ISSN 2185-159X

erd

International Journal ofEnvironmental and Rural Development

Volume 13 Number 2

December 2022

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 J-Stage, EBSCO, 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. Narong Touch, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Dr. Shinobu Terauchi, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan
Dr. Jeeranuch Sakkhamduang, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation,
Southeast Asia Office / Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Thailand
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
Prof. Tomas Reyes, Jr. Bohol Island State University, Philippines

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development

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:
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

Publisher of International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development:
Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation (ERECON)
2987-1 Onoji Machida-shi, Tokyo 195-0064, Japan
Tel/Fax: +81-42736-8972
E-mail: hq-erecon@nifty.com
Webpage: www.erecon.jp

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Contents
Chemical Characteristics of Natural Mineral Water from a Wellspring in the Ban Haubueng
Community Forest, Nampong District, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand
Nuttira Kleawklahan and Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai

1

Empowerment of Women: A Comparative Analysis of Experiences from Rural Communities in
Ethiopia
Asres Elias, Kumi Yasunobu and Yuki Toyama

5

Relation between the Level of Degradation and the Wind Speed Reduction Efficiency of TreeWindbreaks Systems in Ovche Pole Region, Macedonia
Ognen Onchevski, Teruaki Irie, Ivan Minchev andMachito Mihara

13Social Characteristics and Sustainability of Residents-Led Biological Monitoring in Japanese
Agricultural Landscapes
Masayuki Nitta, Naohisa Nakashima, Mitsuru Ohiraand Muneyuki Aoki

19

Sensory Evaluation of Dried Fettuccine Pasta Enriched with Gotu Kola Centella asiatica
Charlene Eve L. Saligumba and Jean F. Nebrea

26

Proposal of New Pickles to Improve Food Sanitation at Wet Markets in Cambodia
Sokly Sorm, Yoshiki Muramatsu, Daiki Oka, Yuri Tanioka
Masataka Uchino, Shuki Muramatsu, Motoe Sekido
Takahiko Nakamura, Toru Nakajima, Eiichiro Sakaguchi
Shotaro Kawakami, Mari Arimitsu and Machito Mihara

32

Cadmium Bioaccumulation in Amaranthus spinosus L. Grown in Contaminated Soil of Benguet
Province, Philippines
Elizabeth T. Dom-ogen and Romeo A. Gomez, Jr.

38

Effects of Vermicompost and Mineral Water on the Growth Parameters of the KDML 105 Rice
Cultivar
Duangnapa saiyakit and Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai

44

Benefits of Applying Microbial Fuel Cell Technology in Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture
Narong Touch and Takahiko Nakamura

49

Evaluation of Soil Erosion Risk in the City of Cobija, Bolivian Amazonia Using RUSLE and GIS
Juan Uego Perez and Machito Mihara

55

Effect of Adding Agricultural and Organic Lime on Soil Properties and Survival Rate of Pathogenic
Bacteria (Coliform and E. coli) in Farmland Soils of Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia
Muy Leang Kim and Machito Mihara

61

Product Formulation from a By-Product from the Production of Coconut - Based Food Delicacies
Maria Donna F. Buates and Chona C. Fullido

69

An Evaluation of Consumers’ Preference for the Organic Rice Commodity in Thailand
Nareerut Seerasarn and Servel A. Miller

75

The Legacy of the Waternetwork from the Past: Characteristics and Types of the Covered Waterways inTokyo
Ivana Angelova, Davisi Boontharm and Masami Kobayashi

83

Awareness and Compliance of Corn Farmers to Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in Nueva Vizcaya,
Philippines
Jane B. Bacani

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Evaluation of Sediment Trapping Capacity by Geotextile for Erosion Control
Sarvesh Maskey, Takanori Kaneko, Hiromu Okazawa
Antonio Perez Fuentes, Sachiko Watanabe, Kazuhiro Tazaki
and Takahiro Sasaki

99

Estimation of Long-term River Discharge in Forested Watershed in Snowy Region by SWAT
Shotaro Kikuchi, Hiromu Okazawa, Sarvesh Maskey
Sergio Azael May Cuevas, Makoto Oba, Shogo Nakamura
and Seiji Hayashi

105

Sustainability of the Implementation of Solid Waste Management: A Comparative Study
Ma. Magdalena J. Bernales and Jake C. Malon

113

Disparity in Quality of Life and Education Attainment of Children within the Tea Sector: Case Study in
Low-Country in Sri Lanka
Yuko Fukuda and Eiji Yamaji

119

Agriculture Entrepreneurship on Youth: A Systematic Literature Review
Fadhilla Izzaty Syaukat, Katsumori Hatanaka,
Nina N. Shimoguchi and Ramadhona Saville

127

Comparison of Crop Surface Models and 3D Point Clouds by UAV Imagery on Estimating Plant
Height and Biomass Volume of Pasture Grass
Ke Zhang, Ayako Sekiyama, Hiromu Okazawa
Yuri Yamazaki, Kiichiro Hayashi, Osamu Tsuji
and Masahiro Akimoto

137

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Research article
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Chemical Characteristics of Natural Mineral Water from a
Wellspring in the Ban Haubueng Community Forest,
Nampong District, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand
NUTTIRA KLEAWKLAHAN
Office of Agricultural Research and Development Region 3,
Ministry of Agricultural and Cooperatives, Khon Kaen, Thailand

CHULEEMAS BOONTHAI IWAI*
Department of Soil Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture,
Khon Kean University, Khon Kean, Thailand
Email: chuleemas1@gmail.com
Received 21 February 2022

Accepted 22 April 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract This research aimed to analyze the chemical characteristics of natural mineralwater from a wellspring in the Ban Haubueng Community Forest, Nampong District, Khon
Kaen Province, Thailand. Physico-chemical properties and minerals status are important
deciding factors in the assessment of water quality for water resource utilization. Therefore,
the contamination of heavy metal and essential minerals from different locations within the
Ban Haubueng community forest were evaluated. Water samples were collected in 2021
and then analyzed according to standard methods for heavy metal and the essential
minerals; As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Hg, Ni, Mn, Zn, Fe, Se, Na, Si, and Ca through the use ofInductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy. In-house methods were also
employed, based on EPA 3 0 1 5 and microbial contamination; such as Escherichia coli via
AFNOR Certificate Number 3 M 01/ 8-06/ 01 compared with ISO16649-2, and for
Salmonella spp. by ISO 6579:2017. The results found that As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Hg and Ni as
well as E. coli and salmonella were not detected in all water samples. Essential minerals
including Si and Ca were detected in the mineral water samples at 7.61 ppm -7.64 ppm and
3.0 ppm-8.86 ppm, respectively. Therefore, we concluded that the mineral water has noheavy metal contamination and is safe from pathogenic microorganisms; E. coli and
Salmonella spp. Moreover, other mineral elements present, like silicon may warrant further
investigation for other purposes, such as agricultural production.
Keywords natural mineral waters, heavy metals, pathogenic microorganisms,
water quality

INTRODUCTION
Water is very important for rural development and contributes significantly to people health. Water
is an essential component of our food and contributes to many mineral nutrients. Its contribution to
health is directly within households through food and nutrition, and indirectly as a means ofmaintaining a healthy, diverse environment. Fresh water is essential for agriculture, domestic use,and drinking purpose for human and animals. Water quality depends upon the chemical andbiological characteristics of water. Therefore, human health as well as sustainable agriculturaldevelopment will not be possible without availability of quality fresh water in adequate quantity(WHO, 1996).
The Ban Huabueng community forest has an area of 80 rai (1 rai= 1,600 square meters), and isrepresented by seven community forest committees. The area is characterized by sandy loam andcharacterized as a dry evergreen forest, most of the trees found are Dipeterocapus alatus Roxb. ex.
G. Don, Shorea obtusa Wall. Ex Blume, Shorea siamensis Miq. Hopea odorata Roxb., Ficus
callose. Community utilization of the forest has been for conducting ritual ceremonies and for theⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

benefits provided by the wellspring, at 100 and 91.2 percent, respectively (Phulawan, 2020). A
wellspring in the Ban Huabueng community forest was found and used by villagers since 1899.
Mineral water from wellspring is a natural water source, which farmers use for both consumption
and agriculture. A quality assessment of the natural mineral water is, therefore, needed to ensure
safe water consumption and for water resource management for villagers.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research was to analyze the chemical and biological water characteristics of thenatural mineral water from the wellspring in the Ban Haubueng community forest, Nampong
District, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand.
METHODOLOGY.
The study area is Ban Huabueng which located at Moo 9, Sai Mun Sub-district, Nam Phong
District, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand and founded in 1899, the village consists of a 62-rai
residential area with a total of 157 households, an agricultural area of 883.24 rai, and a public areaof 124 rai (1 rai= 1,600 square meters). The educational level was primarily at the elementary level,
representing 46.0 percent. Agriculture was the primary occupation followed by various forms ofgeneral employment. The average number of household members was four people, with an average
income of 44,734.51 baht per year, and the average life span in the Ban Huabueng community was
52.55 years.
The water samples were collected from different sites in plastic bottles, which were previously
washed with detergents and HNO3 acid and later rinsed with sampled water several times. Total
1.5mL of 2M HNO3 was added to each 100mL samples (pH<3) for metallic ions determination tomaintain the stability of the oxidation state of the various elements in solution and prevent
precipitation (Singh et al, 2005).
Three samples from different sites consisting of a) mineral water from the community forest’s
wellspring, b) mineral water from paddy fields, c) irrigation water, were collected and tested. The
water samples were collected in June 2021 and then analyzed according to standard methods forheavy metal and essential minerals; including As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Hg, Ni, Mn, Zn, Fe, Se, Na, Si,
and Ca through the use of inductively coupled Plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES).
In-house methods were also employed, based on EPA 3015 and microbial contamination, such as E.
coli via AFNOR Certificate Number 3 M 01/8-06/01 compared with ISO16649-2, and for Salmonella spp.
by ISO 6579:2017.

Fig. 1 The study area and water sampling sitesⒸ ISERD

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RESULTS
Heavy metal and other essential minerals from each sample location within the Ban Haubueng
community forest were shown in Tables 1 and 2. The results found that As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Hg, Ni;
as well Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. were not detected in all water samples. Essential
minerals, such as Si and Ca were detected in the mineral water at 7.61ppm-7.64 ppm and 3.0 ppm8.86 ppm, respectively. Therefore, it can conclude that the natural mineral water from a wellspringin the Ban Haubueng Community Forest has no heavy metal contamination and safe from
pathogenic microorganisms, like Escherichia coli and salmonella spp. (Tables 1, 2).
Table 1 Chemical characteristics (metal contents) of natural mineral water from thewellspring in Ban Haubueng Community Forest, Nampong District, Khon Kaen
Province (unit:ppm)
Metal contents
Zn (ppm)
Fe (ppm)
Se (ppm)
Na (ppm)
Si (ppm)
Ca (ppm)
As (ppm)
Pb (ppm)
Cd (ppm)
Cu (ppm)
Ni (ppm)
Mn (ppm)

Mineral water from wellspringin community forest
ND
ND
ND
1.71
7.61
3.0
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
0.01

Mineral water in paddy
field
ND
0.84
ND
2.75
7.64
8.86
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
0.02

Irrigation
water
ND
0.03
ND
15.67
6.36
28.31
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
0.02

Standarda
1.00
1.00
200b
0.10
0.05
0.01
1.00
0.10
0.05

a Water quality standard for surface water sources, Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Natural Resources

and Environment, Thailand
b The World Health Organization, a drinking water guideline of 200 mg of sodium/L

Table 2 Analysis of pathogenic microorganisms (Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp.)
in the water samples
Pathogenic microorganisms
E. coli (cfu/g)
Salmonella spp. (in 25 grams)
Mineral Water from the wellspring< 10

Not detected

Tap water in the village< 10

Not detected

Irrigation water< 10

Not detected

DISCUSSION
Heavy metals are known to be toxic, persistent within environmental settings, possibly
bioaccumulated and concentrated in the biota and food chain, as well as containing carcinogenic
metalloids (Hee et al., 2019). There are various sources, including natural and anthropogenic, ofheavy metals in aquatic environments. Metals from anthropogenic sources such as industrial wastes,
agricultural runoff, urban runoff, atmospheric deposition, and automobile emissions could be
dispersed to the surface water via surface runoff or rain water. From this research, no toxic heavy
metal contents were found in the natural mineral water from the wellspring in the Ban Haubueng
community forest, Nampong District, Khon Kaen Province. But silicon and calcium, the mineralelements were found in the mineral water from community forest wellspring. This finding may be
useful information for using this water resource in others purposes, such as agricultural production.
The composition of the mineral water was analyzed and found several nutrients; for example,
silicon, which is known for its role in alleviating the negative stress effects on numerous plantⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

species (Frew et al., 2018) and calcium that is good for plants. Silicon, as previously reported,
applied with fertilizer increased grain and straw yield, plant height, number of tillers, number ofpanicles, and 1000-grain weight of rice (Pati et al., 2016; Cuong et al. 2017). The increased growthand yield of rice were influenced by its ability to reduce biological and physical stresses (Pati et al.,2016). The nutritional values of rice vary with different varieties, soil fertility, fertilizer
application, and other environmental conditions (Verma, and Srivastav, 2017). Rice production has
been done in this area. Therefore, rice grown with mineral water from wellspring in community
forest could be a beneficial source of mineral supplements for people in the village.
CONCLUSION
We concluded that the natural mineral water from the wellspring in the Ban Haubueng community
forest, Nampong District, Khon Kaen Province has no heavy metal contamination and is safe from
pathogenic microorganisms (Escherichia coli and salmonella spp.). The water quality status of thenatural mineral water from the wellspring in the Ban Haubueng community forest, Nampong
District, Khon Kaen Province during the wet seasons is under Thailand Water Quality Standard interm of heavy metals and pathogen. This finding provides a scientific reference for protecting local
aquatic ecosystem and managing water resources development in this community for the future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Office of Agricultural Research and Development
Region 3, Ministry of Agricultural and Cooperatives, Khon Kaen, Thailand, and the Integrated Landand Water Resource Management Research and Development Center in Northeastern Thailand, Khon
Kean University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.

REFERENCES
Cuong, T.X., Ullah, H., Datta, A. and Hanh, T.C. 2017. Effects of silicon-based fertilizer on growth, yieldand nutrient uptake of rice in tropical zone of Vietnam. Rice Science, 24 (5), 283-290, Retrieved from
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsci.2017.06.002
Frew, A., Weston, L.A., Reynolds, O.L. and Gurr, G.M. 2018. The role of silicon in plant biology, A
paradigm shift in research approach. Annals of Botany, 121 (7), 1265-1273, Retrieved from DOI
https://doi.org /10.1093/aob/mcy009
Hee, Y.Y., Suratman, S. and Aziz, A.A. 2019. Water quality and heavy metals distribution in surface waterof the Kelantan River basin (Malaysia). Oriental Journal of Chemistry, 35 (4), Retrieved from DOI http://dx.doi.org/ 10.13005/ojc/350402
Pati, S., Pal, B., Badole, S., Hazra, G.C. and Mandal, B. 2016. Effect of silicon fertilization on growth, yield,
and nutrient uptake of rice. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 47 (3), 284-290,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2015.1122797
Pollution Control Department. 2010. Water quality standard for surface water. PCD, Thailand, Retrieved
from https://www.pcd.go.th
Singh, D., Chhonkar, P.K. and Dwivedi, D.S. 2005. Manual on soil, plant and water analysis. Westville
Publishing House, ISBN 8185873267, New Delhi.
Verma, D.K. and Srivastav, P.P. 2017. Proximate composition, mineral content and fatty acids analyses ofaromatic and non-aromatic indian rice. Rice Science, 24 (1), 21-31, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.rsci.2016.05.005
World Health Organization. 2003. Health criteria and other supporting information. Guidelines for DrinkingWater Quality (Second Ed), Vol. 2, World Health Organization, Geneva.

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Research article
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Empowerment of Women: A Comparative Analysis ofExperiences from Rural Communities in Ethiopia
ASRES ELIAS*
Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan
Email: asres@tottori-u.ac.jp

KUMI YASUNOBUFaculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan

YUKI TOYAMA
United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan
Received 29 January 2022

Accepted 13 May 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Empowering women and reducing gender disparities are key challenges of 21st
century. This is more pressing in rural areas of developing countries like Ethiopia. The
problem is prevalent in intra-household relationships. However, most initiatives of women
empowerment have been transitory and externally imposed without considering structuralcauses of gender inequality hence they have been less effective. We reviewed andcompared rural women’s empowerment under widely occurring traditional systems versus
community-led initiative, specifically the case of the Awra Amba community in northwest
Ethiopia. The comparison was made on the bases of key indicators including division oflabor, access to information, and resources, leadership and decision-making and genderbased violence. There exist number of studies assessing gender relations in rural areas
under traditional systems. The studies showed that rural women have more workload
involving both household and farm activities compared to men who are tasked to mainly
outside home activities. Moreover, limited accesses to information, services and control
over resources, low decision-making power, lack of opportunities to self-development suchas education and training are key challenges to rural women. However, the above observed
gaps seem to have been relatively tackled in the case of the Awra Amba community. This
community owns a unique self-organized system with the goal of addressing socioeconomic problems through the principle of egalitarianism. Woman's inferior position in
the community is believed to be eliminated by destroying the traditional gender roles andpatriarchal gender ideology. As a result, some of the community values and principles havebeen replicated to other Ethiopian rural communities through own initiated exchange visits.
But the actual implementation of the community-led initiative in Awara Amba is not
immune to criticism. Therefore, in-depth scientific research, and upscaling of successfulcommunity-led empowerment practices should be encouraged to understand how locallyorganized collective actions help to realize inclusive development.
Keywords community-led initiative, decision-making, division of labor,
women empowerment, Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION
Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) is indispensable component for sustainableeconomic growth and poverty reduction (Global Health 50/50 and IFPRI, 2021; UN Women, 2018).
It exists where women and men, boys and girls have equality in all aspects of life including,
education, health, nutrition, access to economic assets and control over resources, and possessing
equal decision power at all levels. However, persistent challenges such as unpaid workloads andlower recognition of women’s work; an unequal balance of power in the home and community;lack of access to and control over resources; and gender-based violence remain significant barriersⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

to gender equality. On the other hand, if rural women had equal access to production factors, yields
from their fields would increase by 20 to 30% total agricultural output by up to 4% in developing
countries, that will lead to better child health and education, food security and improved nutrition(FAO, 2011; Alkire et al., 2013). In general, greater participation and empowerment of women in
the home, community and organizations lead to more inclusive development and representative
institutions, and build resilience and peace, which in turn contributes for development.
While promoting GEWE as one of the major pillars of the previous Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) and the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in many parts of thedeveloping world, gender inequalities continue to be extreme. These gender inequality problems
are particularly severe in Sub-Saharan Africa where population is expanding rapidly. For SubSaharan Africa to leverage its demographic dividend, it is vital to include all segments of society,including the poor, marginalized men and women into the development process. Without inclusive
and transformative development, it is hard to ensure socio-economic development, enhance
productivity and improve welfare of future generation in the region (World Bank, 2020). To curb
the challenges of gender equality, many donors and programs implement instrumental approaches
to address inequitable gender norms such as men’s dominance in decision- making, constraints that
limit women’s access to resources and services, among others. However, these efforts often aretransitory and imposed from outside while overlooking the significance of existing community-led
practices, social norms and values. Unless structural causes of gender inequality are addressed,
instrumental approaches alone cannot build empowerment and enhance resilience (Minne et al.,2018).
Ethiopia is one of the Sub-Saharan African countries which has adopted global agreements
and endorsed country-specific laws and policies that are stated in the country’s constitution Article
35, such as equality in matters related to employment, equality in acquisition and management ofproperty, equal participation in policy and decision making, and right of women to plan theirfamily (FDRE, 1995). The reforms on family code implemented in 2000 and the community-based
land registration, undertaken since 2003 have shown progress little by little (Kumar andQuisumbing, 2015). However, there are still huge gaps and challenges in implementation that canbe witnessed by the gender gap index that shows Ethiopia placed at 97th rank out of 156 countries(WEF, 2021). Ethiopia being a country characterized by traditional, conservative and patriarchy
culture that ascribes a low status to women in all dimensions, however in some self-organized ruralcommunities such as Awra Amba, women's inferior position in the society is believed to beeliminated by destroying the traditional gender roles and patriarchal gender ideology (Emirie andTeferi, 2013; Mengesha et al., 2015; Joumard, 2021). Thus, to understand these two contrasting
phenomena that exist in one country, literature review and investigation of the present situation
were conducted to identify areas for future research.
OBJECTIVE
This study reviewed existing literatures and compared gender roles and relations under widely
occurring traditional systems versus community-led women empowerment initiative such as thecase of the Awra Amba community in northwest Ethiopia.
METHODOLOGY
Literature Search Method
A systematic search of articles published in peer-reviewed journals, dissertations, reports, andbooks between January 2001 - December 2021 was conducted using Web of Science and Google
Scholar databases. Particularly Google Scholar was used to search studies related to Awra Amba
community (as most of the studies exist in master’s thesis and report form). The keywords usedwere ‘rural women’, ‘gender’ and ‘Ethiopia’. The specific time period was selected for two
reasons; 1) to incorporate up to date literatures, and 2) as it aligns with the period when Awra Amba
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

became publicly known through Ethiopian Television documentary about the village aired in2001(Joumard, 2021; Østebø, 2021). The documentary narrated the story of a self-sustained andgender-equal community in contrast to the traditional gender-conservative society in Ethiopia.
The search results were vast. However, a review of the studies was made based on studies
explicitly focus on gender roles and relations including division of labor, access to information,
services and resources, leadership and decision-making role and gender-based violence in rural
Ethiopia. Only studies that were a good fit with the research objective and accessible online were
included. Besides, title, abstract and conclusion of each study were checked to decide the relevancy.
Out of 124 articles accessed in Web of Science and 16 dissertations, articles and reports in Google
Scholar, we only screened and used 23 studies. We did not conduct quantitative analysis rather
main findings of the selected studies are qualitatively synthesized, summarized, and presented. As
women’s empowerment is hard to measure conceptually and contextually, the focus of this review
paper is only to compare gender relations in a traditional versus community honored as a model forgender equality in published and unpublished literature, national and international media outlets,
among others. However, it does not mean gender relations cannot show the situation of women
empowerment. Gender relations are critical aspects of culture that shapes the way daily life is lived
in the family and community as a result it can serve as a cornerstone for empowerment.
Description of Target Groups of the Study
The purpose of this section is to provide an overview of the target groups of this review paper,
specifically: rural women in locations where traditional systems are commonly practiced, and Awra
Amba community, where gender equality is advocated and implemented. This section can serve asa basis to understand the remaining parts of the paper.
Over 80% of Ethiopian women reside in rural areas, where households are engaged primarily
in subsistence agriculture. In the countryside, women are integrated into the rural economy, which
is often labor-intensive and demands a heavy physical force in agriculture and domestic chores. As
in other traditional societies, in Ethiopia, a woman's worth is measured in terms of her role both asa mother and wife. Women are rarely perceived for their hard work, and most of the time a man
decides in their lives and limits their access to resources and opportunities (Demissie and Abebe,2017; Gebrehiwot et al, 2018). As a result of patriarchal gender ideology, most rural women are
generally submissive to men.
Table 1 Characteristics of target groups
Characteristics
Demography
Livelihood
Gender ideology
Religion

Women in the traditional system
About 80% reside in rural areas
Subsistence farming
Patriarchal (conservative)
Exist

Women in Awra Amba community
Consists of about 500 people
Agriculture, weaving, small trade, and tourism
Non-patriarchal
Non-exist

Awra Amba is a small rural village in Ethiopia, comprises about 500 people (weaving
cooperative community). It is located 73 km East of Bahir Dar in the Fogera district of South
Gonder Zone, Ethiopia. The people share a strong ideology and culture, which differentiates themfrom other communities. Number of studies show the community advocates and have codified rules
and regulations: gender equality, children’s rights, solidarity, the golden rule (treat others as you
would like to be treated yourself), the value of work, absence of religion or institutionalized
religion, and democracy (Gelana, 2009; Teferi, 2013; Ambawu, 2015; Joumard, 2021). They
believe in hard work and being good to all people.
The next section presents how the above two contrasting social norms that exist in one country
have been devoted to ensuring gender equality through women’s empowerment based on indictors
mentioned in the first part of methodology section.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONⒸ ISERD

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Gender Based Division of Labor
Since the 1970s, there have been ongoing discussions over the ways in which gender roles in thehome and outside are assigned and recognized. Division of labor, gender roles and inequality in asociety depend on its cultural beliefs about the nature and social values of gender differences incompetencies and traits (O’Connor, 2019). This fact is a common phenomenon in Ethiopia where
gender roles and division of labor is dictated by cultural and social norms. Women are traditionally
expected to work hard and are responsible for all reproductive and household related activities, on
top of their active role in farm activities except ploughing which is considered as a man’s task in
Ethiopia (Elias et. al., 2015; Badstue et al., 2020; Joumard, 2021). Women have greater workload
than men but viewed as auxiliaries who provide labor (Petros et al., 2018; Badstue et al., 2020) andtheir workload is estimated between 13-17 hours a day, which is comparatively more than twicethat of men (OECD, 2014; Elias et al., 2015; World Bank, 2020). As a result, women’s workload(time poverty) is main disempowerment factor in agriculture and beyond (Petros et al., 2018;
Belete and Melak, 2020). Generally, in rural areas of Ethiopia, women are solely responsible forhousehold chores, while men are responsible for tasks outside the home. It is culturally dishonor
for men to be involved in reproductive activities (domestic chores) (Gebrehiwot et al., 2018).
Discriminatory social institutions/ norms and stereotypes on gender roles exacerbate unequal
distribution of responsibilities and therefore, remain one of the constraints to ensure genderequality that in turn enable women to be active participants in social and economic development ofrural areas.
Table 2 Brief summary of gender relations in traditional system and Awra Amba community
Indicators
Division of labor

Women in the traditional system-Gender based division of labor exist.
-Women are traditionally responsible for all
domestic chores on top of their active role infarming.

Women in Awra Amba community-Gender roles do not exist.
-Men do domestic chores includingchildcare, cooking, etc. Women do
productive activities and vice versa.

Decision making
power and leadershiprole-Women have nil to limited voice in decision
making, participation and leadership role inhousehold and public rural organizations.

-Women have the right to take leadershiprole and decision-making power andexercise it at both at household andcommunity levels.

Access to and control
over benefits ofresources,
information, andservices-Limited access to and control over resources,
including land, and use of credit, improved
technologies, education, and training.

Equal access to education, healthservices, possession, and control overbenefits of resources including land andhousehold assets.

Gender-based
violence-Nearly half of Ethiopian women experience
lifetime GBV.

Their non-violent treatment of womenmakes them different from others.

Source; Authors compiled from reviewed literature

Contrary to the above facts, in Awra Amba community which has distinct gender relations,
there is almost no marginalization and discrimination of women and gender-based division of labor.
Nearly all reviewed studies revealed that gender roles and relations are guided by the principle ofmutual understanding among all members of the community. The community rule and regulation
states in its article 5 that both men and women must share equally all their responsibilities insideand outside the home (Joumard, 2021) they should share works on a strict basis of ability andefficiency guided by discussions and mutual understandings (Emirie and Teferi, 2013; Ambawu,2015) both the Awra Amba females and males have androgynous and nontraditional gender role
perception (Ebrie, 2015). However, according to Ebrie (2015) and Cherie (2012), the absence ofstereotypic gender role is not the basic element of gender equality in Awra Amba, rather it is theresult of active participation of women in decision-making and maintain shared equality ofassumptions among themselves.

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Women’s Decision-Making Power and Leadership Role
The Beijing conference agreement, known as the Platform for Action, named women in power anddecision-making one of the 12 critical areas of concern. Though progresses have been made little
by little in Ethiopia after the Family Code adopted in 2000, and currently 50% of the cabinet isoccupied by women, but women still have far to go towards equal representation in power andleadership in general and rural areas in particular. According to Gebrehiwot et al. (2018); Petros etal. (2018) and Badstue et al. (2020), men have a dominant position in rural society, while women
have nil to limited voice in decision processes at the household level, and participation andrepresentation in public rural organizations. Generally, men are viewed as the primary farmers andcontrolling major decisions including land use, the use of credit, and control over income andexpenditure. Furthermore, women’s right to participate in reproductive health decision ranges from
40-60% (Alemayehu and Meskele, 2017; Tadele et al., 2019).
Whereas in Awra Amba community, women have the right to take leadership role anddecision-making power both at household and community levels (Emirie and Teferi, 2013;
Ambawu, 2015). Their participation and representation rate in the development committee (themain administrative structure) which consists of about 15 sub-committees has increased from 36%
in 2004 to 64% in 2011 to 70%, and to 81% in sub-committees in 2020. Though, it does not meanequality was achieved in the studied years, rather tremendous improvements have made in terms ofwomen’s participation and representation in institutions found in the community (Joumard, 2021).
Moreover, Ambawu (2015) depicted that the number and timing of children are decided by mutual
understanding of both husband and wife; women also fully exercise their sexual rights with theabsence of pressure and autonomous to access reproductive health services (Teferi, 2013). In
general, traditional stereotypes that hinder women’s decision-making role have disappeared (Teferi,2013). Human dignity and impartiality are fundamental values for women’s and men’s active
participation in decision-making and democratic power relationship in Awra Amba (Mengesha, etal., 2015) relative to the traditional system that favors the superiority of men and restricts the rights
of women in multiple dimensions.
Women’s Access to Resources, Information and Services
Eliminating barriers that prevent women from having the same access to education, economic
opportunities and productive inputs can address structural, gender-based inequalities (Lea et. al.,2018; UN Women, 2018). However, in many developing countries including Ethiopia, rural
women have limited access to and control over a range of resources, including land, access to anduse of credit, cash, improved technologies, information and extension services that are essential toincrease their farm productivity and income (Elias et al., 2015; Demissie and Abebe, 2017; Petros
et al., 2018; Badstue et al., 2020; World Bank, 2020). It is main disempowerment factor in
agriculture at large and other income-generating activities in particular (Belete and Melak, 2020).
Gebrehiwot et al. (2018) revealed that customary and traditional institutions and practices restrict
women's access to land, market and trading, resource related decision-making at the household andcommunity levels.
However, in Awra Amba, men and women have the rights to involve in any economic
activities to earn their own income and participate in social activities (Emirie and Teferi, 2013;
Yassine, 2008). Women have equal access to health services, possession, and control over benefitsof resources including land and household assets and other opportunities (Gelana, 2009; Endale,
2013; Ambawu, 2015). According to the reviewed literature, boys and girls have equal access to
education. For instance, Joumard (2021) revealed that girls’ enrollment rate at university increased
from 46% in 2013 to nearly100% in 2020. There is no prioritization of son’s education overdaughters. Moreover, women are economically independent and can engage in their own income
generating activities other than the income earned from community’s share (Teferi, 2013). Womenand men have equal access to and control over the benefits gained from land and non-land relatedresources (Ambawu, 2015). Besides, during divorce, women can equally share asset and propertyⒸ ISERD

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acquired throughout marriage (Joumard, 2021) which is uncommon and source of dispute in otherparts of rural Ethiopia.
Gender-Based Violence Against Women
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a serious violation of human rights and a life-threatening healthproblem globally. According to the WHO (2021), it is estimated that one in three women will haveexperienced GBV, and the incidence is particularly severe in developing countries including
Ethiopia. A meta-analysis review by Kassa and Abajobir (2018) indicated that nearly half ofEthiopian women experience lifetime GBV including physical, sexual and psychological violence.
Mainly women and girls in rural areas are victims of various harmful traditional practices such as
wife-beating (Gurmu and Endale, 2017; Muche et al., 2014), early marriage, female genital
mutilation (Demissie and Abebe, 2017), prioritize son’s education over daughters’ (Gelana, 2009),
etc. On the other hand, Muche et al. (2014) and Deyessa et al. (2010) depicted that GBVs are
acceptable and tolerable in rural than urban areas due to socio-cultural and traditional norms; mild
consequences towards the person accountable to the offence; low education level, among others.
On the contrary, GBV is not acceptable and condemned in Awra Amba community. Theirsocial norms and non-violent treatment of women make them different from the surrounding
society (Teferi, 2013; Ambawu, 2015). Unlike their neighbor, women are not beaten; nodiscrimination towards single or divorced women (Yassin, 2008); marital relationship is solely
based on free consent of the couples; sexual relations are considered a common good and not ashameful act to discuss about it (Joumard, 2021). As a result, women are free to deal withreproductive health issues. In general, Teferi (2013) explained this situation as a result of culturalvalues like truth, love, non-violence, and peaceful co-existence reinforced by the community’s
moral standards- “do as you would be done by”, contributed to the internal and external peace
processes in Awra Amba.
However, in a stark contrast to the above studies, a recent study conducted by Østebø (2021)
criticizes the communities gendered exclusion tendency that comes due to false accusations. The
author challenges the narratives of the communities’ origin, especially on the viewpoint of religion,
potential of power concentration and questioned the promotion of the community as a ‘model toalleviate poverty’. But the author almost acknowledged the absence of gender-based division oflabor. Though, the study is a thorough investigation of ‘understanding the spread of policy models
in a digital age’ using Awra Amba as a case, yet the arguments and conclusions are based on
generalized theoretical concepts that did not consider local contexts, exhaustive and balanced
investigation of the two sides of the stories told by individuals. It requires further multidisciplinary
quantitative and qualitative studies to refute and/or prove the conclusions made. On the other hand,according to Awra Amba community public relations (2020) there are about 9 communities
replicating Awra Amba values and principles since 2004 to ensure gender equality and eliminate
poverty. But to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies that investigate how the values andprinciples are replicated in other areas.
CONCLUSION
This review depicts that rural woman in developing countries like Ethiopia are still facing a
multitude of empowerment-related challenges such as: gender-based division of labor that leads tomore workload to women; lack of decision-making power and leadership role; poor access toresources and services including health and education; and frequent gender-based violence and its
prevalence. Past efforts done to address these challenges often are transitory and imposed fromoutside while overlooking the structural causes of inequality embedded in values and social norms.
These challenges, if not addressed, will remain bottlenecks to the UN’s Sustainable development
goals to ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. However, community-led gendersensitive initiatives like the experience of Awra Amba can have potential to unlock thesechallenges, even if such initiatives are not immune to criticism (e.g., Østebø, 2021). More study onⒸ ISERD

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their role for local and global development has been largely overlooked and this merits future study.
Hence, in-depth multidisciplinary research remains important to understand how community-led
women empowerment practices help to realize inclusive development.
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Research article
erd

Relation between the Level of Degradation and the Wind
Speed Reduction Efficiency of Tree Windbreaks Systems in
Ovche Pole Region, Macedonia
OGNEN ONCHEVSKI
Graduate School of Agro-Environmental Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: ognenoncevski@hotmail.com

TERUAKI IRIE
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan

IVAN MINCHEV
Hans Em-Faculty of Forest Sciences, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Engineering,
University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius-Skopje, North Macedonia

MACHITO MIHARA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: m-mihara@nodai.ac.jp
Received 16 January 2022

Accepted 20 May 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Ovche Pole is an agricultural region in Macedonia with dry climatic conditions
characterized by low precipitation and high ambient temperatures during the growing
period as well as prevailing winds that are present considerable time of the year. During the1950s series of measures have been implemented to improve the agriculture productivity inthe region. One of the measures taken was the establishment of tree windbreaks (fieldshelterbelts) aimed to reduce wind velocity and protect shelter crops. Ever since they
become essential elements for the regional landscape, performing many important
ecosystem functions. As far as authors’ knowledge, so far there are no scientific studies thatinvestigated the performance of the tree windbreaks in Ovche Pole-research area of thisstudy. To fill the gap of scientific data, this study examines the relation between wind
reduction efficiency of tree windbreaks with their level of degradation in that area. Opticalporosity is used as a proxy for quantitative description of the level of degradation of thestructure of the tree windbreaks. To this aim, field measurements for wind velocity andoptical porosity (OP) were done on 3 (three) windbreaks sections. Photogrammetry method
was used to determent the porosity at each windbreak section. Wind velocity fieldmeasurements were done with two handheld cone anemometers The windspeed reduction
efficiency was assessed by comparing the windspeed at the windward side with thewindspeed at 3 points on the leeward side. The results show that the level of degradation issignificantly related with the relative windspeed at distance of 30m and 60m from the treeline at the leeward side.
Keywords windbreaks, windspeed reduction efficiency, optical porosity,
Ovche Pole region, North Macedonia

INTRODUCTION
Ovche Pole is an agriculture region in Macedonia with dry climatic condition characterized by low
precipitation and high ambient temperatures during the growing period as well as year-roundprevailing winds. The region is part to the semi-arid agriculture zone and sub-humid agriculturezone of the country (Aksoy et al., 2020). Northern winds are most dominant, blowing throughout
the entire year, with an average frequency of 188% and an average speed of 4.6 m/sec. Northwestern winds have an average frequency of 127% and an average speed of 3.9 m/sec, blowingⒸ ISERD

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throughout the entire year, but mostly in June and August. The third most frequent are the southernwinds, with an average frequency of 66% and an average aped of 2.4 m/sec. (Evolving DOO, 2016).
During the 1950’s series of projects were taken to improve the agriculture productivity in theregion. One of the activities was the establishment of tree windbreaks. The tree windbreaks wereplanted on a surface of 555.66 ha (Forest public enterprise, 2011). The trees rows are 10 m wide
row in rectangle grid that formed agriculture parcels that are approximately 1000 m in length and
250 m width. Tree windbreaks are planted in southwest to northeast direction perpendicular to
direction of the prevailing northwest winds. Today, much of the initial area is lost and certain areas
are degraded because of illegal cutting done by the local population. Depending on the level ofdegradation, different sections of the tree wind brake systems have different wind speed reduction
efficiency. The ability of windbreak to fulfill its wind protection function in landscape is given by
its external and internal structure. The external structure is defined by width, height, shape, andorientation. The internal structure is given by the amount and arrangement of branches, leaves, andtrees or shrubs trunks (Brandle et al., 2004). The most used descriptor of internal structure for
artificial windbreaks has been porosity which is a simple ratio of perforated area to total area
(Heisler and Dewalle, 1988). Height of the windbreak and porosity of windbreak are main
parameters used to explain the windspeed reduction efficiency (Brandle et al., 2004; Helfer at al.,2009; Středová et al., 2012; Řeháček et al., 2017; Kučera, 2020). The windbreak porosity isclassified as real (aerodynamic) and optical.

Fig. 1 Tree windbreaks in the research area showing its width is 10 m
Note: Taken by Onchevski in August 2021

Aerodynamic porosity is defined as the ratio between the average wind speed measured on thewindward side of windbreak and the average speed in open space. Since aerodynamic porosity isdifficult to define, the parameter of optical porosity (OP) is mostly used. For the evaluation ofwindbreak efficiency, optical porosity (OP) is determined by using the photogrammetry method(Kučera, 2020). Although, there is a linear relationship between windbreak efficiency and opticalporosity; this connection can be influenced by several external characteristics of tree windbreaks(Wu et al., 2018). Therefore the objective of this study is see the relation between the level ofdegradation of the tree windbreaks and optical porosity and relate this parameter with thewindbreak efficiency to protect the agriculture land from negative effects of prevailing wind.
METHODLOGY
Study Area and Measuring of Wind Speed
Windbreak efficiency was analyzed on three windbreaks sections near the village of Erdzelija inthe region of Ovche Pole. The agricultural field are located on around 3.5 km from village withlatitude 41°51'18.45"N and longitude 22° 0'50.12"E.
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Fig. 2 Satellite photo showing research sites and windspeed measuring points
Averagely the tree windbreak sections are 6 m high and 10 m wide, however the level ofdegradation was different. To analyze the windspeed reduction efficiency, between 18 and 26
August 2021 at each tree windbreak section wind speed was measured on one point at thewindward side and at tree points on the leeward side. Windward measuring point was set 30 mfrom the tree line and the leeward measuring points were set on 30 m, 60 m, and 90 m from the treeline. Windspeed was measured with two handheld cup anemometer type (Sato Tech AM-4257SD)
fixed 1m above the ground, measurements were taken every 5 seconds. On the windward sidewindspeed was measured continuously for 6 hours during, however on the leeward side the firsttwo hours was used for windspeed measuring at the first point (30 m distance), second two hours
for measuring at the second point (60 m distance) and the last 2 hours for measuring at the third
point (90 m distance).

Fig. 3 Setting up wind speed measuring equipment
Top left corner showing the cup anemometer type used for recording the windspeed
Note: Taken by Onchevski in August 2021
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Optical Porosity- Level of Degradation of Tree Windbreaks
In addition to the windspeed measurements, the optical porosity was analyzed for each windbreaksection. Optical porosity of windbreak was described by terrestrial photogrammetry method as thevalue of the optical porosity from the photo documentation of the windbreak at the time of fieldmeasurement. Each section was photographed with iPad Pro 12MP, ƒ/1.8 aperture camera from theleeward side of the windbreaks at a 30 m distance from the windbreak on 1.5 m ground.
Photogrammetric analysis was done using GIMP (version 2.10.28), AutoCAD and Excel software.
At first, all photos were scaled in AutoCAD and then graphically processed to black and withbinary image, where vegetation was highlighted and assigned in black against the backgroundassigned in white. Histogram tool was used to calculate the exact number of black (= vegetation)
and white(= background) pixels. The value of optical porosity was calculated as distribution of thewhite (background) pixels expressed as percent value. The higher the value of OP, the lower thevegetation distribution and windbreak effectiveness to reduce windspeed.

Fig. 4 Photos indicating tree windbreak measuring sites before and after pixel processing
Measuring site no.1 on the top, measuring site no.2 in the middle, and measuring site no.3 in the bottom

RESULTS
Optical Porosity
Analysis showed that site number 2 has the OP value of 35.8% which is highest, while site number
3 has lowest OP value of 16.57 %. Site number 1 has OP of 18.23%, value that is close to value ofsite number 3. The results of optical porosity (OP) analysis are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Optical porosity of tree windbreak measuring sites
White (background)pixels1064042

Optical porosity

1Black (foreground)pixels477403823289752

183423035.80%

34751115943361

16.57%

Site no.

