Title of document: Food Technology Project « Secure water to secure food and nutrition» Cambodia & Laos March 2012 – February 2015 Authors: Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: EU, IRD, Lao Red Cross, Cambodia Red Cross, French Red Cross Year of publication: Geographic focus: Cambodia and Lao PDR Main issues / topics addressed (for example: about French Red Cross; about Food Technology Project; Main Project objectives and activities……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: Presentation for a brief overview of the project “Food Technology Project « Secure water to secure food and nutrition» Cambodia & Laos March 2012 – February 2015”   Read More

Title of document: Farm to Systems-Where is Our Measuring Tap? Authors: Dr. Saythong Vilayvong Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: GRET/ALiSEA, AFD Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: India, Nepal & Bangladesh Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Background; Challenge of measurement; What do we need to measure……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: This presentation is adapted from the LEISA India, 2016   Read More

Title of document: Case study maize/rice bean intercropping, Kham district, Xieng Khouang province, Lao PDR Authors: Cirad, Eficas team Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Cirad, Eficas Year of publication: Geographic focus: Lao PDR Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Current cropping system & problems; Agroecological cropping system:  Maize + rice bean intercropping; How to assess agroecological performances of this system?……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: Presentation for Current cropping system & problems of Maize/Rice Bean intercropping, Case study in Kham district, Xieng Khouang province, Lao PDR   Read More

Title of document: VAC Integrated System-based Agro-ecology Development Authors: Pham Van Thanh and Phan Van Ngoc Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: CCRD Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Vietnam Main issues / topics addressed (for example: What is VAC, Different VAC models, VAC traditional & scientific basic, Remarks & Recommendation……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: VAC is acronym formed from the three Vietnamese words: -          “Vuon” :   garden or orchard, -          “AO ”   :   fish pond, -          “Chuong” : animal shed (stable, pigsty,poultry shed ) VAC system stems from long standing farming methods developed in the Red River delta In the fertile plain of the Red River delta, a major rice growing area, farmers have traditionally some pieces of garden around their houses for growing crops and trees for their domestic needs. As delta areas are normally flooded each summer, farmers build a pond to rear fish, its soil is used to raise foundation of the house and animal shed,  and garden beds. Thus, an area of gardening, fish rearing and animal husbandry take place in an interrelated fashion adjacent to the house. Presentation of VAC  Integrated System-based  Agro-ecology Development by Pham Van Thanh and Phan Van Ngoc, CCRD   Read More

Title of document: Rice-Duck Farming In Vietnam Authors: INO Mayu Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Seed to Table Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Vietnam Main issues / topics addressed (for example: What is Rice-Duck Farming?, Rice-Duck farming has been applied by farmers in many provinces of Vietnam……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: A Japanese farmer, Mr. Takao Furuno, got idea from traditional Asian farming and systematized the method of ‘Rice - Duck Farming’ in early 1990s, Farmers can grow paddies and ducks at the same time in the paddy field and this  is low cost, environmental friendly and labor-saving farming system and very suitable for small-scale and poor farmers Presentation for Workshop on Agroecological Transition in Vietnam,  5th & 6th of May 2016, Hanoi, Vietnam   Read More

Title of document:  National multi-stakeholder workshop “Towards an Agro-ecological Transition”: ADG experience on promoting agroecology Authors: Mrs. IM Sothy Journal’s name if any:  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation:  ACTAE, ADG Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Cambodia Main issues / topics addressed (for example: What is ADG?, Agro-ecology target areas, Main AE productions……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: Aide au Développement Gembloux (ADG): Belgian NGO based at Gembloux Agro-bio Tech/ULg and active in the agricultural sector in Cambodia since 2001 This presentation of Aide au Développement Gembloux (ADG) for experience on promoting agroecology, at National multi-stakeholder workshop  “Towards an Agro-ecological Transition” on 30-31 March 2016, Cambodia   Read More

Title of document: Green Earth Centre Authors: Hongthong Sirivath Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Village Focus International (VFI) Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Lao PDR Main issues / topics addressed (for example):  Green Earth Centre, Approaches, Lessons learnt, Future of GEC……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: Green Earth Centre aims to become a leading training and research centre on community- based production, processing and marketing in order to directly support and improve smallholder farming households through providing appropriate technical support and linking them to the markets. This presentation talking about Green Earth Centre objectives and approaches   Read More

