improved fallow systems in the luang prabang area, lao pdr - Afaci

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Improved fallow systems in the Luang Prabang area, Lao PDR – an analysis based on farmer experiencesResultsThe effect of "bad" yearsOne reason why it is so hard to seeany actual improvements might bethat any positive effects areovershadowed by the impacts thatweather, pests, rats, etc. (what afarmer would call a "bad year") haveon yields. Questions concerningwhether the years of cropping werenormal or bad were asked, and couldbe help in analysing the yield data.Figure 5. The effect of "normal" and "bad" years on yieldsThe importance of a "bad year" could be illustrated in the form of a graph. In Figure 5 "normal"and "bad" years are separated and presented for different lengths of fallow prior to die cropping,year. Yields in 'normal" years show an increase with the number of years of fallow, as expected.A mean of all years (both "normal" and "bad" years) is strongly affected by the influence of "bad"years and shows no yield improvement with longer fallow periods.Improved and normal fallowBy separating yields (in normal years)after improved fallow from yields after anormal fallow in Figure 6, somecomparisons between the two mightalso be made. Presented yield figuresare averages for the same set of plotsbefore and after implementation ofexperimentation. Both the FAO/UNDPand the SCRP figures are included. Thegraph shows a yield increase forimproved fallow compared with normalfallow after 3 – 4 years.Crop cutsThe crop cuts were performed over aSCRP plot where various sections haddifferent fallow histories. One section(a) was newly opened from forest (15year fallow), while two other sections(b & c) had had 6 and 3 years,respectively, of improved fallow beforerice cropping in 1999. For the nine cutsmade, the averages of each sectionare presented in Figure 7. The newlyopened section (a) has a slightly loweryield than the sections with improvedfallow. Of these two, the 6-year fallowsection (b) yields a bit better than the 3-year fallow section (c).Figure 6. Yields after improved fallow compared withnormal fallow.Figure 7. A verage rice yields from the crop cutsperformed in section a, b and c.IMPROVED FALLOW SYSTEMS IN THE LUANG PRABANG AREA, LAO PDR - AN ANALYSIS BASED ON FARMEREXPERIENCES.20040940 9
Improved fallow systems in the Luang Prabang area, Lao PDR – an analysis based on farmer experiencesResultsChange in fallow timeChances in the fallow cycle time mightbe an important indicator of a change inproductivity. Improved plots, withincreased productivity might be usedmore frequently than they were beforeintroduction of the improving techniques.Of course, a change in cycle time mayhave other, more socio-economicreasons, as discussed in theintroduction.Figure 8. Fallow time of the experiment plots before andafter experiment implementation (all=SCRP+FAO/UNDP).The plots studied here have, on average, shorter fallow cycles after project implementation thanbefore. This is true for the SCRP plots, but the pattern is the opposite for the FAO/UNDP plotsdiscussed on page 17.Yields of the study plots compared with area averagesThe SCRP has performed crop cuts in itsstudy area for a number of years. 1998 wasa dim' year and 1999 was a wet year andthese two years can probably be seen asrepresentatives for a bad and flood year.Average yields in the SCRP area for thoseyears have been compared with averageyields of the improved plots in the samearea of this study ("normal" years separatedfrom "bad" years). The yield figures arepresented for different lengths of fallow.Figure 9: SCRP study area average yields andimproved fallow plot yields "good" and "bad"years.Figure 9 indicates that the SCRP average yield for a "bad" year is a bit better than the mean ofthe improved fallow plots in the same area for fallow periods shorter than 10 years. In "normal"years compared to 1999 the two are almost identical.IMPROVED FALLOW SYSTEMS IN THE LUANG PRABANG AREA, LAO PDR - AN ANALYSIS BASED ON FARMEREXPERIENCES.20040940 10
Page 1 and 2: Minor Field Studies No. 110IMPROVED
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