A multiplicity of prek(s): Enacting a socionatural mosaic in the Cambodian upper Mekong delta

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110268
Author(s):  
Jean-Philippe Venot ◽  
Casper B Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Mekong Delta ◽  
Mosaic Landscape ◽  
Water Research ◽  
Rice Intensification ◽  
Multiple Uses ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Irrigation Infrastructure ◽  
Passive Object

In Khmer, the word prek designates a connection between things. In Kandal province in Cambodia, preks crisscross the landscape, connecting rivers with floodplains, supporting rich ecologies and a variety of livelihoods. Drawing on science and technology studies (STS) and critical water research, this paper explores prek(s) as a multiplicity. Rather than taking the prek as a passive object around which various practices occur, we examine how prek(s) are enacted as ontologically different: as irrigation infrastructure, as pathway to rice intensification, as device for Cambodian state-making, and as climate-friendly agricultural development. After analyzing interference patterns between enactments and their scale-making effects in- and outside the Mekong floodplains, we make explicit our own ontological politics. Focused on sustaining multiple uses and ecosystems, “our” prek is a socionatural mosaic landscape where many human and more-than-human actors and practices can coexist. This ontological politics, we suggest, has implications for planetary environmental knowledges and delta management far beyond Kandal’s landscape.

scholarly journals Towards Lower-Carbon Indian Agricultural Development: An Experiment in Multi-criteria Mapping

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Harriss-White ◽  
Alfred Gathorne-Hardy ◽  
Gilbert Rodrigo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
System Of Rice Intensification ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Electricity Grid ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Rice Intensification ◽  
Lower Carbon

Agricultural development research and policy has to address climate change. Against the mainstream focus on adaptation, this article reports on public policy implications for climate change mitigation of a project measuring environmental, social and economic aspects of India’s rice economy: greenhouse gases (GHGs), energy and water; the quantity and quality of work and a systematic analysis of market and social costs and returns. A detailed life cycle assessment of GHG production generates four different kinds of technological possibilities helping the transition towards lower-carbon agriculture: rain-fed rice production (RR), System of Rice Intensification (SRI), solar pumps (SPs) and halving transmission and distribution (T&D) losses in the electricity grid. Through quantitative ranking and qualitative discursive analysis, a new method, multi-criteria mapping (MCM), is trialled in which the benefits of alternatives are evaluated by incommensurable criteria. These are costs, employment and GHGs. This experimental application crosses two languages (English and Tamil), compares participants with expert knowledge (EKs) with agrarian participants with situated knowledge (SKs), and explores the influence of identity (urban-rural, gender, and education).

scholarly journals Economic and environmental effects of Integrated Pest Management program: A case study of Hau Giang province (Mekong Delta)

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-85
Author(s):  
Trung Dung Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Pest Management ◽  
Pest Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mekong Delta ◽  
Management Program ◽  
System Of Rice Intensification ◽  
Technical Programs ◽  
Economic Injury ◽  
Rice Intensification

Since many years, the agro-technical programs such as "3 reduction 3 increase", "1 must 5 reduction" and System of Rice Intensification (SRI) have been carried out with definite results. Recently, IPM program (integrated pest management) – a more comprehensive measure (using all possible techniques and methods to keep the pest populations below a level causing economic injury) – has been firstly piloted on a large scale in the Mekong Delta. This paper presents the main results of piloting IPM program in 2,610 hectares during 2014-2017 in Hau Giang province. As results, farmers have better economic benefit in production; the quality of rice has been gradually improved and can overcome the technical barriers of advanced countries in rice trade such as US, EU and Japan. In addition, the environmental and ecological consequences can be avoided due to overuse of fertilizer and pesticide. Field ecosystems will be gradually restored. Từ nhiều năm nay những chương trình kỹ thuật nông nghiệp như "3 giảm 3 tăng", "1 phải 5 giảm" và hệ thống canh tác lúa cải tiến (SRI) đã được áp dụng và đã có những kết quả nhất định. Còn chương trình quản lý dịch hại tổng hợp IPM - một biện pháp tổng hợp và tích cực hơn (sử dụng tất cả các kỹ thuật và biện pháp thích hợp có thể được, nhằm duy trì mật độ của các loài gây hại dưới mức gây ra những thiệt hại kinh tế) –  được thực nghiệm đầu tiên trên diện rộng ở Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long. Bài báo này trình bày những kết quả chính trong thử nghiệm ở 2.610 ha lúa trong thời gian 2014-2017 ở ở tỉnh Hậu giang. Kết quả là quản lý dịch hại ở ngưỡng cho phép, người nông dân có lợi hơn về kinh tế trong sản xuất, chất lượng gạo từng bước được cải thiện và có khả năng vượt qua các hàng rào kỹ thuật trong thương mại lúa gạo của các nước tiên tiến như USA, châu Âu, Nhật Bản. Ngoài ra tránh được hệ quả về môi trường sinh thái do sử dụng quá mức phân bón hóa học và ô nhiễm do thuốc bảo vệ thực vật và hệ sinh thái đồng ruộng dần được phục hồi.