18.23%

Wind Speed Reduction Efficiency
The first wind speed measurements at site no.1 (Fig. 4) showed that this tree windbreak section cansignificantly reduce the windspeed coming from the windward side. At the leeward side at 30 m
distance the there is a reduction of 54%, at 60 m distance there is a reduction of 25% and at 90 m
distance reduction of 8%. Expressed as relative windspeed, at 30 m distance the wind velocity isⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

46% of wind at the windward side, at 60 m the velocity is 75% of the velocity of windward side
and at 90 m the wind speed is 92% of the windspeed at the windward side. The second
measurements show similar trend in windspeed reduction efficiency. In this time, at 30 m distancethe wind velocity is 47% relative to the windward side, at 60 m the velocity is 72% of the velocity
of windward side and at 90 m the windspeed reached the same value (100%) as the incoming wind.
Table 2 shows the relative windspeed at each site at the different measuring distances.
Table 2 Windspeed reduction related to different optical porosity and distance to tree line
Tree windbreak siteno.
1 (first measuring)
1 (second measuring)2
3

Optical porosity
background pixels (%)
18.23%
18.23%
35.80%
16.57%

30 m
46%
47%
74%
40%

Relative windspeed (%)
60 m
90 m
75%
92%
72%
100%
95%
98%
78%
96%

Correlation results showed that optical porosity and windspeed reduction is significantly
correlated for the measuring points at 30 m and 60 m distance from the tree windbreak, however at
90 m distance there was no correlation. For the 30 m distance measuring point the correlation
coefficient (r) is high with a value of 0.993 and with a 99% level of significance (p < 0.01). For the
60 m measuring point correlation coefficient (r) is 0.95 and the level of significance of 90% (p <0.10). These results confirm other authors’ research conclusions that optical porosity is linearly
connected with wind speed reduction efficiency and can be reliable measure for evaluation ofwindbreak efficiency (Brandle et al., 2004; Helfer at al., 2009; Středová et al., 2012; Řeháček et al.,2017; Wu et al., 2018; Kučera, 2020).
Table 3 Relation between optical porosity and windspeed reduction efficiency
Anemometer position (leeward side) 1 m above ground
30 m
60 m
Measurements
44Correlation coefficient (r)
0.993
0.950
P-value
0.007
0.05
Level of significancep < 0.01
p < 0.10

90 m
4
0.292
0.708
n/a

CONCLUSION
Research results presented in this chapter shows that tree windbreaks systems in the research area
play key role in buffering the negative effect of the prevailing winds. Having in mind thatsignificant windbreak area was lost and existing are under threat of degradation, it is important thatexisting tree windbreaks systems are protected from degradation, degraded areas should be restored,
and new tree windbreaks should be expanded to other areas. Another conclusion coming from theresults is that optical porosity (OP) is a reliable measurement that can describe the wind speed
reduction efficiency and level of degradation of windbreaks in the research area. This indicate that
optical porosity can be used as guidance for maintenance and management of existing tree
windbreaks as well as for guidance when establishing new windbreak areas. As recommendation
optical porosity of the windbreaks should be maintained between 15-20%. At the degradedwindbreak sections with optical porosity higher that 20%, to fill the internal voids and space,interplanting new trees is recommended. New planted trees should be species that can thrive in thelocal conditions and provide multiple functions such as: nitrogen fixation, fruits, pollen for honey,
medicines and other NTFP. Some of the possible tree species are Elaeagnus angustifolia (Eng.
Russian olive), Ziziphus jujuba (Eng. Chinese date), Quercus spp. (Eng. Oaks), Cornus mas (Eng.
Cornelian cherry), Prunus Amygdalus (Eng. Almond), Prunus cerasifera (Eng. Cherry plum) andothers.
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REFERENCES
Aksoy, E., Arsov, S., Mincev, I. and Fang, C. 2020. Agro-ecological, Atlas of the republic of North
Macedonia. FAO, Rome, Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/3/ca7519en/CA7519EN.pdf
Brandle, J.R., Hodges, L. and Zhou, X.H. 2004. Windbreaks in North American agricultural systems.
Agroforestry Systems, 61, 65-78.
Evolving, DOO. 2016. Environmental impact assessment study on construction of a wind farm in
Bogoslovec, municipality of Sveti Nikole and municipality of Shtip. Technical No. 01-EIA-16.
Heisler, G.M and Dewalle, D.R. 1988. Effects of windbreak sructure on wnd flow. Agriculture, Ecosystems
and Environment, 22-23, 41-69, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-8809(88)90007-2
Helfer, F., Zhang, H. and Lemckert, C. 2009. Evaporation reduction by windbreaks, Overview, modellingand efficiency. Urban Water Security Research Alliance Technical Report, No. 16.
Kučera, J., Podhrázská, J., Karásek, P. and Papaj, V. 2020. The effect of windbreak parameters on the winderosion risk assessment in agricultural landscape. Journal of Ecological Engineering, 21 (2), 150-156,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.12911/22998993/116323
Řeháček, D., Khel, T., Kučera, J., Vopravil, J. and Petera, M. 2017. Effect of windbreaks on wind speed
reduction and soil protection against wind erosion. Soil and Water Research, 12 (2), 128-135. Retrieved
from https://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/45_2016-SWR.pdf
Středová, H., Podhrázská, J., Litschmann, T., Středa, T. and Rožnovský, J. 2012. Aerodynamic parameters of
windbreak based on its optical porosity. Contributions to Geophysics and Geodesy, 42 (3), 213-226,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.2478/v10126-012-0008-5
Wu, T., Zhang, P., Zhang, L., Wang, J., Yu, M., Zhou, X. and Wang, G. 2018. Relationships between shelter
effects and optical porosity, A meta-analysis for tree windbreaks. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology,
259, 75-81, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.04.013Ⓒ ISERD

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Research article
erdSocial Characteristics and Sustainability of Residents-Led
Biological Monitoring in Japanese Agricultural Landscapes
MASAYUKI NITTA*
Toyo University, Kawagoe, Japan
Email: nitta061@toyo.jp

NAOHISA NAKASHIMA
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Japan

MITSURU OHIRATokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan

MUNEYUKI AOKI
Toyo University, Kawagoe, Japan
Received 14 February 2022

Accepted 6 June 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Biological monitoring in agricultural landscapes is conducted as part of local
residential activities in some rural regions. Such survey activities are expected to havesocial effects such as environmental education and community empowerment, in addition tobiodiversity monitoring. However, it remains unclear how residents conduct the biologicalsurveys, assess the sustainability of the activities, and identify potential effects on theircommunities. This study aims to clarify the social characteristics of biological surveys byresidents and examine the sustainability of the activities. The survey reports of 37 local
activities in aquatic habitats of rice-farming landscapes in the city of Utsunomiya in the
Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, were collected. By using the reports, the basic activity features ofthe surveys, such as the number and the attributes of participants, the time, dates and sitesof the surveys, were examined, and the local organizations were clustered based on thesimilarities of the features. Finally, the number of detected species by the biological surveys
and the contents of group discussions, which were held after the surveys, in each cluster
were compared. The results showed that the number of participants of the biologicalsurveys ranged from 11 to 235, and the participation rate of children was high at 94.1%,
while the participation rate of experts was low at 20.6%. Our main findings are as follows:(1) the residential organizations with invited biological experts detected the highest numberof species. (2) the cluster with no children tended to have no discussion. In conclusion, ourfindings imply that expert participation is vital for finding species and that childparticipation is essential for sustainability of this biological monitoring.
Keywords biological survey by residents, citizen science, agricultural environments,
paddy fields

INTRODUCTION
In Japan, the "Survey on Lives in Paddy Fields" has been conducted nationwide by the Ministry ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) since2001 to assess the current status and changes in ecosystems around rice paddies. The survey
conducted by the government has a problem with the number of sites and is qualitative andquantitative limited in survey items due to cost and work resources (Watabe et al., 2011).
Meanwhile, in the prefectural government alone, local residents have a movement to conduct
surveys of living things. In Tochigi Prefecture, as a measure of Improvement in Land, Water andEnvironment Conservation, "Survey on Lives in Paddy Fields and Surrounding Environment" hasbeen mandatory for organizations implementing the payment grant of multifunctionality since 2007.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

By having residents take the initiative in conducting the survey, various effects can be expected,
from educational effects to regional revitalization (Mineta et al., 2008; Tanaka et al., 2008;
Mizutani et al., 2014): solving economic problems, arousing interest in nature, raising
environmental awareness, restoring local communities, and increasing willingness to participate inenvironmental conservation activities.
Quantitative elucidation of the relationship between paddy fields biodiversity and the effortsof the survey with local residents by using survey data will contribute to the formation/reformationof local communities and the conservation of biodiversity.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to clarify the social characteristics of residents-led biological monitoring inJapanese agricultural landscapes from the viewpoints of activity features and examine thesustainability of the survey activities.
METHODOLOGY
Target Area
Target area is the city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture in Japan. In this study, we used thesecondary data from the community-based biological survey conducted in 2018. 37 residential
organizations in Utsunomiya City conducted this survey in rice paddies, surrounding farm ditches,and reservoirs.
Data Collection
In this study we collected secondary data; the data were the survey reports collected by
Utsunomiya City in 2018 with a specific format used in the "Survey on Lives in Paddy Fields andSurrounding Environment". Table 1 shows an example of a part of the sheets.
Table 1 An example of the survey sheets used in the biological survey by the local residents
in Utsunomiya City in 2018
Subjects
Basic information

Captured species

Discussions

Specific explanations about the survey
Name of the activity organization, date of survey, an outline of participants, survey
location, number of years since infrastructure development, the design of the farm
ditch, flow velocity, presence of vegetation in the ditch.
Species name and the captured number of each species regarding
Paddiesbirds, butterflies, dragonflies, amphibians, reptiles, fishes,
shellfishes, insects, water plants
Species name and the captured number of each species regarding
Farm ditchesamphibians, fishes, shellfishes, insects, water plants
Species name and the captured number of each species regarding
Reservoirs
amphibians, fishes, shellfishes, insects, water plants
Participants’ ideas on the results of the survey, participants’ ideas on the conservation
environments in their rural area.

Source: Guideline of "Survey on Lives in Paddy Fields and Surrounding Environment" by Tochigi Prefecture

The report has a discussion part that describes the participants' ideas and/or exchange of
opinions on the biological survey or plan of the communities through the applicable events after
finishing the capture of species surrounding the environment.
Under the multifunctional payment grant system implemented by Tochigi Prefecture, grantmanagement organizations are established in each region, mainly by farmers, and the biologicalⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

surveys are conducted under the direction of these residential organizations. The organizations are
only required to conduct this survey and submit the report. Therefore, the specific survey methods(participants, location, time, methodology, timing and awareness of ecosystem conservation, etc.)
are vary depending on the organization.
Data Analysis
First, in order to clarify the basic features of the residents' survey activities, five items wereselected, tabulated, and organized as follows: 1) the number of participants in the survey activities;2) attributes of the participants (the breakdown of the attributes is non-organization member
farmers, non-farmer local residents, children under high school age, other local organizations, andbiological experts); 3) survey sites (paddy field, farm ditch, and reservoir) and survey timing; 4)contents of the after-survey discussion; 5) presence of photographic records.
Second, cluster analysis with ward's method was conducted to categorize and analyze theorganization characteristics according to the similarity of the activities features in the above fiveitems. Relationships between survey features and detected species and group discussion werecompared between each category obtained by the cluster analysis. Based on this result, the issues
for sustainable biological monitoring were discussed by focusing on the participant attributes.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Basic Activity Features of Biological Surveys by Residents
According to city officials and the participatory observation by the authors, the survey was
conducted according to the following procedure: firstly, participants received an explanation andsome cautions from an organizer of the residential organizations at the beginning of the survey.
Then, the participants spread out in paddies or ditches, capturing creatures with nets or hands forabout an hour or above, and collected the captured species in buckets and other containers.
The number of participants in the survey activities was relatively large over manyorganizations (57 participants in average, 11 participants at minimum and 235 participants at
maximum). Eight organization didn’t mention the number of participants in the reports and thelargest group of participants was between 21 and 60 participants, accounting for about 46% (Fig.1).
Regarding the attributes of the participants, 34 organizations provided a breakdown of the attributesof the participants and three organizations did not. Fig. 2 shows the ratio of participation in thesurvey by each of the participant attributes (n = 34). Of the 34 organizations that described theattributes of the participants, ten organizations (29.4%) had non-member farmers participating, and24 organizations did not. The number of organizations in which non-farmer local residents
participated was 29 (85.3%), and they did not participate in was five. Seven organizations (20.6%)
invited biological experts and 27 organizations did not.
In order to examine the relationship between the number of participants and the number of
attributes of participants, single regression analysis was conducted on this data; as the result, no
relationship was found between the number of attributes and the number of participants (R2 = 0.04).
This result supports that the number of participants does not necessarily correlate with the diversityof their attributes. The ratio of organizations that involved children and non-farmer local residents
in their surveys to the total number of organizations was more than 80% (94.1% for children and
85.3% for non-farmer residents, Fig.2), suggesting that local residents thought this event would
have some positive impacts to equip children with environmental education. However, theparticipation of biological experts was only less than 20%, and we can conclude that the attendanceof experts to the residential biological survey is not shared.
As for the date, time and survey sites, 36 organizations stated the survey date and time in thereports, and one organization did not. Two of 36 organizations conducted the survey twice, atdifferent times of the year. All 36 organizations conducted the survey at farm ditch. In the case of
paddy fields, 18 organizations (50.0%) investigated, and about three organizations (8.3%) surveyedⒸ ISERD

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reservoirs. Fig. 3 shows the frequency of the first survey timing of the 36 organizations by survey
sites (farm ditch, paddy and reservoir). Survey timing shows similar trend between farm ditch andpaddy: almost surveys were conducted during the irrigation season (from April to early October)and the most surveys were conducted during a month from mid-July to mid-August. During thisperiod, the water flow of farm ditch is high, the paddy fields are irrigated, and it is favorable timing
for farmers because the busy rice-planting season had passed. For these reasons, it is likely thatmost surveys at farm ditch and paddy were conducted from mid-July to mid-August. The frequencyof survey at paddies was relatively lower than that at farm ditches. It is assumed that the reason forthis is that many organizations found it difficult to conduct surveys in the rice paddies and allow
children to enter because the paddies are privately owned and the rice plants are growing around
July and August. Considering several surveys were conducted in end of October to beginning ofNovember, the biological surveys were conducted during the irrigation period when the water flowof farm ditch is plentiful, and either after rice planting (mid-July to mid-August) or during the rice
harvesting period (October to November). The survey at reservoir was conducted at mid-July andend of November. Because reservoirs are water storage facilities, they are often waterlogged
throughout the year, so the timing of the surveys was likely not affected by the agricultural cycle.
Regarding the contents of the after-survey discussion, following is the list of examples ofthree ways to describe the discussion held by participants with each other after the survey:
1. general contents such as impressions,
2. motivation such as re-evaluation and re-recognition for their communities or thesurrounding environment (e.g., "I want to make efforts in conservation activities to coexist
with other lives while cherishing the nature of the region"),
3. future prospects such as specific countermeasure plans for environmental education.

8
22%

4
11%

The number ofparticipants
21~40

non-member
farmernon-farmer
resident

40~60

child

61~80

expert

1~20

9
24%

4
11%

member81~100

2
5% 2
5%

29.4%
85.3%
94.1%
20.6%

others

2.9%

101~

8
22%

0%

not specified

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ratio of participation in survey

Fig. 1 Frequency of the number ofparticipants(n = 37 organizations)
The number of organizations

100.0%

Fig. 2 The attributes of the participants(n = 34 organizations)

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

farm ditch
paddy
reservoir

Fig. 3 Frequency of the first survey timing of 36 organizations by survey sitesⒸ ISERD

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The group discussions, including parents and children, were held after the survey. A typicalexample is that the survey organizers served lunch to participants and sat around inside or outside
near the paddy fields. They had a conversation on the above three topics. 35 organizations wrote
down the memo, contents, or the results of their discussions, and two organizations did not.
Relationships between Activity Features of Surveys and Detected Species and Group
Discussion
In the cluster analysis, based on the analysis results in the previous section, we selected 15 items
that impacted the residential biological survey from the social aspect, including the attributes ofparticipants, survey times, and photographic records. The number of participants was excluded
from the analysis for reliability reasons because of the high variability in values compared to theother variables. Accordingly, the 34 organizations’ data which completed all items were used in theanalysis and three organizations’ data were excluded. The result of cluster analysis allowed us todistinguish the following characteristics among each organization (Fig. 4, Table 2).

Fig. 4 The classification of the organizations
The texts on the horizontal axis represent the name of the organizations.
The classification was pruned at the height of five.

Table 2 The details of the cluster classification and described characteristics
No.
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5Characteristics

Type

Children attended, non experts attended, all documents
submitted, survey one time, one or two attributes.
Children attended, non experts attended, survey one
time, almost one attribute.
Children attended, experts attended in some case,survey two times, two or three attributes.
Children attended, experts attended, survey one times,
two or three attributes.
Non children attended, non experts attended, survey
one times, no attribute.

Completedocument typeChildrenparticipate typeMultiplesurveys typeMulti-attributes
type
Non-childparticipate type

Score ofdiscussion

Detected
species

3.0

8.3

2.4

10.0

3.3

12.0

2.3

12.8

1.7

8.3

(1) Complete document type: no inadequacies in the documentation, photographs of thecaptured species, and a location map that explicitly describes the survey points were submitted. (2)Children's participate type: characterized by children's participation but not experts. (3) Multiple
surveys type: The difference from the previous group, class 2, is that the survey was conducted
multiple times throughout the year. This type was also characterized by children's participation,
while experts might or might not attend the events. (4) Multi-attributes type: children and experts
participated, and the attributes of the participants were diverse. (5) Non-child participate type:children and experts do not participate.
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Table 2 shows that the average discussion scores of the organizations with children
participating (3.0 of class 1, 2.4 of class 2, 3.3 of class 3 and 2.3 of class 4; 2.8 in average) werehigher than that of the organizations without children (which was 1.7 of class 5). In addition, theorganizations surveyed multiple times were more likely to include both child and expert, and had
the highest discussion scores (3.3). Children's participation (resulting in increasing the number ofsurveys) indicated a high level of interest in the survey of natural lives in the community
environment, leading to more active discussions.
The group with the highest number of species captured also had experts participating (Table 2).
The number of species got the highest is not because the actual number of species captured washigh, but instead because the captured lives could be identified at the species level when experts
were present in the survey.
Issues for Sustainable Biological Monitoring
In this section, the issues for sustainable biological monitoring are discussed based on the results
described so far.
The first is the lack of collaboration with experts. Only seven organizations out of 37 (around19%) confirmed cooperating with biological experts. Considering that the clustered group with thehighest number of species captured had experts participating, having experts participate at least
once in every organization will be necessary to improve the quality of biological surveys. In
general, it remains concerns about the accuracy of data collected by non-experts (Crall et al. 2011;
Gardiner et al. 2012). With a guidance from experts, surveys can be conducted efficiently (Bonter
and Cooper, 2012), and experts can be expected to give comprehensive advice and learning
opportunities for children about the local environment based on the species habitat conditions.
Survey method is also relevant for data quality (Lewandowski and Specht, 2015); for example,
species photos and other information such as species features of color, voice and so on, areimportant to identify the species later. Taking species photos and stock correct information by
matching the captured species with its name will also help the communities to figure out theirenvironment ecosystem in the future (Kosmala et al., 2016).
Our cluster analysis results indicate that the residential biological survey, especially those withchildren, positively impacted communities' attitudes toward their environment (Table 2).
According to Asah and Blahna (2012), the participation of non-experts is most motivated bypersonal and social benefits such as education and social interaction with other members rather
than environment-related reasons. In the case of our study, the survey was discussed among theadult participants from the child's perspective, such as they want to continue to participate next year
because the survey was a good experience for their children, and they wanted to protect theirsurrounding environments for their kids. Furthermore, the survey group without children did not
discuss the prospect of their survey (Table 2). This implies that the participation of children has arole not only to deepen the contents of discussion which are held after the surveys, but also for the
motivation of adult participants. The residential biological survey is considered to rouse interest innature and increase motivation to participate in environmental conservation activities (Mizutani etal., 2014; Eberhardt et al., 2022), and our findings also followed their results. We showed that
residential participation, especially when they include children, would shape community-wide
conservation activities (Knafo and Galansky, 2008; Hartley et al., 2015) by promoting an
understanding of their local environment and the resulting sustainable surveys.
CONCLUSION
We clarified the features of the residents' survey activities and examined the relationship between
the features and the detected species and the contents of discussion which were held after thesurveys. The group with invited biological experts detected the highest number of species. Whenchildren attended the discussion, participants tended to discuss their future prospects of activities,Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

leading to the sustainability of the biological survey by local residents. These results support thatthe participation of experts and children are recommended for sustainable biological monitoring.
The remaining problem is that only a few organizations mentioned a specific vision forenvironmental education in their discussions. Of the 35 organizations that recorded their
discussions, only six organizations (17%) described their future prospects. Few concrete
descriptions of future prospects based on the results of the discussions meant the influence of thissurvey on their communities was still unclear. For a countermeasure, when discussing the results ofbiological surveys, it would be helpful to prepare quantitative data on the survey results and mapsof the species habitat status to serve as indicators for local communities. The discussion content
should be broadened to include comments from experts and specific future perspectives on thenature of the survey and the community.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 19H04317 and by the grant for ayoung researcher group, Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Engineering in 2019.
REFERENCES
Asah, S.T. and Blahna, D. 2012. Motivational functionalism and urban conservation stewardship,
Implications for volunteer involvement. Conservation Letters, 5 (6), 470-477.
Bonter, D.N. and Cooper, C. 2012. Data validation in citizen science, A case study from Project
FeederWatch. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, 305-307.
Crall, A.W., Newman, G.J., Stohlgren, T.J., Holfelder, K.A., Graham, J. and Waller, D.M. 2011. Assessing
citizen science data quality, An invasive species case study. Conservation Letters, 4 (6), 433-442.
Eberhardt, A.L., Ward, L.G., Morrison, R.C., Costello, W.J. and Williams, C. 2022. Connecting science andcommunity, Volunteer beach profiling to increase coastal resilience. Continental Shelf Research, 242, 110.
Gardiner, M.M., Allee, L.L., Brown, P.M., Losey, J.E., Roy, H.E. and Smyth, R.R. 2012. Lessons from lady
beetles, Accuracy of monitoring data from US and UK citizen-science programs. Frontiers in Ecology
and the Environment, 10 (9), 471-476.
Hartley, B.L., Thompson, R.C. and Pahl, S. 2015. Marine litter education boosts children’s understanding
and self-reported actions. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 90 (1-2), 209-217.
Knafo, A. and Galansky, N. 2008. The influence of children on their parents’ values. Social and Personality
Psychology Compass, 2 (3), 1143-1161.
Kosmala, M., Wiggins, A., Swanson, A. and Simmons, B. 2016. Assessing data quality in citizen science.
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14, 551-560.
Lewandowski, E. and Specht, H. 2015. Influence of volunteer and project characteristics on data quality of
biological surveys. Conservation Biology, 29 (3), 713-723.
Mineta, T., Ashida, T. and Ishida, K. 2008. New tool for recognition of the environment, “Survey on lives inpaddy fields and surrounding environment” by farmer. Journal of Rural Planning Association, 27 (3),125-131.
Mizutani, M., Nansai, Y. and Kobori, T. 2014. Practices and outcomes of people participatory survey on
paddy waters creatures. Water, Land and Environmental Engineering, 80 (1), 11-14.
Tanaka, H., Satou, T., Nagayama, M., Koumoto, T., Yamaguchi, T. and Kawashima, H. 2008. Survey of
biotic distribution and diversity in paddy irrigation canals through public participation. Water, Land andEnvironmental Engineering, 76 (7), 625-630.
Watabe, K., Takemura, T., Mori, A., Koizumi, N., Matsumori K. and Saito, G. 2005. Evaluation of fish
habitat potential using census of organisms in paddy fields, Japan. Water, Land and Environmental
Engineering, 79 (12), 935-940.

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Research article
erd

Sensory Evaluation of Dried Fettuccine Pasta Enriched with
Gotu Kola Centella asiatica
CHARLENE EVE L. SALIGUMBA*
Bohol Island State University Main Campus, Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines
Email: charleneeve.saligumba@bisu.edu.ph

JEAN F. NEBREA
Bohol Island State University Main Campus, Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines
Received 28 February 2022

Accepted 13 June 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The use of gotu kola in food and beverages has increased over the years due to its
beneficial and nutritional properties. The intent of this study is for the public utilization of
the gotu kola and its improvement. It further investigates the sensory evaluation of driedfettuccine pasta enriched with gotu kola Centella asiatica among the three treatments interms of aroma, color, taste and texture and to determine if there was a significant
difference among the three treatments. This study used the experimental-descriptive
research design employing a self-made modified questionnaire as a main tool in gathering
the data through 4-point modified Hedonic scale for the level of liking. The data gathered
were tabulated using the weighted mean and ANOVA to determine the significant
difference in the respondent’s liking among the three treatments. There was a total of 85
respondents composed of 55 selected food technology experts (25 instructors handling foodtechnology and food related subjects and 30 students taking Master of Arts in Teaching
Vocational Education major in Food Technology) and 30 consumers. The findings revealed
that treatment 3 was “like very much” while, treatments 1 and 2 were “like moderately”.
The result showed there was a significant difference in the level of liking of the driedfettucine pasta in three treatments. Thus, the researcher recommended to utilize gotu kola asa potential ingredient to enrich the pasta for possible income generating project forextension activities.
Keywords gotu kola, sensory evaluation, fettucine pasta

INTRODUCTION
Filipinos are known to be passionate food lovers; they always search for those good snacks where it
is delicious and healthy. Herbs hit it perfectly! These luscious leaves-parsley, mint, oregano, gotu
kola and the like- not only add enticing aroma, fresh flavor and vivid green color to food but also
have remarkable health benefits (Krieger, 2017).
In the Philippines, manufacturers of food use herbs in their production that turns the foodmore appealing and nutritious. One example of herbs present in this country is the Gotu Kola witha scientific name Centella asiatica. Gotu Kola is a small, slender, umbelliferous creeping plant. It
acts as an alternative tonic, an agent which produces gradual beneficial change in the body, usuallyby improving nutrition, without having any marked specific effect and without causing strange
clearing. Gotu Kola also prevents anxiety and stress which boost immune system (Stuart Jr., 2017).
It has been proven to have many benefits in the body. It helps boost cognitive function, treat
Alzheimer’s disease, helps reduce anxiety and stress, acts as an antidepressant, improves
circulation and reduce swelling, helps ease insomnia, helps reduce appearance of stretch marks,
promotes wound healing, and minimize scarring, helps relieve joint pain and have a detox effect(Wilson, 2017).
According to Pharmacological Review on Centella asiatica: A Potential Herb Cure-all (2010)
proved that gotu kola has been used as medicinal herbs since it does not contain any caffeine andⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

has not been shown to have stimulant properties. In this view, this study is optimistic to pursue inmaking something new out of the gotu kola to extend its importance as a medicinal herb and, at thesame time, remedial snack food. But, more importantly, the intent of this study is also to catch theattention of the public that is averse to herbs. That is why pasta is to be made mixed with a prime
substantial gotu kola.
OBJECTIVE
The study primarily aims to create a new variety of dried fettuccine pasta enriched with gotu kolawhich is abundant in the locality and this will be assessed to determine its sensory evaluation interms of aroma, color, taste and texture.
METHODOLOGY
The study was an experimental and descriptive research using Single-group design in which it
involves a single treatment with two or more levels. The experimental design was used indetermining the different formulations in order to come up with a quality result of the study as tothe sensory attributes of dried fettucine pasta enriched with gotu kola. While the descriptive design
with the aid of questionnaire using the modified 4-point Hedonic scale to investigate the sensory
attributes and level of liking in terms of aroma, color, taste and texture and the shelf life of thethree treatments which vary in the measurement of blended gotu kola. In harvesting the gotu kola,
the researcher is careful enough to select the finest leaves both young and mature leaves together
with its stem since they contain vital nutrients. The researcher got the gotu kola source at Loon,
Bohol in which it is where the gotu kola herbs can be found in a domesticated area where it is amoist place and safe environment. After gathering the herbs, the researcher bought the otheringredients in the local market. And prepare the needed ingredients, tools, materials, and equipment
in making the dried fettuccine pasta. The ingredients were separated and measured accurately withthe proper use of tools and equipment. All the tools and equipment used were cleaned, sanitized
and in good condition. The researcher formulated the recipes in three treatments; Treatment 1 is thepasta with 25 grams of fresh gotu kola, Treatment 2 is the pasta with 50 grams of fresh Gotu Kola,
Treatment 3 is the pasta with 75 grams of fresh Gotu Kola.
The study was conducted at six BISU Campuses namely: BISU Main Campus, Balilihan
Campus, Bilar Campus, Calape Campus, Candijay Campus, and Clarin Campus. The purposive
sampling method was used to determine the participants. It involved 85 respondents composed of
55 selected food technology experts (25 instructors handling food technology and food related
subjects and 30 students taking Master of Arts in Teaching Vocational Education major in Food
Technology) and 30 consumers.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In observing the shelf life of dried fettuccine pasta enriched with gotu kola, the researcher used two
ways to identify the shelf life of the dried fettuccine pasta. The researcher put the pasta in sealed
food containers and placed it in a refrigerator and a room to test how many days the pasta lasted inrefrigerated and room temperature condition.
Table 1 reflects the shelf life of dried fettuccine pasta enriched with gotu kola in three (3)treatments. As illustrated in Table 1 in refrigerated condition, from day 1 to day 2, the threetreatments were no changes occurred and were safe for human consumption. However, on day 3changes occurred as to its aroma, color and texture. Aroma became unpleasant, texture became softand lighter color. Therefore, on day 3, all three treatments were spoiled and not safe for foodconsumption.

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Table 1 Shelf life of dried fettuccine pasta with enriched gotu kolain refrigerated condition
Number of days

Treatment

Day 1-2

T1

No changes occurred

T2

No changes occurred

T3

No changes occurred

Day 3
Unpleasant aroma, lighter color, and not safe forfood consumption
Unpleasant aroma, lighter color, and not safe forfood consumption
Unpleasant aroma, lighter color, and not safe forfood consumption

Table 2 Shelf life of dried fettuccine pasta with enriched gotu kolain room temperature condition
Treatment
T1
T2
T3

Number of weeks

Week 1-2
No changes
occurred
No changes
occurred
No changes
occurred

Week 3
Lighter color
Lighter color
No changes
occurred

Week 4
Lighter color andmilder aroma

Week 5
Molds appeared and no longer
safe for consumption

Lighter colorand
milder aroma
Lighter color andmilder aroma

Molds appeared and no longer
safe for consumption
Molds appeared and no longer
safe for consumption

Another way to get the shelf life of the dried fettuccine pasta enriched with gotu kola is inroom temperature condition. As shown in Table 2 in room temperature condition, from day 1-2
week, the three treatments were no changes occurred. However, on week 3, the researcher observedthat the color of the treatment 1- 25 grams of gotu kola as well as the treatment 2- 50 grams of gotu
kola slightly faded and lighter. But for treatment 3- 75 grams of gotu kola, the color remained andthere were no changes occurred. On week 4, the observation of the three treatments was lighter
color and milder. Lastly on week 5, the three treatments, has molds appeared and no longer safe for
consumption. The measurements of gotu kola added to the pasta, were one of the factors that
affected the shelf life of the pasta. In room temperature condition, the three treatments got damaged
on week 5. But in refrigerated condition it was easily damaged on the 3rd day. Thus, the lesser the
blended fresh gotu kola, the longer its shelf life. The more the blended fresh gotu kola, the earlier
to spoil.
Table 3 Nutrition facts analysis of dried fettuccine pasta enriched with gotu kola
Analysis

T1

T2

T3

Crude ash, g/100g

1.22

1.11

1.50

Crude fat, g/100g

3.80

3.82

3.41

Moisture, g/100g

14.9

12.6

14.8

Crude Protein, g/100g

13.6

14.0

13.2

Carbohydrates, g/100g

66.5

68.5

67.1

Calories, cal/100g

355

364

352

Table 3 shows the nutritional facts analysis of the dried fettuccine pasta enriched with gotu
kola among the three treatments. In order to get the nutritional value of the three treatments, theresearcher submitted the required sample size to First Analytical Services and TechnicalCooperatives (F.A.S.T) Laboratories. They identified the basic requirement of the Food and Drugs
Administration (FDA) which is moisture, ash, fat, protein, calories, and carbohydrates. The result
implies that in every 100 grams of each treatment, it contains adequate energy and nutrients for the
maintenance of health and well-being of people (Das, 2011).
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Table 4 Sensory attributes of dried fettuccine pasta enriched with gotu kolain terms of aroma, color, taste and texture
Sensory attributes
Aroma
Color
Taste
Texture

Mode
2
2
3
2

Treatment 1
Description
Slightly PleasantLight Green
Distinctive
Slightly Firm

Mode
3
3
3
3

Treatment 2
Description
Pleasant
Green
Distinctive
Firm

Mode
3
4
3
4

Treatment 3
Description
Pleasant
Dark Green
Distinctive
Very Firm

Table 4 displays the result of the sensory attributes of the study in terms of aroma, color, taste
and texture. In terms of aroma, it depicts the lesser gotu kola is mixed to the product, the less it
perceives the odor of the gotu kola added to the pasta. In terms of color, it shows that the moreamount of gotu kola added to the pasta, the nicer its color and appearance would be. On the other
hand, in terms of taste, the more gotu kola added to the pasta, the more unique its taste would be.
Lastly, in terms of texture, the more gotu kola added to the pasta, the more tender and “al dente”
the pasta would be, if cooked.
Table 5 Level of liking of dried fettuccine pasta enriched with gotu kola
Sensory
attributes
Aroma
Color
Taste
Texture
AWM

WM
3.12
2.98
2.86
2.87
2.96

Treatment 1
Description
Like Moderately
Like Moderately
Like Moderately
Like Moderately
Like Moderately

Treatment 2
Description
Like Moderately
Like Moderately
Like Moderately
Like Very Much
Like Moderately

WM
3.15
3.20
3.11
3.25
3.18

WM
3.07
3.33
3.39
3.40
3.30

Treatment 3
Description
Like Moderately
Like Very Much
Like Very Much
Like Very Much
Like Very Much

Table 5 reveals that treatment 3 got the highest average weighted mean of 3.30 which
described as “like very much” in terms of aroma, color, taste and texture because of its gotu kolacontent (75g) compared to treatments 1 (25g) and 2 (50g).
Table 6 reveals the difference on the level of liking of the dried fettucine pasta in threetreatments. It shows that it had a significant difference since the computed f-value is greater than
the tabular f-value. Therefore, it implies that the three treatments had different odor, shade, flavor
and consistency because the three treatments have different measurement of gotu kola added to theingredients of pasta. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected.
Table 6 Difference on level of liking of dried fettucine pasta in three treatments
Difference on
the level ofliking of thedried fettucine
pasta in threetreatments

Computed f-value

Tabular f-value

Interpretation

Decision

Significant

Reject null
hypothesis

At 5% level of significance
41.16

3.03

Table 7 Post hoc analysis in difference on level of liking of the dried fettucine pastain three treatments
Post-Hoc Tukey HSD test
Treatments pairTR 1 v TR 2

Tukey HSD Q statistic
6.7442

Tukey HSD p-value
0.0010053

Tukey HSD inference** p<0.01

TR 1 v TR 3

12.82510.0010053** p<0.01

TR 2 V TR 3

6.08090.0010053** p<0.01Ⓒ ISERD

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Table 7 denotes that the pairs of treatments were significantly different from each other in thelevel of liking of the dried fettucine pasta in three treatments. Therefore, it implies that treatments 1,
2 and 3 have big difference in the respondents’ level of liking since treatment 1 had 25 grams gotu
kola, treatment 2 had 50 grams of gotu kola and treatment 3 had 75 grams of gotu kola.
CONCLUSION
Based on the result of the study, the nutritive value of the three treatments of Dried Fettucine Pasta
Enriched with Gotu Kola: T1- 25 grams of fresh gotu kola, T2- 50 grams of fresh gotu kola, andT3- 75 grams of fresh gotu kola was evaluated by F.A.S.T Laboratories and found out that in every
100 grams of it is rich with nutrients and no preservatives added.
The dried fettucine pasta has a longer shelf life if kept in a room temperature than kept in arefrigerated temperature. The pasta should be completely dried to have a longer shelf life since themoisture content of the pasta can cause the product to spoil easily.
Based on statistical result in the level of likeness of Dried Fettuccine Pasta Enriched with
Gotu Kola shows that Treatment 3- Pasta with 75 grams of fresh Gotu Kola as rated “like verymuch” in terms of color, taste and texture. The result reveals that there was a significant differencein the level of liking of the dried fettucine pasta in three treatments, therefore it implies that all
treatments had different odor, shade, flavor and consistency because the three treatments havedifferent measurement of gotu kola added to the ingredients of pasta.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As the researcher journeyed throughout this study, many people helped and supported her along theway. It is only right to thank and give these people appreciation and recognition.
The researcher would like to express her heartfelt gratitude to the Almighty God for the
blessings, guidance and grace; To Dr. Jean F. Nebrea, the co-author, for rendering her time, effort,
and encouragement to continue undertaking the study, for sharing her knowledge and expertise forgoing over the paper; To Dr. Mary Grace C. Ramada, the editor, for her assistance and effort incorrecting the grammar of this paper; To Prof. Edelmarie A. Cellan, the statistician, for her piecesof advice in the computation of statistical treatment and providing the correct formula; To 13th
ICERD Organizing Committee, for granting my request to be one of the presenters for the 13th
International Conference on Environmental and Rural Development; To Research Development
and Extension Committee of BISU, for the assistance, giving support especially in processing my
prepayment, and for providing funds; To Bohol Island State University, for the opportunity you had
given me to be one of the presenters for the 13th International Conference on Environmental and
Rural Development; To College of Technology and Allied Sciences- Research Development Office,for the trust you had given me to be selected as one of the faculty researchers; and To the
Respondents, Food Technology Experts and Consumers, for the time in answering thequestionnaires as and who helped the researcher in the collection of the data.
REFERENCES
Alfaro, D. 2022. What is fettuccine? A guide to buying, cooking and storing fettuccine. The Spruce Eats,
Retrieved from https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-fettuccine-995667
American Botanical Council. 2008. Gotu kola, Medical and spiritual uses. American Botanical Council,
Retrieved from http:// herbalgram.org/resources/herbclip/herbclip-news/2008/gotu-kola-medical-andspiritual-uses/
Christensen, E. 2019. Dry pasta vs. fresh pasta, What’s the difference? Kitchn is, Retrieved from https://www.
thekitchn.com/dry-pasta-vs-fresh-pasta-whats-47888
Congress of the Philippines Republic of the Philippines. 2009. Food and drug administration act of 2009.
Republic Act No. 9711, Philippines, Retrieved from https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2009/08/18/
republic-act-no-9711/Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Das, A.J. 2011. Review on nutritional medicinal and pharmacological properties of Centella asiiatica (Indian
pennywort). Journal of Biologically Active Products from Nature, 1 (4), 216-228, Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260041417_Review_on_Nutritional_Medicinal_and_Pharmacological_Properties_of_Centella_asiatica_Indian_pennywort
Forever Healthy and Young. 1990. Gotu Kola, Two leaves a day keep old age away, Retrieved fromhttp://foreverhealthy.blogspot.com/2012/04/gotu-kola-two-leaves-day-keep-old-age.html
Harris, S. 2018. Is pasta good or bad for you? Medical News Today, Retrieved from https://www.
medicalnewstoday. com/articles/322564#whole-grain-vs-white
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. 2018. Gotu kola. Mount Sinai, Retrieved from https://www.
mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/gotu-kola
Krieger, E. 2017. Herbal health benefits. Herb Essentials, Retrieved from https://www.hiclassblends.com/2017/01/herbal-health-benefits/
Light, P.D. 2011. What is herbalism? Appalachian Center for Natural Health, Retrieved from https://www.
phyllisdlight.com
Stuart, G.U. Jr. 2018. Takip-kohol, Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. Philippine Medicinal Plants, Retrieved fromhttp://www.stuartxchange.org/TakipKohol.html
Wikimedia. 2022. Department of science and technology (Philippines). Wikimedia Foundation, Retrieved
from https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Science_and_ Technology_(Philippines)Ⓒ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Proposal of New Pickles to Improve Food Sanitation at
Wet Markets in Cambodia
SOKLY SORM
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanYOSHIKI MURAMATSU*
Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: y-murama@nodai.ac.jp

DAIKI OKATokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanYURI TANIOKA
Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

MASATAKA UCHINOTokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanSHUKI MURAMATSU
Showa Women’s University, Tokyo, Japan

MOTOE SEKIDO
Yamanashi Gakuin Junior College, Yamanashi, Japan

TAKAHIKO NAKAMURATokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanTORU NAKAJIMATokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanEIICHIRO SAKAGUCHITokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanSHOTARO KAWAKAMITokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanMARI ARIMITSU
Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Tokyo, Japan

MACHITO MIHARATokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Received 20 January 2022

Accepted 13 June 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The lack of heat treatment is one possible factor leading to highly contaminatedpickles with microbes, including the bacteria that cause food poisoning. A heating processthat sterilizes food products is effective in reducing the microbial content of pickles. We
applied heat treatments to ensure that homemade pickles were safe to consume. In thisstudy, 2 kinds of pickled young papaya were made to develop a new, safe processed foodthat effectively utilizes agricultural products. The objective was to evaluate the possibilityof acceptance of these samples in Cambodia and other Asian countries. The sensory
evaluation indicated that the samples were acceptable but still need further improvement.

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Keywords young papaya, pickle, heat treatment, sensory evaluation, acceptability

INTRODUCTION
Pickles are a popular ready-to-eat food, and most pickles are produced in traditional ways in
Cambodia. Pickles are easy to make, and do not require for any special equipment or skills. The
basic procedure for making pickles is to wash the vegetables and then add sugar, salt, and otheringredients such as fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic, chili, and rice. Most pickles are stored in jars andplaced in the sun or in a room at ambient temperature for 1 to 4 days. Pickles are commonly sold in
wet markets in Cambodia. Almost all pickles sold in the wet markets are made without any heatingprocess. Furthermore, the pickled product is displayed in a wet market under poor storage
conditions; for example, there is no temperature control and no packaging. The hygiene practices ofthe local wet markets are very poor, which has subsequently led to food contamination. Thissituation is risky, and food poisoning incidents are often associated with these pickled products(Anal et al., 2019). Chrun et al. (2017) also pointed out the poor hygiene at the local wet markets in
Cambodia and the necessity of identifying the source of contamination. According to reports by
Muramatsu et al. (2020a, 2020b), the pickles sold at the wet markets in Cambodia are highly
contaminated with microbes, including bacteria that cause food poisoning. In addition, theinspection of wet markets showed that the pickle products were not handled in a hygienic manner.
It is necessary for food handlers to receive practical knowledge on food hygiene to prevent the
spread of bacterial food contamination. This contamination could be caused by a manufacturing
process that does not use heat treatment. Pasteurization destroys pathogenic microorganisms incertain foods and beverages. A new pickling method that adds heat treatment to the production
process is needed to reduce the risk of food poisoning posted by pickled products. Adding apasteurization procedure to the production process can improve food safety and/or food sanitation(Breidt et al., 2004). A heating process that pasteurizes foods to reduce food spoilage microbes canbe applied to many kinds of food products.
We conducted a survey of Cambodians in their twenties and thirties regarding pickles via the
Messenger App and received 30 responses. Some respondents mentioned that they enjoy eating
pickles on a daily basis but that consuming pickles causes them to vomit, experience diarrhea andbloat, and have headaches. The majority of respondents suggested that pickles should be made in asafe and high-quality manner, including packaging. The necessity of improving and guaranteeing
food sanitation and safety were also recognized in this survey.
In Cambodia, papaya is an important agricultural product and an existing resource that is easy
to grow and maintain. People can grow papaya in their homes or on a large scale in all areas of thecountry. People grow papaya as their livelihood, they consume it, and they sell it fresh in wet
market (MAFF/GDA, 2010). Papaya can be harvested and is available year-round. A small amountof mature papaya (which is light yellow in color) is often pickled, but young fresh papaya is not
pickled. Young fresh papaya or young papaya is unripe papaya before it ripens to yellow. Youngpapaya is also called "green papaya". The colors of the pericarp and the flesh of fruit of young
papaya are green and white, respectively.
In this study, 2 kinds of pickled young papaya were developed to test a new, safe, processed
food. These pickles are kinds of quick pickles and are not fermented pickles. This study aimed tofind the new usage of young papaya to develop microbiologically safe pickles. We examined thepossibility of acceptance of these samples in Cambodian and Asian markets. Heat treatment wasadded to the production process. The pickles were packed in a glass bottle, which is easy topasteurize and enhances product value, quality, and safety. Glass bottles are readily accessible in
Cambodia at a reasonable price and can be reused. Fresh young papayas are also reasonably priced
and easy to find in Cambodia.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study were 1) to develop pickled young papaya processed with heat
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treatment and 2) to evaluate the possibility of acceptance of the pickles that ensure food sanitationin Cambodian and Asian markets.
METHODOLOGY
Materials and Pickle Production Process
Young papaya (Carica papaya) imported from Thailand were purchased at a supermarket in Tokyo,
Japan. Before testing, the young papayas were stored in a refrigerator at approximately 4°C.
To develop the composition of seasoning, we first processed 3 kinds of pickles based on abook of Japanese recipes and Cambodian homemade recipes. These pickles were evaluated by 8
Cambodians in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Based on the evaluation results and comments from thepanelists, we revised and decided on 2 types of seasoning: sour pickles and salty pickles. Table 1
shows the seasonings used to make the 2 types of pickled young papayas. The green pepper inTable 1 was a fresh green pepper (Piper nigrum). The compositions of the pickles processed in thisstudy are presented in Table 2.
Table 1 Seasonings used to make the 2 types of samples
SampleSeasoning

Sour
115
12
300
200
20
-

Sugar (g)Salt (g)Vinegar (ml)Water (ml)Soy sauce (ml)Fish sauce (ml)Green pepper (piece)
Chili (piece)

Salty
110
25
190
190
11
59
1

*6-8 pieces of young papaya (about 30-40 cm3)

Table 2 Compositions of the 2 types of pickled young papayas
Component (%)
Moisture
Proteinfat
Ash
Carbohydrates(Sugar)(Dietary fiber)
Salt equivalent

SampleSour taste
81.2
0.6
0
1.4
16.8
(13.6)(3.2)
1.1

Salty taste
73.5
1.4
0
5.0
20.1
(17.2)(2.9)
4.6

Fig. 1 shows the production process for the 2 types of pickles. After the peel was removed
from the young papaya, it was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped (10 mm in depth and width, and
50 mm in height) using a knife. The liquid seasoning was heated to boiling, and the spice and 6-8
pieces of young papaya were placed into a glass bottle up to 3-5 mm from the bottle lid. After
closing the lid of the bottle (sealing), the bottle was turned upside down. The hot glass bottle filledwith seasoning and young papaya was submerged in hot water at a temperature of 70°C. The hotwater was heated to boiling. After coming to a boil, the glass bottle was maintained in boilingwater for 10 minutes to raise the center temperature above 75°C. After this pasteurization, the glass
bottle was cooled at room temperature (approximately 25°C) in the inverted state. The
pasteurization conditions and methods adopted in this study conformed to the regulations for
enforcement of the food sanitation act in Japan. The pickles were then stored at room temperaturefor 4 days. The pH values of the liquid seasonings were 3.60 for the sour pickles and 3.35 for theⒸ ISERD

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salty pickles. Fig. 2 shows photographs of the sour and salty samples. The appearances of the sourand salty samples were light and dark yellow, respectively. The heating treatments, i.e., the heatingof the liquid seasoning, the hot packing, and the pasteurization were important additions to the
production process to improve and/or maintain food sanitation.

