Improving Hill Farming: From Maize Monocropping to Alternative Cropping Systems in the Thai Highlands

Lately, the Hill Pond Rice System (HPRS) is being promoted as a form of alternative farming systems in selected northern provinces of Thailand, in which the land conversion is designed to maximize rainwater harvesting in farmland consisting of forest trees, water reservoirs, paddy fields, and high-value crop cultivation to serve environmental and livelihood needs. This study employed the double-hurdle model and the tobit technique to investigate the farm-level factors associated with land conversion from maize monocropping to the HPRS using primary data collected from 253 households in Nan, Chiang Mai, Tak, and Lampang Provinces. It was found that education, farming knowledge, understanding benefits of the HPRS, access to water sources, access to advis, and workforce sharing raised the likelihood and extent of farmland conversion into the HPRS. In contrast, perceived complexity of the HPRS, experiences with negative shocks, and land tenure security lowered the likelihood and extent of land conversion. The findings suggest that on-farm collective action should be promoted to mitigate labor constraints in implementation and that access to equipment should be enhanced through HPRS advisors’ visits.

Poultry biodiversity for alternative farming systems development

Poultry biodiversity represents a key factor to improve poultry resilience and promote sustainable and low input farming systems. The EU and member states promote protection of livestock biodiversity and the development of alternative farming through funding projects such as “Local Chicken Breeds in Alternative Production Chain: Welfare, Quality and Sustainability” (funded by the Italian Ministry of Research and University). The aim of the present research was to identify among five different poultry genotypes Bionda Piemontese (BP), Robusta Maculata (RM), RM x Sasso (RMxS), BP x Sasso (BPxS) and a commercial hybrid (Ross 308) the best suitable breed in terms of productivity and welfare for alternative housing system. A total of 300 (60 x genotype), 21 days old male birds were randomly allotted in two housing systems: 1) standard intensive farming (controlled environment, 33 kg/m2 and standard diet) and 2) free-range (“natural” environmental conditions, 21 kg/m2, access to outdoor area and low-input diet). Slaughtering was performed at 81 days of age. During the trial, the productive performance and behaviour of the animals were evaluated. The housing system, the genotype and their interaction significantly affected many of the studied variables, showing broiler not the ideal genotype for extensive farming system, which is more suited for low/medium performance strains.

Investigation of Trace Metal Bioaccumulation in Wastewater-Fed Fish: A Case Study

It was stated that the use of urban wastewater in food production in the 1970s and 1980s may lead to the development of alternative farming systems in the future. Fish fed with wastewater are grown in Asian countries. However, due to the mixing of domestic wastewater with industrial wastewater, many toxic micro-polluting wastewaters affect fish farming even more. The objectives of this study were to investigate the suitability of fish for human food consumption in terms of metals, to provide a basis for the development of a standard on the concentration of heavy metals in reclaimed water used for fish aquaculture, and to search the possibilities of technical improvement of the system in terms of more efficient wastewater treatment. This study will be useful in terms of precautions and disadvantages that can be taken against food shortages that may be experienced with the effect of climate change.

Assessment of Nutrient Usage and Discharge in Tomato Greenhouse

One of the contributors to eutrophication is from agricultural wastewater which contained nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The agricultural industry in Japan has practice greenhouse plantation recently. In this study, the amount of nutrient concentration and load in the wastewater were investigated. Water samples from water supply, soil medium and effluent were collected at a greenhouse in Japan which cultivated tomato plants in coconut husk medium. The assessment was conducted every two weeks for regular monitoring for three months. The results showed that concentrations of all nutrients have same concentration level in the water supply samples from January 13th to March 15th. The concentration of supplied nutrient on March 29th increased due to high concentration of nutrients in medium water samples which preventing the nutrient uptake by the plant. The nutrient uptake by the plants were in the same range which NH4-N was between 13.6 mg/L to 14.99 mg/L, NO2-N was between 2.3 to 2.5 mg/L, NO3-N was between 135.9 mg/L to 152.5 mg/L and PO4-P was between 70.12 to 76.64 mg/L. The concentration of nutrients in drainage was below the permissible limit of Japan’s Effluent Standard. As a result, it can be concluded that using greenhouses as an alternative farming method contributes in reducing nutrient discharge by controlling the nutrient supply to the plants.

