When multi-stakeholders in local communities come together to tackle sustainable development problems, they not only offer solutions to local constituents, but also create impact to the broader policymaking process at local, regional and national levels. A United Nations University flagship project, namely a network of Regional Centres of Expertise (RCE) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) indicates that local networking for sustainable development, and in particular for sustainable agriculture, can be an effective approach for local communities to employ learning tools in ESD to improve the situation and render positive influence in policymaking. RCEs on ESD, as an innovative platform for multi-stakeholder networking at the local and regional level, has proven to be an effective vehicle for promoting sustainable agriculture, linking sustainable livelihood and ESD, involving farmers, school teachers, students, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders in the community.

Though soil dressing is one of the most effective methods for reducing cadmium (Cd) uptake in rice plants of Cd contaminated paddy fields, it needs large amount of soil and thus often requires a high cost and heavy environmental loads. In this study, we investigated any possibility of minimizing the thickness of soil dressing by utilizing mixing tillage before the soil dressing. 15 cm-thick mixed contaminated soil and overlying 12.5 cm-thick soil dressing (the conventional thickness of soil dressing being 20-30 cm in Japan) were used to form the usual stratified paddy field of the three layers (plow layer, plowsole, and subsoil). Cd concentration of the contaminated soil was adjusted to approximately 2.0, 1.0 and 0.5 mg/kg by mixing tillage. Then rice plants were grown under ponding condition during the cultivation and the experiments of each treatment were conducted under two different water flow systems, open and closed systems. As a result, Cd concentration in brown rice with water flow in an open system was 0.07 mg/kg, 0.05 mg/kg, and 0.17 mg/kg when Cd concentration of soil was 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg, respectively. Cd concentration in brown rice of 2.0 mg/kg soil was 5% significantly higher by 5% than those of other treatments. These results indicated that it was effective to dilute soil Cd concentration to 1.0 mg/kg for reducing Cd uptake of rice plants. There was no significant difference in growth and yield a way these treatments. However, we conclude that mixing tillage may have potential to minimize the thickness of soil dressing to half of the conventional thickness, 20 -30 cm, under ponding condition during the cultivation.

The spillways of irrigation ponds in Japan should be repaired to safely pass the 200-year flood event, which is the design criteria set by the government. However, extensive time is required to repair the spillways owing to the large number of ponds and the high repair costs. Therefore, we developed a low-cost early warning system (EWS) to reduce the risk to households in case of floods, as well as a low-cost emergency discharging device (EDD) to prevent or mitigate these floods. The Yutani irrigation pond in Tottori, Japan was selected for this study. The pond stores runoff from the catchment area and has no inflow from other basins. A siphon tube with a diameter of 20 cm was employed as the EDD for the pond and the discharge performance was evaluated. First, 60-min rainfalls at return periods of different years were estimated. Then, the peak runoff and subsequent arrival time of each year’s 60-min rainfall and the discharges from the spillway and siphon were estimated. The water balance of the pond was calculated using the peak runoff as an inflow element, and the discharges from the spillway and the siphon were used as the outflow elements. The results showed that the pond will overflow if a 50-year rainfall event occurs under current conditions; however, it will not overflow when the siphon is employed even if a 60-year rainfall event occurs. Since the siphon discharge was not large enough to pass a flood event greater than 60 years, we developed an EWS that informs villagers living near the pond when the water level of the pond reaches these levels through an alarm lamp and an e-mail. Based on the results of the water balance analysis, the EWS provided information to judge whether villagers should be evacuated or not and the timing of the evacuation in the case of heavy rainfall events if necessary.

This study was conducted to find out the influence of pig breeds on growth performance and immunity during the pre-weaning period. The experimental designed consisted of a completely randomized design and was performed with a total of 892 piglets acquired from 105 Thai native (TN), Meishan (MS), and Large white x Landrace (LWxLR) sows. After farrowing, the piglets were weighted daily until weaning at 21 days of age and the average daily gain (ADG) was calculated. Serum samples were collected from piglets at 12 and 24 h and IgG concentrations were determined by the ELISA technique. The growth performance of LWxLR piglets measured at birth and at seven days (1.43±0.20 and 2.67±0.20, respectively) was higher (p<0.01) than TN (0.65±0.15 and 1.12±0.15, respectively) and MS (1.07±0.02 and 1.97±0.37, respectively). The growth performance of MS piglets was similar (p>0.01) to LWxLR piglets at fourteen and twenty-one days of ages. The ADG of MS and LWxLR were significantly (p<0.01) higher than TN during all lactation periods. However, the piglets of MS showed the highest ADG at fourteen days. The IgG concentrations in all breeds at 12 h were less than 24 h but the values were not considered significant (p>0.01) among the breeds. The present results indicate that different pig breeds did have an effect on growth performance and ADG. Moreover, this study showed that low birth weight of piglets resulted in low growth performance, but IgG concentrations were not found to be different among the breeds.

