Contents & Foreword, Characterizing And ... - IRRI books

1980s have not proven to be economically profitable. Insect control techniques basedsolely on chemical application were unsustainable. Therefore, the participation of allstakeholders in environmental characterization, in the selection of production sites,and in the development and selection of technologies needs to be encouraged. ManyFAO field projects, including projects on rice research and development, have recentlyemployed the participatory approach (with stakeholders and farmers) duringtheir implementation (Nguyen 1998).The costs and scale of characterization and classificationEnvironmental characterization and classification also need to be evaluated in termsof returns to agricultural production. More detailed characterization would lead tomore precise classification and thus better inputs for assessing investments, but it isalso more costly. As a rule of thumb, the more details of the characterization, thelarger the scale or ratio between the area under characterization and the area in mappingof AEZ, and the higher the cost involved. Detailed characterization and classificationare relative, depending on the objectives of the exercise. Some general characterizationat a smaller mapping scale is adequate for certain objectives, whereas detailedcharacterization at a larger mapping scale is needed for other objectives.Andriesse et al (1994) proposed several levels and scales for the agroecological characterizationof inland valleys in West Africa (Table 7).For agricultural production at different administrative levels, Koohafkan et al(1998) proposed four scales and levels of analysis in the characterization of lands andwater-use planning and management (Table 8).ConclusionsThe slowdown in the growth of the world’s rice production after 1990 has led to anincreasing call for the renewal of efforts to sustain rice production. Historical evidenceindicates that efforts to increase the world’s rice production could be strengthenedby the characterization of rice production environments. As in the past, futureenvironmental characterization should provide the basis for the efficient developmentof improved rice technologies and new rice area, the effective transfer of technologies,and other profitable investments aimed at supporting sustainable rice production.Rice production environments have evolved substantially during the past 30years. Factors affecting rice production and changes in these factors therefore need tobe considered in any new characterization and classification. Future activities in thecharacterization and classification of rice production environments also need to considerissues such as universality and compatibility, completeness, objectiveness, andthe costs and scales of the exercises.Characterizing environments for sustainable rice production 49