified that nutmeg industry in Fakfak Regency has been intensively developed by
the support of the local government. Although there are difficulties to instantly shift from a longstanding tradition to proper cultivation methods, there are farmers who showed positive attitude
towards development and willing to improve their productions. It has also been confirmed thataccess to information and proofs of the benefits are very important to increase farmers’
understanding and awareness to implement proper methods themselves. In the future, the following
actions are essential to enhance the development of nutmeg industry in Fakfak Regency. First, it isimportant for the local government to ensure farmers receive necessary information. Increasing
support through assistance of local extension worker and providing opportunities to exchange
knowledge with other farmers can be effective ways to provide information. Second, farmers will
be highly motivated to improve their production when they can personally prove that their efforts
in production can also benefit their sales. Not only in cultivation stage, through cooperation withother related offices, the local government should intensively expand their support to processing
and sales stages. Third, setting a legal sales regulation is highly necessary to ensure that properquality standard and fair price in sales activities are applied from farmers to wholesalers’ level.
Lastly, due to the small number of respondents in this study, it is necessary to broaden the scope of
this research and conduct further analysis. Comparison study with other areas where the local
government support has also been implemented should be conducted to analyze necessary
improvements on the current support programs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge The Japan Food Chemical Research Foundation and Doctoral Research
Funding Program from Tokyo University of Agriculture Research Institute (NRI) for financially
supporting this research. We also convey sincere gratitude to the director and staffs of Regional
Estates Crops Office of Fakfak Regency for their kind assistance during the surveys, i.e. Mr.
Abdulrahim Patamasya, Mrs. Irian Jati, and Mr. George Waruma.
REFERENCES
Deloitte. 2016. Deloitte consumer insights, The evolution of the Indonesian consumer. Deloitte Southeast
Asia Ltd., Singapore.
Gardner, F.P., Pearce, R.B. and Mitchell, R.L. 1991. Physiology of crop plants (translated to Indonesian by
Susilo and Subiyanto). UI Press, Jakarta, Indonesia. (in Indonesian).
Hadad, M.E.A. and Syakir, M. 1992. Procurement of nutmeg crops materials, nutmeg and cinnamon researchⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

progress. Special Edition of Spices and Herbs Research, BALITTRO, Indonesia, 8, 1-7. (in Indonesian).
Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture (Deptan). 1986. Nutmeg and its cultivation. Division of Agricultural
Information Project, Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia (in Indonesian).
INOBU. 2017. West Papuan Nutmeg. Available at: http://inobu.org/west-papua/ (retrived on December 7,2017).
Musaad, I., Djuuna, F.A.I. and Attamimi, N. 2016. Land characteristics and their relationship to Papua
nutmeg (Myristica argentea Warb.) population in Fakfak regency. Int. J. of Applied Environmental Sci.,
India, 11, 957-966.
Regional Estates Crops Office of Fakfak Regency (Disbun Fakfak). 2017. Final report of survey analysis on
production and value chain of nutmeg products in Fakfak regency. Regional Estates Crops Office ofFakfak Regency and University of Papua, Indonesia. (in Indonesian).
Secretariat General of Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture. 2014. Indonesian agricultural development policy
2015-2019. Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia. (in Indonesian).
University of Papua (UNIPA). 2013. Inventory report of potential and development planning of nutmeg
commodity in Fakfak regency. Regional Development Planning Board of Fakfak Regency andUniversity of Papua, Indonesia. (in Indonesian).

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Research article
erd

A Study on Cambodian Rice Farming: Comparative
Analysis on Aromatic and Non-Aromatic Rice Farming in
Voatkor Commune, Battambang Province
SEREIROTH BUNTHAN*
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: 46616009@nodai.ac.jp

YUKI TAKAHASHI
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

YOICHI IZUMIDA
Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies, Tokyo University of Agriculture,
Tokyo, Japan
Received 31 December 2017

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Cambodian agriculture is now in midst of transition from the traditional subsistent
to modern commercial one. With respect to rice farming, more farmers are shifting from
non-aromatic to aromatic rice production. Currently, aromatic rice accounts for about 10%of total rice cultivated area, and 30% of total rice production. Furthermore, thecompetitiveness of non-aromatic rice has worsened recently. By observing this trend, thisstudy aims to grasp the differences in characteristics and profitability between non-aromaticand aromatic rice production, and to discuss the factors affecting the variety selection fromfarmers’ viewpoint. This study is based on the survey conducted in Voatkor commune,
Battambang province in 2017, one of the biggest rice producing areas in Cambodia. In thesurvey, random sampling method was applied, and 82 rice farmers were interviewed.
Among the sample, 59 farmers adopted non-aromatic rice, and 61 farmers adopted aromatic
rice, including farmers adopted both aromatic and non-aromatic. Study farmers generally
cultivated only once a year, mainly in wet season. The result of the study showed that
aromatic rice was not commonly used for home consumption, and that more than 80% of
the production was for sale, considering greater demand from international market. On theother hand, the non-aromatic rice was mainly used for home consumption and domestic
market. The costs of aromatic rice production were higher on material and labor costs, but
farmers were able obtain higher yield in comparison with the non-aromatic rice. Despite
higher production costs, aromatic rice was found to be more profitable in gross value added,
gross margin and net profit, thanks to higher yield and favorable paddy price. In addition,
this study also identified non-economic factors affecting the farmers’ decision-making on
varieties. Finally, some recommendations are offered.
Keywords aromatic rice, non-aromatic rice, production costs, profitability, Cambodia

INTRODUCTION
Rice is a staple food in Cambodia, cultivated all over the country. It contributes more than 10% to
the national GDP with more than 50% of employment. After 30-years hiatus caused by civil war,
Cambodia has been slowly recovering its status as a major rice producer and exporter. Currently,
Cambodia stands as the World 6th rice exporter and second largest exporter of Premium Jasmine
Rice (USDA, 2013).
With the achievement of rice self-sufficiency in 1990s, the Cambodian government has set a
goal to export one million tons of milled rice by 2015. For this goal, aromatic rice was strategicallyimportant, since it has a great potential for exportation pulled by the increasing demand frominternational market. As World Bank (2015) pointed out, many farmers were shifting from nonⒸ ISERD71

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aromatic to aromatic rice production. Currently it is estimated that aromatic rice accounts for about
10 percent of cultivated area, and 30% of total production. However, most farmers still stick to
non-aromatic rice farming partly due to the constraints of socio-economic factors, land condition,and partly due to the farmers’ preference. It is important to clarify the obstacles from field data,
which hinder the shift of rice production to more rational direction.
This study aims to grasp the differences in characteristics of production as well as differencesin cost and return, among several types of rice farming. Also, it aims to point out the factors
affecting the variety selection, based on interviews with rice farmers.
METHODOLOGYThis survey was conducted in Voatkor commune, Battambang province. It is one of the biggest riceproducing areas in Cambodia, also known as “Cambodian Rice Basket”. The total number of farmhousehold is around 82 households in 2017, and the total agriculture land is around 164.53 ha,which consists of 159.44ha of rice field. The water resource of this commune is provided by
Kampingpouy reservoir, and Kahout irrigation. The irrigation situation in this study area isconsiderably poor. Rice field located inside the village, cannot access to the irrigation system fully
throughout the year, and rice farming there is heavily dependent on rainfall.
This study is based mostly on primary data, collected through direct interviewing with rice
farmers in the commune. Interviewed farmers were selected by random sampling method. The
survey was conducted two times in March and September 2017. Totally 82 rice farmers wereinterviewed and they categorized into three groups: group A (21 non-aromatic rice adopter), group
B (22 aromatic rice adopter), and group C (38 farmers adopted both).
The method of analysis of this paper is mainly descriptive, but considering the wide
differences in the characteristics and economic performance of rice production among various ricecultivating systems, this paper tries to compare the above-mentioned differences not only between
aromatic and non-aromatic rice production but also among rice cultivating systems.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Socio-Economic Characteristics of Aromatic and Non-Aromatic Rice Producers
Table 1 Socio-economic characteristics of aromatic and mon-aromatic rice producers
Non-aromatic
farmers
21
20
5.05
54.71
5.57
1.13
1.48

Aromatic
farmers
22
21
4.91
51.52
7.48
1.54
1.93

Farmers
adopted both1
38
38
5.37
51.89
7.89
3.01
4.05

T-test (p value)
NA & A
NA & Both

Number of household (HH)
Number of male head of HH
Average family size (person)
0.78
Average age (years old)
0.41
Year of education (years)
0.08
Average owned land per HH (ha)0.24
Average planted area per HH (ha)0.17
Source: Field survey, 2017
1: Farmers adopted both means farmers who produced both aromatic and non-aromatic rice varieties.
*Indicates statistical significance at 0.05 level

0.45
0.44
0.01
0.04
0.07

*
*

Basic features of interviewed farmers are presented in Table 1. Table 1 shows that farmers of group
C had longer career of education in comparison to farmers in group A and B. In addition, farmers
in group C had bigger size of owned and as well as planted rice area. The difference between
owned and planted land can be regarded as rented land and this was around one hectare (one thirdof total planted area) for farmers in group C. On the other hand, rented land of group A and B
farmers was not so much, suggesting they were mostly using their owned land. With respect tofamily size and age of respondents there was no significant difference among these 3 group farmers.

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Rice Farming System in the Study Area
In Cambodia, there are many types of rice farming in accordance to seasons, land type, and watercondition. The main crop is rain-fed rice farming in rainy season, primarily harvested in November
to January, using local varieties. It should be noted that the performance of rice faming, such as
yield, cost of production, profitability and so on, are ranging widely depending on land condition,
availability of water, and variety use. Thus, before discussing the difference in production cost andreturn of rice farming, it is needed to examine the existing rice cultivation system in the study area.
Four different types of rice farming system were observed in the study area (Table 2): medium
non-aromatic rice, late non-aromatic rice, medium aromatic rice, and early aromatic rice.
Table 2 Typology of rice farming systems in the study area
Rice cultivating system bylength of maturity

Local variety
Non-aromatic
Aromatic

Early
X
MediumO
Late
O
Source; field survey 2017 by the first author
Note 1). o: Observed in studied area
x: Not observed in studied area

X
O
X

Modern variety
Non-aromatic
Aromatic
X
X
X

O
X
X

Medium non-aromatic rice farming: 29 respondents adopted this farming system. Using local
varieties, farmers started in May to June and harvest in November to December (around 6 months).
This rice system is extensive with a bag of fertilizer (50kg/bag) and only a limited insecticide andweedicide were applied. This farming is fully dependent on rainfalls, so irregular rainfalls might
damage or delay the process of farming, resulting the decreasing in the paddy yield. The average
yield per hectare is around 2.74 ton, and the purpose of this production is mainly for homeconsumption.
Medium aromatic rice faming: 45 farmers were found to adopt this farming system. The varietiesthat farmers used are local ones with 2.82 tons of average yield per hectare. The cropping period is
the same as medium non-aromatic rice. This rice system is also an extensive type with a limited use
of weedicide, insecticide, and fertilizer (commonly 1 bag). It fully depends on rainfalls, and only
shallow depth-rice field is suitable to this system. The purpose of this rice production is partiallyfor home consumption and for sale.
Late non-aromatic rice farming: 30 farmers revealed to adopt this farming system. Same as theearlier farming system, the varieties of this farming system consist of local varieties. The average
yield of adopted farmers is around 2.78 ton per hectare. The cropping period is 8 months, startingfrom May to June, and finishing in December to January. This rice system is an extensive one asmedium rice farming, and faces the same risk. The main purpose of this production is for homeconsumption as well as for sale.
Early aromatic rice farming: 34 farmers adopted this farming system. This farming system is themain practice when the irrigated water can reach to the rice field during dry season and short dry inwet season. Early aromatic rice farming is an intensive farming with high use of fertilizer (3 to 4bags) and of weedicide and insecticide. The varieties for this farming system are the modern ones,
and the yield per hectare (around 3.56 tons) is higher than the local varieties. The cropping period
for this farming system is only 3 to 4 months (around 105 to 115 days). The purpose of this type ofrice production is mainly for sale, and finally export to international market.
Total Production Cost of Rice Farming
From above analysis, it was found that in the study areas, there were four types of rice farming, andthat the system differed much in variety selection, production purpose, and input use among them.
Thus, in the analysis of cost and returns of rice farming, it is necessary that diversified aspects ofrice farming among farming systems should be fully took into the account.
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In this study two different comparison are adopted. First, comparison between medium nonaromatic and medium aromatic rice farming was compared, since those two shared the same
cropping period. Second, late non-aromatic rice farming and early aromatic rice farming wascompared. Those two types are currently the most common rice farming system in the study area.
Concerning the cost analysis, this study followed the method of World Bank (2015).
Additionally, the analysis calculated the cost not only of cash payment, but also imputed cost suchas cost of organic fertilizer, family labor costs, cost of owned land, and depreciation of farm assets.
To check the significance of difference in cost items between farming systems, T-test with twosampled assuming unequaled variances is applied in this study as well.
Table 3: Total production cost of aromatic and non-aromatic rice production

Source: Field Survey, 2017
*Indicates statistical significance at 0.05 level

Unit: USD/ha

Table 3 shows production costs (cost per ha) of four types of rice faming. The result revealed
that the total production cost of medium non-aromatic rice was 476.78 USD/ha, while the total
production cost of medium aromatic rice was 497.65 USD/ha, suggesting that production cost of
medium aromatic rice was significantly higher than that of medium non-aromatic rice due to higher
costs of seed, fertilizer, fuel, and water cost. The result also showed the total production cost ofearly aromatic rice (600.83 USD/ha) was significantly higher than total production cost of late nonaromatic rice (503.16USD/ha), resulted from higher spending in seed, fertilizer, pesticide,weedicide, fuel, service cost, and family labor. The production cost of both aromatic rice farming
systems was reported to be much higher in comparison to the non-aromatic rice farming systems.
Economic Returns of Rice Farming
Regarding economic returns, this study examined several indicators, like gross value added, grossmargin, total cash income, and net profit of rice farming in each category. Gross value added was
the deduction from gross revenue and intermediate inputs. Gross margin was obtained by deducting
gross revenue deducting intermediate inputs and hired labor. Total cash income was calculated bydeducting total cash expense from gross revenue, and finally net profit was calculated by deducting
costs of family labor, costs of owned land, and depreciation cost from gross margin. In addition, Ttest analysis with two-sampled assuming unequal variances was applied in this study as well.
Table 4 shows the comparison of cost and returns per hectare among four rice faming systemin the study in each category. The production of aromatic rice was more profitable in whatevermodel used. As the extensive farming system, both medium non-aromatic and medium aromaticⒸ ISERD

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rice had similarity of input used and yield. But, the result revealed that net profit of medium
aromatic rice is 90% higher and more profitable than medium non-aromatic rice in every indicator.
However, it is important to note that the net profit of medium aromatic rice was not significantly
higher than medium non-aromatic rice.
Table 4 Net profit of aromatic and non-aromatic rice production

Source: Field Survey, 2017
*Indicates statistical significance at 0.05 level

Unit: USD/ha

Concerning the comparison of cost and returns between late non-aromatic and early aromatic
rice, this analysis confirmed the significant difference in terms of production cost and yield
between two categories. It was found that early aromatic rice was significantly more profitable thanlate non-aromatic rice. Higher yield and higher paddy price resulted the higher economic
performance of aromatic rice than late non-aromatic rice. This implied that farmers who adopted
aromatic rice both medium and early rice farming system made greater profit than farmers who
adopted only non-aromatic rice. This result also realized the reasons behind the occurrence indiversities in rice farming in the study area as well.
Factors Affecting Farmers’ Decision-making
Understanding the differences in cost and returns between aromatic and non-aromatic rice farming,
it is needed to examine farmers’ socio-economic characteristics factors, affecting their decisionmaking on varieties selection.
The result of estimated probit model of factors influencing group A and B farmers on varieties
selection is presented in Table 5, which value 1 represented aromatic rice and 0 was non-aromatic
rice. This study was examined farmers by farmers, and some of the variables had significant effects
on the probability of adopting aromatic rice and some for non-aromatic rice. As result showed, theadoption of rice varieties was likely to be influenced by some factors. For instance, land condition
appeared to be the most crucial factor in adopting decision of group A and B farmers. The
significant of land condition indicated that well condition factor was likely important in increasing
aromatic rice adoption. Similar studies suggested that the endowment of land field was critical for
farmers’ decision-making on varieties adoption. Farming experiences also appeared to be anotherimportant factor affecting on farmers’ decision. The study pointed that the more experienced thefarmers is, the more likely farmers will adopt aromatic rice. Eating preference was added in themodel in order to capture the farmers’ preference on home consumption rice varieties, and theresult, on the other hand, indicated that eating preference and age of interviewed farmers showedⒸ ISERD

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negative significant effect on adoption of aromatic rice. This suggested that eating preference andage of respondents were more likely to influence on adoption of non-aromatic rice.
Table 5 also shows the result of estimation of probit model of factors impacting group C
farmers’ decision-making. This analysis was examined plot by plot, and it also proved that land
condition and farming experience factor showed the propensity toward adopting aromatic rice. The
result indicated that the better land condition is and the more farming experiences farmers have,group C farmers were likely to produce more aromatic rice. It was possibly explained that group C
farmers were mostly consisted of big size or farm oriented farmers, which proved that this farmers
group was more responsive toward varieties with better yield and market.
Table 5 Estimated probit model for factors affecting farmers’ varieties selection of aromatic,
farmers adopted non-aromatic, and farmers adopted both aromatic and nonaromatic rice

Source: Field survey, 2017
Significant codes: 0’***’ 0.001’**’ 0.01’*’ 0.05’.’

CONCLUSION
The result of the analysis of production cost and returns revealed that all indicators including grossvalue added, gross margin, total cash income, and net profit of medium and early aromatic rice
varieties received higher income and more profitable from economic view point in comparison to
medium and late non-aromatic rice. The result also revealed that land condition was the most
crucial factor in determining farmers’ decision, specially toward producing aromatic rice because
suitable land condition was needed in producing aromatic rice. It is indicated that in the future, thenon-aromatic rice might lose its status as the major rice production in Cambodia, and more farmers
will shift to grow more aromatic rice in the study. This study also suggested that in order toimprove the production of aromatic and non-aromatic rice, two majoring issues are needed toaddress such as reduction domestics production cost and minimizing the marketing and traderelated costs and barriers.
REFERENCES
Chwelos, P., Benbasat, I. and Dexter, A. 2001. Research report: Empirical test of an EDI adoption model.
FDA. 2010. An economic survey of rice sector in Cambodia. Report commissioned by FDA and SNEC,
Phnom Penh, 2010.
Ingye, Y. 2005. The effect of adoption of improve rice variety on the productivity of small-scale farmers inHawl, Nigeria. Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Kuthy Kann. 2013. Cambodia, the Rice Kingdom of “White Gold”, World Rice Conference 2013.
RGC 2011-2016. Annual report of agriculture. Department of Agriculture in Battambang, Cambodia.
Slayton, T., Mudita, C. and Munichan, K. 2015. Cambodian agriculture in transition, Opportunity and risks.
Report Commissioned by the World Bank and AusAID.
USDA. 2016. Rice, World markets and trade. Foreign Agricultural Service under USDA.
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Research article
erd

Evaluation of Rates and Forms of Urea Fertilizer for
Improved Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Hybrid Maize
Cultivation
THANT LWIN OO*
Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar
Email: tthant2007@gmail.com

THAN DA MIN
Department of Agronomy, Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

KYAW KYAW WIN
Department of Agronomy, Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

MIE MIE AUNG
Department of Plant Breeding, Physiology and Ecology, Yezin Agricultural University,
MyanmarReceived 28 December 2017

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract By using different rates and forms of urea fertilizer, the field experiments werecarried out at Department of Agricultural Research, Head Quarters, Yezin and Tatkon
Agricultural Research Farm, during the monsoon season of 2017. For improving nitrogenuse efficiency of Yezin Hybrid Maize-10 variety, four nitrogen fertilizer rates (0, 71.27,
118.78 and 166.29 kg N ha-1) were applied with two forms of nitrogen fertilizer (Briquetteurea and Prilled urea). The 4 x 2 factorial arrangements were assigned in the Randomized
Complete Block Design with 3 replications in both experimental sites. Mean effects ofapplied nitrogen rates on seed yield of maize were highly significant in this study. The
highest mean values of seed yield resulted with the rate of 166.29 kg N ha-1 in Yezin (8.14 tha-1) and Tatkon (11.69 t ha-1). Although, there was no significant effect from forms of urea
fertilizer on seed yield, mean seed yields of Briquette urea were generally higher than thoseof Prilled urea at the same level of applied N rate in both sites. Non-significant interaction
was observed between rate and form of urea fertilizer factors in the variation of hybridmaize seed yield. The similar trend was also observed in comparison of agronomic nitrogenuse efficiency (AE) of hybrid maize. The AE mean values of 166.29 kg N ha-1 (8.14 and11.69 t increased seed kg-1 N applied) were significantly higher than those of other two
rates of applied nitrogen in Yezin and Tatkon, respectively. The significant effect wasobserved from forms of urea fertilizer on nitrogen recovery efficiency (RE) in both trials.
The RE means of Briquette gave 208.58 in Yezin and 631.43 in Tatkon.
Keywords hybrid maize, AE, RE, briquette, prilled, urea fertilizer

INTRODUCTION
Maize is the second most important cereal crop after rice and it is the main feed crop grown in
Myanmar. One of the major nutrients limiting maize production is nitrogen. In tropical soil, thepotential for loss of fertilizer N is substantial. Poss and Saragoni (1992) found that 36-153 kg N ha1
had leached below the root zone (150 cm) during the growing season. Myers (1988) reported thatmaize takes up only 20 to 40% of available N during the main 3 to 5 months of the growing season.
Nitrogen (N) management studies have been conducted for many years, mainly with the aim of
reducing N losses and increasing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Improving efficient use of applied
nutrients in crop production is a desirable agronomic, economic, and environmental goal.
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for the last one to two decades. Some of the N management practices are the use of slow- andcontrolled release fertilizers and improved placement methods, which reduce the emissions of
GHG gases from agricultural fields.
Urea deep placement (UDP) is a proven technology in Bangladesh, sub-Saharan Africancountries, and more recently in Myanmar that can increase the yield of transplanted lowland rice by
15-20 percent with less use of urea (up to 40 percent) compared to broadcast application of urea
(IFDC, 2016). In Bangladesh, 15-20 percent increases in maize yields have been achieved withfertilizer deep placement (FDP), while farmers use 15-20 percent less N (IFDC, 2013). Fertilizer
deep placement with briquette form is a technology that is now being promoted in Myanmar by
Fertilizer Sector Improvement (FSI) Project of International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC).
OBJECTIVES
The present study aims to investigate the efficient nitrogen fertilizer rate for maize production andto determine the appropriate fertilizer placement method to get high yield.
MATERIALS AND METHODSThe experiments were conducted during monsoon season 2017 at the Department of Agricultural
Research, Head Quarters, Yezin (19˚57’N, 96˚16’E, elevation 130.85 m), Tatkon Agricultural
Research Station (20˚ 07’N, 96˚ 12’E, elevation 155.25 m). The 4 x 2 factorial arrangements wereassigned in the Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications in both experimental sites.
Used cultivar in the experiment was single-crossed Yezin Hybrid Maize-10. Selected soil chemicaland physical characteristics for the two research stations soil are presented in Table 1. The
experimental materials were included four nitrogen fertilizer rates (0, 71.27, 118.78 and 166.29 kg
N ha-1) were applied with two forms of nitrogen fertilizer (Briquette urea and Prilled urea). The
Prilled Urea (PU) is the most common form of urea available in the market and contains 46%
nitrogen (N). The Briquette Urea (BU) is manufactured from a physical modification of ordinary
urea fertilizer. The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) has developed it. Its natureand properties are similar to that of PU, but its granule size is bigger and condensed in shapecontaining 46%N. The weight of Briquette used in this study was 1.8 g and 2.7 g. The ordinary
triple super phosphate (TSP) 123.5 kg ha-1 and Muriate of Potash (MOP) 123.5 kg ha-1 were used
for source of nutrient at basal for BU treatments (T2, T3 & T4) and N control treatments (T1 & T5).
TSP 123.5 kg ha-1was applied at basal and three equal split amounts of MOP (123.5 kg ha-1) wasused at basal, 21 days and 35 days after sowing for PU treatments (T6, T7 & T8). BU was appliedat sowing time inserted into 7-10 cm deep.
Table 1 Physico-chemical properties of experimental soils
Properties
Soil texture
Sand %
Silt %
Clay %
Soil pH
Available N (mg/kg)
Available P (mg/kg)
Available K (mg/kg)
Organic matter (%)

Analytical method
Pipette method

4A1-1:5 soil: water suspension
Alkaline permanganate method
9C-Olsen’s P-Malachite green
1N Ammonium acetate extraction
Tyurin’s method

TatkonLoamy sand
87.85
2.10
10.05
6.60
73.00
6.40
210.002.50

Yezin
Loamy sand
85.40
6.33
8.26
5.90
63.00
15.00
183.002.20

Each plot comprised of 8 rows with 5 m long and spacing was 0.76 m between row and 0.23
m within plants. The standard procedure for maize was carried out during the crop stand.
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Agronomic characteristics and grain yield were recorded. As N fertilizer were applied in different
plots at different forms and doses, the use efficiency N was calculated by the formula NUE =(Gy+N-Gy0N)/FN, where Gy+N= grain yield in treatment with N application; Gy0N= grain yield intreatment without N application; FN= amount of fertilizer N applied in kg ha -1 (Afroz, 2013). The
N uptake by grain and stover was determined from N content and yield data. The recovery
efficiency of applied N was calculated by the formula RE= ‰N uptake at Nx - N uptake at N0/
applied N at Nx. Data analysis was done by using SAS program version 9.1 (SAS Institute 2001)
for analysis of variance and mean comparisons.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Nitrogen rates significantly affected yield in Yezin and Tatkon (Table 2). Yield increased withincreasing N rates. The highest rate N4 (166.29 kg N ha-1) provided maximum yield (8.14 t ha-1 inYezin and 11.69 t ha-1in Tatkon) which was statistically significant from lower N rates. The lowest
value of yield 2.96 t ha-1 in Yezin and 9.37 t ha-1 in Tatkon was found in the no nitrogen N1 (0 kg Nha-1). It was cleared that nitrogen fertilizer is needed to get better yield in hybrid maize.
Table 2 Mean effect of rate and form of urea fertilizer on seed yield and agronomic efficiency(AE) and recovery efficiency (RE) of hybrid maize during monsoon season of 2017
Seed yield(t ha-1)

AE (N)(t increased seed kg-1 N
applied)Recovery efficiency(N)N rate (kg ha-1)

Yezin

TatkonYezin

TatkonYezin

02.96 c9.37 c

-

-

-

b

b

10.68

6.05

b

10.55

Tatkon-b

154.73c579.85b

71.27

6.09

118.786.36 b

10.46 b6.33 b

10.39 b194.87b627.32a166.298.14 a11.69 a8.12 a11.63 a234.29a

540.95c

LSD0.05

0.61

0.7 9

0.53

0.81

7.23

36.58

Form of Urea
(F)
Briquette
Prilled
LSD0.05
Pr>F
N
F
NxF

5.99 a5.78 a0.43

10.75 a10.35 a0.79

6.98 a6.69 a0.44

11.14 a10.57 a0.66

208.58a180.68b5.90

631.43a533.98b29.87< 0.0001
0.32300.70250.00020.14810.4264< 0.0001
0.17660.51940.01330.08320.4700< 0.0001< 0.0001
0.00140.0013< 0.0001
0.0240CV (%)

8.39

6.02

6.07

5.81

2.89

4.87

Means having similar letter(s) do not differ significantly whereas means having dissimilar letter(s) differ significantly as
per DMRT at 5% level, LSD: Least Significant Different, CV: Coefficient of variation

Form of nitrogen fertilizer application (Briquette urea and Prilled urea) on yield was notstatistically significant in both trials (Table 2). The briquette urea treated plots were gained morevalue in yield than Prilled urea treated plots in both locations. Nair and Singh, 1974 and Misra et al.,1994 pointed that split N of Prilled urea provided yield and its components especially when the last
split was scheduled near the phase with high N demand could have more likelihood of being
deposited in sink than in other vegetative organs helping development of sink and ultimately theyield parameters. The results pointed that briquette form of urea application at once in basal could
also behave as split prilled N application.
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The effect of interaction between nitrogen fertilizer rate and form of nitrogen fertilizer
application was not significantly on yield in both trials. The interaction of N4 (166.29 kg N ha -1)
with briquette form of urea gave the highest yield (8.28 t/ha) in Yezin (Fig. 1) and 12.03 t ha-1 inTatkon (Fig. 2). At the same fertilizer rates, briquette form of application intended to increase yieldin both locations.

Fig. 1 Mean seed yields as affected by theFig. 2 Mean seed yields as affected by thedifferent rates and forms of nitrogendifferent rates and forms of nitrogen
fertilizer at Yezin Agricultural
fertilizer at Tatkon Agricultural
Research Farm during monsoon season
Research Farm during monsoon
2017
season 2017
The nitrogen fertilizer rate significantly affected agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (AE), andnitrogen recovery efficiency (RE) in both trials. With increasing N rates AE and RE also increasedin Yezin Trial (Table 2). The AE consistently increased with increase in nitrogen rates. The highest
N rates (N4, 166.29 kg N ha-1) provided the maximum amount of AE (8.12 t increased seed kg-1 N)
and RE (234.29) in Yezin. Increase in nitrogen rates from N1 to N3 significantly enhanced RE in
Tatkon (627.32). Further increase in nitrogen rates could not bring increase rather curved therecovery efficiency of N (Table 2).
No significant effect was given by the form of nitrogen application in AE for both trials. The
mean value of AE with briquette urea treated plots gave higher values than using Prilled urea inboth locations. The RE was statistically increased by using briquette urea in both trials. More RE
was obtained from the briquette urea treated plots (Table 2). The nitrogen recovery efficiency is anindex which determines the quantity of plant N uptake per unit of N fertilization. Dobermann(2005) and Aita and Giacomini (2008) argued that nitrogen recovery efficiency depends on thetiming of the plant demand with nutrient availability. This synchronism is affected by several
factors, the method of N fertilizer application, fertilizer source, fertilizer rate, quantity of residue,
type of residue, and weather conditions (Wendling et al., 2007; Amado et al., 2009). The present
investigation highlighted that Briquette urea with deep placement method could be effective
method to maximize the recovery efficiency of N in maize production.
The effect of interaction between different rates of nitrogen fertilizer and form of nitrogen
fertilizer application was not highly significant in AE of both trials (Table 2). The highest result on
AE (8.26 t seed kg-1 N and 11.98 t seed kg-1 N) was found in N4 (166.29 kg N ha-1) treated withbriquette form of urea as well in Yezin (Fig. 3) and Tatkon (Fig. 4). The lowest AE (6.05 t seed kg1
N, 10.07 t seed kg-1 N) was resulted from Prilled urea application with the rate of 71.27 kgN/ha(N2) in Yezin and Tatkon, respectively. The results pointed that, at the same N rate, the efficiencyof briquette urea could be attributed to increase the AE in both locations (Figs. 3 and 4). Higher AEof rice due to deep placement of N fertilizer was reported by Wang (2004), Jena et al. (2003) andNiznin et al. (2013).

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Fig. 3 Mean values of agronomic efficiency as Fig. 4 Mean values of agronomic efficiency asaffected by the different rates andaffected by the different rates and forms
forms of nitrogen fertilizer at Tatkon
of nitrogen fertilizer at Yezin
Agricultural Research Farm during
Agricultural Research Farm during
monsoon season 2017
monsoon season 2017

Fig. 5 Mean values of recovery efficiency asaffected by the different rates and formsof nitrogen fertilizer at Yezin Agricultural
Research Farm during monsoon season
2017

Fig. 6 Mean values of recovery efficiency asaffected by the different rates andforms of nitrogen fertilizer at Tatkon
Agricultural Research Farm during
monsoon season 2017

The significant response in RE to the interaction of N rates and forms of urea was detected inboth trials (Table 2). Improvement of RE with increasing N rate was found and it was ranged from150.56 to 252.79 in Yezin (Fig. 5). The least RE was found at the rate of 71.27 kg N ha-1 using
Prilled form of urea. The highest RE was obtained from briquette urea with N rate of 166.29 kg N
ha-1, N4 (Fig. 5). For the Tatkon trial, the RE was differed significantly and it was varied from506.89 to 707.42 (Fig. 6). The maximum value of RE was obtained from the N rate (118.78 kg N
ha-1, N3) with briquette form of urea. The lowest RE was accompanied with the highest N rate
166.29 kg N ha-1, N4 with Prilled urea treated plots. At the same level of applied N rates, Briquetteurea using plots gave more RE values than Prilled urea using plots (Fig. 6).
CONCLUSION
Finally, results could be summed up that hybrid maize production could be favored by higher
nitrogen rates. Application of the entire N in the form of briquette at basal with the rate of 166.29
kg N ha-1 showed better performance with respect to yield, AE of Yezin Hybrid Maize-10 compared
to band placement of split N Prilled urea. Some interaction is existed in the nitrogen recovery
efficiency and RE point out that even recommended fertilizer rate 118.78 kg N ha-1 could gain theⒸ ISERD

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high yield. The results of this experiment provided valuable information about urea deep placement
method which is environmental friendly and will not decrease the normal fertility of land. This
study suggests that briquette urea with deep placement method can be used by farmers to improve
nitrogen use efficiency and increase grain yields in hybrid maize production.
REFERENCES
Afroz, H. 2013. Effects of prilled urea, urea super granule and NPK briquettes on field water properties, N
use efficiency and yield of Boro rice. M.S. Thesis, Department of Soil Science, Bangladesh Agricultural
University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
Aita, C. and Giacomini, S.J. 2008. Nitrato no solo com a aplicação de dejetos líquidos de suínos no milho em
plantio direto. R. Bras. Ci. Solo, 32, 2101-2111.
Amado, T.J.C., Pes, L.Z., Lemainski, C.L. and Schenato, R.B. 2009. Atributos químicos e físicos deLatossolos e sua relação com os rendimentos de milho e feijão irrigados. R. Bras. Ci. Solo, 33, 831-843.
Dobermann, A. 2005. Nitrogen use efficiency, State of the art. In IFA International Workshop on EnhancedEfficiency Fertilizer, Frankfurt. Proceedings Frankfurt, 2005, 28-30.
IFDC. 2016. Annual report 2013, International Fertilizer Development Center, Alabama, USA.
IFDC. 2013. Annual report 2013, International Fertilizer Development Center, Alabama, USA.
Jena, D., Misra, C. and Bandyopadhyay, K.K. 2003. Effect of prilled urea and urea super granules on
dynamics of ammonia volatilization and N use efficiency of rice. Indian J. Soil Sci. 51 (3), 257-261.
Misra, B.N., Yadav, R.S., Rajput, A.L. and Pandey, S.M. 1994. Effect of plant geometry and nitrogen
application on yield and quality of winter maize (Zea mays L.). Indian J. Agron. 39, 468-469.
Myers, R.J. K. 1988. Nitrogen management of upland crops, From cereals to food legumes to sugarcane,257-273. In J.R Wilson (ed.) Advances in Nitrogen Cycling in Agricultural Agroecosystems, CAB
International, Wallingford, UK.
Nair, K.P.K. and Singh, R.P. 1974. Studies in fractional application of nitrogen to hybrid maize in India. Exp.
Agric. 10, 257-261.
Niznin, A., Afroz, H., Hoque, T.S. and Mian, M.H. 2013. Effects of PU, USG and NPK briquette on nitrogenuse efficiency and yield of BR22 rice under reduced water condition. J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ., 11 (2),215-220.
Poss, R. and Saragoni, H. 1992. Leaching of nitrate, calcium and magnesium under maize cultivation andoxisol in Togo. Fert. Res., 33, 123-133.
SAS Institute. 2002. SAS/SAT 9 user’s guide. SAS Inst.,Cary, NC.
Wang, C.H. 2004. Response of rice yield to deep placement of fertilizer and nitrogen top-dressing in panicle
initiation stage and its diagnosis of fertilizer application. Taiwanese J. Agril. Chem. Food Sci., 42 (5),383-395.
Wendling, A., Eltz, F.L.F., Cubilla, M.M., Amado,T.J.C., Mielniczuk, J. and Lovato, T. 2007.
Recomendação de adubação nitrogenada para trigo em sucessão ao milhoe soja sob sistema plantio direto
no Paraguai. R. Bras. Ci. Solo, 31, 985-994.

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Research article
erd

The Opinion Study of Pedestrian User to Footpath
Characteristics in Rajamangala University of Technology
Thanyaburi Rangsit Center
TRIPOB BOONTHAM*
Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi,
Pathum Thani, Thailand
Email: tripob_b@rmutt.ac.th
Received 31 December 2017

Accepted 5 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The purposes of this research are 1) to investigate the pedestrian behavior; 2) toanalyze the footpath physical characteristics and opinion of user in Rajamangala Universityof Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT) Rangsit center; 3) to present footpath model thatencourage to use footpath in RMUTT Rangsit center. The samples used in this researchwere analyzed by 340 sampling sets from instructor, student and officer in RMUTT Rangsit
center. The main questions focused on pedestrian behavior, satisfaction and attitudes ofpedestrian towards physical obstacles in sidewalk. The answers were analyzed by statisticalmethods. The results found that the factor affecting the choice to walk at RMUTT Rangsit
center was based on cover way. Factors considered were pedestrian satisfaction of footpath
physical characteristics such as parallel footpath with road, shade tree and good surrounding
environment.
Keywords opinion, pedestrian, footpath, characteristics

INTRODUCTION
At present, universities around the world have begun to focus on green university concepts that areespecially environmental protection, climate change, global warming and greenhouse conditions.
The green university approach that is used to UI green metric world university ranking willmeasure campus sustainability efforts. The criteria of UI green metric word university ranking in2016 are 1) setting and infrastructure; 2) energy and climate change; 3) waste; 4) water; 5)transportation; 6) education (UI green metric world university ranking, 2016). All of the above
about green university shows that the transportation system is important in reducing carbon
emissions and polluting in area and it is related to encourage pedestrian to use footpath in theuniversity. It also affects the relationship with pattern of pedestrian to use area (Frank and kavage,2009). Thus, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT) Rangsit center has
started to develop the area in accordance with the green university guidelines by lay-out planningand creating space and activities area according to the UI green metric world university ranking.
Therefore, the pedestrian policy on campus is part of develop to green university. At present,
RMUTT Rangsit center is no pedestrian walkway in the campus and there is a lack of proper
routing and lay-out to accommodate the behavior and needs of users within the university.
Therefore, a major goal of this research is to analyze pedestrian satisfaction of footpath physicalcharacteristics. In addition, the footpath model that encourages pedestrian to use footpath in
RMUTT Rangsit Center was also investigated.
OBJECTIVE
The research was conducted for the following three main objectives:
1) To investigate the pedestrian behavior,
2) To analyze the footpath physical characteristics and opinion of user in RMUTT Rangsit Center,Ⓒ ISERD

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3) To present footpath model that encourage to use footpath in RMUTT Rangsit center.
METHODOLOGY
The proposed study site is located within Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi(RMUTT) Rangsit Center, Pathum Thani, Thailand (Fig. 1).
(a)

(b)

Fig. 1 Location (a) and study site (b)The sample of this research is calculated by using Taro Yamane (Yamane, 1967) formula with
95% confidence level. (according 2,267 persons from the data of RMUTT Rangsit center report2017.) The calculation formula of Taro Yamane is presented as follow.
𝑛=𝑁
1 + 𝑁(𝑒)2Where: n=sample size required, N=number of people in the population, e=allowable error (%)
𝑛=

2,267
1+2,267(0.05)2

Substitute number in formula: 𝑛 = 340

Data collection is divided into two parts such as physical survey in the study area and behavior
survey including comments and requirements of pedestrian. Questionnaire used to collect behavior
data, comments and requirements are divided into four parts such as personal information,pedestrian behavior, opinions and obstacles in the study area and formats, and suggestions forpedestrian walkways within the study area. Data collection was conducted in April 2017 and all thecollected data was analyzed by statistic package for social science (SPSS and Excel).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The physical of pedestrians within the study area are divided into 3 types are 1) one pedestrian
walkway (width 2.00 meter.) is parallel to the road on one side of the road. Found around football
field; 2) two pedestrian walkway (width 1.20 meters) is parallel to the road. Both sides of the roadwill meet RMUTT entrance to landscape technology building, and from the animal sciencebuilding to the fisheries lecturer building; 3) no pedestrian walkway along the road will be a rangeof landscape technology building to the animal science building, and the football field to thefisheries laboratory building. Problems and obstacles within the area are pedestrian walkway is notdivide space between footpath and car, no shade for pedestrian walkway footpath, the pedestrian isdeteriorating, no ramp for the disabled, and obstructions on the pedestrian walkway, for example,
bench, road symbol sign, electric pole, garbage can (Fig. 2).

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(a)

Route
Route
Route

Route 4
Route 5(b)

Fig. 2 Physical of study area (a), problems and obstacles of study area (b)The statistics from observed data show that the proportion of female pedestrians is higher thanmale pedestrians during peak hour and proportion of range 18-25 years of pedestrians is the largest
comparing to range 26-32 years and range 33-40 years. The data indicates that pedestrians are
student rather than officer with 96% of pedestrian and lecturer with 98% of pedestrian. The averagepedestrian time observation 6.00-12.00 rather than 12.00-18.00. The data collection showed thatpedestrian behavior use route 1 (RMUTT entrance to landscape technology building) is higher thanroute 2 (landscape technology building to animal science building), route 3 (animal sciencebuilding to fisheries building), route 4 (fisheries lecturer building to football field), and route 5(football field to fisheries laboratory building) (Table 1). In additions, Marisamynathan (2014)indicated that pedestrian crossing speed of a male is faster than that of a female. Pedestrian age anddeparture signal phase have more significant impact on crossing speed variations. Gender andgroup size of pedestrians are significant factors affecting the pedestrian compliance behavior.
Approaching and the vehicle are identified as the influencing parameters in pedestrian – vehicularinteractions.
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From the previous study by physical of pedestrians within the study area, statistics fromobserved data, and questionnaire (characteristic, behavior, and model of pedestrian) found thatfootpath which encourage to use footpath in RMUTT Rangsit center were footpath model (type 2)
consisted of parallel footpath containing shade tree and good surrounding environment (Fig. 3).
Leopairojana (2016) reported that problems in travelling to the station include: the unsafe
atmosphere prevailing along routes to the station and at the station itself; inconvenient and longaccess routes, and high travel expenses. The concepts of sustainable transportation that promote
walking, cycling and public transportation was then used to develop recommendations as to how
improve the station’s environment and access. In addition, Tanarinya et al. (2007) indicated that
improving condition of footpaths, creating good environments, promoting walking and connecting
footpath to BTS stations will encourage people to change their modes from cars to walking andriding public transports.
Table 1 Pedestrians classified by their characteristics and behavior
Observed parameterNo. of observed pedestrians
Percent (%)
Male
143
42.06
GenderFemale196
57.94
18 – 25 years
332
97.65
26 – 32 years
7
Age
2.06
Characteristic
33 – 40 years
1
0.29
Student
328
96.47
instructor
4
User type
1.18
Officer8
2.35
6.00 – 12.00
185
54.41
Time observation
12.00 – 18.00
182
45.59
Route 1
126
37.06
Route 2122
Behavior
35.88
Route 362
Pedestrian
18.24
Route 424
7.06
Route 5
6
1.76
Route 1 (RMUTT entrance to landscape technology building), route 2 (landscape technology building to animal
science building), route 3 (animal science building to fisheries lecturer building), route 4 (fisheries lecturer building
to football field), route 5 (football field to fisheries laboratory building)Fig. 3 Pedestrian model type 1 (a), type 2 (b) and type 3 (c)CONCLUSION
This study revealed the perception of pedestrians on the use of footpath in RMUTT Rangsit center.
It is found that 37.06% of the pedestrians use route 1 (RMUTT entrance to landscape technology
building), and also identified that no shade for pedestrian walkway is the problem of pedestrian touse footpath. Footpath model has been proposed and selected based on pedestrian behavior in orderⒸ ISERD

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to encourage to use footpath is model type 2 (side walk with tree zone).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to acknowledge to all the staff member of Division of LandscapeTechnology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology
Thanyaburi for all supports and assistance, particularly Miss Adcharphon Verachue for research
assistance.
REFERENCES
Frank, L. and Kavage, S. 2009. A national plan for physical activity, The enabling role of the built
environment. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 6, S186.
Leopairojana, S. 2016. Mass transit station environments and accessibility improvements, Lessons learned
from Ban Thab Chang airport rail link station, Bangkok. Journal of Built Environment Inquiry, 15 (1),153-172.
Marisamynathan. 2014. Study on pedestrian crossing behavior at signalized intersections. Journal of Traffic
and Transportation Engineering, 1 (2), 103-110.
Tanarinya, P., Leopairojana, S. and Preamechai, S. 2007. Footpath development for encouraging nonmotorized transportation, Case study areas around BTS station, Bangkok. Journal of Kasetsart University.
UI Green Metric World University Green Ranking. 2016. UI green metric world university green ranking
2016. http://greenmetric.ui.ac.id (retrieved in September 2016).
Yamane, T. 1967. Statistics, An introductory analysis. Harper and Row Publications, New York.

