Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific region - United Nations in ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Over the past few years, agricultural development policy placed emphasis onincreasing production which mainly relied upon natural resources, the transfer of technologyand the support of certain production inputs. Although such development can achieve thegoal to increase farm production sufficient for domestic consumption, import substitution,exports, and raw materials for local processing industry, it was found that the producingfarmers are the ones who have been burdened with the economic imbalances. An incomegap between farmers and those engaged in other occupations is wider to the extent thatfarmers are considered as the poorest group.The problems of farmers’ income and the downward trend of the agricultural sectorgrowth stems from major factors such as: shortage of water for agriculture, less andinconsistent rainfall distribution, deterioration of farm land, as well as competition in theworld trading of agricultural commodities being dominated by protectionism on the part ofseveral groups of nations. Taking this into account, the government and the Ministry ofAgriculture and Cooperatives have set up the policy on restructuring of agriculturalproduction systems with a view to maintain the growth rate of the agricultural sector and toraise farmers’ incomes. The policy will be diverted from the promotion to increaseproduction to place more emphasis on the increase of farmers’ incomes and the alleviation ofprevailing poverty problems. This can be done by providing the farmers with alternativessuitable for their area potential, their readiness and market opportunities so they will be ableto make decisions on restructuring their own production systems while balancing theutilization of natural resources.4. TYPICAL FARMING SYSTEMSThe typical cropping systems practiced in each region can be divided as follows:a. North: Mountainous upland area where the cropping patterns are upland rice, fieldcrops (cropping systems such as soybean-mungbean, corn-mungbean, mungbean-cotton,corn-sorghum etc.) and fruits such as lychee, longan, mango etc. The fruit tree-basedcropping systems are mostly intercropped with field crops, vegetable crops and flowers.With only 10 percent of the lowland under irrigation, the cropping systems are wet seasonrice followed by dry season rice or soybean, mungbean, peanut, tobacco, sweet corn, babycorn, onion, garlic, tomato, water melon etc. The typical cropping systems in this region,therefore, are rice-based cropping systems and fruit tree-based cropping systems.b. Northeast: Rainfed rice is mainly grown once a year in the semi-arid plateau withsandy infertile soil. Dryland cash crops planted are cassava, jute and mulberry forsericulture. For the lowland under irrigation, wet season rice is grown followed by dryseason rice or soybean, mungbean, peanut, jute, sesame and some vegetable crops. Inaddition, diversification has also been carried out in this region, especially with such fruittrees as mango, sweet tamarind, banana, papaya etc., as well as livestock and rice-fish culturein rainy season as alternative agriculture production enterprises. The typical croppingsystems, therefore, are rice-based cropping systems and field crop-based cropping systems.c. Central Plain: Two or three crops of rice area are grown annually in the most fertileregion of the country with the largest irrigated area. Other major crops are fruit trees,vegetable crops, field crops and also livestock. The cropping systems under irrigation arewet season rice followed by dry season rice or soybean, mungbean, peanut, sweet potato,133
water melon, sesame, and some vegetable crops such as sweet corn, baby corn, yard longbean, pumpkin, cucumber etc. For uplands the cropping systems are corn-sorghum, sesamemungbean,mungbean-corn etc. During the last few years, fruit-tree based cropping systemshave been practiced in this region. Livestock and fisheries have also been integrated withcrop enterprises. The typical cropping systems in this area, therefore, are rice-basedcropping systems and field crop-based cropping systems.d. South: The major crop is rubber. Rice, fruit trees, vegetables, other cash crops,marine fisheries and prawn farms are also important. For the lowland, the cropping systemsare wet season rice followed by dry season rice or water melon, peanut, mungbean, sweetcorn, taro etc. Rubber-based cropping systems, can be widely seen in upland area in therainy season. Most of rubber plantations are intercropped with upland rice, sweet corn,peanut, pineapple, banana and other field crops. Fruit and other perennial trees such ascoconut, rambutan, mangosteen, durian, longan, oil palm, coffee, cocao etc., are mixed andintercropped with the same crops as in rubber-based cropping systems.Farmer’s Decision Making towards DiversificationWhether alternative proposals by a government agency will be accepted or not is aquestion of the incentives provided and understood by the target farmers. In viewing thealternative proposals in economic terms, the farmers will consider whether the incomegenerated by the alternatives is higher than the traditional one. As to the social aspects, analternative plan may or may not be suitable for their farm resources in terms of land, labourand capital availability. That means market and farm resources are the main factorsinfluencing the decision making (and risk taking) which are the farmers’ own choice, and notthe government’s choice. The farmers will not accept the alternatives if they cannot see amarket opportunity. The farmers will also consider whether the land, labour and capital theyhave are suitable for a diversification programme.5. PROBLEMS/CONSTRAINTS IN AGRICULTUREProblems in agriculture stem from technical, economic and social factors. Majorproblems can be summarized as follows:Poverty of Farmers and Income DistributionIn general, farmers are poor because of their main engagement in agriculturalproduction, which has to face difficult conditions such as natural disasters, uncertainties ofmarkets and farm prices, as well as good quality produce to meet market demand. Farmersare regarded as the poorest group in the country.Production EfficiencyAgricultural production efficiency in Thailand is relatively low because theproduction depends mainly on rainfall; farmers are therefore unable to integrate the adoptionof technology for the increase of their crop productivity. Furthermore, most farmers are lesseducated, which is a constraint in laying down production plans in line with changingsituations. Besides, there are problems with farming in unsuitable land. These factors resultin the low production of various crops.134