Fig. 1 Production process for the 2 types of pickled young papayas: sour and salty

Fig. 2 The appearance of sour and salty pickles
Sensory Evaluation of Pickled Young Papaya
The color, sweetness, sourness, saltiness, flavor, texture, and overall evaluation of each sample
were quantified using a five-point hedonic scale (1: strongly dislike, 2: dislike, 3: neutral, 4: like,and 5: strongly like) for the sensory test (preference type). The sensory evaluations were conductedin Japan (Setagaya) and in Cambodia (Phnom Penh). Table 3 presents the panelist demographics.
The total number of panelists was 32, and the nationality of all panelists was Asian. The panelists“Cambodia-1” evaluated only the sour sample in Cambodia; otherwise, the panelists evaluated both
samples in Japan. The panelists were divided into 2 panels: Cambodian and non-Cambodian for thestatistical analysis of the sensory evaluation results. The sour and salty samples were tested by 15
Cambodian panelists and 17 non-Cambodian panelists (total, 32 panelists) and 7 Cambodian
panelists and 17 non-Cambodian panelists (total, 24 panelists), respectively.
Table 3 Panelist demographics for the sensory evaluation of the samples
Nationality
Cambodia-1a
Cambodia-2b
Vietnam b
Thailand b
Myanmar b
Philippines b
Indonesia b
Sri Lanka b

Number
8
7
5
4
3
2
2
1

Age (Average)
21-35 (28)23-38 (27)20-24 (22)23-38 (29)22-25 (24)29, 3024, 3626

a: These panelists evaluated only the sour taste sample in Cambodia.
b: These panelists evaluated both samples in Japan.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Fig. 3(a) shows the sensory evaluation results for the sour sample. The results for the Cambodian
panel in Fig. 3(a) include the panelists “Cambodia-1” and “Cambodia-2” shown in Table 3. The
average scores of the sensory evaluation characteristics of the sour sample ranged from 3.3-3.7 for
Cambodians and 3.6-3.9 for non-Cambodians. The overall evaluation shows whether the pickled
product was judged overall to be acceptable or not acceptable. The average overall evaluation wasscored 3.5 by Cambodians and 3.9 by the non-Cambodian panelists. The non-Cambodian panel
gave higher scores than the Cambodian panel, and the sour sample was more preferred by nonCambodians than by Cambodians. The average values of each evaluation characteristic for the sour
sample were tested for differences (t test) between the Cambodian and the non-Cambodian panels,
and there were no significant differences (at the 5% significance level) for any characteristics,
except for the overall evaluation. The overall evaluation score of the non-Cambodian panel was
significantly higher, and this result showed the high acceptability of the sour sample by the nonCambodian panel. These results indicate that the sour sample was acceptable by Cambodians andother Asians because the overall evaluation scores for both panels were over 3.0. In addition, the ttest for each characteristic and for the average value between the panelists of "Cambodia-1" and"Cambodia-2" (Table 3) showed no significant differences. This result suggests that the evaluation
results obtained in Japan could be applied to evaluate the acceptability of the samples in Cambodia.
Most panelists evaluated the texture as adequate but not firm. Some Cambodian panelists
commented that the sweetness was adequate, and if the sourness and saltiness were reduced slightly
in the sour sample, the evaluation of this sample would increase. In contrast, some non-Cambodian
panelists stated that the sourness was adequate, and increasing the sweetness and saltiness slightly
might improve the score.
The sensory evaluation of the salty sample is presented in Fig. 3(b). The average scores for thesalty sample were 2.6-3.9 for Cambodians and 2.9-4.3 for non-Cambodians. The t test showed nosignificant differences in the average values for each characteristic between the Cambodian and thenon-Cambodian panels. Except for the texture, the non-Cambodian panelists assigned higher scoresthan the Cambodian panelists on all characteristics. The average values for color were nearly 4.0,
and the color of the salty sample was favored by both panels. Although the average values ofsaltiness for the Cambodian and the non-Cambodian panels and sweetness for the Cambodian panel
did not exceed 3.0, the overall evaluation scores were 3.1 for the Cambodian panel and 3.4 for the
non-Cambodian panel.

The symbol (*) means a significant difference (p < 0.05)

Fig. 3 Comparison of sensory evaluation of pickled young papaya between Cambodianand non-Cambodian panels (a) sour sample; (b) salty samples
The panelists commented that the dark yellow color of the salty sample was attractive andlooked delicious, but the texture was soft, and a crunchier texture might change the evaluation.
Most Cambodian panelists indicated that the taste of the salty sample was salty and lackedⒸ ISERD

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sweetness. Although there are opportunities for improvement regarding the taste and the texture of
the salty sample, i.e., lowering the salt content, increasing the sweetness, and increasing the
crunchiness, the acceptability of the salty sample was indicated by the overall evaluation scores(over 3.0).
To improve food sanitation, heat treatments were added to the production process of the sourand salty samples. These samples received mostly favorable evaluations from Cambodian andAsian panelists. The heat treatments and the preservation period also affected the texture of the
pickles. Therefore, it would be useful to investigate the relationships between these factors. Further
studies will require more panelists to analyze the evaluation of pickles in detail and to assess theiracceptability. We will optimize the process to produce safe, high quality, and more acceptable
pickles.
CONCLUSION
Young papaya was used to develop a new pickle product in this study. The heat treatments, i.e., theheating of liquid seasoning, a hot pack, and pasteurization were added to the production process toimprove and guarantee food safety. Two types of young papaya pickles, the sour and salty, weremade and evaluated by Cambodians and Asians in Cambodia and Japan. The color, sweetness,sourness, saltiness, flavor, texture, and overall evaluation of each sample were quantified using afive-point hedonic scale (1: strongly dislike, 2: dislike, 3: neutral, 4: like, and 5: strongly like) for
the sensory test (preference type). The sensory evaluation indicated that the samples wereconsidered to be acceptable but needed further improvement. Because both pickles received mostly
favorable evaluations from Cambodian and Asian panelists based on the overall evaluation scores(over 3.0), both pickles were potentially acceptable as new processed foods in Cambodia and inother Asian countries. This finding will be useful for food preservation, reducing postharvest losses,
providing jobs for domestic Khmer people (particularly women), and increasing the income of
citizens as well as the Cambodian nation.
REFERENCES
Anal, A.K., Perpetuini, G., Petchkongkaew, A., Tan, R., Avallone, S., Tofalo, R., Nguyen, H.V., Chu-Ky, S.,
Ho, P.H., Phan, T.T. and Wache, Y. 2020. Food safety risks in traditional fermented food from SouthEast Asia. Food Control, 109, 1-9, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.106922
Breidt, J.F., Hayes, J.S. and McFeeters, R.F. 2004. Independent effects of acetic acid and pH on survival ofescherichia coli in simulated acidified pickle products. Journal of Food Protection, 67 (1), 12-18,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-67.1.12
Chrun, R., Hosotani, Y., Kawasaki, S. and Inatsu, Y. 2017. Microbiological hazard contamination infermented vegetables sold in local markets in Cambodia. Biocontrol Science, 22 (3), 181-185, Retrieved
from DOI https://doi.org/10.4265/bio.22.181
General Directorate of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (GDA, MAFF). 2010.
Technical book of crops in Cambodia. GDA of MAFF, Cambodia, Retrieved from http://www.
maff.gov.kh
Muramatsu, S., Uchino, M., Sorm, S., Tanikoka, Y., Oka, D., Muramatsu, Y., Nakajima, T., Sekido, M.,
Nakamura, T., Chay, C. and Mihara, M. 2020. Evaluation of bacterial contamination levels in pickles
sold at wet market in Cambodia, Part 2, Detection of several food-poisoning bacteria of 48 samples from
Phnom Penh. International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, 11 (1), 121-126, Retrieved
from DOI https://doi.org/10.32115/ijerd.11.1_121
Muramatsu, S., Uchino, M., Tanikoka, Y., Sorm, S., Oka, D., Muramatsu, Y., Nakajima, T., Sekido, M.,
Nakamura, T., Chay, C. and Mihara, M. 2020. Evaluation of bacterial contamination levels in pickles
sold at wet market in Cambodia, Part 1, In case of samples from Kampong Cham and Phnom Penh.
International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, 11 (1), 115-120, Retrieved from DOI
https://doi.org/10.32115/ijerd.11.1_115Ⓒ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Cadmium Bioaccumulation in Amaranthus spinosus L.
Grown in Contaminated Soil of Benguet Province,
Philippines
ELIZABETH T. DOM-OGEN*
Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines
Email: e.dom-ogen@bsu.edu.ph

ROMEO A. GOMEZ, JR.
Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines
Received 3 February 2022

Accepted 13 June 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Phytoremediation has become an alternative technology for cleaning up
contaminated areas by accumulation in the root and shoot systems. The study conducted a
98-day pot experiment to determine Cd accumulation and its morphological andphysiological effects on Amaranthus spinosus L. grown in the non contaminated forest (S1)and mine contaminated (S2) soils of Benguet. Soil and plant tissue analysis were done using
AAS method; quantitative descriptive method for morphological analysis; titration method
for vitamin C analysis; and Kjeldahl method for protein analysis. Amaranthus spinosus L.
grown in S1 accumulated 0.52 mg/kg Cd in the root and 0.88 mg/kg Cd in the shoot withsoil Cd concentration of 3.70 mg/kg at 7.43 pH. In S2, A. spinosus L. had taken up
0.000012 mg/kg Cd in the roots and in the shoot systems with 0.90 mg/kg Cd soil
concentration at 4.19 pH. Biological Accumulation Coefficient (BAC = 0.24) was generally
weak since the equivalent is less than 1 (BAC < 1, 0.24) while translocation factor (TF =1.69) is greater than 1 (TF>1, 1.69). For morphological characteristics comparing S1 and S2
results are the following: root length (372.33 mm and 284.70 mm); shoot length (399.33
mm and 132.33 mm); and, biomass (22.53 grams and 9.27 grams). Highly significant
differences were also noted for S1 and S2 on root length, shoot length, and biomass at α =0.01 with p – values of 0.002, 0.000, and 0.002, respectively. For the vitamin C and protein
content, both (S1 and S2) were not affected. From these results, it can be concluded that
Amaranthus spinosus L. can accumulate significant concentration of Cd in its root andshoot systems and allows Cd mobility in its system. It is then recommended that thecapability of Amaranthus spinosus L. for Cd tolerance requires further studies.
Keywords Amaranthus spinosus L., bioaccumulation, phytoremediation, physiological,
morphological characteristics

INTRODUCTION
Environmental sustainability issues are pressuring global concerns at present because of increasing
population and industrialization. It had been realized that anthropogenic activities such as mining
despite its substantial contribution to economic growth and development resulted towards
environmental problems (Castillo et al., 2010). In the Philippines, it had established mining
industries but problems with proper tailings disposal and policies for mitigation are not yet in placecausing leakage of hazardous chemicals like cadmium, lead and copper (CPA, 2007). The presenceof such contaminants in excess can lead to the reduction and inhibition of growth in plants
inflicting serious morphological, metabolic, and physiological anomalies. Correspondingly, thesecontaminants cannot be mineralized or degraded to less toxic forms; can be leached to nearby
farmlands and accumulated through the food chain; thus, requiring suitable methods for theirelimination (Chen et al., 2014).

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Addressing these, phytoremediation has become an alternative technology for cleaning up
contaminated areas. Amaranthus spinosus L. (Amaranthaceae) commonly called pigweed canbioconcentrate Cd, Zn and Fe invariably high in leaf tissues (Prasad and Freitas, 2003), and shows
best morphological and anatomical structure adaptation to stressful environments (Gharge andMenon, 2017).
Correspondingly, Amaranthus spinosus L. is a potential agent for heavy metal accumulationand translocation for Cu, Pb and Cd (Chinmayee et al., 2012) and among the dominant species
growing in some mine sites in the Philippines (Malik et al., 2010).
OBJECTIVE
The study concerns the investigation of the potential ability of Amaranthus spinosus L. toaccumulate Cd in the root and shoot system and how it responds morphologically andphysiologically.
METHODOLOGY
Sample Sites
The soil sampling sites were located at Alno, La Trinidad and Antamok, Itogon, Benguet (Fig. 1).
La Trinidad and Itogon are two of the 13 municipalities that comprise Benguet which, together
with five other provinces, make up the Cordillera Administrative Region.Alno has an estimatedland area of 958.35 ha. It is the third largest village in this municipality of La Trinidad. An area of
30.8 ha of forest and brushlands is classified as the Alno communal forest (Lumbres et al., 2014).
The municipality of Itogon is the core of the Baguio Mining District. Before the World War II,
large-scale mines operated, small-scale mining thrived. For Antamok, Itogon decommissioned
tailings dam had been abandoned for 22 years during the collection but still a basin of mine waste
for small scale miners since the tailing dam used for the study had operated for 7 years and wasshut down last April 1998 (Chaloping-March, 2019).

Fig. 1 Location map of Alno, La Trinidad, Benguet and of Antamok, Itogon, Benguet
Soil Sample Characteristic, pH and Cadmium Analysis
The identification of non-contaminated and contaminated soil was based on Pfeiffer et al. (1988)
and the US EPA (1994) for standard maximum concentration of contaminants for toxicity
characteristics. Soil samples were collected using composite soil sampling (Brady and Weil, 2000).
For soil pH determination the potentiometric method was employed. The concentrations of heavy
metals in soil samples were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS).

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Plant Morphological Observation on the 98th Day
Plants were carefully uprooted from the plastic pots then washed properly. The plants were cut
separating the root and shoot system for length measurement, and were air dried. Also, it was ovendried at 60 degrees Centigrade for biomass.
Determination of Vitamin C and Protein Content of the Plant on the 98th Day
The plants used in the morphological study were processed and analyzed separately. The vitamin C
content from the plant samples was measured based on the redox titration. The total protein content
from the plant samples was measured based on the Kjeldahl method.
Bioaccumulation Evaluation
Bioaccumulation and phytoextraction were evaluated in terms of Biological Accumulation
Coefficient (BAC), Biological Coefficient Factor (BCF) and Trans-location Factor (TF) whereby;
BAC = [metal] shoot / [metal] soil
BCF = [metal] root and shoot / [metal] soil
TF = [metal] shoot / [metal] root
Treatment of Data
The data were tabulated, interpreted, and analyzed using comparative experimental research design.
The t-test was used to determine the differences in the soil pH and soil Cd content of noncontaminated and contaminated soil; plant tissue Cd content analysis of each plant systems (rootand shoot); and the plant morphological and physiological changes in Amaranthus spinosus L. on
the 98th day.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Cadmium Bioaccumulation in the Root and Shoot System of Amaranthus spinosus Linn
Table 1 shows the mean Cd concentration in the root and shoot systems of Amaranthus spinosus L.
planted on non-contaminated (S1) and contaminated (S2) soils. The mean Cd content for the S1 in
the root and shoot systems was non-detectable as represented by the value of 0.000012 mg/kg dryweight while for S2 in the root and shoot systems were 0.520000 and 0.880000 mg/kg dry weight,
respectively.
Table 1 Mean cadmium concentration on the root and shoot of Amaranthu spinosus L.

Root

Non-contaminated soil (S1)mean (mg/kg)
0.000012

Contaminated soil (S2) mean
(mg/kg)0.520000

Shoot

0.000012

0.880000

Plant organs

P - value
0.002**
0.003**

Legend:** highly significant at α = 0.01

Using t- test at α = 0.01, the accumulation of cadmium in the root and shoot systems of A.
spinosus L. comparing S1 and S2 is highly significant with a p = value of 0.002 and 0.003,
respectively. This suggests that with 0.90 mg/kg in S1 mean Cd concentration, absorption andaccumulation from the soil to the roots and translocation to the shoot system did not occur while at
3.70 mg/kg mean Cd concentration in S2 allows to some limited extent of Cd absorption andaccumulation by the root from the soil then translocated to the shoot system.
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According to Pantazis et al. (2007), the uptake of Cd by root from the soil depends on the soil
properties like Cd concentration and level of organic matter aside from pH. Dada (2019) reported
that A. spinosus L. accumulated 5.24 mg/kg in the root and 3.03 mg/kg in the shoot in soil of pH of
8.4 and 16.10 mg/kg soil Cd concentration. Moreover, Carrion and Mendoza (2019) result showsthat A. spinosus L. accumulated 0.55 mg/kg Cd in the shoot system with 7.49 soil pH and 2.02
mg/kg Cd soil concentration.
Bioaccumulation Evaluation of Amaranthus spinosus L.
Bioaccumulation evaluation of Amaranthus spinosus L. were based from the computed value of
Biological Accumulation Coefficient (BAC), Biological Coefficient Factor (BCF) andTranslocation Factor (TF). The BAC value is 0.24, BCF is 0.14 and TF value is 1.69. The BAC(0.24) and BCF (0.38) values were generally weak in A. spinosus L. (Table 2) since theirequivalents are less than 1 (BAC & BCF <1) while Translocation Factor (TF) is greater than 1 (TF> 1 = 1.69). The TF value (TF > 1) indicates capability to accumulate and transport cadmium in its
organs at 3.70 mg/kg soil Cd concentration and 7.43 soil pH. With the value of 1.69 TFCd, it could
be deduced that the translocation of Cd from the roots to the shoot system of Amaranthus spinosus
L. was relatively efficient but it cannot be identified as an excluder, accumulator or extractor.
Table 2 BAC; TF; and BCF of Amaranthus spinosus L.
Accumulation characteristics

Equivalent

BAC

0.24

TF

1.69

BCF

0.38

Cadmium Bioaccumulation Effect on Morphological Characteristics ofAmaranthus spinosus L.
The morphological characteristics of Amaranthus spinosus L. measured after 98 days of growth aresummarized in Table 3. These characteristics, with the paired mean measurements obtained fromthose planted in S1 and S2 soils respectively, include: root length (372.33 mm and 284.70 mm);shoot length (399.33 mm and 132.33 mm); and, biomass (22.53 grams and 9.27 grams).
Table 3 Morphological characteristics of the Amaranthus spinosus L. on the two sites
Characteristics

Non-contaminated soil (s1) mean

Contaminated soil (s2) mean

P - value

Root length (mm)372.33284.700.002**

Shoot length (mm)399.33132.330.000**

Biomass (grams)
22.53
Legend: ** highly significant at α = 0.01

9.27

0.002**

Highly significant differences were noted for S1 and S2 on root length, shoot length, andbiomass at α = 0.01 with p – values of 0.002, 0.000, and 0.002, respectively. Amaranthus spinosus
L. planted at 0.90 mg/kg in S1 are longer in root and shoot length and had higher biomass ascompared to Amaranthus spinosus L. at 3.70 mg/kg soil concentration of S2; the latter had shortroot and shoot length and had less biomass.
The morphological results of Amaranthus spinosus L. in S1 having longer root and shootlength and higher biomass as compared to S2 having short root and shoot length and less biomass
can be due to the nil and greater amounts of Cd root and shoot accumulation after the 98-day
growth, respectively. Other observations for S2 that are not found in S1 were thicker stem diameter,
delayed development, and leaf chlorosis.
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These morphological observations in S2 are the results of plants ability to adjust to its
contaminated environment by delaying or arresting mitotic division (Baran et al., 2010) affecting
the length development of the root. The short roots will be deprived of nutrient demand and supply
because its source is limited only to its immediate surroundings resulting to short shoot systembecause of plant nutrient deficiency. Moreover, the presence of Cd in the plant system inhibits
photosynthesis hampering growth and development resulting to plant decreased biomass (He et al.,2015).
Effect on the Vitamin C and Protein Content of Amaranthus spinosus L.
The vitamin C content in organs of Amaranthus spinosus L. planted in both S1 and S2 soils is
2.40%. The plant protein content, on the other hand, is at 5.18% (S1) and 4.73% (S2). Statistically,
there were no significant differences in the vitamin C (2.40% at 0.90 mg/kg – S1 and 2.40% at 3.70
mg/kg – S2) and protein (5.18% at 0.90 mg/kg – S1 and 4.73% at 3.70 mg/kg – S2) contents ofAmaranthus spinosus L. in both soil samples were noted. This is supported by the p-values
obtained comparing S1 and S2 for the physiological characteristics at 1.000 and 0.684 respectively(Table 4). The highly significant differences of the soil Cd concentrations of S1 and S2 apparently
did not at all affect the vitamin C and protein contents of plants grown in both S1 and S2. The
result may be due to the plants ability to maintain its metabolic activities by storing Cd in the cellwall and vacuole of the root and the shoot systems, thereby continuing growth and development.
Table 4 Mean vitamin C and protein content of the Amaranthus spinosus L.
plant organs on the two sample sites
Mean (%)

Physiological characteristics

P - valueNon-contaminated soil (s1)Contaminated soil (s2)Vitamin C content

2.40

2.40

1.000ns

Protein content

5.18

4.73

0.684ns

Legend: ns - not significant at α = 0.01

Vitamin C and protein are important factors for growth and development since protein
responds to a wide variety of stresses within the plant body while vitamin C plays an important rolein the adaptation and ultimate survival of plants (Dinakar et al., 2008). The result of the study was
similar to the study of Jibril et al. (2017) on lettuce where soil Cd concentrations of 0, 3, 6, 9 and
12 mg/kg have no significant effect in flavonoids, vitamin C and proline. This was confirmed by
Wang et al. (2009) on Cd toxicity on N metabolism in leaves of Solanum nigrum in 6.5 soil pH
where the concentration did not decrease significantly in soil Cd concentration at 6, 12 and 24
mg/kg.
CONCLUSION
Phytoremediation is a low cost and environmental friendly method to eliminate soil contaminants.
Amaranthus spinosus L. had been used since literatures suggest that it has the capability to extract
heavy metals and can survive to adverse conditions. The findings of the study shows that there is asignificant accumulation of Cd in Amaranthus spinosus L. on contaminated soil (root-0.52 mg/kg
and shoot-0.88mg/kg) and non-detectable Cd accumulation in non-contaminated soil. Amaranthus
spinosus L. plants in non-contaminated soil are taller compared to those in contaminated soils
which are short. Given the morphological characteristics of the plants, it follows that those in S1
have higher biomass as those in S2 having lower biomass. Also, vitamin C and protein content are
not affected by the amount of Cd in two sample sites. Therefore, Amaranthus spinosus L. cansurvive in the environment with 3.70 mg/kg soil Cd concentration at 4.19 pH.

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REFERENCES
Baral, M., Ankur, D., Chakraborty, S. and Chakraborty, P. 2011. Pharmacognostic studies on stem and leavesof Amaranthus spinosus Linn. International Journal of Applied Biology and Pharmaceutical Technology,
2 (1), 41-47.
Brady, N.C. and Weil, R.R. 1990. The nature and properties of soil (14th ed.). Pearson, ISBN 9780133254488, Boston, USA.
Castillo, J.P., Verdu, M. and Valiente-Banuet, A. 2010. Neighborhood phylodiversity affects plant
performance. Ecology, 91 (12), 3656-3663, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1890/10-0720.1
Chaloping-March, M. 2019. Antamok, Launchpad of industrial mining in the Philippines. In ChalopingMarch, M. (Ed.), Social Terrains of Mine Closure in the Philippines, 80-99, Routledge, London, UK.
Chen, L., Lon, S., Li, X., Won, Y., Chen, J. and Lui, C. 2014. Interaction of Cd-hyperaccumulator Solanum
nigrum L. and functional endiphyte Pseudomonas sp. Lk9 on soil heavy metals uptake. Soil Biology andBiochemistry, 68, 300-308, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.10.021
Chinmayee, M.D., Masesh, B., Pradesh, S., Mini, I. and Swapna, T.S. 2012. The assessment ofphytoremediation potential of invasive weed Amaranthus spinosus L.. Applied Biochemistry andBiotechnology, 167 (6), 1550-1559, Retrieved from DOI 10.1007/s12010-012-9657-0
Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA). 2007. Case study on the impacts of mining and dams on the environment
and indigenous peoples in benguet, Cordillera, Philippines. Retrieved from https://www.studocu.com/ph/
document/technological-university-of-the-philippines/engineering-economics/case-study-in-benguetfrom-internet /11224770
Dada, O.E. 2019. Cadmium tolerance and phytoremediation strategies of selected tropical plants cultivatedon industrial dump site under the influences of two mycobionts. West African Journal of Applied
Ecology, 27 (2), 106-125, Retrieved from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/wajae/article/view/192383
Dinakar, N., Nagajyothi, P.C., Suresh, S., Udaykiran, Y. and Damodharam, T. 2008. Phytotoxicity of
cadmium on protein, proline and antioxidant enzyme activities in growing Arachis hypogaea L. seedlings.
Journal of Environmental Science, 20 (2), 199-206, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/S10010742(08) 60032-7
Gharge, S. and Menon, G. 2017. Morpho-anatomical adaptation in some herbs growing near Ulhas riverpolluted with industrial effluent. International Journal of Botany Studies, 2 (4), 43-48, Retrieved fromhttp: //www.botanyjournals.com/archives/2017/vol2 /issue4/ 2-4-18
He, S., He, Z., Yang, X., Stoffella, P.J. and Baligar, V.C. 2015. Soil biogeochemistry, Plant physiology andphytoremediation of cadmium-contaminated soils. In Sparks, D.L. (Ed.), Advances in Agronomy, 134,
135-225, Academic Press, Cambridge, USA.
Jibril, S.A., Hassan, S.A., Ishak, C.F. and Wahab, P.E.M. 2017. Cadmium toxicity affects phytochemicals
and nutrients elements composition of lettuce (Lactusa sativa L.). Hindawi Advance Agriculture, 1-7,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1236830
Lumbres, R.I.C., Palaganas, J.A., Micosa, S.C., Laruan, K.A., Besic. E.D., Yun, C.W. and Lee, Y.J. 2014.
Floral diversity assessment in alno communal mixed forest in Benguet, Philippines. Landscape andEcological Engineering, 10, 361-368, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-012-0204-5
Malik, R.N., Husain, S.Z. and Nazir, I. 2010. Heavy metal contamination and accumulation in soil and wild
plant species from industrial area of Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 42 (1), 291-301,
Retrieved from http://www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/42(1)/PJB42(1)291.pdf
Pantazis, V., Kalavrouziotis, I. and Deligiannakis, I. 2007. Cu-Zn accumulation on soil plant system irrigatedwith wastewater. Proceedings in IWA Facing Sludge Diversities, Challenges, Risks and Opportunities.
Antalya, Turkey, 673-680.
Pfeiffer, E.M., Freytag, J., Scharpenseel, H.W., Miehlich, G. and Vicente, V. 1988. Trace elements andheavy metals in soil and plants of the southeast asian metropolis Metro Manila and of some ricecultivation provinces in Luzon, Philippines. Hamburger Bodenkundliche Arbeiter, Band 11, Hamburg,
Germany.
Prasad, M.N.V. and De Oliveira Freitas, H.M. 2003. Metal hyperaccumulation in plants, Biodiversity
prospecting for phytoremediation technology. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, 6 (3), 285-321,
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). 1994. Test methods for evaluation of solid wastes,
Physical, chemical methods (3rd Edition), Final Update 3A. CD ROM SW-846.
Wang, H., Zhao, S.C., Liu, R.L., Zhou, W. and Jin, J.Y. 2009. Changes of photosynthetic activities of maize(Zea mays L.) seedlings in response to cadmium stress. Photosynthetica, 47 (2), 277-283, Retrieved from
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-009-0043-2Ⓒ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Effects of Vermicompost and Mineral Water on the GrowthParameters of the KDML 105 Rice Cultivar
DUANGNAPA SAIYAKIT
Department of Soil Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean University,
Khon Kean, Thailand

CHULEEMAS BOONTHAI IWAI*
Department of Soil Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean University,
Khon Kean, Thailand
Email: chuleemas1@gmail.com
Received 21 February 2022

Accepted 20 June 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The purpose of this research aimed to study the effects of vermicompost andmineral water from a wellspring in Ban Haubueng Community Forest, Nampong District,Khon Kaen Province, Thailand on the growth parameters of rice cultivar KDML 105. The
rice growth experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design, with four
irrigation treatments: irrigation water (T0), irrigation water with vermicompost (T1),mineral water (T2), and mineral water with vermicompost (T3) under greenhouseconditions. The results found that the application of the vermicompost with mineral water
gave the highest rice growth parameters; such as plant height, panicles, grains per panicle,
and number of tillers per hill, with a significant difference of p ≤ 0.05. The highest plantheight (139.63 cm.) was found in the T1 treatment, and the highest number of tillers per hilland grain weight were found in the T3 treatment at 7.00 and 175.28 grams per plot,
respectively; as vermicompost is a rich source of readily available nutrients and contains
growth hormones. Although the application of mineral water produced lower plant heights
than that of the irrigation water, the tillered rice demonstrated an increased number of tillers
per hill and grains per panicle. The results of this experiment revealed that the addition ofvermicompost and mineral water had significant positive effects on plant growth parametersof rice. It can conclude that the utilization of mineral water from the wellspring community
forest with vermicompost could help farmers to increase rice production.
Keywords vermicompost, mineral water, rice production

INTRODUCTION
Rice is the main staple food in Asia (Ruan et al., 2021), including Thailand, which represents oneof the world’s largest consumers and top rice exporters (TREA, 2022). The growth of rice depends
on the practice of nutrient management in cropping systems (Naivikul, 2007). Chemical fertilizers
are applied for rice growth and yield, but in the long term, may damage soil property and increase
investment costs. We hypothesized that the application of vermicompost could help improve thisissue. Vermicompost is an organic fertilizer, rich in nutrients, used to improve soil. Vermicomposts
can significantly influence the growth and productivity of plants (Kale et al., 1992; Kalembasa,
1996; Sinha et al., 2002) due to their micro and macro elements, vitamins, enzymes, and hormones(Makulec, 2002). There are contain nutrients such as nitrates, exchangeable phosphorus, soluble
potassium, calcium, and magnesium in plant available forms (Orozco et al., 1996; Edwards, 1998).
All of its nutrients are in a readily available form, thereby enhancing their uptake by plants and, inturn, crop yield (Bejbaruha et al., 2013). Several studies have determined that enhancing Nutrient
nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) uptake increased rice yields through the application ofvermicompost (Srivastava et al., 2014; Bejbaruah et al., 2013). Vermicompost production is notcomplicated and requires a low investment (Iwai et al., 2011). In this study, we also appliedⒸ ISERD

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mineral water in the cropping system. Mineral water is a natural water source from the local village
forest, which farmers use for both consumption and agriculture. Through analysis, the mineralwater’s composition was found to contain several nutrients; one of which is silicon, known for its
role in alleviating the negative stresses, both biological and physical (Pati et al., 2016), in many
plant species (Epstein., 1999). Rice is typically high in silicone and can accumulate up to 10% of
its shoot dry weight (Ma et al., 2002).
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our research was to study the effects of vermicompost and mineral water from thewellspring in the Ban Haubueng Community Forest, Nampong District, Khon Kaen Province,
Thailand; on the growth of rice cultivar KDML 105.
METHODOLOGY
Plant Materials and Experimental Design
The seeds of rice cultivar KMDL 105, which are widely planted in Northeast Thailand, were used
as plant materials. After soaking in tap water for 24 hours, the seeds were germinated at 30๐C for
12 hours and then sown in a basin. The seedlings were then transported to plastic pots 30 cm inheight and 30 cm in diameter, and grown under greenhouse conditions. The experiment was
conducted in the Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean University, Khon Kean Province, Thailand.
Six treatments were adopted in the present study, and are described as follows: (T0) irrigationwater; (T1) irrigation water with vermicompost; (T2) mineral water; and (T3) mineral water withvermicompost.
The vermicompost used herein was produced by the Vermitechnology for Sustainable
Agriculture and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean University, Khon Kaen,
Thailand. The nutrients of vermicompost were analyzed and found various nutrients, as follows:
pH 9.05; EC (0.87 dS/m); Organic matter (11.14%); Total nitrogen (7.64 g kg-1); Total phosphorus(11.27 g kg-1); Total potassium (6.18 g kg-1); Magnesium (4.34 g kg-1); and Calcium (64.27 g kg-1).
Irrigation water and mineral water were collected from the Ban Haubueng, Nampong District,Khon Kaen Province. The sources of irrigation water come from irrigation canal from Nong Wai
Dam as a resources water for agriculture. The mineral water from the wellspring in Ban Haubueng
community forest as a naturally occurring water sources. The chemical composition of mineralwater was found to contain numerous nutrients, as follows: pH 6.81; EC (0.08 dS/m); NO-3 (6.28
mg/L); Cu (0.002 mg/L); Mn (0.008 mg/L); Ni (0.003 mg/L); SiO2 (17.016 mg/L); and Si (7.954mg/L).
Measurements of Agronomic Traits
Rice (KDML 105) from each treatment was collected; and the plant height, biomass, number oftillers per hill, fill grains, 100-grain weight, and grain weight were measured. The biomass wasmeasured after being oven-dried at 70๐C for 48 hours.
Statistical Analyses
All experimental data were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Statistix 10
software. Differences among means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) test
at a 5% probability level.
RESULTSⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Growth Parameters of the rice cultivar KDML 105
The plant height, biomass, number of tillers per hill, fill grains, 100 grains weight, and grain weightof the KDML 105 rice cultivar are presented in Table 1. Plant height, fill grains, and grains per
panicle were significantly (p < 0.05) increased through the application of the vermicompost (T1,
T3). The irrigation water application (T0, T1) presented significantly higher height, fill grains, andgrains per panicle than that of the mineral water application (T2, T3). The highest plant height(139.63 cm.) was found in the T1 treatment. However, the mineral water treatments produced
significantly (p < 0.05) higher amounts of biomass, number of tillers per hill, and grain weight thanthose found in T0 and T1. The highest number of tillers per hill and grain weight were found in theT3 treatment at 7.00 and 175.28 g. per plot, respectively. Regarding 100 Grain weight, there wereno significant differences between treatments. The highest 100 Grain weight (2.49 g.) was found in
the T3 treatment.
Table 1 Effects of vermicompost and mineral water on plant height, biomass, number oftillers per hill, fill grains, 100 grain weight, and grain weight of rice cultivar KDML
105
Treatment
T0 (irrigation water)
T1 (irrigation water with VC)
T3 (mineral water)
T4 (mineral water with VC)

Plant
height132.85
AB
139.63A
127.13B
130.19A

Biomass(g./plot)

Numberof tillers
per hill

Fill grains(%)

100 Grain
weight(g.)

GrainsperpanicleGrainweight(g./plot)

53.03 B

3.75 B

61.81 A

2.42 AB108.00 A

125.31 C

58.04 B

3.88 B

63.18 A

2.35 B

119.44 A

154.01 B

87.80 A

7.00 A

31.87 B

2.49 A

78.13 B

175.28 A

86.19 A

7.00 A

38.32 B

2.45 AB

98.81 AB172.57 A

Treatments with the same letters are not significantly different at (P<0.05). VC = Vermicompost.

DISCUSSION
The present study applied vermicompost and mineral water in the growth of rice cultivar KDML
105. Our results of showed that plant height, fill grains, and grains per panicle increased with theapplication of vermicompost (T1, T3). These results are consistent with the previous studies that
demonstrated that the application of vermicompost enhanced the growth and development of crops(Blouin et al., 2019; Ruan et al., 2021; and Suleerak and Suchada, 2014), as a result of the richsource of readily available nutrients and growth hormones (Gandhi et al., 1997; Edwards, 1998)
present in the vermicompost. There is further expanded upon the composition of vermicompost asorganic fertilizer with multiple mineral elements (Patnaik et al., 2020; Ruan et al., 2021). As
previous studies reported, the application of silicon fertilizer alleviated negative stress effects andincreased the grain and straw yields, plant height, number of tillers, number of panicles, and 1000grain weight of rice (Ma and Takahashi, 2002; Pati et al., 2016; Cuong et al., 2017). There isresearch determined that the accumulation of silicon on the cell walls of the epidermal cells of riceleads to enhanced strength and rigidity of the cells, resulting in increased resistance to pests anddiseases, lodging, improved light interception, and reduced transpiration (Meena et al., 2014; Satheet al., 2021). We, therefore, surmised that the application of vermicompost and mineral water might
improve the stress resistance of rice; however, more studies should be performed at thephysiological level to further support this hypothesis.
CONCLUSION
The growth parameters of rice cultivar KDML 105; including plant height, panicles, grains per
panicle, and number of tillers per hill, improved through the application of vermicompost andⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

mineral water. Therefore, the utilization of mineral water from the wellspring community forest
with vermicompost is recommended as a viable agronomic practice to assist farmers in increasing
rice production. We train to produce their own vermicompost for using with mineral water toproduce quality rice.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to express their gratitude to both the Integrated Land and Water Resource
Management Research and Development Center in Northeastern Thailand and Vermitechnology
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean
University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
REFERENCES
Bejbaruah, R., Sharma, R.C. and Banik, P. 2013. Split application of vermicompost to rice (Oryza sativa L.),Its effect on productivity, yield components, and N dynamics. Organic Agriculture, 3, 123-128,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-013-0049-8
Blouin, M., Barrere, J., Meyer, N., Lartigue, S., Barot, S. and Mathieu, J. 2019. Vermicompost significantly
affects plant growth, A meta-analysis. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 39, 34, Retrieved from
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-019-0579-x
Cuong, T.X., Ullah, H., Datta, A. and Hanh, T.C. 2017. Effects of silicon-based fertilizer on growth yield andnutrient uptake of rice in tropical zone of Vietnam. Rice Science, 24 (5), 283-290, Retrieved from DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsci.2017.06.002
Edwards, C.A. 1988. Breakdown of animal, vegetable and industrial organic wastes by earthworms. In
Edwards, C.A. and Neuhauser, E.F. (Eds.), Earthworms in Waste and Environmental Management, 2131, SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, Netherlands.
Epstein, E. 1999. Silicon. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology, 50, 641-664,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.arplant.50.1.641
Gandhi, M., Sangwan, V., Kapoor, K.K. and Dilbaghi, N. 1997. Composting of household wastes with andwithout earthworms. Environment and Ecology, 15 (2), 432-434.
Iwai, C.B., Mongkol, T., Surasak, S. and Nuntawut, C. 2011. Fertilizer production by earthworms,
Management waste soil produces good and safe. Khon Kaen. Department of Plant Science and Resources
Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
Kale, R.D., Mallesh, B.C., Bano, K. and Bagyaray, D.J. 1992. Influence of vermicompost application on theavailable macronutrients and selected microbial populations in paddy field. Soil Biology andBiochemistry, 24 (12), 1317-1320, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(92)90111-A
Kalembasa, D. 1996. The influence of vermicomposts on yield and chemical composition of tomato. Zesz
Probl Post Nauk Roln, 437, 249-252.
Ma, J.F. and Takahashi, E. 2002. Soil, fertilizer, and plant silicon research in Japan. Elsevier, ISBN 978-0444-51166-9, Netherlands.
Ma, J.F., Tamai, K., Ichii, M. and Wu, G.F. 2002. A rice mutant defective in Si uptake. Plant Physiol, 130 (4),2111-2117, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.010348
Makulec, G. 2002. The role of Lumbricus rubellus Hoffm. in determining biotic and abiotic properties of peatsoils. Polish Journal of Ecology, 50 (3), 301-339.
Meena, V.D., Dotaniya, M.L., Coumar, V., Rajendiran, S., Ajay, S., Kundu, S. and Rao, A.S. 2014. A casefor silicon fertilization to improve crop yields in tropical soils. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, India Section B, Biological Sciences, 84, 505-518, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.
1007/s40011-013-0270-y
Naivikul, O. 2007. Rice, science and technology (2nd ed.). Kasetsart University Press, Bangkok, Thailand.
Orozco, F.H., Cegarra, J., Trujillo, L.M. and Roig, A. 1996. Vermicomposting of coffee pulp using theearthworm Eisenia fetida, Effects on C and N contents and the availability of nutrients. Biology andFertility of Soils, 22, 162-166, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384449
Pati, S., Pal, B., Badole, S., Hazra, G.C. and Mandal, B. 2016. Effect of silicon fertilization on growth, Yield
and nutrient uptake of rice. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 47 (3), 284-290,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2015.1122797Ⓒ ISERD

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Patnaik, P., Abbasi, T. and Abbasi, S.A. 2020. Vermicompost of the widespread and toxic xerophyte prosopis(Prosopis juliflora) is a benign organic fertilizer. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 399, 122864, Retrieved
from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122864
Ruan, S., Wu, F., Lai, R., Tang, X., Luo, H. and He, L. 2021. Preliminary application of vermicompost in
rice production, Effects of nursery raising with vermicompost on fragrant rice performances. Agronomy,
11 (6), 1253, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061253
Sathe, A.P., Kumar, A., Mandlik, R., Raturi, G., Yadav, H., Kumar, N., Shivaraj, S.M., Jaswal, R., Kapoor,R., Gupta, S.K., Sharma, T.R. and Sonah, H. 2021. Role of silicon in elevating resistance against sheathblight and blast diseases in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 166, 128-139,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2021.05.045
Sinha, R.K., Heart, S., Agarwal, S., Asadi, R. and Carretero, E. 2002. Vermiculture and waste management,
Study of action of earthworms Elsinia foetida, Eudrilus euginae and Perionyx excavatus on
biodegradation of some community wastes in India and Australia. Environment Systems and Decisions,22, 261-268, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016583929723
Srivastava, V.K., Singh, J.K. Bohra, J.S. and Singh, S.P. 2014. Effect of fertilizer levels and organic sourcesof nitrogen on production potential of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa) and soil properties under the system ofrice intensification. Indian Journal of Agronomy, 59, 607-612.
Suleerak, A. and Suchada, S. 2014. Effects of a vermicomposts from earthworms on changes of soil physicalproperties and improve soil structure. Maejo university, Thailand.
Thai Rice Exporters Association. 2022. Rice exports by destination 2019-2021. Bangkok, Thailand,
Retrieved from http://www.thairiceexporters.or.th/export%20by%20country%202021.htmlⒸ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Benefits of Applying Microbial Fuel Cell Technology in
Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture
NARONG TOUCH*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: nt207118@nodai.ac.jp

TAKAHIKO NAKAMURA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Received 14 January 2022

Accepted 27 June 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Increasing the productivity of organic farming is a strategy to achieve sustainableagriculture. However, it is necessary to maintain soil redox potential (ORP) in continuously
oxidized conditions and to promote bacterial metabolisms in soils to increase productivity.
Previously, applying microbial fuel cell technology (MFCT) into sediment improved ORP
and benthos survival in the sediment. It is thought that these positive effects of MFCT canalso provide many benefits for soil cultivation in organic farming. This study aims to
examine the changes in the biochemical properties of soil following MFCT application. In
laboratory experiments, MFCT was applied to cow manure compost-mixed andosol. An
anode (oxidation reaction) and a cathode (reduction reaction) were installed in the soil, anda 1.5-V solar cell was used to produce an electric current between the two electrodes. Threemonths after MFCT application, the chemical properties and adenosine triphosphate (ATP)of the soil were measured. Our results showed an electric potential distribution in the soil,
and the soil located within 20 cm of the electrode was strongly affected by the electrodereaction. This suggests that applying MFCT to soil can change the soil’s redox conditions.
The ATP and ammonium concentrations increased, suggesting bacterial activation andenhanced organic matter decomposition in the soil. It is recommended that farmers should
apply MFCT into soils for enhancing bacterial metabolism and increasing organic matterdecomposition in soils.
Keywords microbial fuel cell, organic farming, soil reduction, soil oxidation,
nitrogen release, bacterial activation

INTRODUCTION
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF), organic farming
is a strategy to achieve sustainable agriculture. However, the ratio of total organic farmland to all
cultivated land remains low. In 2018, the ratio was 0.2% in Japan and 1.5% worldwide. On thebasis of the questionnaire survey conducted by MAFF (2018), technologies to enhance productivity
and implementation systems are required to facilitate organic farming. This study focuses ontechnology to enhance the productivity of organic farming.
Understanding of the soil chemical environment (SCE) is useful to ensure healthy soil that cansustain crop production (Yan and Hou, 2018). Because a decline in soil fertility results in adecrease in productivity (Buresh et al., 1997), soil fertility and health management play animportant role in realizing sustainable agriculture (Prasad and Power, 1997). In organic farming, as
nutrients are supplied by the decomposition of organic matter, facilitating this decomposition plays
an important role in providing higher productivity. However, the SCE varies with thedecomposition of organic matter (soil reduction). This variation affects biological soil properties,
resulting in a decrease in the decomposition rate of organic matter. Therefore, technology that can
reduce changes in the SCE and continuously activating bacterial metabolism is required to provide
higher productivity in organic farming.
Ⓒ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Numerous studies have reported that applying microbial fuel cell technology (MFCT) to
sediment facilitates the decomposition of organic matter and increases the redox potential of thesediment (Sacco et al., 2012; Sajana et al., 2013; Touch et al., 2014). Furthermore, MFCT has been
proven to effectively improve the benthic habitat environment in highly reduced sediment (Touchet al., 2018a). It is thought that these benefits of MFCT would be also useful for organic farming.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to examine the benefits of applying MFCT for organic farming. Specifically, we
examined changes in the soil redox potential, biological properties, and nutrient release following
MFCT application. This was conducted by applying MFCT into cow manure compost-mixed
andosol with a generated electric current for 3 months.
METHODOLOGY
Experimental Procedures and Operations
Commercial products, i.e., cow manure compost and andosol, were used in laboratory experiments.
First, cow manure compost was mixed with andosol at a volume ratio of 47% (generally, 40% to
60% is used). The mixture was then used in the experiments which were conducted under three
conditions, i.e., without treatment (Case 1), treated with a solar cell (Case 2), and treated with asediment microbial fuel cell (Case 3). Case 2 was conducted in duplicate. In Case 1, no electrodewas installed in the mixture (Fig. 1a).
In Case 2, two electrodes were installed in the soil layer (Fig. 1b). For generating an electricalcurrent, one of the both electrodes were connected to the positive, and another was connected to thenegative terminals of a 1.5-V solar cell (Tamiya, 1.5 V) using the circuit shown in Fig. 1b. A 2.2-Ω
external resistance was loaded between the anode and solar cell. In Case 3, an electrode was placedin the soil layer (anode), and another was placed near the water surface (cathode), as shown in Fig.
1c. For generating an electrical current, a 2.2-Ω external resistance was loaded between the anodeand cathode. This system is generally called a sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC). Note that both
systems used in Cases 2&3 are different types of MFCT in which the system of Case 2 used a solar
cell as an external power supply. Here the solar cell was used following the study by Touch et al.
(2020), who suggested that using a solar cell increased the electric current of the SMFC andimproved the decomposition of organic matter present in paddy soils. The electrode material was
carbon cloth (News Company, PL200-E), which was heated at 500°C for 1 h prior to use toimprove its performance, as was suggested by Nagatsu et al. (2014). The heated carbon cloth with awidth of 20 cm and height of 10 cm was separated into fibers to form a brush-type electrode (Fig.
1d). The electrode was placed in a plastic net (1-mm mesh) and installed in the soil layer.
After the installation of both electrodes, the container was filled with tap water. As a result, a2-cm water layer was formed on the soil surface, which can prevent the soil from drying due toevaporation. The experiments were conducted from June to November in 2020.The voltage at bothterminals of the external resistance was measured every 15 min using a voltage logger (T&D Corp.,
MCR-4V) to calculate the circuit current according to the Ohm’s law. The current density was
obtained by dividing the current by the surface area of the electrode, i.e., 0.02 m 2. To measure theanode potential of each case, the anode and a reference electrode (Toyo Corp., W-RE-7A) placed in
the overlying water were connected to the voltage logger.
AnalysesThree months after the experiments started, soil sampling was conducted. First, 1 cm of surface soil
was removed, and then, pH and redox potential (ORP) were measured using a pH/ORP meter(Horiba, D-50) at intervals of 5 cm from the anode. Soil samples were collected (Fig. 1e) after the
pH and ORP measurements. Only half-length of the soil layer should be collected for examiningⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

the effects of solar cell or SMFC on the soil properties. However, in Case 2 (SC), the soils between
the electrodes were collected to determine the effective range of electrode reaction. Next, each soil
sample was centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 5 min (As one, CN-2060) to extract the porewater. Finally,
the nutrient concentration (phosphate, PO43-; ammonium, NH4+), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP)were measured. PO43- and NH4+ concentrations were measured using PACKTEST (Kyoritsu Corp.,
WAK). ATP concentration was measured using a lumitester (Kikkoman, Lumitester-Smart), andthe result represents the sum concentration of adenosine triphosphate, adenosine diphosphate, andadenosine monophosphate.
(d) Electrode: carbon fibers(a) Case 1: no treatment