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Research article
erd

Evaluation of Dust Generation from Animal Farm Activities
BARRY N. NOLLER*
The University of Queensland, Centre For Mined Land Rehabilitation, Queensland 4072,
Australia
Email: b.noller@uq.edu.au
Received 7 January 2018

Accepted 10 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Dust generated in feedlots from roads, animal activity in pens, and equipment canhave detrimental effects on air quality for animals, workers and surrounding communities.
Controlling dust in cattle feedlots requires an understand of the key sources and processes
needed to better manage dust generation and associated activities. There is growing
recognition internationally that dust sources from the agricultural sector may contribute toregional sources with both local and area wide effects on the population, animals and otherbiota in the environment. Monitoring of fine 10 micron-sized particulate matter (PM10 air
particulate matter) over the last decade shows that agricultural activities can contribute toregional dust generation from diffuse sources such as from farms and feedlots. The basic
features and processes of manure generation at feedlots and storage with water are dried to
become a source of dust but other subtle phenomena associated with interaction of
conditions and constituents are being identified. In the Central Plains of the United States
antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria absorbed on particles have been
observed. By understanding the processes of dust generation from feedlots as diffuse
sources, it should be possible to identify risks to the population, animals and other biota inthe environment. Sustainable production systems rely on keeping soil in place and in good
health, efficient use of water, minimizing nutrient loss and maintaining or enhancing
biodiversity. This is primarily achieved through management of the pasture base (native,
naturalized and sown) in a highly variable and changing climate. This review provides asummary of the significant advances in dust suppression technologies and strategies tosuppress dust generated from farms. It also identifies that emerging issues including thedispersion of antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant genes and human-pathogenic bacteria on dust
particles from feedlots require managing.
Keywords dust generation, animal feedlots, sustainable, management

INTRODUCTION
Dust generated in feedlots from roads, animal activity in pens, and equipment is recognised ashaving detrimental effects on air quality for animals, workers and surrounding communities(Galvin et al., 2005). For satisfactory suppression and control of dust in cattle feedlots it isnecessary to understand the key sources and processes to give better management of dust
generation and associated activities. In Australia, National guidelines were adopted in 1992 forbeef cattle feedlots but the regulations vary from state to state (ARMCANZ, 2003).
The scale of feedlot dust generation is related to their number; for example, in Australia there
are over 400, with a nominal estimate of over 1,000,000 cattle fluctuating with drought conditions(Jones et al., 2017). The cost of feedlot dust generation was estimated to be more than AUD5
billion nationally per annum (Jones et al., 2017). Management techniques typically centre on
regular pen cleaning, watering of roads, and use of in-pen sprinklers during peak times of dustgenerating behaviour. Whilst National guidelines identify basic requirements for managing feedlots,
they don’t indicate all interactive factors that are associated with feedlot management (Galvin et al.,2005). In addition, there is growing recognition of dust sources from the agricultural sector which
may contribute to regional sources with both local and area wide effects on the population, animals
and other biota in the environment.
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Particulate matter (PM) is categorized according to various diameters or sizes based on thephysical property of airborne material (NEPC, 2002). The measurement of ambient 24-hr average
air concentrations of air particulates may cover the following categories: (i) Total suspended
particulates (TSP, <50 μm in diameter); (ii) PM10 suspended particulates (<10 μm in diameter); (iii)
PM2.5 suspended particulates (<2.5 μm in diameter, “respirable”); and (iv) Particle identification in
the TSP fraction of the dust. No data on typical dust fall levels for Australian beef cattle feedlots
was confirmed (Jones et al. 2017) and no guidelines exist for dust fallout. However, theQueensland recommended guideline for fallout dust is 120 mg/m2/day for nuisance soiling ofproperty and is adopted from the NSW guideline (DEHP, 2013).
Monitoring of fine air particulate matter (<10 µm in diameter or PM10 suspended particulates)
over the last decade shows that agricultural activities can contribute to regional dust generationfrom diffuse sources such as from farms and feedlots (NPI, 2001). Whilst manure needs to be dried
to become a source, there are subtle phenomena associated with interaction of conditions andconstituents that are being identified (Wilson et al., 2002). In the Central Plains of the United States,
antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria absorbed on particles are identified as hazardousand may be dispersed by wind (McEachran et al., 2015).
By understanding the processes of dust generation from feedlots as diffuse sources, it should
be possible to identify if uncontrolled processes are risks to the population, animals and other biota
in the environment that may be causing undescribed effects. The significance of this step is inbeing able to properly describe any risks associated with dust generation that may be shown to be
detrimental to the population, animals and other biota in the environment. Sustainable production
systems rely on keeping soil in place and in good health, efficient use of water, minimising nutrient
loss and maintaining or enhancing biodiversity. This is primarily achieved through management of
the pasture base (native, naturalised and sown) in a highly variable and changing climate.
This review provides a summary of the significant advances in dust suppression technologies
incorporating strategies to detect when dust-load is problematic, available technologies andstrategies to suppress pen and road dust, animal health impacts, occupational health and safety
impacts, air quality impacts on surrounding neighbours, recommendations to limit exposure of dust
to animals, workers and neighbours. The review also identifies emerging issues including thedispersion of antibiotics and related compounds on dust particles from feedlots.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this paper are: (i) to review and summarize advances in control of dust fromanimal feedlot activities that can impact on air quality impacts on surrounding areas; and (ii)identify emerging issues including the dispersion of antibiotics on dust particles from feedlots.
METHODOLOGY
Published papers, reports and other sources including internet and suppliers of dust collection
equipment were collated, reviewed and summarized.
Monitoring data for PM10 air particulates (covering the period 2003 – 2012 at 8 sites) and for
fall out dust (covering the period 2009 – 2011 at 24 sites), were collected on the Darling Downs,
the main grain-growing area in Australia, 30-50 km west of Toowoomba, Queensland (Noller andZheng, 2013). Collection of PM10 (Standards Australia 2003a) followed the National Environment
Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure (Air NEPM) standards, the uniform standards forambient air quality in Australia (NEPC, 2002). Fall out dust monitoring was undertaken using dust
deposition gauges described by the Australian dust sampling method (Standards Australia, 2003b).
The extracted data was placed in EXCEL spread sheets. The PM10 and dust deposition data was set
out in a statistical format giving the mean, seventy-five and ninety-five percentile values.
Monitoring data for fall out dust from a large cattle feedlot study site located on the Darling
Downs (Galvin et al., 2005) was examined to compare with the data described above. The fall out
dust data were converted from units of g/m2/month to mg/m2/day.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The dusty conditions of feedlots have been found to result from fine dry material being dispersed
by wind and mechanical action (Galvin et al., 2005). Studies on feedlot dust sources have shownthat the largest contributor of dust was manure (Huang et al., 2013). Apart from its physical nature
manure is a valuable agricultural resource. This value is even though it contains high numbers of
microorganisms, that include a large variety of organisms capable of causing disease in animals
and farm workers (Milinovich and Klieve, 2011). Dust from road traffic could also be a major
source of dust at drier locations like Texas (Wanjura et al., 2004). Dust from roads can be finer
than that generated by material handling due to the repeated pulverizing of road materials into
smaller fragments and the resultant creation of fine particles which can easily become airborne(Cox and Isley, 2012). The production of fine particles at feedlots has been shown to arise fromcattle hooves causing dry manure to be pulverized (Jones et al., 2017). In general, dust emitted
from an emission source consists of a range of particle sizes that is dependent on the source
characteristics.
The introduction of the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) handbook for beef cattle feedlots inAustralia in 1999 resulted in some feedlots reporting emissions of particulate matter <PM10 (NPI,
2001). Emission rates for feedlots based on US data for feedlots were demonstrated to overestimate
the actual emissions from US feedlots (Galvin et al., 2005). However limited dust monitoring data
has been available in Australia and elsewhere to the current time.
Dust generation is a recognized issue for many Australian and other feedlots because it has thepotential to impact on the health and safety of livestock, employees and the surrounding
community. Significant advances are required in dust suppression technologies incorporating
strategies (Jones et al., 2017): (i) To detect when dust-load is problematic, (ii) To improve available
technologies and strategies to suppress pen and road dust, (iii) Deal with animal health impacts,
occupational health and safety impacts, (iv) Air quality impacts on surrounding neighbours and (v)Make recommendations to limit exposure of dust to animals, workers and neighbours feedlots. The
review of the issues regarding dust generation by Meat and Livestock Australia (Jones et al., 2017)
gave the following key findings: (i) There is growing recognition of dust sources from theagricultural sector which may contribute to regional sources with both local and area wide effects
on the population, animals and other biota in the environment; (ii) Monitoring of fine dust (PM10suspended particulates) over the last decade shows that agricultural activities can contribute toregional dust generation from diffuse sources such as from farms and feedlots; and (iii) Whilst
manure needs to be dried to become a source, there are subtle phenomena associated withinteraction of conditions and constituents that are being identified.
A hierarchy of hazard control was recommended to minimize or eliminate exposure to hazards
from feedlot dusts (Jones et al., 2017). The hazard controls in the hierarchy, in order of decreasing
effectiveness described by Jones et al. (2017), are: Elimination, the most effective means of hazard
control such as sealing of feedlot roads to eliminate dust generation by traffic; Substitution that
may involve replacement with something that does not produce a hazard, e.g preparing feed
rations offsite to eliminate feed-related dust; Engineering and other physical controls that do noteliminate hazards but isolate workers and livestock from hazards by using barriers placed between
personnel and hazards; Administrative controls that change the way people work; and Personal
protective equipment for farm workers such as gloves, respirators, hard hats, safety glasses, highvisibility clothing and safety footwear.
Plots of Darling Downs monitoring data for air particulates (PM10) and dust fall are shown in
Figs. 1 and 2 and the summary data is given in Table 1. Comparison of the Australian National
Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure (Air NEPM) standard (NEPC, 2002) for
PM10 (50 µg/m3 for an averaging period of 1 month) with the data in Table 1 shows there were no
exceedances of PM10 with the guideline (Fig. 1), excepting for one site (6) during 3-4 November
2011 that had the maximum value (71 μg/m3) out of PM10 monitoring data for all 8 sites. The
fallout monitoring data (Fig. 2) is compared against the level of 120 μg/m2/day for soiling that is
adopted in Queensland (DEHP, 2013); the exceedances of this level were historical and not themost recent for the monitoring period up to 2012.
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Fig. 1 PM10 (µg/m3) monitoring record during 2003 – 2012 at Darling Downs

Fig. 2 Dust fallout (mg/m2/day) monitoring record during 2006 – 2011 at Darling Downs
Fig. 2 gives the overall picture of historical exceedances of fall dust; however, some of thelarge exceedances for fall out monitoring data were related to bird and frog activity and a long dry
dusty period associated with drought (Noller and Zheng, 2013). The data set for all fall out dust
monitoring (Table 1) shows that the mean and 75th percentile did not exceed the level of 120
mg/m2/day, while the 95th percentile did. When the data set for fall out dust monitoring values<120 mg/m2/day (Table 1) were examined, the mean of 38 mg/m2/day was a representative
background level for the farming activity on the Darling Downs during 2006-2011.
Table 1 Background levels of PM10 air particulates and dust deposition at Darling Downs
Category
PM10 air particulate(µg/m3)
Dust deposition
all monitoring(mg/m2/day)Dust deposition<120mg/m2/day only
(mg/m2/day)Time frame
2003-2012

75th Percentile
17

Mean
14

2006-2011

95th Percentile
26

1
103

89

365

52

93

3
38

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Table 2 shows the range of fall out dust was 107 - 923 mg/m2/day for the beef cattle feedlot
study at the Darling Downs (2003-2004) with the highest dust deposition being near roads in andaround the feedlot (Galvin et al. 2005). Comparison of the dust deposition monitoring data in
Tables 1 and 2 shows that the dust deposition for all monitoring mean was 103 mg/m2/day (Table 1)
and was almost the same as 107 mg/m2/day at the dust deposition at intermediate sites located onedges of feedlot pen (Table 2). In addition, dust deposition near roads in and around feedlot (923
mg/m2/day) and dust deposition at background sites (417 mg/m2/day) (Table 2) exceeded the 95th
percentile for dust deposition all monitoring (365 mg/m2/day) given in Table 1. Dust deposition
within a feedlot (320 mg/m2/day) in Table 2 was marginally lower than 365 mg/m2/day (Table 1),
but indicated that the cattle feed lot data (Table 2) was collectively very dusty.
Table 2 Dust deposition at beef cattle feedlot Darling Downs (2003-2004)
Category
Dust deposition near roads in and aroundfeedlot (mg/m2/day)Dust deposition at background sites(mg/m2/day)Dust deposition within a feedlot(mg/m2/day)Dust deposition at intermediate sites
located on edges of feedlot pen areas(mg/m2/day)

Mean
923
417
320
107

Source and explanation: Data from Galvin et al. (2005) converted from g/m 2/month to mg/m2/day

Table 2 does not include air PM10 data for the beef cattle feedlot study at the Darling Downs(2003-2004). The concentration of PM10 was measured at the feedlot and ranged from 29 μg/m3 to204 μg/m3 with a mean of 100 μg/m3 (Galvin et al., 2005) and far exceeded the air NEPM guidelineof 50 µg/m3 (NEPC, 2002) and the mean background levels of PM10 air particulates given in Table
1. Thus, the feedlot was demonstrated as emitting PM10 particulates. Although total concentrationsof dust and PM10 can be measured and compared against guidelines, the manure-derived dust could
not be distinguished from manure-derived dust (Galvin et al., 2005).
In addition to the organic matter in manure is the management of zoonotic diseases and means
to treat and eliminate them remains a critical issue (Milinovich and Klieve, 2011). McEachran et al.
(2015) identify that the reported half-lives of tetracycline antibiotics in soil and soil-slurry mixes
are sufficiently long for these antibiotics to remain active during aerial transport and after
deposition onto soil, water or other surfaces for days to weeks. The measured concentrations
antibiotics found in airborne PM and in cattle manure by McEachran et al. (2015) were also similar
to those inside large-scale swine production facilities. The use of antibiotics and other related
substances for maintaining animal health and growth require further understanding. Dust issues are
relevant to other species of domestic animal production apart from beef cattle.
CONCLUSION
This review has provided a summary of the significant advances in dust suppression technologies.
The review also identifies emerging issues including the management of manure and dispersion of
antibiotics and related compounds on dust particles. Thus, by understanding the processes of dust
generation from feedlots as diffuse sources, it should be possible to identify if uncontrolled
processes are risks to the population, animals and other biota in the environment that may becausing undescribed effects.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgement is made to Dr. Jiajia Zheng for assistance with data analysis.
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REFERENCES
ARMCANZ. 2003. Primary industries standard committee national guidelines for beef cattle. SCARM
Report 47, 2nd Edition, CSIRO Publishing Collingwood, Victoria.
Cox, J. and Isley, C. 2012. Generation, measurement and control of dust emissions from unsealed haul roads.
Stage One Report, ACARP Project C20023, PAE Holmes, Glenvale QLD 4350.
DEHP. 2013. Guideline: Model mining conditions. Version 4 Issued 26, June 2013, Queensland Departmentof Environment and Heritage Protection, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Galvin, G., Skerman, A.G. and Gallagher, E.M. 2005. Dust emissions from a beef cattle feedlot on the
Darling Downs. FLOT. 325, Final Report, ISBN 9781741918045, Meat & Livestock Australia Limited,
North Sydney NSW 2059, 1-76.
Huang, Q., McConnell, L.L., Razote, E., Schmidt, W.F., Vinyard, B.T., Torrents, A., Hapeman, C.J.,
Maghirang, R., Trabue, S.L., Prueger, J. and Ro, K.S. 2013. Utilizing single particle Raman microscopy
as a non-destructive method to identify sources of PM10 from cattle feedlot operations. Atmospheric
Environment, 66, 17-24.
Jones, B., Wockner, K., Sullivan, K., Richardson, Sullivan, T. and Watts, P. 2017. Feedlot dust suppression
revierw. B.FLT.0398, Final Report, Meat & Livestock Australia Limited, North Sydney NSW 2059, 1103.
McEachran, A.D., Blackwell, B.R., Delton Hanson, J., Wooten, K.J., Mayer, G.D., Cox, S.B. and Smith, P.N.
2015. Antibiotics, bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes, Aerial transport from cattle feed yards via
particulate matter. Environmental Health Perspectives, 123 (4), 33-343.
Milinovich, G.J. and Klieve, A.V. 2011. Manure as a source of zoonotic pathogens. Chapter 3 in Zoonotic
Pathogens, In the Food Chain, Eds Krause, D. and Hendrick, S., CAB International, 59-83.
NEPC. 2002. Ambient air quality standards. National Environment Protection Council, AustralianGovernment.
NPI. 2001. Emission estimation technique manual for intensive livestock, Beef cattle version 2. National
Pollutant Inventory. Australian Government. Canberra.
Noller, B.N. and Zheng, J. 2013. Review of air monitoring data. Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, The
University of Queensland. Unpublished report.
Standards Australia. 2003a. Australian standard 3580.9.6, Methods for sampling and analysis of ambient air,Determination of suspended particulate matter, PM10 high volume sampler with size-selective inlet,
Gravimetric method. Standards Australia International Ltd. Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Standards Australia. 2003b. AS/NZS 3580.10.1. Methods for sampling and analysis of ambient air,Determination of particulate matter, Deposited matter, Gravimetric method. Standards Australia
International Ltd. Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Wanjura, J.D., Parnell, C.B., Shaw, B.W. and Lacey, R.E. 2004. A protocol for determining a fugitive dust
emission factor from a ground level source. 2004 ASAE/CSAE Annual international meeting, ASAE/
CSAE, Ontario, Canada.
Wilson, S.C., Morrow-Tesch, J., Straus, D.C., Cooley, J.D., Wong, W.C., Mitlohner, F.M. and McGlone, J.J.
2002. Airborne microbial flora in a cattle feedlot, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 3238-3242.

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Research article
erd

Effects of Gypsum and Rice Husk Biochar on Surface
Discharge and Nutrient Loss from Farmlands in Budalangi,
Kenya
BENARD ONYANGO ODHIAMBO
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: benaxodhis@yahoo.com

MACHITO MIHARA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: m-mihara@nodai.ac.jp
Received 31 December 2017

Accepted 10 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Loose soils from recent cultivation, especially before the crops well cover thesurface are highly vulnerable to erosion. The effects of gypsum and rice husk biochar on
runoff, loss of soil and nutrients from farmlands in most parts of Kenya are rarely
documented. This study aims to discuss effects of surface application of gypsum and ricehusk biochar on discharge of sediments and nutrient loss from farmlands in Budalangi,
Kenya. Gypsum and rice husk biochar were incorporated into the soil and erosion
experiments conducted in the laboratory. Two soil types, loam and silt loam were used inthis experiment involving four treatments: control (C), gypsum (G), rice husk biochar(RHB) and a combination of rice husk biochar and gypsum (G+RHB). The effects of G
application at a rate of 5 t ha-1 and RHB on runoff volumes, sediment yield and level ofnutrient losses were evaluated. The results showed that treatment of G induced a significant
reduction in runoff and sediment yield followed by RHB+G and RHB. By plotting the dataobtained, it was observed that average runoff decreased by 52.7%, whereas sediment yielddecreased by 88% in G treatment. RHB+G treatment showed a reduction in average runoffof 42.3%, whereas sediment yield by 75%. RHB treatment showed 30.7% average
reduction in runoff with 71% in sediment yield for loam soil. Similar trends were observed
for silt loam soil. Addition of G increased levels of magnesium in both loam and silt loam
soils to about five times the initial levels. Total nitrogen loss was minimized by between
15% and 27%, with total phosphorous loss minimized by 50% to 70% between the different
treatments. Based on these findings, it can be suggested that amending soil with G and RHB
can be effective in controlling soil and nutrient loss from farmlands.
Keywords gypsum, rice husk biochar, soil loss, nutrient loss, farmlands

INTRODUCTION
Land degradation is a threat to both low and high agricultural potential areas in Kenya. Loose soils
especially from recent cultivation before the crops well cover the surface is highly vulnerable toerosion, thus there is need to protect soil during this stage as soil surface is in bare condition(Carroll et al., 2000).
Nutrient loss from farmlands especially small-scale farms has been mainly through crop
harvest and soil erosion due to use of insufficient quantities of both organic and inorganic fertilizer
to replenish soil fertility. According to Smaling et al., (1993), the average annual nutrient depletion
rates of -22 kg of N, -2.5 kg of P and -15 kg of K estimates per hectare of cultivated land have beenreported in sub-Saharan Africa. For example in Kenya, depletion rates of -112 kg N ha-1, -2.5 kg P
ha-1 and -70 kg K ha-1 were reported on small-scale farmers’ fields in western Kisii highlands.
Complementary to conventional strategies like mulching and changing slope gradients, soil
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deterioration of the stability of soil structure. An option given for improving soil structural stability
is surface application of soil amendments such as gypsiferous materials and anionic polymers(Cochrane et al., 2005). Gypsum minimizes dispersion of clay particles hence boosting soil
permeability and subsequently stabilizing soil aggregates. It has been widely used especially inreclamation of sodic soils since it is calcium-rich and dissolves at high pH (Horneck et al., 2007).
The Ca2+ ions in gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) replace the exchangeable Na+ ions on soil surface. This
property together with its electrolyte concentration makes it effective to be used as a soil
amendment especially for reclamation of sodic soils (Korcak, 2001). Its relative solubility in water
makes it applicable in agricultural fields. In cultivated arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs),
application of gypsum and its contribution to soil solution ionic concentration is necessary as it
limits instability in soil structure which would otherwise lead to surface sealing andcommencement of runoff with subsequent erosion (Ellen et al., 2006). On the other hand, overapplication of gypsum would lead to its accumulation on the soil surface, hence need of scraping
and this would otherwise require a lot of labor to break it up.
Biochar is a product of slow thermo-chemical pyrolysis of biomass materials. Organic
materials such as crop residues, sewage sludge and livestock excreta can be converted to biochar
and used as soil amendments (Jien and Wang, 2013). Biochar is essential due to its richness incarbon content thus it is useful in amending soil and boosting soil organic matter content. The
objective of this study is to discuss the effectiveness of gypsum and rice husk biochar inminimizing the discharge of sediments and nutrient loss from farmlands in Budalangi, Kenya.
METHODOLOGY
Soil and Rice Husk Biochar Collection and Preparation
Soil was sampled from the surface at a depth of about 0-25 cm in the study area located withincoordinates N 0° 7′ 0″ to N 0° 9′ 0″ and E 34° 1′ 30″ to E 34° 3′ 30″. This area forms part of thelower catchment of river Nzoia watershed. The soils were classified as loam and silt loam based on
the IUSS (International Union of Soil Scientists) taxonomy from the results of soil particle size
distribution analyses conducted in the laboratory. Some of the common crops grown in this area
include maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea).
The biochar used in this study was produced from rice husks at a pyrolysis temperature ofabout 450 oC. This was done at the Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation,
Japan. After pyrolysis, the rice husk biochar used was then ground to pass through a 2 mm sieve.
This was to ensure that all the biochar used in the experiment had similar particle size.
Experimental Design
Runoff experiment was conducted in the laboratory of Land and Water Use Engineering, Tokyo
University of Agriculture, Japan using erosion plots measuring 0.91 m long by 0.03 m wide by
0.025 m deep and water supplied by a Marriott bottle to attain constant flow rate of 0.83 cm3s-1 atconstant pressure, for a concentrated surface flow scenario. The experiments involved four
treatments; control, C, gypsum, G, (5 t ha-1, an optimum rate from former studies); rice husk
biochar, RHB, (5 t ha-1) and combination of gypsum and rice husk biochar, G+RHB, (1:1 w/w) in
three replications. G and RHB amendments were broadcasted on the soil surface and subsequently
mixed for each treatment. For G+RHB treatment, soil samples were mixed with amendments at
gypsum/rice husk biochar mix ratio of 1:1 w/w for both loam and silt loam textured soil. The soils
were compacted in the erosion plots based on the dry densities of 1.25 gcm-3 and 1.39 gcm-3 forloam and silt loam soils respectively. Erosion plots were then pre-wetted for 24 h at 0% inclination
prior to commencement of the experiments. This pre-wetting was to attain field capacity.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Soil and Rice Husk Biochar Properties
Table 1 shows some of the basic properties of soil and rice husk biochar used in this study. The
soils were acidic (pH 6.4 and 6.2) with low electrical conductivity (0.17 mScm-1 and 0.2 mScm-1).
Table 1 Physical and chemical properties of soil (0-25 cm) and rice husk biochar used
Particle-size distribution
Sand
Silt
Clay
P (*10-5)
pH
EC
Ca
%
cms-1
mScm-1
LS
38.2
45.7
16.1
28.3
6.4
0.17
2.7
SLS
23.4
53.2
23.4
9.3
6.2
0.2
2.4
RHB
8.1
0.1
6.0
LS=Loam soil; SLS= Silt loam soil; RHB= Rice husk biochar; P=Permeability
Item

Na
0.4
1.3
0.3

Mg
mgkg-1
0.2
0.2
0.4

TN

TP

855
579
915

736
421
355

Surface Runoff
The amounts of surface runoff generated under different treatments compared to control are asshown in Table 2. From the results, there was a trend of an increase in cumulative amount of
surface runoff produced with time in each treatment with a decrease between the treatments whencompared to control.
Table 2 Surface runoff under different treatments
Treatment
Discharge (Lm-2)
Percentage reduction from control
G14.73d
52.7
RHB
21.58b
30.7
Loam
G+RHB
17.95c42.3
Control
31.12a*G
22.97d
27.2
RHB
17.91b
43.2
Silt loam
G+RHB
21.43c32.1
Control
31.54a*G=Gypsum; RHB= Rice husk biochar; G+RHB= Gypsum + rice husk biochar*Values followed by the same letter within the column are not significantly different at p=0.05 confidence level.
Soil texture

G treatment showed a significant reduction in surface runoff of 52.7% in loam soil and 27.2%
in silty loam soil, whereas, RHB treatment showed a reduction of 30.7% in loam soil and 43.2% insilty loam soil. In the case G+RHB treatment, the surface runoff was reduced by 42.3% and 32.1%
in loam and silty loam soils respectively.
Infiltration
Table 3 Infiltration under different treatments
Specific infiltration (Lm-2)
Percentage change from control
G37.99d98.3
RHB
32.60c
70.1
Loam
G+RHB
33.55b75.1
Control
19.16a*G
35.09b
59.4
RHB
30.88b
40.3
Silt loam
G+RHB
33.15b50.6
Control
22.01a*G=Gypsum; RHB= Rice husk biochar; G+RHB= Gypsum + rice husk biochar*Values followed by the same letter within the column are not significantly different at p=0.05 confidence level.
Soil texture

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Surface application of G followed by its incorporation into the soil increased specific infiltration
amount by almost double. On addition of RHB, specific infiltration amount was increased by about
70%. Concurrent application of G+RHB increased specific infiltration amount by 75.1% in loamsoil. For silt loam soil, an increase of 59.4%, 40.3% and 50.6% were observed on treatment with G,
RHB and a concurrent application of G+RHB, respectively. Gypsum at the surface dissolves during
pre-wetting and releases electrolytes into the soil solution. This leads to reduction in soil dispersion
and surface seal formation encouraging infiltration.
Addition of biochar significantly increased infiltration amount probably due to increased soil
bulk density. Increase in bulk density results in an increase in total porosity (Abrol et al., 2016).
Soil Loss
Specific load generated from the experimental plots under different treatments are as shown in
Table 4. With a constant discharge of water at a rate of 0.83 cm3s-1, specific load generated was
0.94, 0.109, 0.273 and 0.24 t ha-1 for control, G, RHB and G+RHB, respectively on loam soil. On
silt loam soil, 1.708, 0.095, 0.208 and 0.143 t ha-1 specific load was yielded for control, G, RHB
and G+RHB, respectively. On average, reductions in specific load generated per treatmentcompared to control was found to be 88%, 71% and 75% for G, RHB and G+RHB treatments,
respectively on loam soil and 94%, 88% and 92% for G, RHB and G+RHB treatments, respectively
on silt loam soil.
When data was subjected to mean separation analysis using 1-way analysis of variance(ANOVA) statistical test at 95% level of confidence (p=0.05), there were significant differences in
reduction of specific loads generated under all the treatments when compared to control in both soil
textures. The results showed a steady increase in specific soil loss in the first 5 minutes followed bya slow decrease with time. The increase in specific soil loss in the first 5 minutes for control
treatment could be attributed to the high occurrence of fine particles in the surface runoff. The fineparticles are as result of breakdown of aggregates from pre-wetting before the experimentcommenced. Also, the subsequent decrease can be attributed to the development of deposited layerthat was formed by deposition which is size-selective.
Table 4 Specific load of surface runoff under different treatments
Specific load (*10-3 t ha-1)
Percentage reduction from control
G
109.07c88
RHB
273.27b
71
Loam
G+RHB
240.41b75
Control
940.03a*G
95.47b
94
Silt loam
RHB
208.28b88
G+RHB
143.28b92
Control
1708.82a*
G=Gypsum; RHB= Rice husk biochar; G+RHB= Gypsum + rice husk biochar*Values followed by the same letter within the column are not significantly different at p=0.05 confidence level.
Soil texture

Treatment

During the experiments, it was observed that on the soil surface of control plot, there wasformation of rills which began as very small channels on the soil surface and widened anddeepened as the experiment progressed. Sediment transfer was mainly dominated by these rillflows. Conversely, on addition of amendments, there was minimal rills formation throughout theexperiments. Since rill formation is generally associated with higher sediment concentration in
runoff, this could be one of the explanations for the high sediment concentration in control plot
compared to treated plots.
On addition of G, there was a significant reduction in soil loss probably because the soil
surface was well aggregated which minimized breakdown of these aggregates by runoff.
Application of gypsum is able to maintain surface roughness of the soil as well as increaseelectrolyte concentration in both runoff and the infiltrating water. According to Shainberg et al.,
1989, an increase in electrolyte concentration prevents aggregate dispersion; bigger particles areⒸ ISERD

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less eroded. RHB treatment showed a reduction in amount of soil loss compared to control. This
could be as a result of redistribution of relative proportions of soil aggregate sizes. Also, it can be
attributed to an increase in roughness of soil surface due to accumulation of relatively large
particles of RHB as surface runoff occurs. The surface roughness may have interfered with thelateral movement of detached soil particles in the runoff as the accumulated particles of RHB acted
as traps, with finer soil particles accumulating behind them.
The reduction in cumulative soil loss as a result of application of soil amendments could be
attributed also to a decrease in shearing action by flowing water or in a reduced soil erodibility as aresult of aggregate stability (Peterson et al., 2002). Under no treatment, soil aggregates may
disintegrate quickly in water leading to an accumulation of these dispersed particle in the surface
runoff and thus resulting in a higher concentration of particles in the surface runoff as in control
plots.
Concentration of Cation in Surface Runoff
The transfer of chemicals to surface runoff is mainly through three processes: (1) adsorption anddesorption of chemically reactive components by soil constituents, (2) transportation of the
dissolved portions of these reactive chemicals to soil surface by convection and diffusion, and/or(3) through chemical dissolution into runoff and through release by return flow. Zhang et al.,(1997) observed chemical loss under free drainage conditions; an indication that there is possibilityof loss of chemicals from farmlands as was observed in this study.

Fig. 1 SAR under different treatments for loam and silt loam soils
Nutrient Loss
The concentration of soil nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) in surface runoff was determined byabsorption photo-spectroscopy procedure and results showed in Table 5. The average
concentrations of total nitrogen in surface runoff from plots treated with G were found to be 0.59
mgL-1 for loam soil and 1.67 mgL-1 for silt loam soil plots. TN concentration of treatment with
RHB was 0.69 mgL-1 and 1.57 mgL-1 for loam and silt loam soils, respectively. These were higher
compared to the respective plots treated with a combination of G+RHB. The results also indicated a
reduction in total phosphorous in surface runoff on application of the amendments compared tocontrol.
A study by Pamela et al., (2010) on selected Kenyan acid soils indicated low levels of
essential plant nutrients especially phosphorous and exchangeable bases with high levels of
exchangeable aluminium. The study noted that for increased and sustainable crop production, thereis need for soil management practices that will increase nutrient availability and enhance uptake ofthe nutrients. Helen et al., (2005) measured equilibrium phosphorous concentration (EPCO) of
riverbed materials to check whether the materials are acting as source or/and sink of soluble
reactive phosphorous under low flows and during periods of high eutrophication risks. This wasdone especially by estimating differences in SRP (soluble reactive phosphorous) flux transfers, anⒸ ISERD

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indication that the catchment area could be one of the sources of phosphorous in the riverbed
materials.
Table 5 Total nitrogen and total phosphorous concentration in surface runoff under
different treatments
Total nitrogen (mgL-1)
Total phosphorous (mgL-1)
G
0.59
0.066
RHB
0.69
0.100
Loam
G+RHB
0.61
0.063
Control
0.81
0.210
G
1.67
0.170
RHB
1.57
0.273
Silt loam
G+RHB
1.70
0.130
Control
1.79
0.360
G=Gypsum; RHB= Rice husk biochar; G+RHB= Gypsum + rice husk biochar
Soil texture

Treatment

Pesticide residues of long half-life such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) andhexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and their isomers have been estimated and found to be available in
the tissues of the sampled vegetables from riverbed agriculture (Hans et al., 1999). This is a
probable indication that farm inputs such as pesticides and other soil nutrients could be finding
their way into water systems from farmlands within water catchment areas.
CONCLUSION
The application of gypsum at 5 t ha-1 was found to be more effective in reducing surface runoff,
sediment transfer and loss of nutrients such as N and P from farmlands. It was closely followed by
the concurrent application of a combination of gypsum and rice husk biochar and then applicationof rice husk biochar alone. Rice husk biochar helps in improving soil stability as it cannot
decompose due to its complete carbonization hence, its structure do not collapse for a long periodof time. It also improves soil moisture retention capacity. Since rice husk biochar is basicallycarbon, its burying into the soil assists in carbon sequestration thus, important in reducing carbon
concentration in the atmosphere.
All soil amendments used in this study were effective in maintaining a good and wellaggregated soil surface that resulted in a minimized detachment of soil particles and probably asurface that was resistant to surface sealing (seal formation) as infiltration was also improved on
application of these soil amendments. Due to increased infiltration, there could be an increase insoil moisture hence, important for establishment of vegetation cover. Therefore, it was concluded
that surface application of soil amendments on farmlands especially before vegetation isestablished during which the soil surface is bare and vulnerable to erosion, may be effective on
minimizing erosion and subsequent transfer of sediments and nutrient losses from farmlands prior
to establishment of vegetation cover.
Considering the cost of gypsum especially on large scale, application of rice husk biochar isrecommended for the study area.
REFERENCES
Abrol, V., Meni, B., Frank, G.A.V., Jacob, J.K., Martinho, A.S.M., Haim, T., Ludmilla, T. and Ellen, R.G.
2016. Biochar effects on soil water infiltration and erosion under seal formation conditions, Rainfall
simulation experiment. Soils Sediments, 16, 2709-2719.
Carroll, C., Merton, L. and Burger, P. 2000. Impact of vegetative cover and slope on runoff, erosion, andwater quality and field plots on a large of soil and spoil materials on central Queensland coal mines.
Australian Journal of Soil Research, 38, 313-327.
Cochrane, B.H.W., Reichert, J.M., Eltz, F.L.F. and Norton, L.D. 2005. Controlling soil erosion and runoff
with polyacrylamide and phosphor-gypsum on subtropical soil. American Society of AgriculturalEngineers, 48 (1), 149-154.
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Ellen, R.G., Pinchas, F. and Guy, J.L. 2006. Soil stabilization in semiarid and arid land agriculture. Journal of
Materials in Civil Engineering.
Hans, R.K., Farooq, M., Suresh, B.G, Srivastava, S.P., Joshi P.C. and Viswanathan, P.N. 1999. Agricultural
produce in the dry bed of the River Ganga in Kanpur, India, New source of pesticide contamination inhuman diets. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 37, 847-852.
Helen, P.J., Monika, D., Jürgens, Richard, J.W., Colin, N., Jennifer, J.L., Davies, C.B. and John, W. 2005.
Role of river bed sediments as sources and sinks of phosphorus across two major eutrophic UK river
basins, The Hampshire Avon and Herefordshire Wye. Journal of Hydrology, 304, 51-74.
Horneck, D.A., Ellsworth, J.W., Hopkins, B.G., Sullivan, D.M. and Slevens, R.G. 2007. Managing saltaffected soils for crop production. PNW 601-E- November 2007.
Jien, S.H. and Wang, C.S. 2013. Effects of biochar on soil properties and erosion potential in a highly
weathered soil. Catena, 110, 225-233.
Korcak, R.F. 2001. Agricultural uses of phosphor-gypsum, gypsum, and other industrial by-products. U.S.
Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service, USA.
Pamela, A.O., Darrell, G.S., John, R.O., Caleb, O.O. and Cliff, T.J. 2010. 19th World Congress of Soil
Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World. 1-6 August, 2010, Brisbane, Australia.
Peterson, J.R., Flanagan, D.C. and Tishmack, J.K. 2002. Polyacrylamide and gypsiferous material effects on
runoff and erosion under simulated rainfall. Transaction of the American Society of AgriculturalEngineers, 45, 1011-1019.
Smaling, E.M.A., Stoorvogel, J.J. and Windmeijer, P.N. 1993. Calculating soil nutrient balance in Africa at
different scales. Fertilizer Research, 35, 237-250.
Shainberg, I., Summer, M.E., Miller, W.P., Farina, W.P.W., Pavan, M.A. and Fey, M.V. 1989. Use of
gypsum on soils, A review. Advances in Soil Science, 9, 1-111.
Zhang, X.C., Norton, D. and Nearing, M.A. 1997. Chemical transfer from soil solution to surface runoff.
Water Resources Research, 33, 809-815.

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Research article
erdInfluence of Percolation Patterns on Copper Uptake, and
Growth and Yield with Copper-polluted Stratified Paddy
FieldsJINHUN FANThe United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Iwate University, Morioka, Iwate, JapanCHOICHI SASAKI*
Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan
Email: chsasaki@hirosaki-u.ac.jp

CHIHIRO KATO
Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori, JapanNOBUHIKO MATSUYAMA
Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan

TAKEYUKI ANNAKA
Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, JapanAKIRA ENDO
Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori, JapanSONGTAO LI
The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Iwate University, Morioka, Iwate, Japan

KIICHI SASAKI
Aomori Prefectural Improvement Projects Federation, Aomori, Aomori, Japan
Received 30 November 2017

Accepted 10 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Copper(Cu), arsenic, and cadmium are designated as specific substances of theAgricultural Land Soil Pollution Prevention Act in Japan. It has been known that high Cu
concentrations in soil layers reduce rice crop production and therefore agricultural practices
such as soil dressing have been applied to minimize damage to crops by Cu pollution. In
this study, we investigated the effects of percolation patterns of the plowsole and the subsoil
on growth and yield, and Cu uptake of paddy rice. Four stratified paddy field models wereconstructed to conduct growth tests under the condition that the percolation patterns ofplowsole and subsoil were in an open or closed system. These models had a plow layer andan upper plowsole made with 12.5cm-thickness of non-polluted soil dressing (3.7 mg/kg)
and underlying 15cm-thickness of a polluted lower plowsole and a subsoil layer whose Cu
concentrations were either higher (approximately 250 mg/kg) or lower (approximately 70
mg/kg) than Japanese safety standards (125 mg/kg). During the tests, a constant waterponding system was adopted, and mid-summer drainage was not done. As a result, Cu
concentrations in the rice grains were 5% significantly higher in the open systempercolation models regardless of the original amount of Cu in the plowsole and subsoil. On
the other hand, we did not recognize the significant difference in growth and yield of rice
plants among the models. We concluded that the Cu concentrations in rice plants wereaffected by percolation patterns of the polluted plowsole and subsoil even though they werecovered with non-polluted soil dressing layers.
Keywords copper, rice, percolation patterns, soil dressingⒸ ISERD

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INTRODUCTION
Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd) and Arsenic are recognized as the specific contaminant heavy metals
for agricultural lands and thus a variety of techniques for minimizing the heavy metals uptake ofcrops have been developed, for example, soil dressing, chemical measurement, phytoremediation,and breed improvement of rice plants. It has also been recommended to keep the soil in reduction
condition by flooding during the whole growing period in order to reduce Cd and Cu uptake(Yamane et al., 1997; Asami, 2005; Inahara et al., 2007; Akahane et al., 2013).
The studies of Cu pollution in agricultural lands have mainly been focused on damage to crops
such as growth inhibition, while Cd concentrations in brown rice itself have been anothersignificant issue of soil pollution. The problem of soil Cu pollution has been of relatively smallinterest compared to Cd pollution. It is probably because Cu pollution rarely directly affects humanhealth (Kobayashi, 1978, Takaishi et al., 2015) and the area affected by Cu pollution is not as large
as that of Cd contamination in Japan. It is reported that in apple orchards, Bordeaux mixtures,mixture of copper sulphate and calcium carbonate have been used for a long time and thus soil Cu
concentrations in some orchards are as high as several hundred mg/kg (dry soil) (Aoyama, 2009)
while the safety standard of soil Cu concentrations in Japan is 125 mg/kg. Since apple farming isreally hard work, elderly farmers, especially, tend to abandon their orchards. Some of the apple
orchards in lowland had once been converted from paddy fields and there is a possibility that they
will be restored to paddy fields, which require less labor. Therefore, it should be necessary andimportant to develop the technique of minimizing Cu uptake of paddy rice plants.
In Japan, soil dressing has mainly been applied for remediation of Cu polluted soil (Asami,2010). Recently, Paul et al. (2011a, b) and Sasaki et al. (2016a, b) clarified that variations of
percolation patterns of the plowsole and the subsoil using stratified paddy field models with soil
dressing layers resulted in significant differences in Cd concentrations in the brown rice. Paul et al.
(2011b) also showed that the percolation patterns affected the amount of Cu accumulation in rice
plants even though they used non-polluted soil (12.2 mg/kg). Since the solubility of Cu increases
under the oxidation condition and decreases in the reduction condition as in the case of Cd (Donget al., 2007), the percolation patterns in stratified paddy fields may affect the Cu uptake and growthand yields of rice plants.
It has been reported that Cu polluted soil is likely to induce a Cu accumulation in the roots of
paddy rice and a decrease in the number of panicles and the ratio of ripening (Chino et al., 1966;
Shibuya, 1979). Shibuya (1979) also mentioned that the yields of brown rice had decreased byapproximately 10% under the condition that Cu concentrations in the subsoil layer were higher than
200 mg/kg with a 15cm-thick soil dressing. These studies, however, did not consider utilizing thepercolation patterns.
From the above, the objective of this study is to clarify whether percolation patterns affect thegrowth, the yields, and the Cu uptake of rice plants under the conditions that Cu concentrations areeither under or above the Japanese safety standard (125 mg/kg). We prepared stratified paddy fieldmodels with approximately 70 mg/kg- and 250 mg/kg- Cu contaminated soil. The results were thatthe percolation patterns significantly changed Cu concentrations in the brown rice but neither thegrowth nor the yields.
METHODOLOGY
Table 1 shows the physical and chemical properties of the soils used in this study. Kanagi soil
(Loam), 3.7 mg/kg Cu concentration, was sampled from a plow layer of the paddy field in Kanagi
farm of Hirosaki University, Aomori prefecture. Bunkyou soil (Clay Loam) was made by adding asolution of CuCl2・2H2O to the soil which had been sampled from a plow layer of the paddy field
on Bunkyo campus of Hirosaki University, Aomori prefecture, and both were mixed well. Cu
concentrations in the soil of Bunkyo campus were originally 10.5 mg/kg. We produced two levelsof Cu contaminated soil, Cu concentrations in which were either lower (71 mg/kg) or higher (247mg/kg) than Japanese safety standard (125 mg/kg). These values are 15 and 50 times, respectively,Ⓒ ISERD

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as large as the average Cu concentration of non-contaminated paddy fields in Japan (4.47 mg/kg)(Asami, 2010). The organic matter content (OM) of the Kanagi soil and Bunkyou soil was 4.7%
and 6.6%, respectively. The gravel, which contained 0.8 mg/kg, was used for the lower layer of themodels since they were designed after the fashion of paddy fields near a river.
Table 1 Physical and chemical properties of soil samples and gravel
Density

Soil
Texture

MgO

CaO

K2O

Cu

T-C

T-N

C/N

OM

L
CL
-

229
219
-

(mg/kg)
531
306
1848
373
-

3.7
10.5
0.8

(%)
2.74
3.84
0.04

(%)
0.18
0.26
0.01

15.40
14.50
4.00

(%)
4.7
6.6
0.1

3

Kanagi Soil
Bunkyou Soil
Gravel(g/cm )
2.58
2.61
2.68

Experimental Design
According to the previous report (Sasaki et al., 2016a), two types of stratified paddy field models
were used for the experiment: the open-system percolation model and the closed-systempercolation model. The percolation patterns were determined by Sasaki et al. (1992). Each stratified
paddy field model was constructed in an iron box (30 cm×50 cm×70 cm) filled with three layers ofsoil. The plow layer was from 0cm to 10cm deep with non-polluted Kanagi soil (dry density in
puddling condition was 1.04 g/cm3). The plowsole was from 10cm to 20cm deep with non-polluted
and polluted soil (dry density at the depth from 10cm to 12.5cm [non-polluted Kanagi soil] andfrom 12.5cm to 20cm [Cu mixed Bunkyou soil] were 1.23 g/cm3 and 0.75 g/cm3, respectively). The
subsoil was from 20cm to 55cm deep with polluted Bunkyou soil and non-polluted gravel (drydensity at the depth from 20cm to 27.5cm [polluted Bunkyou soil] and from 27.5cm to 55cm [thegravel] was 0.75 g/cm3 and 1.40 g/cm3, respectively). Those layers were formed by compaction.
The authors defined O-70 and C-70 as the setting value of 71 mg/kg of the stratified paddy fieldmodes. Similarly, O-250 and C-250 were defined as the setting value of 247 mg/kg of Cu
concentrations (‘O’ and ‘C’ stand for the open-system and the closed-system percolation,
respectively). The ground water levels of the open-system and the closed-system percolation
models were controlled at 57.5cm and 12.5-20cm depth, respectively. In the closed-systempercolation models, the holes in the side walls of iron box were blocked in order to prevent thepenetration of the atmosphere. On the other hand, in the open-system percolation models, the holes
in the side walls of the iron box were open in the lower part of the plowsole and the upper part ofthe subsoil in order to aerate those layers.
After the two types of models were prepared, fifteen paddy seedlings (the plant length and theleaf stage were from 12.5 to 17.5 cm and from 4.4 to 5.0 leaves, respectively) named ‘Oryza sativa
L., Tsugaru Roman’ were transplanted. The paddy seedlings were transplanted by 10cm intervals.
As for fertilizer, 2g of N, 2g of P2O5 and 2g of K2O were administered per model and mixed withthe whole plow layer before transplanting. During the cultivation period, the water ponding
condition was constantly adopted but the mid-summer drainage was not done. Transplanting of the
paddy seedlings and harvesting were conducted at the end of May and at the end of September,respectively. The experiment with the stratified paddy field models was conducted in a greenhouseon the university campus.
Measuring Method
The examination of rice plants such as plant length, leaf stage, the number of stems and panicles,
the weight of straw, the number of grains of brown rice and the weight of brown rice was done by
the standard method of Iwate Agricultural Experimental Station (1981). The quantitative analysis
of Cu concentrations in leaves, root, brown rice and soils extracted by HCl solution was carried out
with atomic absorption spectroscopy (MAFF, 1979). Other measurements were also conducted inⒸ ISERD

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standard methods used in Japan. The Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP) meter (Central Kagaku
Co., Ltd., model UC-203) was used for measuring oxidation-reduction potential (Eh). The ORP
sensors were installed at depths of 5, 15, 20, 27.5, 37.5 and 47.5 cm of each model.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Oxidation-reduction Potential (Eh)The temporal changes of Eh are shown in Figs. 1~4. The plow layer of O-70 and O-250 became
reduction layers (under -100 mV) while the plowsole and the subsoil became oxidation layers (over400 mV). On the other hand, Eh values measured at the depths of C-70 and C-250 were gradually
decreased after transplanting, and in due time all the layers became reduction layers as Eh values
showed under 0 mV. This means that, in this study, the polluted soil layers in O-70 and -250 were
under oxidation condition while those layers in C-70 and C-250 were under reduction condition. It
has been pointed out that the Cu uptake in rice is affected by the oxidation-reduction environment(Matsunaka, 2014) and, therefore, in this study, Cu solubility was probably high in the models of
O-70 and O-250 (Takaishi et al., 2015). We decided on the oxidation and reduction condition on
the basis of Yamane (1982), who had defined the oxidation layer as Eh value as 300 mV or more
and reduction layer as < 300 mV.

