Farmers’ Soil Conservation Practices of Maize Production, Paklay District, Sayabouly Province, Lao PDR

抄録

Soil degradation is a big problem on the hill slopes in the Lao PDR where maize is the main crop and intensively grown. Due to this, maize yield was lower than 3.8 ton/ha which also impacted the environment as well as farmers’ incomes. Soil Conservation Practices (SCP) are important alternative methodologies for soil conservation on sloping land. The objective of this study was to examine the farmers’ current soil conservation practices for maize production in Paklay district, Sayabouly province. The study employed participatory rapid appraisal (PRA) methods and data was collected through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews from three villages (Village 1: Palay 46 households, Village 2: Boumlao-Phakeo 90 households and Village 3 Senphon 25 households, totaling 161 households). The key informant interviews were implemented through the staff of the District Agriculture and Forestry Office (DAFO) and the village headmen. The results showed that 73% of farmers practiced SCP; the major SCP practices included 100% intercropping, 60% crop residue management, 12% crop rotation, 12% conservation tillage and 3% organic fertilizer application. The use of SCP showed an increase in soil fertility, an improvement in the maize yield and soil erosion prevention on hill slopes. The majority of maize farmers who adopted SCP applied the legume intercropping method. The legume (i.e. groundnut, red bean, mungbean and black bean) were planted two weeks before the maize harvest. Crop residue was used for mulching (conserving soil moisture and soil nutrition). Furthermore, knowledge of SCP systems such as chemical use, residual crops, intercropping, mulching, tillage, and chemical soil contamination needed to be provided to farmers by staff of the DAFO.