Page 2 and 3:
RAP PUBLICATION: 2001/03CROP DIVERS
Page 4 and 5:
CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN THEASIA-PAC
Page 6 and 7:
13. INTENSIFICATION OF CROP DIVERSI
Page 8 and 9:
INTRODUCTORY REMARKSMinas K. Papade
Page 10 and 11:
New opportunities that would benefi
Page 12 and 13:
CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN BANGLADESHM
Page 14 and 15:
(CDP) during 1990/95 in 125 Thanas
Page 16 and 17:
SlName of Crops1 Aus:HYVLocalTable
Page 18 and 19:
Table 4. Trade of Crops/products (I
Page 20 and 21:
through development projects implem
Page 22 and 23:
y the terminal year of the Fifth Pl
Page 24 and 25:
cropping. This has only been possib
Page 26 and 27:
process and export those labour int
Page 28 and 29:
g) restoration/improvement of soil
Page 30 and 31:
8. RECOMMENDATIONSConsidering the i
Page 32 and 33:
enthusiasm of the farmers in their
Page 34 and 35:
3.3 The Formation and Development o
Page 36 and 37:
carried out for years, guarantees t
Page 38 and 39:
environment protection. Special att
Page 40 and 41:
2. CROP PRODUCTION AND ECONOMICS SC
Page 42 and 43:
What is most notable is the change
Page 44 and 45:
8.36 m/ha involved in the area shif
Page 46 and 47:
fact that the area shares of the do
Page 48 and 49:
country. Therefore, a judicious use
Page 50 and 51:
5.3 Emerging Technology and Crop Di
Page 52 and 53:
7. CONCLUSIONSIndia, being a vast c
Page 54 and 55:
Table 3. All India: Temporal Change
Page 56 and 57:
Table 5. All India: Temporal Change
Page 58 and 59:
CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN JAPANMasa I
Page 60 and 61:
production, these ratios were deter
Page 62 and 63:
soybean using paddy fields should c
Page 64 and 65:
food industry have sharply increase
Page 66 and 67:
7. CONCLUSIONSThe Japanese socio-ec
Page 68 and 69:
Figure 2. Change of Rice Productivi
Page 70 and 71:
Figure 4. Aid Provided by Major Cou
Page 72 and 73:
The Natural Rubber (NR) industry co
Page 74 and 75:
About 78 percent of the rubber grow
Page 76 and 77:
should be attractive to justify the
Page 78 and 79:
REFERENCESAnon. 1990. Proceedings o
Page 80 and 81:
Table 3. Agriculture Land Use in Sa
Page 82 and 83:
Table 7. Paddy Production, 1985-199
Page 84 and 85:
Table 10. Imports and Exports of Fr
Page 86 and 87:
Table 14. Exports and Imports of Pr
Page 88 and 89:
CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN NEPALK. C.
Page 90 and 91: We know hill farmers face many prob
Page 92 and 93: Table 2. Growth of Agricultural Com
Page 94 and 95: 3. PATTERN OF CROP DIVERSIFICATIONN
Page 96 and 97: With regard to success stories of c
Page 98 and 99: 5. CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND PR
Page 100 and 101: It recognizes the need for a differ
Page 102 and 103: CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN THE PHILIPP
Page 104 and 105: 2.3 Yield Per Hectare of Agricultur
Page 106 and 107: In coconut, diversification means t
Page 108 and 109: were used in the preparation of the
Page 110 and 111: There are a variety of factors that
Page 112 and 113: Table 1. Production Area of Commerc
Page 114 and 115: Table 3. Yield (tonnes) Per Hectare
Page 116 and 117: Table 5. Selected Macroeconomic and
Page 118 and 119: Table 7. Dominant Rice Cropping Pat
Page 120 and 121: 1.2 Soils in the Crop Diversificati
Page 122 and 123: Table 1. Major Crops, Their Extents
Page 124 and 125: drained and rice on poorly drained
Page 126 and 127: Figure 3. Schematic Representation
Page 128 and 129: The potato production in the up cou
Page 130 and 131: Table 6 clearly shows that there is
Page 132 and 133: In addition to the above scenario,
Page 134 and 135: 6. GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND STRATEGI
Page 136 and 137: Panabokke, C.R. 1996. Soils and agr
Page 138 and 139: y promoting diversified crops inste
Page 142 and 143: Land TenureMore than half of the Th
Page 144 and 145: The New theory is a novel approach
Page 146 and 147: Mushrooms: nang-fah mushroom (Pleur
Page 148 and 149: - Farmers can sell their rice at a
Page 150 and 151: In order to maintain the growth rat
Page 152 and 153: REFERENCESAthipanan, Withaya. 1995.
Page 154 and 155: CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN VIET NAMNgu
Page 156 and 157: 3. PATTERNS OF CROP DIVERSIFICATION
Page 158 and 159: the contour with mulching using ric
Page 160 and 161: development of new crop varieties a
Page 162 and 163: • Cultivated and growing area und
Page 164 and 165: other hand, the size of an average
Page 166 and 167: 4.1 Crop NutritionA major contribut
Page 168 and 169: increased from 130 million ha to 15
Page 170 and 171: in tobacco nurseries. These also he
Page 172 and 173: past experience. A sustainable prog
Page 174 and 175: diversification, taking into accoun
Page 176 and 177: The major outputs are:- Integration
Page 178 and 179: • Database and information materi
Page 180 and 181: • Business plans have been formul
Page 182 and 183: minimize such losses. The developme
Page 184 and 185: LIST OF PARTICIPANTSBANGLADESHM. En
Page 186 and 187: SRI LANKAH.P.M. GunasenaDirectorPos
Page 188 and 189: FAOR.B. SinghAssistant Director-Gen
show all

Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific region - United Nations in ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?