Fig.1 The temporal changes of Eh in the stratified paddy field model (O-70)

Fig.2 The temporal changes of Eh in the stratified paddy field model (C-70)Ⓒ ISERD

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Fig.3 The temporal changes of Eh in the stratified paddy field model (O-250)

Fig.4 The temporal changes of Eh in the stratified paddy field model (C-250)
Copper Concentrations in Rice Plants
The results of Cu concentrations in rice plants are listed in Table 2.
Rice grains: Cu concentrations in brown rice ranged from 2.8 to 4.3 mg/kg which were similar tothe values reported by Asami (2010). Their studies, however, did not make a distinction between
open and close percolation patterns. Paul et al. (2011b) reported that the significant difference wasobserved in Cu concentrations in brown rice due to differences in percolation patterns. In addition,in their study, despite the low soil Cu concentrations, Cu concentrations in brown rice ranged from
2.5 to 4.2 mg/kg, similar to the results of our experiment. Thus the Cu concentrations in the lower
layer did not make much difference in Cu concentrations in brown rice. From these results, it was
revealed that the differences in Cu concentrations in brown rice due to differences in percolation
patterns were confirmed as those in Cd concentrations found in the experiments conducted by
Sasaki et al. (2016a, b).
Stems and leaves: It confirmed that statistically significant differences in the Cu concentrations instems and leaves were between O-250 (1.6 mg/kg) and C-250 (0.8 mg/kg). However, there was no
significant difference between O-70 and C-70. This discrepancy might be caused by the soil Cu
concentrations, but this requires further elucidation.
Roots: In Cu concentrations in roots, significant differences in the high concentration models of O250 (20.3 mg/kg) and C-250 (13.7 mg/kg) were recognized. However, significant differences in the
low Cu concentration models due to the percolation patterns were not confirmed. Here, further
discussion is needed to clarify its mechanism as in the case of stems and leaves.
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Cu concentrations in the rice plants were in the order of roots > brown rice > stems and leaves.
This order was similar to those of Shibuya (1979) and Paul et al. (2011b) who used rice plants, andto those of Li et al. (2017) who used soybeans. This result is probably due to the transportcharacteristics of Cu and Cd in the rice plants.
Table 2 Cu concentrations in rice grains, stems and leaves androots in plow layer (mg/kg)
Model
O-70
C-70
O-250
C-250

Rice grains
n=10
4.3±0.3a
3.4±0.4b
4.1±0.4a
2.8±0.2c

Stem and leaves
n=5
1.5±0.4a
1.2±0.4ab
1.6±0.2a
0.8±0.1b

Root of plow layer
n=816.0±2.3a
17.8±2.7a
20.3±1.4b
13.7±0.5a

Growth and Yield of Rice Plants
Experimental results for the growth and yield of rice plants are shown in Tables 3 and 4,
respectively.
Growth of rice plants: The average plant height (n = 10) of each model was almost equal, at 90
cm level (Table 3). Leaf age of each model was about 14, showing a small difference between them.
Total straw weight was 12.3～15.0 g/hill. No significant difference was observed in the plantheight, leaf age and total straw weight regardless of the percolation patterns. Previous research(Shibuya, 1979) reported that Cu concentrations in the Cu polluted soil layer had an influence on
the growth of rice plants. In this study, however, influence of the Cu concentrations on the growthof rice plants was not noticeable, which may well to have resulted from the application of soil
dressing.
Yield of rice plants: An average number of panicles per unit hill in each model was 8.6～9.6 /hill(Table 4). Likewise, averages of the weight of one panicle and the number of grains of brown rice
per unit hill were 1.9～2.2 g / panicle and 616～680 grains /hill, respectively. In addition, averagesof the percentage of ripening and the 1,000 grain weight of brown rice were 86.5～93.7% and 19.1
～19.9 g, respectively. No significant differences were found in any of the items of the models withdifferent percolation types. Paul et al. (2011a) reported that yield components of the closed-systempercolation model were significantly higher than those of the open-system percolation model
though their experiment was conducted by using a different soil type for Cd polluted soil layers.
Sasaki et al. (2016a) conducted an experiment using stratified paddy field models with a Cd
polluted soil layer and reported that there was no significant difference between the models withdifferent percolation patterns. Soil dressing was presumed to be one of the reasons why nosignificant difference was observed in that study. In a previous study (Shibuya, 1979), it wasreported that Cu concentrations had an influence on the number of panicles and the percentage ofripening. In this study, however, the influence of the Cu concentrations on the growth of rice plants
was not remarkable, which may be attributed to the soil dressing.
Table 3 Parameters of rice plant growth
Model
O-70
C-70
O-250
C-250

Plant length(cm)
99.6±5.1a
99.6±3.8a
95.6±4.4a
99.7±5.5a

Leaf age(leaf)
14.3±0.5a
14.3±0.5a
14.0±0.0a
14.3±0.5a

Weight of dry straw(g/hill)13.3±2.4a
15.0±2.2a
13.3±3.0a
12.3±1.8a

Note: Tukey-Kramer test was performed at 5% level; letter indicates significant difference.
The numerical value of ± shows standard deviationⒸ ISERD

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Table 4 Parameters of rice plant yield
Model

Weight of one
panicleNo. of Panicles

Percentage ofripening

Number of brownrice per unit hill

(Panicles/hill)（g）（%）（grains/hill）
O-70
1.9±0.3a
9.4±1.1a
92.3±2.2a644.3±116.0a
C-70
2.0±0.2a
9.6±1.2a
86.5±4.1b616.9±118.8a
a
a
a
O-250
2.2±0.3
8.6±1.3
93.1±1.5
680.5±163.9a
a
a
a
C-250
2.0±0.2
9.6±1.893.7±1.5
627.9±65.0a
Note: Tukey-Kramer test was performed at 5% level; letter indicates significant difference.
The numerical value of ± shows standard deviation

1000 grain weightof brown rice（g）
19.1±0.9a
19.7±0.5a
19.9±0.8a
19.4±0.8a

CONCLUSION
Using four types of Cu polluted stratified paddy field models, we conducted an experiment toclarify the effects of percolation patterns in the sub-layer (both plowsole and subsoil) on the Cu
concentrations in the rice plants and their growth and yield. The models had a 15-cm thick Cu
polluted soil layer and a 12.5-cm thick non-polluted soil dressing. For the Cu polluted soil layer,
two different Cu concentrations of 71 mg/kg and 247 mg/kg were prepared.
The results of our experiment showed that in the open system percolation models the sublayers became oxidation layers and those in the closed system percolation models the sub-layers
became reduction layers. Cu concentrations in the brown rice of the open system percolation
models were significantly larger by 5% than those of the closed system percolation models. In themodels with concentrations of Cu (247 mg/kg), the Cu concentrations in stems and leaves androots showed significantly different values between the percolation patterns. However, there wasno statistically significant difference in the growth and yield of rice plants between the percolation
patterns.
Under the above conditions, difference in percolation patterns of the stratified paddy fieldmodels did not affect the growth and yield of rice plants, while it had an influence on the Cu
concentration in the rice plants.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors appreciate the cooperation of Toikawa Yoshito, Okada Hiroaki, and Fujita Masayoshi
who cooperated in carrying out this research. In addition, this research was conducted under the
support of Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 26660188). We would like to thank everyone
concerned.
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Matsunaka, T. 2014. Basic soil science. Nobunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, 327-333.
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growth and yield of the rice plants and uptake of cadmium from polluted paddy fields using soil dressing
models. Pedologist, 222-229.
Paul, S.K., Sasaki, C., Matsuyama, N. and Kato, K. 2011b. Effect of percolation pattern on yields andaccumulation of copper and cadmium in the rice plants with soil dressing models. Environmental Scienceand Engineering, 5, 1464-1473.
Sasaki, C. 1992. On the dissolved oxygen content in seepage water of the open and the closed systempercolation in a stratified soil column. Transaction of the Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage, andReclamation Engineering, 159, 65-71.
Sasaki, K., Sasaki, C., Kato, C., Endo, A. Annaka, T., Moritani, S. and Matsuyama, N. 2016a. Studies on
reducing cadmium uptake of paddy rice (Oryza stative L.) by both soil dressing and mixing tillage.
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Sasaki, K., Sasaki, C., Kato, C., Annaka, T. and Matsuyama, N. 2016b. Effects of the percolation patterns
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Tkaishi, M., Oshima, H. and Asano. S. 2015. Pollution caused by Ashio Copper Mine and its effects onenvironment and human health. Journal of International University of Health and welfare, 20 (2), 59-69.
Yamane, I. 1982. Soil science of paddy field. Nobunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, 132-133.
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Research article
erd

Nonpoint Source Water Pollution in Rural Areas in theUpper Ayase River Basin of Saitama Prefecture in JapanKINGSHUK ROY*
College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Kanagawa, Japan
Email: roy.kingshuk@nihon-u.ac.jp
Received 27 February 2018

Accepted 10 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Nonpoint source pollution of water is an important environmental issue in Japan.
In this study, water samples were collected from 12 selected sites and 4 different periods at
the upper stretch of the Ayase River Basin located in Saitatma prefecture, and analyzed.
The results revealed that the water in the study area was in eutrophic condition and theextent of pollution varied in different ranges depending on the sites’ ambient conditions.
Moreover, the growing to harvesting period of crops (mainly mid-September to lateOctober) showed peak-values for nitrogen/phosphorus levels in water samples. The study
recommends that either a strict policy needs to be incorporated or much more care should
be taken to control pollution from agricultural runoffs.
Keywords water quality, nonpoint source pollution, agricultural water, Ayase River Basin

INTRODUCTION
While agriculture is the single largest user of global freshwater resources, surface water quality
detriment in agricultural watersheds is a major environmental concern in many parts of the world.
In Japan, efforts over the recent decades to address point source pollution from industrial andmunicipal sources have greatly improved the water quality. However, problems related to nonpoint
sources of pollution, e.g. agricultural sources still remain to be solved (Inoue, 2003; Roy, 2007,
Takeda et al., 2009). Depending on the land uses and management practices, different types ofnutrients, pesticides, fecal coliforms and sediments from agricultural activities are acknowledged
to be among the main causes of these problems (Kawashima, 1996; Takeuchi et at., 2005; Matsuno
et al., 2007; Kawamura and Ebise, 2014).
The Ayase River, which flows through the Saitama prefecture and Tokyo’s metropolitan city,
has been ranked as one of the country’s most polluted rivers while domestic and industrial effluenceswere detected as the prime causes for its pollution. The central government (Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport; MLIT) with the cooperation of local authorities/communities adopted
different measures to stop the inflows of domestic and industrial wastewater into the rivers which
resulted in the satisfactory recovery of the water quality in the Ayase River (MLIT, 2015). Also thegovernment policy (adopted in 1987) facilitated to control such point source pollution activities.
However, for nonpoint sources, although some monitoring guidelines and activities have beenlaunched in recent years by the central government and local authorities, there is no establishednational regulation/act or policy to stop the pollution caused mainly from agricultural effluents.
Therefore, individual consciousness and activities of farmers remain as the most dominating factors
to maintain the water quality in the public water bodies such as lakes, ponds, and rivers of a locality
in Japan. It is noted here that the amount of nitrogen/phosphorus input and pesticides per hectare of
agricultural lands in Japan is remarkably high compared to other developed countries in the world(Parris, 2011). Therefore, even the central government and the local authorities maintain the water
quality of the public waterbodies, such as sampling and monitoring works in the Ayase River are
carried out periodically by the respective bureaus; it could be difficult to determine the short-periodic(daily and weekly) load from every individual farmland and settlement to the river. However, toreduce the non-point source pollution, it is important to regular monitor the water quality at a microlevel in public waterbodies that reside next to agricultural settlements.
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This study focuses on the upper reach of the Ayase River Basin, which lies in the Saitama
prefecture and is a highly-dense and famous agricultural suburb. Along with other tributaries of the
Ayase River in the upper basin, the Minumadai irrigation canal, excavated in 1728, functions as
the trunk waterway to irrigate more than 12,000 hectares of farmland (Shibata, 1985). In short, theupper Ayase River Basin is a rural suburb characterized by a dense intermixtures of farmlands andfarmers’ residences, and this study analyzed the spatial (site-specific) and temporal (seasonal)
status of water quality linked to agricultural activities in the area. Accordingly, water samples fromthe mainstream and tributaries of the Ayase River as well as primary, secondary, and tertiary
canals of the Minumadai irrigation canal were collected periodically as the water passed throughdifferent agricultural settlements, and analyzed.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the spatial and temporal variations in the water
quality of the streams and canals in the upper Ayase River Basin as well as to identify different
variation patterns associated with either seasonal variations or pollution sources in the area.
METHODOLOGY
Study Area and Sampling
The length of the Ayase River is 47.6 km with a total basin area of 176 km2. In fact, agricultural
effluent is the main water source of the Ayase River, and the basin is characterized by a level toundulating topography. Average annual precipitation in the vicinity swings from 1100 to 1800 mm.
While most of the lands in the upper basin (present study area) are occupied mainly with paddy
fields, uplands, and farmers’ residences, the middle and the lower basins are full of residences,office-buildings and small- to medium-sized factories. The sampling sites were selected based on
preliminary surveys and information collected from the local government authorities. As seen in
Fig. 1, the study area (in the upper Ayase River Basin) overlaps the borders of three neighborwards, namely the Minuma ward, Midori ward, and Iwaki ward, all of which incorporate
agricultural fields with numerous surface inlets and outlets of the Ayase River and its tributaries aswell as the Minumadai irrigation canal and its diversions. Also in the study area, the lower reach of
the Fukasaku River joins the upstream of the Ayase River from the north (Fig. 1). Sampling of
surface water from these waterways was carried out from July 2014 to December 2014. The
average monthly precipitation was 143 mm in July, 100.5 mm in August, 71 mm in September,
300.5 mm in October, 74 mm in November and 45.5 mm in December (Japan Meteorological
Agency). Within this period, water samples were collected in daytime from 12 locations(waterways) at 4 different intervals: July 23 (1st sampling); September 19 (2nd sampling); October
26 (3rd sampling): and December 3 (4th sampling) in 2014. While the 1st sampling coveredseeding, sowing, and transplanting activities of paddy and upland crops and was labeled the“summer-irrigation” period, the 2nd sampling represented the peak-time of growing and fertilizer
use and was labeled the “fall-growth” period. Also, the 3rd sampling time was labeled the “fallharvest” period, and the 4th sampling time was labeled the “winter-fallow” period.
Samples of surface water were collected in polyethylene bottles, brought back to thelaboratory, and preserved and processed for major physico-chemical analyses while in-situ
measurements were carried out for several parameters. Specifically, the position of each samplingsite was recorded with a Global Positioning System receiver (Poke-Navi Map 21EX; Empex
Instruments Inc., Japan), the Dissolved Oxygen (DO: mg L-1) was measured at each site by using a
portable DO meter (YK-22DO; Lutron Co. Ltd.), and air and water temperatures (°C) were
measured by using a mercury thermometer (0-100°C). Table 1 summarizes the sampling details of
the survey.
Measurement and Analysis
The pH and Electrical Conductivity (EC: mS cm-1) of the water samples were measured with a pH
meter (Twin pH B-212; Horiba, Japan) and an EC meter (B-173; Horiba, Japan), respectively. TheⒸ ISERD

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Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of the water samples was measured by using a compact COD
analyzer (TNP-10 coupled with a TNP-HT heater; TOA-DKK Co., Japan). Moreover, theconcentrations of the major water-polluting ions (NO3⁻ , NO2⁻ , NH4+, PO4⁻ , SO42⁻ , Cl⁻ , Na+,
K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+) were measured with the ion-chromatography method (833 Basic IC plus ionchromatograph, 863 Compact Autosampler; Metrohm).

Fig. 1 Study area (the upper Ayase River Basin) showing the sampling sites ofagricultural water
Table 1 Detail of survey showing sampling period and positions in different sites of thestudy area, 2014
Sampling
location

Characteristics of the sampling site

Sampling position
LatitudeLongitude

1

Water intake point of the MIC*

2

MIC* water discharge outlet to the Ayase River

35° 41' 18.78" N
35° 56' 5.27" N

139° 45' 24.37" E
139° 40' 55.62" E

3

Joining point of the Fukasaku River35° 56' 23.03" N

139° 40' 47.49" E4
5Upper reach of the Ayase River/OSG* irrigation canal

35° 56' 30.89" N

139° 40' 56.13" E

OSG* drainage canal outlet

35° 56' 57.20" N

139° 41' 34.15" E

6Drainage outlet of OSG and others to the Ayase River **35° 55' 47.20" N

139° 41' 31.44" E

7

Drainage outlet to the Ayase River (mainly uplands)

35° 55' 32.24" N

139° 41' 57.06" E

8Drainage outlet to the Ayase River (near a factory)

35° 55' 11.7" N

139° 42' 1.42" E

9OSG* drainage canal final outlet

35° 55' 10.4" N

139° 41' 58.89" E

10Drainage outlet to the Ayase River (paddy fields)

35° 54' 55.5" N

139° 42' 8.15" E

11Lower reach of the Ayase River35° 54' 59.42" N

139° 42' 6.75" E

12Discharges mixed from locations (sampling sites) 10 and 11

35° 54' 42.89" N

139° 42' 22.54" E

Notes: * MIC indicates the Minumadai Irrigation Canal, and OSG the Ohashi Sluice Gate.
** In this sampling site, discharges from other outlets mixed with the discharges from the Ohashi Sluice Gatedrainage canal.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Spatio-temporal Variation in Water Quality

30

8.5

25

8

20

7.5

0.9
0.8

15

7

10

6.5

5

6

0.7
EC (mS cm-1 )pH

Water temperature (℃)

The average values of the parameters measured at the 12 selected sampling sites in the upper Ayase
River Basin are summarized in Fig. 2 (2.1 to 2.15). The temperature of water samples in all themeasured periods showed no extreme variation from the average value at the time of collection,
which decreased with the seasonal ambient temperature. However, the pH value at sites 1, 4, and 9(Fig. 2.2 and Table 1) showed little variation (alkaline) in the fall-growth and fall-harvest periods.
For EC, sampling site 7 (upland outlet; Fig. 2.3) particularly showed larger values (26 to 81 mS cm-1)
in all sampling periods while sampling site 1 (Minumadai Irrigation Canal: MIC intake) showed
extreme temporal fluctuation compared to the other sites (0.18 to 73 mS cm-1). Fig. 2.4 shows thatthe DO values in the sites increased gradually from the summer-irrigation to winter-fallow period.
Since DO is inversely dependent on temperature, the tendency is natural. With different ranges ofspatio-temporal fluctuations, the water in most of the sampled sites showed increased DO levels.
The samplings were carried out in daytime and under eutrophic conditions; DO greatly increases
during the day, but is greatly reduced after dark. The tendency of elevated COD (above 10 mg L-1)
at several sites, particularly at site 7 (upland outlet) and site 8 (factory outlet) in the fall-harvest
period, site 10 (paddy field outlet) and site 11 (lower reach of the Ayase) in the summer- irrigation
period indicated the water bodies had suffered some kind of deterioration due to the discharges of
effluents (see Fig. 2.5). Figs. 2.6, 2.7 and 2.8 show the forms of nitrogen (NO3⁻ , NO2⁻ , andNH4+)-effects to the water quality, all of which were caused by runoffs from fertilized lands.

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1

Summerirrigation

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Winterfallow

Summerirrigation

Sampling period

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

0

Winterfallow

Summerirrigation

Sampling period

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Winterfallow

Sampling period

Summerirrigation

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Sampling period

Winterfallow

20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Summerirrigation

3
Concentration (mg L-1 )

15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5

Concentration (mg L-1 )Concentration (mg L-1 )Fig. 2.1 Periodic variation in Fig. 2.2 Periodic variation in Fig. 2.3 Periodic variation intemperature
pH
EC

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Sampling period

Winterfallow

2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

Summerirrigation

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Winterfallow

Sampling period

Fig. 2.4 Periodic variation in Fig. 2.5 Periodic variation in Fig. 2.6 Periodic variation in
DO
COD
NO3⁻

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9

0.18

8

0.17

0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05

Summerirrigation

7
6
5
4
3
2
1

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

0

Winterfallow

Summerirrigation

Sampling period

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Winterfallow

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Summerirrigation

Sampling period

0.12
0.11

Summerirrigation

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

8
6
4
2

Winterfallow

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Summerirrigation

Winterfallow

Sampling period

Fig. 2.13 Periodic variation in
K+

70
60

12
10
8
6
4
2
Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Winterfallow

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Winterfallow

Fig. 2.12 Periodic variation inNa+

14

Summerirrigation

Fallharvest

Sampling period

160FallgrowthFig. 2.9 Periodic variation in
PO4⁻

Concentration (mg L-1 )Concentration (mg L-1 )Concentration (mg L-1 )10

Fall-growth Fall-harvest

0.13

Sampling period

12

Summerirrigation

0.14

Sampling period

Fig. 2.10 Periodic variation in Fig. 2.11 Periodic variation in
SO42⁻
Cl⁻

0

0.15

0.1

Winterfallow

Fig. 2.8 Periodic variation in
NH4+

Concentration (mg L-1 )Concentration (mg L-1 )Summerirrigation

0.16

Sampling period

Fig. 2.7 Periodic variation in
NO2⁻
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Fall-growth Fall-harvest

Concentration (mg L-1 )0

Concentration (mg L-1 )

0.4
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Concentration (mg L-1 )Concentration (mg L-1 )IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Winterfallow

50
40
30
20
10
0

Summerirrigation

Fallgrowth

Fallharvest

Winterfallow

Sampling period

Sampling period

Fig. 2.14 Periodic variation in
Mg2+

Fig. 2.15 Periodic variation in
Ca2+

Fig. 2 (2.1 to 2.15) Periodic variation in physico-chemical parameters of water at 12 selected
sampling locations(sites) in the upper reach of the Ayase River Basin in
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Among these items, nitrates (NO3⁻ ), which have an attraction for soil particles, dissolve inwater more readily than phosphates (PO4⁻ ) and are a better indicator of possible non-point
pollution of water while the oxidized/temporary ammonium (NH4+) and nitrite (NO2⁻ ) forms are
considerably more toxic. All sites except 4, 7, and 9 showed elevated amounts of nitrates in water
throughout the samplings (Fig. 2.6). In addition, the fall-growth season showed elevated amountsof nitrites in water samples at site 5 (Ohashi Sluice Gate: OSG outlet) and site 6 (outlet of OSG andothers) while site 7 (upland outlet) showed elevated amounts of ammonium. Fig. 2.9 shows thetraceable amount of orthophosphate (the detection limit of phosphate is 0.1 mg L-1 of the ionchromatograph used in the measurement) produced by runoffs at sites 3, 4, 6, 11 and 12 from thesummer-irrigation to fall-harvest period. Fig. 2.10 presents the distribution of sulfate (SO42⁻ ) at
different sites where site 7 (upland outlet) and site 8 (factory outlet) showed elevated amounts inthe fall-harvest and winter-fallow periods. Sulfate is an inorganic anionic substance that forms salts
with sodium, potassium, magnesium and other cations. Both sites 7 and 9 along with site 5 (OSG
outlet) showed elevated amounts of cations (Na+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+) between the fall-growth andwinter-fallow periods (see Fig. 2.12 to 2.15). Increases in chloride (Cl⁻ ) loads from the summerirrigation period to the fall growth period (Fig. 2.11) might be related to variety of factors such as
fertilizers and agricultural chemicals in irrigation water used in different fields. In particular, site 5(OSG outlet) showed elevated amount of chloride during the fall-growth period.
Analysis from the Existing Water Quality Standard Perspective
The sampling sites included multiple inflows and outflows of the Ayase River, and some of these
inflows and outflows were used as irrigation water sources. Lately, the irrigated water has beendischarged to the mainstream directly or through other diversion canals. In Japan, since there is no
regulatory act such as the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) in USA, the status of agricultural
water quality in the studied area can only be judged from the country’s existing standards for
irrigation water quality in paddy fields (MAFF, 2009). On that basis, pH values at sites 1, 4 and 9
in different sampling periods exceeded the recommended limit (6.0 to 7.5). Regarding EC, thevalues in most of the sites exceeded the limit (below 0.3 mS cm-1) from the fall-growth to winterfallow period. DO with a spatio-temporal average value of 10.4 mg L-1 was much higher than theprescribed limit (above 5 mg L-1), and COD values in several sites and periods exceeded therecommended value (below 6 m L-1). For paddy field water, the recommended amount for total
nitrogen (T-N) is less than 1 mg L-1; however, only the nitrate-part in most of the samples exceeded
the limit. The measured values clearly indicated that the water flowing through the canals andstreams in the study area were oversupplied with nutrients, which is called eutrophication.
At the same time, the country has a strict regulation for the environmental water quality in ariver, and therefore, the water quality in a river is usually judged based on the country’s
environmental standard (MOE, 2015). Both standards share some common items such as pH, EC,
DO, COD, T-N and several heavy metal constituents (As, Zn and Cu). However, the latter standard
is stricter and is similar to other global standards of developed countries. For example, in Japan,
public waterbodies such as lakes, ponds, and rivers are classified into several groups, and thehealth-hazard parameters (Cd, Pb, As, PCBs, Hg etc.) are monitored regularly by responsible
authorities. However, the status of agricultural water is dependent completely upon the farmers’
personal attitudes and practices. Since many agricultural canals are directly or indirectly connectedwith public rivers, keeping the agricultural waterbodies healthy is a prerequisite of maintaining theenvironmental health of rivers and seas.
CONCLUSION
The upper reach of the Ayase River Basin is a typical agriculture-dominated suburb and the Ayase
River itself is an agricultural effluent-based stream. In this study, multiple sites were selected on
major waterways for more complete characterization and to allow examination of possible impacts
related to various land use practices. Results of this study reveal that, in general, mainstream waterⒸ ISERD

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quality (the Ayase River) as well as the discharge canals (upper stretch of the Ayase basin) is
linked to the ambient land-use practices, and agricultural land flushes more water-polluting agents
into the canals and streams between the growing and harvesting seasons, which is early September
to late October in the study area.
The control of water pollution from agriculture clearly needs to occur within broader
integrated water resource management frameworks that ensure linked land water use together withre-use management. In addition, sustained regulation and water quality monitoring activities at all
scales are essential. The findings of this paper provides baseline information and existing status ofa rural suburb with agriculture-derived water-pollution, which could be valuable to the design offuture participatory (individual and community-based) and policy-making strategies to stop
nonpoint source pollution in waterbodies.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank Naoki Shimamura and Kento Hara, two graduates from the author’s lab
at Nihon University for their support in carrying out the samplings and analyses. Dr. Sadao
Nagasaka, an associate professor of Nihon University assisted in ion-chromatography analysis. The
author also acknowledges the anonymous referees of the journal for their valuable comments andsuggestions.
REFERENCES
Inoue, T. 2003. Pollutant load factor from non-point source, Present state and task for the future. Journal ofJapan Society on Water Environment, 26, 131-134. (in Japanese).
Kawamura, H. and Ebise, S. 2014. High-frequency observations of pesticide runoff characteristics in the
Yodo River with reference to three major tributarie. Journal of Water and Environment Technology, 12(3), 309-322.
Kawashima, H. 1996. Historical change of the nitrogen balance in Tokyo bay and its basin. Bulletin on
Coastal Oceanography, 33, 147-155. (in Japanese).
MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan). 2009. Standards for agricultural water quality(paddy fields), 111. Retrieved from http://www.maff.go.jp/j/seisan/kankyo/hozen_type/h_sehi_kizyun/pdf/suisitu.pdf (retrived on February 16, 2015) (in Japanese).
Matsuno, Y., Hatcho, N. and Shindou, S. 2007. Water transfer from agriculture to urban domestic users, A
case study of the Tone river basin, Japan. Paddy Water Environment, 5, 239-246.
MOE (Ministry of the Environment, Japan). 2015. Environmental quality standards for water pollution.
https://www.env.go.jp /en/water/wq/wp.pdf (retrived on February 16, 2015).
MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Japan). 2015. River guide, The Edogawa River Office,Kanto Regional Development Bureau. http://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/edogawa/edogawa00163.html (retrived
on January 30, 2015) (in Japanese).
Parris, K. 2011. Impact of agriculture on water pollution in OECD countries, Recent trends and future
prospects. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 27 (1), 33-52.
Roy, K. 2007. Water resources in relation to major agro-environmental issues in Japan. Journal of
Developments in Sustainable Agriculture, 2 (1), 27-34.
Shibata, K. 1985. Evolution and response of agricultural water use organization to suburbanization anddemand for water rationalization, A case of Minuma Land Improvement District. Journal of Geography(Chigaku Zasshi) , 94 (1), 1-20.
Takeda, I., Fukushima, A. and Somura, H. 2009. Long-term trends in water quality in an under-populated
watershed and influence of precipitation. Journal of Water Environment Technology, 7 (4), 293-306.
Takeuchi, M., Itahashi, S. and Saito, M. 2005. A water quality analysis system to evaluate the impact ofagricultural activities on N outflow in river basins in Japan. Science in China Series C, 48, Supp. I, 100109.

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Research article
erd

Soil Health Assessment of Soil under Miscanthus × giganteus
Cultivation
TORU NAKAJIMA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: tn206473@nodai.ac.jp

TAKAHIKO NAKAMURA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

MACHITO MIHARA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Received 7 March 2018

Accepted 10 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Soil health is the capacity of soil to function as a living ecosystem that sustains
plants, animals, and humans. Healthy soils support the optimal crop yields and also plays acrucial role in protecting water quality and other aspects of environmental stewardship.
Meanwhile, the agricultural damage by the earthquake causes serious crop productivity
degradation in Japan. Thus, there is a need for research on crop productivity, especially land
under the earthquake disaster. In addition, the global demand for renewable energy
resources such as Miscanthus spp., mainly the triploid interspecific hybrid Miscanthus ×
giganteus (M × g), has increased substantially. Because it has the potential to have a highyield, sequester the carbon into the soils, and improve the soil health. Therefore, theobjective of this study was to demonstrate soil health index assessment at Miscanthus spp.
fields. We investigated (1) to quantify the impact on land use changes including Miscanthus,
pasture, and arable land on soil health index. T soil under M × g increases the over-all SHI
value to compare another land use. Therefore, it can be concluded that M × g is the better
land use management option in the cool climate regions such as Northern Japan.
Keywords soil health, soil management assessment framework, Miscanthus × giganteus

INTRODUCTION
What is a good soil or a bad soil? That is the ultimate question for soil scientists. The soil scientists
have been trying to answer that question as well as to find out the way to ensure the soil health.
Soil health is defined as the capacity of soil to function to sustain plant and animal productivities,
to maintain or improve water and air qualities and to support human health and habitation (Karlen
et al., 1997). Soil health index (SHI) assessment involves an evaluation of soil physical, chemical,
and biological attributes to know how well the resource is functioning. Therefore, SHI assessment
seeks to characterize the overall agro-ecological functions of soil by selecting soil physical,
chemical, and biological properties as indicators, measuring them, and calculating a score or index
for both the individual properties and overall soil health (Nakajima et al., 2015). Miscanthus spp.,
as source of biomass energy crop mainly the triploid interspecific hybrid Miscanthus × giganteus(M × g), has increased drastically. The M × g has the potential to mitigate greenhouse gas
emissions by replacing fossil fuels, sequestering carbon into the soils, and improve soil health(Clifton-brown et al., 2004, Guzman and Lal, 2014). In addition, the M × g requires low annual
energy net and financial inputs, including tillage, planting, and practical management such as
fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide application. Yet, the effects of SHI on soil under M × g
cultivation vary by climate, soil type, management practices, and former land use history. Thus,
there is a need for site-specific research on M × g of SHI.

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OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to demonstrate SHI assessment at M × g fields. We specificallyinvestigated to quantify the impact on land use changes including M × g, M. sinensis, pasture, andarable land on SHI. The hypothesis tested in this study was that soil under M × g increases the overall SHI value to compare another land use.

METHODOLOGY
Study Site and Soil Sampling
The study site was established in 2009 at the Experiment Farm of the Field Science Center for
Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan (43°04ʹ22ʹʹN, 141°20ʹ16ʹʹE). According
to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the annual average temperature and annual precipitation were
9.48 °C and 1209 mm, respectively from 2009 to 2015. The soil at the study site is classified as
Humic Andosols. The undisturbed soil core samples were collected with 100 cm3 steel soil coresampler (height = 5.0 cm, diameter = 4.8 cm) using a cylindrical hammer-driven core sampler forsoil depths of 0-5 cm, with three replicates. In addition, disturbed soil samples were obtained forsoil layers at depths of 0-5 cm, with three replicates per plot, using a hydraulic soil sampling device(FV-477, Fujiwara Scientific Company Co., Ltd., Okayama, Japan). The soil samples were
homogenized by replicate and sieved through 2 mm sieve and air-dried before the analysis.

Photo. 1 Miscanthus × giganteus and soil sampling at arable land
Soil Health Assessment
The SHI assessment was conducted by: (1) identifying a minimum data set of indicators, (2)selecting indicator interpretation criteria, and (3) integrating all indicator scores into an overall SHI
value (Andrews, et al., 2004, Nakajima, et al., 2015).
The SHI was basically computed by using the Soil Management Assessment Framework(SMAF) (Andrews et al., 2004, Karlen et al., 2001). The details for each step of the SHI assessment
is summarized as follows.
1. First, the minimum data set of soil physical, chemical, and biological indicators was selected
for evaluating for the management goal. The indicators were selected based on literature
review (Andrews et al., 2004, Nakajima et al., 2015).
2. For the second step, the minimum data set indicators were converted into unit less scores
ranging from 1 to 5 using the criteria presented in Table. 1. In general, there are three shapes ofscoring functions (Karlen and Stott, 1994, Wymore, 1993). If soil quality is improving as levelof an indicator increases, a “the more is better” curve is used. Conversely, a “less is better”
curve is suitable if soil quality is decreasing as the indicator value rises. Finally, a “optimum”
curve is used for those indicators that have an increasingly positive association with soil
quality up to an optimal level, but beyond which, soil quality decreases.
3. Finally, after selecting the appropriate curve type and scoring individual indicators, the unit
less values can be incorporated in a single. Overall SHI value with appropriate weighting ofindividual indicators if needed.
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1. Indicator Selection
Minimum Data Set
Soil PhysicalIndicators

Soil Biological
Indicators

Soil Chemical
Indicators

Those indicators were selected based on the management goal

2. Interpretation

Score

Score

Score

Three Type of Scoring Functions (Indicator to Score)

Indicator

Indicator

Indicator

More is better

Less is better

Optimum

3. Integration

Soil Health Index

Fig. 1 Conceptual framework for soil health index scoring function analysis adaptedfrom Andrews et al., 2004
Table 1 Scoring function chart for interpretations soil health index with source references
Indicator
BD
TextureUnit
Mg m-3
-

5
<1.2
Loam

3
1.3-1.4
Clay loam,
Sandy loam2
1.4-1.5
Silty clay,
Loamy sand

1
>1.5
Clay
Sand

Reference
Lal (1994)
Lal (1994)

5.4-5.8,
7.4-7.8
500-700
10-30

5.0-5.4,
7.8-8.2
700-1000
5-10

<5.2,
>8.2
>1000
<5

Andrews et al. (2004)

μS m-1g kg-16.07.0<300>50

41.2-1.3
Silt loam,
Silt,
Silty clay loam
5.8-6.0,
7.0-7.4
300-500
30-50

pH

-

EC
SOC
MWD

mm

>2.5

2.0-2.5

1.0-2.0

0.5-1.0<0.5

Lal (1994)
Gregorich et al. (1994)
Lal (1994)
Lal (1994)

Statistical Analysis
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted, and comparisons between the M × g, M. sinensis,
pasture, and arable land were performed R Studio (Studio, 2012). Statistical significance wasdetermined when P ≤ 0.05, unless otherwise stated.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Implementation of SHI Analysis
Among all sites, the SHI ranged from 0.59 to 0.72, and the SHI under M × g (0.72) was slightly
higher than that under arable land (0.59), but with no statistical differences. The SHI weresignificantly affected among the sites. However, M × g cultivation could improve the SHI fromresults SHI assessment. It implies that under the M × g in Northern Japan influence soil health dueto their nutrient cycling between the rhizome and aboveground biomass, and recycling of nutrientsfrom leaf litter and the soil. In addition, this has several possible explanations after theestablishment of M × g, there was no major loss in SOC due to the minimal soil disturbance causedby the introduction of the perennial rhizomatous grass (Zimmermann et al., 2012).

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Table 2 Correlation coefficients for each soil physical and chemical properties
BD
SOC
pH
EC
Texture
MWD

BD
1.000
0.202
0.089
0.289
0.013
0.144

SOC

pH

EC

Texture

MWD

1.000
0.466
0.177
0.286
0.808*

1.000
0.336
0.772*
0.650*

1.000
0.024
0.222

1.000
0.396

1.000

* Significant at the 0.05 level.
BD: bulk density (Mg m-3)
SOC: soil organic carbon (g kg-1)
EC: electric conductivity (mS m-1)
MWD: mean weight diameter from soil aggregation analysis (mm)The SOC, pH, MWD, Texture were the important key indicators for SHI assessment in thisstudy sites. For soil chemical function, the pH had the highest correlation coefficient. Other
important measured attributes were SOC and MWD. However, BD and EC were less responsive tothe management practices in comparison to other indicators.
1.0

Soil Health Index

0.8

BD
SOC
pH
EC
Texture
MWD

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

M ×g

M. sinensis

PastureArable land

Fig. 2 The soil health index (SHI) at M × g, M. sinensis, pasture, and arable land Error bars
indicate standard error
CONCLUSION
This study demonstrates SHI assessment using scoring function analysis for different sites. The
hypothesis tested in this study was that soil under M × g increases the over-all SHI value tocompare another land use was supported by the results. Therefore, it can be concluded that M × g is
the better land use management option in the cool climate regions such as Northern Japan.
Quantitative assessments of soil health may be useful for optimizing land use plans. However, valid,reliable, sensitive, repeatable, and accessible indicators must be identified and framework foroverall evaluation of soil quality must be developed (Nakajima et al., 2015).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was partly supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
KAKENHI “Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up” Grant No. 15H06661. The research onⒸ ISERD

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the biomass production of Miscanthus ssp. was supported by the New Energy and Industrial
Technology Development Organization and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,
Japan. The authors gratefully acknowledge for Drs. Naoto Iwasaki, Masahiko Katoh, and Yoshihiro
Kakizaki at Meiji University for their laboratory work and invariable discussions and staff
members at the Experiment Farm of the Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido
University for assisting with the research. We would like to thank to Dr. Jose G. Guzman at The
Ohio State University for his support with the writing.
REFERENCES
Andrews, S.S., Karlen, D.L. and Cambardella, C.A. 2004. The soil management assessment framework, A
quantitative soil quality evaluation method. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 68, 1945-1962.
doi:10.2136/sssaj2004.1945.
Clifton-Brown, J.C., Stampfl, P.F. and Jones, M.B. 2004. Miscanthus biomass production for energy ineurope and its potential contribution to decreasing fossil fuel carbon emissions. Global Change Biology,
10 (4), 509-18.
Guzman, J.G. and Lal, R. 2014. Miscanthus and switchgrass feedstock potential for bioenergy and carbon
sequestration on minesoils. Biofuels, 5 (3), 313-29.
Karlen, D.L. 1997. Soil quality, A concept, definition, and framework for evaluation.
Karlen, D.L. and Stott, D.E. 1994. A framework for evaluating physical and chemical indicators of soil
quality. In Doran, J.W., Coleman, D.C., Bezdicek, D.F. and Stewart, B.A. (Ed.), Defining Soil Quality
for a Sustainable Environment, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, 53-72.
Karlen, D.L., Andrews, S.S. and Doran, J.W. 2001. Soil quality, Current concepts and applications.
Advances in Agronomy, Academic Press, 1-40.
Nakajima, T., Lal, R. and Jiang, S. 2015. Soil quality index of a crosby silt loam in central Ohio. Soil and
Tillage Research, 146, Part B, 323-328. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2014.10.001.
Wymore, A.W. 1993. Model-based systems engineering. CRC press.
Zimmermann, J., Dauber, J. and Jones. M.B. 2012. Soil carbon sequestration during the establishment phaseof Miscanthus × giganteus, A regional-scale study on commercial farms using 13c natural abundance.
GCB Bioenergy, 4 (4), 453-61.