14 cm

2 cm Tap water (prevention of soil drying by evaporation)

Cow manure compost-mixed andosol
Voltage logger(b) Case 2: treated with SC⊝
Solar cell (1.5 V)
2.2 Ω
Removal of 1 cm-surface soil before soil sampling

⊕

5 cm

2 cm

Cathode14 cm⊝

Soil sampling at intervals of 5 cm
Voltage logger
2.2 Ω⊕ (c) Case 3: treated with SMFC(e) Soil sampling

CathodeTap water

Anode

14 cm

⊝

26 cm
1 cm

56 cm
Plastic container: 14 cm × 56 cm × 26 cm

Fig. 1 Experimental devices and operations
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Comparison of Current Density Generated Using SMFC and a Solar Cell
Figure 2 depicts the temporal changes in the current densities generated using the SMFC and solar
cell during the first 30 days of the experiments.
As can be seen from the figure, the maximum current density generated by the SMFC wasapproximately 60 mA/m2, which increased to 200 mA/m2 when using the solar cell. During the firstmonth of the experiments, the total electric charge was 50,415 C/m2/month when the SMFC wasused whereas the total was 59,220 C/m2/month when the solar cell was used. Although, more than
three times the current density was observed, only a 1.17-fold change in the total electric charge
was found between both cases. This is because no electrical current was generated at night when
the solar cell was used.
Changes in Redox Conditions at the End of the Experiment
Figure 3 shows the changes in pH and ORP due to current generation at the end of the experiment.
In the figure, 0 and 45 cm refer to the soil samples at the anode and cathode, respectively (Case 2).
In Fig. 3a, the pH at the anode was 6.97 for Case 1 (without current generation), which decreasedⒸ ISERD

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Current density (mA/m2)

to 6.44 when using the SMFC (Case 3) and to 6.39 when using the solar cell (Case 2). In Case 3,
the large increases in pH at distances greater than 10 cm were due to the effects of cathode water(Fig. 1c).
200
Case 2

Case 3

150

100
50
0
0

5

10

15
20
Operation time (day)

25

30

35

Fig. 2 Comparison of current densities generated using the SMFC and solar cell
In contrast to the literature, our results showed no increase in ORP following SMFC
application. However, increases in ORP were observed when the solar cell was used. The increases
in ORP were caused by large variations in the electrode potential due to the use of the solar cell(Fig. 4). In Fig. 4, the anode potential was in the ranges from 0.2 to 0.4 V and −0.2 to 0.8 V vs.
Ag/AgCl when using the SMFC (Case 3) and the solar cell (Case 2), respectively. The oxidation
reactions at the anode following current generation caused the decrease in pH and increase in ORP.
These results suggest that the solar cell can be used to effectively control the soil redox conditions,
i.e., pH and ORP. From the ORP distribution, it is thought that the soil located within 20 cm of theelectrode was affected by current generation using the solar cell. It is expected that nutrient releaseand microbial activation differ in response to these changes in pH and ORP.
7.1

Distance from the anode (cm)

7

0

6.8

Case 1

6.7

Case 2

6.6

Case 3

6.5
6.4
6.3
6.2
0

5

10 15 20 25 30 35
Distance from the anode (cm)40

45

ORP (mV vs. Ag/AgCl)

pH

6.9

5

10

15

20

25

0
-20
-40
-60
-80
-100
-120
-140
-160
-180
-200

(a) pH distribution

30

35

40

45

Case 1Case 2
Case 3(b) ORP distribution

Anode potential (V )Fig. 3 Changes in pH and ORP due to current generation at the end of the experiment
1
Case 20.8

Case 3

0.6
0.4
0.2

0
-0.2

-0.4
0

5

10

15
20
Operation time (day)

25

30

35

Fig. 4 Temporal changes of the anode potential during the first month of the experimentⒸ ISERD

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Nutrient Release due to Current Generation
Figure 5 shows the distributions of ammonium (NH4+) and phosphate (PO43-). No differences wereobserved between Case 1 and Case 3 (differences were within the error range), suggesting that the
SMFC had little effect on the decomposition of organic matter. Interestingly, a large increase inNH4+ concentration was observed between Cases 1 and 2, at distances from 15 to 30 cm from theanode. A 2-fold increase in NH4+ concentration was observed 20 cm from the anode. However, thePO43- concentrations in all cases were on the same order of magnitude (Fig. 5b).
The released NH4+ is believed to arise from the decomposition of organic matter. Even though
the generated electric charges were on the same order of magnitude (Case 2: 59,220 C/m2/month;
Case 3: 50,415 C/m2/month), the decomposition behavior of organic matter differed. This may be
due to the differences in electrode potential between Cases 2 and 3 (Fig. 4). The decomposition oforganic matter was facilitated when the solar cell was used, which is in good agreement with theresults obtained by Touch et al. (2020). According to Touch et al. (2018b), the lower NH4+
concentration near both electrodes (Fig. 5a) may be due to the oxidation of NH4+ at the electrodes
due to the high electrode potential when the solar cell is used (Fig. 4).
0.16

PO43- concentration (mg/L)

NH4+ concentration (mg/L)

40
35
30

25
20
15
10
5

Case 1Case 2

Case 3

Case 1Case 2

Case 3

0.15
0.14
0.13

0.12
0.11
0.1

0
0

5

10 15 20 25 30 35
Distance from the anode (cm)

40

0

45

(a) Ammonium concentration5

10 15 20 25 30 35
Distance from the anode (cm)4045(b) Phosphate concentration

Fig. 5 Comparison of nutrient concentration distributions of each case
Changes in ATP due to Current Generation
Figure 6 illustrates the ATP distribution of each case. Similar to the distribution of NH4+, almost no
difference in ATP was found between Cases 1 and 3. However, two to threefold increases in ATP
were observed when the solar cell was used (Case 2). These results suggest that using the solar cell
can provide a better biological environment, resulting in a higher decomposition rate of organic
matter. This may be the cause of the higher NH4+ concentration observed when the solar cell wasused (Fig. 5a, Case 2).
1800

Case 1Case 2
Case 31600

ATP (RLU)

1400
1200
1000

800
600
400
200
0
0

5

10

15
20
25
30
35
Distance from the anode (cm)40

45

Fig. 6 Changes in ATP due to current generationⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

CONCLUSIONS
Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the benefits of applying MFCT in organic
farming. Specifically, changes in the soil redox potential, biological properties, and nutrient release
following the application of MFCT to cow manure compost-mixed andosol were investigated.
Similar to previous results when applying MFCT into littoral sediments, an increase in ORP nearan electrode was observed. Following current generation using a solar cell, an ORP distribution
was formed in the soil, and the soil located within 20 cm from the electrode was affected by theelectrode reaction. This suggests that applying MFCT to soil can change the soil’s redox conditions.
The ATP and ammonium concentrations increased because of the current generated by the solarcell, suggesting bacterial activation and enhanced organic matter decomposition in the soil. It canbe concluded that applying MFCT can control soil biochemical conditions and can enhancebacterial metabolism and organic matter decomposition in soils, which are the most importantfactors in organic farming.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the partial funding from Tokyo University of Agriculture:
FY2021 Grant-in-Aid for Sustainable Agriculture Research Projects. The authors also would like tothank the students of the Rural Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Tokyo University ofAgriculture, for their efforts in collecting data.
REFERENCES
Buresh, R.J., Sanchez, P.A. and Calhoun, F. 1997. Replenishing soil fertility in Africa. Volume 51, Soil
Science Society of America, ISBN 9780891189466, USA.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF). 2018. The promotion statue of organic
farming. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, Retrieved from https://www.maff.
go.jp/j /seisan/kankyo/yuuki/attach/pdf/chosa_jichitai-48.pdf
Nagatsu, Y., Tachiuchi, K., Touch, N. and Hibino, T. 2014. Factors for improving the performance of
sediment microbial fuel cell. Journal of Japan Society of Civil Engineers Ser B2 (Coastal Engineering),
70 (2), 1066-1070, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.2208/kaigan.70.I_1066 in JapanesePrasad, R. and Power, J.F. 1997. Soil fertility management for sustainable agriculture. Lewis Publishers,
CRC Press, ISBN 9781566702546, New York, USA.
Sacco, N.J., Figuerola, E.L.M., Pataccini, G., Bonetto, M.C., Erijman, L. and Cortón, E. 2012. Performanceof planar and cylindrical carbon electrodes at sedimentary microbial fuel cells. Bioresource Technology,
126, 328-335, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.09.060
Sajana, T.K., Ghangrekar, M.M. and Mitra, A. 2013. Application of sediment microbial fuel cell for in situ
reclamation of aquaculture pond water quality. Aquacultural Engineering, 57, 101-107, Retrieved from
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaeng.2013.09.002
Touch, N., Hibino, T., Kinjo, N. and Morimoto, Y. 2018. Exploratory study on improving the benthic
environment in sediment by sediment microbial fuel cells. International Journal of Environmental
Science and Technology, 15, 507-512, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1418-8
Touch, N., Hibino, T., Nagatsu, Y. and Tachiuchi, K. 2014. Characteristics of electricity generation andbiodegradation in tidal river sludge-used microbial fuel cells. Bioresource Technology, 158, 225-230,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.02.035
Touch, N. and Nakamura, T. 2020. Decomposition of organic matter in steelmaking slag-used sedimentmicrobial fuel cells. International Journal of Environmental Protection, 10 (1), 1-6, Retrieved from http://paper.academicpub.org/PaperInIssue?IssueId=1793
Touch, N., Yamaji, S., Nishimura, K., Sunada, Y. and Hibino, T. 2018. Remediation of sediment depositednear sewage outlet with solar cell-combined sediment microbial fuel cells. International Journal ofEnvironmental Protection, 8 (1), 18-24, Retrieved from http://paper.academicpub.org/Paper?id=17688
Yan, B. and Hou, Y. 2018. Soil chemical properties at different toposequence and fertilizer under continuous
rice production, A review. IOP Conference Series, Earth and Environmental Science, 170, 032107 (5pages), Retrieved from https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/170/3/032107/pdfⒸ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Evaluation of Soil Erosion Risk in the City of Cobija,
Bolivian Amazonia Using RUSLE and GIS
JUAN UEGO PEREZ
Graduate School of Agro-Environmental Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
E-mail: uego.juan@gmail.com

MACHITO MIHARA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
E-mail: m-mihara@nodai.ac.jp
Received 17 May 2022

Accepted 4 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract In recent years, deforestation has increased remarkably in the region of Bolivian
Amazonia. So, research interests have been focused on how the deforestation affects thesoil erosion risk. Accordingly, this study was conducted in the city of Cobija, Bolivian
Amazonia to evaluate the erosion risk employing the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation(RUSLE). For calculating the rainfall-runoff erosivity factor (R), an emperical model basedon measured annual precipitation was applied. To calculate the soil erodibility factor (K),the experimental models based on soil properties (composition of sand–silt–clay
percentages, organic matter, structure, and permeability of the soil proﬁle) was employed.
Also, to generate the topographic factor (LS), a digital elevation model (DEM) image wasapplied. In addition, the cover management factor (C) of each land use and the support
practice factor (P) for different conservation practices were based on the outcomes fromformer studies. The results of RUSLE analysis, the annual soil loss per unit area (A) was in
the range of of the medium soil loss from 5 < 7 t/ha/year. With accelerating soil erosion,soil organic matters as well as soil aggregate have been lost, and soil loss would be severer
gradually. So, effective soil conservation measures should be implemented for minimizing
the loss of soil organic matters as well as soil aggregate.
Keywords RUSLE, soil loss, amazonia, erosion

INTRODUCTION
Soil erosion is one of the main global threats to water and food security (Amundson et al., 2015).
Soil provisioning, regulatory, and supporting services are essential for sustaining water, food, andenergy security nexus (Keesstra et al., 2016). In recent years, Bolivia has been recognized as one of
the countries that has the highest rate of deforestation in the world, the city of Cobija is located in
the Amazonia, has experienced annually expansion of the city simultaneously with the expansionof the agricultural frontier and generated deforestation in the areas. The adverse influences ofwidespread soil erosion on soil degradation, agricultural production, water quality, hydrologicalsystems, and environment, have long been recognized as severe problems for human sustainability.
However, estimation of soil erosion loss is often difficult due to the complex interplay of manyfactors, including climate, land cover, soil, topography, and human activities. This paper describes
research that seeks to evaluate the erosion risk in the city of Cobija - Pando, Bolivian Amazonia
and apply the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) for estimate the soil loss.
OBJECTIVE
The objective is to apply the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), and geographic
information system (GIS) to determine the risk of erosion and the soil loss in the city of Cobija
Bolivian Amazonia area. Cobija is a Bolivian City, capital of the Department of Pando and theⒸ ISERD

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Province of Nicolás Suárez. Cobija has experienced high deforestation rates during the past two
decades (Bolivian Institute, 2015) following the national strategy of regional initiated by the
Bolivia Government in 2015 played a major role in this process. The local farmers transformed theforested landscape slowly into urban city the climate in this study area is classiﬁed as equatorial hot
and humid with tropical transition. A well-deﬁned dry season lasts from June to August, and theannual average precipitation is 2016 mm (Mayoralty of Cobija, 2020). The surface of the researcharea is 411 km2, the annual average temperature is 32˚C - 22˚C, and monthly averages for air
moisture range from 80 to 85 percent. The terrain is undulating, ranging from 100 to 120 m above
sea-level.

Fig. 1 Location of the study area in the city of Cobija, Bolivian Amazonia
METHODOLOGY
Brief Description of RUSLE
The RUSLE represents how climate, soil, topography, and land use affect rill and interrill soil
erosion caused by raindrop impact and surface runoff (Renard et al., 1997). It has been extensively
used to estimate soil erosion loss, to assess soil erosion risk, and to guide development andconservation plans in order to control erosion under different land-cover conditions, such as
croplands, rangelands, and disturbed forest lands (Millward and Mersey, 1999; Boggs et al., 2001;
Mati and Veihe, 2001; Angima et al., 2003). The RUSLE is expressed by Equation 1.
A= R × K× L× S × C×P

Eq. 1

Where A is the average annual soil loss in tons per hectare; R is the rainfall-runoff erosivity
factor; K is the soil erodibility factor; L is the slope length factor; S is the slope steepness factor; C
is the cover management factor; and P is the support practice factor. Table 1 summarized thecalculating methods for estimating each factor.
Table 1 Summary of calculating methods for applying RUSLE in this study
Methods

References

R

Using average monthly precipitation and average annual
precipitation Using a regression model based on measured
annual precipitation

Renard and Fremund, 1994

K

Using the experimental models based on soil properties(composition of sand–silt–clay percentages, organic matter,
structure, and permeability of the soil proﬁle)Wischmeier and Smith, 1978

LS

Estimated from actual ﬁeld measurements of length andsteepness Calculated from DEM data with various approaches
Land use comparison table

Hickey, 2000; Van Remortel et al., 2001

Table of P values for different conservation practices

Bertoni and Lombardi Neto, 1985CP

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Silva et al., 2007

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Rainfall and Runoff Erosivity R Factor
The rainfall runoff erosivity was calculated from Equation 2 as shown below.

𝑃𝑚2
𝐸𝐼𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑙𝑦 = 89.823
𝑃𝑎

0.759

Eq. 2

Where EI is the monthly mean of the erosion index for the month considering (mm/ha), Pm isthe average precipitation of the month considering (mm), Pa is the average annual precipitation(mm) at the Pelvimetric Station located in Cobija. Based on monthly results, the rainfall runoff
erosivity was calculated annually. Using the equation, the annual average of rainfall runoff
erosivity was determined with the data of the last 5 years as shown in Table 2, the average R factor
determined was 8929.2 MJ mm/h ha per year and it was considered the EI value was in the highest
class describing the potential of intense erosion.
Table 2 Annual rainfall and rainfall runoff erosivity
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
AverageAnnual Rainfall Pa (mm)1903.11687.5
2002.21385.6
1950.31785.7

Annual EI (Mj.mm/h ha)
9054.67955.39628.67867.210140.3
8929.2

Soil Erodibility K Factor
Soil erodibility K factor was calculated using inherent soil properties following the procedure fortropical soils (El-Swaify and Dangler, 1976), which uses the percent-modified silt (0.002 - 0.1 mm),percent modified sand (0.1 - 2 mm), base saturation, percent unstable aggregates, and percent veryfine sand. The calculation for measuring soil erodibility were indicated in Equation 3.
K=−0.03970 + 0.00311X1 + 0.00043X2 +0.00185X3 + 0.00258X4 − 0.00823X5

Eq. 3

Where X1 is the percent unstable aggregates <0.250 mm, X2 is the product of the percent ofsilt (0.002-0.01 mm) and sand (0.1-2 mm) present in the sample, X3 is the percent base saturationof the soil, X4 is the percent silt present (0.002-0.050 mm), and X5 is the percent sand in the soil
(0.1-2 mm).
As shown in Table 3, soil erodibility K factor for the soil was calculated as 0.0150Mg h MJ −1−1
mm (0.1139 t acre h [hundreds of acre ft-tonf in.] −1).
Table 3 Soil properties for use in calculating the RUSLE k – Factor for the Cobija soil
Fraction
Clay (<0.002 mm)
Silt (0.002–0.05 mm)
Sand (0.05–2 mm)
Sand (0.1–2 mm)
Base saturation
Unstable aggregates
Permeability class

Percentage
53
34
2
8
55
3
2

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Slope Length and Steepness LS Factor
The length and steepness LS factor represents the loss of soil per unit area on any slope,corresponding to a unit plot with 22 m long and 9% slope as shown in Equation 4.

𝐿𝑆 =

𝐿 𝑚
0.065 + 0.0454. 𝑆 + 0.0065𝑆 2
22.1

Eq. 4

Where m=0.2 for S<1%; m=0.3 for 1%≤S≤3%; m=0.4 for 3%<S<5and m=0.5 for S ≥5%; S
average slope of the land (%), and L is the slope length (m).

Fig. 2 Digital elevation map (DEM) in Cobija area
For determinate the slope and steepness LS factor, the average slope in the drainage basin area
and the average length of the slope are necessary. The result obtained for the slope and steepness
LS factor was 0.5987 (Fig. 2).
Cover Management C Factor
The cover management C factor was determined from analyzed land use in the city of Cobija. The
main outcomes from the observation of land use changes and the cover management C factor
indicated that 66.9% deforested for timber resources, with land use change such as 20.7% for
pastures to raise cattle and 12.4% for agriculture as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 Land use changes from 2010 to 2020 in the city of CobijaⒸ ISERD

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Although the vegetal cover acts as a shield against the impact of the raindrop on the soil
surface, this cover was lost and left the soil exposed to the impact of the raindrop. These trends
increased the risk of erosion due to advancing deforestation. The observed result of the covermanagement C factor in the city of Cobija was 0.368.
Support Practice P Factor
For choosing the support practice P factor of conservation in the city of Cobija, the observations ofsatellite images and site investigation were conducted. As the results of these observations, thesupport practice P factor of conservation at 0.2 was decided averagely, as the soil surface wascovered with permanent vegetation (Bertoni and Lombardi, 1985).
Average Annual Soil Loss in the City of Cobija
These factors were integrated into RUSLE model (Eq. 1) for obtaining the annual soil loss per unit
area (A). The changes in annual soil loss in the city of Cobija from 2017 to 2021 were summarizedin Table 4. The annual average was 5.902 t/ha year that was in the range of the medium soil loss
from 5 < 7 t/ha/year according to Silva (2008).
As the soil surface was covered with permanent vegetation after the deforestation, the annual
soil loss per unit area (A) was in the range of the medium soil loss from 5 < 7 t/ha/year. However,with accelerating soil erosion, soil organic matters as well as soil aggregate would be lost, and soil
loss would be severer gradually. So, effective soil conservation measures should be implemented
for minimizing the loss of soil organic matters as well as soil aggregate.
Table 4 Changes in annual soil loss in the city of Cobija from 2017 to 2021
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Total

A (t/ha year)
5.984
5.258
6.364
5.200
6.702
5.902

CONCLUSION
Soil erosion by water is a serious global problem, especially in Amazonia. This study was
conducted to evaluate soil losses by precipitation and runoff in the city of Cobija, Bolivian
Amazonia with the RUSLE model. Although the topography showed relatively flat relief, the soil
type has medium erodibility and the support practice of conservation was maintaining strands ofpermanent vegetation. So, the annual soil loss per unit area (A) was in the range of the medium soil
loss from 5 < 7 t/ha/year.
In the city of Cobija, Bolivian Amazonia, intense deforestation has been advanced. With
accelerating soil erosion, soil organic matters as well as soil aggregate have been lost, and soil loss
would be severer gradually. So, effective soil conservation measures should be implemented forminimizing the loss of soil organic matters as well as soil aggregate.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We like to express special gratitude to research fellows in the Laboratory of Land and Water Use
Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture for meaningful discussion always.

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REFERENCES
Amundson, R., Berhe, A.A., Hopmans, J.W., Olson, C., Sztein, A.E. and Sparks, D.L. 2015. Soil science,
Soil and human security in the 21st century. Science, 348 (6235), Retrieved from DOI https://www.
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1261071
Bertoni, J. and Lombardi Neto, F. 1985. Conservação do solo. Piracicaba-SP, 392, Retrieved from https://www.passeidireto.com/arquivo/21438632/conservacao-de-solo/12
Boggs, G., Devonport, C., Evans, K. and Puig, P. 2001. GIS-based rapid assessment of erosion risk in a small
catchment in the wet/dry tropics of Australia. Land Degradation and Development, 12 (5), 417-434,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.457
Da Silva, A.M., Schulz, H.E. and De Camargo, P.B. 2007. Erosão e hidrossedimentologia em bacias
hidrográficas, Segunda edição, Revista e ampliada. RiMa, ISBN 978-85-7656099-9, Brasil.
Hickey, R. 2000. Slope angle and slope length solutions for GIS. Cartography, 29 (1), 1-8, Retrieved from
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/00690805.2000.9714334
Keesstra, S.D., Bouma, J., Wallinga, J., Tittonell, P., Smith, P., Cerdà, A., Montanarella, L., Quinton, J.N.,
Pachepsky, Y., van der Putten, W.H., Bardgett, R.D., Moolenaar, S., Mol, G., Jansen, B. and Fresco, L.O.
2016. The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations sustainable
development goals. Soil, 2 (2), 111-128, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-111-2016
Millward, A.A. and Mersey, J.E. 1999. Adapting the RUSLE to model soil erosion potential in a
mountainous tropical watershed. Catena, 38 (2), 109-129, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(99)00067-3
Renard, K.G., Foster, G.R., Weesies, G.A. and Porter, J.P. 1991. RUSLE, Revised universal soil equation.
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 46 (1), 30-33, Retrieved from https://www.jswconline.
org/content/46/1/30
Renard, K.G. and Fremund, J.R. 1994. Using monthly precipitation data to estimate the R-factor in therevised USLE. Journal of Hydrology, 157 (1-4), 287-306, Retrieved from DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
0022-1694(94)90110-4
Wischmeier, W.H. and Smith, D.D. 1978. Predicting rainfall erosion losses, A guide to conservation planning.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, USA.

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Research article
erd

Effect of Adding Agricultural and Organic Lime on Soil
Properties and Survival Rate of Pathogenic Bacteria(Coliform and E. coli) in Farmland Soils of Kampong Cham
Province, Cambodia
MUY LEANG KIM
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: muyleangkim70@gmail.com

MACHITO MIHARA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan/
Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Tokyo, Japan
Email: m-mihara@nodai.ac.jp
Received 30 January 2022

Accepted 4 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Cow manure and compost has been applied as fertilizer for many years by
farmers in Kampong Cham province. Improperly processed of cow manure and compost
may contained pathogenic bacteria such coliform and E. coli that are harmful to humans.
Pathogenic bacteria coliform and E. coli are both recognized as hazardous microorganismin the environment and for public health. It is an important pathogen associated with several
foodborne and waterborne outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness, which has been widelyreported in Cambodia. Also, coliform and E. coli was detected in farmlands soils ofSamraong and Baray Communes, Kampong Cham Province. The contamination ofagricultural land, surface water, irrigation water, and fresh vegetables, can become areservoir of infections. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the pathogenic bacteria fromthe contaminated areas. Many studies have shown that inactivation of pathogens inbiosolids depends on several factors, from that the soil pH is one of the dominant factors
affecting the inactivation of pathogenic bacteria. Increasing of pH can be achieved byadding agricultural limestone calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or quick lime (CaO). The
objectives of this study are to investigate and evaluate the effects of adding different
agricultural and organic lime materials on soil chemical properties and the survival rates ofpathogenic bacteria coliform and E. coli. Pot experiments was conducted and different
CaCO3 and CaO material such CaCO3 powder, eggshell, clamshell, and wood ash are used
for the soil amendment. The CaCO3 and CaO added to soil at the ratio of 0 g, 5 g, and 15 g
to 750 g of soil to each pot. The CaO obtained by burning the CaCO3 powder, eggshell,clamshell, and wood ash at 800˚C. Soil chemical and biological parameters such as pH, EC,
K+, Na+, Ca2+, coliform and E. coli were determined. The results showed that increase insoil pH due to lime addition were observed. However, there’s no significant difference ofsoil pH responding to amounts of lime added 5 g, 10 g and 15 g. Similar trends were also
observed between the unburned and burned lime material. The survival rate of coliform andE. coli were decreased with unburned and burned lime added, the pathogenic bacteria canbe eliminated at 7 days after addition of lime. Since the performance of unburned andburned lime on the survival rates of pathogenic bacteria no different. So, it is not necessary
to burn the lime material of CaCO3, eggshell, clamshell, and wood ash. As burning material
need the temperature at 800 °C, farmers need a burner machine that can reach to thattemperature. Farmers in Cambodia usually burning wood or charco to get the heat.
Therefore, it is recommended that farmers can use the unburned lime instead of burnedmaterials in Kampong Cham Province.
Keywords: agricultural lime, calcium carbonate, fertilizers, shells, soil pH,
microorganismsⒸ ISERD

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INTRODUCTION
Organic amendments or fertilizers including livestock manure and compost are valuable sources ofnutrients for plant’s growth. The organic matter also contributing to improve the soil quality andfertility. Application of organic waste products to agricultural land without control of their hygienic
safety is one of the potential risks by which pathogens may enter the human food chain (Nicholson
et al., 2005). Pathogenic bacteria in raw vegetables and their consumption affects human health,resulting in diarrhea or serious disease (Beuchat, 1996; Summer and Peters, 1997). Muyleang and
Mihara (2019) reported that the coliform and E. coli was found in farmland soils in Samraong andBaray Commune, Prey Chhor District, Kampong Cham Province. The occurrence of coliform andE. coli maybe a potential of food-borne pathogens in the farmlands soils as well as vegetable. Also,
the application of fresh cow manure or immature compost that contained pathogenic bacteria canspread the pathogens to the farmland’s soils. The contamination of agricultural lands, surface water,
irrigation water, and fresh vegetable can become a reservoir of infection. To produce safety
agricultural production, it is necessary to eliminate pathogenic bacteria such as coliform and E. coli
in farmlands. The inactivation of pathogens in biosolids depends on several factors such astemperature, moisture content, competition from indigenous microflora, soil types and texture(Martin et al., 1990; Ward et al., 1981; Russ and Yanko, 1981). However, the survival rate of E.
coli became remarkably low with pH higher than 9.0. Increasing of pH can be achieved by addingof agricultural lime (CaCO3) and quick lime (CaO). Lime is commonly used to farmlands soil forneutralizing soil acidity for centuries and has been demonstrated to improve crop yield (Acosta etal., 2000). Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is one of the basic inorganic and inexpensive materials thatwere applied in agriculture industries to stabilize the soil pH. About 95% of CaCO3 can be obtained
from shellfish and the rest is organic matter and other compounds (Hamester et al., 2012). An
increase in soil pH, with liming application help to increase in microbial activity, resulting inincreased decomposition of soil organic matter. Therefore, the study was proposed different lime
material application and its effect on soil properties and the microbial survival rates.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study are to investigate and evaluate the effects of adding different
agricultural and organic lime materials on soil chemical properties and the survival rates ofpathogenic bacteria coliform and E. coli.
METHODOLOGY
Experimental Designed and Materials Used
Pot experiment was conducted in the experimental room at Tokyo University of Agriculture from
August to September 2021 during summer season. Fresh cow dungs were collected from Onoji
Farm and added to soil samples to get pathogenic bacteria contamination in Fig. 2.

CaCO3

EggshellClamshell

Fig. 1 Agricultural and organic lime materialsⒸ ISERD

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Wood ash

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Unburned and burned lime materials were used for the experiment. The unburned lime
materials such Agricultural lime CaCO3 powder, organic lime such eggshell, clamshell, and woodash (Fig. 1), and the burned lime materials were obtained from burned of CaCO3, eggshell,clamshell, and wood ash at 800̊ C.

Fig. 2 Cow manure collection in Onoji Farm, Tokyo, Japan (left)
and pot experiment design (right)

The pH of the soil samples used for the experiment was around 6.8 to 6.9. The
amounts of lime materials were added from 5 g, 10 g, and 15 g to 750 g of soil, thisamount added in the experiments (Fig. 3) was decided based on practical use in Cambodia(Chakraborty, 2014). For the actual field of lime added was from 33 kg a-1, 66 kg a-1, and
99 kg a-1.
Chemical Properties of Lime Materials Used
The lime materials of CaCO3, eggshell, clamshell, and wood ash that used for the experiment has
the calcium carbonate content (CCC%) of 99.9%, 97.8%, 98.4% and 40% respectively. The pH ofeach material ranged from 9.5 to 9.9 (Table 1).
Table 1 Chemical properties of lime materials used in the experiments
2+

Calcium carbonate
content (%)

pH

EC(mS/cm)Ca(mg/L)

CaCO3

98.9

9.5

0.45

23

Eggshell

97.8

9.5

0.26

20

Clamshell

98.4

9.5

1.03

14

Wood ash

40

9.9

14.6

170

Lime materials

Samples Preparation--

Soil samples from Samraong and Baray Communes were used for the experimental. The
samples were mixed and sieved with 2 mm sieve to remove the leaves, root and stone, and air
dried at room temperature before used for the experiment. The initial soil physical, chemical,
and biological properties were analyzed.
Eggshell and clamshell were collected from daily consumption in Cambodia, all the eggshelland clamshell were washed and air dried before crushed to powder. For CaCO3 and wood ash
were obtained from the commercial products. Also, for the CaO that was used for theexperiment was obtained from burned of the raw materials of CaCO3, eggshell, clamshell, andwood ash at 800 ̊C.

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Fig. 3 The experimental design of lime materials added treatments
Data Collection and Analysis
The soil samples were collection from the first day before and after added of different lime
materials and the following collection were done in every two days. The samples were analyzed on
the soil water contents, soil pH, EC, K+, Na+, Ca2+, coliform and E. coli. T-test was used to see thesignificant difference between the variables.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Effect of Unburned and Burned Lime Materials on Soil Chemical Properties
Increases in soil pH due to lime addition were observed in this study. Similar tends of soil pH
increased were observed between the unburned lime (CaCO3) and burned lime (CaO) materials in(Fig. 4).

*: Significance difference at 95%, p<0.05, **: p<0.01

Fig. 4 The effect of unburned and burned lime materials on soil pH
Addition of CaCO3, the calcium ions (Ca2+) from the lime adsorb on soil particle surface andthen the carbonate (CO3) take place and reacts with the acidity to form water and carbon dioxide.
However, the effect of wood ash on soil pH became lower due to losses of K2O after burning at 800̊C. Moreover, the CaO materials provided more effectiveness to increase soil pH than CaCO 3
materials, except the burned wood ash which losses of K2O. Burned lime (CaO) reacts with water
to form calcium hydroxide (Ca (OH)2) and the solubility is higher than of CaCO3. The wood ashⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

without extra burning should be applied to the farmlands directly. There was no significant
difference of soil pH responding to the amounts of lime added in this study. Therefore, the amountsof lime added less than 5 g should be considered.

**: Significance difference at 99%, p<0.01

Fig. 5 The effect of unburned and burned lime materials on soil EC, K+, Na+, and Ca2+
All the treatment with unburned and burned lime material application generally increased thesoil EC, K+, Na+, and Ca2+ when compared with control. However, the application of wood ash
increasing the soil EC higher than other unburned and burned lime treatments (Fig. 5). Increased in
EC was associated with increased concentration of K+, Na+ and Ca2+ in CaCO3, eggshell, clamshell,
and wood ash treatment. Similar trend was also found in the burned lime treatments, the soil ECⒸ ISERD

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was also slightly increase with burned lime application (Fig. 5). Additionally, increased of woodash rates significantly effect to increase of soil EC compared to other lime treatment.
Wood ash and burned wood ash shown significantly increased higher of soil cation such as K+,+
Na and Ca2+ with increasing rates of wood ash application while other treatment the change ofapplication rate with the increasing of nutrients was not significantly different. Increase in K +, Na+
and Ca2+ reflected to the supply of these elements by wood ash and the high solubility of wood ash
one applied to the soil. It was observed that the unburned lime such CaCO3, eggshell, clamshell,
wood ash and burned CaO, eggshell, clamshell, wood ash effects the soil solution chemistry in twoways, all the material ack as liming agent and as a supplier of nutrients. There is evidence that thelimes application and wood ash could represent increased in availability of nutrients for plants.
However, large concentration of basic cations obtained with higher application rates could be aconcern because of potential solute transport to surface water and ground water. For maximum
effectiveness, limes should be uniformly spread and incorporated into the soil. However, farmers in
Cambodia tend to spread the lime by hands is therefore high laborious is need. Therefore, lime
application from CaCO3, eggshell, clamshell, and wood ash must be applied at the reasonable rates
to avoid any risk for the environment, soil quality and farmers laborious.
Effect of Unburned and Burned Lime Materials on Survival Rate of Coliform and E. coli
The survival rate of coliform decreased due to lime materials. Lime increased the soil pH, reducing
the survival rate of coliform, even the pH of soil didn’t reach to 9.0 (less than 8.0). Pathogenic
bacteria were eliminated at 7 days after the addition of lime materials (Fig. 6). However, the burned
wood ash had low potential in eliminating coliform compared with other materials as its low
increases in soi pH compared to other lime materials. Also, there is no significant difference ofsurvival rate of coliform to the amounts of lime added. So, the amounts of less than 5 g or 33 kg a-1
should be considered. Similar trends of CaO used were also observed compared with CaCO3
materials. Beside that the CaO from the burned material of CaCO3 working well on eliminating thepathogenic bacteria compared to other burned materials. Increase in soil pH, EC, andconcentrations of elements such K, Ca and Na have been shown to be main driver in shaping thebacterial communities in various soils. Both burned and unburned lime materials could eliminate E.
coli in 7 days. Therefore, farmers can apply lime materials directly without burning.

a**, a**, a**, a**a**, a**, a**, a****: Significance difference at 99%, p<0.01

Fig. 6 The effect of unburned and burned lime materials on the survival rates of E. coli
CONCLUSION
Different lime materials application increased soil pH, EC, K+, Na+, and Ca2+. Similar tends wereobserved on burned lime material. CaO materials has more effective to increase soil pH than
CaCO3 materials, however, the effect of burned wood ash on soil pH became lower due to losses of
K2O after burning at 800̊ C. The wood ash without extra burning should be applied to the farmlands
directly. There was no significant difference of soil pH responding to the amounts of lime added inthis study. However, Wood ash and burned wood ash shown significantly increased higher of soil
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cation such as K+, Na+ and Ca2+ than other lime treatment, increasing of wood ash application rates
lead to increase of soil cation while other treatment the change of application rates has not
significantly different to the increased of soil cation. It was observed that the unburned lime such
CaCO3, eggshell, clamshell, wood ash and burned CaO, eggshell, clamshell, wood ash effects thesoil solution chemistry in two ways, as liming agent and as a supplier of nutrients. There isevidence that the limes application and wood ash could represent increased in availability ofnutrients for plants. The survival rate of coliform decreased due to lime materials addition.
Pathogenic bacteria were eliminated at 7 days after the addition of lime materials. Both burned andunburned lime materials could eliminate E. coli in 7 days. Lime increased the soil pH, reducing thesurvival rate of coliform, even the pH of soil didn’t reach to 9.0 (less than 8.0). Since there is no
significant difference of soil pH, and the survival rates of coliform and E. coli to the amount oflime added, so the amounts of less 5 g of lime adding should be considered. Moreover, lime
application also effects to increase the soil cation large concentration of basic cations obtained withhigher application rates could be a concern because of potential solute transport to surface waterand ground water. For maximum effectiveness, limes should be uniformly spread and incorporated
into the soil.
However, farmers in Cambodia spread the lime by hands is therefore needed high laborious.
Therefore, lime application from CaCO3, eggshell, clamshell, and wood ash must be applied at thereasonable rates to avoid any risk for the environment as well as to avoid the labor shortage. Also,
farmers in Cambodia usually burning wood or charco to get the heat. To avoid extra laborious, it isrecommended that farmers can use the unburned lime instead of burned materials in Kampong Cham
Province. Inconclusion increases in soil pH, EC, K+, Na2+, and Ca2+ by adding of CaCO3, eggshell,clamshell and wood ash can eliminate pathogenic bacteria effectively within 7 days, therefore,
farmers can directly use eggshell, clamshell, and wood ash without burning for eliminating
pathogenic bacteria in the farmland’s soils. Additionally, local farmers should be trained on
production and application of these lime materials.
REFERENCE
Anderson, N.P., Hart, J.M., Sullivan, N.M., Christensen, N.W., Horneck, D.A. and Pirelli, G.J. 2013.
Applying lime to raise soil pH for crop production (Western Oregon). Oregon State University
Extension Service, EM9057, Retrieved from https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/em9057
Beuchat, L.R. 1996. Pathogenic microorganisms associated with fresh produce. Journal of Food Protection,
59 (2), 204-216, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-59.2.204
Chakraborty, I., Capito, M., Jacks, C. and Pringle, R. 2014. Household-level application of hydrated lime foron-site treatment and agricultural use of latrine sludge. 37th WEDC International Conference, Hanoi,
Vietnam. Briefing Paper, Retrieved from https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/109.pdf
Demeyer, A., Voundi Nkana, J.C. and Verloo, M.G. 2001. Characteristics of wood ash and influence on soil
properties and nutrient uptake, An overview. Bioresource Technology, 77 (3), 287-295, Retrieved from
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(00)00043-2
Hamester, M.R.R., Balzer, P.S. and Becker, D. 2012. Characterization of calcium carbonate obtained fromoyster and mussel shells and incorporation in polypropylene. Materials Research 15 (2), 204-208,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-14392012005000014
Martin, J.H. Jr., Bostain, H.E. and Stern, G. 1990. Reduction of enteric microorganisms during aerobic
sludge digestion. Water Research, 24 (11), 1377-1385, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.
1016/0043-1354(90)90157-2
Muyleang, K. and Mihara, M. 2019. Effect of fertilization on soil microorganisms in Kampong Cham
Province, Cambodia. International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development, 10 (1), 40-46,
Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.32115/ijerd.10.1_40
Nicholson, F.A., Groves, S.J. and Chambers, B.J. 2005. Pathogen survival during livestock manure storage
and following land application. Bioresource Technology, 96 (2), 135-143, Retrieved from DOI
https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.biortech.2004.02.030
Ohno, T. and Erich, M.S. 1990. Effect of wood ash application on soil pH and soil test nutrient levels.
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 32 (3-4), 223-239, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/
10.1016/ 0167-8809(90)90162-7Ⓒ ISERD

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Summer, S.S. and Peters, D.L. 1997. Microbiology of vegetables. In Smith, D.S. (Ed.), Processing
Vegetables, Science and Technology, 87-106, Technomic Publishing Co. Inc., Lancaster, USA.
Ward, R.L., Yeager, J.G. and Ashley, C.S. 1981. Response of bacteria in wastewater sludge to moisture loss
by evaporation and effect of moisture content on bacterial inactivation by ionizing radiation. Applied
Environmental Microbiology, 41 (5), 1123-1127, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.41.5.
1123-1127.1981
Yanko, W.A. 1988. Occurrence of pathogens in distribution and marketing municipal sludges. Final Report,
Project CR-81589. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C., USA.

