Field Study Laos 2004

Host partner: PRODESSA (Projet de développement rural de Sayabouri)

Other partners: CCL (Comité de Coopération pour le Laos), NAFRI (National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute), PRONAE (Programme National Agro-Ecologie)

Topic: Soil fertility - Erosion

Location: The three districts of Kenthao, Botene and Paklay in the South of the Sayaboury Province, PDR Lao

ICRA Working Document Series number: 119

Context: The PRODESSA project is located on the right bank of the Mekong River, bordering Thailand to the South and West. The districts have assets and potentials but there are fears about the sustainability of farming systems. The objective of PRODESSA is to improve farmers’ livelihoods through a rapid, sensible and sustainable rural development, considering the tangible comparative assets they have.

Objectives: To design an approach to develop and adapt research innovations that aim at maintaining and improving soil fertility and controlling weeds, while diversifying crops, increasing the productivity of farming systems and better integrating crop and animal production.

Outputs: The study proposes alternatives that could improve farmer livelihood, while maintaining their environment :

• at the technical level, to further develop the innovation package, recommended as a "tool box", with the full participation of various farmers, and to adapt it to various areas.
• at the methodological level, to extend soil conservation innovations through learning by doing, expending efforts to design resource materials.
• at the institutional level, to favor dialogue between research, extension and development, as well as farmers and other partners, to set up mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation, to train technicians of the various research and extension structures.

Team members:

Name	Nationality	Institute	Discipline
Erika ALANDIA ROBLES	Bolivia	-	Animal production
Nawel BOUKHOBZA	Algeria	Institut Technique des Grandes Cultures (ITGC)	Agronomy
Goulé GUEYE	Senegal	SODEFITEX Tambacounda	Agronomy
Roger KWIDJA	Cameroon	Institut de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement (IRAD)	Socio-economy
Phoukhong SENGSOURIGNETH (CP)	Lao	Projet PRODESSA	Agronomy

Reviewer: Dr Toon Defoer (Belgium), ICRA Professional Associate

Abstract: In the South of the Sayaboury Province (districts of Kenthao, Botene and Paklay), the development of commercial agriculture has been supported by mechanisation of tillage and, as a consequence, has led to soil degradation by erosion. A three-month study was carried out in the region in order to review innovations in soil conservation and suggest a suitable approach for their diffusion. Data was collected through standardised questionnaires and participatory tools (resource maps, transects and semi-structured interviews).

The study shows that the level of soil degradation differs from one area to another depending on the topography, the type of soil and the level of mechanisation. The extent of degradation varies with the extent of tractor use and farm size.

Some institutions such as PRONAE, PRODESSA and CARE International, have their own approaches to solve the problem, however, poor collaboration among these institutions limits the diffusion of innovations (most of them are still under experimentation) at farm level; individual farmers have developed and used their own techniques.

An innovation package was proposed for different zones and types of farmers. This package needs to be developed and adapted by the different stakeholders concerned with soil degradation. To facilitate the process, a co-operation framework between different research/development structures and other actors concerned is proposed, as well as a “learning by doing” approach where farmer facilitators would be in charge of extension.

Key words: Lao PDR, Sayaboury, zoning, typology, erosion, innovations, approaches, learning by doing.

Read the full pdf report in French by downloading: Rapport du Laos (pdf, 4436K)