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Research article
erd

A Model in Promoting Highland Terrace Paddy Cultivation
Technology in Northern Thailand
ALISA SAHAHIRUN*
Suphanburi Provincial Agricultural Extension Office, Department of Agricultural Extension,
Suphanburi Province, Thailand
Email: alisa_hyori@hotmail.com

ROWENA DT. BACONGUISInstitute for Governance and Rural Development, College of Public Affairs and Development,
University of the Philippines Los Baños, Collage, Laguna, Philippines
Received 29 December 2017

Accepted 12 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the adoption of Highland Terrace Paddy
Cultivation Technology (HTPCT) in Northern Thailand. HTPCT was promoted by the Rice
Department in 2003 in four provinces of Northern Thailand under the Royal Development
Project. Previous studies showed increased yields using HTPCT while cost of converting
sloping lands into terrace paddy can be recouped in a few years. However, despite thepromotion of the technology, adoption had not been widespread. To understand thelimitations in the adoption process, quantitative and qualitative research was conducted in 5
villages of Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces located in Doi Ompai Mountain.
Results show that overall the respondents had high level of adoption but for two practices,namely, soil fertilizer management and sequential cropping system and livestock production,
the respondents had moderate level of adoption. Further, the two production practices were
only partially practiced by the farmers. This means that even if the adopters converted their
upland rice areas to terrace paddy, they still used some traditional technologies and did not
follow all recommended HTPCT practices. The common problems mentioned by the
respondents in practicing HTPCT were water and labor shortage, difficulty of land
preparation, lack of bio-pesticides and green manure seeds, familiarity with traditional
cultivation and their superstition which worked against widespread adoption. Thus, a modelin promoting HTPCT in Northern Thailand is proposed. The model takes into consideration
the necessary policies, roles of various stakeholders and joint learning among farmers,
extension workers and researchers in each step of HTPCT promotion.
Keywords adoption, agricultural extension model, highland, innovation, rice terraces

INTRODUCTION
The mountainous regions distinguish themselves from other regions by complex ecologicalinteractions that result to a high variability of land use and production processes (CGIAR Science
Council, 2006). Mountain people are typically independent, innovative, resourceful and adaptive;
but also identified as poorest, most remote and disadvantaged people in the world (Ives, 1997;
Huddleston et al., 2003). In Thailand, mountainous landscape is found in the northern part of thecountry which share borders with Myanmar and Lao PDR. Northern Thailand covers an area of 17
million hectares comprising 33 percent of the Kingdom’s total land area of 51 million hectares.
Agricultural practices in the highland are rainfed, characterized by shifting cultivation andsubsistence production of specific crops such as rice, maize, and sesame (Mikled et al., 2001).
Agricultural production in hilly areas is low and unstable due to erratic rainfall and poor natural
resource endowment. Land degradation is one of the key problems causing decline in crop
productivity. One potential strategy to address those problems is to promote terraced paddy fields
in the hilly areas. Terraced paddy yields have been found to be almost double those of upland rice,and the cost of converting sloping lands into terrace paddy can be recouped in a few years (LinquistⒸ ISERD

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et al., 2007). While terrace paddy cultivation in upland areas had been in existence for centuries,
this system was introduced and promoted in Northern Thailand only in 2003 under the Royal
Development Project (Naruebal, 2011). The Highland Terrace Paddy Cultivation Technology(HTPCT) was promoted by the Rice Department in Doi Ompai mountain areas since 2003.
Currently, there are 48 farmers adopting this technology but there are many more who have not
adopted the technology. Because of this, there is a need to investigate why there is low adoption
and subsequently, propose a model in promoting HTPCT to farmers in the highlands.
OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to investigate the practices of Highland Terrace Paddy Cultivation Technology(HTPCT) that were adopted, the problems related to the adoption, and propose a model inpromoting HTPCT.
METHODOLOGY
Study Sites
The researchers chose Doi-Ompai mountain areas as the site of the study because this is the firstplace in Thailand that Highland Terrace Paddy Cultivation Technology (HTPCT) was promoted tofarmers by the Rice Department. Four villages of Huai Hom sub-district, Mae La Noi district, Mae
Hong Son province and one village of Pang Hin Fon sub-districts, Mae Cham district, Chiang Mai
province, which are the working area of Doi-Ompai Highland Agricultural Development Station(DOHAD station) were chosen as shown in Table 1. The farm lots and residences of the
respondents are situated within the elevation range of 728 meters asl and of 1,465 meters asl. The
site has a semi-humid tropical climate with a mean annual rainfall of 1,217.25 millimeters and amean temperature of 27.18 degree Celsius. Figure 1 shows the study sites.

Fig. 1 Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son Provinces highlighting the research district location
Source: LDD (2014)

Research Design
Survey research was employed to determine the respondent’s adopted practices and level ofadoption of HTPCT while secondary data review, key informant interviews (KIIs) and Focus
Group Discussion (FGDs) were used to gather data about the agencies involved in HTPCT.

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Population and Sampling
Stratified random sampling was employed to determine the sample size used for this study. There
were 181 households form the 5 villages which are the working areas of the Doi-Ompai highland
agricultural development station project, Mae Chaem district, Chiang Mai province, Thailand . All
farmers from the 5 villages were separated into adopters and non-adopters groups based on theinformation from the Rice Department. To determine the number of samples for adopters fromeach village, a stratified sampling technique was used according to the formula given by Sukhatme(1954) as in Eq. (1) with 10 percent margin of error. Table 1 shows the sample size of the study.
NQ

(1)

N=
2

PC (N-1) + Q
Where: n = sample size
N = population size
P = population of farmers who adopted terrace paddy
cultivation technology
C = 10%Q = 1-P
Table 1 Sample size of adopters
Name of village

Name ofsub-district

Number ofhouseholds

Number ofadopters

Sample size of
adopters

Baan Sadosa
Baan Sam
Baan La-Ang Tai
Baan Pak Pai
Baan Mae-Lae

Pang Hin Fon
Huai Hom
Huai Hom
Huai Hom
Huai Hom

60
38
7
29
47
181

12
10
3
6
17
48

8
7
2
4
12
33

Source: DNP (2013) and RD (2013)

Highland Terrace Paddy Cultivation Technology (HTPCT) represents the recommended
technologies rice paddy cultivation. It combines indigenous and research based knowledge. Basedon survey results, on the basis of the weighted mean ratings of each of the seven recommended
HTPTC practices, the respondents had high levels of adoption of five practices, namely, land
preparation, seeding and transplanting, pest management, water management, and pre-production
practices, while the respondents had moderate level of adoption for two practices, namely, soil
fertilizer management and sequential cropping system and livestock. This shows that these two
agricultural practices were only partially practiced by the farmers (Table 2).
For the overall adoption or use of recommended HTPCT practices, the weighted mean scores
were computed and categorized into three levels which are high, moderate and low levels ofadoption. The results showed that the overall adoption of recommended HTPCT practices of the
adopters had a mean of 2.37 described as high level of adoption which ranged from 1.94-2.75(Table 2). Majority of the adopters (60.6%) were described as practicing high level of adoption
while the rest (39.4%) were described as practicing moderate level of adoption which means thateven if the adopters converted their upland rice areas to terrace paddy, they still used sometraditional technologies and did not follow all recommended HTPCT practices. The fact is thatmost farmers are unable to adopt the whole package of HTPCT at once but, rather, they adopt someof the technology components in a sequential or step-wise manner depending on the agroecological characteristics of their terrace paddy field, their knowledge and understanding on thetechnology and their cultural beliefs. The common problems mentioned by the adopters in adopting
HTPCT were water and labor shortage, difficulty in paddy preparation, lack of bio-pesticides andgreen manure, familiarity with traditional cultivation and their superstition.
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Table 2 Rank based on the mean weight of the respondents’ adoption level of seven issuesof recommended HTPTC practices
HTPTC Practices

Mean

Rank

S.D.

Land preparation
Seeding and transplanting
Pest management
Water management
Pre-production
Soil fertility management
Sequential cropping system and livestock
Overall Mean
S.D.
Range

2.48 (HA)
2.45 (HA)
2.42 (HA)
2.42 (HA)
2.40 (HA)
2.15 (MA)1.73 (MA)

1
2
3
3
5
6
7
2.37 (HA)
0.22
1.94 - 2.75

0.26
0.51
0.51
0.60
0.29
1.00
0.98

Legend:Scale Limits
2.34 – 3.00
1.67 – 2.33
1.00 - 1.66

Descriptive RatingHigh level of adoption (HA)
Moderate level of adoption (MA)Low level of adoption (LA)A model to improve adoption of HTPCT is proposed (Fig. 2). The model takes inspirationfrom Rivera et al (2006).
Policies affecting HTPCT and relevant agencies: Based on KIIs, policies affecting HTPCT are
those that promote food security, conserve the forests and promote tourism. These policies promoteand facilitate the creation, sharing, and use of HTPCT. These policies have to be in place andshould be enforced. The model shows relevant agencies who are working together under the royal
project to promote HTPCT. The model outlines the key roles that each of the agencies have toperform in the promotion of HTPCT.
Step 1: Community analysis: The conduct of the community analysis is necessary to understandthe biophysical characteristics, resource endowments, farmer characteristics, practices andnetworks. These are necessary to determine the support that will be given to farmers.
Step 2: HTPCT development and promotion: The royal project stations would serve as learning
hubs for farmers, extension workers and researchers. Farmers who volunteer to conduct
experiments in their own field will introduce HTPCT to other farmers.
Step 3: Provision of extension and knowledge support: Even though terrace paddy is located in
the upstream areas, farmers often encounter water scarcity because they depend mainly on rainfall
and do not have good irrigation systems or water storage systems. It is thus important to include
technology on constructing small reservoirs or setting gravity irrigation system by providing pipes
and other necessary equipment. The government might consider wage subsidies to pay labor wages
in converting terraces as the task is very labor intensive and is one of the deterrents in the adoption
process. Given moderate adoption, it is important to enhance knowledge in seed selection,transplanting method and pest management. Agricultural extension workers could use thehandbook of HTPCT as a guideline and adapt the topics based on farmer’s needs.
Step 4: Participation in environmental conservation: Based on KIIs, farmers should have better
quality, security of life conditions and ability to protect the environment. People in the highlands
must first meet their basic needs through increased yield. The next goal is the enhancement of the
security of life by ensuring enough income. The last step of development is creating ideology inenvironmental conservation. When people have better quality and security of life, they are ready toprotect their environment and work for community voluntarily.
Outputs and outcomes: The expected outputs from promoting HTPCT are increased terrace paddy
areas and increased reforestation areas. The expansion of new terrace paddy areas which is the first
expected output offers opportunities to improve rice security in Northern Thailand. When farmers
have enough rice for their household consumption, they tend to reduce shifting cultivation areas
and lead to increased reforestation areas. Both expected outputs would contribute to sustainabilityof highlands development in terms of rice security, environmental sustainability and sufficiency
income which are the outcomes of promoting HTPCT.
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Step 2

Step 4
Step 3

HTPCT
development alongwith thepromotion

Step 1
Community analysis- Conduct of
research in
the researchstation- Conduct of
on-farm
research

Biophysicalcharacteristics- Land suitability- Water resource
adequacy
Farmer characteristics- Household size and thenumber of family
member engaged infarming
Support systems- Access to information
about farming practice- Attendances intraining/demonstration

Rice
Department

Extension support
system- Preparing catchment
area & water system- Providing wage forconverting area to be
terraces- Provision of farm
inputs such as riceseeds, seeds of green
manure, Vetiver
Grass etc.
Knowledge based- Training &workshop- Farm demonstration

Output- Increased- Reforestation
activity- Constructionof check dam
and fire breaks

terrace
paddy areas- Increased
reforestation
areas
OutcomeLocal
government
offices- Rice security- Environmental
sustainability- Sufficiency
incomeLand
Development
Department

Agricultural
Extension
Department

Irrigation
Department

Forestry
Department

Policies toachievefood security

Stimulating
participationinenvironmental
conservation

Provision ofextension supportand knowledge based

Policies toconserve
the forest

Policies promoting
tourism

Fig. 2 Proposed model in promoting HTPCTCONCLUSION
Based on the results of the study, there are very few adopters of HTPCT and those that adopted
HTPCT do not fully adopt the recommended practices. The common reasons given by the adopters
are water shortage, labor shortage, the difficulty of soil preparation, lack of the source of the biopesticides and green manure seeds, familiarity with traditional cultivation and their superstitions.
The study presupposes that improvements in the adoption and diffusion of HTPCT can still be
improved through the model that had been proposed.
RECOMMENTDATIONS
To the Agricultural Institutions Involved in Promoting HTPCT.
1. Maintain a close link with all involved agencies: In the process of promoting HTPCT,
integrated work is needed. The Doi-Ompai Highland Agricultural Development Station can be usedas the center of assembly. The meeting among all involved agencies should be held regularly to setⒸ ISERD

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the plan for promoting HTPCT and also to discuss the solutions when the problem or constants
have been found in field works.
2. Co-generate knowledge among farmers and researchers: Based on the results, the ethnic
groups have their own rice farming wisdom. For example, they have the way to maintain traditional
rice variety production for their consumption. The technology that corresponds with theirtraditional wisdom can be studied and may be useful in the context of highland production. Thus,in the process of research and development on HTPCT, researchers should study and collect thetraditional rice farming wisdom from farmers in the fields and combine it with scientific knowledge
to improve HTPCT.
3. Providing catchment areas for irrigation purposes: Water shortage may limit the adoption of
HTPCT. Thus, the Royal Irrigation Department should provide catchment areas to farmers byconstructing small reservoirs such as ponds or tanks for water storage.
4. Providing training course regarding specific areas of technology: Researchers of the Rice
Department should provide a training course emphasizing specific topics to enhance skills of
farmers in applying HTPCT; for example, System of Rice Intensification (SRI), Alternate Wetting
and Drying (AWD) technique, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) etc.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the research grant provided by the German Academic Exchange Service(DAAD) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture(SEARCA) that sponsored the conduct of this research. Special thanks to Mr. Ketsada Bunart, theDirector of the Doi-Ompai Highland Agricultural Development Station and Mr. Niphon Boonmee,a researcher from Rice Department for their support to the authors. Last but not the least, theauthors also acknowledge the cooperation of all farmers.
REFERENCES
Biggs, S.D. and Clay, E.J. 1981. Sources of innovation in agricultural technology. World Bank Development
No.4, 25.
CGIAR Science Council. 2006. IRRI’s upland rice research follow-up review to the 6th IRRI EPMR. Rome,
Italy.
DNP. 2013. Annual report 2013. The Doi Ompai Highland Agricultural Development Station, Department of
National Park Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Thailand.
Huddleston, B., Ataman, E., De Salvo, P., Zannetti, M., Bloise, M., Bel, J., Franceschini, G. and Fe D’
ostiani, L. 2003. Toward a GIS-based analysis of mountain environments and population. Rome, Italy.
Ives, J.D. 1997. Comparative inequalities, Mountain community and mountain families. In Messerli, B. andIves, J.D. (Ed.), Mountains of the World, A Global Priority, New York, USA, 61-84.
LDD. 2014. Shape file of map of Thailand. Land Development Department, Bangkok, Thailand.
Linquist, B., Trὄsch, K., Panday, S., Phouynyavong, K. and Guenat, D. 2007. Montane paddy rice,
Development and effects on food security and livelihood activities of highland Lao farmers. MountainResearch and Development, 27 (1), 40-47.
Mikled, C., Meulen, U.T. and Vearasilp, T. 2001. Sustainable highland development in Northern Thailand
under the royal project foundation. In Adhi, A.K., Pambudy, R. and Burhanuddin (Ed.), Resource
Management, Public-private Partnership and Knowledge Sharing, SEARCA, Los Banos, the Philippines,
55-60.
Naruebal, S. 2011. Terrace paddy technology transfer at extension areas of the royal project in Mae Hong
Son Province. Proceeding of Rice Research Symposium 2011, Rice Research Center Groups in Upperand Lower Northern Region. Phrae, Thailand, 327-336.
RD. 2013. Annual report of the royal project 2013. Rice Research Center Groups in Upper and Lower
Northern Region. Chiang-Mai, Thailand.
Rivera, W.M., Gary, A., James, H. and Regina, B. 2006. Enabling agriculture, The evolution and promise of
agricultural knowledge frameworks. Proceeding of 22nd Annual Conference, Association forInternational Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE), Clearwater Beach, Florida, USA.

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Smith, C.S. and McDonald, G.T. 1998. Assessing the sustainability of agriculture at the planning stage.
Journal of Environ. Manage., 52, 15-37.
Sukhatme, P.V. 1954. Sampling theory of survey with application Indian society of agricultural statistics.
The Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, New Delhi, India and the Iowa State College Press, Ames,
Iowa, USA.

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Research article
erd

Significant Contribution of Farmer First in Farmer-Trainer
for Environmentally-Friendly Agriculture and Rural
Development
ELIZA C. AQUINO
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: elizacateloaquino@gmail.com

NINA NOCON-SHIMOGUCHI*
Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies, Tokyo University of Agriculture,
Tokyo, Japan
Email: n3nocon@nodai.ac.jp

HIROKI INAIZUMIFaculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies, Tokyo University of Agriculture,
Tokyo, Japan
Email: inaizumi@nodai.ac.jp
Received 30 December 2017

Accepted 12 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract With the huge number of mouths to feed, problems and challenges on food safety
and sufficiency in terms of the decreasing number of new farmers and increasing number ofaging farmers arises in Japan and the Philippines. Young generations do not see farming asa lucrative career. In order to attract the youth to engage into farming, one of the potential
solutions is the farmer-trainer, which is a generic term used to address farmers that provides
and conducts training to farmers, and other actors in a community. As a farmer-trainer,
farmer also serves as an innovator and educator and promoter of indigenous knowledge thatare environmentally-friendly and safe. Prior to conducting research on farmer-trainer, thispaper initially aims to identify the stakeholders and their respective roles, and to review thedevelopment and contribution of farmer first movement that significantly affect the farmers
to invent, try, and share the new knowledge and innovations to other farmers and actors intheir respective communities since 1987. Upon reviewing related literatures on farmer firstand examining farmer-conducted trainings in the Philippines and Japan using case study
approach, it became clearer that farmer first movement still plays a very important role inextending agricultural knowledge and technologies that are environmentally-friendly andcontributes to rural development. This research highlights the importance of farmer firstmovement in boosting confidence of farmers to conduct their own trainings and to spreadsafe, environmentally-friendly agricultural systems especially for rural development
through the development of “theme-community”.
Keywords farmer-trainer, Farmer first, agricultural training, farmer-to-farmer

INTRODUCTION
With increasing population, demand on food and food production also increases. According to Asia
Population (2017), Asia accounts for 60% of the world population, and Japan with 126.89M and
the Philippines with 102.96M are respectively on the 6th and 7th place of the top 10 populated
countries in Asia. With the huge number of mouths to feed, problems and challenges on food safety
and food sufficiency in terms of the decreasing numbers of new farmers arise.
The shortage of farmers is one of the greatest factors limiting agricultural sustainability inJapan. This is due to lack of new farmers and aging of existing farmers, with an average age of 67
years old (Muramoto, et al., 2010 and MAFF Japan, 2016). The Philippines’ food security on theother hand, is also at risk, as millions of farmers and fishermen are getting too old with an averageⒸ ISERD

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age of 57 years old. Younger generations are not keen on taking over the farm and do not see
farming as lucrative career (Alave, 2011).
To uplift the morale of farmers and persuade younger generations to farming, proper andeffective dissemination of technologies must be considered. Training for farmers has been provento generate variety of results. The study of Murshed-E-Jahan and Pemsl (2011) on Bangladeshi
small farmers concluded that building the capacity of farmers through training is more valuable
than the provision of financial support in terms of raising production and income.
Extension Agents (EA), researchers, and practitioners acknowledge the important role offarmers as scientists in the creation of agricultural technology and educators to disseminate suchinnovations. Indigenous knowledge has been accepted as valid and useful in agriculture, while
farmers have been increasingly recognized as innovators and experimenters (Chambers et al., 1989).
According to Rhoades (1989), farmers and scientists had much to learn from each other, andparticularly we had much to learn from farmers.
OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to identify the stakeholders and their respective roles, and to review thedevelopment and contribution of farmer first movement that significantly affect the farmers toinvent, try, and share the new knowledge and innovations to other farmers and actors in theirrespective communities.
METHODOLOGYK FarmS FarmC FarmbaFig. 1 Map of the Philippines (a) and Japan (b) showing the location andthe distance of farms from each country’s capitalThis study is a type of qualitative and secondary research which utilized primary andsecondary data. The researchers identified the subject domain and acquired information regarding
the topic from unpublished and published reports, scientific journals, books, and articles. The
research also examined interviews and farmer-conducted trainings in Japan and the Philippines.
Farms in Japan were chosen as these farms are well-known to conduct trainings for decades whilein the Philippines, the farm is an accredited private extension service provider for the Agriculture
Training Institute (ATI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA). Through case study approach, a
total of three farms were visited to understand and observe training conducted by the ownerfarmer-trainer, specifically S Farm in Saitama Prefecture, Japan (located about 60km North-Westfrom the center of Tokyo) on 13 May 2017; K Farm in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan (located about
150km North from the center of Tokyo) on 3-5 August 2017; and C Farm in Majayjay Town,
Laguna Province, Philippines (located approximately 110km South of Metro Manila) on 23 August
2017. Figure 1 shows the location of the farms and its proximity to the capital in the Philippines
and Japan. Data from different sources were reviewed, compared, analyzed and interpreted.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Farmer First Movement
The idea of 'farmer first' was first introduced in 1987 when Chambers et al. (1989) compiled thework of several researchers that studied farmer participation in agricultural research. The concepts
started by identifying farmers' problems and going back to them with alternatives. The idea
proposed by social scientist in 1980s, was to involve farmers more systematically and actively inthe research process to take advantage of farmer skills to experiment.
Farmer first movement was a result of gathering of small minority social and biologicalscientists that collaborated with farmers to further understand the reason for non-adoption oftechnologies in 1980s. According to Chamber et al. (1989), non-adoption of technology was more
often attributed to ignorance of farmers that resulted to the prescription of extension education in
1950s to 1960s. On the other hand, non-adoption was ascribed to farm level constraints with thegaps in yield between research stations and farms that leads to a recommendation to modify andmake the farm more like a research station in 1970s. In 1980s, analysis about non-adoption wasinterpreted as neither the farmer nor the farm is the problem, but the technology and the faults oftechnology can be traced to the priorities and processes which generate it.
Unlike the conventional Transfer-of-Technology (TOT) model which greatly favors the largescale or resource-rich farmers whose conditions are the same to those research stations, the farmer
first prioritized farmers’ needs first. It aims to provide the appropriate technology for the needs andopportunities of resource-poor farmers.
Stakeholders and Their Roles
In Farmer first, farmers were the ones who detected and assessed their problems, needs, andpriorities in their farms. Upon evaluation of the needs and problems, farmers conducted their own
experiments in the farm. Successful innovations by farmers were transferred and spread to otherfarmers by farmer-to-farmer approach or by the “farmer-trainers” which is a generic term used toaddress farmers that provides and conducts research and training to farmers and other actors.
Contrasting to the farmer first, the scientists were the main responsible in the assessment ofproblems, needs, and priorities of farmers, and key experimenters in TOT. Moreover, researches
and innovations generated in research stations and laboratories were transmitted to farmers by EA.
Table 1 summarizes the difference between TOT and farmer first. This clearly conveys that farmers
were in the center in every activity and serve as the main actors or stakeholders in Farmer first.
Farmer-trainer does not rule out the need for scientific research, hence they open a new area of
research. Chambers (1989) stated that farmers must be empowered to learn, adapt and do better on
their own and on their farm field, outsiders such as scientists, EAs or NGOs should just assist andgive them principles, methods and technology choices. Moreover, Franzel et al. (2015)
acknowledged that farmer-trainer needs coaching and technical supervision and assistance fromscientists and EAs, otherwise they may perform poorly.
Table 1 Differences between Transfer-of-Technology and Farmer First
Activity Indicators
Problems, needs, priorities,
knowledge, and analysis(are determined by)Main location of technology or
action generation (are in the)Transfer of technology(are done by)Central experimenters

Transfer-of-Technology
Scientist/ Researchers

Farmer First
Farmers

Research Stations and Laboratories

Farm

Extension Agents

Farmers

Scientist/ Researchers

Farmers

Note: Compiled by author based on Chambers et al..(1989); Franzel et al. (2015); Hocde (1997); Rhoades (1989);
and Simpson et al. (2015)Ⓒ ISERD

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Farmer First in Farmers’ Innovation and Technology Dissemination
In experimentation, farmers are more prepared to take risk and go into the unknown thanconservative researchers. Chambers et al. (1989) discuss about the interest and involvement offarmers in experimentation in a holistic approach, wherein farmers seek interactions within thewhole farm system, rather than redesign the whole farm at once. This approach also includes
experimentation with solutions that lay within farmers’ own capacity than experimenting withconventional high-input solution. Experimenting farmers are starting to believe more in themselves,and in their ability and strengths. The experiments are theirs. Farmers are participating in theconstruction of something new and feeling happy and proud to discover new horizons, to broadcast
their work and teach their neighbors (Hocde, 1997).
The attitude of having the conviction that outsider knowledge has a universal validity andapplication which should override whatever the farmers know, prevent learning from farmers.
Reversals of attitude are essential complements of the farmer first method. Respect for farmers, asensitive interaction with them, a recognition of them as fellow professionals and colleagues werenecessary for them to maximize their potential (Chamber et al., 1989).
Farmers are driven to satisfy their thirst for knowledge hence, salaries and allowances are notneeded to motivate them to volunteer in serving as lead farmers or ‘farmer-trainer’ (Hocde, 1997
and Simpson, et al, 2015). Significantly, almost all traditional agriculture is a result of spontaneous
spread of innovation from one farmer to another, from one village to another and even clear acrosscontinents (Bunch, 1989).
Farmers experimenting and disseminating innovations is not a new approach. According toFranzel et al., (2015), farmer-to-farmer extension programs have been used significantly in thePhilippines since 1950s and in Central America since 1970s. In the Philippines, successful andoutstanding farmers with knowledge on innovations are recognized as Magsasaka Siyentista (MS)or Farmer-Scientist by the Department of Agriculture (DA). According to Qamar (2012), MS playvital roles in serving as researchers and EA in their respective areas by showcasing and promoting
indigenous and science and technology-based agriculture, forestry and natural resources
technologies based on their own farming experiences. These farmers are not only active
participants but also serves as facilitators and initiators of technology transfer process.
Table 2 shows the similarities and differences of the three farms selected in Japan and thePhilippines. C Farm was established in 2006 as a hobby farm of a former IT executive with noagriculture background. The farm has been performing and conducting experiments and trainings
on Organic Agriculture (OA) production management. Based on the observation of trainings andfarmer interview, C Farm performs modifications and experimentations of different innovations
that will suit their farm’s condition and needs. Dissemination of these innovations through trainings
are conducted in their own farm to their neighbors and other interested individuals and groups. As
part of the interview the Farmer-trainer said that “at first we just wanted to produce safe food forfamily consumption, we don’t want to feed our children toxic and chemicals”.
The farmer-trainer added, “When we started, it was very hard for us to do OA, we evenneeded to go abroad to attend trainings and to adopt different technologies, and a lot of Filipino
farmers does not have the capacity or means to study abroad and attend trainings”. Therefore,
farmer-trainers are very motivated to share the knowledge and innovations to others to promote thespread of OA for safe and healthy food and environment.
On the other hand, farmer-trainers of S Farm and K Farm were both from farming family andreceived formal education on agriculture in Japan. Established in 1971, S Farm conducts
experiments and trainings in Ogawa Town, Saitama Prefecture. The farmer-trainer delivers his
motivation and philosophy of OA, the development process and practices of his farm and how OA
transformed the community through the years. Training observation showed that the farmer-trainer
is really determined to encourage the community and other stakeholders; he offered the advantages
and positive effects of practicing OA. He also pointed out that it must be a community adoption
because it will be no effect if it is just one farm. Aside from conducting his own training in his farm,
the farmer-trainer supports different activities to promote OA not just in his community but in thewhole country.
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Table 2 Similarities and differences between three farms evaluatedName of Farm
Ownership Type
Farming
background ofowner

C FarmFamily-owned
From a non-farming family
but attended trainings in
the country and abroad

Location

Majayjay, Laguna,Philippines
2006
OA
Zero-waste farming,
vermicomposting, farm
integration

Established Since
Farm Management
Modified/Innovations
Training Program/Training conductedTrainees

Lakbay aral tour, green
salad tour, and trainings
for days; Agri-tourism
workshop
Farmers, teachers,
students, government
workers, EA, businessmen,
and hobbyist

S FarmFamily-owned
From a farming family; but
in OA: develop thetechniques and methods
through trial and error
Ogawa Town, Saitama
Prefecture, Japan
1971
OA
Cycle-based organic
farming: plant, soil, andanimal nutrients,
circulating energy
One day seminar plus farmtour and farm stay
(6months-1 year)
Farmers, teachers,
students, government
workers, EA, businessmen,
and hobbyist

K FarmFamily-owned
Family graduated froman agricultural
university in Tokyo; in
OA: trial and error
Nakayama, Tochigi
Prefecture, Japan
1981
OA
Tunnel type plastic
houses; rejected crops
as feeds, and animal
dung for composting
One day seminar andtour; Farm stay, Field
works, once a weekmeeting (2-3 years)
Farmers, teachers,
students, hobbyist andthose who wants to do
and establish OF

Source: Farm visits and Farmer-trainer interviews, 2017

K Farm in Tochigi Prefecture was established in 1981. Participation, observation, andinterview revealed that the main objective and mission of the farm are to educate new farmers andassist them in putting up their own organic farm. The farmer-trainer delivered his short lecture
about the history of their farm and some data about the diseases, and nutritional contents of theirorganic crops. During the interview, he said that they are doing OA because it is safe for humans
and the environment, and they are involved in the Teikei system, wherein customers trust them toproduce safe foods. “There are many people who are interested to do OA, and they just needsomeone to assist them”, he added when asked about his motivation to conduct trainings.
Based on initial observations, successful farmers in Japan and the Philippines seem to play
important role as trainers in offering and conducting trainings to further disseminate innovations
and experiences regarding the success of their farms. Even if their farms are not easily accessible,
trainees are willing to travel all the way to their farms just to attend their trainings. These farmertrainers are proof that farmer and outside actors such as researchers and EA needs to work
complementarily. Farmer-trainers, assisted by researchers and EA have the confidence to do theirown innovation and share it to other farmers and beneficiaries. Therefore, farmer first still plays avery important role in farmer-trainers in experimenting and disseminating innovations.
Farmer First in Environmentally-Friendly Agriculture and Rural Development
As shown also in Table 2, all farmer-trainers practice OA and their agricultural innovations are
more for the conservation of the environment. Innovations include the zero-waste and cycle-based
farming. Based on the farm-interviews and observations, zero-waste farming can be defined byutilization of waste as the main ingredient for one of the inputs in the farm. It can be easily
understood by the observation done on the farmer-trainer at the C Farm in the Philippines, wherefarm waste such as trimmings, weeds, and animal dung were collected and used as the main
ingredient of compost for organic fertilizer in the farm. Similarly, the K Farm in Japan also utilizes
rejected crops as feeds and animal dung as compost. Cycle-based farming, on the other hand isclosely related to zero-waste farming, as it also follows the same concept of utilization of farm
waste and other farm inputs to produce natural fertilizers and pesticides. The farmer-trainer of S

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Farm in Japan believes that in nature, everything is part of the cycle, and even without the help of
mankind, nature can maintain its own.
The three farmer-trainers’ common goal is to have self-sufficiency in the community andspread it nationwide. Self-sufficiency in a way that they can provide the needs and demands forfood of the current generation by utilizing indigenous knowledge, available resources andinnovations such as zero-waste and cycle-based farming, that place back nutrients to the soil.
Through this environmentally-friendly agriculture, the capability to produce of the future
generation is not at risk.
To achieve their goals, these farmer-trainers also acknowledge the importance of enhancementof “theme-community” for rural development. Their aims to bring people together who sharescommon interest, objectives, and passion motivates them to conduct trainings. Through thesetrainings, their passion, motivation, and experiences are being transferred and disseminated tosmall-scale farmers and other actors including younger generations in the community that will
eventually be persuaded to engage themselves in an environmentally-friendly agriculture that will
hopefully lead to rural development.
CONCLUSION
This research concludes that farmer first movement still plays a very significant role in boosting
confidence of farmer-trainers in Japan and in the Philippines to invent and modify innovations andconduct their own trainings as they are the main actor and center focus of the farm activities. In
addition, farmer-trainers are more motivated and passionate to spread safe, environmentallyfriendly agricultural systems using their innovations in organic agriculture.
Farmer-trainers also acknowledge the importance of enhancement of “theme-community” thatbrings people with common interest and passion together. Farmer-trainers’ passion, motivation, andexperiences are being disseminated to small-scale farmers and other actors including younger
generations in the community that will eventually be persuaded to engage themselves in anenvironmentally-friendly agriculture that will hopefully lead to rural development.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researchers would like to acknowledge the warm and sincere cooperation of the three farmertrainers and their farms in Japan and the Philippines, and Tokyo University of Agriculture
particularly the NODAI Research Institute and the Tokyo University of Agriculture Education
Support Association for funding the conference travel expenses.
REFERENCES
Alave, K. 2011, September 08. Philippines is running out of farmers. Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://business.inquirer.net/18611/philippines-is-running-out-of-farmers
Asia Population. 2017. Asia population. April 7, World Population, http://worldpopulationreview.com/
continents/asia-population/
Bunch, R. 1989. Encouraging farmers' experiments. In Chambers, R., Pacey, A. and Thrupp, L.A. (Ed.),
Farmer First, Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research, UK, Intermediate Technology Publications,Southamptonn Row, London, 55-60.
Chambers, R., Pacey, A. and Thrupp, L.A. 1989. Farmer first, Farmer innovation and agricultural research,
UK, Intermediate Technology Publications, Southampton Row, London.
Chambers, R. 1989. Reversals, institutions, and change. In Chambers, R., Pacey, A. and Thrupp, L.A. (Ed.),
Farmer First, Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research, UK, Intermediate Technology Publications,Southamptonn Row, London,181-195.
Franzel, S., Degrande, A., Kiptot, E., Kirui, J. and Kugonza, J. 2015. Farmer-to-farmer extension. Note 7,
GFRAS Good Practice Notes for Extension and Advisory Services. Lindau, Switzerland, GFRAS.
Google Maps. 2018. Japan. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Tokyo/Ogawa,+Hiki+District,+Saitama+Prefecture/Tokyo+Station,+1+Chome+Marunouchi,+Chiyoda,+Tokyo/Nakayama,+NasukarasuyamⒸ ISERD

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Google Maps. 2018. Philippines. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Manila,+Metro+Manila,+Philippines/
Gagalot+Laguna,+Philippines@12.7450676,109.6780015,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1
Hocde, H. 1997. Crazy but not mad. In Van Veldhuizen, L., Waters-Bayer, A., Ramirez, R., Johnson, D. andThompson, J. (Ed.), Farmers' Research in Practice, Lessons from the Field, UK, Intermediate Technology
Publications, Southampton Row, London,.49-66.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Japan. 2016. FY2015 Annual report on food,agriculture and rural areas in Japan. http://www.maff.go.jp/e/data/publish/attach/pdf/index-35.pdf
Muramoto, J., Hidaka, K. and Mineta, T. 2010. Japan, Finding opportunities in the current crisis. In
Gliessman, S.A. (Ed.), The Conversion to Sustainable Agriculture, Principles, Process, and Practices,
CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, LLC, USA, 273-301.
Murshed-E-Jahan, K. and Pemsl, D.E. 2011. The impact of integrated aquaculture-agriculture on small-scale
farm sustainability and farmer's livelihoods, Experience from Bangaldesh. Agricultural Systems, 392-402.
Qamar, K. 2012, September. Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS). In Swanson, B.E. (Ed.),
http://www.g-fras.org/en/events/gfras-events/annual-meeting-australia-2017/94-world-wide-extensionstudy/asia/south-eastern-asia/316-philippines.html#ict
Rhoades, R. 1989. The role of farmers in the creation of agricultural technology. In Chambers, R., Pacey, A.
and Thrupp, L.A. (Ed.), Farmer First, Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research, UK, Intermediate
Technology Publications, Southamptonn Row, London, 3-9.
Simpson, B., Franzel, S., Degrande, A., Kundhlande, G. and Tsafack, S. 2015. Farmer-to-farmer extension,
Issues in planning and implementation. University of Illinois, Modernizing Extension and Advisory
Services (MEAS) Technical Note, USA.

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Research article
erdComparison of Soil Properties of Farmlands Applied with
Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers in Kampong Cham
Province, Cambodia
MUY LEANG KIM
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: muyleangkim70@gmail.com

TORU NAKAJIMA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, 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 1 January 2018

Accepted 12 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract In Cambodia, soil capability for rice production in lowlands has been almost
documented, but only little is known about the properties of upland soils for growing nonrice crops. Current agricultural land use practices together with severe climatic conditions
and population pressure have led to soil degradation, loss of soil fertility which declining
crop yield and increase the risk of malnutrition. Therefore, the objectives of this study were
1) to compare the soil properties of farmlands applied organic and inorganic fertilizers, 2) tomeasure the organic fertilizer dependence in Samraong and Baray Communes. The
questionnaire survey was conducted and farmer representatives were interviewed. Soilsamples were collected from 20 different locations. Soil samples were analyzed for its pH,
Electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter, total nitrogen (T-N), total phosphorus (T-P),
calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+), sodium (Na+), water content, and permeability, and thePearson coefficient correlation was used for the statistical analysis. Organic fertilizer
dependence was classified into 3 categories not dependent, moderately dependent andhighly dependent, 40.0%, 30.0%, and 30.0%, respectively. The results of statistical analysis
showed that in Samraong Commune there was no trend detected, despite in Baray
Commune there was positive trend detected between organic fertilizer dependence and soil
properties.
Keywords soil properties, fertilizers, organic, inorganic, dependency

INTRODUCTION
Cambodia is located in the southern portion of Indochina peninsula, and sheared its borders withThailand, Laos and Vietnam. The total land area of Cambodia is 181,035 km2 and current
population is 16.2 million in which only 78.3% is living in rural areas. Agricultural production in
Cambodia is concentrated in the northwestern districts bordering Thailand, on the central plains
surrounding the Tonle Sap Lake and its river systems, along the Mekong River towards the
Mekong delta. The total land use area under major agricultural crops was about 4.5 million ha(MAFF, 2012). Agricultural lands could be categorized into two distinct topographical regions
lowlands and uplands. Lowland soils mainly support rice framing interspersed with field crops,
vegetable gardens and fruit trees. Upland soils are mainly used for rubber (Hevea brasiliensis)
plantations, maize (Zea mays), cassava (Manihot esculenta), soybeans (Glycine max), mug-beans(Vigna radiata), peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), sesame (Sesamum indicum), sugarcane (Saccharum
officinarum), and fruit trees (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Cambodia, 2012).
Moreover, the farming system in Cambodia is normally based on the application of chemicalⒸ ISERD

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fertilizers, chemical pesticide, fungicide and herbicide (FAOSTAT, 2016). Fertilizers play a keyrole in agriculture production, cultivation of a major crop that rely on the use of high rates ofinorganic fertilizers continuously for several years, often lead to unsustainability in production andalso pose threat to the environment (Smith et al., 1990), thought chemical fertilizers are high innutrient contents and are rapidly taken up by plants but relatively expensive. Excessive use offertilizers results in various problems, such as nutrients loss, surface water and groundwatercontamination, soil acidification, reductions in useful microbial communities, and increase insensitivity of harmful insects (Chen J.H., 2006). Recent year, with the support from the government
and non-governmental organization (NGOs), many Cambodian farmers realized and looked for abetter practice which could harmonize with natural environment and human health. There wereseveral practices carried out to move forwards from the used of inorganic fertilizers to promote on
the application of organic fertilizers such as green manure, compost, and bio-liquid fertilizer insome provinces of Cambodia. With the use of organic fertilizers could eliminated and minimize theuse of inorganic fertilizers as well as improved on soil, water and environmental quality. By theseveral practices that carried to promote the use of organic fertilizers in order to meet therequirement of nutrients in soil, so each practice may contribute to difference of positive andnegative effect attributes to farmlands.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study were 1) to compare soil properties of farmlands applied organic andinorganic fertilizers, and 2) to measure organic fertilizer dependence in Samraong and Baray
Communes, Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia.
METHODOLOGY
Study Site
Cambodia

Kampong Cham Province
Baray
Samraong

Fig. 1 Map of the study areas
Kampong Cham Province is located in the central region of Cambodia. The population is 1.6
million. Prey Chhor District is located in Kampong Cham Province and it’s divided into 15
communes and 176 villages. The major soil types in this areas are brown hydromorphics, regurs
and cultural hydromophics (Kampong Cham Administration, 2010). Samraong and Baray
Communes were selected for this study. In Samraong and Baray Communes the population werearound 8,123 and the total number of families were 1,714 and 11 villages and 10,637 and the total
number of families were 2,446, and 13 villages, respetively. Farmers in both communes were
mostly smallholder farmers with less than 1 ha of cultivated agricultural land (CDB, 2010). In
Samraong and Baray Communes the main economic activity of farmers are rice cultivation in low
land and vegetables in upland fields are also cultivated (ERECON, 2009). In order to increase theproductivity of farmland local farmers tend to use high amount of chemical fertilizers. The numberⒸ ISERD

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of families using chemical fertilizers was around 1,587 in Samraong Commune and 1,479 in Baray
Commune. There was a project implemented to promote sustainable agriculture in Samraong
Commune by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2011 to 2016. The target group
comprised of 450 households in Samraong Commune. A similer project was implemented in Baray
Commune to promote organic farming through composting and liquid fertilizer by Ministry ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan from 2006 to 2009, 45 households were thetarget group.
Questionnaire Survey
Questionnaire survey was conducted in Samraong and Baray Communes. Farmer representatives
were interviewed. The questionnaire included questions about general information, economical
condition and agricultural condition as shown in Table 1.
Table 1 The contents of questionnaire survey for the field activities
Category
General information

DetailsName, Age, Gender, Level of education, Occupation
Working condition, Land areas, Crops cultivation,
Labor use in agriculture, Cost of fertilizers
Problems in agricultural land, Kinds of agro-chemicals,
Kinds of livestock

Economical condition
Agricultural condition

Soil Analysis
Soil samples were collected from 20 different locations. Soil sampling sites are shown in Fig. 2.
There were 20 disturbed and 20 undisturbed soil samples were collected from Samraong and Baray
Communes in August, 2017. Disturbed soil samples were used to analyze for its pH, EC, watercontent, organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, particle size distribution, calcium,
potassium and sodium. Undisturbed soil samples were analyzed for its permeability and bulk
density. The experiment was conducted in September, 2017. The details of soil analysis are shownin Table 2.
Table 2 Soil indicators for the laboratory activities
Physicalproperties

Water content

Methods

GravimetricmethodParticle size
distribution
International pipettemethodChemicalproperties

pH

EC

Organic matter

Permeability

Ignition loss

Saturated hydraulicconductivity (Ksat) method

T-N and T-P

Ca2+, K+, and Na+

Absorption
Portable absorption
spectroscopy
spectrophotometer
EC: Electrical conductivity, T-N: Total nitrogen, T-P: Total phosphorus, Ksat: Saturated hydraulic conductivity,
Ca2+: Calcium, K+: Potassium and Na+: Sodium
Methods

Dilution

Dilution

Organic Fertilizer Dependence
Organic Fertilizer Dependence of the farmers in Samraong and Baray Communes was analyzed
based on nitrogen application in organic and inorganic fertilizers during complete growing season.
Total nitrogen application by farmers was calculate using equation (1) and Organic fertilizer
dependence was calculated using equation (2).
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Where, TN is total nitrogen content (kg ha-1 yr-1), A is the amount of fertilizers applied (kg ha-1),
and N is the percentage of nitrogen concentration of the fertilizers (%)
OFD = (ON1 + ON2 + ON3 +…+ ONn) ÷ (ONn + INn) × 100(2)

Where, OFD is Organic Fertilizer Dependence (%), ON1 is nitrogen content in organic fertilizer (kgha-1 yr-1), ONn is total nitrogen content in all the organic fertilizers application (kg ha-1 yr-1), NIn is
total nitrogen content in all the inorganic fertilizers application (kg ha-1 yr-1).