Decomposition of soil organic carbon as well as growth of crops are affected by soil physical condition such as soil moisture and soil temperature. Thus predicting soil moisture and temperature condition of arable lands under future climate change is important for both mitigation and adaptation of climate change in agriculture. In this study, we attempted to predict soil temperature condition in arbitrary arable lands in Japan. Soybean fields of Toyama city, middle part of Japan facing Japan Sea were chosen as the experimental site. There, monitoring of soil temperature and measurement of soil thermal properties which is a function of soil moisture, was conducted. For the future application to arbitrary locations, the thermal properties were also predicted with a mathematical model, by using soil physical properties such as the ratio of sand: silt :clay, soil particle density and dry bulk density in soil physical database. Then, numerical simulation of soil moisture and temperature was conducted with predicted soil hydraulic and thermal properties. The model with estimated thermal properties described the measured soil temperature fairly well especially when the soil condition was wet.

Relocating isolated villagers from upland to lowland areas is an important rural development strategy to eradicate poverty and food insecurity in Laos. However, previous research found several social and livelihood problems after resettlement, including poverty and food insecurity. This study investigated the level of food insecurity after resettlement and identified factors influencing household food security. We surveyed 60 households through a structured questionnaire in Tok Ong Keo village of Lamam district, Sekong province. The U.S. Food Security/Hunger Survey Module was employed to measure the severity of food insecurity. In addition, we applied a logistic regression model to examine the factors influencing food security. The results show that about 55% of the sample households experienced rice shortages for about 1–3 months and 61.7% were food insecure with moderate hunger. The education level of household heads, household size, and livestock ownership all had statistically significant influences on food security.

Nitrogen (N) fertilizers play an important role to increase grain yield and grain quality in crop production systems. In Western Siberia, predominantly used N-fertilizers for cereal production are urea and ammonium-nitrate (‘Selitra’). Due to semi-arid climate, only one fertilizer application is common, simultaneously with sowing and directly into the seed furrow. A new kind of slow-release fertilizer is a modified urea with silicate coating and urease inhibitor and was developed at the State Agrarian University of the Northern Transurals (Russian Federation). In a field trial, the comparative performance of the novel fertilizer type was tested with spring wheat near the city of Ishim in Tyumen region (Western Siberia) on 3.4 ha under on-farm conditions. 4 levels of the slow-release urea (25/50/75/100%) were compared to 100% of conventional urea, 100% of Selitra and an unfertilized control in randomized complete block design with 4 replications. Results showed significant differences in soil nitrate availability but no differences in ammonium release. Differences between N-levels dispersed during heading, afterwards only plots with Selitra fertilization showed significant higher nitrate values. Leaf chlorophyll content as indicator for plant Nitrogen supply showed significant differences from beginning stem elongation on. The harvested grain yield showed no significant differences between the compared fertilizer types at the 100% N-level. Even if the grain yield with reduced dose of slow-release fertilizer was on the same level, it was not significantly higher than the unfertilized control. From the results of this field trial there seems to be no beneficial advantage of the tested slow-release fertilizer so far.

In the Philippines, there is at present a Soybean Roadmap which has two major components, namely: Organic Soybean Production and Organic Soybean Utilization, Processing and Marketing. This research project compliments the Philippine National Soybean Program by developing appropriate organic technologies especially on its external inputs like fertilizer. The main objective of this research was to find out the effects of pyroligneous acid on the growth and yield of soybeans. Philippine Seed Board Soya 6 (PSB SY6) or commonly called Tiwala 8 is an approved variety for use in the country which was planted in field condition of the university research area in 2 x 2 meter plots. This was four (4) times replicated by using randomized complete block design (RCBD). Coconut shell vinegar (pyroligneous acid) was used in this study. There were three levels of pyroligneous acid being tested: 10%, 20%, and 30% which represented Treatment 1, Treatment 2 and Treatment 3, respectively. Treatment 4 served as the control. Statistical analysis revealed that all treatments had not affected to the growth of the soybean plants. However, it was noted that there was a significant effect of wood vinegar on the yield.