Vietnam and the sustainable development of the Mekong river basis

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 261-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Nhan Quang
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Mekong Delta ◽  
Mekong River ◽  
Mekong River Basin ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Mekong River Commission ◽  
Set Up

Vietnam is a riparian country located in most downstream area of the Mekong river basin which is also shared by other states namely China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. While the Central Highlands of Vietnam has a great potential for hydropower development in tributaries of Mekong river, the Mekong delta in Vietnam territory is rich in natural resources which are favorable for agricultural development. However, besides local constraints which have being gradually remedied by Vietnam, the development of the Mekong delta is subject to, in both terms of quantity and quality, availability of water resources which relates to the water use of or discharge into the river of upper riparians. With a view to co-developing these resources in a sustainable and mutual benefit manner, Vietnam has cooperated with other states through framework of the Mekong River Commission set up by the 1995 Mekong Agreement. This paper describes the strategy and action plan applied by Viet Nam National Mekong Committee to reach the sustainable development of the Mekong river basin in general and of Vietnam parts located in the Mekong basin in particular.

scholarly journals Proceduralising control and discretion: Human oversight in artificial intelligence policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 1023263X2097864
Author(s):  
Riikka Koulu
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Discretionary Power ◽  
Legal Decision ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Human Element ◽  
Legal Decision Making ◽  
Human Actors

This article is an examination of human oversight in EU policy for controlling algorithmic systems in automated legal decision making. Despite the shortcomings of human control over complex technical systems, human oversight is advocated as a solution against the risks of increasing reliance on algorithmic tools. For law, human oversight provides an attractive, easily implementable and observable procedural safeguard. However, without awareness of its inherent limitations, human oversight is in danger of becoming a value in itself, an empty procedural shell used as a stand-in justification for algorithmisation but failing to provide protection for fundamental rights. By complementing socio-legal analysis with Science and Technology Studies, critical algorithm studies, organisation studies and human-computer interaction research, the author explores the importance of keeping the human in the loop and asks what the human element at the core of legal decision making is. Through algorithmisation it is made visible how law conceptualises decision making through human actors, personalises legal decision making through the decision-maker’s discretionary power that provides proportionality and common sense, prevents gross miscarriages of justice and establishes the human encounter deemed essential for the feeling of being heard. The analysis demonstrates the necessary human element embedded in legal decision making, against which the meaningfulness of human oversight needs to be examined.

Alternate wetting and drying technique in paddy production in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam: economic evaluation and adoption determinants

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Loan T. Le
Keyword(s):  
Economic Evaluation ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mekong Delta ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Wetting And Drying ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Alternate Wetting And Drying ◽  
Irrigation Infrastructure ◽  
Cragg Model

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the adoption of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique and provides the economic evaluation and determinants of AWD adoption in rice production in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.Design/methodology/approachThe study extends the drainage factor into the AWD score. The cost benefit analysis is utilized for the economic evaluation, and the Cragg model is applied to examine the determinants of AWD adoption.FindingsThe results indicate that there are significant differences in inputs such as water, seed, fertilizers and mechanization between the low and high levels of AWD adoption. The yields are significantly different at different adoption levels. The Cragg model found that irrigation infrastructure, AWD training and perceived ease of use of the technology are determinants of AWD adoption level. Collective pumping is considered as a major constraint in the AWD adoption.Research limitations/implicationsThe results provide managerial implications, with a focus on the effectiveness of inputs, the irrigation infrastructure and AWD training to promote the AWD adoption. Challenges of rice field flatness should be investigated in a further study.Originality/valueThe study contributes to existing literature by providing an empirical evidence for the large-scale adoption of AWD with a comprehensive economic evaluation, extending the drainage performance into the score to accurately reflect the water conservation and promoting the use of a more flexible modeling approach with the Cragg model.

scholarly journals Social Innovation for Agricultural Development: A Study of System of Rice Intensification in Bihar, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-118
Author(s):  
Vikas Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Local Context ◽  
System Of Rice Intensification ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Interview Method ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rice Intensification ◽  
The Impact