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Research article
erd

Product Formulation from a By-Product from theProduction of Coconut - Based Food Delicacies
MARIA DONNA F. BUATES*
Bohol Island State University, Main Campus, Tagbilaran City, Philippines
Email: mariadonna.buates@bisu.edu.ph

CHONA C. FULLIDO
Bohol Island State University, Main Campus, Tagbilaran City, Philippines
Received 21 February 2022

Accepted 4 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract This study aims to create healthy food products thus economical since it utilizes a
so-called “scrap” of coconut as a main ingredient. Coconut residue may be considered as
residual but studies shows that it contains health-affirming benefits. The coconut residue
gathered from the local delicacy vendors are submitted to the DOST Laboratory for
microanalysis to test if it is safe for production. Consequently, it contains the following
result: aerobic plate count-2.5 x 106cfu/g, total coliform count - 3.7 x 103cfu/g, E. coli
count - ˂ 1.0 x 10 cfu/g, enumeration of S. aureus - 9.0 x 10 cfu/g, salmonella detection –negative, mold and yeast count - 2.5 x 105cfu/g. The report of microanalysis reflects that thecoconut residue collected from the rice cake vendors is not safe to be processed. Thus, thecoconut residue utilized in this study is firsthand gathered by the researcher with theobservance of utmost food safety to avoid from microorganism. For the sensory attributes,
the color got the highest numerical rating of 8.66 described as “like extremely”, while therest of the attributes are at the range of “like very much”. The texture got the average
weighted mean of 7.5, for the aroma, 7.74, for the taste, 7.56 and for the general
acceptability 7.72. This result indicates that the coco nuggets is generally acceptable to theconsumers, however, 34 or 68% of the participants suggested that the coco nuggets is best
served with a dipping. For the nutritional content, coco nuggets contain the vital nutrientslike protein, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, calcium and potassium.
Keywords coconut residue, coco nuggets, microanalysis, nutritional content

INTRODUCTION
The Philippines is a tropical country where growing the most versatile crop can be easily
cultivated. Coconut Cocos nucifera is known as the tree of life all of its parts have a function. It has
been part of Filipino cuisine and became the staple ingredient for some Filipino delicacies. It is also
believed as a “functional food” since it provides many health benefits beyond its nutritional
content.
The endosperm consists of liquid and solid portions. The liquid endosperm is in high demand
as a freshwater or sports beverage product attributed to isotonic properties due to its mineral, sugar,
and vitamin contents (Prades et al., 2016). The solid endosperm forms a white layer lining in theinside of the shell, and when it is extracted from mature coconut and dried, it is known as copra,
which is commonly used as a source of coconut oil (Patil et al., 2017). When extracted from young
fruit, the solid endosperm is gelatinous, a consistency that makes it useful in producing desserts or
as a food supplement. No matter if it is grown and/or processed on artisanal or industrial scales, thecoconut fruit is a vital income source for coconut growers in producing countries (Angeles et al.,2018).
The health-affirming characteristics of the coconut have become widely known over the past
10 years, and the spread of coconut-inspired health foods looks set to continue. As well as being agreat addition to almost any diet, the coconut is also renowned for its versatility and the manyⒸ ISERD

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different foods that can be created from it. (Richards, 2017). In addition, Coconut meat has somenutrients including proteins, fats, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorous, iron, ascorbic acid, andwater (Sinaga et al., 2015). However, many people prefer this coconut residue which is considered
as “leftover” because it does not contain any gluten or grains, making it ideal for those with adigestive problem or gluten intolerance. It is also rich in fiber and protein.
This study introduces coconut residue as the main ingredient in a food item. This may beconsidered as residual but studies show that it contains health-affirming benefits. Related studies on
coconut residue are hardly available but nevertheless, coconut flour will be presented as there is aslight difference, especially in the process. The only difference is that it does not undergo thegrinding and pulverizing process.
Coconut flour has 5 grams of fiber per tablespoon, which is significantly more than wholegrain flour's 0.8 grams or white flour's 0.2 grams of this indigestible carbohydrate. A large portionof this fiber is the insoluble variety, which gives your stool more weight, makes you feel fuller,
prevents constipation, and improves colon health. Make smoothies, sauces, or baked products withcoconut flour to help you consume the daily recommended 25 to 38 grams of fiber (Boldt, 2011).
Dietary fiber can is classified into insoluble dietary fiber and soluble dietary fiber. Soluble
dietary fiber (SDF) could fully hydrolyze in the colon, promote the growth of intestinal probiotics,
and inhibit lipid transport, cardiovascular disease, and scavenge free radicals (Huang et al., 2015).
The composition of SDF is an essential index for the quality of dietary fiber. SDF is composed ofcarbohydrate-based polymers, including pectic substances, gums, mucilage, and somehemicelluloses, which significantly benefit human health; it can prevent heart disease, obesity, andcancers (Du et al., 2019).
For those with and without diabetes, fiber is an essential nutritional component. Despite being
a form of carbohydrate, fiber doesn't cause blood sugar to rise. In contrast to other types ofcarbohydrates, fiber does not affect blood sugar levels in the same way since it is not digested byyour body. Soluble and insoluble fibers are mixed together in foods. The first kind turns into a gel
after dissolving in water and aids in slowing glucose absorption. Soluble fiber-rich diets may help
lower blood sugar levels. The other form of fiber increases stool volume, encouraging regularity,
rather than dissolving in water (Renee, 2017).
When compared to conventional grain flours, coconut flour has a significantly lower
carbohydrate content. The proximate analysis of coconut flour per 100 g sample is as follows:
moisture, 3.6%; ash, 3.1%; fat, 10.9%, protein, 12.1%; and carbohydrates 70.3%. Coconut flour
contained 60.9% total dietary fiber, 56.8% insoluble and 3.8% soluble. Table 1 shows the shortchain fatty acids produced from dietary fiber fermentation of fiber isolates of coconut flour. The
dietary fiber from coconut flour was fermentable and produced short chain fatty acids withbutyrate > acetate > propionate (Trinidad et al., 2006)
Coconut flour indicated higher levels of protein, ash, fibre, and fat compared to wheat flour.
Coconut meal defatting has the potential of increasing its protein content because the crude fat andsoluble carbohydrates were removed in the extraction process (Makinde and Eyitayo, 2019).
A serving of food's total amount of carbohydrates should be taken into account, but it's also
crucial to examine the type of carbohydrates you consume. The glycemic index makes predictions
about how food's carbohydrate content will affect your blood sugar levels. Low glycemic index
foods help stabilize blood sugar levels, which helps you lose weight and prevent chronic diseases atthe same time. High glycemic index foods cause significant swings in your blood sugar levels.
According to a 2003 article in the "British Journal of Nutrition", foods with a higher percentage of
coconut flour had a lower glycemic index, making them healthier carbohydrate options (Jacob,2017).
Another advantage of using the grated coconut leftover is that an ample quantity will beobtained in view of the fact that Bohol is producing a native sticky sweet delicacy locally known as“kalamay” which coconut milk is one of the main ingredients. After extracting the coconut milk, as
per the knowledge of the researcher, the coconut residue is typically thrown or used as livestock
feed.

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In view of the above idea of introducing a coco-nuggets recipe, it does not only satisfy thetaste buds and hunger but also may also give nutritional content. Hence, the researcher finds thisstudy a worthwhile undertaking.
OBJECTIVE
The main thrust of this study is to develop a value-added food product by utilizing leftovermaterials from the production of coconut-based food delicacies.
METHODOLOGYCollecting of Coconut Residue
Food safety is the most taken importance. Therefore, right after extracting the coconut milk, thecollected coconut residue was placed in a zip lock packaging and immediately submitted to the
Department of Science and Technology Regional Standards and Testing Laboratory to examine if
the coconut residue is safe to be used.
Recipe Formulation
The ingredients used in this study were summarized in Table 1.
Table 1 Ingredients used in this study
Description
Garlic, minced
Onion, minced
White pepper, ground
Salt, fineEggs, large
All-purpose flour
Coconut residue, slightly dehydrated

Quantity
15
42
5
15
200
155
220

Unit
grams
grams
grams
grams
grams
grams
grams

Ingredients and quantities are formulated by multiple trials.

Preparation
The coconut residue was prepared using a food processor to ensure dry residue. The ingredientswere measured accurately using a weighing scale then mixed well. The mixture was then molded
into a flat circle shape and weighed to 10 grams to ensure uniform size. Then, the molded mixture
was deep-fried until golden brown.
Evaluating of Sensory Characteristics
In this evaluation for acceptability, fifty participants from were randomly selected. It is composedof eight food technology instructors, thirty-five food technology students, and seven housewives.
The participants were presented with the coco-nuggets and were asked to indicate their degree ofpreference through a 9-point hedonic scale anchored by “dislike extremely” and “like extremely”.
The food tasting was done between 2:00 to 3:00 PM because according to Edelstein, S. 2014, in his
book on sensory evaluation, panelists should not ingest any food 1 hour before food tasting and it isconsidered the best time of the day that the panelists are not overly hungry or full that can possibly
affect their rating.

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Nutritional Analysis
To determine the nutrient content of the coco nuggets, the product was subjected to nutrition
analysis at the Department of Science and Technology Regional Standards and Testing Laboratory.
As recommended by the laboratory personnel, a total of 250 grams were submitted in a plastic
stand-up pouch.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
To comply with the Republic Act No. 10611, an act to strengthen the food safety regulatory systemin the country to protect consumer health and facilitate market access of local foods and foodproducts, and for other purposes, the coconut residue collected from the vendors of local delicacy
with coconut milk was submitted to a microbiology analysis at the DOST Laboratory to determine
if it is safe for production.
Table 2 Report of micro analysis of the fresh coconut residue
Parameter
Aerobic plate countTotal coliform countE. coli count
Enumeration of S. aureus
Salmonella detection
Mold and yeast countResults
2.5 x 106cfu/g
3.7 x 103cfu/g
˂ 1.0 x 10 cfu/g
9.0 x 10 cfu/g
negative
2.5 x 105cfu/g

According to the Philippine National Standards – Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries
Product Standards 25:2007, the microbial count shall not exceed the following limits: salmonella –negative, total plate count – 5,000 cfu/gram, coliform count – 50 cfu/gram, yeast 100 cfu/gram,molds 100 cfu/gram, E. coli - <3mpn/gram. Furthermore, according to Microbial Guidelines for
Food revised 2014, Staphylococcus aureus, the limit is 10,000 cfu/gram. Therefore, the report of
microanalysis in table 1 reflects that the coconut residue collected from the delicacy vendors is not
safe to be processed. Thus, the coconut residue utilized in this study is firsthand gathered by the
researcher with the observance of utmost food safety to avoid microorganisms.
Table 3 Sensory evaluation result of the coco nuggets

N=50

Sensory Attributes

Rating (Mean)

Description

Standard Deviation

Color
TextureAroma
Taste
General Acceptability

8.66
7.5
7.74
7.56
7.72

Like Extremely
Like Very Much
Like Very Much
Like Very Much
Like Very Much

0.593
1.129
0.922
1.146
0.927

Table 3 reflects the sensory attributes of the coco nuggets. The color got the highest numericalrating of 8.66 described as “like extremely”, while the rest of the attributes are at the range of “likevery much”. The texture got the average weighted mean of 7.5, for the aroma, 7.74, for the taste,
7.56, and for the general acceptability 7.72. This result indicates that the coco nuggets are generally
acceptable to the consumers, however reflected in the comment section of the questionnaire, 34 or
68% of the participants suggested that the coco nuggets are best served with a sauce or dipping.
Food has to be analyzed or tested because the knowledge of the chemical composition isimportant to the health, well-being, and safety of consumers. (Nollet, 2015). The nutrition facts
panel on food packages was designed to provide comprehensible quantitative nutrition informationthat would allow consumers to make more informed food choices that could result in significant
long-term health benefits (Burton et al., 1999).
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Table 4 shows the computation of nutrition facts of the coco nuggets examined by the
Department of Science and Technology Regional Office No. 7 - Regional Standards and Testing
Laboratory (DOST-RSTL).
Table 4 Nutrition information / facts / declaration
Nutrition facts
9 servings per container
Serving size

4 pieces (43 g)

Amount per serving
Calories140(% daily value*)
3%
23%
9%
27%

Total fat 2 g
Sodium 560 mg
Total carbohydrates 27 g
Total dietary fiber 7 g
Total Sugars 0 g
Includes 0g added sugars
Protein 3 g
Calcium
Potassium

0%
2%
6%

* The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of foodcontributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition
advice.

This is based on Philippine Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intakes (RENI) for males ages
nineteen (19) to twenty-nine (29). For every serving size of 4 pieces (43 grams), coco nuggets
contain 140 kilocalories of energy, 2 grams of Total Fat, 560 milligrams of Sodium, 27 grams of
Total carbohydrates, 7 grams of Total Dietary Fiber, and 3 grams of Protein. The coco nuggets also
contain minerals like calcium and potassium. RENI’s are levels of energy and nutrient intakes thatare considered adequate for the maintenance of health and well-being of persons belonging to aparticular age group. The figure given is a percentage of this target level.
Physiologically, potassium is the most abundant cation in the intracellular fluid, where it plays
a crucial role in cell function, maintaining intracellular fluid (ICF) volume and transmembraneelectrochemical gradients (Ekmekcioglu et al., 2016).
CONCLUSION
The main thrust of this paper is to introduce a new recipe that utilizes residual from coconut which
has been used for processing coconut-based delicacies. This is to utilize the coconut residue out
from the producer/vendor of the local delicacies that coconut milk is an ingredient. The report ofthe microanalysis in Table 1 reflected that the collected coconut residue from the local delicacies’
vendor is not safe to be processed, so for the product formulation, the researcher collected thecoconut residue firsthand to assure utmost food safety. Lectures for the producers of local
delicacies and thorough implementation and monitoring on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)and Good Operating Practices (GOP) is highly recommended to ensure that the residual is still safefor processing, thus, meeting the purpose of this study.
REFERENCES
Angeles, J.G.C., Lado, J.P., Pascual, E.D., Cueto, C.A., Laurena, A.C. and Laude, R.P. 2018. Towards theunderstanding of important coconut endosperm phenotypes, Is there an epigenetic control? Agronomy, 8(10), 225, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy8100225Ⓒ ISERD73

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Boldt, A. 2011. What are the health benefits of flour. Retrieved from https://healthfully.com/what-are-thehealth-benefits-of-coconut-flour-3438619.html
Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards. 2007. Philippine national standard. Desiccated Coconut,
PNS/BAFPS 25: 2007, Retrieved from https://bafs.da.gov.ph/bafs_admin/admin_page/pns_file/2022-1020-dessicated%20 coconut.pdf
Burton, S., Garretson, J.A. and Velliquette, A.M. 1999. Implications of accurate usage of nutrition facts panel
information for food product evaluations and purchase intentions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science, 27 (4), 470-480, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070399274006
Department of Health, Bureau of Food and Drugs. 2014. Guidelines for the assessment of microbiologicalquality of processed foods. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FC
2014-014-Minimun-Numbers-of-Samples-Units-Required-for-Each-Test-Analysis.pdf
Du, X., Bai, X., Gao, W. and Jiang, Z. 2019. Properties of soluble dietary fibre from defatted coconut flour
obtained through subcritical water extraction. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 54(4), 1390-1404, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.14071
Edelstein, S. 2014. Food science, An ecological approach (2nd ed.), Jones & Bartlett Publishers, ISBN
9781284122305, Burlington, USA.
Ekmekcioglu, C., Elmadfa, I., Meyer, A.L. and Moeslinger, T. 2016. The role of dietary potassium inhypertension and diabetes. Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry, 72, 93-106, Retrieved from DOI
10.1007/s13105-015-0449-1
Food Standards Australia New Zealand. 2001. Guidelines for the microbiological examination of ready-to-eat
foods. Retrieved from https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/_Documents/scienceand
technical/microbiologic al_quality_guide_for_RTE_food.pdf
Huang, S., He, Y., Zou, Y. and Liu, Z. 2015. Modification of insoluble dietary fibres in soya bean okara andtheir physicochemical properties. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 50 (12), 26062613, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.12929
Makinde, F.M. and Eyitayo, A.O. 2019. The evaluation of nutritional composition and functional and pasting
properties of wheat flour-coconut flour blends. Croatian Journal of Food Science and Technology, 11 (1),21-29, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.17508/CJFST.2019.11.1.03
Nollet, L. and Toldra, F. 2015. Handbook of food analysis, Two volume set (3rd ed.). CRC Press, ISBN 9781
466556546, Florida, USA.
Patil, U. and Benjakul, S. 2017. Characteristics of albumin and globulin from coconut meat and their role inemulsion stability without and with proteolysis. Food Hydrocolloids, 69, 220-228, Retrieved from DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2017.02.006
Ramaswamy, L. 2014. Coconut flour, A low carbohydrate, gluten free flour, A review article. International
Journal of Ayurvedic and Herbal Medicine, 4 (1), 1426-1436, Retrieved from http://interscience.org.uk/v4-i1/1%20ijahm.pdf
Ranjan, J. 2017. Coconut fiber for diabetics, A comprehensive guide. Retrieved from https://www.healthi
fyme.com/blog/coconut-for-diabetics-a-comprehensive-guide/#:~: text =Coconut %20can%20be%2 0a%
20healthy,25%20grams%20of%20fibre%20daily
Richards, L. 2019. The ultimate guide to coconut products. Retrieved from https://www.thecandidadiet.
com/ultimate-guide-to-coconut-products/
Sinaga, S.M., Margata, L. and Silalahi, J. 2015. Analysis of total protein and non protein nitrogen in coconut
water and meat (Cocos Nucifera L.) by using Kjeldahl method. International Journal of PharmTech
Research, 8 (4), 551-557, Retrieved from https://sphinxsai.com/2015/ph_vol8_no4/1/(551-557)V8N
4PT.pdf
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Department of Science and Technology, Philippines.
Trinidad, T.P., Mallillin, A.C., Valdez, D.H., Loyola, A.S., Askali-Mercado, F.C., Castillo, J.C., Encabo,
R.R., Masa, D.B., Maglaya, A.S. and Chua, M.T. 2006. Dietary fiber from coconut flour, A functional
food. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, 7 (4), 309-317, Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2004.04.003Ⓒ ISERD

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Research article
erd

An Evaluation of Consumers’ Preference for the Organic
Rice Commodity in Thailand
NAREERUT SEERASARN*
School of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University,
Noonthauri, Thailand
Email: nareerut.see@stou.ac.th

SERVEL A. MILLER
Department of Geography and International Development, University of Chester,
United Kingdom
Received 31 December 2021

Accepted 11 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The objective of this study was to towards the growth of the Thai Organic riceindustry: An evaluation of consumers' behavior and barriers to organic rice consumption in
Thailand. The questionnaire was collected from 223 rice growers using simple random
sampling by using the formula of Taro Yamane with 5% variation. The descriptive andinferential statistics were used to answer the research purpose, such as mean percentage,
ANOVA statistical analysis. This research found that; confidence in the 'organic-label',cheaper price, quality, nutritional value, range of organic products, accessibility andavailability are the key deciding factors to purchase organic rice by consumers. Lack oftrust in the authenticity of organic products is a key barrier and farmers needs to understandthe certification and quality assurance processes to help them overcome this hurdle. Price isa significant motivator to purchase, as such, initiatives to increase efficiency in productionand encourage farmers to plant more pest-resistant/high yielding rice variety is critical. The
government certification programme needs to be standardize and utilize innovativetechnologies including the creation of national 'kite-mark' which provides the ability by the
consumers to trace the origin of rice products (e.g. QRcode, augmented reality) to build
trust in organic rice products. The research presented underpin the relevance ofunderstanding the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations of consumers’ satisfaction to buy
organic rice and how this can be used to better inform the development of Government
policies.
Keywords organic agriculture, consumer preference, quality rice

INTRODUCTION
The Rice is the staple food for more than half of the world’s population and its cultivation,
processing, marketing, and its trade influences the livelihoods of billions of peoples around theworld (Oyoshi, 2016). For over 700 million Asians who live on less than one (U.S.) dollar a day,rice accounts for nearly 70% of their food intake. In these countries, up to 40% of their income
nationally is associated with rice production and trade and up to 80% in rural areas (Sangbuapuan,2013). In most South-East Asian countries, for example, Thailand, the rice industry (farming,
marketing, and trade) is a major employer and contributor to the national economy. As highlighted
by the Mekong Common (2016) maximizing the benefits of rice production and trade is ofparamount importance for local communities and individuals in Thailand (Mekong Common,
2016). The Thai government through its 20-year strategic plan (2017-2036) has recognized that riceproduction and trade is not only essential to maintain its economic wealth but is an integral
component of ensuring national food security and sustainable rural economic growth (FAO, 2018).
As such agriculture growth, especially rice production and trade continue to be one of thegovernment’s high priority national agenda according to the Office for Agriculture Economics’sreport (2017). One strategy to achieve agricultural growth is to increase the production of premiumⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

rice and rice-products that attracts a higher farm-gate price that is of direct benefit local farmers
increasing their income. Increasing the productivity of organic rice which is marketed as apremium product and attracts higher price is one the Thai government’s strategies(Suwanmaneepong, 2020). As highlighted by the Office of Agriculture Economics (2020), thenational agricultural strategy promotes; an increase in production using more sustainable practices,
better food safety and enhance national economy through exportation. As a result, many provinces
initiated new and large-scale organic food production and processing projects as part of the national
agenda and to capitalize on financial incentive being offered by the government (Thanawong et al.,2014). However, understanding the demand for these organic rice products by the Thai public ispoorly understood and the Thai government needs to gain a better understanding of consumers’
behaviour and barriers to organic rice consumption to drive intervention strategies (Chuasuwan,2018).
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to towards the growth of the Thai Organic rice industry: An
evaluation of consumers' behavior and barriers to organic rice consumption in Thailand.
METHODOLOGY
Data Collection
Data collection was undertaken in Surin province of North-eastern Thailand. The province waschosen as results of it being the leading organic rice-producing area as well as Jasmine riceproduction.
Data Analysis Descriptive statistics were applied to analyses percentage, arithmetic mean andstandard deviation. To test the differences between opinions in organic products purchase and Ftest statistics were conducted, after a test of normality was conduct and the conditions satisfied. A
significance level of p < 0.05 was set for statistical significance. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was used to determine the differences between annual incomes of focus groups. The goal of theanalysis is to test for differences among the means of the levels and to quantify their differences.
The dependent-samples t-test was used to determine consumer’s difference in attitude, willingness
and perception between the different factors. It compares the means of two variables, computes thedifference between the two variables for each case, and examines to see if the average difference issignificantly different from zero (Mcclave and Benson, 1988). Thematic analysis was done on thedata collected using focus groups (Braun and Clarke, 2006).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 highlights the demographic characteristic of all the respondents surveyed using thequestionnaire. Approximately age of the respondents were 23%less than 31 years old, 37%
between 31-40 years old, 30% from 41-50 years category and 10% were more than 50 years old.
Comparatively, the total sample comprised 66% females and 34% males. The data is naturally
skew towards more females, who traditional are the ones who are the main purchase decisionmakers in households. Respondent's educational level was categorized into primary school,secondary school, college or university and others. Approximately 6% of respondents attended
primary school, 15% secondary school, 73% have attended university/college and 6% fall into thelast category of others. The respondents' range of income was categorized into four groups: Less
than 15,000 Baht, 15,000-30,000 Baht, 30,001-50,000 Baht, and more than 50,000 Baht. About
26% of the respondents earned less than 15,000 Baht, 31% earned between 15,001-30,000 Baht,
19% 30,001-50,000 Baht and 24% earned over 50,000 Baht. The occupation category was divided
into six categories; namely, business, private, housewife, retired, students and others. The resultsⒸ ISERD

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showed that 33% of the respondents fell into the private job category, and 27% were housewives(Table 1).
Table 1 Demographic characteristics of respondents
1 USD = 30 THB
n =233

Percentage (%)

Attribute
AgeLess than 31
31-40
41-50
more than 50
Mean 41.9, Max 56, Min 22
GenderFemaleMale
Education level
Primary
Secondary
College/University
OthersAnnual Income (Thai currency)1
Less than 15,000
15,000-30,000
30,001-50,000
More than 50,000
Mean 48,465.23, Max 350,000 Min 4,500
Job or profession
Business
PrivateHouse wife
RetiredStudent
Others

23.0
37.0
30.0
10.0

66.0
34.0
6.0
15.0
73.0
6.0
26.0
31.0
19.0
24.0

10.0
33.0
27.0
11.0
9.0
10.0

Table 2 The reasons of the respondents for not buying organic productsStatement
Unaware of organic foodNothing beneficial to justify a higher priceDon’t trust the label/don’t think it is really acertified organic foodNon-organic food is hygienic/safe enoughToo expensive
Too difficult to get

Agree
(3)

Disagree(2)

Don’t know
(1)

7.1
10.0

28.6
10.7

64.3
79.3

8.6

12.9

78.5

12.9
10.7
15.0

11.4
7.9
10.0

75.7
81.4
75.0

On the other hand, the reasons for not buying organic products (Table 2) are as a result of lackof awareness or insufficient information which is perceived as an important issue. About 7.1% of
the respondents agreed, over the lack of awareness of organic rice products while 28.6% disagreed
and 64.3% said they don’t know. Regarding the trust on certification labels or certified organic
food, 8.6% agreed that don’t trust the label/don’t think it is really a certified organic food while
12.9% disagreed and 78.5% indicated “I don’t know”. On the respondent’s response (either
negative or positive) regarding health and environmental issues, approximately 10.7% disagreed
with the statement and believed that there is nothing beneficial to justify a higher price against
10.0% who agreed on the same statement. 79.3% do not know. Non-organic food hygiene/safetyⒸ ISERD77

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

related issues while 12.9% agreed. 11.4% disagreed Of the respondents, 10.7% agreed that it is too
expensive to buy, but 7.9% disagreed and 81.4% responded: “don’t know”. About 15% agreed and
10% disagreed gave their reasons as too difficult to get or purchase (Table 2).
Table 3 summarizes consumers’ perceptions and attitudes toward organic rice in our study.
The results of analysis of variance (tests) revealed that those unaware of organic food group topped
the six-point scale. This implies that the majority of males are comparatively unaware of organic
food, nothing beneficial to justify a higher price, don’t trust the label/don’t think it is reallycertified organic food, non-organic food is hygienic/safe enough, too expensive, too difficult to get
organic rice. Based on t-test equal variances not assumed, quasi Sig >.05 was not statisticallysignificant all six point scale.
Table 3 Summary of consumers’ perception and attitude towards organic rice
GenderStatement

FemaleUnaware of organic foodNothing beneficial to justify ahigher priceDon’t trust the label/don’t think it
is really certified organic foodNon-organic food is hygienic/safe
enoughToo expensive
Too difficult to get

Male

t

p

0.933

0.814

0.418

2.176

0.833

0.622

0.535

1.135

3.205

0.977

0.494

0.138

2.197

0.915

2.382

0.921

0.957

0.341

2.848
2.151

1.153
0.915

3.117
2.500

1.174
1.080

1.099
1.695

0.275
0.093

χ

S.D.

χ

S.D.

2.924

0.965

3.088

2.287

0.855

2.863

Notes: p-values (p) are for the respective tests of standard deviation (S.D.) difference between consumer’s
perception and attitude towards organic rice.

Table 4 Compare between income and consumers perception towards organic rice
IncomeItems<15,000

15,000-30,000

30,001-50,000> 50,000

F

χ

S.D

χ

S.D

χ

S.D

χ

S.D

2.846

1.189

3.096

1.193

2.842

1.258

3.041

1.160

0.310

2.846

1.155

2.935

1.123

3.000

1.154

3.000

1.103

0.267

2.923

1.092

3.032

1.139

3.052

1.129

2.875

1.191

0.192

2.384

0.941

2.354

0.950

2.315

0.820

2.291

0.858

0.154

2.538

1.139

2.709

1.101

2.210

1.031

2.416

1.059

0.958

Good for health

3.000

1.095

3.032

1.196

2.894

1.328

2.750

1.293

0.668

Others

2.461

1.139

2.387

1.308

2.421

1.216

2.333

1.203

0.104

Less expensive
More widely
available in themarketMore assortment
availability
Better appearance
and taste
More trust to
origin/ production

Table 4 The data in Table 4 indicates that consumers tend to purchase more organic food if it
is less expensive, for the income group earning < 15,000 baht, between 15,000 and 30,000 baht;
between 30,001 and 50,000 baht, and those earning > 50,000 baht, However, respondents withincome are more the satisfaction to buy if the prices are less expensive which means higher priceelasticity and between income and consumers perception towards organic rice. Based on F-test
Equal Variances not assumed, quasi Sig >.05 was not statistically significant all items.
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The data showed that private-sector employees constitute 33% of the respondents andhousewives 27%. Most of the respondents (73%) have a college or university education. It should
be noted that Surin town though a small rural provincial capital, is home to three universities.
Similarly, a previously published study (Sangkumchaliang and Huang, 2012) showed that in therural provinces of northern Thailand, most of the organic purchasers have college degrees or higher.
This high-level awareness could be due to the fact that Surin province is one of the top organic
farming areas in Thailand but also has quite well developed and organized organic marketingsystem. Hence, people support the organic farmers as much as they could afford as organic food ismuch more expensive than non-organic food. From the survey, their main motivating reasons forbuying organic food are food safety, healthy, good taste and good nutrition. Consumer preference
for organic food is based on the general perception that organic products have more desirable
characteristics than conventionally grown alternatives (Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Magistris andGracia, 2008). Numerous research (e.g. Bonti-Ankomah and Yiridoemm, 2006; RoitnerSchobesberger, 2006; Sangkumchaliang and Huang, 2012) highlighted that the main reason forbuying organic foods is the perception that they are generally safer, healthier and environmentallyfriendly than conventionally produced food. Providing training to farmers on safe practices,
certification, how to maintain organic status and marketing of the nutritional value of their rice will
help keeping their business profitable. Extension officers helping farmers to better understandconsumer preferences and attitude is key to help them market their product more effectively.
From this research the main grouses are that organic food is too expensive, and consumers are
doubt full about the certifications and labelling. Bonti-Ankomah and Yiridoe (2006) suggested thatthe relatively high “price- elasticity” of organic products is because of consumers’ high sensitivity
to price changes, which predominantly contributes for them rejecting organic products.
Government policies therefore needs to be developed to encourage more funding of the organic ricesector. In the short-term subsidizing the cost, equipment, strengthening local cooperatives andprovide farmers with mechanism (for example setting-up of online market place/portals,
warehousing facilities) to sell their product directed to market (reducing the number ofintermediator channels) may be viable solution. In the long-term research in for example more“pest-resistance” strain of rice, “organic- friendly” weed control, smart-technologies to monitor andoptimize production, improvement in harvesting technologies are essentials. Developing an
extension strategy to address the use of technologies and more effective pest/week control areintegral in reducing price of organic rice and increasing production (Nareerut et al., 2020;
Nuttavuthisit and Thøgersen, 2017; Weisberg et al., 1996).
This research found that the four principal factors that boost the popularity of organic foodare: (1) cheaper price, (2) sustaining the quality of the produce in accordance to good health andnutrition requirements, (3) production of a variety of organic products, and (4) increasing its
accessibility and availability to be more competitive against conventional food products as
similarly suggested by Bonti-Ankomah and Yiridoe (2006). By increasing the organic market shareand hence stimulating bigger production volumes, the economy of scale kicks in to reduce the unit
production cost and retail price even lower. This will create a multiplier effect to produce evenhigher quantities and greater varieties of organic food. There will be more wholesalers and retailers
in the supply chain to make it cheaper and more widely available. This cannot happen without
significant investment in the development of better pest resistant and high yielding variety. The
failure of Thailand rice to win top awards for the development of more high yielding organic
variety in recent years, is an indication of the research and development work require by the Thai
agriculture ministry (Ploenpotea, 2019). Farmers, needs to be trained and make aware of the best
way to use these varieties and utilise more innovative methods for example smart farming
technology to increase efficiency and farms. The role of extension officers is key in providing thiseducation and training, but these need increase in investment by government to facilitate this. As
such, we recommend that government continues to invest and subside farms that wishes to switch
to organic farming and put in place more research and development initiative to develop better rice
variety to improve productivity and efficiencies that will encourage more farmers to take uporganic farming, which some currently view as not being financially viable.
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CONCLUSION
The consumption of organic food is steadily increasing because of concerns over environmental
and health issues associated with food production. The higher consumer interest in organic foodproducts is attributed to the growing demand for food free from pesticides and chemical residues. It
is evident that organic food is popular and has excellent potential in Surin province. Most
consumers agree that organic food has many advantages over conventionally grown food forreasons of food safety, chemical-free and better taste and nutrition. Many consumers in Surinprovince are aware of organic rice, and approximately 66% have purchased organic food before
and still purchase it.
This research found that the principal factors that boost the popularity of organic food are;confidence in the 'organic-label’, cheaper price, sustaining the quality of the produce in accordance
to good health and nutrition requirements, production of a variety of organic products, andincreasing its accessibility and availability to be more competitive against conventional foodproducts. Government policies need to be better geared towards raising the awareness of thebenefit of organic food products to a more diverse group beyond the typical consumers (female,with university education and high-income earners). Price is a significant constraint to consumer
switching to organic rice purchase. Government policy (including availability of funding/loans,ability for farmers to purchase land, subsidies and education programme for farmers development
better farm management practices) needs to be strengthened and continued in order to encourage
more farms to switch to organic rice production. Extension programme will play a key role ineducating famers and help them to better produce and market products suitable for the consumers.
By stimulating bigger production volumes, the economy of scale kicks in to reduce the unit
production cost and the retail price even lower. This will create a multiplier effect to produce evenhigher quantities and greater varieties of organic food. There will be more wholesalers and retailers
in the supply chain to make it cheaper and more widely available. This research also highlightsthat trust in the 'organic rice' label is also a major barrier to purchase. Organic Rice is not only
recognized and popular in the urban cities but also in the rural provinces with higher exposure tohigher education, information and involved in organic production. More considerable attention,
effort, resources and better policies from all stakeholders can popularize organic products to be
more affordable, widely available and trusted to consumers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the School of Agriculture and Cooperatives,
Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. The authors would also like to thank the Rice ResearchCentre, Ms. Nirada Paennangrong, and Mrs. Chananath Chana-akson for their invaluable field
support and access to reports and documents, and for facilitating access to the farming communityand stakeholders. The views and opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors; theAsian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development shall not be responsible or answerable for any
loss, damage, or liability, etc. caused in relation to/arising out of the use of the content.
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Research article
erd

The Legacy of the Waternetwork from the Past:
Characteristics and Types of the Covered Waterways in
Tokyo
IVANA ANGELOVA*
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
Email: ivanaangelova@meiji.ac.jp

DAVISI BOONTHARM
Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

MASAMI KOBAYASHI
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
Email: mkob@gol.com
Received 31 January 2022

Accepted 18 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Edo was once a city of water and everyday life was intertwined with its rich water
network. Unfortunately, the connection with water was lost due to the rapid urban growthof the city and now most of the local scale water streams in Tokyo are culverted. They haveturned into green streets and their tributaries into narrow pathways. The objective of thisstudy is to trace the covered waterways in the broader network of the blue and green
infrastructure of the city and to catalogue them in accordance with their different
features like design and usage. In the first part, analysis is done on the legacy of the urban
streams from Edo to Tokyo. Furthermore, the methodology and the results of the research
are presented, showing a map of the covered waterways and their classification. For thisreason, two different scales of the linear elements are assessed. The findings show that,based on a short section, considering the width and landscape design, there are four groupsof types of which three are covered kind of types. Based on assessing a few hundred
meters long segment, there and five groups of types based on their primary usage eachhaving two sub-types except for the last that has only one. According to the results a
conclusion is drawn that today most of the covered streams in the city have somecommonalities in their design and how people use the space. Typically, the route of most of
those ancient streams is accompanied by endless kilometers of pedestrian and cycling paths
regarded as ''green ways''. Together they form a rich network spreading throughout the city.
They represent inclusive public spaces that plays a vital part in strengthening communities
and need further research.
Keywords Tokyo, covered waterways, legacy, scales, typology

INTRODUCTION
Since its formation up until the end of Edo (old name of Tokyo) the city has been compared to
Venice and Amsterdam in Europe. Unfortunately, the connection with water was lost due to therapid urban growth of the city, especially after the Olympics in 1964 when many of the rivers andstreams were covered by roads and now remain as hidden waterways. In his book Tokyo: A Spatial
Anthropology, the renowned architectural historian Hidenobu Jinnai, 1995 states that water was theelement that brought people together and the first public spaces in the city of Tokyo emerged on
the riverbanks and around bridges. He argues that the waterways today, even though overlooked in
the planning practices, are an asset so valuable as to make Tokyo stand up as a unique nature-based
metropolis of the future. But even though “Edo- a beautiful city integrated into the great naturalⒸ ISERD

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world’’ today "the city itself faces a crisis because we, the citizens of present-day Tokyo arediscarding this legacy in the name of functionality and efficiency (Jinnai, 1995)”.
In the past decade a growing number of literatures appeared with the aims to evoke the water
network of Tokyo. Moreover, in the midst of scrap and build culture, the attention is growing
stronger for permanent elements in the city such as topography and terrain (Jinnai, 2017). Whilethe existing works are focused in exploring the appearance and geographical features of the open
and hidden waterways, a more comprehensive study is lacking in the field of their identificationand cataloguing based on different features.
Therefore, this study is trying to fill the knowledge gap by adding more valuable information
for studying the urban open and covered water network. Emphasis is given in exploring the smallerscale streams which have a local character and are mostly culverted and transformed intogreenways. Both primary and secondary data are used to meet the objective of this study.
Quantitative data comes in form of a map showing the covered streams and empirical data ispresented by their classification by two different factors.
URBAN WATERWAYS TROUGH HISTORY
The city’s connection to water through history is giving a background to the phenomena of thehidden waterways today. Using literature review and historical maps, three points in history arerecognized as major water related transformations. Fig. 1 shows the timeline and the consequencesof urban transformation to water in each period.

Fig. 1 Waterway transformation timeline for Tokyo
Edo Period (1603-1867): Tokyo AquaticTokyo is a legacy of the original urban planning of Edo, the old name of the city. By definition theword ‘Edo’ equals an ‘estuary’. This period was the most fruitful for the city expansion and theestablishment of its wider structure that grew along with the spiraling moat system. The rich water
network enabled a close connection to water for the people in the marsh lands. All sorts ofcommercial, cultural and even spiritual activities happened along the riverbanks in the low land
Edo. Water is depicted in more than 80% of the paintings in “One Hundred Famous View of Edo”,
showing how entrenched it was in the livelihood of the people. Many of the shrines and temples
were faced towards the water edge. In the peripheral areas of the city, numerous townships
produced food and transported it by boats to central Edo making use of the rivers and aqueducts.
According to the land use of Edo, over 40% of the land was used for farming (Fujii et al., 2002),
Edo was a garden city making use of the abundance of water. As the city was growing over time, it
took an organic shape respectful of the natural topography and conditions. "The city has been builtwith knowledge of its vulnerability to natural forces (Shelton, 2012) “. In this period not only did
the city blueprint was established but also the cultural and social life reached its peak. Water
brought value to people’s life and there was a very sophisticated and sustainable water treatment
unbeknownst to any western civilization at the time.
Meiji Restoration (1868-1912) and Taisho Period (1912-1926): Channelizing Urban Waterways
Meiji Era came as the time of industrialization and implementation of Western ideologies. To keep
up with the trend of technological advancements, the process of industrialization took on a high
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speed in Japan. Neoclassical approach in the urban planning and architecture practices of the time
was applied on top of the old layers of the city (Hein, 2008). Major transportation networks for cars
and trains were planned but were not fully constructed due to the scarcity in resources after WorldWar 1. As land transportation took over, local streams were left neglected, and the lively riverbanks
slowly lost their cultural value and were left to serve as mere industrial complexes. Moreover, thecity's water-based structure experienced a second huge disruption when the devastating Great
Kanto earthquake of 1923 caused a myriad of uncontrolled fires that left devastating consequenceson people’s lives and their environments. This natural disaster has led to revaluation of thewaterside spaces and their safety. The event marked the beginning of channelizing the city’swaterways. The disaster response was a clear sense that "Japan had been granted an unprecedented
chance to upgrade the city. (Charles, 2008) ".
Showa Era (1926-1989) to Modern Tokyo: Local Culverts
Showa period is represented by two contrasting periods, before and after World War 2. After thedevastating raid that took over the city during the war, it took 6 years to completely recover. This
period is when most of the waterways were covered due to safety, aesthetic and land reclamation
reasons. In the upheaval period after the 50s big urban plans for the city were executed and local
urban planners adopted the ideas that could easily implement the concept of machi-small town
"comprised of many small towns with different purposes (Hein, 2008)". In line with thoseideologies, planning principles from the 20s and 30s were adopted that emphasized polycentricity
and green areas in between neighborhoods. In Tokyo Olympic Games land-based infrastructure
grew immensely in order to give the city a new international look. There was a boom in theconstruction of expressways and many of the rivers and canals were left covered by the elevatedroad structures. This period of intense construction led to huge environmental crisis. The smallerscale waterways were contaminated, and people complained from the bad smell. Taking inconsideration the natural disaster prevention management and the decay of the local streams,
decisions were made to culvert most of them. In the 80s Tokyo was re-discovered as a city on water.
Old societal ideologies that celebrated the connection to the natural environment and culture werereconsidered and gained popularity. Appreciation for the local qualities emerged again. Urban
policies for the protection of water and greenery, and conservation of historical sites were
established. Many waterside regeneration projects took part like converting the river coast into
public leisure areas (Jinnai, 2017). Smaller and more local initiatives took interest in revival of thecovered waterways that continued through the 90s.
Present Day Tokyo: Reconsidering the Role of the Local Culverts
Today Tokyo represents the largest city in the world, an agglomeration of many machi, apolycentric city (Shelton, 2012). The township culture is still kept until the present day, providing a
sense of authenticity and belonging, a vital factor for strengthening communities (Kuma et al.,2021). Even though due to strong globalization forces the city has drastically lost its rurallandscape and connection to water, the legacy of the abundant water network is kept in the form of
myriad of greenways curving their way in the city landscape. They are very much used andtreasured by the citizens.
Future brings challenges, and for Japan the main one is the demographic change, natural
disasters and public debt (Ohno, 2018). When the challenges mentioned above translates onto thecity landscape, it is expectable to see some urban patterns completely change. One of therepercussions will be the decaying infrastructure in suburban areas caused by the drop in residential
density. According to Hidetoshi Ohno, in this scenario the city will be reduced to smaller centerswith inclination towards urban greenery, supported with the creation of new open spaces.
Reconsidering the role of the linear public spaces created on top of the culverted waterways is
crucial for addressing the forthcoming challenges. It is important to examine what kind of asset
those elements represent for the quality of life of the city dwellers.
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OBJECTIVE
Public spaces can solve a number of the above-mentioned challenges at once. They contribute forthe increasement of biodiversity, humans’ health and pollution. In the Japanese setting public
spaces such as plazas do not exist but instead, multiple sites for social interchanges have been
constructed to the scale and form that are appropriate to the Japanese physical and cultural context.
Many of the small-scale common spaces are overlooked in the urban research practices but are
frequently used and often exclusively known by locals. The linear public space, the path on top of
the culverted rivers is such a place. Thus, this research is trying to address the importance of thisurban phenomena in the context of Tokyo.
The objective of this study is to, initially, identify the location of the covered waterways in the
broader network of the blue and green infrastructure in the city and, subsequently, to identify andgroup them in accordance with their design features and the way people use them. The study
location is within Tokyo 23 Special wards. According to the classification given by Bureau ofConstruction (2015) there are Class A, Class B and Secondary rivers or streams. This research is
focusing on the secondary rivers that can be either covered or open and are administrated by thewards.
METHODOLOGY
A research design was developed in an integrated manner to guide each phase of the research.
Table 1 (Yin, 2014) defines a research design as a coherent and logical plan to collect data,measure and analyze the data collected, connecting empirical information to the research question
and its conclusion. The research design created for this study is comprised of five consecutive
parts: Research question; Source of data; Methods of data analysis; Data processing & tools andResult. In the first phase of the research, three questions were modelled in relation to the objectiveof the study. Secondary, the source of data needed to answer each of the question is identified.
Primary data is being collected through extended systemized fieldwork of one year, from April
2020 to April 2021, using the map of covered waterways developed in the first phase of the study.
Secondary data is collected from official digital maps, namely the online database from National
Land Numerical Information in conjunction with Google Satellite View and the authors own
fieldwork mapping based on observation. Methods of data analysis show how the data was studied.
20 samples were used to classify the waterways in question 2 and 3. To process the data, tools suchas QGIS software, LiDAR 3D camera and Google Street View were used to process the data. The
expected results from each research question are presented at the end of the research design.
Table 1 Research design
Research question

Source of data

Methods of data
analysis
Spatial distribution
analysis

Data processing &tools
Overlaying both
sources of data in GIS(Geographic
Information System)
software

2. What kind of
Primary data (fieldwaterways are there research)according to design? + Secondary data
(Open street Map)

Comparative analysis
of 20 samples ofwaterways shortsections.

LiDAR camera andOpen Street Map
measurement tool tomeasure the width ofshort sections

Classification based on
types of design

3. What kind of
Primary data (fieldwaterways are there observation)according to primary + Secondary data
usage?
(Google Street View)

Comparative analysis
of 20 samples ofwaterways line
segments.

Field observed data
and Google Street
View recordings ofline- segments

Classification based on
types of use (including
design)1. What part ofSecondary data
Tokyo’s waterway (National Land
network is covered? Numerical Information&Google Satellite
View) +Primary data
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ResultMap of Tokyo
metropolitan area
showing open andcovered waterways

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A digital map of Tokyo metropolitan area is showing what part of the water network of the city iscovered and is serving as green corridor and what part of it are open rivers and streams is shown in
Fig. 2. For data on the overall water network in the city the GIS Data on waterways from National
Land Numerical Information (in blue) is used. To make a clear distinction between covered andopen streams, data from Google Satellite view, municipality maps of greenways and fieldobservation maps were combined to trace the covered streams (in red). Findings show that while
there are a total of 712 kilometers of urban waterways, 490 kilometers or 68% are covered. In
terms of distribution by districts, Edogawa ward has the largest number of waterways in total while
Setagaya ward has the largest number of covered waterways landscaped like greenways.

Fig. 2 Map of open and covered waterways in Tokyo
Given the linear shape of the waterway, varieties in use and design can be different in different
segments. The same waterway can have a portion with an open stream and a portion of it that isculverted. However, in most cases the treatment is the same for the whole waterway. It is either
open or covered. To respond to the second research question, a method was established that focusedon the design on a waterway in a micro scale of a few meters long. The width of the waterway andits landscape design, the use of the adjacent streets like vehicle or pedestrian and the land use ofadjacent plots were taken in consideration. After an extensive field observation, 20 samples of shortsections of different waterways around the city were chosen to test the method. The types and theircategorization into groups are presented in Fig. 3. According to the overall design there are four
sub-typologies in the large size group, 5-12 meters wide. All of them are open. The other threegroups represent the covered streams: medium size, 3-6 meters wide, typically landscaped like agreenway that can have surface water; small size, 2-4 meters wide, narrower greenways; extra
small size, 1-3 meters wide, narrow pathways. The medium and the small size have four sub- typesof covered streams while the extra small size only two.

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Fig. 3 Types of waterway segments based on landscaping
In terms of the primary usage of the waterway, it depends on the context of where they arelocated. For example, a stream can run through a commercial area or a residential area which interms results in different characteristics of use. To respond to the third research question, a method
was established that focused on usage of a waterway in a meso scale, of a few hundred meters long.
This method tested 20 samples of line segments based on the frequency of users and type ofactivities they were doing there.