Ecosystems provide many services not only for the environment, but also for human well-being. Land use and land cover change caused by development activities, have been increasing rapidly, and these are recognized as key factors for human-induced impacts on ecosystems. During the past few decades, ecosystem services (ESs) have deteriorated, especially as a result of urban development at the global scale, and changes have been severe in developing countries. For example, in Myanmar, the new capital city was developed on previously rural land during 2006. Consequently, large land use changes took place and many ESs were destroyed. To compare the loss of ESs before and after the development, spatial analyses of ESs were conducted in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, as a case study. For the spatial analyses, two satellite images; namely Advance Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) for 2010 and Landsat 7 for 1999 were used for land classification. Information on ESs was collected through literature surveys, and existing unit values for ESs were estimated by using simple methods. Then, priority areas for conservation of ESs were identified by evaluating the spatial analysis results with the Zonation software. Finally, the overall changes in ES provisions due to land use changes were estimated along with the changes in priority areas.

Water use facilities such as irrigation and drainage channels, water gate, hydraulic drop etc. are constructed to make water supply to paddy field and upland field. In a planning of irrigation project, it is necessary to obtain elevation value with accuracy and efficiency around project site. In generally, elevation values are obtained by the direct leveling survey with specific instruments, e.g. digital or auto level, a couple of staffs and turning plates. The direct leveling survey also needs several benchmarks, which are points of reference with high accuracy location information including latitude, longitude and elevation. There is, however, a serious problem that survey work of the direct leveling survey must begin at several benchmarks. In the case of survey work in mountainous area, surveyors must carry out the direct leveling survey over several very-long routes, because there are few benchmarks. On the other hand, in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveying, elevation values can be obtained indirectly by observing carrier phase from multi positioning satellites such as GPS, GLONASS since 2011. This study started to install the new benchmark on a 920 m high mountain, about 5 km away from some known benchmarks in Karuizawa Town, Nagano Prefecture. After surveying the new benchmark by the GNSS and the direct leveling, we compared its elevation values. Furthermore, a streamlined survey process, the influence on most probable value and standard deviation by the difference of using satellite, “GPS-only” and “GPS and GLONASS” were investigated in the GNSS surveying. As the results, our tests found that dramatically streamlined survey process, “GPS-only” can obtain an elevation value that is consistent with the value from the direct leveling survey. Therefore, the GNSS surveying is useful to obtain accurate elevation values over long distance like very long channels.

Poor nutrition and fasciolosis have significantly decreased cattle productivity. Flood is one of the well-known Climate Changes affected cattle production in Cambodia. The present of permanent water bodies in these inundated areas may be provided favorable environment for lymnaeid snail, the intermediate host of Fasciola gigantica. Therefore, the study aimed to identify challenges in cattle production and the risk factors of F. gigantica infection in cattle after flood in Ou Tapong, Bakan, Pursat, Cambodia during December 2014 to June 2015. The 88 households were interviewed on challenges and risks of husbandry practice by using questionnaire. The total 171 fecal samples from flooding area (n=108) and non-flood area (n=63) depend on the number cattle in each area. Age, sex and health status were determined individually. Fecal were examined by using Modified Balivat Fasciola egg and counting technique. The result found that there was significance (p<0.001) between the prevalence of fasciolosis in flooded areas (25.00%) and non-e flooded areas (1.60%). It was noted that higher infection rates in female (19.70%) and male (2.90%) were found. The present of F. gigantica was found in older cattle (≥ 3years) that was significantly higher than young cattle (<3years) at the rates of 23.20 % and 7.90 %, respectively (p<0.01). The prevalence F. gigantica was highly different (p<0.001) among emaciated, thin, medium and fat of body condition score of cattle. Risk factor for cattle fasciolosis infection was demonstrated that cattle was fed by cut and carry water grass derived from inundated area (natural lake) and had significant association (OR=0.61) with prevalence of fasciolosis in cattle through logistic regression model. Following by focused group discussions, problems encountered in cattle raising caused flood including pen flooding, lack of feed and susceptible to disease. However, only 25.00% prepared feed before flood season and others did as habitation in local. Therefore, flood may be a factor to contribute to occurrence of fasciolosis in cattle. Traditional adaptation in cattle raising of farmers seems to be neglected to improve cattle production.