Prey Chhor District

Baray

Samraong: Sampling site

Fig. 2 Soil sampling sites
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Questionnaire Survey
The results from the questionnaire survey shown in Fig. 4 indicated that the representative farmers
in the study areas has total cultivated agricultural lands about 0.5 to 1 ha. This cultivated land areas
mostly used for the rice and vegetable cultivation activities in Samraong and Baray Communes.
(A)

(B)

n = 10n = 10Fig. 3 Land cultivated areas from the responded farmers in (A) and (B)Agricultural Condition
The result of agricultural condition were about the types of fertilizers used and the percentage oforganic fertilizers dependence were shown in Table 3. As shown in Table 3 there were 4 types ofcommons fertilizers used including Urea, DAP, cow manures, and compost.
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Table 3 Types of fertilizers used (kg/ha/year) from the responded farmers in Samraong andBaray Communes
Site

Urea
N
DAP
N
(kg/ha/yr) (kg/ha/yr) (kg/ha/yr) (kg/ha/yr)
N% (46%)

Cow
N
CompostN
TN
manure(kg/ha/yr) (kg/ha/yr) (kg/ha/yr) (kg/ha/yr)(kg/ha/yr)

N% (18%)

N% (1.587%)

1
50
23
50
9
2000
31.6
2
100
46
100
18
25000
395
3
100
46
100
18
4000
63.2
4
100
46
100
18
3000
47.4
5
50
23
50
9
0
0
6
240
110.4
240
43.2
30
0.474
7
20
9.2
100
18
100
1.58
8
20
9.2
50
9
50
0.79
9
500
230
250
45
0
0
10
50
23
200
36
0
0
11
200
92
0
0
1500
23.7
12
100
46
50
9
1500
23.7
13
40
18.4
200
36
500
7.9
14
6
2.76
0
0
500
7.9
15
0
0
16
2.88
1000
15.8
16
100
46
300
54
0
0
17
100
46
200
36
0
0
18
150
69
150
27
0
0
19
30
13.8
30
5.4
0
0
20
30
13.8
100
18
0
0
N: Nitrogen, TN: Total nitrogen, OFD: Organic Fertilizer Dependence

OFD
(%)

N% (1.086%)
1000
5000
4000
3000
1500
10
0
0
0
0
1500
1500
500
500
1000
0
0
0
0
0

10.86
54.3
43.44
32.58
16.29
0.1086
0
0
0
0
16.29
16.29
5.43
5.43
10.86
0
0
0
0
0

74.46
513.3
170.64143.9848.29
154.1826
28.78
18.99
275
59
131.99
94.99
67.73
16.09
29.54
100
82
96
19.2
31.8

57%
88%
62%
56%
34%
0%
5%
4%
0%
0%
30%
42%
20%
83%
90%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Organic Fertilizer Dependence was calculated based on type of fertilizers, nitrogenconcentration (N%) in fertilizers and amount applied. Average total nitrogen contents for cow
manure were calculated based Maerere et al. (2001), Usman (2013), Sherrian (2016), Huang (2017)and average total nitrogen content for compost were calculated based on Obiamaka (2011),
Sophark T et al. (2012), E-Sayed (2015), Sherrian (2016) and Merlyn (2017). Therefore, organic
fertilizer dependence was classified into 3 categories as ‘not dependent’, ‘moderately dependent’and ‘highly dependent’ at 40%, 30% and 30%, respectively as shown in Table 4.
Table 4 Organic fertilizer dependence categorized
Category

Dependence (%)

Farmer dependence (%)

No dependent

0

40.0%

Moderately dependent

0-50

30.0%

Highly dependent

50-10030.0%

Correlation Matrix Tree Between Organic Fertilizer Dependence and Soil Properties
The correlation matric tree was used to compare the relationship between organic fertilizer
dependence and soil properties. The results are shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

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n= 10, r > 0.631897 significance level *P< 0.05, r > 0.764592 signifivance level **P< 0.01

Fig. 4 Correlation matrix tree between Organic Fertilizer Dependence and soil properties
in Samraong Commune

n= 10, r > 0.631897 significance level *P< 0.05, r > 0.764592 signifivance level **P< 0.01

Fig. 5 Correlation matrix tree between Organic Fertilizer Dependence and soil properties
in Baray Commune
The results of statistical analysis showed that there was no any trend detected between organic
fertilizer dependence and soil properties in Samroang Commune, but in Baray Commune positive
trend was detected between organic fertilizer dependence and soil properties. It can be disused thatthe trend in Samraong Commune was related to the percentage of organic fertilizer dependent, theduration of the application of organic material in farmland and the experience of farmers on
farming practice. Similarly in Baray Commune, the relationship between organic fertilizer
dependence and the soil properties showed a positive correlation. It can be disused that when
farmer depended more on organic fertilizer input, it leads to increase in soil physical properties
such organic matter and organic carbon and soil chemical properties including EC, K +, Ca2+ andNa+. It was discussed that the application of organic fertilizers can enhanced the accumulation ofsoil organic matter and organic carbon. According to Ebhin Masto et al., (2006), showed that
increased in soil organic matter and soil organic carbon were considerably greater in soil receiving
long-term used of farmyard manure, compost or straw along with inorganic fertilizers. More
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importantly adding only inorganic fertilizers may results in deficiency of other nutrient and decline
in soil physical and chemical properties as the trend was appeared in inorganic fertilizers
dependence. Therefore, the trend become significantly when organic fertilizer has been applied for
10 years in Baray Commune.
CONCLUSIONThe Organic Fertilizer Dependence was a main factor to the impact of soil properties such as soil
physical and chemical properties. In Samraong Commune there was no trend appeared between
Organic Fertilizer Dependence and soil properties, however in Baray Commune the trend were
obvious when organic fertilizer has been applied. This change might related to the percentage ofthe organic fertilizers dependent, the long-term application of organic fertilizers as well as theexperience and knowledge of farmers on farming practice. In addition, due to slowly decompose oforganic fertilizers in the soil, it can be recommended that farmers have to apply more of organic
material on their farmland. When organic fertilizers have been applied for many years the trend
will show clearly on the effectiveness of organic fertilizer on soil properties.
REFERENCES
Chen, J.H. 2006. The combined use of chemical and organic fertilizers and biofertilizer for crop growth andsoil fertility. Proceedings of International Workshop on Sustainable Management on the SoilRhizosphere System for Efficient Crop Production and Fertilizers Use.
Commune Data Base (CDB). 2010. Poverty reduction by capital, province, municipalities, districts, khans
and communes, sangkats, Cambodia. CBD, Cambodia.
Ebhin Masto, R., Chhonkar, P.K., Singh, D. and Patra, A.K. 2006. Changes in soil biological andbiochemical characteristics in a long-term field trail on a sub-tropical inceptisol. Soil Biology andBiochemistry, 38, 1577-1582.
ERECON. 2009. ERECON annual report 2008-2009. Institute of Environment Rehabilitation andConservation, Japan.
FAOSTAT. 2016. Fertilizer import and consumption for Cambodia, http://faostat.fao.org//Cambodia
Huang, J., Yu, Z., Gao, H., Yan, X., Chang, J., Wang, C., et al. 2017. Chemical structures and characteristics
of animal manures and composts during composting and assessment of maturity indices. pLos ONE, 12(6), e0178110.
Kampong Cham Administration. 2010. Royal government of Cambodia. Achieved from the original on 200902-10.
Maerere, A.P, Kimbi, G.C. and Nonga, D.L.M. 2001. Comparative effectiveness of animal manures on soil
chemical properties, yield and root growth of amaranthus (Amaranthus crueatus L.). Asian Journal of
Science and Technol., 1, 14-21.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Cambodia. 2012. Annual report of agriculture for2011-2012. Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sayed, El and Khater, G. 2015. Some physical and chemical properties of compost. Int. J. Waste Resources,
5, 172.
Sherrian, J. 2016. US composting council, Seal of testing assurance. Compost Technical Data Sheet for
Texas DOT, Soil Control Lab, Watsonville, CA, USA.
Smith, S.J., Schepers, J.S. and Porter, L.K. 1990. Assessing and managing agricultural nitrogen losses to theenvironment. Advances in Soil Science, 14, 1-32.
Sophark, T., Bunthan, N., Eang, K., Sokha, P., Mihara, M. and Siriwattananon, L. 2012. Suitable timing ofcompost application and its effectiveness on mung bean in the crop station of Royal University ofAgriculture. International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, 3 (1), 90-95.

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Research article
erd

Development of Water Harvesting Technique in Qargha
Reservoir Watershed of Paghman District, Afghanistan
SHAFIQULLAH RAHMANI
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: salarhaleem@gmail.com

TORU NAKAJIMA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, 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 31 December 2017

Accepted 12 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Harvesting surface runoff water from rainfall rather than allowing these waters to
run into the streams and rivers and eventually lost into sea is attaining popularity due to theincreasing demand for scarce water resources. In semi-arid countries such as Afghanistan
crops in need regular irrigation due to low and unequally divided annual rainfall throughout
the growing season. Therefore, this study aimed to develop water harvesting technique withclayey dressing application as a water harvesting strategy for surface runoff inducement to
reduce water shortage problems in Qargha Reservoir Watershed of Paghman District,Afghanistan. The results of laboratory and field experiments showed that, application of
clayey dressing on the soil surface was highly effective in surface runoff inducement. The
application of clayey dressing with silty clay loam and clay loam textures in the laboratory
and in the field and at various concentrations increased surface runoff considerably. The
plug radius of both silty clay loam dressing with 37.16% or lower concentration and clay
loam dressing with 46.96% or lower concentration can effectively clog pores and seal soil
surface. Therefore, development of proper water harvesting strategies such as clayey
dressing application is indispensable to achieve sustainable agriculture.
Keywords water harvesting, irrigation, clayey dressing, water resource management,
conservation strategies

INTRODUCTION
Water is the most essential input for successful farming. Afghanistan is often characterized as a dry
or arid to semi-arid country. Water utilization in Afghanistan is mostly for agricultural purposes.
Majority of the population lives in rural areas and are small subsistence farmers who live on smallplots of land (Qureshi, 2002). Recently, all the country is moaning from a serious drought due toclimate change. Recently National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) (2018) stated in areport that, drought has reached to an emergency level in several parts of the country. According to
FAO (2018) report, drought impacted agricultural seasons of 2017 and 2018 in some part of thecountry of to a level in which the harvest was considered completely lost. As a semi arid region,
crops in the study area need regular irrigation due to low and unequally divided annual rainfall
throughout the growing season. Growing season starts in the march and ends in the month ofOctober. Hence, from June to October, Qargha Reservoir Watershed receives hardly any
precipitation. Therefore, irrigation water shortage during the latter half of the growing season is aserious problem causing crop failure and low productivity in the study area. Karezes (Karez is atunnel system used to extract shallow groundwater) and tube wells are the main irrigation sourcesin the study area. Mack et al., (2010) reported that, the water table has been continually dropping.
Rahmani and Mihara (2017) reported that 83% of the farmers in the Qargha Reservoir WatershedⒸ ISERD

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have an irrigation water shortage, and 66% of the farmers severely face it, especially in the latter
half of the growing season. Rain water management through water harvesting and inducement of
surface runoff by clayey dressing application onto soil surface can help in reducing water shortage
problems in the study area. Water harvesting techniques such as compaction by (Yazar et al., 2014),
gravel removel by (Parvizi et al., 2015), bitumen emulsion and tall oil, (Short and Lantzke, 2006),
less permeable soil (Amu-Mensah et al., 2013), wax and plastic cover by (Fink et al., 1980),
Sodium dispersants such as sodium carbonate and sodium chloride (Frasier et al., 1987 and Parvizi
et al., 2015) are widely used in the world for runoff inducement. In this study clayey dressing was
focused as a water harvesting techinque because it is an economical and environmental friendly
strategy.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to develop water harvesting technique with clayey dressing for runoff inducement
in order to reduce water shortage problems in Qargha Reservoir Watershed.
METHODOLOGY
Study Area
Qargha Reservoir Watershed is located within semi-arid region. Water utilization in Afghanistan ismostly for agricultural purposes. The study area lies between longitudes E 68° 49' 44'' and E 68°
40' 54'' and latitudes N 34° 25' 14'' and N 34° 40' 19.2''. The research was conducted in Qargha
Reservoir Watershed, Paghman District, Kabul Province, Afghanistan. The total area of Paghman
District is 361 km2, and Qargha Reservoir catchment area is 40.33 km2. Average annual
precipitation in the watershed is 280 mm and average annual temperature is 11.01 oC. The majorityof the rural population is small subsistence farmers with small plots of land.

Fig. 1 Location of Qargha Reservoir Paghman District, Kabul, Afghanistan
Rheological Analysis and Pore Size Distribution
Soil from Qala e Jan Big and Qala e Khwaja area of Qargha reservoir watershed was used forclayey dressing extraction in the laboratory. Sieves of 38 μm and 75 μm were used for the clayey
dressing extraction. Soil was diluted in the water and then passed it through sieves. Particles larger
than 38 μm and 75 μm were removed. Water content was reduced in room temperature. Clothsieving was used for clayey dressing extraction in the field. The extracted clayey dressing wasanalyzed for its soil particle size distribution. Rheological analysis of the clayey suspension was
carried out using MacMicheal rotational viscometer in the laboratory.

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Rotational rheometer tests have been used to determine the flow behaviors and shear strength
properties of very soft clays and muds with high moisture contents (Mahajan et al., 2008; Fakher etal., 1999). Standard wire number 26, and 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 rpm (revolutions per minute) were used.
Clayey suspension of silty clay loam (SiCL) and clay loam (CL) with 56.90%, 52.28%, 46.41%,
37.16% and 37.16% and 64.86%, 60.05%, 55.35%, 52.06 and 46.96% concentration were used,
respectiveley. Shear stress and shear rate values of the clayey suspension were measured and wereused to estimate Bingham yield values of the clayey suspension. Estimated Binghm yield values
were used to calculate plug flow radius of the suspension using equation below:
ro = 2L / ΔP

Eq. (1)

Where, ro is radius of plug flow (cm), L is pore length (cm) and ΔP is the difference in pressure(Pa).
The soil water retention curve was determined in the laboratory and was used to measure nongravitational pore size distribution, while gravitational pores were observed using morphologicalmethod. Soil sample was prepared from local soil in a cylinder with 10 cm depth and 10 cm
diameter, soil sample was adjusted at 5 cm depth and 10 cm of diameter and was compacted same
as field condition. The matric potential was determined using Em50 data logger and weightchanges were recorded using weight scale. Pore size distribution was calculated using Equation
below:
r = 0.15 / h

Eq. (2)

Where, r is the pore radius (cm) and h is the matric potential (cmH2O).
Surface Runoff Experiment
Runoff experiment was conducted in the laboratory of Land and Water Use Engineering, Tokyo
University of Agriculture using runoff plots with 0.90 m long, 0.052 m wide and 0.035 m deep.
Marriott bottle was used to provide constant water flow rate of 20 cm3 s-1 at constant pressure for aconcentrated surface scenario and 8% slope. Surface runoff experiments were also conducted in thefield (Fig. 2).

A

B

1

2

3

4

Fig. 2 Field (A) and laboratory (B) runoff experimental plots (1), cracks in the soil (2) andsoil surface after clay dressing (3, 4)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Two types of clayey dressing 1st silty clay loam and 2nd clay loam were extracted with 38 μm and75 μm sieves, respectively in the laboratory and in the field using a cloth and were applied on theⒸ ISERD

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soil surface. Soil properties of the two extracted clay dressing is shown in Table 1. Most water
harvesting techniques are quite expensive and usually interfere with the natural environment anddeprive the land for other possible uses. While, the use of less permeable soils as a top layer
dressing to reduce infiltration and enhance runoff presents an interesting and viable option that
could give appreciable results (Amu-Mensah et al., 2013).
Table 1 Particle size distribution of clayey dressing
Soil type
Loam
Sandy loam
Field

Sieve (μm)
38
75
Cloth

Sand (%)
14.3
27.2
19.6

Silt%
51.8
41. 7
52.7

Clay%
33.9
31.1
27.7

Total%
100
100
100

Sieved soil texture
Silty clay loam
Clay loam
Silty clay loam

Surface Runoff
The amounts of surface runoff generated under different treatments compared to control are shownin Table 2. Silty clay loam dressing with 57%, 53% and 47% concentration increased runoff by
30.07%, 28.29%, and 15.81%, respectively. While, clay loam dressing with 65%, 60% and 53%
concentration increased runoff by 42.57%, 40.59%, and 27.13%, respectively. The result showsthat, the clay dressing application is highly effective in increasing surface runoff, and the influenceof sieve size was not obvious. Sherazi et al. (2010) stated that permeability noticeably decreasing
by the increasing rate of clay in the clay-sand mixture. For instance, application of clayey dressing
on the soil surface is highly recommended as a runoff maximizer. Thus, it is very economical andeasy to use and extraction does not need expensive and difficult to use equipment. Availability andgeneration of extra rainfall runoff water can help to revive agriculture in the study area andcultivate large dry uncultivated lands.
Table 2 Surface runoff water under different treatments
Infil.
Percentage increase
Coef.
(dm3 m-2)
from control
Control
9.70 a**
12.96
3.20
0.75
SiCLD 57%
12.62 b**
12.96
0.00
0.97
30.07
Loam
1.3
SiCLD 53%
12.45 b**
12.96
0.99
0.96
28.29
SiCLD 47%
11.24 b**
12.96
1.68
0.87
15.81
Control
8.68 a**
12.96
3.82
0.67
CLD 65%12.38 b**
12.96
0.00
0.95
42.57
Loam
1.5
CLD 60%12.20 b**
12.96
0.00
0.94
40.59
CLD 45%11.04 c**
12.96
1.55
0.85
27.23
CLD = Clay loam dressing, SiCLD = Silty clay loam dressing, **denotes significance difference level at P<0.01

Soil Texture

Dry density
g cm-3Treatment

Disc. (dm3 m-2)

W. usedThe amounts of surface runoff generated under different treatments in the field compared tocontrol are shown in Table 3. Silty clay loam dressing onto Deh Ponba soil with 65% and 58%
concentration increased runoff by 42.55% and 41.47%, respectively. While, clay loam dressing
onto Doda Mast soil with 65%, 60% and 53% concentration increased runoff by 58.58% and55.28%, respectively. Parvizi and Sepaskhah (2016) examined the effect of gravel removal, rill
construction across to slope and applying of baking soda on surface runoff, rainfall infiltration. The
most effective in the runoff enhancement were gravel removal, rill construction across to slope andbaking soda 31.20, 29.30 and 22.00%. Application of less permeable soil onto soil surface to create
possibility for harvesting and storing rainwater (Amu-Mensah et al., 2013). Statistical analysis
showed that there was significant difference in surface runoff between control and clayey dressing
treated soils both in laboratory and in the field. Sandy soils have a relatively low water-holding
capacity but a high intake rate. Instead, a clay or loam soil on the other hand, hold more water thana sandy soil but will not absorb water as quickly. Hence, soils with 20% or more clay content were
found to be the most sensitive to crust formation and have the lowest infiltration rate. It was
concluded that the increase in surface runoff using clayey dressing was due to its low permeability.
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Table 3 Surface runoff experiment in the field
Site

Treatment

Discharge (dm3 m-2) W. applied

Coef.

Control
27.73 a**
45.00
0.62
SiCLD 65%
39.53 b**
45.00
0.88
Deh Ponba
SiCLD 58%
39.23 b**
45.00
0.87
Control
25.27 a**
45.00
0.56
b**
Doda Mast
SiCLD 65%
40.07
45.00
0.89
SiCLD 58%
39.23 b**
45.00
0.87
SiCLD = Silty Clay Loam Dressing, **denotes significance difference level at P<0.01

Percentage increase fromcontrol
42.55
41.47
58.58
55.28

With an increasing percentage of clay, the soil structure become more stable (Ben-Hur et al.,1985). The result showed remarkable improvements in runoff generation and the percolation
reduction over the layered (dressed) soil surface as opposed to the control runoff experiments.
Amu-Mensah et al., (2013), reported that, application of a clay soil layer (dressing) on the soil
surface remarkably improving runoff generation. Clay is applied at the bottom of ponds alone onto
porous soils or mixed with a porous soil form an impermeable layer (Keese, 2006).
Rheological Properties of Clayey Suspension
The results of rheometer tests showed that suspension Bingham yield and plastic viscosity values
increased with increase in the mass concentration of clayey, and with decrease in massconcentration, Bingham yield and plastic viscosity values decreased. The results of rheometer tests
as shown in Fig. 3 had a direct impact on the plug flow radius of the clayey suspension.
B

A

Fig. 3 Changes in Bingham yield value and plastic viscosity with mass concentration ofsilty clay loam (B) and clay loam (A) suspension
Relationship between Pore Size Distribution and Plug flow
The result of plug flow radius calculation showed that the radius of plug flow minimizes with adecrease in concentration of clayey suspension as shown in Table 4. Clayey suspension of silty clay
loam at 56.95%, 52.28%, 46.41%, 45.88% and 37.16% concentration produce plug flow radiuswith 0.61 m, 0.195 m, 0.079 m, 0.048 m and 0.023 m, respectively, and clayey suspension of clay
loam at 64.86%, 60.05%, 55.35%, 52.06% and 46.96% concentration produce plug flow radiuswith 0.725 m, 0.292 m, 0.086 m, 0.071 m and 0.017 m, respectively. Clay soils are insensitivecohesive soils that have a water content higher than the liquid limit. The behavior of clay soils andsandy soils or even clay-silt soils differ from each other and even become more complex with watercontent. The transformation of soil from a plastic state to a viscous liquid state is primarily causedⒸ ISERD

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by a change in the water content of the soil mass. As the water content increases, the soil mass
gradually starts to behave like a viscous liquid (Fakher et al., 1999).
Table 4 Plug radius of clayey dressing suspension(Conc.)
cg g-1
56.90
52.28
46.41
45.88
37.16
(Conc.)
cg g-1
64.86
60.05
55.35
52.06
46.96

(θ)
Pa
5888.01815.0
694.4
426.5
189.9
(θ)
Pa
7370.02851.0
814.1
650.2
150.9

(ρ)
kg m-3
1939
1863
1766
1757
1613
(ρ)
kg m-3
2070
1991
1913
1859
1775

(h)
m
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005
(h)
m
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005

(m sec-2)
G
9.81
9.81
9.81
9.81
9.81
(m sec-2)
G
9.81
9.81
9.81
9.81
9.81

(ΔP)
Pa
95.1
91.36
86.61
86.18
79.13
(ΔP)
Pa
101.5
97.65
93.85
91.18
87.05

(ro =2Lθ/ΔP)
(m)
0.610
0.195
0.079
0.048
0.023
(ro =2Lθ/ΔP)
(m)
0.725
0.291
0.086
0.071
0.017

Θ=Bingham yield, h= clayey dressing depth, ρ=Bulk density

Bingham flow

Newtonian flow
V= 0
0
dr

Vmax

dv

Plug
flow

R ro
ro

Fig. 4 Newtonian and Bingham flow
Plug flow radius of the clayey suspension also increased with an increase in Bingham yieldvalues as it is shown in Table 4. Two type of structural clogging take place 1st immediate clogging
course particles fixed in the pores and 2nd gradual clogging by adhesion and sedimentation of fineparticles to the inner wall. Bingham fluids such as clayey suspension produces plug flow. Clayeysuspension causes both immediate and gradual clogging (Mihara and Ysutomi, 1992).
The mechanism of pore clogging and surface sealing with dressing
Dressing

Dressing

0.5
cm

0.5
cm
Pore clogging

Soil poreFig. 5 Mechanism of pore clogging and surface sealingⒸ ISERD

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The pore volume for each pore class was calculated from the pore size distribution curve. The
pore diameter was classified into 5 categories as shown in Table 5. Pore classes of macropores,
mesopores, micropores, ultramicropores and cryptopores constitute at 26.47%, 30.88%, 19.85%,
6.62% and 16.18% of the total pore volume, respectively. A pore is not simply a void in the solid
structure of soil. However, various pore size categories have different characteristics and contributedifferent attributes to soils depending on the number and frequency of each type. A widely usedclassification of pore size is that of (Brewer, 1964).
Table 5 Pore size distribution of Qargha Reservoir Watershed soils
Class*
Cryptopores
Ultrmicropores
Micropores
Mesopores
Macropores

Subclass

Pore size (mm)Volume (cm3)

CoarseMediumFine
Very fine

0.1>
0.1 to 5
5 to 30
30 to 100
100 to 1000
1000 to 2000
2000 to 5000
5000>

47.16
55.02
35.37
11.79
0.10
0.91
1.99
4.34

Volume
(%)
26.47
30.88
19.85
6.62
0.22
2.00
4.39
9.57

*Source: Brewer (1964)
Changes in the pore size distribution evidently modify soil water retention. The direct relation
between pore size distribution and the soil water content can be defined as macropores andmesopores control the water content at soil saturation, micropores and ultramicropores control
water content at field capacity and cryptopores are very tinny pores filed by water for long time andvery little amount of water of these pores are available of plant consumption. It is to be concluded
that the increase observed in surface runoff by clayey dressing application compared to control was
due to clogging the soil pores and sealing the surface. Pore clogging and surface sealing happens
when the plug flow radius of suspension is bigger than the radius of soil pores. Mihara et al. (1993)
also confirm that pore radius smaller than radius of plug flow causes structural clogging.
CONCLUSION
As a semi arid country, crops in Afghanistan need regular irrigation due to low and unequallydivided annual rainfall throughout the growing season. During the growing season hardly any
rainfall event takes place in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to develop water harvesting
technique with clayey dressing for runoff inducement in order to reduce water shortage problems inthe study area. The results from both laboratory and in the field experiments indicated that clayey
dressing application onto soil surface considerably increase surface runoff. Two types of clayey
dressing 1st silty clay loam and 2nd clay loam were extracted with 38 μm and 75 μm sieves,respectively in the laboratory and in the field using a cloth and were applied on the soil surface.
Silty clay loam dressing at 57%, 53% and 47% concentration increased runoff by 30.07%, 28.29%
and 15.81%, respectively compared to control. While, clay loam dressing at 65%, 60% and 53%
concentration increased runoff by 42.57%, 40.59%, and 27.13%, respectively. The results of field
expeiments showed that, clayey dressing applied onto Deh Ponba soil at 65% and 58%
concentration increased runoff by 42.55% and 41.47%, respectively. While, clayey dressing onto
Doda Mast soil with 65% and 60% concentration increased runoff by 58.58% and 55.28%,
respectively compared to control. Clayey suspension of silty clay loam at 56.95, 52.28%, 46.41%,
45.88% and 37.16% concentration produced plug flow radius at 0.61 m, 0.195 m, 0.079 m, 0.048
m and 0.023 m, respectively, and clayey suspension of clay loam at 64.86%, 60.05%, 55.35%,
52.06% and 46.96% concentration produce plug flow radius with 0.725 m, 0.292 m, 0.086 m, 0.071
m and 0.017 m, respectively. It is concluded that, silty clay loam dressing at 37.16% or lower
concentration and clay loam dressing with 46.96% or lower concentration can effectively clog
pores and seal soil surface. Therefore, development of proper strategies on water resourceⒸ ISERD

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development/management is needed to achieve sustainable agriculture.
REFERENCES
Amu-Mensah, F.K., Tahei, Y. and Mitsuhiro, I. 2013. Improving soil surface conditions for enhanced
rainwater harvesting on highly permeable soils. International Journal of Water Resources andEnvironmental Engineering, 5 (11), 616-621.
Ben-Hur, M., Shainberg, I., Bakker, D. and R. Keren. 1985. Effect of soil texture and CaCO 3 content onwater infiltration in crusted soil as related to water salinity hydological forcasting. Irrigation Science, 6,281-294.
Brewer, R. 1964. Fabric and mineral analysis of soils. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Fakher, A., Jones, C.J.F.P. and Clarke, B.G. 1999. Yield stress of super soft clays. Journal of Geotechnicaland Geoenvironmental Engineering, 6, 499-509.
Fink, D.H., Frasie, G.W. and Cooley, K.R. 1980. Water harvesting by wax-treated soil surface, Progress,
problems and potential. Agricultural Management, 3, 125-134.
Frasie, G.W., Dutt, G.R. and Fink, D.H. 1987. Soidium salt treated catchments for water harvesting.
American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 30 (3), 658-664.
Keese, C.W. 2006. Sealing ponds and lakes with bentonite. Extension Agricultural Engineer. Texas
Agricultural Extension Service, The Texas A and M University System, College Station, Texas 77843.
Mack, T.J., Chornack, M.P., Choplen, T.B., Plummer, L.N., Rezai, M.T. and Verstraeten, I.M. 2010.
Availability of water in the Kabul Basin, Afghanistan. U.S. Geological Survey, Afghanistan Geological
Survey under the (USAID), Fact Sheet 3037, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Afghanistan Project
Product, No. 177.
Mahajan, S.P. and Budhu, M. 2008. Shear viscosity of clays to compute viscous resistence. In Proceeding of
12th International Conference of International Association for Computer Methods and Advance inGeomechanics (IACMAG), Goa, India, 1516-1523.
Mihara, M. and Yasutomi, R. 1992. Structural mechanism in porous medium by soil suspension flow. In
Moldenaers, P. and Keunings, R. (Ed.), Theoritical and Applied Rheology, Proc. XIth International
Congress on Rheology, 653.
Mihara, M., Yasutomi, R. and Nakamura, Y. 1993. Rheological study on strainer structure of under drain
pipes for slope protection. Proc. International Conference for Agricultural Machinary and Process
Engineering, 197-204.
Parvizi, H., and Sepaskhah, A.R. 2016. The effect of physical and chemical treatments on runoff, infiltrationand soil loss. Iran Agricultural Research, 35 (2), 9-18.
Qureshi, A.S. 2002. Water resources management in Afghanistan, The issues and option. International Water
Management Institute (IWMI).
Rahmani, S. and Mihara, M. 2017. Current agricultural status and problems faced in Paghman District ofKabul Province, Afghanistan. International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, 8 (1), 180186.
Shirazi., S.M., Kazama, H., Firas, A., Salman, F. Othman. and Shatirah, A. 2010. Permeability and swellingcharacteristics of bentonite. International Journal of the Physical Sciences, 5 (11), 1647-1659.
Yazar, A., Kuzucu, M., Elik, I.C., Sezen, S.M. and Jacobsen, S.E. 2014. Water harvesting for improved waterproductivity in dry environments of the mediterranean region case study, Pistachio in turkey. Journal ofAgronomy and Crop Science, 200, 361-370.

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Research article
erd

The Low-Cost Controlled Temperature Greenhouse
Investigation for Marigold Seedlings in Global Warming
Situation
ANCHASA PRAMUANJAROENKIJ*
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kasetsart University, Chalermphrakiat Sakon Nakhon
Province Campus, Sakon Nakhon, Thailand
Email: anchasa.p@ku.th

AMARIN TONGKRATOKE
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kasetsart University, Chalermphrakiat Sakon Nakhon
Province Campus, Sakon Nakhon, Thailand

SIRILUK PHANKHOKSOONG
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kasetsart University, Chalermphrakiat Sakon Nakhon
Province Campus, Sakon Nakhon, Thailand
Received 27 December 2017

Accepted 18 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Global warming situation has affected many life in the world; especially its
effects on agricultural industry. Greenhouse was one of many tools which was brought tohelp farmers in growing many plants and flowers in uncontrollable environments for longtime. This work was aimed to build a low-cost controlled temperature greenhouse prototype.
The greenhouse prototype was studied for temperature distributions inside the prototype tosow marigold seedlings. A water evaporative cooling system was chosen to remove heatfrom the greenhouse, a low-cost temperature control set was fabricated to help controlling
air flow and temperature inside the greenhouse. A cooling pad system was chosen as theevaporative cooling system in this work. The greenhouse frame was built locally as a lengthof 2.1 m., a width of 1.8 m. and a height of 3.1 m. and was covered with clear UV reducing
plastic. The cooling pad system consisted of 25-watts ventilating fans with a length of 30
cm, a width of 30 cm, a height of 16 cm and one 60-watt water pump. The low-cost
temperature control set was connected with the cooling pad system to turn on and off the
fan of the system automatically and to remove the humid air out of the greenhouse. Six
different seedling materials; pure peat moss, pure bagasse, bagasse mixed with soil at 1:1
and at 1:0.5 by weight, bagasse mixed with soil and rice-straw biochar at 1:1:0.5 and at
1:0.5:0.5 by weight, were also investigated in the greenhouse. The experimental results
showed that using one cooling pad could reduce inside temperature with an averagetemperature different of 2.5 Celsius while using three cooling pads could reduce insidetemperature with an average temperature different of 5 Celsius. The air circulation system
also affected the temperature distribution inside the greenhouse and could control thetemperature inside the prototype. The seedling material which was prepared from bagasse
mixed with soil; at a mixing ratio of 1:0.5 by weight, allowed marigold seedling to grow themost in the same experiment period.
Keywords geenhouse, marigold seedling, cooling pad, evaporative cooling system,
heat transfer

INTRODUCTION
Global warming situations affect life on the world such as human, animals and plants. Many plants
are able to grow in certain ranges of temperatures. High ambient temperatures have affected on
annual plants which can grow from seeds and last for a year. Many researches paid attentions on
adjusting temperatures to suit seedlings and growing of plants. One of many tools to controlⒸ ISERD

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suitable temperatures for seedlings and growing of plants was a greenhouse; where sunlight can go
through a structure of the greenhouse, humidity and temperature inside the greenhouse can be
adjusted by heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
Marigold is one of many flowers in Thailand which is used in many occasions such ascelebrating for our beloved King Rama 9, worshipping in Buddhist traditions, etc. Varied ambient
temperatures also affect seedling and growing rates of marigold because Marigold growing in
Thailand prefers surrounding temperatures between 14.5 to 28.6 Celsius (Wongput 2001), quite
low temperatures compared with global-warming ambient temperatures in Thailand. Taylor et al.
(2013) grew 14-day-old marigold (Tagetes erecta L. 'Inca Gold') seedlings on a greenhouse bench
to document the occurrence of nitrification in Pine tree substrate (PTS) and to determine if
nitrification and density of nitrifying microorganisms were affected by substrate storage time andlime and peat amendments. Bridgen (2015) proposed UV-C light treatments as a plant growth
regulator in seedlings of annual plants such as African marigold and French marigold. He claimed
that the use of UV-C irradiation as the novel low-cost technique could provide tremendous benefits
for the environment by reducing pesticide applications to plants. Randall and Lopez (2015) alsostudied and compared seedlings; vinca, impatiens, geranium, petunia, and French marigold, grownunder low greenhouse ambient light (AL) to those grown under supplemental lighting (SL) or solesource photosynthetic lighting (SSL) with a similar photosynthetic daily light integral (DLI). They
found that height of marigold was 7% to 19% shorter, for seedlings grown under SSL comparedwith those under AL and SL. Pramuanjaroenkij et al. (2015) studied fluid flow in Red Oak
hydroponics systems to create 4 prototypes of the hydroponics systems inside a greenhouse for ahousehold application with initial conditions as low investment cost and easy installation. Olberg
and Lopez (2016) found that all plants were delayed when grown outdoors compared with in thehigh tunnel, and all marigolds grown outdoors died in April of the Midwestern United States when
outdoor air temperatures dropped below −4 °C, growers must be aware of the risk of crop loss due
to extreme temperatures and plan for delays when growing annual bedding plant crops outdoors.
Pramuanjaroenkij et al. (2017) studied the turbulent flow of the nutrient solution which affected thegrowth of Red Oaks in four hydroponic systems inside a greenhouse; the greenhouse was proved tohelp adjusting the temperatures inside the greenhouse. Owen et al. (2017) revealed that the overall
trends indicated in most cases as the percent PWC increases, pH increases and electricalconductivity (EC) decreases while plant shoot growth was often as large in fresh PWC-grownplants compared to aged.
OBJECTIVE
This work was aimed to build a low-cost controlled temperature greenhouse prototype to control
temperatures to sow marigold seedlings. The greenhouse prototype was constructed locally andexperimentally investigated for temperature distributions inside the prototype to sow marigold
seedlings. We also investigated suitable marigold for six different seedling materials in thegreenhouse with high humidity air because of evaporated water from the cooling pad system.
METHODOLOGY(1)A greenhouse structure was designed and locally built. (2) A clear UV reducing plastic sheet
was cut and covered the greenhouse structure. (3) Temperatures of the greenhouse and environment
were measured by an infrared temperature measurement camera to find natural temperature
distributions. (4) A temperature control set was fabricated by connecting a thermocouple, atemperature controller and a relay. The relay was used to switch on and off two ventilating fan; one
fan was equipped on the top part of the greenhouse to reject the heat and moisture to theenvironment and another fan was installed opposite to a cooling pad set. (5) Two sets of coolingpads were installed and compared. The first set contained one cooling pad and another set
contained three cooling pads. (6) Twenty-three marigold seeds were put into six different seedlingmaterials mixing ratios by weight: pure peat moss, pure bagasse, bagasse mixed with soil at of 1:1Ⓒ ISERD

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and 1:0.5 by weight, bagasse mixed with soil and rice-straw biochar at mixing ratios of 1:1:0.5 and
1:0.5:0.5 by weight. And (7) Three seedling investigations were studied in three consecutive
periods (14 days per period) to conclude the current study. Germination rates of marigold seedlings
from these materials were obtained and compared while temperatures inside and outside thegreenhouse were measure 3 times a day; 9am, 12.45pm and 7pm.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A greenhouse was locally built as a length of 2.1 m., a width of 1.8 m. and a height of 3.1 m. andwas covered with clear UV reducing plastic. The self-built greenhouse was placed in theenvironment, the temperatures of the greenhouse and environment were measured by an infrared
temperature measurement camera to find natural temperature distributions. At the beginning, one
cooling pad set was installed and the first temperature distribution was observed as shown in Fig. 1that high temperature humid air was accumulated on the top of the greenhouse and opposite of thecooling pad. The temperature control set (Fig. 2) was linked with both fans inside the greenhouseand the thermocouple was positioned in the middle of the greenhouse to measure insidetemperatures; if the measured temperatures were higher than our set value or 25 Celsius, both fanswere switched on and off when the measured temperatures were lower than the set value. To reduce
temperatures inside the greenhouse, one cooling pad and three cooling pads were connected withthe cooling system and compared, we found that the more pads the lower temperatures, as well as,
the higher humidity. High humidity could cause fungi to grow inside the greenhouse; as we avoided
too high humidity, three pad were kept as the maximum number. Six different seedling materials
were prepared and 23 marigold seeds were put into six seedling materials; 15 holes for eachmaterial. Three experiments were carried on consequently, 14 days for each experiment. During
each experiment, temperatures and humidity of humid air both outside and inside the greenhousewere measured three times a day; minimum and maximum different temperatures and relative
humidity percentage of humid air both outside and inside the greenhouse were detailed in Table 1
according to measuring times during three months in 2017. We noticed that the highest temperatureand humidity were in April 2017, the middle month in Summer of Thailand.

Fig. 1 The greenhouse and temperature distributions

Fig. 2 The temperature control setⒸ ISERD

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Table 1 Minimum and maximum different temperatures (Celsius) and relative humidity
percentage (%RH) of humid air both outside and inside the greenhouse
9 am
1st
test

2nd
test

3rd
test

'Tmin
1.4°C
on
Mar.
11th
2.4°C
on
Mar.
29th
0.5°C
on
May
13th

'Tmax
8.3°C
on
Mar.
18th
8.8°C
on
Apr.
4th
8.4°C
on
May
6th

7 pm

12.45 pm'%RHmin'%RHmax

1 on
Mar.
17th

14 on
Mar. 12th

0 on
Mar.
31th

48 on
Apr. 6th

4 on
May
12th

28 on
May 2nd

'Tmin
1.1°C
on
Mar.
19th
2.0°C
on
Mar.
29th
2.1°C
on
May
7th

'Tmax
7.9°C
on
Mar.
16th
9.9°C
on
Apr.
5th
7.4°C
on
May
5th

'%RHmin'%RHmax

1 on
Mar.
20th

19 on
Mar.
13th

7 on
Apr. 4th

56 on
Apr. 5th

1 on
May
13th

24 on
May 6th

'Tmin
1°C
on
Mar.
12th
1.6°C
on
Mar.
29th
3.3°C
on
May
rd th
3 ,4

'Tmax
4.9°C
on
Mar.
22nd
5.8°C
on
Apr.
9th
5.3°C
on
May
2nd

'%RHmin'%RHmax

1 on
Mar.
12th

22 on
Mar.
23th

5 on
Mar.
31th

60 on
Apr. 9th

3 on
May 6th

42 on
Apr. 30th

Figures 3, 4 and 5 showed average outside and inside temperatures of the greenhouse in March,
April and May, respectively. We found that the average inside temperature of the greenhouse in themorning (9am) in May was the lowest inside temperature among temperatures in threeexperimental periods, the inside temperatures varied from 23 to 35 Celsius, the lowest and highest
average different temperatures between outside and inside greenhouse was about 1.4 Celsius and8.3 Celsius, respectively. The average inside temperature of the greenhouse at noon (12.40pm) in
March was the highest inside temperature among temperatures in three experimental periods, theinside temperatures varied from 29 to 38 Celsius, the lowest and highest average different
temperatures between outside and inside greenhouse was about 1.1 Celsius and 7.9 Celsius,
respectively.

Fig. 3 The outside and inside temperature of the greenhouse in March
We noted that our greenhouse, which was cooled by evaporative refrigeration, contained highrelative humidity. Seedling materials, which was suitable inside this specific greenhouse, must
function well in the high humidity atmosphere. Among three different experimental periods, thefirst set of seedlings in any seedling materials, which were placed inside the greenhouse, could
germinate out of their seedling materials in the same day on the fourth day of marigolds planting.
The highest amount of seedlings germinated out from the bagasse mixed with soil at mixing ratiosof 1:0.5 by weight. The bagasse mixed with soil at mixing ratios of 1:0.5 by weight showed its
potential in growing marigold seedlings inside the greenhouse while the marigold seedlings indifferent seedling materials, which were placed outside the greenhouse, were damaged by pest
animals and less seedlings could germinate out of the materials than those of the materials inside
the greenhouse. Therefore, the bagasse mixed with soil at mixing ratios of 1:0.5 by weightgreenhouse could be applied as the seedling material which suited to the high humidity atmosphereoccurred by the evaporative refrigeration. Another greenhouse utilization found in this study was thegreenhouse could protect seedlings, plants and their seedling materials from pest animal damages.
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We summarized costs of the greenhouse structure, plastic cover, simple temperature control
set and three cooling pad set including a water circulating pump, and we found the cost of ourgreenhouse at $4 per square meter. From our survey, the estimating cost of the greenhouse building
in US was $55.56 per square meter (HomeAdvisor, Inc. 2017) or $19.45 per square meter as we
estimated Thai construction cost at 65% lower than the American construction cost (Neal and
Rawlinson 2014). The cost of the current greenhouse installed with the cooling pad andtemperature control sets or $4 per square meter was lower than the estimated greenhouse cost or$19.45 per square meter about 79%.