The social innovation inclines to an emphasis on ‘systems and processes of change in social relations’ and ‘innovation is a new idea, product or process that addresses social and environmental challenges and their needs’. It is newly growing up as a field of practice that is done by people. It has occurred from the broader field of innovation studies. In this article, the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been taken as a case of social innovation, which helps to increase the productivity of rice and enhance the income of the farmers. The literature related to SRI suggested that the technique is sustainable and innovative because of the less use of inputs and changes in some set of principles (i.e., planting, fertilizer, water and seeds) whereas increasing output in terms of production and productivity of the crop. In this sense, aim of the article is to evaluate the impact of the SRI technique within the framework of social innovation in Patna district, Bihar, India. In a wider context, the question is not about whether it is intensifying or not, rather emphasis should be on how farmers deal with changing environmental and socio-economic factors. Moreover, there is a need to delve deeper into implantation strategies in the local context and evaluate their impact in terms of opportunities and constraints during adaptation. In addition to this, an exploratory research design was followed to study SRI. Criterion and expert sampling were employed to select the farmers, and data were collected by a personal interview method with the help of a structured schedule. However, the data indicate the production and productivity of paddy are increased through SRI, but variation exists among different blocks of the district. It is clearly evident from the data that nearly 42 per cent of farmers from all blocks have witnessed an increase in food sufficiency. In the case of income due to the sale of excess produce is 57 per cent.

Ingestible sensors, data, and pharmaceuticals: Subjectivity in the era of digital mental health

2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482093102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacinthe Flore
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Materialism ◽  
Mental Health And Illness ◽  
Online Portal ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
United States Food ◽  
Technological World ◽  
Human Actors

This article examines a notable innovation of digital mental health: Abilify MyCite, approved by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration in 2017. This antipsychotic is equipped with an ingestible sensor which communicates with a wearable patch, smartphone app, and online portal. The article approaches Abilify MyCite as an assemblage of technologies: trackers, sensors, patches, apps, programming, smartphones, and the Internet. Drawing on science and technology studies and new materialism, it examines the production of subjectivity in the era of digital mental health. Through this case study, the article offers a theoretical framework for understanding how subjectivity and knowledge of mental health and illness are transformed through the combination of technology and pharmaceuticals, and the entanglement of human and non-human actors. I propose viewing mental health and illness in times of digital mental health as technological world-making, where sensors, objects, knowledge, and subjectivity emerge together in more-than-human worlds.

Migratory fishes in Myanmar rivers and wetlands: challenges for sustainable development between irrigation water control infrastructure and sustainable inland capture fisheries

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 1241 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Conallin ◽  
Lee J. Baumgartner ◽  
Zau Lunn ◽  
Michael Akester ◽  
Nyunt Win ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Water Control ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Objective Outcomes ◽  
Zero Hunger ◽  
Irrigation Infrastructure

Irrigated agriculture and maintaining inland capture fisheries are both essential for food and nutrition security in Myanmar. However, irrigated agriculture through water control infrastructure, such as sluices or barrages, weirs and regulators, creates physical barriers that block migration routes of important fish species. Blocking of fish migration routes, leading to a degradation of inland capture fisheries, will undermine Myanmar’s efforts to develop sustainably and meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), and the sustainability targets within the national Myanmar Sustainable Development Plans, as well as its Agricultural Development Strategy and Investment Plan. Despite the ambitious international and national targets, there is no explicit policy or legislation and no examples of where fish have been considered in the development or operation of irrigation infrastructure in Myanmar. Solutions are needed that provide opportunities to achieve multi-objective outcomes within irrigation infrastructure and water use. This can be achieved by increasing cross-sectoral collaboration in irrigation projects, improving capacity, increasing research within country by experts and providing technical solutions to aid in better management and mitigation options. This paper explores the various components of policy and governance, institutional and educational capacity and technical and management-based practices needed to plan and integrate better migratory fish and technical needs within irrigated agricultural infrastructure in Myanmar.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Impacts of Rice-Based Protection Dykes on Floodwater Dynamics in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta Using Geographical Impact Factor (GIF)

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1144
Author(s):  
Hoang Thai Duong Vu ◽  
Van Cong Trinh ◽  
Dung Duc Tran ◽  
Peter Oberle ◽  
Stefan Hinz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Impact Factor ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Mekong Delta ◽  
Flood Management ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Evaluation Indicator ◽  
Rice Intensification ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Model Setup

This study aims at evaluating the geographical influences of rice-based protection dykes on floodwater regimes along the main rivers, namely the Mekong and the Bassac, in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD). Specifically, numerous low dykes and high dykes have been constructed particularly in the upper delta’s floodplains to protect the double and triple rice cropping against the annual flooding. For the whole deltaic domain, a 1D-quasi-2D hydrodynamic model setup was used to simulate seventy-two (72) scenarios of dyke construction development in the context of low, medium, and high floods that occurred in the VMD to examine the effects of different flood magnitudes on a certain dyke construction area. Based on the model simulation results, we established an evaluation indicator, the so-called Geographical Impact Factor (GIF), to evaluate the impacts of zone-based dyke compartments on the floodwater regimes along the main rivers for different kinds of floods. Our findings revealed different rates of influences on the floodwater levels along the Mekong and Bassac Rivers under different scenarios of zone-based high-dyke developments. GIF is a useful index for scientists and decision-makers in land use planning, especially in rice intensification, in conjunction with flood management for the VMD and for similar deltas worldwide.

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