As a number of agricultural labors have shifted to urban industry, rice production is now experiencing labor shortages. Thus making transplanting is deeply unpopular. Despite producing higher yields, transplanting has dramatically been replaced by direct seeding. Therefore, this research paper aims to introduce the rice transplanter model TMRT 2 and to determine its working performance and efficiency by conducting an on-station experiment, starting from June to August, 2015, at the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA), Cambodia. The experiment was divided into 9 treatments with the size of 2 m x 7 m, and two main factors—plant age and water level—were studied and analyzed on different periods of 12 days, 18 days, and 25 days in age; an water depths of 2 cm, 5 cm, and 10 cm for water level. The findings indicate that in the treatment (25 days and + 2 cm), the hills contained a density of 4-5 plants and suffered low damage during planting operation. Though transplanted at various water depths, old rice seedlings tended to stand upright at the average of 650 to 750 degrees, whereas slow transplanting speed might greatly reduce seedling losses to 1-2 plants per hill. Additionally, hill-to-hill spacing varied from 21 to 23 cm when the rice seedlings age 18 and 25 days were mechanically transplanted. However, transplanting of younger seedlings produced many missing hills that ranged from 3 to 7 hills in the 2 m x 7 m plot, and this might substantially decrease the future yields. Planting depths varied from 4 to 5 cm when transplanting of seedlings age 18 and 25 days was performed at a water level of 2 cm. It might be concluded that rice seedlings, age 18 and 25 days, should be transplanted at 2 cm water level, in combination with slow enough operational speed, while transplanting of 12-day seedlings at varied water depths produced greater damage and losses.

Water scarcity has become abnormally serious across the year, so timely irrigation aid is strongly required for healthy crop growth. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the characteristics of farmers’ preferences over pumping machines in rice production and to analyze their break-even points. The study was performed during the period from January to June in 2015, by randomly selecting 80 pump owners from one farming commune in Chum Kiri District, Kampot Province, Cambodia. The data were collected using household interviews, in-depth interviews and a group discussion. The data were analyzed by utilizing descriptive statistics and the break-even formula to investigate repair costs, annual pumping hours and standard farm sizes. The result shows that water pumps were highly in operation during dry season to maintain the crop-water balance and were annually operated about 412 hours. The engine capacity of pumping machines, frequently purchased, ranged from 5.5 to 8 horsepower. The pumps lasted for five full-operational years and depreciated 25 dollars on an annual basis. Japanese-brand pumps were best-selling, still farmers were subjected to have excessive spending on annual repairs because of less care and little maintenance knowledge. Although water pumps were widely utilized across the studied area, each household only cultivated on an average of 1.20 hectare-farmland, whereas the break-even land was calculated to be at least 6 hectares of cultivated land, so that the pumps were fully operated, economically and effectively. In conclusion, though operated on a small land, water pumps have made a contribution toward improvement in crop production. However, they remained minimally useful in case of scarce water sources. Therefore, irrigation sources should also be considered and constructed, so crop production might be double or diversified with the presence of pumping machines.

Rice is the main diet in Central Asia. Quality of milled rice is good or bad and meets the international standard in terms of quantity of head rice as a result of appropriate rice mill. The objective of this study was to find out the better rice mill for better milled rice quality. In this research, two rice species (jasmine and fragrant) were milled by SATAKE and OTAKE rice mill machines at different conditions. The paddy rice specimens were dried to obtain the moisture content of 14% (recommended milling standard). Physical properties, percentage of lose, percentage of cracked rice, and capacity of peeling for millstone peel data were collected and analyzed statically using SPSS version 16.0. The results showed that milling two species of rice by SATAKE mill brand at role’s gap 0.7 mm obtained about 95% (Jasmine) and about 94% (Fragrant) on head rice, while using OTAKE brand at 3970 revolution per minute received about 84% and 78% of Jasmine rice and Fragrant rice, respectively in terms of head rice. Thus, milling rice using small-scale SATAKE rice mill is better than OTAKE machine based on more quantity of head rice of both paddy rice species.

Though a green roof has been implemented mainly in city area due to the mitigation of heat island effect, it can also offer the benefit of energy saving to a building in rural area. A reuse of wastewater for irrigation may be an efficient practice for water conservation, especially in the water-scarce areas. In this study, we assessed the influence of frequent and intermittent saline irrigation on evapotranspiration (ET), dry matter yields (DM) and water-use efficiency (WUE) in crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants used in the green roof program. The CAM plants Sedum kamtschaticum Fischer and Sedum oryzifolium were evaluated with turf grass, Cynodon dactylon. A sharp reduction in ET with an increase in soil salinity was found in CAM plants as compared to turf grass; however, the dry matter yield of CAM plants was higher than that of turf grass at the same amount of cumulative ET. Principle component analysis (PCA) was performed to group the treatments into fewer groups characterized by similar features. CAM plants were categorized by high DM and WUE. These features were expected to make green roof management sustainable because they have low water requirements with keeping the high-density vegetation.