Fig. 4 The outside and inside temperature of the greenhouse in April

Fig. 5 The outside and inside temperature of the greenhouse in May
CONCLUSION
This study was aimed to study and develop a closed controlled greenhouse. Evaporative coolingsystem was chosen as the greenhouse cooling system. The evaporative cooling system consisted ofcooling pads (where water was circulated and received heat from the greenhouse), water pumps(which were used to circulate the water) and ventilation fans (one fan was placed near the cooling
pad to draft inside air to pass the cooling pads and another fan was placed at the top of thegreenhouse roof to release hot air out of the greenhouse). The temperature control set could control
operation of the evaporative cooling system and the system could reduce inside greenhousetemperatures down with an average temperature difference (between inside and outside greenhousetemperatures) of 5 Celsius. There were six different seedling materials which were investigated, 23
marigold seeds were put into these six different seedling materials in each experiment period; 15
seedling holes for each material. Six different seedling materials were prepared from 1) peat moss,
2) bagasse mixed with soil at mixing ratios of 1:1 by weight, 3) bagasse mixed with soil at mixing
ratios of 1:0.5 by weight, 4) bagasse mixed with soil and rice-straw biochar at mixing ratios of
1:1:0.5 by weight, 5) bagasse mixed with soil and rice-straw biochar at mixing ratios of 1:0.5:0.5
by weight and 6) only bagasse. The air circulation system also affected the temperature distribution
inside the greenhouse and could control the temperature inside the greenhouse. The seedlingⒸ ISERD

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material which was prepared from bagasse mixed with soil; at a mixing ratio of 1:0.5 by weight,
allowed marigold seedling to grow the most in the same experiment period. Marigold seedlinggerminated the first set in every seedling material at the same day (the fourth day of the planting
periods). The greenhouse could also protect the Marigold sprouts from pest animals because thesprouts grown outside the greenhouse were damaged by pest animals. The bagasse mixed with soil;
at a mixing ratio of 1:0.5 by weight as the marigold seedling material revealed its function andpotential in the high humidity atmosphere because the evaporative cooling system, which appliedcooling pads, generated a lot of water vapor causing high humidity atmosphere. The construction
cost of the current designed greenhouse was $4 per square meter which was an affordable cost forfarmers, the current greenhouse with the temperature control set was suitable as a household
greenhouse, simple in design and construction as well as easy to maintenance and develop tosustain the greenhouse application in the rural area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank all students who participated in this value work; Taradon Panochit, Piphon
Kieochaum, Anirut Klangbunrueang, Kitisak Pathumwan, Ratchaneekorn Ponsukkhua, Nattaporn
Phanwong. This work was financially supported by Faculty of Science and Engineering, Researchgroup titled Thermo-Fluid, Material Chemistry and Technology and Kasetsart University Researchand Development Institute of Kasetsart University.
REFERENCES
Bridgen, M. 2015. Using ultraviolet-c light as a plant growth regulator, Acta Horticulturae, 1085, 167-169.
HomeAdvisor Inc. How much will your project cost? www.homeadvisor.com/cost/outdoor-living/build-agreenhouse (retrived on December 17, 2017).
Neal and Rawlinson. 2014 international construction cost report. ARCADIS, Design & Consultancy fornatural and built assets.
Olberg, M.W. and Lopez, R.G. 2016. High tunnel and outdoor production of containerized annual bedding
plants in the Midwestern United States. HortTechnology, 26 )5(, 651-656.
Owen, W.G., Jackson, B.E. and Fonteno, W.C. 2017. Pine wood chip aggregates for greenhouse substrates,
Effect of age on plant growth. Acta Horticulturae, 1168, 269-276.
Pramuanjaroenkij, A., Dabut, N., Sutti, S. and Sanboon, A. 2017. The study of turbulent nutrient solution
flows in difference. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 866, 88-91.
Pramuanjaroenkij, A., Naiyanart, S., Hinthong, P. and Sanbun, A. 2015. The study of fluid flows in differencehydroponics system arrangements. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 804, 267-270.
Randall, W.C. and Lopez, R.G. 2015. Comparison of bedding plant seedlings grown under sole-source lightemitting diodes )LEDs( and greenhouse supplemental lighting from LEDs and high-pressure sodium
lamps. HortScience, 50 )5(, 705-713.
Taylor, L.L., Niemiera, A.X., Wright, R.D., Evanylo, G.K. and Thomason, W.E. 2013. Nitrification in pinetree substrate is influenced by storage time and amendments. HortScience, 48 )1(, 115-122.
Wongput, N. 2001. Study on the interaction of day-length and growth regulators on flowering of white
Marigolds )Tagetes erecta L.(. M.Sc. Thesis, Crop Production Technology, Suranaree University ofTechnology, Thailand.

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Research article
erdStrength Characteristics of Stabilized Soils Containing
Bamboo Fiber Extracted by Steam Explosion
FUTOSHI KANAWA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: fk205262@nodai.ac.jp
Received 10 February 2018

Accepted 18 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Construction work and materials depend mostly on earth resources. A sustainable
recycling-oriented society becomes possible only when technologies for recycling as well
as for energy conservation in construction are disseminated and when untapped natural
resources are effectively utilized. In this paper, applicability of natural fibers for the soil
stabilization technique was examined. Especially, this paper focuses on bamboo fiber
extracted by steam explosion, which technique is capable to produce thin and flexible fibers
from raw bamboo. In order to understanding the mechanical properties of soil mixed withbamboo fiber produced by steam explosion, unconfined compression tests were conducted.
As a result of unconfined compression tests, following findings are obtained. (1) The
addition of bamboo fiber to cohesive soil helps to increase the unconfined compression
strength of the soil. Moreover, the addition of bamboo fiber to soil helps to increase thetoughness of the soil. (2) An increase in the mix ratio of bamboo fiber results in a change inthe failure mode of test specimens. In addition, at a mix ratio by weight of 0.4% or higher,
specimens did not occur shear failure, but instead broke such as to become barrel-shaped.
(3) The deformation coefficient of the soil mixed with bamboo fiber is similar to thedeformation coefficient of cohesive soil containing no bamboo fiber. The addition ofbamboo fiber does not affect deformation properties.
Keywords bamboo fiber, steam explosion, soil stabilization, unconfined compressive test

INTRODUCTION
Construction work and materials depend mostly on earth resources. A sustainable recyclingoriented society becomes possible only when technologies for recycling as well as for energy
conservation in construction are disseminated and when untapped natural resources are effectively
utilized. The effective utilization of soft soil in situ and of soil generated as a byproduct ofconstruction is realized by adding short-fiber materials to such soil in order to improve its
mechanical properties (Gowthaman, 2018). This soil stabilization technique differs from those thatutilize solidifying material, in that the addition of short-fiber materials has little effect on drainage
and plant growth. Thus, this technique is expected to be applied to vegetation beds (Miki, 1994;
Masuysms, 2012). It is known that mixing of polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene or vinylon
fibers with soil helps to improve the toughness, strength and erosion resistance of the soil. Those
reinforced soils have been already applied to materials that cover embankment slopes and to
roadbeds on soft ground. For example, Sato et al. (1998) examined the applicability of vinylon
fiber as material for subgrade soil improvement. That research found the following: Adding fiber
materials to subgrade soil increased the unconfined compression strength, California Bearing Ratio
and resilient modulus; the effectiveness of soil improvement varies depending on the type andmoisture content of the subgrade soil as well as on the shape of fibers; and long, thin fibers are
effective when fiber is added to soft subgrade soil. As mentioned above, the majority of theresearch on improving slope stability and bearing capacity addresses chemical fibers, and researchutilizing natural fibers is limited (Dipika, 2016). For example, Otsubo et al. (2014) examined theerosion resistance of a revegetation bed on a slope to which bamboo fiber was applied. TheⒸ ISERD

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findings of that research included the benefits and application methods of bamboo fiber, but no
mechanical assessment of bamboo fiber application was conducted.
Bamboo has been utilized as a useful natural resource in Japan. However, because bamboo has
been increasingly replaced by plastic, demand for domestic bamboo has significantly declined andmany bamboo forests have been left unmanaged. Bamboo grows fast and is expected to be used asa renewable resource. Techniques for the effective use of bamboo need to be developed. Bamboo is
known for its high tensile strength. In the past, concrete reinforced with bamboo members wasdeveloped. Bamboo-reinforced concrete is drawing renewed attention as a material for aseismic
reinforcement (Terai, 2012). The use of bamboo as a construction material has also been examined.
In this paper, applicability of natural fibers for the soil stabilization technique was examined.
Especially, this paper focuses on bamboo fiber extracted by steam explosion, which technique iscapable to produce thin and flexible fibers from the raw bamboo. In order to understanding themechanical properties of soil mixed with bamboo fiber produced by steam explosion, unconfinedcompression tests were conducted.
METHODOLOGY
Production of Bamboo Fiber
Bamboo fiber was extracted by steam explosion. This technique is said to have been developed by
Mason in the 1920s for producing pulp used for wood fiberboard. In this technique, material issteamed by using high-temperature, high-pressure saturated water vapor in a pressurized vessel fora given length of time. When the steamed material is suddenly re-exposed to air at normal
atmospheric pressure, condensed moisture in the material evaporates to cause explosive volumetric
expansion. As a result, the material is crushed. This fiber extraction technique has the following
characteristics: The material structure can be crushed from within; the technique utilizes water
vapor alone and no chemicals, so no wastewater disposal is required; and mechanical crushing andchemical treatment by steaming can be done simultaneously. The steam explosion machine used inthis study is shown in Photo 1. When bamboo fibers are extracted, the properties of the fibers varydepending on the predetermined conditions of steam explosion. The length and flexibility of fibers
need to be considered when bamboo fibers are extracted for mixing with soil. In this study, thesteam pressure was 1.5 MPa, the steaming time was 30 minutes, and the fiber length was 25 mm.
On the basis of the preliminary test results, these steam explosion conditions were determined toensure the production of bamboo fibers flexible enough to be easily mixed with soil. The fiber
length was adjusted by cutting the raw bamboo to a predetermined length. Photo 2 shows thebamboo fiber that was created by steam explosion in this study.

Photo 1 Steam explosion machine

Photo 2 Bamboo fiber obtained by steam explosion

Water Absorption Test for Bamboo Fiber
Soil strength properties vary according to the moisture content of soil. Because bamboo has a high
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water absorption rate, the production of specimens for unconfined compression tests needs to takethe water absorption rate into account. For this purpose, water absorption tests of bamboo wereconducted. The water absorption rate was defined as the ratio of the absorbed moisture to the dry
mass of bamboo. In a water absorption test, a specimen was immersed in water for a predetermined
period of time. Then the bamboo surface was wiped with a cloth, and the bamboo mass wasmeasured. This process was repeated until the bamboo mass reached a predetermined value. Whenthe predetermined bamboo mass was obtained, the specimen was oven-dried and its dry mass wasmeasured. The water absorption test was conducted six times. The test results indicate that bamboo
fiber absorbs water immediately upon immersion in water and that prolonged immersion does not
significantly increase the bamboo mass thereafter. The mean value of water absorption rate for thebamboo used in this study was 42.2%, and the variation coefficient was 8.00%. Based on the water
absorption rate of 42.2%, the water content of the soil used in the tests described below was
adjusted.
Soil Properties and Unconfined Compression Test
The soil for stabilization in the tests is a cohesive soil called “Kanto loam”, which is a kind of
volcanic ash soil. With the aim of understanding the physical properties of the cohesive soil, a sieve
analysis test, a density test of soil particle, a compaction test, a liquid limit test, and a plastic limit
test were performed. Each of these soil tests was conducted in accordance with The Japanese
Geotechnical Society: Soil Tests (JGS, 2010). The tests found the fine fraction content to be 46.0%,
the soil particle density to be 2.70 g/cm3, the liquid limit to be 68.5 %, and the plastic limit to be
56.7%. Fig.1 shows a moisture density curve. The maximum dry density of the cohesive soil ρdmax
is 1.35 g/cm3, and the optimum water content wopt is 34.6%.

Dry Density ρd [g/cm3]

1.40
1.36

Zero void ratio curve

ρdmax

1.32

1.28
1.24

wopt

1.20
25

30

35
40
45
Water content w [%]50

Fig. 1 Moisture density curve
The unconfined compression test was conducted by using specimens whose moisture content
was adjusted to be optimum moisture content (wopt). The mix mass ratios of bamboo fibers were0%, 0.3%, 0.4%, and 0.5%. Six specimens were used for each mix ratio. The unconfinedcompression test was performed with reference to The Japanese Geotechnical Society: Soil Tests(JGS, 2010).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Figure 2 shows the test results in terms of compressive stress-strain curves. These curves
demonstrate that after a unconfined compressive strength has been attained, compressive stress ismaintained for soil that contains bamboo fiber, while that is not the case for soil containing nobamboo fiber. This result suggests that the addition of bamboo fiber to soil helps to increase theⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

200

150

No.1

No.2

No.3

No.4

No.5

No.6

100
50
0

0.0

2.0

4.0
6.0
8.0
Compressive Strain [%]Compressive Stress [kN/m2]

Compressive Stress [kN/m2]

toughness of the soil. It is also seen that the toughness of soil increases with increase in the mix
ratio of bamboo fiber.
200

No.1

No.2

No.3

No.4

No.5

No.6

50
0
2.0

4.0
6.0
8.0
Compressive Strain [%]

No.6

4.0
6.0
8.0
Compressive Strain [%]

10.0

50

0
0.0

2.0

(b) Mix ratio of 0.3%

100

0.0

No.4

No.5

100

10.0

10.0

Compressive Stress [kN/m2]

Compressive Stress [kN/m2]

150

No.2

No.3
150

(a) Mix ratio of 0.3%
200

No.1

200

No.1
No.3
No.5

150

No.2
No.4
No.6

100
50
0
0.0

2.0

4.0
6.0
8.0
Compressive Strain [%]10.0(c) Mix ratio of 0.4%(d) Mix ratio of 0.5%
Fig. 2 Compressive stress-strain curves
Table 1 shows the test results in terms of the unconfined compressive strength anddeformation modulus. As shown in Table 1, the unconfined compressive strength increases fromthe addition of bamboo fiber to soil. The variation coefficient of unconfined compression strengthis 11.0% when the mix ratio is 0.0%, while the variation coefficient at other mix ratios is 18.0%.
This result likely owes to the heterogeneous property of the soil mixed with bamboo fiber, which
points to the need for examining methods of mixing bamboo fiber with soil more uniformly. The
deformation coefficients calculated by using the data shown in Fig.2. As shown in Table 1, thedeformation coefficient for the soil mixed with bamboo fiber is similar to the deformation
coefficient for the original soil containing no bamboo fiber. This result suggests that the uniformity
in mechanistic deformation is ensured in the soil mixed with bamboo fiber. Thus, it is not necessary
to give special consideration to the possible effects of bamboo fiber on deformation when
designing the earth structure.
Table 1 The results of unconfined compression tests
Mix mass ratios of bamboo fibers [%]2

The unconfined compressive strength qu [kN/m ]Failure strain [%]Deformation modulus E50 [MN/m2]Ⓒ ISERD

159

0.0

0.3

0.4

0.5

94.6
2.4
4.9

129.1
3.3
4.9

125.2
3.2
4.8

137.8
3.3
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Photo 3 shows the failures of the specimens after the tests. The specimens whose bamboo
fiber mix ratio was 0.0% or 0.3% were occurred shear failure, and specimens whose bamboo fiber
mix ratio was 0.4% or 0.5% were occurred breakage that produced barrel-shaped specimens. The
shear failure surface of a specimen containing bamboo fiber at a mix ratio of 0.3% is shown in Phot.
4. In the photograph, a bamboo fiber spans the shear failure surface. No bamboo fibers were broken
during the tests. Thus, it is said that the pull-out resistance of bamboo fibers works against shear
failure and helps to prevent brittle failure. In the case of higher bamboo fiber content (e.g., 0.4% or0.5%), it is presumed that the large failure resistance caused the failure mode to be barrel-shaped
failure instead of shear failure. This suggests that the toughness of subgrade soil increases from theaddition of bamboo fiber. It can be said that soil mixed with bamboo fiber is adequate as a soil
improvement material that is applicable to pavement subgrade which needs to have good bearing
capacity and durability.

bamboo fiber(a) Shear failure(b) Barrel-shaped failure

Photo 3 Failure of specimens after
the compression test

Photo 4 Shear failure surface of a specimen
containing bamboo fiber

CONCLUSION
In this study, applicability of bamboo fibers extracted by steam explosion for the soil stabilization
technique was examined. In order to understanding the mechanical properties of soil mixed withbamboo fiber produced by steam explosion, unconfined compression tests were conducted. The
major findings of this study are as described below.
(1) That the addition of bamboo fiber to cohesive soil helps to increase the unconfined compression
strength of the soil. Moreover, the addition of bamboo fiber to soil helps to increase the toughnessof the soil.
(2) An increase in the mix ratio of bamboo fiber results in a change in the failure mode of test
specimens. Then, at a mix ratio by weight of 0.4% or higher, specimens did not occur shear failure,but instead broke such as to become barrel-shaped.
(3) The deformation coefficient of the soil mixed with bamboo fiber is similar to the deformation
coefficient of cohesive soil containing no bamboo fiber. The addition of bamboo fiber does notaffect deformation properties. Thus, uniformity of mechanical deformation is ensured.
REFERENCES
Dipika, D. and Boken, J. 2016. Shear strength behaviour of bamboo fiber reinforced soil. International
Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, India, 3, 433-437.
Gowthaman, S., Nakashima, K. and Kawasaki, S. 2018. A State-of-the-Art review on soil reinforcement
technology using natural plant fiber materials, Past findings, present trends and future directions.
Materials, 11, 553.
Mason, W.H. 1926. Process and apparatus for disintegration of wood and the like. US Patent: 1578609, USA.
Masuysms, H., Saito, Y., Ishihara, M., Sasaki, T. and Mori, H. 2012. Experimental study of erosionⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

resistance and applicability to vegetation of short fiber reinforced soil mixture. Journal of Japan Societyof Civil Engineers. Ser. B1, Hydraulic Engineering, 68, 4, I_1129-I_1134.
Miki, H., Hayashi, Y., Mori, K. and Katsu, N. 1994. Development of fiber-Reinforced soils and its
application to practical use. Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, 42, 11-16.
Outsubo, M., Sugimoto, H., Furuno, H. and Higashi, T. 2014. Resistance to erosion of bamboo fiber as aslope greening substrat. Sci. Bull. Fac. Agr., Kyushu Univ., 69, 47-54.
Sato, H., Kuriyagawa, Y. and Akiba S. 1998. Evaluation applicability of fiber as subgrade improving
material. Journal of Pavement Engineering, 3, 129-138.
Terai, M. and Minami, K. 2012. Research and development on bamboo reinforced concrete structure.
Proceedings of 15th WCEE.
The Japanese Geotechnical Society, 2010, Soil test. Maruzen, Japan.

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Research article
erd

The Effectiveness of Different Net-coverings on Production
Yield of Chinese mustard (Brassica juncea) at Royal
University of Agriculture
SOTH HONG *Department of Agricultural Engineering, GDA/MAFF, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Email: hongmorhousoth@yahoo.com

LYTOUR LOR
Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

BORARIN BUNTONGDivision of Research and Extension, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

SOCHEATH TONGDivision of Research and Extension, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

KAREN LEGRAND
Safe Vegetable Value Chain in Cambodia, University of California Davis, USA
Received 4 January 2018

Accepted 18 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Cambodia, among other nations in South East Asia, is a developing country that
relies on its agricultural sector. More than 70% of the population farms rice is a staple cropand vegetables as a secondary crop for domestic demand and consumption. In 2013,
Cambodia produced only 40-50% of the domestic demand for vegetables and the shortage
was filled by imported vegetables from neighboring countries including Vietnam andThailand. The shortage is caused by a number of factors including that vegetables arecultivated in small quantities and farmers lack funds to support improvements in crop
cultivation that are necessary to address climate change, poor irrigation systems, disease
outbreaks, and particularly crop destruction by pests. For instance, in 2016 crops in someprovinces of Cambodia were damaged by Spodpter spp. Other insects also cause crop
destruction which prompts farmers to change chemical pesticides to control additional pests.
Using chemical methods to control the variety of pests that destroy Cambodian crops is nota viable long-term solution because it affects the health of both producers and consumers,
the environment, and the microorganisms that are useful for cultivating high quality crops.
The net-house is an installation structure using high quality mosquito netting that tolerates
weather. It is suitable for growing vegetables and other crops because it creates a barrier
between pests and crops to prevent damage. Using a net-house is an effective way to reduce
pesticide use in vegetable production. It is also reported that net-houses have other benefits
such as preventing weeds, reducing soil moisture loss, depleting sunlight, increasing yields
and providing safe food. This research study has two aims (1) to assess the effects ofdifferent shapes of net-houses on growth and yield of Chinese mustard, and (2) to study the
economic efficiency of growing Chinese mustard in differently designed net-houses.
Experiments were conducted in triplicate using Randomized Complete Block Design.
Treatments included standard net-house, covered-ridge net-house and open field as acontrol. Analysis revealed that using net houses increased the yield and economic efficiencyof growing Chinese mustard and that the degree of benefit was affected by the design of the
net house. Based on the results, recommendations are made about the most suitable method
for growing high quality, pesticide-free Chinese mustard.
Keywords net-house, IPM, humidity, soil erosion, Chinese mustardⒸ ISERD

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INTRODUCTION
Cambodia is a country located in tropical region with a monsoon wind, which is separated into themain two seasons: dry season and rainy season from May to October, and the dry season from
November to April. This climate conditions that cause the cultivation of almost all types of crops
grow well. Especially, most of vegetables commonly cultivated in lowland areas along rivers andother lowland areas. In that, vegetable crops with short harvesting time, such as mustard, are also
cultivated. Due to the increase in demand for vegetables, local farmers cannot supply to import
vegetables from neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, etc. These causes urge farmers
to find ways to produce high-yield vegetables. The population is growing rapidly, which is why
food demand is increasing every year. To solve these problems, scientists and technicians have
tried to study new techniques to increase food production to meet daily needs (Nai, 2005).
Many of these foods, such as rice, wheat, corn, beans, sesame, and all kinds of vegetables,
including Chinese mustard is a crucial crop to the people, Cambodian prefer to grow and take it asa vegetable to eat, or take it to cook for food and as supported substances such as protein, vitamins
and other minerals and has been widely grew in all of Cambodia, especially along the river andother provinces. Farmers often grow as small and medium scale to supply families and markets
with no technical limitations to increase yields. As a researcher for Chinese mustard grows welland no pests destroy and get better yields, we have to practice which techniques are relatively easy
to spend little bit and get high yields to apply these techniques to farmers and to make their family
life better (Chanchhaya, 2006).
The Net-house is an installation, which be built with large surface of net that allows plants togrow well and be environmentally-controlled to allow for better plant growth. In addition, the nethouse has many roles: reduce weed, reduce the loss of soil moisture, reduces soil erosion, prevent
sunlight, reduces the damaging as strong winds, increase yield and food safety to reduce soil
erosion, and it is easy to harvest crops, use of nets is a good way to reduce the use of pesticides in
the production of vegetable crops (Dany, 2010).
Chinese mustard is a type of vegetable that prefers to grow and eat because it has many
benefits and is a crop that is resistant to hot and rainy those have same to the type of variety. In
addition, Chinese mustard has no longevity of cultivation, farmers are often grown in vegetablegardens, family or farm produce for marketing in all seasons. Chinese mustard is a leafy vegetablethat can contribute to the nutritional content and can be processed according to the need forcooking, or boiling and mixing with other vegetables or eating raw shoots of young leaves, as wellas pickled mustard. Besides, it can be extracted deliciously and dried so that it can be stored for along time. On the other hand, about 20-30% of Chinese mustard seeds can be refined as cooking oil
and good quality (Vanarith, 2005).
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this experiment were (1) to assess the effects of different shapes of net-houses on
growth and yield of Chinese mustard and (2) to study the economic efficiency of growing Chinesemustard in differently designed net-houses.
METHODOLOGYThe Chinese mustard grown in front faculty of Agricultural Engineering in Royal University ofAgriculture, Cambodia, in two seasons, rainy and dry season during academic year 2016-2017. The
experiment was designed in a randomized block design with selection two models of net use andoutside as Control. There were 3 treatments in this experiment as shown in Table 1 below. For eachtreatment was done in three replicates of which one plot containing 3 m2 (1 m x 3 m) and all plotsof this experiment were 27 m2.

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Treatment- 1.T1: Opened-type (Control treatment)- 2.T2: Net-house (7 m x 4.50 m x 3.40 m)- 3.T3: Cover-bed net (3 m x 1 m x 1.5 m)

Fig. 1 Net-house

Fig. 2 Covered-bed net
After 12 days of germination stage, Chinese mustard plants were transplanted with a distanceof 0.01 m u 0.01 m between rows and plants, respectively.
The Chinese mustard plant soil was sandy silt, pH 7, humus 0.8, containing total Nitrogen(0.21%), total Phosphorous (0.08%), total Potassium (0.90%), total Carbon (0.156 mil/100 g soil),a C/N of 5, with Organic Matter 0.26% (GDA, 2016). Net-house has installed same size (7 m x
4.50 m x 3.40 m) with three net-house for three replicates on flat land located different places.
Covered-bed net has installed each bed with size (3 m u 1 m u 1.5 m) with three replicates to coveron each bed as well. The white net was used in this experiment and those were used same net for
all net-house with mesh (32*32). For outside, is conventional method that has no covering orControl treatment. Chinese mustard were harvested manually when they had reached proper stage
through cutting root, data collection was determined on number of insects, weight of weed, branchof plants, leaf area, weight per plant, and total weights. On economic analysis was determined ongross profit that took from calculation of total income minus total cost of Chinese mustard
production. Below were some formulas to calculate economic cost in Chinese mustard production.
Formula GP=TI – TC, and
TC=TFC + TVC
Where: GP = Gross profit (US$)
TI = Total income (US$)
TC = Total cost (US$)
TFC = Total fix cost (US$)
TVC = Total variable cost (US$) (Farris et al, 2010).
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Data as subjected to analyze of variance in Statistix 8 app. If interactions were significant, they weused explain the data. If interactions were not significant, means have separated with Tukey test.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Net-house and outside growing were determined in growth rate to analysis completely, as
result shown that each data in Table 2. In addition, ANOVA determined that Covered-bed, type ofgrowing and their two-way interactions had a significant effect on all measured characteristics ofChinese mustard interaction between different types of growing in net (Table 1).
Table 1 ANOVA table of Net-house Experiment on growing rate and total yield
S.O.V

Mean Square
Treatment
2.00
104.9311686.98
0.82
850.3888.94
1844.26
64.12

Replicate
2.00
0.39
1773.880.14
202.82
13.72
98.98
0.94

d.f
Insects (n/cm2)
Weeds (g)Branch/Plant
Leaf area (cm2)
Plant height (cm)Weight per plant (g)Total weight (t/ha)

Error
4.00
0.56
463.34
0.37
18.38
3.51
58.41
2.02

Total
8.00

CV (%)
4.55
23.91
6.11
3.50
7.16
10.89
10.59

Note: S.O.V. = Sources of Variance; d.f. =degree of freedom; CV. = coefficient of variance;ns, ***, **, * non-significant and significant at P≤ 0.001, P≤ 0.01 and P≤ 0.05 respectively

Table 2 Treatment of each replicates of chili yield and total yield characteristics
Treatments

23.28a13.44b
12.67c***186.730.0001
4.55

Total Weigh (t/ha)

T1
T2
T3
Meaning
F-valueP-valueCV

Insect(N/cm2)

Weigh ofweed
(g)113.69
90.08
66.27
ns
3.64
0.125723.91

Number ofleaf(N/plant)
9.39
10.24
10.33
ns
2.20
0.2268
6.11

Leaf
area
(cm2)
109.61c116.45b141.58a**46.26
0.00173.50

20Weigh perplant
(g/plant)
51.25c61.06b98.25a**31.57
0.0035
10.89

Weigh persquare meter(t/ha)
9.10c
12.90b
18.30a**32.07
0.0034
10.56

18.30
12.90

15
10

Plant
height(cm)
20.74c26.19b
31.63a**25.30
0.0054
7.16

9.10

5
0
Opened-Type

Net-house

Covered-Bed

Fig. 3 Total weight of all treatments in t/ha
For production cost, Chinese mustard production costs have calculated AVERAGE of total
weight per bed with 3 m2 (1 m x 3 m) through first and second season. At first season of Openedtype, Net-house, and Covered-ridge weights per bed are 2.97, 3.87, and 5.49 kg/bed. In the table
was separated costs into 2 types that were fixed cost and variable cost.
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Table 3 Production Cost Analysis on each treatment in dollars ($)
Production cost
Fixed cost (FC)
Irrigated tank(280 L)(5 years)
Water sprayer
Net (Mesh size=32)
Wood posts
Wood barBambooCable
Variable cost (VC)
Land preparation
Seeds or variety
Chemical fertilizer
Water for irrigation
Cow manure
Power tiller renting
Weed cleaning cost
Installation cost
Yields
WeightTotal cost (TC)
Include labor force
Not include labor force
Total income (TI)
ProfitInclude labor force
Not include labor force

FormulaOpened-type

Net house

Covered-ridge

20 $ / 5 years / 4 times / 3 places0.33330.33330.3333

3 $ / 3 years / 8 times
29.40 $ for small and139.93 $ for net
house (period 5years up and 8times)(9 post x 5 $) / 7 years / 8 times(13 bars x 5 $) /3 years / 8 times / 6 plots
3 $ / 2 years / 8 time
10 $ / 500 m / 8 times

0.375

0.375

0.375

-

0.58300.735

0.00250.08350.45
0.00250.18750.0025(5 $ / 162 m2) x (1 time)
1 $ / 2 times
40 $ / 50 kg / 5 times(35 days) x 3 L x 2 times x 0.5/1000
2.5 $ / 100 kg / 30 times
2.5 $ / 162 m2 / 1time(5 $ / 27 ridges) x 3 times(10 $ / 27ridges / 6 beds)

0.0102
0.5
0.16
0.105
0.00080.01540.5555-0.0102
0.5
0.16
0.105
0.00080.01540.5555
0.06170.0102
0.5
0.16
0.105
0.00080.01540.5555
0.0617

2.97

3.87

5.49

2.05780.55555.94003.88223.88225.38453.23600.61727.74004.50404.50407.12283.04200.6172
10.9800
7.93807.938010.3628(0.91 kg/m2, 1.29 kg/m2, 1.83 kg/m2) x 3

Price x kg (1 kg = 2 $)Total income (TI) - TC

On the result, number of insects shown that much insects treatment was T1=23.28 N/cm2, andleast insects was T3=12.67 N/cm2 which be used covered-bed net had a significant 0.1% with
CV=4.55% and P-value = 0.0001. For leaf area, the biggest size treatment was T3=141.38 cm2 andthe smallest size treatment was T1= 119.61 cm2 had a significant 1% with CV=3.50% and P-value= 0.0017. In addition, plant height of each treatment had a significant 1% with CV=7.16% and Pvalue = 0.0054 shown that the tallest treatment was T3=31.63 cm and the shortest treatment was
T1=20.74 cm. Also, weight per plant of each treatment had a significant 1% with CV=10.89% andP-value=0.0035, treatment which be heaviest was T3=98.25 g/plant and lightest treatments was
T1=51.25 g/plant. For weight per plant of each treatment had a significant 1% with CV=4.71%,
heaviest treatment of weight per plant was T2=129.85 g per plant and lightest weight per plant was
T0=95.45 g per plant. Furthermore, total weight of all treatments were significant 0.1% with
CV=10.56% and P-value = 0.0034, which be heaviest was T3 = 18.30 t/ha and lightest was T1 =9.10 t/ha. Otherwise, number of leaf and weight of weed were not significant.
Refer to data calculation in Table 3 was shown that income of each treatment are opened-type(US$ 5.94/bed), net house (US$ 7.74/bed), and covered-ridge is US$ 10.98/bed. In addition,
treatment which be more profit is T3 (US$ 7.93/bed), next is net-house (US$ 4.50) and lasttreatment is opened-type got US$ 3.88/bed.
According to compare on the growth rate of Chinese mustard (Table 2), we were recorded onsome data such as plant height, leaf area. ANOVA of these factors had shown that three factor were
not same on some reasons such as soil of experiment plots, closing net-house doors and wind flow.
Total weight had obtained by grower be good thing to get such weight of Chinese mustard, so
after ANOVA Table 2 and total weight of all treatments were significant 0.1% with CV=10.56%
and P-value = 0.0034, which be heaviest was T3 = 18.30 t/ha and lightest was T1 = 9.10 t/ha (Fig.
3). After this research, result observation was proved that some reasons can be good for this study
such as soil moisture on covered-bed treatment. we have observed some frogs and yellow tree frogsⒸ ISERD

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those are nearby covered-bed treatment. According optimal condition of frog lifecycle is shownthat proper humidity to live is 97.80% and temperature is 27.5 0C (Lannoo et al, 2005).
CONCLUSION
For the net-house and outside application in two seasons on Chinese mustard yield be effective andwell than another treatment no need net. It makes Chinese mustard grow well and obtain high yieldas well. Covered-bed application can keep humidity in soil, reduced pest on vegetable, reduce soil
erosion and prevent the crop from heavy rain and insects destroying. And according to the results,
where the criterion for net-house selection and its application rate is based on total yield as total
weight, then the following net regimes can be recommended: T3=18.30 t/ha stand for covered-bed
net-house was obtained highest yield and got highest profit (US$ 7.93 per bed) in this experimentand next suitable was T5=4.50 t/ha with profit was US$ 3.88 per bed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is a great opportunity for me to write about this subject like effectiveness of different net-houseon production yield of Chinese mustard at Royal University of Agriculture (RUA).
I acknowledge with gratitude to leader and leader assistant and Winrock Organization with
USAID, and Feed the Future had supported research fund for Pest Exclusive Net Trial project.
Especially, apart from me, this manuscript will certainly be immense importance for those who areinteresting to know about this subject. I hope they will find it comprehensible.
I have tried hard and soul to gather all relevant documents regarding this subject. I do notknow how far I am able to do that. Furthermore, I do not claim all the information in thismanuscript is included perfectly. There may be shortcoming, factual error, mistaken opinion which
are all mine and I alone am responsible for those but I will try to give a better volume in future.
REFERENCES
Chanchhaya, K., 2006. The comparison of organic fertilizers on Chinese mustard at crop station in Royal
University of Agriculture, Cambodia. Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia.
Dany, H., 2010. The comparison of four different Chinese kales in net-house, Royal University ofAgriculture, Cambodia.
Farris, P.W., Neil T., Bendle, P.E., Pfeifer., D.J. and Reibstein, 2010. The definitive guide to measuringmarketing performance, Upper saddle river, New Jersey, Person Education Inc, ISBN 0-13-705829-2.
Lannoo, M.J. 2005. The conservation status of the United States species. Berkeley and Los Angeles,
California, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-23592-4, 463-465.
MAFF Cambodia. 2016. Soil analysis results in the national agriculture laboratory. General Directorate ofAgriculture (GDA), Lab. ID 12/16, MAFF, Cambodia.
Nai, K. 2005. The efficiency of liquid compost fertilizers on Chinese mustard in Royal University ofAgriculture, Cambodia. Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia.
Vanarith, K., 2005. The comparison of compost fertilizer on Chinese mustard growth rate at Royal
University of Agriculture. Cambodia. Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia.

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Research article
erdFeasibility Study of Using Vermicompost Extract on Seed
Germination on Green Romaine (Lactuca sativa L. var.
Jericho) and Green Batavia (Lactuca sativa L. var.
Concept ) Lettuce
VITHIRAK HUYFaculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: vithirakhuy168@gmail.com

CHULEEMAS BOONTHAI IWAI*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: chuleemas1@gmail.com
Received 8 February 2018

Accepted 18 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Agriculture sector is under pressure in producing more foods in order to feed thegrowing population. Vegetable production is also the important part to solve the problem in
the agricultural market. Nowadays, organic productions are in demand in order to promotehealth awareness and food safety. Vermicompost extract is liquid biofertilizers which able
to boot up plant nutrients and plant productions. Thus, this study was conducted toinvestigate the effect of vermicompost extract on germination of green Romaine (Lactuca
sativa L. var. Jericho) and green Batavia (Lactuca sativa L.var. Concept) and to identify thetreatment which is suitable to enhance seed germination. The experiment was arranged in aComplete Randomized Design with 3 replications in the petri dish. The concentration ofvermicomposting extract was diluted to (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) to irrigate seeds. Seedgermination, root length, shoot length, seed vigor index, fresh weight, and dry weight were
measured after 13 days of seed germination. The seed germination percentage of green
Romaine and Batavia lettuce were significantly (p<0.05) increased up to (86-95%) and (8795%) when irrigated with 100% vermicomposting extract as compared to control. In
conclusion, using 100% vermicomposting extract as the nutrient source could enhanceseedling growth.
Keywords vermicomposting extract, seed germination, green Batavia lettuce and green
Romaine lettuce

INTRODUCTION
The food processing industries are one of the most essential activities in the agriculture market due
to rapid economic growth. During food processing, industries produce a huge amount of organics
waste such as food and vegetable. It has been observed that this organic waste can cause disease,
air pollutant and water pollutant. However, the waste contains organic and inorganic nutrients
which can recycle to use in the agricultural field. Therefore, eco-friendly and sustainable
technology are needed to manage organic waste. Many publications have been established thatorganic waste can be used and converted into humus as vermicomposting. It is an important sourcefor plant nutrients such as N, P, and K which can enhance the plant development (Garg and Gupta,
2011). Presently, more focus has been given to vermicomposting technique. This technology uses
the assistance of earthworm to stabilize the organic waste material and produce microorganism-richmedium that enhances the process of composting. After the vermicomposting, an aqueous extractof vermicompost may contain a series of bioactive molecules as well as microbial population which
may be enhanced during the production of extracts. For instance, mineral nutrients and biologically
active metabolite such as humic acid and plant regulators present in vermicompost would be
extracted during the brewing cycle and those compounds also improve root development, nutrientⒸ ISERD

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uptake, and plant growth (Ancuta et al., 2013). Moreover, Lettuce is one of the essential vegetables
in agricultural market; nevertheless, producers always supply a lot of chemical fertilizers which are
not friendly to the environment and human health since they apply over limited of chemicalfertilizer. Vermicompost extract is liquid organic fertilizer which also can boot up the lettuce
production as well as promote health awareness and food safety since the organic productions are
in demand in the market. Vermicompost extract has been studied for its effect on seed germination.
Several studies have assessed on vermicompost water extract on seed germination and seed growthof tomato and lettuce (Ancuta et al., 2013). Lazcano et al. (2010) demonstrated that vermicompost
extract can enhance seed germination maritime pine (Pinus pinas Ait). Ievinsh (2011) also reported
vermicompost extract treatment differently affect to seed germination, seedling growth
physiological of vegetable species. Esteban et al. (2017) also studied the effect of germination of
Saluyot (Corchorus olitorius). There are many studies focus on the effect of vermicompost extract
on seed germination but most of them conducted with different kinds of vegetables. Therefore, The
study “feasibility study of using vermicomposting extract on seed germination and seedling green
Romaine (Lactuca sativa L. var. Jericho) and green Batavia lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.var. Concept)”
will be raised to study in this paper.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this paper was to investigate the effect of vermicompost extract on seedgermination and seed performance of green Romaine (Lactuca sativa L. var. Jericho) and green
Batavia lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.var Concept) and to identify the treatment which is suitable toenhance seed germination.
METHODOLOGY
Vermicomposting Preparation
Vermicomposting was prepared with the reference (Iwai, 2011). The substrate of vermicompost
was composed of soil, cow manure, rice husk ash, vegetable in proportion ration 4:4:1:3 w/w. The
vegetable was collected from waste yard from the Si Mueng Thong market locates in Khon Kaen
province. Roi et series soil was sampled in the agricultural file, located in Khon Kaen University.
Cow manure was collected at cow farm located in the Khon Kaen University. Rice husk ash wascollected in agronomy section located in the university. Vermibed was conducted with pot size 15
cm wide and 30 cm length with the 19 cm high. Pre-compost was 15 days to avoid thermophilic
stage (increased temperature above cause earthworm death in vermicomposting process) andearthworm species (Eisenia fetida) was introduced to the substrate by using 150 earthworms per
pot with the moisture content 80 to 90%. After the pre-compost processing, vermicomposting was
manually turn up to 12 weeks.
Vermicompost Extract
Vermicompost extract was prepared as described by Archana et al. (2009). Briefly, vermicompost
was extracted with tap water in ration 1:4 (w/v) by using the aerated method. Water was allowed tostand for 24 h for passive chlorine before mixing. Vermicompost was put in cheesecloth andmixture with tape water using aquarium air pump for 72 h. For fresh solution was kept for eachtreatment.
Seed Germination Experiment
Seed germination experiment was conducted for 13 days at Ecotoxicology Laboratory,
Department of Land Resource and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University,
Khon Kaen, Thailand. The experiment was conducted as a Completely Random Design (CRD)Ⓒ ISERD

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with three replications. Lettuce verities Roman (Lactuca sativa L. var. Jericho) and Batavia(Lactuca sativa L.var. Concept) were sterilized with deionized water for 15 minutes to remove
microbe from the seed. Fifty seeds from each varieties were put on Whatman Grade 181 No. 1
filter papers in 9 cm Petri dishes and treated with different concentration of vermicompost extract(0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%), and then incubated at 25 oc in dark cycle for 3 three days and 12 hours
light cycle for 10 days in an incubator. After completed of seed germination, seeding from eachtreatment was measured for germination percentage, root length, shoot length, seedling vigor index,
fresh weight, and dry weight.
Seed Germination Percentage Estimation
The total number of seed germination percentages were calculated following (Manisha andAngoorbala, 2015).
Total number of seed germinated in particular treatment
Germination (%) =x 100
Total number of seed treated in particular treatment
Root and Shoot Length Estimation
The root and shoot length of seed germination was measured in the centimeter scale.
Fresh and Dry Weight Estimation
Fresh and dry weight was measured using an Ohaus PA 2102 electronic balance. After fresh weightmeasurement, seeding weight was placed in a hot air oven for 80 oc for 24 hours.
Seeding Vigor Index
Seed germination, root length, and shoot length were used to calculate seed vigor index, which
followed the formula (Abdul Baki and Anderson, 1973).
Vigor index= (Mean root length + Mean shoot length) x Percentage germination
Statistical Analysis
The Statistic 10 software (version 10, USA) was used to analyze the data including the analysis ofvariance (One Way ANOVA). Treatment means were compared using least significance difference(LSD) at P< 0.05.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of seed germination of green Romaine (Lactuca sativa L. var. Jericho) and Batavia(Lactuca sativa L. var. Concept) were shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Different concentration ofvermicomposting extract has different effect on seed germination of green Romaine and Batavia
lettuce. It showed that 100% of vermicomposting extract got higher germination 95 and 95% of
Romaine and Batavia lettuce. The result was similar with finding of Ancuta et al. (2013) thatgermination increased when the seed was soaked in vermicomposting extract compared with seeds
soaked with water and it was also reported that water-soluble bioactive substances such as humic
acids, phytohormones or microbial metabolites present in vermicompost extract could be responsible
for earlier emergence, increased seed germination percentage and seedling growth. Esteban et al.
(2017) reported that microbial activity in vermicompost could result in the production of significant
quality of plant growth regulators such as IAA, gibberellins, and cytokinins.