Fig. 4 Types of waterways in line-segments based on their usage
Fig. 4 shows the classification according to the types of use. They are categorized into fivemain groups: prominent-high intensity in use and popularity; shinsui-landscaped for water play andⒸ ISERD

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enjoyment; vital-long greenways that connect neighborhoods; operational-used for irrigation anddrainage on the outskirts of the city; inner-active-narrow lanes. Each main type has several subtypes. The Prominent type: preserved landscape-protected nature with an open stream andcommercial street-culverted stream in the middle of a commercial zone. The Shinsui type: waterparks-landscaped as a water park playground and open stream-not landscaped as a water park but
used as such. The Vital type: linear park-landscaped as a greenway and sport/play area attachedplayground or a sport field is attached on the greenway. The operational: irrigation canalsupplying water for urban farming and drainage canals-small scale open type runoff water. The
inner-active: sewage water canal- small scale pedestrian street.
CONCLUSION
The study examined two different scales of the urban waterways. Looking in the micro scale, it canbe observed that different design principles were used to landscape the covered streams. Most ofthem are landscaped like linear parks with greenery and some have surface water or even waterparks for play. In general, they are inclusively designed for pedestrian activity while most often
than not, cycling is prohibited. The adjacent streets mainly have a controlled vehicle activity withspeed and use limits. The land use of the area where the covered waterways flow is primarily
residential and often times there are schools or sport fields attached to the waterway. In the meso
scale different types of activities were observed. People used the space in accordance with its
landscaping and the location of the waterway. For example, in the commercial zone people usedthose elements as pedestrian streets and rarely for recreational activities, while the water park andthe greenway type saw a huge amount of people doing leisure activities. In conclusion the covered
streams have a specific social, spiritual and environmental dimension. Today a new culture of life
related to water, different from that of the past emerged after culverting the streams. A culture
specific to the Japanese context of public space use and the challenges of the contemporary way oflife. A further exploration of their quality as single linear entities and that of the network quality
should be done to understand the broader implications of this urban phenomena in the whole city ofTokyo. For this matter the proposed methodology should be broadened to include an inductive
approach for analyzing qualitative data.
REFERENCES
Bureau of Construction. 2015. Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Retrieved from https://www.kensetsu.metro.
tokyo.lg.jp/english/jigyo/river/02.html
Fujii, M., Yokohari, M. and Watanabe, T. 2002. Identification of the distribution pattern of farmlands in Edo.
City Planning Review Special Issue, 37, 931-936, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.11361/cpij1.
37.0.931.0
Hein, C. 2008. Machi, neighborhood and small town, The foundation for urban transformation in Japan.
Journal of Urban History, 35 (1), 75-107, Retrieved from DOI https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.
1177/0096144208322463
Jinnai, H. 1995. Tokyo, A spatial anthropology. University of California Press, ISBN-13 978-0520071353,
USA.
Jinnai, H. 2017. Evolutional steps toward the post-western / non-western movement in Japan. Built Heritage,
1, 44-53, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03545674
Kuma, K. Jinnai, H. and Radovich, D. 2021. Discussion, Tokyo, The right to the city? Infraordinary Tokyo,
The right to the city. a+u Architecture and Urbanism, November 2021 Special Issue, 176, Japan.
Kuma, K., Jinnai, H and Radovich, D. 2021. Discussion, Tokyo, The right to the city. Architecture andUrgbanism Magazine, Special Issue, 176, 6-9.
Ohno, H. 2016. Fiber city, A vision for the shrinking megacity, Tokyo 2050. University of Tokyo Press,
ISBN-13:978-4130668552, Japan
Schencking, J.C. 2008. The great Kanto earthquake and the culture of catastrophe and reconstruction in
1920s Japan. Journal of Japanese Studies, 34 (2), 295-331, Retrieved from DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.
1353/jjs.0.0021Ⓒ ISERD

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Shelton, B. 2012. Learning from the Japanese city, West meets east in urban design. Taylor and Francis,
ISBN-13:978-0419223504, UK.
Yin, K.R. 2014. Case study research design and methods (5th ed.). Sage Pubication, ISBN-13 9781452242569, USA.

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Research article
erd

Awareness and Compliance of Corn Farmers to Good
Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in Nueva Vizcaya,
Philippines
JANE B. BACANI*
Nueva Vizcaya State University, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines
Email: janebbacani@gmail.com
Received 30 December 2021

Accepted 18 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract This study investigated the level of awareness and extent of compliance tocertification of corn farmers with Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in corn development
projects in the cluster municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya. The study sought to determine thedemographic characteristics of the respondents, their level of awareness in GAP corn
certification requirements, and extent of compliance in GAP corn certification. One
hundred sixty (160) corn farmers who are active participant in GAP corn project wererandomly selected. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, and mean
were used in describing the demographic characteristics of the respondents. A four-point
Likert-type scale was used to analyze the level of awareness and extent of compliance. The
result revealed that both men and women are active corn farmers, older farmers, most haveformal education, smallholder farms, more experience in farming and members in farmers’organization and cooperatives. Likewise, the study indicated a high awareness of the
respondents in GAP corn certification requirements gained through their participation tovarious GAP and GAP-related trainings and activities while compliance to GAP
certification is moderate which resulted to low certified corn farms in Nueva Vizcaya.
Demographic profile such as sex, education and trainings have positive correlation to the
respondents’ awareness, however, there is no significant correlation to their compliance.
Keywords GAP, awareness, compliance, certification requirements

INTRODUCTION
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification is a stamp of safety and genuine freshness (ATI,2013). The Philippine GAP program is a government certification program with the Department ofAgriculture as the certifying body. The enactment of Republic Act No. 10611 otherwise known as“Food Safety Act of 2013” strengthens the food safety regulatory system in the country (Official
Gazette of the Philippines, 2013). The GAP standard requires a scrutiny of the history of the farmsite and its prior; the type of soil, and its compatibility with crops and seed sources; the judicious
use of agrichemicals; the sources of potable water for irrigation and washing of crops; the harvestand post-handling procedures; the health and hygiene of the farmer and handlers, and other factors.
Aside from scrutiny, the GAP standard also requires systems to be set in place such as sanitaryfacilities, safe storage areas, post-harvest infrastructure, a paper trail for traceability, among others(PNS, 2017). The Code of GAP for corn is a set of consolidated safety and quality standards
prepared by the Department of Agriculture for the production, harvesting and on-farm postharvest
handling and storage of corn. The emphasis is to decrease the hazard of pesticide use and aflatoxin
contamination. GAP corn was officially launched in 2014, and it became more intensive since thepassing of RA 10611 due to inappropriate use of pesticides and other chemicals in farming thatpose a hazard to both human and animal health.
The national trend of low GAP adoption is reflected in the Province of Nueva Vizcaya in the
Northern part of the Philippines. That despite its intensive implementation and government support,
the adoption and certification for GAP corn is still very low, a measly 1.78% in the corn cluster
areas, hence, this study investigated the awareness and extent of compliance of corn farmers toⒸ ISERD

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Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) which is a prerequisite to adoption and certification. The
purpose is to identify the requirements with low compliance as basis of the implementers forplanning. Likewise, it will be relevant to the corn farmers to appreciate good agricultural practices
in general and the GAP corn in particular and for them to realize the requirements they havecomplied and those that needs to be improved. The eight requirements for GAP corn certification
were evaluated that included: farm location, farm environment, farm structure and facility
maintenance, pre-harvesting practices, harvesting practices, post-harvesting practices, safety andprecautions, and farm management.
OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to determine the demographic profile of the respondents, the level of the
respondents’ awareness in GAP corn certification requirements, and the extent of compliance in
GAP corn certification.
METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted in 2019 in the four corn cluster municipalities (Bagabag, Diadi, Quezon
and Villaverde) of Nueva Vizcaya. Simple random sampling was used to identify the 160
respondents. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, mean, and percentages was used in
describing the demographic characteristics of the respondents. A four-point Likert-type scale wasused to analyze the level of awareness and extent of compliance. Pearson’s r was used in measuring
the significant relationships between the variables in the study.
Instruments for data collection included: survey questionnaires and key informants’ interview
of Farmer Led Extensionists (FLEs) and Agricultural Extension Workers (AEWs). The structured
survey questionnaire included open-ended and categorized questions.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Demographic Characteristics of Corn Farmers
The result revealed that 50% are male and 50% are female. It can be noted that more females are
now involved in corn farming and in the agricultural industry as a whole. The mean age is 52 years
old, the youngest is 25 years old and the oldest is 80 years old. It can be deduced that there areolder corn farmers because younger people nowadays prefer nonfarm careers. In the Cagayan
Valley Region, the average age of corn farmers is 51 years old (PSA, 2014).
The study shows that the respondents are mostly high school level or graduates with 51.90%,
college (25.1%) and vocational/technical education (5.6%). It can be inferred that the corn farmers
are better educated when compared to the provincial statistics wherein high school is 35.75%,
college (19.40%) and vocational (3.40%) (PSA, 2014), in effect they are more open in adopting
new technologies and practices in farming. They also understand the consequences of conforming
to sustainable agricultural practices for land-use and production efficiency, global warming
potential, economic viability, conservation of biodiversity, waste minimization and recycling,
farmer and community well-being, animal welfare, and the capacity to meet food sufficiency long
into the future. Education also allows a farmer to share his farming experiences to other farmers.
The average area farmed is 1.93 hectares, majority (58.2%) of the corn farmers surveyed have
1.0 - 2.9 hectares. The result signifies that the size of cultivated land and average land productivity
could strongly affect farm revenues and, consequently, investments. This explains the ability offarmers to diversify in farming, smaller land area tends to lean more on monocropping which is
discouraged in GAP since it proliferates pests and diseases and depletes soil fertility while larger
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depletion but to increase revenue as well. The increase in revenues enable the farmers to establish
the needed facilities and structures in GAP farming.
The average number of years in corn farming is 20. Most respondents had 10-29 years(56.5%) experience in corn farming, 24.5% had more than 30 years and 19.5% with less than 10
years. The respondents’ minimum number of years in corn farming is 5 and the maximum is 60
years of experience. It can be noted that the respondents are experienced corn farmers. Extensive
experience in corn farming helps the farmers to determine the merits of adopting new technologies
based on their knowledge gained through years of corn farming. This aided them in decisionmaking for adopting GAP, in addition it boosts their confidence to share their experiences andfacilitate the spread of new technologies like GAP. This is consistent with the national and regional
statistics wherein (BAS, 2011) reported that corn farmers in the country had an average of 22 yearsof farming experience.
More than eighty percent (86.7%) are members of farmers’ organization, cooperatives with
65.6% and other organizations with 54.4%. Membership to farmers’ organizations, cooperatives
and other organizations in the community help the farmers to unify their efforts towards
achievement of their common goals especially in lobbying for government and other agencies’support and services in training, facilities and machineries, loans and other agricultural assistance.
Cooperatives is the government vehicle in granting farmers loans. It also extended seed, fertilizer
and agrichemical loans with agreeable payment schemes. It is through these organizations that
small farmers band together to convey issues and concerns through their representatives (e.g.,
Municipal Agricultural and Fishery Council) and avail of assistance.
Respondents’ participation to GAP-related trainings such as integrated pest management(IPM) like proper spraying and disposal of used herbicides, how to make organic pesticides fromfruit and plant juices, pest surveillance, etc. has high attendance with 96.3%, followed by integrated
crop management with 74.4% and other trainings with 38.1%. These related trainings support theimplementation of GAP by reinforcing it through activities and demo farms. It will also increase
the farmers’ self-reliance and confidence in adopting GAP by expounding their training toencompass technologies that is important in sustainable agriculture. These practices help toimprove environmental and ecological diversity as well as economic condition towards GAP
adoption.
Awareness and Compliance in GAP Corn
Fig. 1 illustrates the comparison of means for the respondents’ level of awareness and extent ofcompliance for the eight GAP corn requirements.

FL – Farm location, FE – Farm environment, FSM – Farm structure and maintenance,
PHP – Pre-harvesting practices, HP – Harvesting practices, PP – Post-harvest practices,
SP – Safety and precaution, FM – Farm management

Fig. 1 Comparison of means for the respondents’ level of awareness andextent of compliance to GAP corn
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Farm location has high awareness denoted by an average mean of 3.31 on the suitability of the
production area and its surrounding farms for agricultural use. They have to trace the history of theland use whether it is being used for other purposes other than agriculture such as landfill toidentify possible potential hazards specifically chemical (heavy metals) and physical hazards(broken glass, plastics, rubber, etc.) as part of the requirement. However, the respondents aremoderately aware on how to identify ways to prevent the potential hazards. The result implies thatthe respondents are highly aware of the requirements and fully understood the importance of
tracing the history and land use pattern of their farm. These requirements were thoroughly
discussed during the GAP training conducted by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI),
Department of Agriculture (DA) and Local Government Units (LGUs). Compliance is moderatewith an average mean of 2.51 for farm location since all of the corn farms were established not forother purposes but for crop production only and the potential hazards identified is the excessive useof agrichemicals and natural calamities such as flooding and drought. The slight compliance for
mitigating measures is attributed to their lack of documentation or records concerning the potential
hazards in their farms.
Respondents’ awareness on farm environment was high with an average mean of 3.30. The
respondents were highly aware that the production area, post-harvest and storage area should be
kept clean at all times to avoid contamination. Likewise with the importance of crop rotation to
avoid soil deterioration due to monocropping especially planting of nutrient enriching plants likepeas, peanuts, beans and other leguminous crops and availability of water source or irrigation to
avoid plant stress. It is only soil analysis that has moderate awareness, this might be due to absenceof soil laboratory in the province to cater the needs of the corn farmers. The farmers have to submit
soil samples through the LGUs to be brought to the soil laboratory at the neighboring provinces in
Isabela or Cagayan. The respondents stated that the release of the soil analysis result as basis for
fertilizer application was delayed wherein the crops was already harvested but the result is notreleased yet. The AEWs also encourage the use of convergence approach such as integrated
farming for the integration of other crops and livestock in corn farming as alternative source ofincome. The compliance for farm environment is slight with an average mean of 2.40 for field
sanitation practices, soil nutrient status analysis for appropriate fertilizer recommendation, soil
mapping for crop rotation and production plans and locating water sources. Soil analysis should bedone every two years and carried out by accredited laboratory. The slight compliance forcertification requirements with regards to farm environment can be attributed to their non-adoptionof strict field sanitation practices, soil analysis, and soil mapping.
The respondents were highly aware that farm structures and facilities should be maintainedwith an average mean of 3.33. Structures such as warehouse for the corn produce, storeroom for
fertilizer, pesticide and other farm supplies and materials including protection shed of farmmachineries should be appropriately designed and constructed in a reasonable distance from one
another to lessen contamination. Likewise, farm structures, facilities and equipment should always
be kept clean and in good condition for optimal operations. They were also highly aware thatsewage, waste disposal and drainage system should be appropriately located and constructed tominimize the risk of contaminating the production area and water supply with chemical hazards.
The farmers claimed that GAP is good since it safeguards health, and the proper storage of
agrichemicals such as insecticides, pesticides and fungicides makes it easier to locate when needed.
Display of farm code and availability of medicine kit in the farm is moderate. It is imperative that afully equipped first aid box with all the necessary items is placed prominently in the farm. Farm
structure and facility maintenance has slight compliance with an average mean of 2.44. The
respondents’ reason for slight compliance is the lack of finances to construct farm structures suchas storage for tools and machineries though there is no prescribed size for structures as long as it issafe for farm tools and materials and properly labeled. The respondents stressed that they arecompliant in GAP especially in farming practices but lack the financial capability to establish theneeded structures and toilets required in GAP corn certification that is the reason for noncertification.
The result for the pre-harvest practices has high awareness with an average mean of 3.64 that
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plant growth; planting and seed materials such as use of high yielding varieties that are adaptable tothe locality and following the recommended planting distance and seeding rate; proper handlingand use of agrichemicals such that applicators should be trained and wear protective gear whenhandling and spraying, agrichemicals should be properly labeled and stored and proper disposal of
empty container, and strict observance of pre-harvest intervals; fertilizer management such as useof fully decomposed organic materials, fertilizer application should be based on soil analysis,
proper storage to prevent contamination due to leaching, runoff or wind drift and records offertilizer sources and application; insect pest and disease management during flowering tomaturation stage and prevention of aflatoxin contamination; other cultural management practices
such as maintenance of the recommended row and plant spacing to avoid overcrowding and regularmonitoring at all crop stages to provide measures to problems that may arise. While compliance ismoderate with an average mean of 2.96, the pre-harvesting practice were adequately implemented
and complied by the respondents due to their extensive experience in corn production.
Harvesting practices includes harvesting of fully matured corn in the shortest possible time,
the use of clean mats and other suitable underlays to prevent damage and contamination of cornears and remove corn ears that show visible signs of insect or microbial damage. The respondents
have high awareness with an average mean of 3.56 but moderately complied with an average meanof 2.78. Following the recommended harvesting practices has high compliance but sorting has
slight compliance. Sorting out and discarding corn ears with visible damage is not followed by the
respondents because they sell their harvest immediately to buyers upon harvesting.
Post-harvesting practices has high awareness with an average mean of 3.31. This includes
hauling should be done immediately after harvest and facilities for hauling should be clean and dry;
immediate drying of corn grains to reduce the moisture content; avoid grain moisture accumulation
during transport by using an appropriate covering for the container, proper stacking inside thetransport vehicle and protection against pests; storing area should have good ventilation, prevent
entry of insects, birds and rodents and maintain the recommended moisture content to minimize
aflatoxin contamination and conformity to the principle of first-in-first-out. The respondents
asserted that though they are aware of the ideal moisture content of the corn to avoid aflatoxin but
they do not have the instrument for testing it. Post-harvesting practices has slight compliance withan average mean of 2.18. This might be due to the fact that farmers sell their yellow corn directly
upon harvest and no longer follow post-harvesting practices while white corn also referred to as
green corn are sold by contract when it is matured for cooking and eating. The key informant
revealed that GAP evaluation for certification in post-harvesting is done by testing for aflatoxin
which is accomplished by getting 5 kilos sample from the harvested seeds. The dried seeds wasbrought to the laboratory at DA-Cagayan Valley Integrated Agricultural Laboratory (DA-CVIAL)
for the said test.
With regards to safety and precautions, all the variables were rated to have high awarenesswith an average mean of 3.70. This includes wearing of appropriate clothing and protective gears in
production and post production activities and training of farm workers to follow the recommended
personal hygiene and sanitary practices. The respondents agreed that safety gears should be worn to
avoid exposure to chemical hazards as well as training and supervising farm workers in the properuse of agrichemicals and sanitary procedures. It is a major compliance criterion that pesticide
application protective gear must be present in the farm at all times. The equipment must be kept
clean and functional, and there must be documentation that shows that farm workers have been
trained to use the protective gear correctly. Compliance on safety and precautions was rated to bemoderate with an average mean of 2.94. The respondents are moderately compliant with safety andprecautions which implies that though they are aware of the consequences of mishandling
agrichemicals but some farmers still do not strictly follow the recommended safety and precaution
practices.
Respondents has high awareness on farm management with an average mean of 3.14. It
includes keeping of farm and staff records and traceability. Farm records should be updated using
the DA pro-forma record system of GAP corn and should be kept up to two years. (PNS, 2017)
explained that new farm applying for certification must have at least 3 months of farm records
which should be presented during audit, hence, someone should be designated as in-charge to dealⒸ ISERD

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with matters associated with GAP corn certification. Likewise with records of farm workers andtheir trainings should be maintained. The respondents claimed that though there is a pro-forma
record system but they also use a simplified record system that they could easily understand. Theyuse record book to log in farm activities with the corresponding expenses like cost of inputs andlabor. In traceability, produce leaving the farm must be traceable to the farms, thus records mustalso be maintained. The respondents insisted that the corn buyers can trace back the produce totheir farms since they know their sources or suppliers of corn. Compliance was slight with anaverage mean of 2.06. Farm records has moderate compliance that includes designating in-charge
to deal with matters associated with GAP corn certification like copies of laboratory analysis andcertificates that verify compliance with the DA regulations. The respondents claimed thatmaintaining the pro-forma farm records from DA is complicated and time consuming, hence, they
improvised and ask assistance from family members and AEWs in accomplishing the farm records
issued by DA. Maintaining of staff records has slight compliance and traceability was low whichsuggests that the respondents are not compliant with these particular criteria.
The overall mean for GAP corn awareness was denoted by the mean value of 3.42, which isqualitatively described to have 76-100% awareness of the requirements in the GAP corn. While theoverall mean on the extent of compliance is indicated by a mean value of 2.54 which isqualitatively described to have 51-75% compliance signifying that awareness is 25% higher than
the respondents’ compliance.
In the correlation analysis in Table 1, sex, highest educational attainment, and trainings are
significantly correlated to the respondents’ awareness in farm environment, pre-harvesting andharvesting practices at 5% level of significance. The respondents’ awareness in GAP corn in termsof farm environment (r = 0.174) and pre-harvesting practices (r = 0.176) positively correlated withsex. It indicates that more involvement of both men and women in corn farming spell increased
awareness in farm environment that includes cleanliness to avoid contamination, crop rotation, andavailability of irrigation; and pre-harvesting practices such as weed control measures, planting andseed materials used, proper use of pesticides and other agrochemicals, fertilizer, insect and pest
management and other cultural management practices. The respondents’ awareness in terms offarm environment (r = 0.157) and pre-harvesting practices (r = 0.163) are significantly correlatedwith the respondents’ highest educational attainment. The result signifies that the respondents withhigher educational attainment have higher understanding of the environmental effect and preharvesting practices in GAP corn. This further implies that the respondents’ education is importantin their awareness and adoption of GAP corn.
Table 1 Relationship between the demographic profile and level of awareness in GAP corn
Demographic profile
Age
SexHighest educational
attainment
Land area for corn farming
Number of years in corn
farming
Membership in farmer’sorganization
Membership incooperatives
GAP trainings
Other trainings

FL
.006
.059

FE
-.046
.174*

Level of awareness in gap corn
FSM
PHP
HP
PP
-.043
-.048
-.045
-.032
.130
.176*
.151
.134

-.064

.157*

.081

.163*

.117

.083

.097

.096

.097

.121

.087

.066

.021

.022

.032

SP
-.039
.143

FM
-.039
.143

.076

.096

.096

.097

.097

.097

.097

.086

.075

.093

.085

.085

.008

.022

.015

.018

.017

.017

.019

.008

.018

.012

.019

.016

.016

.090

.175

.123

.178

.147

.141

.144

.144

.080

**

.203

**

*

.231

.249

.249

.348

.354

.267

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed), ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
FL – Farm location, FE – Farm environment, FSM – Farm structure and maintenance, PHP – Pre-harvesting practices,
HP – Harvesting practices, PP – Post-harvest practices, SP – Safety and precaution, FM – Farm managementⒸ ISERD

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Respondents’ awareness in farm environment (r = 0.348) and pre-harvesting practices (r =0.354) are highly significant when correlated with trainings while significant in terms of harvesting
practices (r = 0.267). The positive correlation implies that more trainings conducted to the corn
farmers magnified their awareness on farm environment, pre-harvesting and harvesting practices.
It further implies that generally, participation to trainings like proper storage of corn, how to makefeeds and organic fertilizers, field days, and production of other crops and animal raising increased
the farmers’ knowledge and awareness on the effect of GAPs to corn farming especially in theenvironment, pre-harvesting and harvesting practices. Environmental protection supports
sustainable agriculture while pre-harvesting and harvesting practices are important in the assuranceof food safety. This indicates that trainings conducted in support to GAP is important to the
respondents’ awareness. Furthermore, the respondents were also trained on integrated farming andother alternative sources of income such as fishery, poultry and livestock and other crops likevegetables to supplement family income since corn takes more than three months to be harvested.
Likewise, Azam and Banumathi (2015) denoted that educational attainment, age and gender of the
farmers has positively motivated them to move towards GAP farming.
The correlation analysis in Table 2, finds no significant relationship between the demographic
profile and extent of compliance in GAP corn. The result indicates that demographic characteristics
has no effect in the farmers’ compliance to GAP corn. This might be the reason for the very low(1.78%) GAP certification of corn farms in Nueva Vizcaya since all the requirements forcertification should be complied 100%, partial compliance will be deferred. The respondents
affirmed that GAP corn compliance is labor intensive since it needs more labor to comply with thecriteria such as establishment of fences or barriers to prevent entry of animals and other predators,
pest and diseases surveillance and strict implementation of field sanitation practices. The
respondents claimed that they have 75-85% compliance since most of the farming practices werecomplied. It is the establishment of structures that they lacked. Adding that even if the farm will
not be certified, they still need to maintain good agricultural practices always for environmental
protection and health reasons. This is affirmed by the study of Ganpat et al. (2014) that complianceon GAPs among smallholder farmers was low.
Table 2 Relationship between the demographic profile and extent of compliance in GAP corn
Demographic profile
Age
SexHighest educational
attainment
Land area for corn
farming
Number of years in corn
farming
Membership in farmer’sorganization
Membership incooperatives
GAP trainings
Other trainings

FL
-.039
.143

FE
-.037
.141

Extent of compliance in GAP corn
FSM
PHP
HP
PP
-.038
-.039
-.038
-.038
.142
.142
.142
.142

SP
-.038
.142

FM
-.038
.142

.096

.091

.095

.095

.095

.094

.095

.095

.097

.097

.097

.097

.097

.097

.097

.097

.085

.087

.086

.085

.085

.086

.086

.086

.017

.017

.017

.017

.017

.017

.017

.017

.016

.017

.016

.016

.016

.016

.016

.016

.144
.249

.144
.245

.144
.248

.144
.248

.144
.248

.144
.248

.144
.248

.144
.248

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed), ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

CONCLUSION
Demographic characteristics of the corn farmers in Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines comprised men andwomen active involvement in farming, older farmers with a mean age of 52 years, most haveformal education with 51.90% high school level or graduates, majority (58.2%) are small farm
holders with an average land area of 1.93 hectares, more experience in farming with an average ofⒸ ISERD

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20 years and has membership in farmers organization (86.7%) and cooperatives (65.6%) andparticipation to GAP and GAP-related trainings with 96.3%. These characteristics towed their levelof awareness which is high or qualitatively described to have 76-100% awareness of the GAP
requirements while their compliance is moderate which is 51-75% compliant to GAP certification
requirements that subsequently deferred their application for GAP certification. Generally, the corn
farmers adopted GAPs especially in farm environment, farming practices for pre-harvesting andharvesting but their compliance to records of potential hazards in farm location, establishment offarm structures, post-handling practices, safety and precaution practices, documentation/recording
and traceability in farm management needs to be improved.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is grateful to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the study grant and to
the Nueva Vizcaya State University for the indorsement.
REFERENCES
Agricultural Training Institute (ATI). 2013. Hand-outs on the updated guidelines on GAP certification forcrops superseding. Administrative Circular, No. 10, series of 2013.
Azam, M.S. and Banumathi, M. 2015. The role of demographic factors in adopting organic farming, Alogistic model approach. International Journal of Advanced Research, 3 (8), 713-720, Retrieved http://
www.journalijar.com/uploads/560_IJAR-6817.pdf
Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS). 2011. Costs and returns of corn production. Quezon City Philippines.
Ganpat, W., Badrie, N., Walter, S., Roberts, L., Nandlal, J. and Smith, N. 2014. Compliance with good
agricultural practices (GAPs) by state-registered and non-registered vegetable farmers in Trinidad, West
Indies. Food Security, 6, 61-69, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-013-0322-4
Official Gazette of the Philippines. 2013. Republic Act 10611, An act for food safety. Retrieved fromhttps://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/08/23/republic-act-no-10611/
Philippine National Standards (PNS). 2017. Revised code of good agricultural practices (GAP) for corn.
PNS/BAFPS. Retrieved from https://bafs.da.gov.ph/bafs_admin/admin_page/pns_file/PNS%20BAFS%
2020%202018%20GAP%20Corn.pdf
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). 2014. 2013 costs and returns of corn production. Quezon City
Philippines. Retrieved from https://psa.gov.ph/site/default/files/crscorn20130Ⓒ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Evaluation of Sediment Trapping Capacity by Geotextile for
Erosion Control
SARVESH MASKEY
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

TAKANORI KANEKO
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

HIROMU OKAZAWA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: h1okazaw@nodai.ac.jp

ANTONIO PEREZ FUENTES
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanSACHIKO WATANABE
Maeda Road Construction Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

KAZUHIRO TAZAKI
Maeda Road Construction Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

TAKAHIRO SASAKI
Maeda Road Construction Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
Received 30 January 2022

Accepted 18 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Heavy precipitation events induce sediment transport resulting in soil loss,
aggravating erosion. Geotextile for erosion control, offers environmentally friendly benefits
and have lower costs than other physical structures. Recently, there has been interest in highperformance and multifunctional geotextiles. In this study, evaluation was made toinvestigate the capacity of geotextile in sediment trapping. A runoff experiment was
conducted, using a runoff plot using two types of geotextiles, having dimensions of 100 and
10 cm length and breadth respectively. Slope for the runoff plot was created at 0.859
degrees. Four treatments, for each geotextile were made. The treatments were, 1) no folds,
2) folds for 25 cm of the runoff plot, 3) folds for 50 cm of runoff plot, 4) folds for 100 cm
of the runoff plot. Muddy water suspension having Suspended Solid (SS) of 25000 mg/L
was discharged on the treatments. SS of runoff and infiltered suspension were analyzed.
According to the results, both geotextiles were effective in sediment trapping. For Sample
A, SS decreased by 88.1%, 97.16%, 99.14% and 99.15% in no folds, 25 cm fold, 50 cm
fold and 100 cm fold treatment respectively from the initial SS of the muddy watersuspension. Whereas, for Sample B, SS decreased by 87.3%, 91.87%, 98.74% and 98.34%
in no folds, 25 cm fold, 50 cm fold and 100 cm fold treatments respectively. Additionally,
SS significantly decreased in folded treatments for both geotextiles. Accordingly, it wasestablished that geotextile can function for erosion controlling with increase in folds.
However, further research is required to understand the intensity of discharge on geotextiles
for sediment trapping capacity for future applications.
Keywords geotextile, sediment trap, erosion control, suspended solidⒸ ISERD

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INTRODUCTION
Precipitation and heavy precipitation events are amongst the most significant weather parameters
inducing sediment transport aggravating soil erosion. Soil erosion is one of the biggest concerns ofland`s surface as it has many impacts in agriculture, engineering, and construction industries.
Various physical measures have been developed and used for controlling soil erosion. Geotextiles
are permeable fabrics which functions in separation, filtration, drainage, reinforcement,
stabilization, barrier, and erosion protection (Agrawal, 2011). Geotextiles helps in reducing soil
erosion by reducing runoff velocity (Balasubramanian, 2017). Physical erosion measures such as
gabions, riprap, drop structures, chutes, check dams etc., which works on principal of reducing
runoff velocity (Balasubramanian, 2017) are expensive to construct and maintain, also it takes
considerable time for construction. However, geotextiles are environmentally friendly, costeffective measure and are easy to install. Geotextiles, like mulches control soil erosion by imitating
the salient properties of vegetation (Rickson, 1990). Geotextiles can improve the surface
microclimate, retains soil moisture which promotes seed germination and vegetation growth(Bergado and Soralump, 1999). Additionally, geotextiles can control soil erosion by affecting thequantity and volume of runoff that detaches and transports the sediments. The erosion control
geotextiles are directly applied on the exposed surface which provides an immediate protection
against soil erosion by reducing flow velocity and detaching forces by impact of raindrops (GEO,
2011). In recent years, there has been interest in high performance and multifunction geotextiles.
Therefore, in this study, two geotextiles which functions in inhibiting weed growth were subjected
to determine its sediment trapping capacity potential for erosion control.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
Characteristics of Geotextile Used
The geotextiles used in this study are made up of polyester fibers having high tensile strength,
elongation capacity, water and air permeability and maintains the natural conditions of the soil. As
can be observed from the Table 1, Sample A has lower mass, thickness, tensile strength, andhorizontal elongation compared to Sample B. Whereas, water permeability and light resistance forboth the geotextiles are similar.
Table 1 Characteristics of geotextile tested
Parameters
Mass (g/m2)
Thickness (mm)Tensile strength (N/5 cm)
Vertically
Horizontally
Elongation (%)
Vertically
Horizontally
Water permeability (cm/sec)
Light resistance (%)

Sample A130
0.5

Sample B
300
1.0

343
196

882
686

32.0
28.0
1.010-2 above
9.0

35.0
40.0
1.010-2 above
9.0

Note: Data obtained from Toyobo Corp., Japan

Experiment Settings and Conditions
In this research, sediment trapping capacity of two geotextiles Sample A and Sample B were
evaluated. For this, runoff experiment was conducted using a runoff plot of 100 cm and 10 cm
length and breadth respectively having a slope gradient of 0.859 degrees (Fig. 1).
Three different treatments for each geotextile were made as shown in Table 2: 1) Control, 2)
Folds for 25 cm of the plot, 3) Folds for 50 cm of the plot, 4) Folds for 100 cm of the plot. This wasⒸ ISERD

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done to see the effectiveness of having folds on reducing the sediment flow. Runoff experiment on
the geotextile was conducted using 500 ml of muddy water suspension having Suspended Solid(SS) value of 25000 mg/L. The muddy suspension water was poured at inlet in 10 seconds. The
runoff and percolated suspension were collected, and SS was analyzed between geotextiles andtheir groups.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of runoff plot
Table 2 Treatments for the geotextiles used for this research
Sample A

Sample B

1.

Control (plain surface)Control (plain surface)2.

Folds for 25 cm of the plot

3.
4.

Folds for 50 cm of the plot
Folds for 100 cm of the plot

Folds for 25 cm of the plot
Folds for 50 cm of the plot
Folds for 100 cm of the plot

Note: Each fold was made of 2cm length

1

2

3

4

Fig. 2 Treatments made for runoff experiment
Determination of Suspended Solid and Soil Loss Reduction EffectivenessSuspended Solid of the runoff was analyzed using glass fiber filter method. In this method ameasured volume of sample (less than 1L) is passed through pre-weighted filter paper which isdried at 104C  1. After drying, the filter paper is weighed, and SS was calculated using Equation
1.
Eq. 1

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To see the difference of soil loss created by runoff in each treatment with those of the control
plots, ratios between treatments and control (Ogbobe et al., 1998) and effectiveness indexes(Sutherland, 1998) was used. For this, in this experiment, soil loss reduction effectiveness(SLRE, %) was used (Sutherland, 1998), which was calculated using Equation 2.
Eq. 2
Where, t, c, SL are treatment, control, and soil loss respectively. A positive effectivenessindicates geotextile reduces soil loss, whereas a negative effectiveness indicates geotextiles
produces more soil loss. In this experiment the value of SS is used for soil loss.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Comparison of Runoff SS between Geotextiles and Sediment Trapping Capacity
The sediment trapping capacity of the geotextiles were evaluated by the difference in initial SS of
muddy water suspension with the SS of runoff for each geotextile. Fig. 3 shows the comparisons
between the treatments. As can be observed from Fig. 3, all the treatments were effective in
reducing runoff SS. Additionally, it was observed that treatments with folds could reduce SS
significantly compared to control. However, no significant difference was seen between thegeotextiles for each treatment. Rickson, 1992, states that the random roughness of fibers
contributes to decrease in runoff velocities, thereby reducing the transport capacity and leading todeposition of particles within the geotextile fibers. It can be argued that both geotextiles may havechanged the hydraulic flow properties, trapping the sediments.

Fig. 3 Comparison of SS of runoff suspension between geotextile treatments
Comparison of Runoff and Percolated SS between in Sample A
The result for runoff SS and percolated SS is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 respectively for Sample A. As
can be observed from the results, SS for all the treatments including control decreased significantly.
In addition, it was clarified that having folds in the treatment reduced SS. This can be explained aswith increase in folds, the kinetic energy of the runoff decreases due to obstacles and friction.
Further, it was observed during the experiment that, muddy suspensions got trapped in the folds.
This deposited the sediments in the folds, significantly reducing the runoff SS. In given conditionof the experiment, folds 50 and folds 100 were more effective compared to 25 cm fold. It was also
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clarified that Sample A had filtration function. The SS of percolated suspension had very low SS
for all the treatments.

Fig. 4 Difference SS of runoff suspension
for Sample A geotextile treatments

Fig. 5 Difference in SS percolated suspension
for Sample B geotextile treatments

Comparison of Runoff and Percolated SS between in Sample B
The results for runoff and percolated SS in geotextile Sample B showed similar results to that ofSample A. The surface runoff SS decreased significantly compared to initial muddy watersuspension in all the treatments. As can be observed from Fig. 6, having folds in the textile
increased sediment trapping capacity decreasing runoff SS. Similar arguments can be made for the
sediment trapping capacity as made for geotextile Sample A. Figure 7 shows the result of
percolated SS for geotextile Sample B. Unlike Sample A, percolated SS was not observed in thisgeotextile. Geotextile Sample B is 0.5 mm thicker than geotextile Sample A (Table 1), which madethe runoff faster, resulting in less time for saturation of geotextile and percolation. On the other
hand, in folds the suspension was trapped, resulting in percolation. The percolated SS for thisgeotextile was also very low showing filtration function.

Fig. 6 Difference SS of runoff suspension
Sample B geotextile treatments

Fig. 7 Difference in SS percolated suspension
for Sample B geotextile treatments

Suspended Solid Reduction (%) and Soil Loss Reduction Effectiveness (SLRE, %)Table 3 shows the SS runoff decrease percent compared to SS of initial muddy water suspension.
For Sample A, SS decreased by 88.1%, 97.16%, 99.14% and 99.15% in no folds, 25 cm fold, 50
cm fold and 100 cm fold treatment respectively from the initial SS of the muddy water suspension.
Whereas, for geotextile Sample B, SS decreased by 87.3%, 91.87%, 98.74% and 98.34% in nofolds, 25 cm fold, 50 cm fold and 100 cm fold treatments respectively. SLRE (%) had positiveeffectiveness, showing folds in geotextiles was effective in reducing soil loss for both thegeotextiles.
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Table 3 Suspended solid reduction (%) and SLRE (%)
Sample A
Treatment

SS (mg/L)

Initial sample

25000

Control
25 cm folds
50 cm folds
100 cm folds

2974
711
213
221

% Decrease
88.1
97.16
99.14
99.15

Sample B
SS (mg/L)
SLRE (%)

25000

76.09
97.31
97.67

3193
2032
315
416

% Decrease
87.23
91.87
98.74
98.34

SLRE (%)
36.36
90.13
86.97

CONCLUSION
A runoff experiment was conducted to examine sediment trapping capacity of two geotextiles. The
results showed that both geotextiles significantly decreased the runoff and percolated SS. It wasalso observed that having folds in the geotextile increased sediment trapping capacity. In addition,soil loss reduction efficiency had high positive values for indicating soil loss reduction. Soil loss
reduction efficiency increased with increase in folds in the geotextile. With outcomes of this study,
it can be concluded that geotextiles A and B had sediment trapping capacity and can function in
reducing soil erosion. However, for future application, further studies are required with varying
runoff intensity and slope for sediment trapping capacity.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge Maeda Road Construction Co. Limited, Tokyo, Japan forproviding the geotextiles used in this study.
REFERENCES
Agrawal, B.J. 2011. Geotextile, Its application to civil engineering, Overview. In proceedings of the National
Conference on Recent Trends in Engineering and Technology, 1-6, Retrieved from https://
bvmengineering.ac.in/misc/docs/published-20papers/civilstruct/struct/101052.pdf
Balasubramanian, A. 2017. Methods of controlling soil erosion. Report No. 2, University of Mysore, India,
Retrieved from DOI 10.13140/RG.2.2.22542.97609
Bergado, D.T. and Soralump, S. 2003. Geosynthetics for erosion control and preservation of environment.
International Symposium and Short Course on Soil/Ground Improvement and Geosynthetics in Waste
Containment Structures, 2003, AIT, Thailand, Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237834251_GEOSYNTHETICS_FOR_EROSION_CONTROL_AND_PRESERVATION_OF_ENVIRONMENT
Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO). 2011. Technical guidelines on landscape treatment for slopes. GEO
Publication No. 1, Retrieved from https://cedd.gov.hk/filemanager/eng/content_151/ep1_2011.pdf
Ogbobe, O., Essien, K.S. and Adebayo, A. 1998. A study of biodegradable geotextiles used for erosion
control. Geosynthetics International, 5 (5), 545-553, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1680/gein.
5.0131
Rickson, R.J. 1990. The role of simulated vegetation in soil erosion control. In Thornes, J.B. (Ed.),
Vegetation and Erosion, Processes and Environments, 99-112, Wiley, Chichester, USA.
Rickson, R.J. and Vella, P. 1992. The application of geotextiles in the protection of grassed waterways inerosion, conservation and small-scale farming. In Hurni, H. and Tato, K. (Eds.), 415-421, Geographia
Bernesia, Bern, Switzerland.
Sutherland, R.A. 1999. Rolled erosion control systems for hillslope surface protection, A critical review,
synthesis and analysis of available data, I. background and formative years. Land Degradation andDevelopment, 9 (6), 465-486, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-145X(199811/12)
9:6<487::AID-LDR312>3.0.CO;2-UⒸ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Estimation of Long-term River Discharge in Forested
Watershed in Snowy Region by SWATSHOTARO KIKUCHI
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan

HIROMU OKAZAWA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: h1okazaw@nodai.ac.jp

SARVESH MASKEY
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, JapanSERGIO AZAEL MAY CUEVAS
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan

MAKOTO OBA
Department of Design for Social System and Living Environment,
Tohoku Institute of Thechnology, JapanSHOGO NAKAMURA
Fukushima Regional Collaborative Research Center,
National Institute for Environmental Studies, JapanSEIJI HAYASHI
Fukushima Regional Collaborative Research Center,
National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
Received 31 January 2022

Accepted 18 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Utilizing a hydrological model for analyzing the hydrological cycle throughout a river
basin is an effective method to assess the impacts of climate change on water resource
management, flood control, and agriculture. Although there are various hydrological models

developed, in this study, Soil and Water Assessment Tool plus (SWAT+) is used as it is
widely used and predicts the impacts of land use management in watershed management.
SWAT+ is a complex quasi−physically based water quality model relying on numerous
input files and parameters, thus this poses a great challenge when attempting to set up themodel manually, and there is a lack of information regarding the validation of SWAT+'s of
performance for snow accumulation and melting processes. The objective of this study is toestimate long-term streamflow in forested watershed in snowy region using SWAT+, and toverify the accuracy of the estimation and to confirm the improvement of the accuracy byadjusting parameters. In order to improve the accuracy of simulation, “the saturated
hydraulic conductivity of soil layer” and “the available water capacity of soil layer” were
adjusted for parameter of soil moisture content, moreover, we adjusted parameter oftemperature of “snowfall” and “snowmelt”. Finally, “the time of lateral flow travel” which
is difficult to measure was calibrated using the auto-calibration of SWAT+. As the results,
it was difficult to achieve high accuracy in predicting river discharge with the default
parameters of SWAT+, but some months (May-Oct) could be accurately predicted after
adjusting parameters using measured data and conducting the auto-calibration. On the other
hand, simulations during snowfall and snowmelt term (Dec-Mar) were less accurate andneed to set more detailed conditions.
Keywords SWAT, long-term river discharge, snowmelt, runoff, prediction,Ⓒ ISERD

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INTRODUCTION
With rising temperatures by climate change will threatens to disturb this balance by altering thefraction of precipitation falling as snow and the timing of snowmelt, which may have profoundeffects on food production (Qin et al., 2020). Utilizing a hydrological model for analyzing thehydrological cycle throughout a river basin is an effective method to assess the impacts of climatechange on water resource management, flood control, and agriculture. SWAT (Soil and Water
Assessment Tool) developed by USDA-ARS is a hydrological cycle model that has been usedworldwide for more than 20 years (Williams et al., 2008). In order to face present and future challenges
in SWAT code has undergone major modifications over the past few years, resulting in SWAT+, acompletely revised version of the model (Bieger et al., 2016).
SWAT+ is a complex quasi−physically based water quality model relying on numerous input files
and parameters to represent hydrologic, climatic, water quality, management, plant, and soil processes
within a watershed, thus this poses a challenge when attempting to set up the model manually (Qi and
Grunwald, 2005). Moreover, although snowmelt hydrology is an important subcomponent andprediction of snow accumulation and melting processes are one of the great challenges for SWAT+ (Qiand Grunwald, 2005), but there is a lack of information regarding the validation of SWAT+'s snowmelt
season performance (Wang and Melesse, 2005), especially studies of SWAT+ in forested watershed insnowy region are currently lacking.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to estimate long-term streamflow in forested watershed in snowy
region using SWAT+, and to verify the accuracy of the estimation and to confirm the improvementof the accuracy by adjusting parameters. For this, in this study, SWAT+ was used to simulate thedaily flow in the Hashigo River in Mishima town, Fukushima Prefecture which is a forested areawith a cold and snowy climate. The several parameters were adjusted based on measured data, andthe SWAT+ automatic parameter calibration method was conducted to improve the accuracy ofmodel. The calculated river discharge was verified by comparing with the observed.
METHODOLOGY
General Description of Study Site
The study site is the Hashigo River watershed in Mishima Town in Fukushima Prefecture (Fig.1).
Hashigo River is a tributary of the Tadami River. The watershed locates at latitude 37.50o - 37.47o,longitude 139.62o-139.63o and range of altitude 350-370 m. Watershed area is 2.85 km2, mostly
covered by mountainous forest (Table 1). The watershed has 0.4% of paddy field which is locatedalong the main river. Annual mean daily temperature, minimum and maximum daily temperature is
10.6°C, 6.9°C and 15.3°C. The snowfall period is from December to February, and the snowmelt
period is from March to April. Rainfall is relatively heavy during the rainy season from June toJuly, and typhoons are more frequent from September to October. Annual precipitation (20192020) was 1,632 mm in 2019 and 1,340 mm in 2020.
Table 1 Land-use of the target watershed
Watershed area
(km2)
2.85

Forest98.4

Land-use (%)
Grass land
Paddy field
1.2
0.4

River length
(km)
2.5

Data Analysis Using SWAT+
SWAT creates objects called Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs), which are lumped areas within asubbasin with a combination of land use, soil type, and slope, etc., for simulating all hydrologicⒸ ISERD

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processes occurring in the landscape (Bieger et al.,2016). SWAT+ also introduces Landscape Units(LSUs), which allow for the separation of lowland (wetland) processes from upland processes. The
use of LSUs allows for a more detailed classification of HRUs compared to SWAT and increases
the number of HRUs. (Kakarndee et al., 2020).