The article discusses the current climatic situations in Cambodia and existing mechanisms of the country to address climate change (CC) and the level of rural communities being able to adapt to CC. Reviews of various CC related documents indicate that structures and mechanisms at national level to address CC are adequate but limited at community level. The existence of the structures is beneficial to local people unless the adaptive capacity is enhanced with sufficient technological alternatives, implications and applications with wider sector involvement and a decentralization system. An emerging barrier to resilient building of community and the country is limited of fiscal decentralization as the current financial sources for CC resilient building are solely dependent on external funds for decades while these sources are declining. Additionally, informational, technical and managerial inputs are still strongly required for local communities in order to ensure that the least consequences of any occurred climatic hazards can be obtained. Involving private sector would, therefore, be a good option for local communities in the future provided that private investors have skills to effectively manage rural infrastructures, for example irrigation systems.

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.

Amylose-free (waxy), i.e. amylopectin maize has been a vegetable and staple food in East and South-East Asia for centuries, resulting in hundreds of landraces (LR). Eating preferences could have resulted in the additional selection for different starch properties of waxy maize, of interest in the food and feed industry. But within twenty LR from Vietnam and Thailand, disappointingly no evidence was found for special starch properties. For minority ethnic groups waxy LR are still the main staple food, well liked for their soft grains with favorable cooking properties. But maize protein is severely lacking in quality that makes waxy maize an unsuitable staple food especially for small children. High quality protein maize (QPM) developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has 90% of the nutritive value of milk protein. We combined the recessive waxy and QPM alleles into modern high yielding lines resulting in double quality grains. In a second step this double quality was introgressed into two landraces of the Hmong minority by two backcrosses. Seeds are available now of the two improved waxy landraces, which possess high yield potential, high protein quality and good eating quality. Consumption of double-quality waxy maize as staple food will improve the diets of children, a good reason to produce it.

Mineralization of nutrients from organic materials is vital for optimum plant growth and development. Various methods have been used to evaluate the mineralization rate of different organic substrates. Of these, carbon dioxide release is a reliable method to estimate mineralization rate. Four different substrates: dry chicken manure, Azolla, coconut coir dust (CCD), and Gliricidia sepium leaves and the combination of these substrates with SNAP solution on their rates of mineralization was determined. The results were significantly different in the amounts of CO₂ released from the substrates. CO₂ release from the substrates was stimulated by SNAP. Among all treatments, G. sepium with SNAP yielded the highest amount while coconut coir dust gave the lowest. Nitrogen mineralized to about fifty percent (50%) during the first week of all treatments. Using soil organic materials such as G. sepium leaves would quickly provide the soil with more mineralized nutrients which are available for plant growth and development.

Functional irrigation system is one of the most important mechanisms for preventing or minimizing crop failure, and increasing crop yields and cropping calendars. It is functional, if it is properly designed, built, operated and maintained, as well as climate-proofed. It is projected that the climate change effects – flood, drought, and temperature rise – will adversely affect water availability, hence impacting the reliability of the irrigation system and its services. The findings illustrate that Chinit Irrigation System faces several challenges such as insufficient budget for operation and maintenance, especially for repairing the broken earthen canals caused by heavy traffic, cattle, crabs and mice, and flooding. After construction, rice yield, land size and seasonal growing are increased and most of the farmers within the system coverage could access enough water for irrigation, so farmers’ livelihood is improved. After completing the infrastructure, households’ average net-income increased from 2.44 to 3.14 million riel per household. There are other income sources such as small business, construction and factory workers, taxi-driver and so on that can be further diversified as the competition for water use is expected due to climate change and an increase in water demand in this Watershed.

