Your search found 2 records
1 Mekuria, Wolde; Getnet, Kindie; Noble, Andrew; Hoanh, Chu Thai; McCartney, Matthew; Langan, Simon. 2013. Economic valuation of organic and clay-based soil amendments in small-scale agriculture in Lao PDR. Field Crops Research, 149(1):379-389. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.05.026]
Soil amendments ; Economic value ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Farming systems ; Crop yield ; Seasonality ; Maize ; Rain ; Sensitivity analysis ; Cost benefit analysis / Laos / Xaythany District / Veunkham / Naphok
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045994)
(1.68 MB)
At a farm level, economic returns are the single most important attributes that drive farmers to adopt agricultural technologies. This study was carried out at the Naphok and Veunkham villages, Lao PDR,to evaluate the yield response of a maize mono-cropping system to soil amendments and analyze the economic return of such interventions. The amendments were rice husk biochar, bentonite clay, compost, clay-manure compost, and rice husk biochar compost, in isolation and in various combinations. Over a period of two cropping seasons (2011–2012),the enhancement of maize yield due to soil amendments ranged from0.77 to 3.79tha-1 at Naphok and from 1.21 to 5.14tha-1 at Veunkham, resulting in net revenues ranging from -794 to 841 and -331 to 1391 US$ha-1 , respectively. Soils amended with low-cost amendments such as compost, rice husk biochar, rice husk biochar compost, and clay-manure compost were economically viable within the first cropping season. In contrast, soils amended with higher-cost amendments such as bentonite clay requires up to five years to be economically viable. Such variations indicate that taking into account maize yield revenues only does not provide sufficient incentives to farmers to adopt higher-cost soil amendments conclude that there is a possibility to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and improve the income of smallholders using locally available low-cost soil amendments. Our findings provide important information for decision makers to promote the adoption of low-cost soil amendments, and,thereby,to contribute to productivity growth and food security through sustainable intensification.
2 Mekuria, Wolde; Noble, Andrew; Sengtaheuanghoung, O.; Hoanh, Chu Thai; Bossio, D.; Sipaseuth, N.; McCartney, Matthew; Langan, Simon. 2014. Organic and clay-based soil amendments increase maize yield, total nutrient uptake, and soil properties in Lao PDR. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 38:936-961. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2014.917144]
Soil amendments ; Soil properties ; soil organic matter ; Maize ; Rice husks ; Clay ; Nutrients ; Food security ; Food production ; Agricultural production ; Smallholders ; Bentonite ; Composts ; Biomass ; Land degradation / Lao People's Democratic Republic / Veunkham / Naphok
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046584)
(0.29 MB)
In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), increasing food security remains a challenge since smallholder agricultural systems, which are the main source of food production, are under serious threat due to poor soil fertility and climate variability. This study was undertaken in Lao PDR to investigate the impacts of organic and clay-based soil amendments on maize yield, total nutrient uptake, and soil properties. Structured field experiments were established over two consecutive years (2011 and 2012) with maize as the test crop at the Veunkham and Naphok sites. Ten treatments were applied in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments were control, rice husk biochar (applied at a rate of 10 t ha-1), bentonite clay (10 t ha-1), compost (4 t ha-1), clay-manure compost (10 t ha-1), rice husk biochar compost (10 t ha-1), and their combinations. All treatments were applied in 2011. Significant (p < 0.05) treatment effects in maize grain yields, total nutrient uptake, and soil properties were observed. At Veunkham, differences between the control and amended soils in yield ranged from 0.9 to 3.3 t ha-1 in 2011 and from 0.2 to 1.3 t ha-1 in 2012, whereas differences at Naphok varied between 0.2 and 2.2 t ha-1 in 2011 and from 0.2 to 1.7 t ha-1 in 2012. At both sites, in most of the treatments, yields in 2012 were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than 2011; this was attributed to a late season drought. Differences between the control and amended soils in yield can be attributed to the improvements in total N and P uptake, soil pH, exchangeable Ca++ and Mg++, and cation-exchange capacity following the application of soil amendments. The results of this study confirm that the soil amendments under consideration can be effective in improving agricultural productivity, while improving key soil properties indicating that soil amendments could be an option for intensification of agricultural productivity.
Powered by DB/Text WebPublisher, from