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Table 1 Effect of vermicomposting extract of green Romaine seed germination (GM), roots
length (RL), shoots length (SL), seeding vigor index (SVI), fresh weight (FW) anddry weight (DW)
Treatments
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
F value

GM (%)
86d
90c
92b
92b
95a
**

SL(cm)
0.560c0.566bc
0.566bc
0.586b
0.653ans

RL(cm)
2.660b
4.620b
7.546a8.286a8.520a**SVI
276.910b469.960b
746.430a821.720a875.400a**

FW (g)
0.736c0.956b
1.046ba
1.046ba
1.146a**DW(g)0.026c0.053b
0.060b
0.073a0.076a**Values in same letters in the columns are not significantly different (LSD test, p≤ 0.05), Asterisks (**) show significant
differences at the 0.01 level, Asterisk (*) shows significant differences at the 0.05 level, and (ns) shows no significant
differences between treatments

Table 2 Effect of vermicomposting extract of green Batavia seed germination (GM), roots
length (RL), shoots length (SL), seeding vigor index (SVI), fresh weight (FW) anddry weight
Treatments
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
F value

GM (%)
87d
90c
92b
92b
95a
**

SL(cm)
1.346b
1.526ab1.586a1.586a1.653ans

RL(cm)
3.380b
3.593b
5.953a6.566a6.380a**SVI
412.790a
460.800a693.680b755.440b765.870b**

FW (g)
0.863c0.996bc
1.136ba
1.176ba
1.196a*DW(g)0.050b
0.066a0.071a0.073a0.076a**Values in same letters in the columns are not significantly different (LSD test, p≤ 0.05), Asterisks (**) show significant
differences at the 0.01 level, Asterisk (*) shows significant differences at the 0.05 level, and (ns) shows no significant
differences between treatm

The longest root and shoot length of Romaine and Batavia (2.660, 3.380, 560, and 1.346 cm,
respectively) were reported with 100% vermicompost extract. Esteban et al.(2017) also reported
that vermicompost can promote ecomorphological characters such as plant high and length.
Moreover, vermicompost can be able to supply balanced the nutrients to the roots and stimulate
growth and increase the organic matter content including humic substances that affect nutrient
accumulation and promote the root growth. 100% of vermicompost extract showed the highest
vigor index of Romaine and Batavia (875.4 and 765.87) which indicated that 100%
vermicomposting extract promoted healthy and vigorous seeding response compared with othertreatments. Esteban et al. (2017) also indicated that vermicompost extract could produce healthyand vigorous growth of seeding. 100% vermicompost extract also showed higher in fresh weightand dry weight of both lettuce verities (1.146, 1.196, 0.07, 0.076 g, respectively). It was also
reported that when the shoot and root were healthier, the plant weight will be heavier (Hussain etal., 2013). The result also similar with the finding of Zaller (2007) reported that vermicompost
extract can promote the tomato biomass production and it was also suggested that vermicompost
not only stimulate the plant growth but also effect inhibition of plant pathogen, rhizosphere micro
floral, nutrient uptake and beneficial of microorganism.
CONCLUSION
From this study, it could be concluded that vermicompost extract was influenced the seedgermination of green Romaine (Lactuca sativa L. var. Jericho) and green Batavia (Lactuca sativa L.
var. Concept) and 100% vermicompost extract showed the best result compared with othertreatments since this concentration enhance seed germination percentage, shoot length, root length,
seed vigor index, fresh weight and dry weight of Romaine and Batavia seeds. Therefore,Ⓒ ISERD

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vermicompost extract could be used as the alternative organic fertilizer to improve the seedling
growth and crop production in the field.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author thanks the Integrated Water Resource Management Research and Development Centre
in Northeast Thailand, The Research Developing and Learning Centre on Earthworm for
Agriculture and Environment, KKU research Fund, the KKU scholarship for ASEAN and GMS
Countries, and research and publication scholarship of Graduate School, Khon Kaen University for
financial support.
REFERENCES
Abdul-Baki, A. and Anderson, J.D. 1973. Vigor determination in soybean seed by multiple criteria. J Crop
Science
Ancuta, D., Renata, Ş., Carmen, B. and Şumălan, R. 2013. Seed germination and seedling growth of tomato
as affected by different types of compost water extracts. Journal of Horticulture, Forestry andBiotechnology, 17 (1), 155-160.
Archana, P.P., Theodore, J.K., Radovich, N., Krenekb, S.T.T. and K, A. 2009. Vermicompost extracts
influence growth, mineral nutrients, phytonutrients and antioxidant activity in pak choi (Brassica rapa cv.
Bonsai, Chinensis group) grown under vermicompost and chemical fertilizer. Wiley Interscience (June),
2383-2392.
Esteban, J.A.C., Taga-an, I.C., Ocoy, B.P. and Miculob, M.J. 2017. Vermicompost tea , Effects ongermination of Saluyot (Corchorus olitorius). International Journal of Education and Research, 5 (9), 5360.
Garg, V.K. and Gupta, R. 2011. Optimization of cow dung spiked pre-consumer processing vegetable waste
for vermicomposting using Eisenia fetida. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 74 (1), 19-24.
Hussain, F., Malik, S., Athar, M., Bashir, N., Younis, U., Hassan, M. and Mahmood, S. 2013. Effect oftannery effluents on seed germination and growth of two sunflower cultivars. African Journal of
Biotechnology, 9 (32), 5113-5120.
Ievinsh, G. 2011. Vermicompost treatment differentially affects seed germination, seedling growth andphysiological status of vegetable crop species. Plant Growth Regulation, 65 (1), 169-181.
Iwai, C.B., Ta-oun, M., Seripong, S. and Champar-ngan, N. 2011 Vermicomposting, Good managerment
Practice for waste, soil and yeild safety. Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Thailand, 171.
Lazcano, C., Sampedro, L., Zas, R. and Domínguez, J. 2010. Vermicompost enhances germination of themaritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.). New Forests, 39 (3), 387-400.
Manisha, P. and Angoorbala, B. 2015. Impact of different dilutions of sewage water on seed germination
characteristics and carbohydrate content of Vigna unguiculata. International Journal of Agriculture
Innovations and Research, 4 (2), 330-331.
Zaller, J.G. 2007. Vermicompost as a substitute for peat in potting media, Effects on germination, biomass
allocation, yields and fruit quality of three tomato varieties. Scientia Horticulturae, 112 (2), 191-199.

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Review article
erd

Status and Issues in Ecological Engineering Techniques forConserving Fish in the Paddy Field Areas of JapanKAZUYA NISHIDA*
National Institute of Environmental Studies, Otsu, Japan
Email: nishida.kaz@gmail.com
Received 31 December 2017

Accepted 19 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Though land consolidation for paddy field areas has contributed to an increase infood supplies and an improvement in convenience, it has changed the physical structuresand deteriorated paddy field ecosystems throughout Japan. Eco-friendly land consolidationin paddy field areas has been conducted based on the implication of ecosystem deterioration.
Ecological engineering techniques, such as the placement of fish ladders between paddy
fields and irrigation canals, were developed and applied to actual paddy fields to conservefish. However, the techniques were not evaluated sufficiently. Therefore, I reviewed status
and issues of ecological engineering techniques for conserving fish, which are often
reported in Japan. This review showed the installation of fish ladders between paddy fields
and drainage canals, as well as the construction of artificial ponds and wetlands, havecontributed to providing fish with spawning and nursery areas in the paddy fields areas ofJapan. On the other hand, the effects of ecological engineering techniques in canals, such as
the construction of concrete block habitats, are not clear, although the techniques havealready been applied to actual paddy field areas. Studies evaluating the effects of thesetechniques, which were applied for canals especially, should be conducted, and researchersand engineers should elucidate the most suitable structures, locations, scales andmaintenance techniques for these constructions to best conserve fish in paddy field areas.
Keywords ecological engineering technique, paddy field ecosystem, fish, conservation,Japan

INTRODUCTION
Paddy fields have substituted for the back marshes of rivers, and play a role in the wetlands of low
and flat-land areas (Moriyama, 1997; Natsuhara, 2013). They are not only food production areas,
but also habitat, spawning, and nursery areas for aquatic organisms, such as fish, frogs, and aquatic
insects.
Land consolidation in paddy field areas has contributed to an increase in food supplies and an
improvement in convenience for farmers, and has exceeded 60 % of the paddy field areas in Japan.
On the other hand, land consolidation has changed the physical structures of paddy fields, anddeteriorated paddy field ecosystems in Japan (Lane and Fujioka, 1998; Hata, 2002a). For example,
fish species that use paddy fields as spawning areas such as Japanese killifish (Oryzias latipes andO. sakaizumii) and mud loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus), cannot migrate from canals to paddy
fields, because the creation of drainage canals create large drops between the paddy fields andthemselves. Consequently, many endemic and/or dominant species in paddy field areas such as
Japanese killifish and mud loach were designated as endangered species by the Ministry of theEnvironment and several prefectures of Japan.
Eco-friendly land consolidation in paddy field areas has been conducted based on theimplications of ecosystem deterioration. A section of the “Land Improvement Act” of Japan wasrevised in 2001, and “consideration of harmony with the environment” was added a principle of theland improvement project.
Ecological engineering has been researched with the aim of designing sustainable ecosystems
that integrate human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both humans andⒸ ISERD

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animals (Mitsch, 2012). Therefore, ecological engineering techniques in land consolidation projects
are required to strike a balance between the increase in production and improvement inmaintenance by farmers, and at the same time aid the conservation of aquatic organisms. The
ecological engineering techniques, such as fish ladders between paddy fields and drainage canals,
were adapted for paddy field areas where eco-friendly land consolidation was conducted. However,
the techniques have been rarely evaluated.
OBJECTIVE
I have reviewed studies of ecological engineering techniques in the paddy field areas of Japan to
discuss the status and issues with these techniques. In this paper, I have placed focus on thetechniques for conserving fish in paddy field areas, because the development of these techniques
has been adapted for actual paddy field areas in Japan frequently.
ISSUES OF PREVIOUS REVIEWS
Some researchers have reported studies on fish ecology and habitats in paddy field areas. Koizumi
et al. (2012) showed that studies on fish lifecycles and ecology in the paddy field area haveincreased since 2000; however, the development of methods for estimating and predicting the fish
populations and ecosystem of paddy field areas has been limited. Takemura et al. (2012) reviewed
the methods of evaluating habitat quality, and the connectivity between the habitats and spatial
arrangement of habitats for fish in paddy field areas, and discussed the issue of these methods. In
addition, Nakano (2017) reviewed that previous studies have examined habitat preference of fish
growth, spawning, wintering, migration, and dispersal of fish, in paddy field areas. These reviews
did not focus on ecological engineering techniques.
Several researchers have reviewed conservation measures and ecological engineering
techniques. Ogino and Ota (2007), Suzuki (2011), and Natuhara (2013) referred to the structure andinstallation method of fish ladders installed in paddy field areas of Japan; however, othertechniques were not reported sufficiently. Mizutani (2011) and Minagawa (2015), and Mori (2017)presented some conservation measures for fish in paddy field areas; however, the status and issueof these measures and techniques were not discussed sufficiently. In addition, a large number ofstudies have been conducted with respect to ecological engineering techniques in the paddy fieldareas of Japan; however, it is difficult for people except those who speak Japanese to recognize
these ecological engineering techniques, because many existing studies are published solely inJapanese.
Previous reviews in other countries have indicated the importance of paddy fields as habitatsthat are deteriorated by modern agricultural practices (Fernand, 1993; Herzon and Helenius, 2008;
Luo et al., 2014). In addition, Chen et al. (2015) reported preliminary installation of fish ladders in
the paddy field area of Taiwan. However, reviews and studies that focused on the ecologicalengineering techniques in the paddy fields have been rarely reported.
Sato (2014) conducted a questionnaire survey on the current status of ecosystem conservationin land consolidation projects to be carried out in the prefectures of Japan. He focused on
ecological engineering techniques for fishes and frogs, because these measures have been
conducted frequently based on their ecology and behavior, which has been revealed by previous
studies (e.g., Saitoh et al., 1988). The techniques for fish in land consolidation projects in Japan
shown by his questionnaire are summarized as follows (1-4 in Table 1). Although Sato’squestionnaire survey did not report this fact, artificial wetlands and ponds were also constructed inland consolidation projects (Sugihara and Mizutani, 2006; Moriyama et al., 2010; Takemura et al.,2010; Nishida et al., 2014). Therefore, I have focused on and reviewed the below ecologicalengineering techniques for fish in land consolidation projects in Japan (1-5 in Table 1).

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Table 1 Ecological engineering techniques for conserving fish in paddy field areas, whichwere often conducted in Japan
Conservation measures
1 Improvement of canal revetment
2 Improvement of canal bed

3 Improvement of canal form
4 Installation of migration pathway

5 Construction of calm waters

Ecological engineering techniquesa) Construction of masonry and wooden revetment works (Takahashi et al.,2009).
b) Construction of concrete block habitats.
a) Avoiding installation of concrete lining (Sato and Azuma, 2004).
b) Installation of habitat pool section (Hiramatsu et al., 2010; Minagawa etal., 2015).
c) Installation of spur dikes (Mukai et al., 2011) and blocks (Watabe et al.,2016).
a) Construction of meandering section (Nishida et al., 2011).
b) Construction of broaden section (Conservation Society-Japan, 1995;
Nishida et al., 2011).
a) Installation of fish ladders between paddy fields and drainage canals(Hata, 2002b; Suzuki et al., 2004; Tanaka, 2006; Sato et al., 2008;
Nakamura et al, 2009; 2012).
b) Installation of fish ladders in canals (Moriyama et al., 2008).
a) Construction of ponds (Sugihara and Mizutani, 2006; Takemura et al.,2010).
b) Construction of wetlands (Nishida et al., 2014, 2015).

(a) Masonry revetment work(b) Wooden revetment work

Fig. 1 Example of (a) masonry and (b) wooden revetment works in canals
Riparian plants grow between the wooden stakes

IMPROVEMENT OF CANAL REVETMENT
Construction of Masonry Revetment Works
Stream and canal riparian structure influence the habitats of aquatic organisms (Pusey et al., 2003).
The growth of riparian plants influences the habitation of fish and aquatic organisms (Kawaguchi,
2003). Masonry and wooden revetment works (Fig. 1), and similar structures, were traditional
methods of canal improvement and repair. These structures have many spaces between materials,
and it is considered that these spaces and the plants that grow in them provide habitats for fish
(Katano, 1998). Takahashi et al. (2009) installed an experimental dummy of a wooden mattressdike, one of the traditional methods of revetment (shown in the middle right of Fig. 6), in adrainage canal to evaluate to the effects on fish habitation. They showed that this dike was
frequently used by fish, such as crucian carp (Carassius spp.), in paddy field areas. However, otherrevetment works in canals were not investigated for their effects on fish habitats.
Construction of Concrete Block HabitatsⒸ ISERD

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Concrete block habitats (Fig. 2) were often installed for canal revetments to enable fish to use canal
improvements as habitats in Japan (Sato, 2014; Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and RuralEngineering, 2016). These blocks have cavities inside in the expectation that fish may use them as
habitats. However, no study has evaluated the exact effects of these concrete block habitats on fish
and other aquatic organisms in irrigation canals. In addition, there is no knowledge on which
species and growth stages of fish can use these concrete blocks as habitats.

Fig. 2 Example of a concrete block habitat installed in a drainage canal
IMPROVEMENT OF CANAL BED
Avoiding the Installation of Concrete Lining
Concrete lining was usually installed in canals during conventional canal improvements. However,the number of fish species and individuals was reported to drastically decrease because fish habitats
were often removed by the improvements (Kihira, 1983; Tsubokawa, 1985). Therefore, theinstallation of concrete lining was partially avoided as much as possible to allow eco-friendly canal
improvements. Sato and Azuma (2004) investigated the difference in fish habitation among
construction methods after canal improvements. Some canal sections improved by eco-friendly
construction methods such as concrete revetment works with concrete block habitats, and concrete
canal beds were not installed in these sections to enable fish to inhabit (Fig. 3).
(a) Straight section(b) Meandering section

Fig. 3 Example of (a) straight and (b) meandering sections of the drainage canal
These photographs were taken five years after canal improvement was undertaken

Numbers of fish species and individuals, and diversity indices in conventional concrete
lining canal sections were significantly smallest than those in other sections. On the other hand,these values in concrete revetment canal sections were not significantly different from those inearth canal sections. These observations indicated that avoiding the installation of concrete lining isⒸ ISERD

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the key to conserving fish in paddy field areas.
Installation of a Habitat Pool Section
Sato (2014) indicated that habitat pools (Fig. 4) were often installed during land consolidation
projects in Japan. Hiramatsu et al. (2010) and Minagawa et al. (2015) investigated fish assemblages
and physical environments in pools that were installed by canal improvement projects. These poolbeds were concrete and 0.30-0.50 m deeper than other canal sections. Their findings indicated thatthese pools were important for fish to winter in. On the other hand, Minagawa et al. (2015) also
reported that sand and silt had accumulated excessively, and the water depth was lower in somepools. Further studies are needed to elucidate how to wash away or remove these sand and silt
accumulations to maintain a water depth that is inhabitable by fish.

Fig. 4 Example of a habitat pool installed in a drainage canalThis pool bed was dug 0.3 m deeper than the normal canal section.
Sand and silt were accumulating, and the water depth had been reducing gradually

Installation of Spur Dikes and Blocks
Mukai et al. (2011) experimentally installed spur dikes with notches on the canal bed crossing thecanal to form sand bars, riffles, and pools for aquatic organisms. They investigated the temporalchange in the formation of sand bars and invertebrate assemblage before and after the installation.
The formation of sand bars was observed by investigation after one year of the installation of thedike. Riparian plants were formed on the sand bars six months after the sand bar formation. The
number of invertebrate individuals increased after the formation of sand bars and riparian plantzones, indicating these formations created invertebrate habitats. These methods might provide fish
habitats, as well as help to explain the findings of Nishida et al. (2011) described below. However,
the effect on fish habitation was not investigated.

Fig. 5 Example of concrete blocks on the concrete lined canal bed
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Watabe et al. (2016) also installed concrete blocks, such as the one seen in Fig. 5, on theconcrete lining of a canal bed, and investigated the fish assemblage and canal environment before
and after the installation. They arranged the long sides of the rectangular concrete blocks
perpendicular to the water direction in the canal. Their observation showed that the blocks createdcalm water and sand sediment zones in the canal. However, the change in the number of fish
individuals before and after the installation was small. There is no sufficient evidence that these
concrete blocks create suitable fish habitats.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE CANAL FORM
Construction of Meandering Sections
Nishida et al. (2011) investigated the temporal change in fish assemblages and physicalenvironments of drainage canals before and after canal improvements by eco-friendly construction
methods. In particular, they focused on the differences in temporal changes between meanderingand straight sections where revetments were installed (Fig. 3). Sand bars did not form, riparianplants did not grow, only mud loach were dominant, and the number of species and diversity
indices had declined in the straight sections five years after the canal improvement. On the other
hand, sand bars formed, riparian plants grew, and a number of fish species and diversity indices did
not change before and after canal improvements in the meandering sections. These differences
between straight and meandering sections may be due to the presence or absence of calm waters
made by sand bars and riparian plants, which create natural hiding spots for fish. Further studies areneeded to elucidate how canal form and structure can form sand bars and riparian plant zones.
Construction of Broadened Sections
Ecosystem Conservation Society-Japan (1995) reported that the number of fish species increased ina broadened section of a canal after canal improvements (Fig. 6). The construction of broadened
sections probably provided calm water areas in the canal. However, which factor increased thenumber of fish species was not clear. In addition, studies that elucidate the effect of construction ofbroadened canal sections on fish assemblage are limited.

Fig. 6 Example of a broadened section in a canal
The previous canal width before improvement was between the left bankand stakes located in the center of this photographSome meandering sections that Nishida et al. (2011) investigated were also broadened by theeco-friendly canal improvements. Large sand bars formed and riparian plants thrived in thesebroadened sections. This increased plant growth perhaps increased the management efforts offarmers and prevented drainage water flow. Research into construction methods that strike abalance between improving the convenient management of canals and conservation of aquaticorganisms is required.
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INSTALLATION OF A MIGRATION PATHWAY
Fish Ladder between Paddy Fields and Drainage Canals
Endemic and/or dominant fish in paddy field areas such as mud loach and Japanese killifish
migrate from canals and spawn in paddy fields (e.g., Saitoh et al., 1988). However, these fish
species often cannot migrate to paddy fields after a land consolidation project, because drainage
canals are dug to improve the draining ability of paddy fields (Hata, 2002b). This digging creates alarge drop between the paddy field and drainage canal.
Japanese researchers have tried to develop fish ladders to enable these fish species to migratefrom drainage canals to paddy fields (Hata, 2002b; Suzuki et al., 2001; Tanaka, 2006; Sato et al.,2008). These fish ladders were classified into two types, and were installed in paddy field areas asfollows.
1) Paddy field outlet ladder (Fig. 7a): This ladder type was installed at each outlet of paddy fields
in order to allow fish migration from drainage canals. Fish ladders of variable structures weredeveloped, and they were installed in every region of Japan by farmers and/or local governments.
2) Up-dam ladder (Fig. 7b): This fish ladder type was installed at drainage canals and dams with ahigher water level at the upper section of drainage canal from this ladder. This improvement
enables fish to migrate from downstream of the ladder to the paddy field because the water level
between the drainage canal and the paddy fields is lower. This fish ladder type has been utilized inpaddy field areas around Lake Biwa.
(a) Paddy field outlet ladder(b) Up-dam ladderFig. 7 Example of the two type of fish ladders in use(a) paddy field outlet ladder and (b) up-dam ladder between paddy fields
and the drainage canal

The effects of the fish ladders have been investigated by some researchers. Suzuki et al.
(2004) investigated the effects of fish ladders between drainage canals and paddy fields. They
indicated that mud loach and crucian carp migrated from drainage canals to paddy fields throughfish ladders, and spawned in the paddy fields. After hatching, their larvae probably grew in the
paddy fields and then migrated to the drainage canals. As a result, increases in fish wet weights in
paddy fields after land improvement projects were equal to or larger than those before them.
Nakamura et al. (2009, 2012) reported that the drainage of water from paddy fields throughfish ladders was greater than that from the outlets of paddy fields in which the fish ladder was notinstalled. This finding indicated that irrigation water is required in the paddy fields that fish ladders
are installed. Therefore, new water management practices are crucial to enable fish to migrate
through the fish ladder and spawn in the paddy fields.
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Installation of Fish Ladders in Canals
Fish ladders were also installed at drop structures and outlets of the canals (Fig. 8). Pool and canaltypes of fish ladder that were developed by river engineering researchers were installed at the drop
structures. Moriyama et al. (2006) reported new fish species were detected in the irrigation canals
after the installation of fish ladders on outlets, suggesting that these fish ladders enabled fish to
migrate from lower water areas. On the other hand, the fish ladders may also allow alien fish
species to invade the irrigation canals.
(a) Fish ladder at a drop structure in a canal (b) Fish ladder at an outlet of a canalFig. 8 Examples of fish ladders installed (a) at a drop structure and (b) outlet of a canal
CONSTRUCTION OF CALM WATERS
Construction of Ponds and Wetlands
Sugihara and Mizutani (2006) investigated fish habitation in an artificial pond (Fig. 9), and themigration between an artificial pond and the adjacent water areas, in paddy field areas. A large
number of age-0 pale chub (Opsariichthys platypus) as well as crucian carp and Japanese killifish
were captured in the artificial ponds in winter, indicating that these fish species wintered there. In
addition, for fish that spawn in paddy fields, such as the field gudgeon (Gnathopogon elongatuselongatus), adults ascended from connected drainage streams to the pond, and oppositely, juveniles
and sub-adults descended from the pond to the drainage streams. These findings indicated thatthese fish species probably used the pond as a spawning and nursery areas, as well as paddy fields.
(a) Artificial pond(b) Artificial wetland

Fig. 9 Examples of an (a) artificial pond and (b) artificial wetland constructedin a paddy field area

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Takemura et al. (2010) reported that ninespine stickleback (Pungititus sp. 2) made nests onaquatic plants in artificial ponds. On the other hand, they also suggested that artificial ponds will
become unsuitable for nesting by ninespine stickleback if aquatic plant mowing is abandoned andplant cover is increased throughout the pond, because ninespine sticklebacks often made nests on
the edge of each plant zone, but did not make nests in the center of the plant zone. On the other
hand, intense mowing may remove all nest substrate for ninespine sticklebacks. In addition, in
these shallow and calm waters, sand and silt accumulates and aquatic plants grow easily. Therefore,
maintenance of these water areas may be crucial to conserve fish habitats. Further studies areneeded to elucidate how to suitably maintain these water areas.
Nishida et al. (2014) investigated fish habitation in an artificial wetland (Fig. 9), and migration
between an artificial wetland and connected stream, and the migration of the mature mud loach andeight-barbell loach (Lefua echigonia) was detected between late winter and spring. Juveniles andsub-adults of these two loach species migrated from the wetland between summer and winter.
These results confirmed that wetlands act as spawning and nursery habitats for these two species ofloach. On the other hand, fish species other than the mud loach and eight-barbell loach, frogs, andaquatic insects that were found in the adjacent paddy fields, were rarely detected (Nishida et al.,2015). The unique characteristics of artificial wetlands that are frequently used by many aquaticorganisms are not known yet.
CONCLUSION
This review showed that the installation of the fish ladders, which were developed by Japanese
researchers and engineers, between canals and paddy fields provides fish, such as mud loach andcrucian carp, with spawning and nursery areas . Similarly, artificial ponds and wetlands constructedin a paddy fields area were sufficiently used by fish as spawning and nursery areas especially. On
the other hand, the effects of ecological engineering techniques on canals where fish spent most of
their life cycles are not clear, although the techniques have already been applied to actual paddy
field areas. Studies evaluating the effects of these techniques in canals should be conducted, andresearchers and engineers should elucidate the most suitable structures, locations, scales, andmaintenance techniques for these constructions to best conserve fish in paddy field areas.
Middle- or long-term monitoring is required to evaluate these techniques, because ecosystems
and physical environments often fluctuate, and previous studies have indicated it can take a longtime until they stabilize after disturbance. However, this monitoring is rarely conducted in Japan;
the development of monitoring methods and mechanisms are needed.
In Japan, many studies evaluating the effects of these techniques are published in Japanese,
because the local language is useful to easily show the effects to the Japanese and local
governments, as well as domestic engineers. On the other hand, studies published in English areneeded to provide knowledge of these ecological engineering techniques to people globally. Thisknowledge may be useful in Southeast Asia especially, because paddy fields in this area could be
improved to increase future agricultural production and convenience.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I greatly appreciate the help of Dr. Akiko Minagawa in providing references for this review.
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Research article
erd

Genetic Identification of Myanmar Sein Ta Lone Mango(Mangifera indica L.) Landrace from the Different EcoGeographic Regions using Microsatellite Markers
MOE MOE OO*
Plant Biotechnology Center, Yangon, Myanmar
Email: moemoeoo022@gmail.com

MAY THAZIN HTUN
Plant Biotechnology Center, Yangon, Myanmar

MAY THU KYAW
Plant Biotechnology Center, Yangon, Myanmar

HNIN WAI LWIN
Plant Biotechnology Center, Yangon, Myanmar

LA MIN HTET HTET AUNG
Plant Biotechnology Center, Yangon, Myanmar

MOE ZAW AUNG
Plant Biotechnology Center, Yangon, Myanmar

HTAY HTAY AUNG
Plant Biotechnology Center, Yangon, Myanmar

PA PA AUNG
Plant Biotechnology Center, Yangon, Myanmar
Received 28 December 2017

Accepted 19 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Eighty eight Sein Ta Lone mango individuals from five Sein Ta Lone orchards(populations), namely, Mya Na De, Htone Bo, Se Bauk, Taik Kyi, and Nam Latt, and 100
years old plant as control, and a landrace of Yin Kwe individual, a total of 89 individuals,
were genotyped using 38 polymorphic markers showed 147 alleles with an average of 3.87
alleles per locus. Polymorphic information content varied from 0.02 to 0.83 and averaged of
0.37.Twenty four loci were Sein Ta Lone unique markers. Cluster analysis depicted thoseSP4 plant individuals from Se Bauk stand as an out-group from the rest of Sein Ta Lone
individuals which scattered independently from their locations. Principal coordinate
analysis confirmed grouping of Sein Ta Lone individuals closely to control Sein Ta Lone(100 years old) rather than Yin Kwe variety, and the first three principal coordinates
explained 62.05% of total variation. Analysis of molecular variance explained 75% ofgenetic variation occurred within populations and 25% among populations. The fixationindex (Fst) 0.63, pointed the high level of genetic differentiation among populations, it
might be due to Yin Kwe control rather than five Sein Ta Lone populations. Limited geneflow (Nm = 0.31) occurred among the populations. Almost the same value (0.32 to 0.35) of
the expected heterozygosity and the observed heterozgosity (0.16) were observed in Sein Ta
Lone populations. The number of effective alleles varied from 1.88 to 2.13, Shannon Index
ranged from 0.54 to 0.61, and same positive fixation index of (0.4), same value of thepercentage of polymorphic loci (52.63%). Pairwise Nei genetic identity showed higher
value to Sein Ta Lone control (100 years old), highest among five populations ranged from
0.916 to 0.957.

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Keywords genetic identification, Sein Ta Lone populations, Sein Ta Lone unique marker,
cluster analysis, analysis of molecular variance

INTRODUCTION
Mango (Mangifera indica) consisted of two distinct types such as monoembryonic andpolyembryonic type. Based upon taxonomic and molecular evidence, the mango (polyembryonictype) probably evolved in north-western Myanmar, Bangladesh and north-eastern India (Bompard,
1993; Mukherjee and Litz, 2009). Hirano et al. (2010) identified the uniqueness of Myanmar
mango individuals from Vegetable and Fruits Research and Development Center (VFRDC),
Yangon, using 11 SSR markers and results revealed that mango individuals from Myanmar weredistinguishable from those of Florida, India, and Southeast Asia.
Polyembryonic mango seeds contain several nucellar and zygotic embryo. Since adventitious
embryos develop from the nucellus, or can also originate by direct budding from the cotyledonsand hypocotyls of other nucellar, embryos seedlings are genetically identical to the maternal parent(Juiano, 1934). However, there was a little variation among seedlings derived from polyembryonicmangoes, due to somatic mutation (Mukherjee and Litz, 2009) and various biological and cultural
factors (Begum et al., 2013). Even, mango has cross-pollinated nature; Moore and Castle (1988)
recorded about 88-94% of self-pollinated zygotic seedlings using isozymes.
Nowadays, orchards are being used grafted plants (stock and scion), however, home yard
gardens are still using plants directly from seeds. Since Sein Ta Lone mango previously sown fromseed, and to date grafted Sein Ta Lone orchards were necessary to document their DNA profile forfingerprinting and genetic variability on farm.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to analyze genetic diversity and population structure of Sein Ta Lone individuals,
using SSR markers.
METHODOLOGY
From May to July, 2017, the leaf samples from 88 Sein Ta Lone sample plants : 18, 15, 18, 18 and18 sample plants from Mya Na De, Htone Bo, Se Bauk, Taik Kyi, and Nam Latt, respectively, andone control Sein Ta Lone (assuming 100 years old according to villagers of Pae Gin Village,
Kyauk Se Township, Mandalay region), were collected. Mya Na De, Htone Bo and Se Baukorchards are from Mandalay region, Taik Kyi orchard from Yangon region, and Nam Latt orchard
from Shan region, respectively. In addition, Yin Kwe landrace, which widely used as rootstock forSein Ta Lone orchards, was also used as control. This experiment was carried out at the Plant
Biotechnology Center (PBC), Department of Agriculture (DOA), Myanmar.
Total genomic DNA was isolated from pale-brown young leaves using the hexadecyl
trimethyl ammonium-bromide (CTAB) method (Doyle and Doyle, 1987) with few modifications.
A total volume of 10 Pl of reaction mixture of PCR cocktails were performed in Labnet (Labnet
international Inc.) thermal cycler programmed for 5min at 94qC for initial Denaturation, 35 cyclesof 1 min at 94qC, min at 55qC - 60qC (marker dependent), 1 min at 72qC and final extension at
72qC for 5 minutes. PCR products were fractionated through 8% (w/v) polyacrylamide gel and theexpressions of gels were recorded on UV light using Cannon G12 digital camera.
SSR fragment sizing was performed with LabImage 2.7.1 Software and genetic distance andcluster analyses were evaluated for 89 individuals with 38 polymorphic loci using NTSYS-pc 2.01
program (Rohlf, 2000). Nei and Li’s genetic distance (1979) was conducted to calculate pair-wise
genetic distance among all individuals and the dendrogram was constructed by using a distancematrix using the unweighed pair group method with arithmetic average. The polymorphic
information content (PIC) was calculated by applying the formula provided by Anderson et al.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1(1993). To elucidate the genetic relationship among the populations, principal coordinate analysis
was conducted using Genalex6.2 (Peakall and Smouse, 2006).The Fst value was, in turn, used toestimate gene flow (Nm) as Nm = (1/Fst-1)/4 (Whitlock and McCauley, 1999).The number of alleles
per locus (Na), the effective number of alleles per locus (Ne), and the genetic heterozygosity (H)were used to detect the level of population genetic diversity.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Genetic Diversity Analysis
The 89 mango individuals from five orchards (viz. Mya Na De, Htone Bo, Se Bauk, Taik Kyi, Nam
Latt), were assessed by using 64 SSR markers. A total of 58 markers were well amplified; 20 weremonomorphic and 38 were polymorphic markers (Table 1). Among the polymorphic markers, 24
were Sein Ta Lone unique markers; 18 homozygous loci (MiIIHR03a, MiIIHR05c, MiIIHR07a,
MiIIHR12a, MiIIHR16a, MiIIHR22a, MiIIHR25a, MiIIHR29a, MiIIHR31b, MiIIHR32a,
MiIIHR33a, MiIIHR34b, SSR-16, SSR-19, SSR-20, SSR-52, SSR-89 and MiMRD_l656), and 6
heterozyous loci (MiIIHR02c, MiIIHR04c, MiIIHR17b, MiKVR_a009, MiKVR_ao28 and
MiIIHR_f879).
A total of 147 alleles were detected, the average number of alleles per locus was 3.87, with arange from 2 to 8 (Table 1). Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) values ranged from 0.02 to
0.83 with 0.37 averaged, showing that a moderately low diversity exists in mango individuals
under study.
Cluster Analysis
A total of 89 mango individuals using 38 SSR were subjected into cluster analysis based on
UPGMA. In group I, Sein Ta Lone control (100 years old) clustered together with 12 Sein Ta Lone
individuals (viz. NL17, TK1, TK15, MND1, MND20, MND8, MND2, SP14, SP15, HB18,
MND16 and TK2) with genetic similarity of (0.86, 0.83, 0.8, 0.79, 0.83, 0.77, 0.75, 0.85, 0.75, 0.75,
0.8, and 0.76, respectively) (Fig. 1). Group II comprised of most of the individuals from fiveorchards were clustered independent of their locations. Group III consisted of the ten individuals(TK3, TK5, TK6, TK4, TK14, TK13, TK7, TK12, TK18, and TK20), from Taik Kyi orchard wereclustered together. Group IV depicted that Yin Kwe stand as separately from other. Interestingly,
Se Bauk (SP4) had distinct away the rest of Sein Ta Lone.
In dendrogram, individuals from Mya Na De orchard, MND1 and MND20 showed 0.89 and
MND10 and MND13 showed 0.86 genetic similarity and cluster together. In Htone Bo orchard,
HB6 and HB15 had 0.91, HB9 and HB10 had 0.88, HB5 and HB13 had 0.84, and HB1 and HB8
had 0.82, genetic similarity and cluster together. For Se Bauk orchard, SP10 and SP13 had 0.93,
both SP2 and SP3, and SP1 and SP5 had 0.86, genetic similarity, and clustered as a pair. Similarly,
individuals from Taik Kyi orchard, both pairs of TK1 and TK15, TK4 and TK14 had 0.90, TK18
and TK20 had 0.88, TK7 and TK12 had 0.87, TK3 and TK5 had 0.86, and TK10 and TK16 had
0.85, genetic similarity and clustered together. Likewise, individuals from Nam Latt orchard, NL9
and NL10 had 0.90, NL3 and NL6 had 0.86, NL7 and NL8 had 0.84, NL15 and NL16 had 0.78 and
NL18 and NL20 had 0.77, genetic similarity, and clustered together.
Principal Coordinate Analysis
In order to explore the distribution pattern of genetic diversity contained in individuals of each
population, a principal coordinate analysis was performed on 38 markers in 89 mango individuals(including Sein Ta Lone-100 years old and Yin Kwe controls). DNA scored of these two controls
was arbitrarily doubled in order to assume as separate populations. Therefore, a total of 91
individuals were subjected into multivariate analysis. Similar as cluster analysis, PCoA clearly
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Sein Ta Lone (pop2) rather than Yin Kwe (pop1) (Fig. 2).The first three PC showed 62.05 % of
total variations, PC1 explained 29.75% of total variations, and PC2 and PC3 showed 17.90% and14.39%,respectively. Sein Ta Lone controls (100 years old sample, pop2) were close to most of
Sein Ta Lone individuals from Nam Latt orchard (Shan region), Se Bauk orchard (Mandalay
region), Mya Na De orchard (Mandalay region).
Table 1 Polymorphic markers with their product size, motif, no. of alleles amplified and
PIC valueNo.

Marker name

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38

MiIIHR09c
MiIIHR21b
MiIIHR24b
MiKVR_a394
MiKVR_d864
MiMRD_l744
MiKVR_a152
MiKVR_a965
MiKVR_c273
MiKVR_d656
MiKVR_n259
MiKVR_n613
MiKVR_u796
MiKVR_t130
MiIIHR02c
MiIIHR04c
MiIIHR03a
MiIIHR05c
MiIIHR07a
MiIIHR12a
MiIIHR16a
MiIIHR17b
MiIIHR22a
MiIIHR25a
MiIIHR29a
MiIIHR31b
MiIIHR32a
MiIIHR33a
MiIIHR34b
SSR-16
SSR-19SSR-20
SSR-52
SSR-89MiKVR_a009
MiKVR_ao28
MiMRD_l656
MiIIHR_f879

No. ofalleles

SSR motif(CT)3TTGC(CT)2GT(CT)4TC(GT)2(CT)2(GTTT)3(GT)2TTTTGTC(TG)4(AATGA)2(CA)9TACC(CATA)6(TG)7(ATC)4(AAAT)4(ATTAT)4(AAAAT)4(TAAAA)5(TAAAA)4(CACCCA)4(TGATGG)4(GGAAGG)5(GAAAAA)4(CA)2A(CA)7AG(CA)5(CA)11(CTT)6(CA)2(CT)8C(CT)2TTTT(CT)4(GA)11(GA)11(GA)10(GT)13GAGT(GA)10(GTCTC)2(TGTCTC)3T(CTC)2(GTTT)3ATTTG(ATT)2(GT)10(GAC)6(GA)12(GA)12(GGT)9(GAT)5(TA)2(CA)10TA(CA)3TA(CA)4(ACACACAT)3(ACACACACAT)3(AT)14(GT)18(GA)16
NA
(GT)8
(TA)
(ATTT)5(TTGGAC)4
AverageⒸ ISERD

187

7
8
6
5
7
7
5
7
6
7
6
7
4
5
3
4
2
2
2
2
2
4
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
4
4
3
3
3.87

Size (bp)PIC

284-300
258-275242-252245-256282-300
283-303253-265278-300
239-255
252-277248-266244-264
208-216
255-267
176-239
170-202237-243207-213170-192
174-180
205-211248-284224-230
147-156
153-158
213-217194-206
171-173232-240
180-188170-254248-252
113-115105-119200-246221-259278-324116-131

0.79
0.76
0.78
0.78
0.78
0.8
0.73
0.82
0.8
0.81
0.71
0.83
0.67
0.72
0.51
0.51
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.51
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.04
0.51
0.51
0.04
0.51
0.37

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

ST L
NL17
T K1
T K15
MND1
MND20
MND8
HB20
MND2
T K11
SP14
HB5
SP15
HB13
HB18
MND14
MND16
HB17
T K2
MND19
MND4
HB19
SP7
T K9
NL14
T K10
SP9
T K16
MND17
MND5
SP17
MND7
NL11
HB7
SP18
SP1
NL2
SP5
SP10
SP6
SP13
T K3
SP12
T K5
NL5
T K6
SP16
T K4
NL9
T K14
NL10
T K13
NL4
T K7
T K12
1.00
T K18
T K20
SP4
yk

ND10

D10
MND10

0.01

0.26

0.51

0.75

Coefficient

0.26

0.51

0.75

1.00

Coefficient

0.01

0.26

0.51

0.75

1.00

Coefficient

I

II

III
IV

Fig. 1 Dendrogram of 89 mango individuals on the basis of 38 SSR markers
using Nei and Li’s genetic distance (1979)
Principal Coordinates

Pop1
Pop2
Coord. 2

0.01

STL
NL17
TK1
TK15
MND1
MND20
MND8
MND2
SP14
SP15
HB18
MND16
TK2
MND4
SP7
NL14
SP9
MND17
SP17
NL11
SP18
NL2
SP10
SP13
SP12
NL5
SP16
NL9
NL10
NL4
TK19
NL7
NL8
NL15
NL16
NL18
NL20
SP8
NL19
NL3
NL6
MND9
MND12
SP20
MND15
MND6
HB3
SP2
SP3
HB1
HB8
HB9
HB10
NL13
MND10
MND13
MND11
HB6
HB15
HB12
HB20
TK11
HB5
HB13
MND14
HB17
MND19
HB19
TK9
TK10
TK16
MND5
MND7
HB7
SP1
SP5
SP6
TK3
TK5
TK6
TK4
TK14
TK13
TK7
TK12
TK18
TK20
SP4
yk

Pop3

Mandalay region

Pop4
Pop5
Pop6 Yangon region
Pop7 Shan region

Coord. 1

Fig. 2 Two dimensional axis of Principal coordinate analysis (axis 1 vs axis 2) of
91 mango individuals, using 38 markers
pop1-Yin Kwe , pop2 - Sein Ta Lone, pop3 - Mya Na De orchard, pop4 - Htone Bo orchard,
pop5- Se Bauk, pop6 - Taik Kyi orchard, and pop7 - Nam Latt orchard

Population Structure and Gene Flow
To determine the pattern of diversity between and within the mango orchards (pop), an analysis
molecular variance (AMOVA) in the 91 mango individuals was conducted and results reveal 7
main groups as the orchards which obtained DNA samples and two controls (Yin Kwe and 100
years old Sein Ta Lone). AMOVA using 7 populations suggested that the largest proportion ofgenetic diversity (75%) was found among plants belonging to the same population, whereas
variation present among populations was 25% and no divergence observed between regions, allsources variation were significant at P>0.01 (Table 2). Large variability detected within
populations could be explained by the occurrence of gene flow or most probably, by sowing thesame materials in different regions. The fixation index (Fst), showed the value of 0.63, confirming
the high level of genetic differentiation among the populations (Hartl and Clark, 1997). Thisdifferentiation might be mainly due to Yin Kwe individuals differ from Sein Ta Lone individuals.
Hirano et al. (2011) mentioned that Yin Kwe and Sein Ta Lone showed significantly varianceat DNA level (Fst= 0.44). Gene flow (Nm) was equal to 0.31 indicating that limited gene flow
among the populations (a local differentiation of populations). It may be due to the occurrence of
zygotic seedling (2% to 90%) in polyembryonic cultivars or various biological and cultural
practices like continuous grafting from one population to others (Begum et al., 2013). DiazMatallana et al. (2009) observed high gene flow value in analysis of diversity among sixⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

Colombian mango populations, and they concluded that it is probably caused by both insect
pollinators and human intervention. Since pop1 and pop2, arbitrary population, used the same DNA
samples as controls in each pop, there had no consideration for population analysis. Expected
heterozygosity (He) values of populations from five orchards (i.e. pop3 to pop7) showed 0.31 to
0.34, which pointed that not much difference in population diversity (Table 3). Observed
heterozygosity (Ho) was the same value (0.16) in all populations. Observed heterozygosity of eachpop was smaller than the expected heterozygosity based on Hardy-Weinberg expectations.
Consequently the fixation index was positive over five pops (0.4). The number of effective alleles(Ne) ranged from 1.88 (pop7) to 2.13 (pop 5).The Shannon index (I) ranged from (0.54) in pop7 to(0.61) in pop3 and pop5. The percentage of polymorphic loci (P) across populations was the samevalue (52.63) %.
Table 2 Analysis of molecular variance for mango individuals
SourceAmong Regions
Among Pops
Within Pops
Total

df
2
4
84
90

SS
140.67348.56
1719.12208.3

MS
70.33
87.14
20.47

Est. Var.
0
6.84
20.47
27.31

%
0%
25%
75%
100%

Table 3 Parameters (Mean and SE) of genetic variability of mango populations
Pop*
Pop 1
Pop2
Pop3
Pop4
Pop5
Pop6
Pop7
Total

Na
1.16±0.06
1.16±0.06
2.55±0.31
2.37±0.26
2.47±0.28
2.42±0.29
2.26±0.25
2.06±0.10Ne
1.16±0.06
1.16±0.06
2.13±0.22
1.88±0.16
2.10±0.21
1.98±0.20
1.92±0.18
1.76±0.07I
0.11±0.04
0.11±0.04
0.61±0.11
0.56±0.1
0.61±0.10
0.57±0.10
0.54±0.09
0.44±0.04*For abbreviation see Figure 2
Na = no. of alleles
I = Information index = -1*sum (pi*ln(pi))
He = Expected Heterozygosity = 1- Sum pi^2
%P= Percentage of polymorphic lociHo
0.16±0.06
0.16±0.06
0.16±0.06
0.16±0.06
0.16±0.06
0.16±0.06
0.16±0.06
0.16±0.02

He
0.08±0.03
0.08±0.03
0.34±0.06
0.32±0.05
0.34±0.05
0.32±0.05
0.31±0.05
0.26±0.02

F-1±0.00-1±0.00
0.4±0.15
0.4±0.15
0.4±0.15
0.4±0.15
0.4±0.15
0.25±0.06

%P
15.79
15.79
52.63
52.63
52.63
52.63
52.63
42.11±6.79

Ne = no. of effective alleles = 1/(sum pi^2)
Ho = Observed Heterozygosity =no. of Hets/N
F = Fixation Index= (He- Ho) / He = 1- (Ho/ He)

All populations (pop3 to pop7) from five orchards showed high pairwise genetic identity tocontrol Sein Ta Lone (100 years old) (pop2) than Yin Kwe (pop1) (Table 4). Likewise, pairwise
genetic identity among five orchards were high, indicating quite similar mango clone, pop7 (Nam
Latt orchard) and pop3 (Mya Na De orchard) showed high value of genetic identity (0.831 and
0.822). Pop4 (Htone Bo orchard) showed the lowest value of 0.766. Pop 5 (Se Bauk orchard)
showed high genetic identity (0.957) to pop7 (Nam Latt orchard), and (0.951) to pop3 (Mya Na De
orchard). Five populations (grafted orchards) showed more similar to each other than Sein Ta Lone(100 years old control), it might be mainly due to cross pollinated nature of mango (gene flow).
Table 4 Pairwise population matrix of Nei genetic identity
Pop*
Pop1
Pop2
Pop3
Pop4
Pop5
Pop6
Pop7