The application of excreta wastes is beneficial for soil conservation, especially in degraded soils and soils being susceptible to erosion. In this study animal dung was used as a resource for protecting soils against erosion. The objective of this study is to measure the effectivity of animal waste slurry for mitigating soil loss in leptosol from Mixteca Region, Mexico. For this purpose, a splash erosion model and a surface runoff model were used. Splash erosion model consisted in stainless steel cores of 1.0 cm long with inside diameter at 1.1 cm. Soil was placed inside at a dry density of 1.0±0.1 g/cm³. Fifty drops of artificial rain were dripped into the soil inside the core and soil loss was measured. On the other hand, surface runoff model consisted of a plot of 91 cm x 3.15 cm x 1.4 cm, with a triangular section. Soil was filled in with the same dry density of raindrop model and 1.2 cm³/s of deionized water was supplied during one hour on a 12 degrees’ slope. Discharge was collected every ten minutes and soil loss was measured. As treatment for both models, animal waste slurry was used. Horse dung was collected in the Horsemanship Club of Tokyo University of Agriculture and passed through a sieve at 212 μm in order to obtain slurry. 2 treatments were set up: the first was cattle slurry incorporated with soil and the second was crust formed with animal waste slurry; and control. Soil losses were compared among these 2 treatments. Raindrop experiment results showed that the addition of slurry decreased significantly soil loss rate from 6.4% to 1.3% in slurry incorporated cores and 0.2% in formed bio-crust cores. The same tendency was observed in the slope model experiment, where the application of slurry reduced significantly the soil losses from 558.6 g/m² to around 60 g/m² in both plots where slurry was added. Therefore, it can be concluded that the application of animal waste slurry was effective to reduce significantly soil losses by protecting the soil against kinetic energy of raindrops, as well as against shearing force of runoff on a 12 degrees’ slope in leptosol soil of Mixteca Region.

In Cambodia, Dai Neang chili pepper (Capsicum annum L) has mostly grown in areas around Tonle Sap Lake and some other provinces such as Prey Veng, Kandal, Kampong Cham, and Kampong Thom. However, farmers keep practicing conventional methods, which do not get high yield. Liquid bio-slurry and rice husk biochar which obtained from biodigester and rice production residues, could be applied to improve soil fertility for the chili production. The key objectives of this study were (1) to analyze the fertility compositions [nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K)] contents in the liquid bio-slurry and rice husk biochar and (2) to investigate the effects of liquid bio-slurry and rice husk biochar on yield of Dai Neang chili pepper. In the research, different proportions of combination of liquid bio-slurry and rice husk biochar were applied on Dai Neang chili pepper in a total quantity of 1.4kg/m². Data of total yield, plant height, plants diameter, roots length, number of branches, leaves area, fruit length, and fruit weight per plant, good fruits and damaged fruits were collected as the primary data. As the results, the percentages of N-P-K compositions in the liquid bio-slurry and in the biochar were 0.52%, 1.22%, 0.30% and 0.78%, 0.73%, 3.00%, respectively. The treatment using liquid bio-slurry 25% and rice husk Biochar 75% obtained highest yield and more number of branches compared with other treatments and the control. In conclusion, liquid bio-slurry, a waste of biogas and rice husk biochar could improve the soil fertility and yield of Dai Neang chili pepper.

Increasing nitrogen concentration in the river water caused by agricultural activities was reported in the Tokachi River basin, Hokkaido, Japan. The water quality conservation is required for the compatibility between the agricultural production and the environmental protection. It is important to analyze the nitrogen load in the watershed for water quality restoration. Nitrogen load is estimated by the nitrogen concentration in the river water and the water discharge. However, this model needs frequent samples of the nitrogen concentrations and water discharges. Also, many observations at multipoint have been required to figure out where and how much the nitrogen load occurs in the watershed. Here, we proposed a model to estimate the nitrogen load by land use in a watershed. The land use data such as watershed area and land use classification could be taken easily from a satellite image. Also, it can estimate the nitrogen load at any investigation point by using land use data for the estimation model. In the Tokachi River basin, the nitrate-nitrogen concentration in the river water had a positive correlation with the proportion of agricultural land in the watershed. Further, the water discharge was proportional to the watershed area. Thus, the estimation model of nitrogen load could be substituted the nitrogen concentration with the proportion of agricultural land, and the watershed discharge with the watershed area. From this, there is a high possibility to estimate the nitrogen load in the watershed by the agricultural land area in the Tokachi River basin. Future subject of this model is how to correct for the variations of nitrogen concentration and river water discharge at different investigation periods.