Title of document: Dynamics of Soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Soil Respiration in Famer’s Field with Conservation Agriculture, Siem Reap, Cambodia Authors: Don Immanuel A. Edralin, Gilbert C. Sigua and Manuel R. Reyes Journal’s name if any: International Journal of Plant & Soil Science Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC, USA; United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center, Florence, SC, USA. Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: National level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: No tillage; conventional tillage; soil organic carbon; soil quality index; cover crops.…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary:  The years of intensive tillage in many countries, including Cambodia have caused significant decline in agriculture’s natural resources that could threaten the future of agricultural production and sustainability worldwide. Long-term tillage system and site-specific crop management can affect changes in soil properties and processes, so there is a critical need for a better and comprehensive process-level understanding of differential effects of tillage systems and crop management on the direction and magnitude of changes in soil carbon storage and other soil properties. A study was conducted in farmer’s field to evaluate the effect of conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional tillage (CT) on soil carbon, nitrogen and soil respiration in three villages of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Soil organic carbon (p≤0.01), soil total nitrogen (p≤0.01) and soil respiration (p≤0.10) for at least in two villages were significantly affected by tillage management. The soil quality was improved in villages with CA compared with villages with CT by increasing soil organic carbon (10.2 to 13.3 Mg ha-1) and soil nitrogen (0.87 to 1.11 Mg ha-1) because of much higher soil moisture (15.7±8.6 to 20.0±11.9%) retained in CA and with reduced soil temperature (30.4±2.0 to 32.4±2.3°C) during the dry period. Additionally, field soil respiration was higher in CA (55.9±4.8 kg CO2-C ha-1 day-1) than in CT (36.2±13.5 kg CO2-C ha-1 day-1), which indicates more microbial activity and increased mineralization of soil organic carbon for nutrient release. The soil’s functions of supporting plant growth and sink of carbon and recycler of nutrients was likely improved in agroecosystem with CA than in system with CT. Our results have suggested that CA may have had enhanced soils’ carbon and nitrogen contents, nutrient supplying capacity and microclimate for soil microorganisms in three villages with vegetable production.   Read More

Title of document:  Agroecology: A Global Paradigm to Challenge Mainstream Industrial Agriculture Authors: Hector Valenzuela Journal’s name if any:  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Global level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: agroecology; agrobiodiversity; biodiversity; farming systems; organic farming; ecological farming; soil management, convention agriculture meet the basic sustainability criteria…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary:  Considerable controversy continues to exist in scientific and policy circles about how to tackle issues of global hunger, malnutrition, and rural economic decline, as well as environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss and climate change adaptation. On the one hand, powerful vested interests, with close ties to government, media, and academic institutions, propose high-input technology-based solutions, speculative and neoliberal “market-based” solutions, and export-oriented agricultural models. On the other hand, an international scientific and grassroots Food Movement has emerged, calling for a redesign of the Global Food System in support of small-scale agroecological farming systems. A call to re-evaluate our current Food Systems was made in 2008 by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). Here, using the IAASTD study as a backdrop, we review the recent literature to outline key contentious points in the controversy between the need for high-input and “techno-based” versus agroecological farming models. A critical assessment is made of proposed strategies to protect soil resources, improve nutrient and energy cycles, protect agrobiodiversity, and promote social well-being in rural communities. With an increase in the number of affluent consumers (i.e., the middle class) in the developing world, and with the continued problem of extreme and chronic poverty with other larger sectors of society, Organic Farming and Agroecology models are put forward as a sound social, scientific, and rural development strategy.   Read More

Title of document: Alder trees enhance crop productivity and soil microbial biomass in tea plantations Authors: P.E. Mortimer, H. Gui, J. Xu, C. Zhang, E. Barrios, K.D. Hyde, Journal’s name if any: Applied Soil Ecology  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Key Laboratory of Plant Biodiversity and Biogeography of East Asia (KLPB), Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, China; World Agroforestry Centre, East and Central Asia, Kunming, China;  School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand;  Changning Forest Ownership Management Service Center, Baoshang, Yunnan, China; World Agroforestry Centre, Headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Global level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Agrofoestry, Alnus nepalensis, Crop productivity, Soil bacterial, soil fungi and tea monoculture…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary:  Monoculture farming systems lead to soils depleted of nutrients and diminished microbial functional diversity, disrupting processes crucial to maintaining soil health. The planting of trees in these monoculture systems is one way to improve soil nutrition and biodiversity. Therefore, the objective was how planting the N-fixing tree Alnus nepalensis (7 years old), into monoculture tea (camellia sinensis var, assamica) plantation (32 years old), influences the soil fungal and bacterial communities, and how this impacts on tea productivity. Soil samples (0-15, 15-30, 30-60 cm depths) were collected from plantations of monoculture tea and tea interplanted with A. Nepalensis trees. The samples were analyzed for basic soil properties and nutrients. Phospholipid fatty-acid analyses were conducted on the soil samples to determine the microbial functional groups and biomass of bacterial and fungal communities. Biomass of soil fungi and bacteria were 41% and 10% higher in the tea + A. nepalensis sites than in the tea monoculture sites, respectively. These higher levels were recorded despite there being no changes in the diversity of the soil fungi and bacteria, or the soil nutrition, between the different sites. Tea productivity increased between 52% and 72%, and is attributed to the increases in the soil community biomass. Ectomycorrhizal biomass, as well as Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and actinomycetes bacterial biomass, all increased ranging from 10% to 83%. These groups of organisms have been shown to contain plant growth promoting characteristics, contributing toward increased crop productivity. We provide clear evidence that A. nepalensis in tea plantations promotes the growth and development of the soil microbial communities and that this impacts on above ground productivity. This study highlights the benefits of introducing N-fixing tree species, such as A. nepalensis, into monoculture systems, and how this relates tosoil health and harvest yield.   Applied Soil Ecology addresses the role of soil organisms and their interactions in relation to: agricultural productivity, nutrient cycling and other soil processes, the maintenance of soil structure and fertility, the impact of human activities and xenobiotics on soil ecosystems and bio (techno) logical control of soil-inhabiting pests, diseases and weeds.   Read More