Pop1
1.000
0.000
0.084
0.096
0.095
0.055
0.072

Pop2

Pop3

Pop4

Pop5

Pop6

Pop7

1.000
0.822
0.766
0.803
0.789
0.831

1.000
0.935
0.951
0.923
0.916

1.000
0.945
0.929
0.917

1.000
0.918
0.957

1.000
0.919

1.000

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

CONCLUSIONAs Sein Ta Lone mango is an economically important crop in Myanmar, this study provides insight
into extent and genetic variability at DNA level of five Sein Ta Lone orchards to control Sein Ta
Lone (100 years old plant). Genotyping with 38 SSR markers confirmed differentiation of Yin Kwe
and Sein Ta Lone at DNA level which was consistent with Hirano et al. (2011). Moderately low
genetic diversity in PIC value indicated five Sein Ta Lone orchards(grafted trees) have highgenetic similarity to 100 years old Sein Ta Lone control (seeded tree). Moreover, variation within
populations (within orchards) were observed and next grafting procedure from present Sein Ta
Lone individuals should be carefully carried out for ensure to get true to type Sein Ta Lone mango.
Sein Ta Lone unique markers will be useful in varietal identification in mango varieties. This study
will provide valuable information to varietal identification and protection, and further varietal
improvement program at the national and global perspective.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by DOA, Myanmar and this work was performed with thecollaboration of farm managers from Mya Na De, Htone Bo, Se Bauk, Nam Latt and Taik Kyi. We
wish to thanks to Dr. Ye Tint Htun, Director General, DOA, Mr. Thuya Soe, Director, Horticulture
and Plant Biotechnology Division, for facilitating this research and financial support. My extended
thanks and appreciation to Dr. Htay Htay Aung, Staff Officer ( PBC, Myanmar) for her kindcooperation in Analysis and invaluable suggestions and supporting for manuscript preparation.
REFERENCES
Anderson, J.A., Churchill, G.A., Autrique, J.E., Tanksley, S.D. and Sorrells, M.E. 1993. Optimizing parental
selection for genetic linkage maps. Genome, 36, 181-186.
Begum, H., Reddy, M.T., Malathi, S., Reddy, B.P., Narshimulu, G., Nagaraju, J. and Siddiq, E.A. 2013.
Molecular analysis of intracultivar polymorphism of ‘Panchadarakalasa’ mango by microsatellite
markers. Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences, 6 (2), 127-136.
Bompard, J.M. 1993. The genus Mangifera rediscovered, The potential contribution of wild species to mango
cultivation. J. Acta Horticulturae, 341, 69-77.
Diaz-Matallana, M., Schuler-Garcia, I., Ruiz-Garcia, M. and Hodson de Jaramillo, E. 2009. Analysis ofdiversity among six populations of Colombian mango (Mangifera indica L. cvar.Hilacha) using RAPDs
markers. Elect. J. of Biotechnology, 12 (3), ISSN:0717-3458.
Doyle, J.J. and Doyle, J.L.A. 1987. A rapid DNA isolation procedure for small quantities of fresh leaf tissue.
Phytochemical Bulletin, 19, 11-15.
Hartl, D.L. and Clark, A.G. 1997 Principles of population genetics. 3rd ed. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland,
Massachusetts, 542.
Hirano, R., Than Htun Oo and Watanabe, K.N. 2010.Myanmar mango landraces reveal genetic uniquenessover common cultivars from Florida, India and Southeast Asia.Genome, 53, 321-330.
Hirano, R., Than Htun Oo and Watanabe, K.N. 2011. Propagation methods have altered the genetic
variability of two traditional mango varieties in Myanmar, as revealed by SSR. Plant Genetic Resources,
Characterization and Utilization, 9 (3), 404-410.
Juliano, J.B. 1934. Origin of embryos in the strawberry mango. Phi J.Sci., 54, 553-563.
Moore, G.A. and Castle, W.S. 1988. Morphological and isozymic analysis of open pollinated citrus rootstock
population. J. Heredity, 79, 59-63.
Mukherjee, S.K. and Litz, R.E. 2009. Introduction, Botany and importance. In Litz, R.E (Ed.), The Mango
2nd edition, Botany, Production and Uses, CAB International, USA.
Nei, M. and Li, W.H. 1979. Mathematical model for studying genetic variation in terms of restriction
endonucleases. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 76, 5269-5273.
Peakall, R. and Smouse, P.E. 2006. Genalex6, Genetic analysis in excel, Population genetic software forteaching and research. Molecular Ecology Notes, 6, 228-95.
Whitlock, M.C. and McCauley, D.E. 1999. Indirect measure of gene flow and migration. Heredity, 82, 17725.
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Research article
erdClassification by Characteristics of Farm Management forDevelopment Aid in Rural Area of Cambodia
SHINOBU YAMADA*
Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Tokyo, Japan
Email: sinobun4022@gmail.com

MACHITO MIHARA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanKUMIKO KAWABE
Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Tokyo, Japan
Received 27 December 2017

Accepted 19 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The main objective of this study is to clarify the characteristics of farmmanagement based on the indicators of agricultural production. A categorical principal
component analysis was applied to categorize and clarify the effectiveness of their farmmanagement. The research site was Samroung Commune, Prey Chhor District, Kampong
Cham Province, Cambodia. The results of the analysis are summarized as follows. 1) Evenin the same commune, the differences were found among villages when the features were
grasped from the indicators of agricultural production of each village. 2) Based on the
categorical principal component analysis results, farm management was classified andclarified based on the characteristics of each category. According to the results of theanalysis, it was indicated that it is necessary to classify agricultural production informationof the target area in order to support effectively with full use of the abilities of support
organizations.
Keywords categorical principal component analysis, Cambodia

INTRODUCTION
In recent years, industrialization has progressed rapidly in Cambodia. However, the main industry
in Cambodia's rural areas is still self-sufficient agriculture. In Cambodia there are many local
farmers who cannot emerge from poverty due to low productivity of their land and increased
expenditure on pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Development aid has been diversified by support
organizations with the Official Development Assistance (ODA) through NGOs, universities,
research institutes, or CSR activities of companies. In order to tackle the problems in rural areas,development aid project is expected to formulate and plan by using technology, know-how andnetworks based on the characteristics and strengths of each support organization. Support
organizations require detailed investigation and analysis of local agricultural production in order toformulate an effective plan and to select a reasonable target site. In addition, it is also important toknow exactly what kinds of technology and support that meets the needs of local farmers.
According to the above mentioned background, the main objective of this study was to clarify thecharacteristics of farm management based on the indicators of agricultural production. Also, acategorical principal component analysis was applied to categorize and clarify the effectiveness of
their farm management.
METHODOLOGYAn Index of Agricultural Production of Each VillageⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

The research site was Samroung Commune, Prey Chhor District, Kampong Cham Province,
Cambodia. The Kampong Cham Province is located in the northeast of Phnom Penh, and southeastof Siem Reap. In the Kampong Cham Province during the French colonial period, the hilly terrain
was developed as a rubber plantation zone. The population of Kampong Cham Province is about
1,750,000 and much of the population is engaged in agriculture. At the target area in Samroungcommune of Kampong Cham Province, the amounts of agricultural chemicals have increased overthe last ten years. Although it contributed to an increase in the agricultural productivity in the shortterm, the degradation of soil and water environment became more severe. Also, local farmers havesuffered from several diseases such as throat pain or dermatitis due to the inappropriate applicationof agricultural chemicals (Kobayashi, T. and Yamamoto, H. 2009). Therefore, there are many
farmers who expect to shift to a sustainable farming system based on natural resource circulation.
At this site, the Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation (ERECON) carried out
the project on promothing sustainable Agriculture at Kampong Cham Province in Cambodia(April/2011-March/2016). This project aims to promote sustainable agriculture based on natural
resource circulation with low chemical input by targeting the local farmers.
The target area of the questionnaire survey consisted of the following eleven villages: Bonteay
Thmey, Kondal Koang, Preykhcheay, Samroung, Smei, Sodey, Svayprey, Takrit, Thmey, Tompang
Risey, and Veal. The survey period lasted from July to August 2011. The number of useful
responses we received per area are as follows: Bonteay Thmey: 61 respondents (13.8% of the total
respondents), Kondal Koang: 33 respondents (7.4%), Preykhcheay: 35 respondents (7.9%),
Samroung: 54 respondents (12.2%), Smei: 13 respondents (2.9%), Sodey: 56 respondents (12.6%),
Svayprey: 49 respondents (11.1%), Takrit: 38 respondents (8.6%), Thmey: 37 respondents (8.4%),
Tompang Risey: 37 respondents (8.4%) and Veal: 30 respondents (6.8%). There were 443
respondents in total.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 shows the aggregated results of indicators showing the characteristics of agricultural
management for each village. The following are the characteristics of Bonteay Thmey. The average
agricultural annual income is the highest among the 11 villages, and the ratio of answering that theaged cultivated land area is 1.5 ha or more is relatively high. In addition, irrigation development
rate and expenditure amount and usage amount for chemical fertilizer were the largest among the
11 villages. The following are the characteristics of Kondal Koang. Local farmers replied that
75.8% had 3-5 family members. All respondents replied that they have irrigation facilities.
Furthermore, the expenditure on chemical fertilizer is high. The following are the characteristics of
Preykhcheay. The proportion of full-time farmers is the lowest among the 11 villages. The
proportion of farmers responding that the cultivated land area is 0.2-0.5 ha is 45.7%. Local farmers
raising chickens are as many as 91.4%. The following are the characteristics of Samroung. All the
farmers who answered are producing rice. Ownership of tillers, harvesters, and threshing machines
is higher than that of other villages. Also, the proportion of farmers producing vegetables is 64.8%,
the highest among the 11 villages. The following are the characteristics of Smei. The proportion of
full-time farmers is the largest among the 11 villages. In addition, the characteristics of agricultural
management are farmers who are engaged in vegetable production and fruit tree production, mainlywith rice production. The following are the characteristics of Sodey. Local farmers responding thatthe number of family members was 6-8 was 50%. Sodey was characterized by a relatively large
number of family members compared to other villages. The following are the characteristics of
Svayprey. The proportion of farmers doing livestock production is the largest among the 11
villages. It is also the village with the lowest expenditure and usage of chemical fertilizer. The
following are the characteristics of Takrit. The characteristics of the agricultural management of
Takrit are rice production and breeding of livestock.

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Table 1 An index of agricultural production of each village
Actual number
Index
Number offamily members

Less than 2 persons
3-5 persons
6-8 persons
9-10 persons
More than 14 persos
Type ofFull-time farmers
farm management
Rice
Vegetables
FruitsLive stockother
Average of farmers' revenues (1000 Riel)
Total area
Less than 0.2 ha(owned)0.2-0.5ha
0.6-1ha1.1-1.5ha
More than 1.5 ha
Don’t have
Using irrigation
Fully
PartlyNot at all
Number of
Chickens
livestock farms
CattlePig
Duck
Water buffalo
Using chemical
Riel (1000 Riel)fertilizer
USD
Kg.
Sack
Farm machinery
Yes
Not
Composition ratio
Index
Number offamily members

Less than 2 persons
3-5 persons
6-8 persons
9-10 persons
More than 14 persos
Type ofFull-time farmers
farm management
Rice
Vegetables
FruitsLive stockother
Average of farmers' revenues (1000 Riel)
Total area
Less than 0.2 ha(owned)0.2-0.5ha
0.6-1ha1.1-1.5ha
More than 1.5 ha
Don’t have
Using irrigation
Fully
PartlyNot at all
Number of
Chickens
livestock farms
CattlePig
Duck
Water buffalo
Using chemical
Riel (1000 Riel)fertilizer
USD
Kg.
Sack
Farm machinery
Yes
Not
Sourse:Surveydate
Source:Surveyed
data

All
Bonteay Kondal PreykhcheaySumple Thmey
Koang
443
61
33
35
49
41
0
3
233
17
25
19
137
2
6
12
18
0
2
1
2
0
0
0
277
39
22
15
437
58
33
35
161
27
5
14
91
16
5
14
397
50
27
32
7
0
2
1
3,772
6,420
3,537
3,859
10
2
0
1
86
6
7
16
140
16
9
11
78
10
10
1
125
24
7
6
3
3
0
0
98
24
6
3
307
35
27
15
38
2
0
17
383
47
28
32
414
55
33
34
33
5
3
5
66
10
7
4
22
0
0
0
971
1,398
1,160
786
237
341
285
192
412
578
479
304
8
11
10
6
421
57
33
31
22
4
0
4

Sam
roung
54
2
31
15
6
0
34
54
35
3
51
0
2,689
4
8
25
10
7
0
13
40
1
46
53
7
7
0
805
197
419
7
53
1

Smei

All
Bonteay Kondal PreykhcheaySumple Thmey
Koang
443
61
33
35
11.1
67.2
0
8.6
52.6
27.9
75.8
54.3
30.9
3.3
18.2
34.3
4.1
0
6.1
2.9
0.5
0
0
0
62.5
63.9
66.7
42.9
98.6
95.1
100
100
36.3
44.3
15.2
40
20.5
26.2
15.2
40
89.6
82
81.8
91.4
1.6
0
6.1
2.9
2.3
3.3
0
2.9
19.4
9.8
21.2
45.7
31.6
26.2
27.3
31.4
17.6
16.4
30.3
2.9
28.2
39.3
21.2
17.1
0.7
4.9
0
0
22.1
39.3
18.2
8.6
69.3
57.4
81.8
42.9
8.6
3.3
0
48.6
86.5
77
84.8
91.4
93.5
90.2
100
97.1
7.4
8.2
9.1
14.3
14.9
16.4
21.2
11.4
5
0
0
0
95
93.4
100
88.6
5
6.6
0
11.4

Sam
roung
54
3.7
57.4
27.8
11.1
0
63
100
64.8
5.6
94.4
0
7.4
14.8
46.3
18.5
13
0
24.1
74.1
1.9
85.2
98.1
13
13
0
98.1
1.9

Smei

13
0
8
4
1
0
10
12
8
6
9
1
3,158
0
4
5
0
4
0
3
9
1
12
12
0
3
0
861
210
367
7
13
0

13
0
61.5
30.8
7.7
0
76.9
92.3
61.5
46.2
69.2
7.7
0
30.8
38.5
0
30.8
0
23.1
69.2
7.7
92.3
92.3
0
23.1
0
100
0

Sodey
56
0
25
28
0
0
35
55
18
16
51
1
3,216
0
11
18
13
14
0
16
36
4
52
54
2
12
0
759
185
326
7
53
3
Sodey
56
0
44.6
50
0
0
62.5
98.2
32.1
28.6
91.1
1.8
0
19.6
32.1
23.2
25
0
28.6
64.3
7.1
92.9
96.4
3.6
21.4
0
94.6
5.4

Svay
prey
49
0
28
19
1
1
34
49
15
2
48
0
2,815
0
13
20
6
10
0
6
40
3
42
47
1
13
0
634
155
271
6
48
1

Takrit

Svay
prey
49
0
57.1
38.8
2
2
69.4
100
30.6
4.1
98
0
0
26.5
40.8
12.2
20.4
0
12.2
81.6
6.1
85.7
95.9
2
26.5
0
98
2

Takrit

38
1
22
15
0
0
26
38
11
7
36
0
3,804
0
4
11
9
14
0
4
32
2
27
38
2
2
0
1,176
287
488
10
35
3

38
2.6
57.9
39.5
0
0
68.4
100
28.9
18.4
94.7
0
0
10.5
28.9
23.7
36.8
0
10.5
84.2
5.3
71.1
100
5.3
5.3
0
92.1
7.9

Thmey

Tompang
Risey
37
37
0
2
13
22
19
11
4
2
1
0
28
21
37
36
5
18
2
8
31
34
2
0
3,858
2,772
2
0
4
11
6
9
8
5
17
12
0
0
12
6
23
26
2
5
34
35
36
22
5
3
3
2
0
22
1,048
1,077
256
263
466
418
9
8
37
32
0
5

Thmey

Tompang
Risey
37
37
0
5.4
35.1
59.5
51.4
29.7
10.8
5.4
2.7
0
75.7
56.8
100
97.3
13.5
48.6
5.4
21.6
83.8
91.9
5.4
0
5.4
0
10.8
29.7
16.2
24.3
21.6
13.5
45.9
32.4
0
0
32.4
16.2
62.2
70.3
5.4
13.5
91.9
94.6
97.3
59.5
13.5
8.1
8.1
5.4
0
59.5
100
86.5
0
13.5

Veal
30
0
23
6
1
0
13
30
5
12
28
0
4,362
1
2
10
6
10
0
5
24
1
28
30
0
3
0
918
224
358
7
29
0
Veal
30
0
76.7
20
3.3
0
43.3
100
16.7
40
93.3
0
3.3
6.7
33.3
20
33.3
0
16.7
80
3.3
93.3
100
0
10
0
96.7
0

In particular, all local farmers replied that they were breeding cattle. The average number ofcattle raised was 5.03. The following are the characteristics of Thmey. In Thmey, the proportion of
local farmers with a total area of more than 1.5 ha is 45.9%. The following are the characteristics ofTompang Risey. The average agricultural annual income is 2,771,621.62 Riel (4,000 Riel = 1
USD), the lowest among 11 the villages. The following are the characteristics of Veal. The average
agricultural longevity amount is 4,361, 533.33 Riel, the second largest among the 11 villages. The
characteristics of agricultural management of Veal are rice production and fruits. Based on theⒸ ISERD

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above information, even in the same commune, differences were found in each village when thefeatures were grasped from the indicators of agricultural production of each village.
Grouping of Respondents by Category Principal Component Analysis
In this section, information on each variable, such as farmer attributes, cultivated land, labor force
indicator, agricultural product awareness in the target area is summarized and a "total index" iscreated and grouped. We employed a categorical principal component analysis for this purpose.
Index and answer patterns used for categorical principal component analysis were as follows.
Table 2 Index and answer patterns for categorical principal component analysis
Index

Answer category

X1
X2

GenderAge

X3

Educational background

X4
X5
X6

Numbers of family persons
Children less than ten years old
Family living years in this village

X7

Duration of agricultural experience

X8
X9
X10
X11
X12

Full‐time farmer
Family agricultural workers(Full time）
Family agricultural workers(Part time）
Employed worker
Paddy field

1. Male, 2. Female
1. Less than 20years old, 2. 20–29years, 3. 30–39years, 4. 40–49years,
5. More than50 years old
1. Never had been to school, 2.Primary, 3. Secondary, 4.High school,
5. College, 6. University
1. Less than 2 persons、2. 3-5、3. 6-8、4. 9-10、5. More than 10persons
1. No one, 2. 1-2, 3. 3-5, 4. 6-8, 5. 9-10, 6. More than 10
1. Less than 2 years, 2. 3-5, 3. 6-10, 4. 11-15, 5. 16-20, 6. 21-25
7. 26-30、8. 31-35、9. 36-40、10. More than 41 years
1. Less than 2 years、2. 3-5、3. 6-10、4. 11-15、5. 16-20、6. 21-25,
7. 26-30, 8. 31-35, 9. 36-40, 10. More than 41 years
1. Yes, 2.No
1. No one, 2. 1-3, 3. 4-6, 4. 7-9, 5. More than 10
1. No one, 2. 1-3, 3. 4-6, 4. 7-9, 5. More than 10
1. Yes, 2. No
1. Less than 0.2 ha, 2. 0.2-0.5 ha, 3. 0.6-1.0 ha, 4. 1.1-1.5 ha,
5. More than 1.5 ha
1. Yes, fully, 2. Yes, partly, 3. Not at all
1. Yes, 2. No
1. Yes, 2. No
1. Yes, 2. No
1. Yes, 2. No
1. Yes, 2. No
1. 0-20%, 2. 20-40%, 3. 40%-60%, 4. 60%-80%, 5. 80%-100%
1. 0-20%, 2. 20-40%, 3. 40%-60%, 4. 60%-80%, 5. 80%-101%
1. Yes, 2. No
1. None, 2. Once a week, 3. Few times a week, 4. Once a month,
5. Few times a month, 6. Once a 6 months, 7. Once a year, 8.Other
1. Don't know, 2. Know less, 3. Know, 4. Know better, 5. Know well
1. Yes, 2. No
1. Yes, 2. No
1. Taste, 2. Shape, 3. Size, 4. Other
1. Safety of food, 2. Brand of food, 3. Place of market, 4. Other

X13
X14
X15
X16
X17
X18
X19
X20
X21
X22

Farmland irrigatedCommon forests
Farmers Group
Raise poultry
Raise cattle
Raise pigs
Reduction targets of chemical fertilizer
Reduction targets of chemical pesticide
Agricultural machinery
Conversation about agriculture
with children
X23 Knowledge on sustainable agriculture
X24 Participation in agricultural cooperatives
X25
X26
X27
X28

Collaboration with people from other villages

Important for agricultural production
Important for agricultural products sales
Acquisition of agricultural information andtechnology
X29 Introduction of chemical fertilizer
X30 Introduction of chemical pesticide

1. Government officer, 2. Village leader, 3. Other farmers in the village,
4. Scientist, 5. NGO officer, 6. Other

1. Before 1960, 2. 1961-1970, 3. 1971-1980, 4. 1981-199,
5. 1991-2000, 6. 2001-2005, 7. 2006-2010, 7. Other
1. Before 1960, 2. 1961-1970, 3. 1971-1980, 4. 1981-199,
5. 1991-2000, 6. 2001-2005, 7. 2006-2010, 8. Other

Source:SurveyedSourse:Surveydate data

In Table 3, the estimation results of the categorical principal component analysis is shown. At
the same time, the eigenvalues of each factor were factor 1: 2.87 and factor 2: 2.52. In thefollowing, it is confirmed for each principal component what index feature an element isconstituting.
Firstly, the indices positively contributing to factor 1 were X3: Educational background (0.42),
X8: Full-time farmer (0.17), X12: Paddy field (0.20), X13: Farmland irrigated (0.11), X21:
Agricultural machinery (0.13), X29: The commencement of chemical fertilizer (0.72) and X30:

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The commencement of chemical pesticide (0.72). From these indices, factor 1 can be interpreted as"the factor representing the degree of achievement of modernization of agricultural production".
Secondly, the index positively contributing to factor 2 were X1: Gender (0.31), X15: Farmers
Group (0.32), X24: Participation in agricultural cooperatives (0.46), X25: Collaboration withpeople from other villages (0.28), X26: Important for agricultural production (0.42), X27:
Important for agricultural products sales (0.37) and X28: Acquisition of agricultural informationand technology (0.40). From these indices, factor 2 can be interpreted as "Factors expressing
intention to form production areas by collaboration" For local farmer grouping, it can be classified
into the following 4 groups from each positive and negative combination of factor 1 and factor 2. In
addition, Table 4 shows average values of scores of factor 1 and factor 2 of all respondents for eachvillage.
Table 3 Estimation results of categorical principal component analysis

Index
X1 Gender
X2 AgeX3 Educational background
X4 Numbers of family persons
X5 Children less than ten years old
X6 Family living years in this village
X7 Duration of agricultural experience
X8 Full‐time farmer
X9 Family agricultural workers(Full time ）X10 Family agricultural workers(Part time ）X11 Employed worker
X12 Paddy field
X13 Farmland irrigated
X14 Common forests
X15 Farmers Group
X16 Raise poultry
X17 Raise cattle
X18 Raise pigs
X19 Reduction targets of chemical fertilizer
X20 Reduction targets of chemical pesticide
X21 Agricultural machinery
X22 Conversation about agriculture with children
X23 Knowledge on sustainable agriculture
X24 Participation in agricultural cooperatives
X25 Collaboration with people from other villages
X26 Important for agricultural production
X27 Important for agricultural products sales
X28 Acquisition of agricultural information and technology
X29 The commencemen of chemical fertilizer
X30 The commencemen of chemical pesticide
Source:Surveyed
data
Sourse:Surveydate
Source:Surveyeddata
Note
Eigenvalue:
Note:
EigenvalueFactor
Factor 1;2.867,
1; 2.867, Factor
Factor 2;2.520
2; 2.520

FACTOR FACTOR
1
2
-0.10
0.31
-0.69
-0.22
0.42
-0.30
-0.10
-0.16
0.36
0.18
-0.64
-0.20
-0.56
-0.24
0.17
-0.14
-0.11
0.05
-0.10
-0.20
-0.06
0.01
0.20
-0.21
0.11
-0.15
-0.11
0.00
0.14
0.32
-0.10
-0.08
-0.02
-0.08
-0.12
-0.04
0.03
-0.58
0.10
-0.59
0.13
-0.16
-0.24
-0.46
0.06
-0.42
-0.01
0.46
-0.12
0.28
-0.17
0.42
-0.04
0.37
-0.16
0.40
0.72
-0.06
0.72
-0.13

The group 1 is a local farmer that is positive for both "factor representing the achievement
degree of modernization of agricultural production" and "Factors expressing intention to form
production areas by collaboration." The average of respondents is Thmey. This group is in a state
where infrastructure for agricultural production such as irrigation facilities and agricultural
machinery is in place, has an interest in improving the quality of agricultural crops and sales outlets
and also shows an understanding of cooperation with others. Therefore, it is suggested that theⒸ ISERD

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support target is suitable as a target area for new projects in all support organizations such as
government agencies, NGOs, educational research institutes, and companies.
The local farmer of group 2 is "factor representing the achievement degree of modernizationof agricultural production" positive and "Factors expressing intention to form production areas bycollaboration" negative. The average of respondents are Preykhcheay and Samroung. This group isalready aiming to achieve modern agricultural production and to advance agricultural management
on an individual level. This is considered to be highly adaptable to projects aimed at improving the
agricultural techniques of local farmers, such as the start of new crops. Therefore, a support
organization suitable for this group is regarded as a research institution, such as a university withadvanced technology.
Table 3 Average value of respondents by village
Village

Bonteay Kondal Preykh
Sam
Smei
Sodey Svayprey Takrit
Thmey Tompang
Veal
Thmey
Koang
cheay
roung
Risey
Group
Group 3 Group 4 Group 2 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 4 Group 4 Group 1 Group 3 Group 3
Factor 1
-0.02
-0.06
0.50
0.10
-0.01
-0.08
-0.09
-0.10
0.13
-0.17
-0.17
Factor 2
-0.11
0.39
-0.13
-0.45
-0.10
0.14
0.22
0.01
0.60
-0.39
-0.11
Source: Survey
Surveyed
data
Sourse:date

The group 3 is a local farmer that is negative for both "factor representing the achievement
degree of the modernization of agricultural production" and "Factors expressing intention to form
production areas by collaboration." The average of respondents are Smei, Veal, Tompang Risey
and Bonteay Thmey. The local farmer of this group is not sufficiently developed for agricultural
production infrastructure. In addition, a project is needed to disseminate basic agricultural
production techniques. Economic assistance is indispensable for the development of agricultural
production infrastructure. Therefore, it is suggested that a support organization capable of financial
assistance, like a company, is effective.
The local farmer of group 4 is "factor representing the degree of achievement ofmodernization of agricultural production" negative and "Factors expressing intention to form
production areas by collaboration" positive. The average of respondents are Takrit, Kondal Koang,
Sodey and Svayprey. Similar to Group 4 and Group 3, the development of agricultural production
infrastructure is not sufficient. However, the local farmer is expecting the development of regional
agriculture by collaborating with others to offset its weaknesses. Therefore, a support organization
suitable for this group is effective NGO which can support agriculture by cooperation for villages
and communes.
CONCLUSION
In this study, the main objective of this study was to clarify the characteristics of farm management
based on the indicators of agricultural production. In addition, a categorical principal component
analysis was used to categorize and clarify the effectiveness of their farm management. The resultsof the analysis are summarized as follows.
Even in the same commune, differences were found among villages when the features were
grasped from the indicators of agricultural production of each village.
According to the categorical principal component analysis results, farm management wasclassified and clarified on the basis of the characteristics of each category.
Specifically, for local farmer grouping, it may be classified into the following 4 groups fromeach positive and negative combination of factor 1 and factor 2. According to the results of theanalysis, it was indicated that it is necessary to classify agricultural production information of thetarget area in order to support effectively with full use of the abilities of support organizations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSⒸ ISERD

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This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18K05857. Also, the raw data
analysed in this study was collected through the questionnaire survey in the extension program
implemented by the Extension Center, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation.
REFERENCES
Kobayashi, T. and Yamamoto, H. 2009. Health problem due to agricultural decline in Cambodia, The effects
by the superfluous shift to a cash crop, Journal of International Health, 24 (2), 107-113.
Yamada, S. 2008. The analysis on the evaluation for management goal of the rice production farmer.
Japanese Journal of Farm Management, 46 (1), 37-40.

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Research article
erd

Accumulation of Copper in Kale (Brassica alboglabra) andSoil Fertilized with Swine Manure, Compost andVermicompost under Different Thai Soil Series
ARPHORN THONGBURAN
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: p_arphorn@yahoo.com

CHULEEMAS BOONTHAI IWAI*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Email: chuleemas1@gmail.com
Received 8 February 2018

Accepted 20 May 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The aim of the study was to evaluate the variation in the copper (Cu)accumulation in kale and two different Thai soil series (Korat and Nampong soil series)
treated with swine manure, compost and vermicompost. Completely randomized design(CRD) experiment was conducted on the soil samples collected from Korat and Nampong
soil series. Same amount of treatments namely swine manure, compost and vermicompostof 18.75 t/ha were applied in each experimental unit and harvested after 45 days. Results
showed that the accumulation of Cu in roots and shoots were found higher in Nampong soil
series than Korat soil series. The Cu accumulation in roots and shoots was highest whentreated with swine manure. The Cu content in roots and shoots were 6.62 and 3.69 mgkg-1
respectively. However, there was no significant difference in the Cu content when treatedwith compost and vermicompost. The Cu accumulation in Korat soil series was foundhigher than Nampong soil series at 6.29 and 6.19 mgkg-1 respectively when treated withswine manure. However, accumulation of Cu in Kale and soil depend on difference in soil
texture and speciation of Cu in swine manure, compost and vermicompost. This is because
Korat soil contains clay mineral which absorbs Cu whereas Nampong soil series is more of
sandy which absorbs less Cu.
Keywords swine manure, compost, vermicomposting, Nampong soil series,
Korat soil series

INTRODUCTION
Fertilization of crops with swine manure is a common practice throughout the world. Due to therelatively high Cu contents in swine manure, continuous application of swine manure could havenegative effects on soil and plant. Cu is nutrient for plant growth and development, Cu may
become phytotoxic and cause metabolic disorders at high soil concentrations, and lead to apotential threat to human health through the food chain (Xu et al., 2013). The increase of Cu in
human body causes some major diseases such as brain, skin, pancreas, and heart diseases (Nurdan
and Okan, 2013). The bioavailability and toxicity of metals in soil can vary over several orders ofmagnitude depending on soil modifying factors. The effect of soil types on the bioavailability andtoxicity of metals to soil organism has been studies (Olugbenga et al., 2010). Clay minerals are
generally regarded as important natural ion exchange materials because they are generally coatedwith metal oxide and organic matter. Clay has small particle size and a large surface area per unit
weight, these properties is believed to be a good adsorbent for heavy metal (Sajidu et al., 2006).
Many researchers studied heavy metal uptake and transports within the plants and accumulation of
Cu in soil. But the most of widely studies with different kind of plant, raw material and soils.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the accumulation of copper in kale planted in two different
soil series (Korat and Nampong soil series) that treated with swine manure, compost andvermicompost.
METHODOLOGY
Soil Sample Collection and Preparation
The soil used in this study came from Northeast of Thailand were collect from Korat and Nampong
soil series. Soil was sample from 0-15 cm. depth, air-dried at ambient temperature and finally,sieved to < 2 mm. used for pot experiment and for measurement of the soil’s physical-chemical
properties.
Soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were measured in a 1:5 soil/water mixture, organic
matter was determined by the Walkley-Black (Walkley and Black, 1965), particle-size distribution(clay, silt and sand content) was determined by Hydrometer method, cation exchange capacity(CEC) was measured by the ammonium acetate saturation method (Bremner, 1965) and determinedof Cu in the soil extraction with DTPA measured by Atomic absorption spectrophotometer.
Composting and Vermicomposting Preparation
Compost and vermicompost were pepared with swine manure, cassava peel, rice husk ash and soil
in propotion ration 2:6:1:1 and earthworm species (Eudrillus eugeniae) was introduced to thesubstrate for vermicomposting with the moisture content 80 to 90%. After 60 days separate
earthworm and air-dried at ambient temperature for compost and vermicompost, finally sieved to <2 mm. used for pot experiment and for measurement chemical properties.
Analysis chemical property of compost and vermicompost; pH and electrical conductivity (EC)were measured in a 1:10 mixture with water, organic matter was determined by the Walkley-Black(Walkley and Black, 1965), Total nitrogen was determined by the Kejldahl method, Total phosphorus,
Potassium and Cu digested with mixture of HNO3: HClO4 (1:1) followed by standard method(AOAC, 2000).
The sequential extraction of speciation of Cu in swine manure, compost and vermicompost
following five fraction were exchangeable, bound of carbonate, bound of iron and manganeseoxide, bound of organic matter and residual (Tessier, 1979).
Pot Experiment
Plastic pots were filled with 1 kg of air-dried soil sieved to <2 mm. (Ruiz et al., 2009) Fourdifferent experiment series were; control soil without swine manure, compost and vermicompost,
soil with swine manure, soil with compost and soil with vermicompost under Korat and Nampong
soil series. Each series consisted of three replicate in CRD experiment.
Kale (Brassica alboglabra) seed were sown 10 seeds per pot. After 10 days subsequently
reduced to 3 seeds per pot. Same amount of treatments namely swine manure, compost andvermicompost of 18.75 t/ha were applied in each experimental unit and harvested after 45 days.
Plant shoots and root were thoroughly washed with de-ionize water, weighed, stored at 75 ºC,
finely ground to fine powder and sealed in plastic bags for subsequent Cu analysis. The dry plants
were digested using mixture of HNO3: HClO4 (1:1) followed by standard method (AOAC, 2000)
The total metal accumulation rate (TMAR) in K ale was calculate using the following equation.
TMAR = [(Mroot x DWroot) + (Mshoot x DWshoot)] / (DWroot + DWshoot)Ⓒ ISERD

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Where Mshoot and Mroot represent the total Cu concentration in Kale shoot and root (mgkg-1),
respectively, while DWroot and DWshoot represent the weight of Kale roots and shoots (g.) respectively.
(Ruiz et al., 2009).
Statistical Analysis
The Statistic 10 software (version 10, USA) was used to analyze the data including the analysis ofvariance (One Way ANOVA). Treatment means were compared using least significance difference (LSD)
at P< 0.05.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Material Characterization
The main physical-chemical property of the soil (Korat and Nampong soil series) were analyzed
and classified as loam and loamy sand include clay content at 16.61 and 6.46% respectively (Table
1).
Table 1 Physical-chemical property of the soil used for experiment
Soil properties
1. pH (1:5)
2. EC (1:5; ds/m)
3. CEC (cmol/kg)
4. Organic Matter (%)
5. Total Nitrogen (%)
6. Available Phosphate (%)
7. Exchangeable Potash (%)
8. Copper (Cu; mg/kg)
9. Texture
Sand (%)
Silt (%)
Clay (%)

Korat soil series

Nampong soil series

6.42
0.04
7.93
1.59
0.08
49
33
0.83
Loam
50.94
32.45
16.61

6.79
0.03
3.38
0.97
0.03
53
29
0.26
Loamy sand
78.87
14.67
6.46

Table 2 Chemical-property of the swine manure, compost and vermicomost
used for experiment
Property
1. pH (1:10)
2. EC (1:10; ds/m)
3. Total Nitrogen (%)
4. Total Phosphate (%)
5. Total Potash (%)
6. Organic Matter (%)
7. Copper (Cu; mg/kg)

Swine manure
7.4
2.2
2.3
9.4
1.3
52.7
731.7

Compost
7.94
1.013
0.63
1.10
0.78
19.8
175.5

Vermicompost
7.46
1.223
0.54
1.32
1.00
15.9
209.1

The swine manure, compost and vermicomost used for experiment were analyzed chemical
properties (Table 2). Contamination of Cu in swine manure has been found in high concentration
because Cu is added to feed additive for pig growth promoting.
Speciation of Cu in swine manure, compost and vermicompost as show in Fig. 1, the swine
manure has high concentration of Cu in exchangeable fraction. But compost and vermicompostingprocess cloud reduced the exchangeable form and changed to bound of organic matter.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1%chang total Cu

60

swine manure

50

vermicompost

40
30
20
10
0
exchangeable carbonate bound Fe/Mn boundOrganicmatterbound

Residual

speciation of Cu

Fig. 1 Speciation of Cu in swine manure, compost and vermicompost
Effect of Swine Manure, Compost and Vermicompost on Accumulation of Cu in Kale and Soils
The total metal accumulation rate (TMAR), shoot and root Cu concentration for Kale are presented
in Table 3. The result show that the treatment with swine manure significantly increased the TMAR
of Cu. This is a direct consequence of the observed increase in the Cu root concentration (Ruiz etal.,2009). The accumulation of Cu in roots and shoots were found higher in Korat soil series thanNampong soil series. The Cu accumulation in roots and shoots was highest when treated withswine manure. The Cu content in roots and shoots were 6.62 and 3.69 mg/kg respectively.
However there was no significant difference in the Cu content when treated with compost andvermicompost. The accumulation of metal concentration in root and shoot was only observed forthe most mobile metal. The nutrients with lower mobility are mainly accumulated in the roots,
while those with relatively higher mobility are accumulated in the shoots to greater extent(Materechera, 2002). From the roots, transition metals are mainly transported to the shoot via thexylem. Chelation of metals with certain intracellular chelators, e.g. histidine, nicotianamide andcitrate, appears as a key process that protes root-to-shoot mobility of a metal via xylem transport(Clemens et al., 2002).
Table 3 Effect of swine manure, compost and vermicompost on shoots, root andtotal accumulation of Cu (mgkg-1) in Kale
Treatment
Soil (control)
Soil + swine manure
Soil + compost
Soil + vermicompost
F valure

shoot
n.d.
2.61
n.d.
n.d.
-

Korat soil series
root
TMAR
0.03b
0.00b
4.49a
2.67a
0.40b
0.01b
0.47b
0.02b
**
**

shoot
n.d.
3.69
n.d.
n.d.
-

Nampong soil series
root
TMAR
0.03b
0.00b
6.62a
3.80a
1.37b
0.03b
1.50b
0.03b
**
**

Values in same letters in the columns are not significantly different (LSD test, p< 0.01), n.d.: Not detect

Table 4 Effect of swine manure, compost and vermicompost accumulation ofCu (mgkg-1) in soil
Treatment
Soil (control)
Soil + swine manure
Soil + compost
Soil + vermicompost
F valure

Korat soil series
0.59b
6.29a
1.90b
1.91b
**

Nampong soil series
0.11c
6.19a
1.64b
1.70b
**

Values in same letters in the columns are not significantly different (LSD test, p< 0.01)

Table 4 showed the Cu accumulation in Korat soil series was found higher than Nampong soil
series at 6.29 and 6.19 mg/kg respectively when treated with swine manure. But there was no
significant difference in the Cu content when treated with compost and vermicompost. This isⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-1

because Korat soil contains clay mineral which absorbs Cu whereas Nampong soil series is more of
sandy which absorbs less Cu. Clay is a potentially good adsorptive material because of its large
surface area, high cation exchange capacity, chemical and mechanical stability, and layered structure(Nurdan and Okan, 2013).
CONCLUSION
Swine manure has a significant influence on the amount of Cu accumulation in root and shootuptake by kale. The most of Cu in swine manure included exchangeable form and organic mattercompound. Exchangeable form is availability of Cu and organic matter compound e.g. histidine,
nicotianamide and citrate, appears as a key process that promotes root-to-shoot mobility of a metal
via xylem transport. Therefore, accumulation of Cu high concentration in root and shoot when treat
with swine manure However, accumulation of Cu in Kale and soil depend on kind difference ofsoil and texture. This is clay mineral cloud absorption heavy metal. Therefore Korat soil series
contains clay mineral which absorbs Cu whereas Nampong soil series is more of sandy which
absorbs less Cu.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author thanks the Integrated Water Resource Management Research and Development Centre
in Northeast Thailand, The Research Developing and Learning Centre on Earthworm for
Agriculture and Environment, Scholarship of graduated school of Khon Kaen University andNational Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) for financial support and Khon Kaen University
Research Fund (Synchrotron KKU fund).
REFERENCES
Bremner, J.M. 1965. Cation exchang capacity. In Black, C.A. et al. (ed.) Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2,
Agronomy, 9, 1149-1278. Am. Soc. Agron., Inc., Madison, Wis.
Clemens, S., Palmgren, M.G. and Kramer, U. 2002. A long way ahead, Understanding and engineering plant
metal accumulation. Trend Plant Science, 7, 309-315.
Horwitz, W. (Ed.). 2000. Official method of analysis of AOAC internation. 17th AOAC International Inc.,
Gaithersberg, MD.
Materechera, S.A. 2002. Nutrient availability and maize growth in soil amended with earthworm casts from a
South Africac indigenous. Bioresource Technology, 84, 197-201.
Nurdan, G.T. and Okan, O. 2013. Study of montmorillonite clay for the removal of copper (II) by adsoption,
Full factorial design approach and cascade forward neural network. The Scientific Journal, 1-11.
Olugbenga, J.O., Adriaan, R.J. and Andrei, R.B. 2010. Influence of clay content on bioavailability of copperin the earthworm Eisenia fetida. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 73, 407-414.
Ruiz, E., Rodriguez, L. and Alonso-Azcarate, J. 2009. Effects of earthworm on metal uptake of heavy metals
from polluted mine soils by different crop plants. Chemosphere, 75, 1035-1041.
Sajidu, S.M.I., Persson, I., Masamba, W.R.L., Henry, E.M.T. and Kayambazinthu, D. 2006. Removal of Cd2+,
Cr3-, Cu2+, Hg2+, Pb2+ and Zn2+ cations and as O43- anions from aqueous solutions by mixed clay from
Tundulu Malawi and characterisation of the clay. Water Sa., 4, 519-526.
Tessier, A., Cambell, P.G.C. and Bission, M. 1997. Sequential extraction procedure for the speciation ofparticulate trace metals. Analytical Chemistry, 51, 844-851.
Walkley, A. and Black, I.A. 1934. An examination of the digestion method for determining soil organic
matter and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Science, 37, 29-33.
Xu, Y., Yu, W., Ma, Q. and Zhou, H. 2013. Accumulation of copper and zine in soil and plant within tenyear application of different pig manure rates. Plant Soil Environment, 59, 492-499.

Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development

erdInternational 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, where is located in
the Research Center at Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation (Japan) by writing or byother appropriate means.
Also every presenter who attends the International Conference on Environmental and Rural
Development (ICERD) is registered as an Individual Member of ISERD.

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development

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 for the Advanced Study of
Sustainability, Japan
Deputy Presidents
Prof. Dr. Bunthan Ngo, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia
Prof. Dr. Anan Polthanee, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Prof. Dr. Eiji Yamaji, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Executive Secretary / Editor-in-Chief of IJERD
Prof. Dr. Machito Mihara, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan /Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan
Managing Editors
Dr. Jeeranuch Sakkhamduang, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation /Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Thailand
Dr. Junaid Alam Memon, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Pakistan
Dr. Shinobu Terauchi, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan
Dr. Toru Nakajima, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Treasurer
Dr. Lalita Siriwattananon, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Thailand
Regional Vice Presidents
Dr. Abdul Malik Dawlatzai, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Afghanistan
Prof. Dr. Barry N. Noller, The University of Queensland, Australia
Prof. Dr. Sinisa Berjan, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dr. Buntong Borarin, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia
Prof. Dr. Dieter Trautz, University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Dr. Sri Wahyuni, Islamic University of Riau, Indonesia
Prof. Dr. Hiromu Okazawa, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Prof. Dr. Myo Kywe, Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar
Dr. Junaid Alam Memon, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Pakistan
Prof. Dr. Regucivilla A. Pobar, Bohol Island State University, Philippines
Dr. Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Prof. Dr. Murari Suvedi, Michigan State University, USA
Dr. Nguyen Khoi Nghia, Cantho University, Vietnam
ISERD Secretariat:
Research Center, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation (ERECON)
2987-1 Onoji Machida-Shi, Tokyo 195-0064, Japan
Tel/Fax: +81-42736-8972
E-mail: iserd.secretariat@gmail.com
Webpage: www.iserd.net
Collaborated with

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
Webpage: www.iserd.net

Institute for the Advanced Studyof Sustainability
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 International Conference on
Environmental and Rural Development that was co-organized by United Nations University, Institute for
the Advanced Study of Sustainability.