The Tokachi River basin has an important role as a food base of Japan. It is one of the significant challenges that achieve a good balance between a food production and water quality conservation for the sustainable agriculture in this basin. Here, we carried out the river water monitoring in the Tokachi River basin and evaluated the river water quality under base flow condition. 37 sampling points in the main stream and the tributaries were monitored in late June, late August or early September, and late October 2007 to 2011. Five-year mean values and standard deviation of pH, BOD, SS and EC were evaluated. The water quality of the Tokachi River showed variations at each investigation period. However, there were no change trends of seasons or years. The mean pH values of the Tokachi River basin were the range of 7.1-7.5. The river water quality was neutrality and stable at each sampling point. The mean BOD showed comparatively low values in the Tokachi River basin (0.9-1.8 mg/L). However, the BOD values increased gradually with the main stream flow. The mean SS values were less than 25 mg/L at all sampling points. Also, the SS values tended to increase basically with the main stream flow. The mean EC values increased from upstream to downstream of the main stream (6.8-12.4 mg/L). Also, the EC values in 13 of 20 sampling points of the tributaries were higher than the main stream values (5.0-22.2 mg/L). There were significant correlations between the EC values and the proportion of the agricultural land or forest land. From these results, it was considered that the dissolved matter in the river water increased with a high proportion of agricultural land in the Tokachi River basin.

This study assessed the contribution of organic farming to improvements in the well-being of smallholder farmers as measured by crop productivity, profit, and food security among smallholder farmers in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. The results showed that organic farmers had diversified crops and availability of water for irrigation, and they had better selling situation of their crop products. It also showed significant differences in profit and food security between organic and conventional/traditional farmers. Profit among organic farmers was revealed to be more than ten times of profit among conventional/traditional farmers, with less expenditure for farm activity and higher income from their crops. Food security was analysed using food consumption score and dietary energy comsumed, and showed significantly better results among organic farmers. The factors that significantly influenced productivity included sex of the household head, number of household member, access to constant markets, and livestock keeping. The number of years of practising organic farming showed a significant association with profit, and livestock keeping and age of the household head had significant impacts on food security. It was revealed that there are challenges to organic farming, including difficulty of land preparation, access to markets, getting premium price for organic products, and contamination from other non-organic farms. In conclusion, organic farming has the potential to improve the well-being of smallholder farmers in disadvantaged areas, especially with regard to profit and food security. Therefore, it is recommended that more emphasis should be placed on the promotion of organic farming by agricultural stakeholders.

Agricultural cooperatives play a crucial role in improving Cambodian farmers’ participation in vegetable markets. Cambodia’s vegetable sector is afflicted by the dual problems of supply and quality; the country imports huge amounts of vegetables from Vietnam and Thailand, and most domestic vegetable production is still inorganic. This quantitative study shows the impacts of Svay Rieng Agro-Products Cooperative (SAC) on its members’ participation in vegetable markets. Data was collected from a survey of 44 SAC members and 20 non-SAC members in Svay Rieng province. A market participation index was used to measure the level of respondents’ market participation. Based on the quantity of vegetables sold, the 64 sample farmers represent four levels of market participation across 52 market participation scores: level 1 includes scores 4-16 (35.9% of total respondents); level 2 scores 12-32 (32.8%); level 3 scores 24-36 (17.2%); and level 4 scores 32-52 (14.1%). T-test analysis shows that the participation in vegetable market of SAC members is higher than that of non-members. Logit model reveals that variable of growing vegetables as a primary source of household income is positively related to the probability of selling vegetables to SAC. Tobit model is used to determine factors affecting market participation levels of SAC members. The study revealed five factors as critical variables affecting effective market participation: 1) education level of household head, 2) receiving market information, 3) volume of vegetable production, 4) distance to main market, and 5) the extent to which vegetable growers supply SAC. The study stresses the importance of agricultural cooperatives in improving famers’ participation in vegetable markets. Plus, the results concerning the probability of selling vegetables and level of participation in vegetable markets can usefully contribute to informing and improving the royal decree and prakas on agricultural cooperatives in Cambodia.

Understanding the current local livestock-disseminating approaches was very crucial for the study to present an extension work plan by a technical staff with specific discussion on the framework in identifying the appropriate extension approaches suitable to Cambodia’s local situation. Primary data were collected using a structured, comparative criteria-guided questionnaire from 7 interviewees within 4 purposively-selected extension institutions. Regarding the comparative criteria for applicable and strongly applicable utilization of extension approaches, livestock technology extension approaches in Cambodia tended to range from the top-down general agriculture to more bottom-up, participatory approaches based on its frequency of all its characteristics. The most applicable livestock extension approach was participatory integrated with farming systems development, cost sharing, project, and education institution because the growth in overseas-donored development aids created a desire for more decentralized, participatory extension approach. Therefore, the diffusion of livestock technology from Cambodian local farmers increasing farmer livestock production perhaps thereby farmer livelihood would be increased using the participatory approach integrated with others. The planning key points for disseminating livestock technology was also based on the strongly applicable participatory approach.