Fig. 1 Location of target watershed (Hashigo River)
The modeling process adopts the water balance method, which is expressed as follows (1).

(1)
Where SWt is the final soil water content (mm), SW0 is the initial soil water content on day(mm), t is the time (day), Rday is the amount of precipitation on day (mm), Qsurf is the amount of
surface runoff on day (mm), Ea is the amount of evapotranspiration on day (mm), Wseep is theamount of water entering the unsaturated zone from the soil profile on day (mm), Qgw is the amountof return flow on day (mm).
The subdivision of the watershed enables the model to reflect differences in evapotranspiration for various crops and soils. Runoff is predicted separately for each HRU and routed toobtain the total runoff for the watershed. This increases accuracy and gives a much better physicaldescription of the water balance (Neitsch et al., 2009). The surface runoff is estimated using the
NRCS Curve Number (CN) method (2).
(2)
Where Qsurf is the surface runoff or rainfall excess (mm), Rday is the rainfall depth for the day(mm), Ia is the initial abstraction (surface storage, interception, and infiltration prior to runoff)(mm), S is the retention parameter (mm).
The retention parameter depends on topography (slope), soil, land-use, management practices,and changes with the time due to soil water content (3).
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Where CN is the NRCS curve number corresponding to antecedent water content, soil
infiltration, land-use and land management conditions (Kakarndee et al., 2020).
Evaluation of the Simulated Data
The Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) is used to indicate the degree of fit between thesimulation and observed values (4).
(4)
Where EV is error variance (squared of observation value minus simulation value) and n is
number of observation days.
The Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) is a normalized statistic that determines the relative
magnitude of the residual variance compared to the measured data variance.
(5)
Where Qsim is the simulated value (m3/s), Qobs is the observed value (m3/s), and Qave is theaverage of observed value for the term of simulation (m3/s).
Qsim and Qobs are respectively the simulated and observed streamflow at time step (m3/s), P
and Q are the corresponding means of the simulated and observed streamflow over the entire
period (m3/s), and n is the total number of streamflow data points.
Description of Spatial Data
The spatial data used in SWAT+ are Digital Elevation Model (DEM), soil and land-use data. 10
meters resolution elevation data obtained from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI)
was used for DEM. Soil maps were obtained from the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences(NIAS)’s basic land classification survey data (Shapefile, 1:200,000). The default parameters in
SWAT+ database was used for soil parameters. The High-Resolution Land Use and Land Cover
Map of Japan (10 m grid size) prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and
Earth Observation Research Center (EORC) was used for the land-use data. A 5% threshold area
was used to define HRUs applying a 5% threshold means that land-uses, soils and slope ranges
whose areas are less than 5% of the subbasin area are eliminated from HRU formation within eachsubbasin. A total of 123 HRUs were created using these spatial data, 45 of which were defined as
actual HURs.
Description of Temporal Data
Daily data for discharge of river (measured at 10-minute intervals) and rainfall, maximum andminimum temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed were measured
automatically by networked weather station. The meteorological data are for the years February
2019 to December 2020. In this study, Penman-Monteith was used as the calculation method forevapotranspiration (Okazawa and Takeuchi, 2016).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Simulation of Daily River Discharge
The SWAT+ model was built from the above data. In the first calculation, the default parameters of
SWAT database were used for the parameters, and the calculation period was set from FebruaryⒸ ISERD108

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2019 to December 2020. The calculation results are shown in Fig. 2. The peak river dischargeduring the rainfall event is higher than Observed value. In addition, the river discharge duringsnowmelt events (From February to April in 2019 and 2020) is lower than observed data, and thesnowmelt rate is not properly reproduced.
Precipitation

Simulation (Default)

Observed

1000

0

100

10
200

1
300

0.1
400

Precipitation(mm)River Discharge(m3/s)

100

0.01
500

0.001

01/12/2020

01/11/2020

01/10/2020

01/09/2020

01/08/2020

01/07/2020

01/06/2020

01/05/2020

01/04/2020

01/03/2020

01/02/2020

01/01/2020

01/12/2019

01/11/2019

01/10/2019

01/09/2019

01/08/2019

01/07/2019

01/06/2019

01/05/2019

01/04/2019

01/03/2019

600
01/02/2019

0.0001

Fig. 2 River discharge of the first simulation results
Simulation after Adjusting Parameters
Comparing the first simulation and observed value, most of the data between December and March
was rainfall, and snowfall and snowmelt were not properly reproduced, thus the parameter ofsnowmelt and snowfall temperature needed to be adjusted. Using the meteorological data which
was maximum temperature, average temperature, and snow depth collected at 10-minute intervals
by a networked weather station, the snowfall temperature (fall_tmp) and snowmelt (melt_tmp)
were calculated to replace the default parameters (fall_tmp: 1.0°C, melt_tmp: 0.5°C). The snowfall
temperature was set to the average temperature (2.51°C) on days when there was snowfall(November and March within 2019-2020). The snowmelt temperature was set to the maximum
temperature (2.71°C) on days when there was no rain (during December-February 2019-2020) andthe snow depth decreased by at least 1 cm.
The peak river discharge of surface runoff in the first simulation was higher than observed
data, and it was assumed that parameter of infiltration was not properly recognized in default
settings. Therefore, the default parameter which were the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil
layer (soil_k) and the available water capacity of soil layer (awc) were adjusted using the soil data
surveyed by the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences of Japan. The data was input for the
first layer (soil_k: 159.84 mm/hr, awc: 0.70 mm/mm) and the second layer (soil_k: 25.20 mm/hr,
awc: 0.67 mm/mm).
Simulation After Auto Calibration
In addition to the adjustment of the above parameters, a calibration was conducted using the
SWAT+ auto-calibration. The auto-calibration uses the observed value to correct the parameters
and improves the value of NSE, RMSE and MSE by repeating the simulation. The auto-calibration
can be selected from NSE, RMSE and MSE. In this study, NSE was selected for the autocalibration. The parameters calibrated for the auto-calibration are those that are difficult to measureand input. In this study, the time of lateral flow travel (lat_time) was calibrated because the time lag
between rainfall and groundwater retention time or direct runoff is difficult to measure. The resultsof adjusting the parameters and the results of automatic calibration of lat_time are shown in Fig. 3.

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Observed

Adjusted Prameter

Auto-Calibration

01/12/2020

01/11/2020

01/10/2020

01/09/2020

01/08/2020

01/07/2020

01/06/2020

01/05/2020

01/04/2020

01/03/2020

01/06/2019

01/02/2020

600
01/01/2020

0.001

01/12/2019

500

01/11/2019

0.01

01/10/2019

400

01/09/2019

0.1

01/08/2019

300

01/07/2019

1

01/05/2019

200

01/04/2019

10

01/03/2019

100

01/02/2019

100

River Discharge(m3/s)0Precipitation(mm)Precipitation
1000

Fig. 3 River discharge of the simulation after calibration of parameters
The river discharge after the calibration within February to April was closer than the firstsimulation to the observed data. The calibration slowed the decrease in the river discharge after the
peak of flow and increased the correlation between simulated and observed values
Accuracy of the Obtained Result
The NSE for each month were calculated from the simulation results of the default parameter,adjusted parameter, and auto-calibration. The results are shown in Fig. 4, where the NSE is anevaluation index that takes into account the variability, and the closer the value is to 1, the highest
accuracy. Within Snowfall season (Dec-Feb) and snowmelt season (Mar-Apr), the value of NSE islow, indicating low accuracy. The accuracy of the adjusted parameter and auto-calibration wereshown to be improved over the default parameter in NSE. The accuracy is relatively good during
the season when there was not much rainfall, while the accuracy tends to decrease from thesnowfall season to the snowmelt season (Apr-Dec). The results of calculating the NSE for whole
period are -0.70 for default parameter, -0.02 for adjusted parameter, and 0.27 for auto-calibration.
The RMSE for each month were calculated from the simulation results of the default parameter,adjusted parameter, and auto-calibration.
1.0

0.0
-1.0

NSE

-2.0
-3.0
-4.0
-5.0
-6.0
-7.0

Default

Adjusted

Auto-Calibration

Dec-20Nov-20

Oct-20

Sep-20Aug-20Jul-20Jun-20May-20

Apr-20Mar-20Feb-20Jan-20Dec-19Oct-19Sep-19Aug-19Jul-19Jun-19

May-19Apr-19Mar-19Feb-19

Nov-19-8.0

Fig. 4 The monthly NSE of river discharge for each simulation
The results are shown in Fig. 5. The best value of RMSE is 0, which is an evaluation index
that emphasizes the difference between the actual value and the observed value. During rainfall
events, the value of RMSE is high and the accuracy is evaluated to be low. During low rainfall
events, the river discharge is low and the accuracy is better because the difference between
observed and predicted values become smaller. The RMSE of auto-calibration has lower values
overall and is rated at higher accuracy compared to the other simulations. The RMSE for the whole
period was calculated to be 0.21 for the Default parameter, 0.16 for the adjusted parameter, andⒸ ISERD

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0.14 for the auto-calibration.
In the simulation with default parameters, NSE is negative in most months. On the other hand,by adjusting parameters and conducting auto-calibration, some months showed NSE are more than
0.5. RMSE was improved even when auto-calibration was conducted based on NSE. NSE duringsnowfall and snowmelt (Dec-Mar) is lower than other term, even with parameter adjustments andauto-calibration. It was shown that except for the snowfall and snowmelt season, reproducibility of
the river discharge can be secured.
0.8
Default

Adjusted

Auto-Calibration

RMSE

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
Dec-20Nov-20

Oct-20

Sep-20Aug-20Jul-20Jun-20May-20

Apr-20Mar-20Feb-20Jan-20Dec-19

Nov-19Oct-19Sep-19Aug-19Jul-19Jun-19

May-19Apr-19Mar-19Feb-19Fig. 5 The monthly RMSE of river discharge for each simulation
CONCLUSION
The accuracy of SWAT+ in forested snowfall areas was verified by simulating river discharge inthe Hashigo river in Mishima town, Fukushima prefecture. According to the results, although it wasdifficult to secure high reproducibility in simulations using default parameters, the accuracy ofsimulations could be improved by adjusting parameters and conducting auto-calibration. In thisstudy, soil data could not be measured, thus the accuracy of the simulation would be improved byusing the actual measured soil data. RMSE was improved even when auto-calibration was
performed based on NSE in this study, on the other hand, it is necessary to select the autocalibration criteria among NSE, RMSE, and MSE according to the purpose because eachcalibration criteria have different characteristic. It is quite difficult to ensure reproducibility ofsimulations during the snowfall and snowmelt season compared to other because of the complexityof conditions such as different elevations and slopes, thus to ensure reproducibility of snowfall andsnowmelt, setting more detailed conditions are needed for prediction using SWAT+. Although thesimulation period was from February 2019 through December 2020, weather and flow data willcontinue to be measured to verify the accuracy of the simulation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by the Fukushima Regional Collaborative Research Center (FRECC)
in the National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES) and by Tokyo University of Agriculture
as the 2021 Doctoral Research Grant Program of the Research Institute for Agricultural and Life
Sciences, and the Strategic Research Project.
REFERENCES
Bieger, K., Arnold, J.G., Rathjens, H., White, M.J., Bosch, D.D., Allen, P.M., Volk, M. and Srinivasan, R.
2016. Introduction to SWAT+, A completely restructured version of the soil and water assessment tool.
Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 53 (1), 115-130, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12482
Kakarndee, I. and Kositsakulchai, E. 2020. Comparison between SWAT and SWAT+ for simulating
streamflow in a paddy-field-dominated basin, Northeast Thailand. E3S Web of Conferences, 187, 06002,Ⓒ ISERD

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Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202018706002
Neitsch, S.L., Arnold, J.G. Kiniry, J.R and Williams, J.R. 2009. Soil and water assessment tool theoretical
documentation version 2009. Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory, Agricultural ResearchService, USA, Retrieved from https://swat.tamu.edu/media/99192/swat2009-theory.pdf
Okazawa, H. and Takeuchi, Y. 2016. Influence of meteorological variable combinations on reference
evapotranspiration estimated by the FAO56 Penman-Monteith Method. International Journal ofEnvironmental and Rural Development, 7 (2), 147-153, Retrieved from https://www.iserd.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/7-2-24.pdf
Qi, C. and Grunwald, S. 2005. GIS-based hydrologic modeling in the Sandusky watershed using SWAT.
Transactions of the ASAE, 48 (1), 169-180, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.17960
Qin, Y., Abatzoglou, J.T., Siebert, S., Huning, L.S., AghaKouchak, A., Mankin, J.S., Hong, C., Tong, D.,
Davis, S.J. and Mueller, N.D. 2020. Agricultural risks from changing snowmelt. Nature Climate Change,
10 (5), 459-465, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0746-8
Wang, X. and Melesse, A.M. 2005. Evaluation of the SWAT model’s snowmelt hydrology in a Northwestern
Minnesota watershed. Transactions of the ASAE, 48 (4), 1359-1376. Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.19194
Williams, J.R., Arnold, J.G., Kiniry, J.R., Gassman, P.W. and Green, C.H. 2008. History of model
development at temple, Texas. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 53 (5), 948-960, Retrieved fromhttps://doi.org /10.1623/hysj.53.5.948Ⓒ ISERD112

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2022) 13-2

Research article
erd

Sustainability of the Implementation of Solid Waste
Management: A Comparative Study
MA. MAGDALENA J. BERNALES*
Bohol Island State University, Candijay, Philippines
Email: mamagdalena.bernales@bisu.edu.ph

JAKE C. MALON
Bohol Island State University, Candijay, Philippines
Received 28 February 2022

Accepted 25 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract This study aimed to compare the status of implementation of the Solid Waste
Management (SWM) in the Municipality of Candijay, Bohol, Philippines for the year 2015
and 2020 to find ways for the sustainability of the implementation of the Town’s Solid
Waste Management. Wastes were collected monthly for one year from the five sampledbarangays with 122 households. Field investigations, on-site waste measurements andcharacterizations were conducted. This is a mixed method employing QUANT-Qualapproach. Descriptive statistics which include percentages, and weighted mean were used
for the quantitative approach while narrative analysis for the qualitative was used. The
results revealed that from the previous data of SWM implementation found out that the
average biodegradable waste generated in the year 2015 which was 46.14% decreased to
10.94% as a result of home proper waste disposal. Likewise, the recyclable waste which
had 27.27%, the number decreased to 26.08%. Since residual wastes should be collected,
the collection increased to 59.85% from 15.42% due to acquisition of additional garbage
trucks. For special waste, from 11.16% previously collected, it decreased to 3.13%. Therewas significant difference between the biodegradable, residual and special wastes. In thepresent SWM implementation, innovation played an important role in recycling wastematerials. Shredded plastics and crashed glasses were converted into mixture to create
concrete products. The shredded biodegradable wastes were converted into organic
fertilizers. The produce out of these shredded materials were used to generate income which
played an important role to sustain the solid waste implementation. Thusly, the level of
implementation was already properly practiced. Solid Waste Management had employedorganizational structure for implementation and dissemination of personnel’s function.
Additional equipment and personnel were acquired. To sustain the proper SWM, recycling
equipment, public awareness, funding, expertise of personnel, equipment and facilities,
innovations and other provisions must be provided.
Keywords implementation, innovation, solid waste management, waste characterization

INTRODUCTION
With fast growing population and lack of adequate disposal sites, solid waste has become a major
problem for most medium to large-size cities in the Philippines. In recent years, inadequate solid
waste management systems have posed serious health risks particularly in densely populated areas.
The increasing problem on waste management in almost all communities across the country
was due to the uncontrolled population growth, coupled with rapid urbanization andindustrialization, have become the primary thrust of the national government (National Solid Waste
Management Commission and D.E.N.R., 2004). In addition, the low level of environmental literacy
and awareness of the public, partly contributed to the difficulties in implementing and enforcing
environmental laws and policy, particularly, laws on cleanliness and sanitation (Jaworski and
DENR as cited by Reyes and Furto, 2013). The common observation is that people are apathetic
and indifferent toward wastes issues.
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In the Asian region, inadequate solid waste management and disposal practices combined withthe tropical climatic condition resulted in an increasing environmental problem (Visvanathan et. al.,2004). In addition, in many rural areas, the lack of environmentally friendly, sustainable andaffordable waste management has led to the widespread practice of open dumping and open
burning of solid waste (Wilson, 2011). These are the easiest and considered to be the cheapest
methods of removing waste from the immediate environment. This predicament made an enormous
impact to public health and the environment. While the collection of solid wastes is the
responsibility of the local government units (LGUs), these LGUs cannot do it alone. There should
be a partnership with other institutions such as the academe, non-government organizations(NGOs), and the community (Machado, 2012). The academe can assist the LGUs throughinformation, education, and communication (IEC) activities. The problem of solid waste and its
management has become a genuine concern of the province of Bohol, Central Visayas, Philippines.
In response to the waste problem, the local government of Candijay has adopted measures inthe development and implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management program. With
this, the researchers were triggered to conduct a comparative study to find out the status of
implementation of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) in the Municipality of Candijay, Bohol,
Philippines for the year 2015 and 2020 and look forward on finding ways for the sustainability of
the implementation of the Town’s Solid Waste Management.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to compare the status of implementation of the Solid Waste Management (SWM)
in the Municipality of Candijay, Bohol, Philippines for the year 2015 and 2020 to find out thesustainability of Town’s Solid Waste Management practices.
METHODOLOGY
The study was carried out in the municipality of Candijay, Bohol, Philippines to determine theaverage weight of waste generated daily by the household. The data gathered shall be the basis informulating the 10-year Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM) plan of the municipality.
This is a mixed method employing QUANT-Qual approach. Descriptive statistics which
include percentages, and weighted mean were used for the quantitative approach while narrative
analysis for the qualitative interpretation of information was used. It involved the residents of theselected barangays in the municipality of Candijay as the respondents. Random sampling was used
to select the possible barangays to be included in the study. Using Slovin’s formula, the researchers
used a sample of four (4) barangays with the total number of one hundred twenty-two (122)household respondents and five hundred forty-two (542) household members.
The researchers adopted the questionnaire of Reyes and Furto (2013) and the Questionnaire
for solid waste management survey World Health Organization (WHO) 1996 on the level of
implementation of proper and improper solid waste management. Minor revisions were made on
the questionnaires in order to answer the questioned variable of the study. Since the questionnaire isan adopted one, there is no need to do pilot testing of the said questionnaire. The researcher asked
permission to the Municipality’s ESWM to disseminate the questionnaire to the selected Barangays.
The respondents were also informed about the nature of the study upon the dissemination of thequestionnaires.
For analyzing and quantifying the waste generated, respondents were given four (4) plasticbags of different colors like green, blue, yellow and red for biodegradable, recyclable, residual, andspecial waste respectively. Wastes were collected daily for successive three days and measured
according to type. Wastes were segregated in every household before hauling to the dumpsite.
Weighing according to type as biodegradable, recyclable, residual and special waste was done in
the dumpsite. For qualitative aspects, narrative analysis was also employed, since the study
involved interview with the selected informants.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 exhibits the Comparison on the level of implementation of proper SWM practices of theresidents. There were six (6) items which were moderately practiced in the year 2015 that changed
to fully practiced in the year 2020. The residents were observed to fully practice the segregation of
biodegradable from non-biodegradable, selling of bottles, plastics, cans and other scraps tojunkshops reusing of reusable materials, reducing of waste and avoiding the use of toxic andhazardous materials and chemicals. From the four (4) slightly practiced solid waste management in
the year 2015, it can be seen that these practices were already fully practiced except for recycling
which was moderately practiced. The study of (Atienza, 2013) pointed out that the lack ofinfrastructure for efficient transportation contributed in the inefficient implementation andineffective monitoring of waste management program which was already addressed by themunicipal solid waste management with the cooperation of the people in the community.
11.16%

Waste Composition(%)
Biodegradable

15.42%

46.14%

Recyclable

ResidualSpecial27.27%

Fig. 1-A Composition of waste generated during 2015

3.13%

Waste Composition(%)
10.94%

Biodegradable
Recyclable

26.08%

Residual

59.85%

SpecialFig. 1-B Composition of waste generated during 2020
Table 1 Level of implementation of proper solid waste management practices (N=122)
Items
1. Segregating of biodegradable from nonbiodegradable wastes
2. Collecting of garbage by the municipal truck
3. Selling of bottles, plastics, cans and other scraps tojunkshops
4. Reusing of reusable materials

Weighted Mean
2015
2020

Descriptive Value
2015
2020

3.01

3.6

MP

FP

2.41

3.5

SP

FP

3.01

3.5

MP

FP

2.51

3.7

MP

FP

5. Reducing of waste

2.50

3.6

MP

FP

6. Recycling

2.40

3.8

SP

MP

7. Feeding left over foods to pets
8. Avoiding the use of toxic and hazardous materials
or chemicals
9. Composting

3.60

3.9

FP

FP

2.81

3.6

MP

FP

2.42

3.7

SP

FP

10. Providing of garbage receptacles to public areas

2.39

3.9

SP

FP

Composite mean

2.70

3.68

MP

FP

Range: 1.0-1.49: not practiced (NP), 1.5-2.49: slightly practiced (SP), 2.5-3.49: moderately practiced (MP),3.5- 4.0: fully practiced (FP)Ⓒ ISERD

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Table 2 Improper solid waste management practices (N=122)
Weighted mean
2015
2020

Items

Descriptive value
2015
2020

1. Burning of garbage in every household
3.01
2.1
MP
SP
2. Dumping garbage in rivers.
1.30
1.1
NP
NP
3. Paying somebody to throw garbage anywhere far
1.35
1.15
NP
NP
from their residence
4. Burying of hazardous waste underground
2.03
1.5
SP
NP
Composite mean
1.92
1.46
SP
NP
Range: 1.0-1.49: not practiced (NP), 1.5-2.49: slightly practiced (SP), 2.5-3.49: moderately practiced (MP),3.5- 4.0: fully practiced (FP)

Rank
1
4
3
2

Table 2 presents the transition of the level of implementation of improper solid waste
management. In the year 2015, burning of garbage in every household was moderately practiced,
however, as compared to the year 2020 this kind of act was change to slightly practice. Burying of
hazardous wastes underground was slightly practiced in the year 2015 and in the latest data in theyear 2020, this was not anymore practiced. It was worth to note that dumping of garbage in rivers
and paying somebody to throw garbage anywhere far from their residence were remained notpracticed. The household respondents were already concerned with the effects of the emitted smokeon the atmosphere and to the health of the people. With the effort of the town’s solid waste
management office through information dissemination, the residents were not anymore practicing
the burying of hazardous wastes underground. According to (Reyes and Furto, 2013) though thesematerials are buried, there are still harmful effects to the people’s health but not as much as thosewhich are exposed above the ground.
Table 3 Problems encountered in the implementation of solid waste management (N=122)
Weighted
Descriptive
Rank
mean
value
1. Increasing population
2.55
S
6
2. Public Indifference (Public don’t care)
2.56
S
5
3. Inefficient collection of garbage
2.04
S
10
4. Lack of financial resources
3.5
VS
3.5
5. Lack of authority to make financial decision
2.3
NS
10
6. Non-operation of good disposal
2.4NS
9
7. Lack of trained personnel
3.5
VS
3.5
8. Lack of enforcement measure and capability
3.6VS2
9. Foul odor of the open dumpsites that is hazardous to health
3.7
VS1
9. Lack of awareness among the people regarding SWM
2.44
NS
8
10. Lack of training on proper solid waste management practices
2.48
NS
7
Composite mean
3.10
S
Range: 1.0-1.49: not a problem (NP), 1.5-2.49: not so serious (NS), 2.5-3.49: serious (S), 3.5-4.0: very serious (VS)
Items

Table 3 shows that item number 9 “Foul odor of the open dumpsites which were hazardous tohealth” got the highest rank with a weighted mean of 3.7 with descriptive value of very serious.
The next in rank is the lack of enforcement measure and capability had a weighted mean of 3.6
with a descriptive rating of very serious. The lowest was on the item number 5 “lack of authority
to make financial decision” with a weighed mean of 2.3, not serious. The overall perception of the
respondents in terms of the problems encountered is serious with a weighted mean of 3.10. It
implies that lack of enforcement measure and capability, trained personnel and financial resources
are encountered very seriously by the respondents. Problems such as increasing population, public
indifference were encountered in a serious manner while lack of training on proper solid waste
management practices is encountered not seriously. The result of the study is supported by thestudy of (Ali et. al., 2013) entitled open dumping of municipal solid waste and its hazardous
impacts on soil and vegetation diversity at waste dumping sites of Islamabad city wherein the main
environmental problem associated with the disposal site is the potential risk to the soil.

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Table 4 Difference of waste generation by weight in terms of grams and level of
implementation of solid waste management practices
Items
Proper and Improper Solid waste
Management Practices
Waste Generation

F computed

F tableInterpretation-29.797.815

Significant

10.14

7.815

Significant

Table 4 presents the difference on the level of implementation of solid waste management
practices among the different barangays in the municipality of Candijay. It can be gleaned from thetable that the computed F values of proper and improper solid waste management practices andwaste generation were -29.79 and 10.14 respectively which is beyond and greater than the tabular
value of 7.815 at 0.05 level of significance. Thus, the null hypothesis of no significant difference isrejected. This means that there is a difference that exists on the level of implementation of solid
waste management. Differences were indicated from the result using Kruskall Wallis test. There
was a difference that exists on the level of implementation of solid waste generated among thedifferent barangay. This could be due to the factors such as location, population, facilities andpossibly to the income of the community. Densely populated barangays like Poblacion and
Cogtong generate more solid waste making their SWM practices different from those scarcely
populated as in Tugas and San Isidro. It is where the difference lies in terms of weight of waste
generated. Moreover, Cogtong is a coastal barangay where in the respondents may throw theirwaste in the seas aside from burning. In addition to that there is a part of Poblacion that is adjacentto the river where waste can be found.
Improvement Highlights
The average biodegradable waste generated in the year 2015 which was 46.14% decreased to
10.94% in the year 2020 as a result of home proper waste disposal. Likewise, the recyclable waste
which had 27.27%, the number decreased to 26.08%. Since residual wastes should be collected, the2020 collection increased to 59.85% from 15.42% in the year 2015, this is because of theacquisition of additional garbage trucks. For special waste, from 11.16% previously collected, it
decreased to 3.13% in the year 2020. For this, it can be deduced that there was significant
difference between the biodegradable, residual and special wastes. In the present SWM
implementation, innovation played an important role in recycling waste materials. Based on the2015 data, there were problems identified in the implementation on the management of the solid
waste in the town of Candijay. These identified problems were considered as the immediateconcern which needed to be eradicated. In 2020, through observation in the locale and interview ofthe selected individuals, it was found out that in the present SWM implementation, innovation
played an important role in recycling waste materials. Acquisition of shredder for biodegradable,
plastics and glass waste materials were already realized. Shredded plastics and crashed glasses
were converted into mixture to create concrete products like bricks and hallow blocks. On the other
hand, the shredded biodegradable wastes were converted into organic fertilizers. The produce outof these shredded materials were used to generate income which played an important role to sustain
the solid waste implementation. Thusly, the level of implementation was already properly practiced.
Solid Waste Management had employed organizational structure for implementation anddissemination of personnel’s function. Additional equipment and personnel were acquired. To
sustain the proper SWM, recycling equipment, public awareness, funding, expertise of personnel,
equipment and facilities, innovations and other provisions were already provided
CONCLUSION
Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are drawn: a) the most produced
waste in the 2015 was the biodegradable which was tremendously reduced in the 2020 data b) thelevel of implementation on proper solid waste management by the residents was already fullyⒸ ISERD

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practiced while Improper Solid Waste Management was never practiced yet there were still few
household who slightly practiced the burning of waste c) because of the identified problems
encountered in the implementation of solid waste management in the year 2020, the concerned
agency addressed these problem through the following; close monitoring of the open dumpsitewhich caused unpleasant odors, provide enforcement measure and capabilities, acquiring of welltrained personnel and financial resources, efficient collection of garbage to a maximum level d)different barangays in the municipality of Candijay had unified scheme in responding theimplementation of solid waste management e) mandate households to do recycling of therecyclable waste materials, f) with the effectiveness of the SWM implementation and serious
reinforcement of the concerned agency, it’s level of implementation of solid waste management
practices was fully practiced and dramatically improved which turned out as the key for
implementation sustainability.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the following; Municipal Mayor of Candijay, Bohol, Philippines throughMunicipal Planning and Development Office (MPDO), The Office of the Sangguniang Bayan(Municipal Council), Municipality of Candijay, Province of Bohol for providing the documents
needed in the study, Municipal Ecological Solid Wastes Management and MENRO office.
REFERENCES
Ali, S.M., Pervaiz, A., Afzal, B. Hamid, N. and Yasmin, A. 2014. Open dumping of municipal solid waste
and its hazardous impacts on soil and vegetation diversity at waste dumping sites of Islamabad city.
Journal of King Saud University - Science, 26 (1), 59-65, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2013.08.003
Atienza, V. 2013. Review of the management system in the Philippines, Initiatives to promote waste
segregation and recycling through good governance. Kojima and Michida (Eds.), Economic Integration
and Recycling in Asia, An Interim Report, Chosakenkyu Hokokusho, Institute Developing Economics,
65-97, Retrieved from https://www.nswai.org/docs/Review%20of%20the%20Waste%20Management%
20System%20in%20the%20Philippines.pdf
Bahadir, A. 2013. The importance of energy and the use of energy as a power of factor. Journal of Energy
Technologies and Policy, Special issue for International Conference on Energy, Environment andSustainable Economy, 3 (11), 6-15, Retrieved from https://www.iiste.org/vol-3-no-11-2013-journal-ofenergy-technologies-and-policy/
Chiemchaisri, C., Juanga, J.P. and Visvanathan, C. 2004. Municipal solid waste management in Thailand anddisposal emission inventory. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 135, 13-20, Retrieved from
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-9707-1
Machado, T.M. 2012. Challenge on municipal solid waste management in Cagayan de Oro city, mulberry
suites, Cagayan de Oro city. Retrieved From https://pcieerd.dost.gov.ph/images/downloads/presentation_materials/gmi_06272012/07_SWM_of_CDO_Machado.pdf
Reyes, P.B. and Furto, M.V. 2013. Greening of the solid waste management in Batangas city. Journal ofEnergy Technologies and Policy, Special issue for International Conference on Energy, Environment andSustainable Economy, 3 (11), 187-194, Retrieved from https://research.lpubatangas.edu.ph/wp-content/
uploads/2014/04/JETP-Greening-of-the-Solid-Waste-Management.pdf
Wilson, D.C. 2011. Acting alone to partnerships, Strategic approach for sustainable municipal waste
management. UN-Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), International Conference on
Building Partnerships for Moving toward Zero Waste, Retrieved from https://www.uncrd.or.jp/
World Health Organization (WHO). 1996. Questionnaire for Solid Waste Management Survey. Retrieved
from https://www.academia.edu/28925080/Questionnaire_for_Solid_Waste_Management_SurveyⒸ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Disparity in Quality of Life and Education Attainment ofChildren within the Tea Sector: Case Study in Low-Countryin Sri Lanka
YUKO FUKUDA*
Organization for the Strategic Coordination of Research and Intellectual Properties,
Meiji University, Ikuta, Japan
E-mail: yukotsu70@yahoo.co.jp

EIJI YAMAJI
Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
Received 2 February 2022

Accepted 25 July 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract In Sri Lanka, household income and living standards in the estate sector are lower
than those in other sectors. The tea sector is an important industry in the estate sector, where
the structure has changed over time, with an increase in smallholders and improvements inliving conditions. This change has made the living environment and educational
opportunities within the tea sector no longer uniform. This paper aims to identify thedisparity in quality of life and education attainment of children and attempts to describe thestructure of the differences behind these disparities by focusing on the three management
types. Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to this analysis. Primary data for
302 households were collected between 2013 and 2015. Six indicators of the environment
surrounding children and two indices of education attainment were used. Four indicatorsshow statistically significant disparities among management types. A comparison between
the six indicators and management types indicates that people on the PEs are more likely tolive under the low quality of life and face the difficulties, which are related to the social
structure of the management type to which the households belong.
Keywords children, disparity, quality of life, education, tea sector

INTRODUCTION
This study focuses on the environment surrounding children and the education attainment ofchildren between management types in the tea sector. Sri Lanka has been a transit point for tradefor centuries, and was colonized by Western countries in the early 16th century. Tea was developed
as a colonial plantation crop by the British Empire. After independence in the 1970s, large-scale
estates were nationalized, and later, their management was privatized. Concurrently, private estates
could expand the cultivation area, and smallholders have been encouraged to join the tea
cultivation, so that the management types of tea cultivation have been no longer uniform. The
transition to a market-based economy in1990s and the end of the civil war in 2009 led to social
development and diversification of people's values, which also have expanded the employment
opportunities outside the estates. Today, people need to have more than a basic education to workand live outside the estates.
Many studies have reported on the living environment and education attainment of children
living on estates as well as on the recent improvements in estates, while there have been few
comparative studies focusing on the management type. This study attempts to delineate thedifferences in quality of life and education attainment of children based on management type. The
context and structure behind these differences have also been described.
MATERIALS AND METHODSⒸ ISERD

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A descriptive design was applied to this analysis. The results presented in this paper are based on
the quantitative and qualitative methods of primary data collection. Questionnaires and interviews
were collected between 2013 and 2015 in Kotapola Division, located in the northern part of the
Matara district, where the tea sector is economically important. Tea cultivation in this area iscarried out by Regional Plantation Company-RPC, Private Estate-PE, and Individual Farmer-IF.1
The sample size is 302 housing units, comprising 103 households in 2 RPCs, 100 on 19 PEs, and in
99 IFs in a total of 11 villages. Table 1 shows an overview of children aged 5-17, target children are
196 in RPCs, 205 on PEs, and 133 in IFs.
Table 1 Number of households, people andchildren
RPC

PE

IFs

Household:People:

103
491

100
480

99
424

Children:106 (Boy)
90 (Girl)

117 (Boy)
88 (Girl)

72 (Boy)
61 (Girl)

Fig. 1 Location of Morowaka and Deniyaya
The questionnaire is based on the Child Activity Survey 2008/09 (CAS 08/09),2 which was
jointly conducted by the Sri Lankan government and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
This study used the same variables as in the CAS 08/09. The quantitative analysis used theenvironment and education attainment as the dependent variables and the management type as theindependent variable, and conducted a χ-square test3 to find the differences in the environment andeducation attainment among management types. The environment surrounding children consists of
six indicators: a. household income, b. head of household education level, c. housing condition, d.
environmental safety, e. economic activities and f. housework activities of children. The education
attainment consists of two indices: attendance and repeated years/dropouts.
FINDINGS
1. Environment Surrounding Children
Quality of life is an important aspect of individual well-being. Indicators a and b focus on thehousehold condition, selecting the economic status of the household and the educational
achievement of the head of the household. Indicators c and d focus on living conditions, selecting
the variables of privacy and settlement status, and safe and sanitary environment. Indicators e and fboth focus on the activity status of children at home, selecting economic activities to earn income
and housework activities for family.

1 The RPCs were composed of 12-29 estates and managed 15,000-25,000ac of cultivated land, but they had not enoughassets, which prevented funding for new investments, causing difficulties in management (Nihal 2011). In order toimprove the RPCs' management, privatization was carried out in 1995 through the sale of 51% of the controlling interestin each, initially 20 RPCs were privatized and later 3 RPCs were added (ADB 2004). Their tea land is currently leased
from the government for 99 years, and 286 plantations are managed by 23 RPCs (MPI 2012). Between 1951 and 2005,
the number of small farmers increased by 368%, while estates with 100ac or more declined by 57% (Herath andWeersink 2007). The present management type is State-owned estates, RPC, PE, and IF.
2 The CAS data covers the demographic characteristics of children, their school attendance, economic activities, healthand safety, housing, and household characteristics. It also presents information on perception of parents/guardians on
their children working and other characteristics pertaining to the children aged 5-17 years. Data in this paper extracted
3,683 households from 9 districts where mainly tea estates were located.
3 In this paper, p-value less than 0.05 is considered statistically significant.
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Household conditions: The impact of family situation on children has been studied in various
fields. Table 2 shows the household income by management type. The average monthly income of
302 households is Rs. 26,970, while it is Rs. 25,151 in the RPCs, Rs. 26,534 on the PEs, and Rs.
29,303 in the IFs. Though IFs have a higher average income, more IF households are below thepoverty line.4 This is because of the different income structures of each management type. The
main source of income for IFs comes from the sale of tea leaves and side jobs, whereas for estatehouseholds, it is the salary from the estate.
Table 2 Household income
RPC
Average Income
Poverty Line
No of Household below
Poverty Line
<20K:
Household
20K<30K:
Income>30K:
Rs.130 =1USD in 2014

Rs. 25,151

Table 3 Head of household education levelPE
Rs. 26,970
Rs.26,534
5,511 Rs

IFs
Rs.29,303

9

6

16

58 (29.6%)
73 (37.2%)
65 (33.2%)

56 (27.3%)
72 (35.1%)
77 (37.6%)

45 (33.8%)
38 (28.6%)
50 (37.6%)

RPC
PE
IFs
57
102
6
None
(29.1%)(49.8%)(04.5%)
111
89
63
Low*
(56.6%)(43.4%)(47.4%)
28
14
64
High**(14.3%)(06.8%)(48.1%)* Low: Grade 9 (compulsory education) or less** High: above compulsory education

IFs’ income comes from harvest yield, which is highly dependent on the cultivation area, as
well as from other crops or jobs. The greater the cultivation area or more side jobs they have, thehigher the income they receive. At the time of the survey, tea leaf disease was prevalent, reducing
tea leaf yield and their income. Though social security is available, they generally do not receive it
because they do not enroll in it. The main source of income for people on estates comes from theestate itself. The salary for RPC employees is uniform whereas for PE employees, it varies fromestate to estate. For RPCs, the salary is decided every other year through wage board discussions
held by RPCs and trade unions and government. This was Rs. 620 (Rs. 450 + benefits) per day in2014.5 The salary is not reduced if employees appear, even if they do not meet quotas. They also
receive Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Employment Trust Fund (ETF)6, gratuity, attendancebonus, profit bonus, and other benefits. For PEs, the daily salary is generally lower than that of
RPCs in the range of Rs. 350-500.7 Salary is not paid if an employee is unable to work for any
reason. Benefits, such as EPF and ETF, are guaranteed on larger estates, but are not always
guaranteed on the medium-sized and not guaranteed on the small estates.
The cross-sectional analysis of household income among children shows that it is notstatistically significant between management types, but it is statistically significant for the head ofhousehold education level. This indicates that there is no large difference in household income
among children by management type (Table 2), but there is a difference in the head of householdeducation level between IFs and the two estate types (Table 3). The difference in the head ofhousehold education level may be attributed to the social conditions of the time in which they wereborn. Their average age was 52 years old, indicating that they were born in the 1960s and the 1970s.
The nation was growing economically, but due to regional disparities and internal conflicts,
compulsory education could not be implemented nationwide and equal educational opportunities
were not available.8
Living conditions: The living space in which children live has a significant impact on theirdevelopment. In many countries, owning a home is a status symbol, but it also protects privacy andkeeps people from moving from place to place. It also helps to create an environment in which
4 Poverty Line: taken as half the median household income of the total population
5 According to Manager, if employees were registered as full-time workers, 25 working days per month were guaranteedwith 17 days paid holidays per year, with nominal quota of 20-22kg of leaf plucked per day. Salary is guaranteed
regardless of weather or insufficient yield.
6 EPF is a social security scheme of employees and EPF is to help employees to save a fraction of salary every month.
7 Work schedule was around 22 days per month and quantity of leaf plucking was determined to be around 25kg per day,8 This survey also found that the higher their education level, the more they perceived education as important and viceversa.
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children can settle down. Living conditions were divided into two indicators. One focuses on the
housing itself, whereas the other focuses on the environmental safety of the living space. Housing
condition is generated from three variables: i. ownership (not owing single house=0, and owing asingle house=1), ii. type of housing (line house=0, single house=1); and iii. the number of rooms
for each person (less than one room=0, more than one room=1). It is classified as high if all three
are satisfied, medium-high if two are satisfied, medium-low if one is satisfied, and low if none aresatisfied. Environmental safety is generated from four variables: i. safe drinking water (unsafe=0,
safe=1), ii. exclusive toilet facilities (shared or none=0, owned=1), iii. safe lighting source (nolighting or non-electricity=0, electricity=1); and iv. safe energy sources for cooking (nongas/electricity=0, gas/electricity=1). It is classified as high if all four are satisfied, medium-high if
three are satisfied, medium if two are satisfied, medium-low if one is satisfied, and low if none aresatisfied. Table 4 shows the housing condition and environmental safety of children bymanagement type.
The cross-sectional analysis of housing condition and environmental safety among children
between management types is statistically significant. Table 4 shows that housing condition isdifferent between management types and that children on PEs are more likely to live in lower
housing condition. This is because IFs own a single house, whereas most children living on theestates live in the provided line-house, which has 1-2 rooms9 or a single room with a veranda. Thus,
most of the IFs’ children belong to the medium category or above, but most of the children of thetwo estate types belong to the low category. Line-houses originally were built for temporary
workers during the coffee plantation era, when the plantation economy was introduced, and estate
owners have provided them to workers who do not have access to housing. Line-houses haveremained in the traditional manner and are often regarded negatively, as a relic of the colonial
period. A notable difference between RPCs and PEs is their right to residency. People in RPCs canstay in line-houses after retirement, even if their family members are not working,10 but people on
PEs cannot stay unless they are working, and are required to move out after leaving their jobs.
Table 4 Housing condition and environmental safety
Housing
Low
Medium-low
Medium-high
High

RPCs
140 (74.5%)
41 (21.8%)
7 (03.7%)
N/A

PEs
140 (71.8%)
19 (09.7%)
28 (14.4%)
8 (04.1%)

IFs
N/A
N/A
104 (78.2%)
29 (21.8%)

Low=0, Medium-low=1, Medium-high=3, High=4

Safety
RPCs
PEs
IFs
Low
3 (01.5%)
N/A
1 (00.8%)
Medium-low
13 (06.7%)
28 (13.7%)
2 (01.5%)
Medium120 (61.5%) 135 (66.2%)
81 (61.0%)
Medium-High
58 (29.8%)
41 (20.1%)
49 (36.7%)High
1 (00.5%)
N/A
N/A
Low=0, Medium-low=1, Medium=3, Medium-high=4, High=5

Environmental safety in the survey villages was recognized as the second from the bottom of650 divisions in Matara (DCS 2013) and the CAS 08/09 indicated that it on estates was worse thanon non-estates. This survey observes a similar distribution between the estates and IFs; whencomparing RPCs with PEs, PEs are in a lower category. Overall, this survey found that children
living on PEs tend to live under more unstable and less secure living conditions than IFs and RPCs.
Children’s activities: Doing some work for the family is a social and cultural norm in Sri Lanka.
Long hours of these activities not only take children away from school, but also deprive them of theopportunities they need to experience as children, which adversely affects their health anddevelopment. This study categorizes children's activities into two indicators: one focusing on
economic activities and the other on housework activities for the family. Our survey found that the
average number of hours spent by children on daily activities (sleeping, eating, leisure, school, andhousework) was around 20.5 hours, suggesting that economic activities11 that exceed 3.5 hours may
affect other activities. Table 5 shows the definition of child labour used in this study and Table 6
shows the average activities’ hours and activities status.
9 Space of a room is approximately 10 feet×12 feet. People owing a house was 15% in RPC and 28% on PEs.
10 Ownership belongs to the RPCs.
11 Economic activities are mainly engagement in tea cultivation or working for the family business, regardless of having

income or not.
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Table 5 Definition of child labour

Table 5 Definition of Child LabourAge
5-12 years
12 year and overEconomic Activities
More than 5 hours a week
More than 15 hours a week

Housework Activities
More than 15 hours a week
More than 25 hours a week

Table 6 Children’s activities
Economic Activities
Average hours

RPCs

PEs

IFs

1 hour and 14 min

Housework Activities
Average hours

RPCs

PEs

IFs

1 hour and 20 min

None

173 (95.6%)

169 (87.6%) 99 (76.2%)

None

046 (25.4%)048 (24.8%)

34 (26.2%)

Work008 (04.4%)

12 (06.2%) 25 (19.2%)

Housework

108 (59.7%)

109 (56.5%)

74 (56.9%)

12 (06.2%)

Child labour027 (14.9%)036 (18.7%)

22 (16.9%)

Child labour－

6 (04.6%)

The cross-sectional analysis of children’s economic activities is statistically significant
between management types, but that of housework activities is not statistically significant. This
indicates that differences among children exist in economic activities, but not in housework
between management types. The average daily activity time of the children engaged in economic
activities was 1 hour and 14 minutes. Children in RPCs were not engaged in child labor, whereas
6.2% of children on PEs and 4.0% of those in IFs were engaged. As for housework, many children
in all management types worked for their families, with average daily activity time of 1 hour and
20 minutes. Child labor engagement is 14.9% for RPC, 18.7% for PEs and 16.9% for IFs. Children
on PEs are more likely to engage in child labour.
2. Education Attainment and Educational Environment
This survey found that 86.1% of households stated the importance of education for their children,
and wished for them to have a better future through high-quality education and professional
knowledge. Figure.2 represents the children's school attendance by management type, and Figure.3
represents the repeated years/drop-out experiences. In terms of management types, the crosssectional analysis of both education attainment is statistically significant.