Reforming smallholder farms to mitigate agricultural pollution

China’s agriculture is dominated by smallholder farms, which have become major sources of negative environmental impacts including eutrophication, formation of haze, soil acidification, and greenhouse gas emissions. To mitigate these environmental impacts, new farming models including family farming, cooperation farming and industrial farming have emerged in recent years. However, whether these new farming practices would improve the economic and environmental performance as compared to the current smallholder farming has yet to be verified on ground level. In this paper, by using pilot farming cases within the watershed of Tai Lake, we found that alternative farming models produced 7% more crop yield, while using 8% less fertilizer, leading to an 28% decrease in pollutant emission per hectare. These alternative farming models have a 17% higher fertilizer use efficiency and 50% higher profit per hectare. Compared to smallholder farming, these alternative farming practices invest 27% more resources into agricultural facilities, including advanced machinery, and have a younger, better educated labor force as a consequence of a larger farm size and more specialization. These input changes substantially increase fertilizer use efficiency and reduce agricultural pollution. Policy arrangements to support and facilitate the uptake of these farming models will further promote the green development and sustainable intensification of agricultural production.

LEARNING FROM THE PRESENT AND THE PAST: A CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL REVIEW OF AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS ON SOIL FERTILITY

Conventional farming involves the use of synthetic and chemical pesticides that increases the short-term productivity of the soil with the expense of its long-term fertility. The emergence of alternative agriculture movement is estimated to have become a progressive response in increasing awareness of the long adverse effects on an effort to promote the soil which is well cultivated by the agro-ecological environment. Although it is a shift from conventional farming, alternative farming practices have not been adequately integrated as organic farming techniques and remain non-organic farming options. In an effort to explore the differences, we conducted a literature review of temperate areas studies comparing to conventional and alternative farming techniques in terms of their effects on soil nutrient levels. This review was found that 70% of the literature supports the use of alternative techniques as the means of reducing the agriculture impact on fertility and health of the soil and highlights the need of further research on the topic of longitudinal studies primarily in the context of the ecology of temperate climate. To contextualize contemporary view with the developing popularity of the alternative conventional farming system, we also explored the literature about the impact of agriculture that expanded again from the 1920s. The historical study examined literature concerning long-term fertility soil in Canada Journal on scientific agriculture to capture general environment narration about alternative farming at that time. It was found that a segment of the pre-1950s literature viewed the farming practices sustainable time, citing the declining yields to support this claim. The latest increasing proved in alternative farming techniques in response to a growing awareness of the long-term effects of conventional farming can be contextualized in the context of history as well as the rise of a more traditional approach to farming.

Socio-economic determinants for adoption of riverbed farming in Deukhuri valley of Western Nepal

Riverbed farming (RbF) has emerged as an alternative form of agriculture. This farming supports the poor and marginalized farmers to adapt to climate change, especially in the degraded lands because of floods and flood-induced riverbank erosions every year. The government and non-government organizations (GOs/NGOs) have supported and built capacities of farmers to adopt this as an effective adaptation strategy in the region. This study aims to analyze the determinants of riverbed farming at the household level mainly in Deukhuri valley of Western Terai, Nepal. A total of 150 households were selected randomly for the study in Sisahaniya rural municipality for the household survey. The determinants of the adoption of riverbed farming have been analyzed utilizing independent variables such as age, gender, education, occupation, ethnicity, family size, and others. Education and occupation are positively significant for the adoption of riverbed farming whereas the family size is negatively significant. Agriculture is the main occupation in the area and education helped them to understand the concept and procedure of RbF as alternative farming in the degraded lands. However, not all the family members have actively contributed to the RbF. This is an interesting study that could be expanded with the support of GOs/NGOs.

Pertanian Organik sebagai Salah Satu Konsep Pertanian Berkelanjutan

Excessive use of inorganic chemicals results in adverse impacts on land and plants. In the midst of the community, there is anxiety about the high content of pesticide residues in agricultural products. There is a need to develop alternative farming systems that are able to produce quantities and quality of healthy products in a sustainable manner. One agricultural system that supports the concept is the organic farming system. The basic principles of organic farming are: (1) Keeping the ecosystem healthy, (2) Applying the principle of efficiency to the cultivation system, (3) Conducting production activities with the concept of sustainable agriculture, (4) Producing pesticide-free products, and (6) Maintaining environmental sustainability. Food Crop Production Study Program Lampung State Polytechnic makes Organic Agriculture as one of the leading competencies for its graduates. The establishment of the Organic Agriculture Business Unit on campus will increase student competencies, foster entrepreneurship, be a place for competency internships, and as an independent source of income.