In 2011, the conflicts over economic land concession (ELC) were hardened and became more violent than before. Hence, Order 01 on “measures for strengthening and increasing effective management of economic land concession” was decreed on 07 May, 2012. The aims of this study were 1) to evaluate the strength and the weakness of the land registration procedure under Order 01, and 2) to assess the challenges and opportunities for improving land registration. A qualitative approach, incorporating observations and semi-structural interviews with 96 local families based on questionnaires survey and 23 key informants, were applied in this study. Secondary data were collected from Cambodia’s ministry of land and land administration sub-sector program (LASSP). The results of this study showed that land conflicts were reduced and solved, measures for preventing land conflicts were taken, illegal land occupations were regularized and 361,734 titles were provided to the people. The process was fast. Local people were satisfied and confident on its implementation. Moreover, the local people’s livelihoods were improved as well as the public awareness of systematic land registration (SLR) was spread throughout the country. However, the weaknesses of its implementation were: technical problem, lack of information and quality control, poor governance, state land decreased and it impacted on educational institutions and on the environment, wildlife and indigenous culture. Its opportunities were found that the investment on land will be more active from now on due to the investors’ confidences and trust on land titles. Its challenge was identified that financial support of technical assistances was pulled out from LASSP. In conclusion, its implementation was very useful for the landless people, and the poor. Quality control should be included into the process and land occupants should be seriously identified. SLR should be sped up to register in hot-issue sites.

Cassava production in Cambodia has been increasing due to favorable market and agro-ecological conditions. However, damage to cassava crops by pests is posing significant concerns, due to the impact on yield and starch quality. Among the most important diseases is Cassava Witches’ Broom (CWB), that has only recently been identified in Cambodia which is increasing in severity, and for which there are limited control. A survey on causes and effects of CWB was undertaken in 2015 with 150 cassava growers in the three provinces of Kampong Cham, Prey Veng and Svay Rieng. A further 30 cassava farmers participated in a focus group discussion. The main objectives of this study were to get an understanding of the current level of damage caused by CWB on cassava production, the causes of the disease, and the control measures taken by the respondents in relation to the disease. CWB is perceived by cassava growers as the most serious disease in their cassava crops, potentially causing more than 50% decline in tuber yields (from an average of about 19.5 t/ha in a normal year, to 8.5 t/ha in a year of CWB infection and damage). From the perceptions of respondents, four reasons were given for the incidence and damage of CWB. These included, poor soil fertility (28.70%), drought (28%), the side effects of pesticide use (20%), and the quality of planting materials/varieties planted (18%). Even though these are the reasons provided by cassava farmers, they do not have the capacity to control the disease, despite the following initiatives: pesticide application (55%), change to CWB resistant varieties (15%). Farmers reported that pesticide application is not an effective strategy to control CWB, and recommended that improved agricultural extension services could help them get access to CWB resistant varieties, as well as to address other production issues, in a timely manner.

Climate change poses a major threat to the environment, economic and social components in agricultural sector in rural communities. If rural agricultural communities are to respond adequately to future climate change, they will require to develop adaptation measure and to do so, it is required to assess vulnerability in their communities. One of the most notable climate change impact in Korean agricultural communities is that fruit cultivation sites are moving northward. In the past, apple cultivation was not preferred in the Gyeonggi province. However, with changing climate, farmers in Icheon and Gapyeong in Gyeonggi province started to cultivate apple. In addition, governmental support through apple cultivation promoting projects increased apple cultivation in the province in recent years. This paper aims to assess climate change vulnerabilities of 4 apple cultivation communities in Gyeonggi province by developing vulnerability indices as function of climate exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Using z-score normalization, the quantitative analysis was conducted in this study. The main results of vulnerability assessments are founded as follow: Icheon and Gapyeong showed higher vulnerability by higher level of exposure and sensitivity to changing climate than Paju and Yeoncheon. However, adaptive capacity showed that Paju and Yeoncheon as more vulnerable than the Icheon and Gapyeong. Therefore, the study concludes that albeit the same crops cultivated in one province, for effective local-level adaptation measures, identifying components comprising the vulnerability in the community is required. Vulnerability assessment using indices should provide quantitative backgrounds to develop appropriate and effective agricultural community adaptation measures.