Fig. 2 School attendanceFig. 3 Repeated years / dropout

All IFs children attended, whereas 6.9% and 22.4% in RPCs and PEs did not attend, indicatingthat attendance of children living on the PEs was poor (Fig.2). For repeated years/dropout
experiences, the same trend can be observed; 33.2% in RPCs and 47.4% on PEs were not in theappropriate grade for their age (Fig.3).12
The cost of education can be noted as a factor in giving up children's education. This includes
stationery, reference books, transportation, private tutoring fees, and school repairs. Transportation
to and from school increases the burden of educational expenses, and has a bearing on commute
12 Secondary analysis of the CAS 08/09 data showed that the ratio of school non-attendance was around 10.3% in the

non-estate sectors, while around 15.5% on estates.
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safety (Wal, 2008). 13 The average expenditure per child is Rs.1,324 overall; Rs.960 for RPCs,
Rs.855 for PEs, and Rs.2,583 is for IFs. The percentage of households not spending is 2.6% for
RPCs, 14.6% for PEs, and 1.5% for IFs, indicating that IFs spend more on their children's
education than RPCs and PEs.
Behind this education expenditure is the attribution that each management type has. Children
in IFs could go to relatively large schools, better equipped, and with better-quality teachers locatedin the central town, but it requires for school facilities and the distance from their home requires
more time and money to commute. Children in RPCs go to schools on estates or locally, and schoolbuses are arranged for those whose residential areas are far from schools. Children on PEs usually
go to schools close to their home so that they do not require long-distance walking or transportation(Table 7). However, if children wish continue with senior secondary education (≥12 grades), there
is likely to be no school on the estate or near home.14 Thus, they must take a bus for commuting,which costs the household.
This survey found that the educational environment of both estates’ households is morefavorable in terms of distance, time, and modes than IFs, but less favorable in terms of quality ofeducation and educational opportunity.
Table 7 Distance from home to school and mode of travel
RPC

PE

IFs

58 (34.5%)

44 (28.2%)

13 (10.2%)

3≦5km

48 (28.6%)
43 (25.6%)

82 (52.6%)
23 (14.7%)

25 (19.7%)
14 (11.0%)>5km

19 (11.3%)

07 (04.5%)

75 (59.1%)

<1km
1≦3km

RPC

PE

IFs

Walking

87 (50.6%)

89 (56.7%)

23 (18.0%)

Car/ Motor bicycle

16 (09.3%)

2 (.1.3%)

13 (10.2%)

Bus/School bus

69 (40.1%)

66 (42.0%)

92 (71.8%)

DISCUSSION
This study attempts to delineate the disparity in quality of life and educational environment andexamine how these are related to the social structure of the management type to which thehouseholds belong.
Table 8 Quality of life and education attainment between management types
Household Condition

Living Condition

Children Activity
Education Attainment

H-income

Head Ed

Housing

SafetyEconomicHousework

No different

Different

Different

Different

Different

No different

Differentχ-square test (p=0.05): Significant = Different, No significant =No different

Table 8 shows the result of χ-square test on the quality of life and education attainment ofchildren. This survey found that four indicators show statistically significant disparities among
management types. The results of the comparison between the six indicators and management types
indicate that people on the PEs are more likely to live under the low quality of life and face thedifficulties, which are related to the social structure of PEs.
Table 9 presents an overview of the social structure of each type of management. IFs are selfemployed and their income depends on the amount of tea leaves harvested and their side jobs.
While both estate types’ workers are salaried, employment conditions for RPCs are more secure
13 Tea cultivation areas are generally located on the slope in the mountain. In the survey area, buses are available on themain roads, but not on the side roads or narrow streets, in which covered with trees and grass, and few road lamps andfew pedestrians. Therefore, family who arranges a travel mode such as bike, car or three-wheeler drives their children
to school for safety.
14 Schools below university are in Sinhala or Tamil medium. Most the children living on the estate go to Tamil medium
schools, but are limited. Only one school of Grades 12 and above is available. (5 schools in Tamil medium in Matara, 4schools are located in the survey areas)Ⓒ ISERD

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than for PEs. Low-income households are unable to make ends meet, which is a factor in childlabor and leads to non-spending on child education. As shown in Table 2 and Figure 2 and 3,
despite the fact that a larger number of low-income IF households are below the poverty line, theirchildren’s education attainment is better than that of either estate type. This indicates that children's
education attainment is not only related to household income, but also to a combination of factors
such as the stability of one's livelihood, living environments, the educational environment, andparental awareness.
Table 9 Social structure of each management type of tea sector
EstatesRP
Cultivationarea≧50 acLiving Zone
HouseholdCondition

LivingCondition

EducationPE
Large (L) ≧50ac
Medium (M) 50－10ac
Small (S) ≦10acIFs

around 0.5－5ac

EstateVillage & Town

Village & Town

・Salary: Same for all RPCs
decided based on negotiation
with RPC & Trade Union
・EPF, ETF, Other benefits
・Residence: Generally provided by theestate, long-term workers have residencyrights after retirement.
・ Managed by PRCs, but residents canmodify.
・Pre-school: provided by estate
・1-11G: on estate or nearby home
・12-13G: Generally outside Town

・Salary: Depend on the estate
・L : EPF, ETF, Other benefits
M: depend on estate
S : generally, no-benefits
・Residence: Generally provided by estate,
but residency rights depend on the estate.
・Managed by PE. Residents can modify ifowner allows.

・Productivity & Side business・ Generally not join in Social
security

・Pre-school: in village
・1-11G: generally nearby home
・12-13G: Generally outside Town

・Owing land & house

・Maintain by themselves
・Pre-school: in village
・1-13G:nearby home/town/city

This survey found that estate workers and families usually live in residences provided by theestate where they work, and their children go to schools nearby or on the estate. However, while
the right of residence is recognized in RPCs, it is often not granted on PEs. PE workers who quit
their jobs often move with their families to new estates that offer better salaries and benefits. It
seems that they have more freedom of choice in their living conditions than those living in RPCs or
IFs do. If the new residence is in the same living area, children can commute to the same school as
before, but the change in commuting condition may exacerbate their financial burden. Moreover,relocation between estates can affect the stability of children's livelihoods, put their safety at risk
and increase child labor. Children's development can be influenced by the environmental safety of
their living space. However, neither PE owners nor their residents tend to invest in facilities fortheir homes because they do not stay there for long periods of time. Owing to inadequate energy
infrastructure, children are exposed to the risk of accidents caused by kerosene and firewood.
Furthermore, collecting firewood and fetching water increases children’s working hours at home,which indirectly affects their learning.
CONCLUSION
This study found that children's quality of life varies between management types, and a disparity in
education is also observed. Investigating into estate management types, we found that children
living on PEs generally suffer from poorer living conditions and education due to the discrepancy
in the social structure of each estate management type to which the children belong.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to all the interviewees who spent valuable time in this study. I
also express my sincere appreciation for the people who kindly provided me with their support,Ⓒ ISERD

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assistance, and advice. I would also like to thank my academic advisors for their considerable
guidance and encouragement.
REFERENCES
Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2004. Project completion report on the plantation reform project in Sri
Lanka. Asian Development Bank, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/sites/
default/files/project-document/69596/pcr-sri-26238.pdf
Department of Census and Statistics Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka (DCS). 2011. Child activity
survey 2008/09. Department of Census and Statistics Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka,
Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/research_file_attachment/Child_Activity_
Survey_2008-09_Final_Report_SriLanka.pdf
Department of Census and Statistics Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka (DCS). 2013. Classificationof administrative divisions by quality of housing. Department of Census and Statistics Ministry of
Finance and Planning Sri Lanka, ISBN 978-955-577-823-7
Herath, D. and Weersink, A. 2009. From plantations to smallholder production, The role of policy in the
reorganization of the Sri Lankan Tea Sector. World Development, 37 (11), 1759-1772, Retrieved from
DOI https://doi.org /10.1016/j.worlddev.2008.08.028
Ministry of Plantation Industries (MPI). 2013. Statistical information on plantation crops 2012. MPI,
Government of Sri Lanka, Retrieved from https://plantation.gov.lk/web/images/pdf/publications/plantation_sector_statistical_pocket_book_2012.pdf
Nihal, S.A. 2011. IMF, World Bank and ADB agenda on privatization, Pillage of plantations in Sri Lanka.
Authorhouse, ISBN 1452062609, Bloomingthon, USA.
Sen, A. 1992. Inequality reexamined. Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-19-828334-2, USA.
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). 2014. All children in school by 2015,
Global initiative on out-of-school children, South asia regional study covering Bangladesh, India,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka. UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal, Retrieved fromhttps://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000226221
Wal, S.V.D. 2008. Sustainability issues in the tea sector, A comparative analysis of six leading producing
countries. Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), Retrieved from https://www.
somo.nl/sustainability-issues-in-the-tea-sector/Ⓒ ISERD

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Research article
erd

Agriculture Entrepreneurship on Youth:
A Systematic Literature Review
FADHILLA IZZATY SYAUKAT*
Graduate School of International Food and Agricultural Studies,Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: 13821002@nodai.ac.jp

KATSUMORI HATANAKA
Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies,Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

NINA N. SHIMOGUCHI
Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies,Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

RAMADHONA SAVILLE
Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies,Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Received 30 January 2022

Accepted 1 August 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Past studies have found that boosting agriculture entrepreneurship education forthe youth is one of the critical solutions to the aging agricultural population. Agriculture
stakeholders need to provide entrepreneurship training to youth early to develop moreagribusiness opportunities and strengthen their entrepreneurial competencies. This paper
aims to provide an overview of the development of agriculture entrepreneurship research inthe context of youth can become a basis for researchers to conduct future studies on therelated topic. This paper reveals the general trend of the subject studied, objectives,
methodologies, and research finding through an extensive systematic literature review ofpast studies on this topic conducted between 2000 to 2021. Out of the total of 1,492 papers
found using a combination of the words "Agriculture," "Entrepreneurship," and "Youth," 62
articles passed the screening criteria and were analyzed for this research. This study foundthat 27% of the reviewed studies focus on university and college students. More than
32% of the studies' objective was to identify the factors influencing youth inclinationand intention towards agripreneurship. Subjective norms (external factors) were thedetermining factors that affect the intention in agripreneurship. Around 39% of thestudies used Likert scale questionnaires to obtain data, and more than 55% analyzed thedata using qualitative descriptive analysis, 24% used multiple linear regression, and
15% used Theory of Planned Behavior. This paper highlights the need for
agripreneurship studies on young farmers using more variative analysis methods toobtain a broader understanding.
Keywords agripreneurship, youth, agribusiness, systematic literature review (SLR),
youth inclination

INTRODUCTION
Developing entrepreneurship, especially in the agriculture sector, is vital to overcome the aging
agriculture system and increasing youth unemployment. Entrepreneurship is acknowledged as oneof the main drivers of economic development by encouraging growth, innovation, technology
adoption, and poverty reduction (United Nations, 2013). These are also the same factors importantto achieve sustainable agriculture. Entrepreneurship contributes to economic development (Baumol,Ⓒ ISERD

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1968) and is among the four factors of production in addition to land, labor, and capital.
Agriculture entrepreneurship involves creating a product or providing services of value related toagriculture to bring returns on investment and improve livelihoods. Developing agricultural
entrepreneurship is necessary to drive human resource productivity in agriculture.
Agripreneurship is not limited to making a farm enterprise profitable but may involve a wide
range of agricultural related initiatives with a positive and transformative impact on communities(Mukembo, 2017). The agripreneurship vision emphasizes not on young people return to thefarming methods of their parents and grandparents; instead, on the development of value chains,
entrepreneurship, and farming as a business. The term agripreneurship fully recognizes theinnovation, creativity, resilience, and market orientation implicit in the concept of entrepreneurship(Afande et al., 2015). To create and develop more agribusiness opportunities and strengthen
entrepreneurship competencies, entrepreneurship education and training should be applied to the
productive age group commonly known as the youth.
There is no universally agreed definition of the youth. According to the United Nations, youth
are between 15 and 24 years of age. However, the term differs from one country to anotheraccording to the context. In the context of farmers, Indonesia considers farmers aged 19-39 areyoung farmers, while in European United (EU), young farmers are identified as less than 40 yearsof age (ENRD in Hamilton et al., 2015).
Unfortunately, it is unclear which youth group (category) should become the focus ofagripreneurship studies. Moreover, what did past studies find on this topic? These questions are
essential to understand how to increase youth participation in agripreneurship and help determine
what suitable interventions are needed for each specific youth group to obtain higher intention
towards agripreneurship. To attain the answers, this research deployed the Systematic Literature
Review (SLR) methodology and composed the following research questions:
RQ1: Who are the different subjects of research on agripreneurship?
RQ2: What objectives and methods are used to analyze agripreneurship in youth?
RQ3: What factors influence youth inclination, intention, and participation in agriculture?

N=1,434
GoogleScholar

N=18
ScopusDatabase

Domain: Title/Absctarct/Keywords
Approach: Thematic
N=1,492

Excluded
N=811

Screening

N=40
Science
DirectDomain: Article Title
Approach: Duplication, grayliterature, conference proceeding,book chapter, & editorial letter
N=681

Excluded
N=474

Eligibility

To answer the research questions, a thoroughreview of past literature is needed. A Systematic
Literature Review (SLR) was selected as the mostsuitable method which helps map and assesses theexisting knowledge and gap on specific issues
towards further developing the knowledge base.
This review was prepared following guidelines
from Petticrew and Roberts (2008). The approachcomprises five steps: 1) identifying the researchquestion; 2) identifying relevant studies; 3) study
selection; 4) extracting and charting the data; and5) collating, summarizing, and reporting the results.
This SLR utilized the combination of thewords "Agriculture," "Entrepreneurship," and"Youth" for the search in three electronic databasesources, namely Google Scholar, Scopus Database,and Science Direct. The authors conducted areview in which only English-written journal
articles and conference papers published from2000 to 2021 were included.

Identification

METHODOLOGY

Domain: Abstract & main bodyskim reading
Approach: Exclude articles thatlack entrepreneruship assesment
N=207

Excluded
N=145

Included

Papers Included
N= 62

Fig. 1 Screening process of selected literatureⒸ ISERD

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This period is selected due to the very limited number of studies found in prior years. Grayliterature, conference proceedings, book chapters and editorial letters were excluded.
Articles are then filtered based on abstract reviews match and non-duplication. Then theselected articles were synthesized according to the research question. Figure 1 shows the screening
process of the literatures utilized.
SLR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
General Information of Respondents of the Selected Studies
The majority of researches conducted on agripreneurship in youth was concentrated in Asia,
consisting of 64% of the 62 papers, particularly in Malaysia, Indonesia, and India. Africa
accounted for 25%, mainly from Nigeria and Kenya. As much as 31.1% of the studies wereconducted in 2020, followed by 2019 and 2018 with 14.8%. The subject of the studies was mostly
university or college students with 27%, followed by youth in general (people aged 18-39 in thetarget area of the reviewed study), young farmers, participants of extension programs or training,and vocational school or high school students. Only ten studies targeted young agripreneurs. Table
1 collates the number of selected studies based on their objectives and the subjects targeted. Papers
using secondary data (5 papers) were not included in Table 1.
Table 1 Common objective of research and the subjects targeted (n = 62)
Subject
Objective

University/ Vocational/
college high school
students
students

Youth ingeneralYoung
farmers

Programparticipants%

Inclination and intention
factors towards
agripreneurship

8

4

4

1

3

32

Factors influence youth tobecome agripreneurs

4

0

3

1

0

13

Influence of training towards
entrepreneurial intention

1

0

0

0

0

2

Characteristics ofagripreneurs

1

0

1

3

0

8

Perception and attitude
towards agripreneurship

3

2

5

2

0

19

Affect or evaluation oftraining

0

0

2

3

6

18

Percentage (%)

27

10

24

16

15

Note: Multiple answers. Papers using secondary data were not included.

The General Objectives and Methodologies Applied by the Selected Studies
As shown in Table 1, 32% of the reviewed studies' objectives are to identify the factors that
influence youth inclination and intention towards agriculture and agripreneurship, followed by theperception and attitude towards agripreneurship. It is frequently stated that young people do notconsider agriculture as an attractive source of income. Youth interest in the agricultural sector isdecreasing year by year (Ridha et al., 2017).
A study in India (Gangwarand and Kameswari, 2016) interviewed 115 youth from four
different villages and confirmed that 85% of its respondents had a neutral attitude towards
agriculture as a means of livelihood, while 13% had a negative attitude. Only 0.9% of respondentsⒸ ISERD

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had a positive attitude towards agriculture as the primary source of income. This condition, whichis common in many other parts of the world, is one of the very reasons why the majority of thesestudies focus on finding an elaborated explanation to factors influencing inclination and intention
towards agripreneurship. Research regarding intention formation is an initial effort towards a
broader understanding of entrepreneurship (Liu et al., 2020). Characteristics of successful
agripreneurs were also observed to help develop better agripreneurs of the future.
Table 2 Methodology of each reviewed paper

Data gathering method

Methodology applied

Likert scalequestionnaire

Questionnaire &interview

Data analysis method

Focused group
discussion

Reference of publication
Abdullah and Samah, 2014; Afande et al., 2015; Ambad et al., 2021; Baliyan etal., 2020; Das, 2017; Dollisso, 2010; G. Shivacharan et al., 2017; Man, 2012;
Mukembo et al., 2020; Nade & Mattee, 2019; Nurlaela et al., 2020; Nor et al.,2015; Nyabam et al., 2018; Ofodile and Ndelekwute, 2015; Olutegbe and
Ayodele, 2020; Prihatna et al., 2017; Reyes, 2020; Roma et al., 2020; Sa'adiah
et al., 2019; Sazila et al., 2018; Sher et al., 2017; Yu and Wang., 2019; Zain etal., 2020; Zidana et al., 2020
Abdullah et al., 2013; Afande et al., 2015; Ajekwe and Ibiamke, 2020; Ambad
et al., 2021; Aman et al., 2017; Amadi and Nnodim, 2018; Baliyan et al., 2020;
Bednarikova et al., 2020; Dollisso, 2010; Gangwar and Kameswari., 2016;
Hilmi, 2021; Kyalo and Teresia, 2013; Man, 2012; Mat Taib et al., 2019;
Muiruri et al., 2020; Nade and Mattee, 2019; Nyabam et al., 2018; Saptu et al.,2020; Sazila et al., 2018; Singh and Misra., 2021; Olah and Flora, 2015;
Withanage and Damayanthi, 2019; Zain et al., 2020
Musa et al., 2021; Nade and Mattee, 2019

%

39

37

3

Qualitative descriptive
analysis

Abdullah et al., 2013; Adeyanju et al., 2020; Afande et al., 2015; Alabi et al.,2019; Amadi and Nnodim, 2018; Aman et al., 2017; Ambad et al., 2021; Ayu
and Nauly., 2020; Baliyan et al., 2020; Barau et al., 2016; Damayanthi, 2019;
Das, 2017; Dash and Kumar, 2017; Dollisso, 2010; Hilmi, 2021; Kyalo, 2013;
Muiruri et al., 2020; Nade, 2019; Nor et al., 2015; Novanda et al., 2020;
Nyabam et al., 2018; Ommani, 2011; Prihatna et al., 2017; Qureshi et al., 2016;
Roma et al., 2020; Samah et al., 2012; Sher et al., 2017; Suzani et al., 2010;
Sa’adiah et al., 2019; Withanage and Ofodile et al., 2015; Yamaguchi et al.,2020; Yunandar et al., 2019; Zidana et al., 2020; Zain et al., 2020

55

Theory of planned
behavior

Abdullah and Samah, 2014; Mukembo et al., 2020; Musa et al., 2021; Novanda
et al., 2020; Olutegbe and Ayodele, 2020; Reyes, 2020; Ridha et al., 2017;
Suprehatin et al., 2020; Saptu et al., 2020

15

Push and pull theory
Regression & multiple
linear regression
Partial least square(PLS) & structural
equation modelling
Factor analysis
Thematic analysis
SWOT analysis

Prihatna et al., 2017; Zidana et al., 2020
Adeyanju et al., 2020; Ayu and Nauly., 2020; Bednarikova et al., 2020; Das,
2017; M. Kan et al. 2019; Nurlaela et al., 2020; Nor et al., 2015; Ommani,
2011; Prihatna et al., 2017; Samah et al., 2012; Sher et al., 2017; Suzani et al.,2010; Yamaguchi et al., 2020; Yu and Wang, 2019; Zidana et al., 2020;
Ambad et al., 2021; Chen and Liang, 2020; Mat Taib et al., 2019; Novanda etal., 2020; Saptu et al., 2020; Suprehatin et al., 2020; Reyes, 2020; Ridha et al.,2017
Chen and Liang, 2020; Kan et al., 2018; M. Kan et al., 2019; Nade, 2019; Noret al., 2015; Yu and Wang, 2019
Hilmi, 2021; Musa et al., 2021
Regmi and Naharki, 2020

Entrepreneurial event
Olutegbe and Ayodele, 2020
model
Note: Multiple answers. Papers using secondary data were not included.

3

24

13

10
3
2
2

Research methodology is an essential component of any study that provides the framework
based on the whole process. With regard to the study design, almost all the studies reviewed usedboth qualitative and quantitative methods. Agripreneurship has been studied in severalⒸ ISERD

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methodological perspectives based on research type, analytical method, and data collection method.
The methodology used to analyze the subjects in each paper is listed in Table 2. There were 24
papers that adopted Likert scale questionnaire to obtain data, sharing 38.7% The Likert scale that
was applied varied from 3-point, 4-point, and 5-point Likert scales. Regression, Partial Least
Square (PLS) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), and Factor Analysis were common
methods ulitized to analyze the Likert scale type questionnaires with 24%, 13%, and 10%,respectively.
Factors Affecting Youth Inclination, Intention, and Participation in Agriculture
Entrepreneurial intention is closely related to individual competencies that refer to a willingness to
conduct a particular behavior. The intention is an acceptance of a representative relationshipbetween cognitive and conative behavior of individuals to perform a certain act. In comparison,
inclination is a habitual attraction to some activity or thing. Intention and inclination aresemantically related.
As mentioned earlier, TPB is widely used as the basis to analyze entrepreneurial intentions.
Suprehatin et al. (2020) found that in the case of agricultural students, they intend to be
agripreneurs only as their secondary job or hobby. However, entrepreneurial activity among
agricultural graduates' can be increased if the students are provided with business wisdom,
inspiration, and motivation, either through mentorship by entrepreneurs and experts or byemphasizing the importance of business opportunities in the curriculum (Sher et al., 2017).
Suprehatin et al. (2020) found that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, andpersonal characteristics positively influence students' intention to be agripreneurs. Abdullah et al.
(2014), who studied agriculture university students' inclination towards agripreneurship in
Malaysia, also noted a high score level of behavioral attitude and subjective norm, along withsocial valuation, in inclination toward agripreneurship. A similar study conducted in Indonesia by
Arisandi (2016) cited in Ridha et al. (2016) also suggested that subjective norm factors influenceagripreneurial intentions of agricultural university graduates. Ridha et al. (2016), in their study
targeting on participants of the Agricultural Young Entrepreneurship Growing Program, also statedthat subjective norm or external factor determines the intention in agripreneurship. Subjective norm
or external factor refers to the social pressure felt by a person and is highly associated with the
expectations of parents, family, teacher/lecturer, and friends. In order to increase the youth's
intention towards agripreneurship, society's perception of agriculture itself must also be positively
promoted.
In the case of youth in general (not primarily focusing on students), Saptu et al. (2020)
acknowledged that attitude towards agripreneurship has the strongest relationship with and effecton agripreneurship intention. Subjective norms did not influence the youths' intention towards
agripreneurship. Implying that youths have a personal stance regarding career choice.
This study found similarities among the findings of each research, underlining the importanceof perception and external factors that influence the youths’ decision to become agripreneurs.
However, a broader understanding involving all the stakeholders in developing agripreneurship isneeded. Future studies are suggested to incorporate not only qualitative but also quantitative
analysis towards as many stakeholders as possible in the chain for agripreneurship development.
CONCLUSION
This study has clarified the three research questions by extracting 62 papers using the SLR method.
It is known that agripreneurship, especially among youth, has become a popular topic in the past
five years, particularly in Asia, followed by Africa. Past studies mainly focus on highly educatedyouth, like university and college students, while the youth who needs more attention is the young
farmers. This study highlights the need for more research on agripreneurship targeting young
farmers to understand what is really needed to help them manage their agribusiness effectively. The
common objectives of the selected studies are to identify the factors that influence youth inclinationⒸ ISERD

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and intention towards agriculture and agripreneurship. Subjective norms (external factors), alongwith attitude, are determining factors that affect the intention in agripreneurship. In order for the
youth to have a higher intention towards agripreneurship, the perception and attitude of agricultureof their environment; parents, family, teacher/lecturer, and friends, should also be positively
promoted. By realizing this fact, the government, extension workers, schools, universities, andother related institutions can provide more appropriate ways to promote agripreneurship for eachspecific youth group.
It is known that 24 papers, sharing 38.7% of the studies extracted, incorporated Likert scalequestionnaires and interviews to obtain data and analyzed it using qualitative descriptive analysis(55%), regression (24%), and TPB (15%). This study underlines the need for a more variative useof analytical methods to achieve a broader understanding of agripreneurship among youth. Past
studies mainly focus on qualitative data, which is limited to describing perception but lacks inrevealing the facts and reality faced by each stakeholder involved in the development ofagripreneurship. Future studies need to utilize both quantitative and qualitative data to achieve amore detailed result. When a broad understanding is reached, it is more feasible to provide theproper intervention needed to increase youth participation in agriculture. The currently available
training should also be evaluated to ensure its effectiveness. Securing more youth inagripreneurship will lead to more sustainable agriculture in the future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researchers would like to acknowledge the support from Japan Science and Technology (JST)SPRING, Grant Number JPMJSP2122, in addition to the tremendous support from the committeeof the Tokyo University of Agriculture’s "Comprehensive Project for Fostering Advanced Human
Resources."
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Adeyanju, D.F., Mburu, J. and Mignouna, D. 2020. Impact of agricultural programs on youth engagement inagribusiness in Nigeria, A case study. Journal of Agricultural Science, 12 (5), 145-154, Retrieved from
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Adeyanju, D., Mburu, J. and Mignouna, D. 2021. Youth agricultural entrepreneurship, Assessing the impactof agricultural training programmes on performance. Sustainability, 13 (4), 1-12, Retrieved from DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13041697
Afande, F.O., Maina, W.N. and Maina, M.P. 2015. Youth engagement in agriculture in Kenya, Challenges
and prospects. Journal of Culture, Society and Development, 7, 4-19, Retrieved from https://iiste.org/
Journals/index.php/JCSD/article/view/22759/22837
Ajekwe, C.C.M. and Ibiamke, A. 2020. Entrepreneurship through agriculture in Nigeria. Business And
Management Research, 9 (1), Retrieved from DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/bmr.v9n1p35
Alabi, D.L., Alabi, D.L. and Famakinwa, M. 2019. Youth corp members' perception of agripreneurship in
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Research article
erdComparison of Crop Surface Models and 3D Point Clouds
by UAV Imagery on Estimating Plant Height and Biomass
Volume of Pasture Grass
KE ZHANG
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

AYAKO SEKIYAMA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: 45620002@nodai.ac.jp

HIROMU OKAZAWA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: h1okazaw@nodai.ac.jp

YURI YAMAZAKI
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

KIICHIRO HAYASHI
Institute of Material and Systems for Sustainable, Nagoya University, Nagoya, JapanOSAMU TSUJI
Zukosha Co., Ltd, Obihiro, Japan

MASAHIRO AKIMOTO
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Japan
Received 8 February 2022

Accepted 8 August 2022(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Plant biomass is considered an important parameter for crop management andyield estimation, especially for grassland. Aerial photogrammetric techniques have beenused for vegetation data gathering of the areas of dense vegetation fields with high researchinterest. Recent advances in computer vision include structure from motion and multi-view
stereopsis (SfM-MVS) techniques, which can derive 3D data such as digital surface models(DSMs) and orthomosaic from overlapping photography taken from multiple angles. The
difference between the DSMs of a planted field and the digital terrain model (DTM) has
been referred to crop surface model (CSM). Ever since SfM-MVS has been adopted toderive plant height (PH) and above-ground biomass using CSMs at 2013, this method has
become the most explored and verified approach to simulate the structure of crops all over
the world. However, the complexity of crop structure is thought to be not well represented
in DSMs because the DSMs have only one Z value at each 2D pixel. Besides, lacking a
DTM representing the bare ground is another problem when adopting the CSM method. On
the other hand, the 3D point cloud where DSMs are derived from UAV may provide thestructure information in a faster and more detailed way. This research tested the capabilityof 3D point cloud in estimating plant height and biomass volume of pasture grass, andcompared the results with CSMs. UAV photography were conducted at the experimental
field of Obihiro University of Agriculture and veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido, Japan, 2019.
The biomass volume estimated by DSM and point cloud have no significant difference,
showing that DSM and point cloud have the same performance at estimating biomass
volume of grass. In the case that only the simple value data is required, the point cloud data
is recommended.
Keywords biomass volume, CSM, DSM, plant height, point cloud, UAVⒸ ISERD

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INTRODUCTION
Proper planting of biomass fuel plant has become one of the main challenges of carbon neutral. In
recent years, attention has been paid to the use of pasture grass as biofuel. Gramineae grass has avigorous regenerative power and can be cut multiple times a year. Some species can becontinuously cultivated for more than five years (Nakagawa et al., 2009). Furthermore, pasturegrasses can adapt to most kinds of ground surface environment and provide high yields where theedible crops can hardly grow, which avoids the competition between biofuel and food production.
At the site of grassland management, plant height and biomass production monitoring during
the growing stage is one of the most important measurements. In the last decade, with theadvancement in new platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), methods based onremote sensing for biomass production estimation are gathering popularity. As a result of the fusionof UAV remote sensing and digital photogrammetry technology, a flexible and automatic approachof progressing aerial imagery has been developed, which is known as the structure from motion(SfM) technology. Based on the multiple overlapping images, characteristic feature points aredetected of which the three-dimensional (3D) coordinated are reconstructed during the bundle
adjustment progress afterwards. After the bundle adjustment, a detailed scene geometry made by asparse point cloud is built and all pixels are used in this step to reconstruct finer scene details.
Based on this sparse point cloud, the dense point cloud, orthomosaic and the digital surface model(DSM) are exported. As an intermediate production to construct the DSM, the characteristic of thedense point cloud is that it is not filtered, meaning that it contains all the outliers and noise point(Agisoft LLC, 2013). On the other hand, DSM is exported in a common image format such as *.tif
with a particular coordinate system, with the pixel size of more than one centimeter, meaning thatone pixel represents the mean value of all 3D points inside it. Furthermore, filters such as noise
filter and surface smoothing filter are applied to the DSM, which make the DSM unable torepresent the detail of the small features on the ground precisely, such as the leaves of plants(Cubero-Castan et al., 2018).
The difference between the DSMs of a planted field and the digital terrain model (DTM) has
been referred to crop surface model (CSM) (Hoffmeister et al., 2010). Ever since Bendig et al.
firstly adopted SfM-MVS to derive plant height (PH) and above-ground biomass using CSMs at
2013, this method has become the most explored and verified approach to simulate the structure ofcrops all over the world. Most studies showed that the plant height estimated by CSMs tend to belower than the plant height measured on the ground, because of the average and smooth surface of
CSMs (Bendig et al., 2014). Based on this background, there is thought to be a possibility thatpoint clouds can represent the plant height of crops more accurately than CSMs.
However, there is no study yet discussing the difference at the performance on estimating
plant height and above-ground biomass volume of pasture grass. The objectives of this study are 1)
to compare the estimation results of plant height and biomass volume obtained by point clouds andCSMs respectively, and 2) discuss the characteristics of each of them on representing threedimensional structure of the crop.
METHODOLOGY
The study site was a grass field inside the experimental field of Obihiro University of Agriculture
and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro City, Hokkaido, Japan. The specie of the pasture grass was reedcanary grass. The surveys by UAV were conducted weekly from 31st May to 3 rd September 2019(15 times in total), with Phantom 4 Pro (DJI). Before the UAV flights, seven ground control points(GCPs), of which position information was measured using RTK-GNSS (HiperV, TOPCON), weresettled all over the experimental field. The flights were carried out automatically by Pix4D Capture(Pix4D). During each flight, the flying height was 50 m above ground. Both the top-overlap and theside-overlap rate were 80%. The ground sampling distance (GSD) of the raw aerial imagery was
1.32 cm. Ground surveys in order to obtain the plant height of the grass were conducted from 17 thJuly to 3rd September (totally 8 times), on the same dates as the UAV surveys. During each time ofⒸ ISERD

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the ground surveys, six measuring points were settled all around the grass field and marked withmarking tapes which could be seen at the aerial imagery. Sampling of these six measure points wasmade during every time of the ground survey. A self-made plant height measure was used to obtain
the optimal height value of the grasses. According to Bendig et al. (2014), “the PHCSM represents
the mean plant height of all pixels in a pixel. As a result, not only the top of the plant, for example
the ears, is measured, but also the lower parts, like the leaves. Consequently, the detail of PHCSM ishigher than PHM, because PHCSM contains more than on pixel per plant and, the method of the
PHM reference measurements in the field should be discussed.” Based on this opinion, which ismost reasonable, the method of method to measure plant height with tape measure or staff ruler,which has been used in many studies, can defiantly not obtain the obtain value standing for theplant height of a certain the field. In this research, a self-made plant height measure was used toobtain the reference plant height. A sliceable plastic plate (10 cm × 20 cm) was used to determine
the proper height of the grass canopy. When measuring, the plate was sliced down from above,
until every part of its bottom was touched by the grass leaves. The leaves should be naturally
curved instead of being forced bending when the plat has stopped. This method can not only help
determine the optimal canopy position, but also help the observer to read the scale efficiently. The
height of the grass is usually lower than one meter, meaning that the investigator has to squat down
or gravel down to the ground in order to look at the canopy from a horizontal direction.
Fig. 1 shows the workflow of the data processing. The RGB imagery obtained by UAV wasprogressed using Pix4D mapper (ver 4.6.5, Pix4D) to construct the dense point clouds, orthomosaic,
and DSMs, of which coordinate was corrected by GCP calibration. By identifying the measuring
points at the orthomosaic, the coordinates of the measuring points were extracted using ArcGIS Pro(ver 2.4.1, Esri). After inputting the coordinates into the Pix4D mapper again, the location of themeasuring points was marked at the dense point clouds. The plant height obtained from point
clouds (PHPC) was then calculated by subtraction the altitude of the ground surface from thealtitude of the grass surface. On the other hand, CSMs were made with ArcGIS Pro by subtractionof the DSM of the field without plants from the DSMs with plants. The plant height obtained from
CSMs (PHCSM), which was in other words the CSM value of each measuring point, was thenextracted using ArcGIS Pro. Then, both PHPC and PHCSM were compared to the measured value ofplant height (PHM) to evaluate the accuracy of point clouds and CSMs to estimate the plant heightof grasses. Finally, the above-ground biomass volume (BV) of the whole grass field instead of theparticular measuring points was extracted from point clouds and CSMs (BVPC, BVCSM),
respectively, and compared to each other to unravel the characteristics of point clouds and CSMs
on estimating above-ground biomass volume of pasture grass. The calculation of BVCSM used thegeo-metry function of ArcGIS, and the calculation of BVPC used the Volume Tool of Pix4D
mapper.

Fig. 1 Workflow of data analysisⒸ ISERD

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RESULTS
1. Time Series of the Plant Height Estimated by Point Clouds and CSMs
Fig. 2 shows the Time series of measured value of plant height (PHM), plant height obtained frompoint clouds (PHPC) and plant height obtained from crop surface model (PHCSM). From 17th July to
3rd September, all the three time series lines remained approximately parallel to each other.
However, the line of PHCSM stayed lower than the reference line all the time, while the PHPC line
was almost laying over the reference line. This indicated that both CSMs and point clouds could
reflect the growth trend of grass, while there was a constant difference existing between the plantheight estimated by CSMs and the reference value.

Fig. 2 Time series of PHM, PHPC and PHCSM
2. Accuracy of Plant Height Estimation by CSMs
Fig. 3 shows the relationship between PHM and the estimated plant height by CSMS (PHCSM). The
number of samples was 48 (6 samples × 8 times of ground survey). The regression coefficient wasclose to 1, which suggests the regression line was nearly parallel to the 1:1 line. On the other hand,
the intercept was approximately 10, suggesting there was a difference of about 10 cm between PHM
and PHCSM, which stayed stable during the whole survey period since the regression coefficient wasnear to 1. The R2 and RMSE were 0.97** and 14 cm, respectively, also sowing that PHCSM has thesame changing trend, however a stable difference with PHM. These showed that CSM can represent
the changing trend of the plant height of pasture grasses, but has a relatively low accuracy on
estimating the value of plant height.

Fig. 3 Relationship between PHM and PHCSM

Fig. 4 CSM map for grass field (2019/7/24)

On the other hand, as shown at Fig. 4, the CSM map could show the growth unevenness
clearly by the estimated plant height within ArcGIS.
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3. Accuracy of Plant Height Estimation by Point Clouds
Fig. 5 shows the relationship between the measured value of plant height (PHM) and the estimatedplant height by point clouds (PHPC). The regression coefficient and intercept of the regression
equation were 1.04 and -0.16, respectively, making the regression line extremely close to the 1:1
line. The coefficient of determination (R2) and the RMSE were 0.99** and 3 cm, respectively. This
result showed that point clouds can estimate plant height of pasture grass with extremely highaccuracy with little need for calibration.

Fig. 5 Relationship between PHM and PHPC

Fig. 6 Comparison of BVPC and BVCSM

4. Comparison of the Above-ground Biomass Volume Estimated by Point Clouds and CSMs
Fig. 6 shows the comparison of BVPC and BVCSM of the whole field during the whole survey period
from 31th May to 3rd September. The BVCSM and BVPC of 13th June, 19th June, 26th June, 7th August,and 14th August showed minus value because the DSM used as the bare ground surface had
included the remaining grass after the reaping. The result of t-test showed that there was no
significant difference between BVPC and BVCSM. This result showed that despite point cloud canestimate plant height of pasture grass with higher accuracy than CSM, it gives the same value ofabove-ground biomass volume estimation with CSMs.
DISCUSSION
Despite the reference plant height was measured by an improved method and was as accurate as
possible, there was still a 13 cm RMSE of the PHCSM of the grassland. It is necessary to realize that
there is a problem estimating when estimating plant height using CSMs, which is caused not by thehuman error or the environmental factors such as the wind, but by the characteristics of the DSM
itself. There is a fact that should not be ignored that the airborne laser scanning or the aerial digital
photogrammetry were aiming at generating DEMs standing for the basic topographic shape at thefirst place. The key point of DEM generation using aerial imagery was never about the bumpy
terrain or the above-ground objects, but about the smooth terrain. This fact is so important, because
it resulted in a critical characteristic of the dense matching algorithm such as SfM-MVS, which are
the denoising filter and the smooth filter. Both of these filters can improve the accuracy and quality
when constructing terrain models or large-scaled buildings. However, the disadvantage of using
these filters is that the small-scaled or low-heighted objects may be smoothed, for example, theeleave of crop plants. As long as DSM is still raster data, which represents the ground objects withcertain-sized pixels, it has a limit on estimating plant height of crops, because there are spaces
between the crop leaves. This is thought to be the inherent weakness of apply remote sensing
photogrammetry to agriculture.
Compared with CSMs, point clouds showed much higher accuracy on estimating plant heightof grass field. The reason of the high accuracy is considered to be because no smooth filter andⒸ ISERD141

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pixel averaging algorithm has been conducted when constructing point clouds. While CSM shows
the average height of all the objects of a certain area (for example, one pixel), point cloud shows
the particular height of one certain object (for example, the leaf of grass). In other words, point
cloud reflects a more detailed height distribution data of the grass field. Therefore, it is consideredthat point cloud is more qualified than CSM to estimate grass field plant height.
However, on the other hand, when estimating above-ground biomass volume, no significant
difference was found between the results obtained by CSMs and point clouds. It is because whencalculating the total value of the grass above-ground volume with point cloud, not only the dense
points of the canopy that were included, but also the lower parts between the grass leaves,including the ground surface. As the result, point cloud yields the same value as CSM on grassabove-ground biomass volume estimation. The spaces between the leaves, which has been found anerror factor and should be excluded when estimating plant height, is no longer an error factor whenestimating above-ground biomass volume and should be considered in order to increase theaccuracy. This led to a conclusion that point cloud is more qualified on estimating plant height ofgrass than CSM, but has the same accuracy as CSM on estimating above-ground biomass volume.
There have been mainly two purposes for remote sensing at agriculture field, monitoring thecurrent status of the crop land, and predicting the final yield of the crops before harvesting. Before
UAV was popularized, the former purpose could not be fully achieved, because neither satellite
imagery nor laser scanning was properly suit for the purpose. The ground resolution of satellite
imagery, which is usually larger than one meter, is too large for a single crop land. The laser
scanning conducted by ground survey is both time and labor consuming, making it almost notrealistic for the whole crop field. This is exactly why UAV is so crucial on applying remote sensing
to the real agriculture sites. It is more precise than satellite imagery, and more efficient than laser
scanning, making it perfectly suit the purpose of current status monitoring of crop lands. For
decades, remote sensing has found difficulties on benefiting the farmers directly. With UAV
becoming a trustable platform of remote sensing, it is finally possible to help farmers make better
management of their own crop land, by not only the traditional CSM data, but also the precise
dense point cloud data.
CONCLUSION
In this study, the abilities of dense point clouds and CSMs on estimating plant height and aboveground biomass volume for pasture grass have been validated and compared based on multipletime surveys. Plant height was monitored by dense point cloud with very high accuracy (RMSE =3.5 cm), while the plant height monitored by CSMs was consistently lower than the reference value.
On the other hand, no significant difference exists between the above-ground biomass volume
estimated by dense point cloud and CSMs. These results show that dense point cloud has anadvantage on reflecting current status of crops, while has the same accuracy with CSMs on
predicting above-ground biomass volume. When the purpose of the UAV survey is to monitor the
precise status of the crops or identify the lodging area, point cloud is a better choice of data; while
when the purpose is estimating the biomass volume of the whole field with little requirement ofdetails, DSM data provides the estimated value with both accuracy and efficiency.
REFERENCE
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Retrieved from https://www.agisoft.com/pdf/articles/Paul_Koppel_Agisoft-PhotoScan_case_study_01.
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Bendig, J., Bolten, A., Bennertz, S., Broscheit, J., Eichfuss, S. and Bareth, G. 2014. Estimating biomass ofbarley using crop surface models (CSMs) derived from UAV-based RGB imaging. Remote sensing, 6(11), 10395-10412, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rs61110395
Cubero-Castan, M., Schneider-Zapp, K., Bellomo, M., Shi, D., Rehak, M. and Strecha, C. 2018. Assessmentof the radiometric accuracy in a target less work flow using Pix4D software. 2018 9th Workshop on
Hyperspectral Image and Signal Processing, Evolution in Remote Sensing (WHISPERS). IEEE, 1-4.
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Nakagawa, H. 2009. Characteristic of tropical grasses for biomass production and the breeding for biofuel
feedstocks. Japanese Journal of Grassland Science, 55 (3), 274-283, Retrieved from DOI https://doi.org/10.14941/grass.55.274 Details
Hoffmeister, D., Bolten, A., Curdt, C., Waldhoff, G. and Bareth, G. 2010. High-resolution crop surface
models (CSM) and crop volume models (CVM) on field level by terrestrial laser scanning. Sixth
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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 edit the International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development,- to confer some awards based on scientific achievement, research paper or poster presentation, 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 /Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, 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. Narong Touch, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Dr. Shinobu Terauchi, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Japan
Dr. Jeeranuch Sakkhamduang, Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation /Association of Environmental and Rural Development, Thailand
Treasurer
Dr. Lalita Siriwattananon, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Thailand
Regional Vice Presidents
Dr. Shafiqullah Rahmani, Ghanzni University, Ministry of Higher Education, Afghanistan
Prof. Dr. Barry N. Noller, The University of Queensland, Australia
Prof. Dr. Sinisa Berjan, Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Japan /University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dr. Buntong Borarin, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia
Prof. Dr. Ping Li, Institute of Grassland Research, China
Prof. Dr. Dieter Trautz, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Dr. Sri Wahyuni, Islamic University of Riau, Indonesia
Dr. Kasumi Ito, Nagoya University, Japan
Prof. Dr. Nang Hseng Hom, Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar
Prof. Dr. Junaid Alam Memon, Institute of Business Administration Karachi, Pakistan
Prof. Dr. Regucivilla A. Pobar, Bohol Island State University, Philippines
Dr. Chuleemas Boonthai Iwai, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Dr. David R. Ader, University of Tennessee, 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-Ddistrict, 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.

IJERD – Environmental and Rural Development

Vol. 13 No. 2

December 2022