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

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in tobacco nurseries. These also help to prevent crop damage by insects, sunlight andsometimes frost in cooler areas. These technologies are used with other related technologies,such as hydroponics and drip irrigation and these are the major areas of protected agriculturepracticed in different countries. In Sri Lanka, poly-tunnels, drip irrigation and hydroponicsare commonly practised and demonstrations have been established by the Department ofAgriculture.In most countries soil is the medium used to grow vegetables and other crops. Whenplants are grown in the soil several problems are encountered due to many soil bornediseases and pests. These problems increase the cost of production due to the use ofpesticides and soil fumigants. This has lead to the use of hydroponics. Hydroponicsculture/soil-less-culture is a means of growing plants in a nutrient medium without soil tosupport them. This method began around the 1930’s on a commercial scale with researchconducted on many aspects by the University of California, USA. Hydroponics culture willfacilitate growing of plants in areas with marginal conditions for crop production, such asadverse climate, soil, disease and pest occurrences. The controlled system with soil-lessculturecould be used to obtain high yields but requires good management skills forsuccessful crop production.Many benefits could be obtained by practicing controlled environment agriculture.Some of the major benefits could be summarized as follows:The land available for agricultural production is continuously decreasing due to thedevelopment of industries, urbanization, housing projects etc. The per capita agriculturalland in the Region at present is only 0.25 ha. Therefore, future food production will have tocome through intensive cropping on small extents of land and crop production strategies mayhave to be changed. It is here that the protected agriculture has to be considered due itsspecific advantages in food production.Labour is a major limitation in open field agriculture. As protected agriculturerequires less labour, it could offset the initial high investment.Excessive uses of inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, frequent cultivation, andlack of proper erosion control systems are constant threats to the environment. As input use,particularly fertilizers and pesticides, is controlled in protected agriculture, not only will it beeconomical in terms of input use but also environmentally friendly and provide products ofhigh quality free of pesticide residues for human consumption.In drought prone areas, scarcity of water during periods of droughts, and irregularrainfall has been responsible for crop losses. Under controlled agriculture water use iscontrolled and is minimal. This will be a major advantage in introducing protectedagriculture to dry regions.The major advantage of protected agriculture is high crop yield compared with openfield agriculture. These high yields are achieved through the provisions of optimumconditions such as balanced plant nutrition for plant growth, which the open field agriculturaloperations can never provide.It is very essential to develop low cost poly-tunnels so that the system could beadopted by many entrepreneurs. The development of structures with locally fabricated163
material having sufficient durability should be undertaken to make the systems affordable toas many groups of the farming community as possible.Another major issue is regarding the type of crops having a competitive advantagethat could be grown. The diversification into selection of high-value crops that have marketsboth locally and overseas and those with high genetic potential for yield and quality will beessential for success. Today, some of the crops grown under controlled environmentsinclude: tomato, sweet corn, red, green and yellow bell peppers, strawberry, cauliflower,cucumbers, cantaloupe, lettuce, green peas and ornamentals/cut flowers. To achievemaximum benefit these systems will require easy access to good seed, preferably hybridseeds, which are commonly used in advanced countries. There is a need to study thefeasibility of developing hybrid seeds as imports will be costly and non-affordable by thefarmers as they will have to be replenished every season.Standard methodologies should be developed for crop selection, raising seedlings,production methods, irrigation/fertilizer application, pest control (particularly IPM), whichcould be used in these high-tech systems. Research and development will be required torefine existing technologies as appropriate to different ecological regions of differentcountries.The main markets for protected agricultural products are the super markets, airlinecaterers, hotel industry and exports to a limited extent. There should be market intelligence,which should be provided to the growers, processors and exporters to encourage andmaximize profits.4.6 Organic FarmingOrganic farming includes all types of agricultural production systems, which areenvironmentally, socially, and economically sound. It has been defined differently byseveral workers, but all of them lay much emphasis on soil and environment conservation. Itis also different to traditional farming in that it involves a holistic approach to sustainableagriculture. This form of crop diversification has spread on the continent, particularly inGermany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Finland and is spreading into theAsian and African continents. The demand for organically grown food is gainingmomentum all over the world. The USA market volume for organic produce is in the regionof 5 billion US Dollars. It is also increasing in developing countries. The question oftenasked is whether organic farming could feed the rapidly growing world population? This isdebatable; but even with the “Green Revolution” with plentiful use of chemical fertilizers,over 800 million people of the world are starving and many may die of hunger.4.7 Role of the Farming CommunityIn crop diversification towards sustainability, far greater emphasis should be given tofarmer participation in adopting and implementing new technologies. It is also necessary tocombine farmers’ traditional knowledge with the contribution of sciences, solicited in a waythat addresses their needs, values and objectives. Crop diversification strategies have failedin most cases due to ignorance of farmer involvement and external and internal factors thateffect the system. One of the major issues is also crop selection. In rice-based cropdiversification, crop selection does not pose a severe problem as it depends on the soil type.In upland crop diversification, crop selection and management depends on market values and164
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RAP PUBLICATION: 2001/03CROP DIVERS
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN THEASIA-PAC
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13. INTENSIFICATION OF CROP DIVERSI
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INTRODUCTORY REMARKSMinas K. Papade
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New opportunities that would benefi
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN BANGLADESHM
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(CDP) during 1990/95 in 125 Thanas
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SlName of Crops1 Aus:HYVLocalTable
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Table 4. Trade of Crops/products (I
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through development projects implem
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y the terminal year of the Fifth Pl
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cropping. This has only been possib
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process and export those labour int
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g) restoration/improvement of soil
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8. RECOMMENDATIONSConsidering the i
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enthusiasm of the farmers in their
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3.3 The Formation and Development o
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carried out for years, guarantees t
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environment protection. Special att
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2. CROP PRODUCTION AND ECONOMICS SC
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What is most notable is the change
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8.36 m/ha involved in the area shif
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fact that the area shares of the do
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country. Therefore, a judicious use
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5.3 Emerging Technology and Crop Di
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7. CONCLUSIONSIndia, being a vast c
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Table 3. All India: Temporal Change
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Table 5. All India: Temporal Change
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN JAPANMasa I
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production, these ratios were deter
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soybean using paddy fields should c
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food industry have sharply increase
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7. CONCLUSIONSThe Japanese socio-ec
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Figure 2. Change of Rice Productivi
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Figure 4. Aid Provided by Major Cou
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The Natural Rubber (NR) industry co
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About 78 percent of the rubber grow
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should be attractive to justify the
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REFERENCESAnon. 1990. Proceedings o
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Table 3. Agriculture Land Use in Sa
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Table 7. Paddy Production, 1985-199
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Table 10. Imports and Exports of Fr
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Table 14. Exports and Imports of Pr
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN NEPALK. C.
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We know hill farmers face many prob
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Table 2. Growth of Agricultural Com
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3. PATTERN OF CROP DIVERSIFICATIONN
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With regard to success stories of c
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5. CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND PR
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It recognizes the need for a differ
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN THE PHILIPP
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2.3 Yield Per Hectare of Agricultur
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In coconut, diversification means t
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were used in the preparation of the
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There are a variety of factors that
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Table 1. Production Area of Commerc
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Table 3. Yield (tonnes) Per Hectare
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Table 5. Selected Macroeconomic and
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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 140 and 141: Over the past few years, agricultur
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 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
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