TRAJECTORIES of RICE-BASED FARMING SYSTEMS in Mainland Southeast Asia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TRAJECTORIES OF RICE-BASED FARMING SYSTEMS IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA R. A. CRAMB (EDITOR) TRAJECTORIES OF RICE-BASED FARMING SYSTEMS 1 IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA 2 TRAJECTORIES OF RICE-BASED FARMING SYSTEMS IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA R. A. CRAMB (EDITOR) 2015 The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) was established in June 1982 by an Act of the Australian Parliament. ACIAR operates as part of Australia’s international development cooperation program, with a mission to achieve more productive and sustainable agricultural systems, for the benefit of developing countries and Australia. It commissions collaborative research between Australian and developing- country researchers in areas where Australia has special research competence. It also administers Australia’s contribution to the International Agricultural Research Centres. Where trade names are used this constitutes neither endorsement of nor discrimination against any product by ACIAR. ACIAR MONOGRAPH SERIES This series contains the results of original research supported by ACIAR, or material deemed relevant to ACIAR’s research and development objectives. The series is distributed internationally, with an emphasis on developing countries. © Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) 2015 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from ACIAR, GPO Box 1571, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia, [email protected] R. A. Cramb, G. D. Gray, M. Gummert, S. M. Haefele, R. D. B. Lefroy, J. C. Newby, W. Stür, and P. Warr,. TRAJECTORIES OF RICE-BASED FARMING SYSTEMS in Mainland Southeast Asia. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, 2015. ACIAR Monograph No. 177 ACIAR Monographs – ISSN 1031-8194 (print), ISSN 1447-090X (online) ISBN 978 1 925133 76 9 (print) ISBN 978 1 925133 77 6 (PDF) Design by WhiteFox.com.au 2 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION R. A. Cramb 01 CHAPTER 2 AGRICULTURAL GROWTH AND RURAL POVERTY REDUCTION IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA Peter Warr 17 CHAPTER 3 TRAJECTORIES OF RICE-FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA R. A. Cramb and J. C. Newby 35 CHAPTER 4 TRAJECTORIES IN LOWLAND RICE-BASED CROPPING SYSTEMS IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA S. M. Haefele and M. Gummert 73 CHAPTER 5 NON-RICE CROPS IN RICE-BASED FARMING SYSTEMS IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA R. D. B. Lefroy 111 CHAPTER 6 LIVESTOCK IN SMALLHOLDER FARMING SYSTEMS OF MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA W. Stür and G. D. Gray 139 CHAPTER 7 CONTENTS IMPLICATIONS OF FARMING TRAJECTORIES FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH R. A. Cramb, G. D. Gray, M. Gummert, S. M. Haefele, R. D. B. Lefroy, J. C. Newby, W. Stür, and P. Warr 189 REFERENCES 201 CONTRIBUTORS 222 4 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION R. A. Cramb Rapid economic, social, and political change in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), coupled with recent shocks to global food, fertiliser, and fuel prices and longer-term trends associated with climate change have accentuated the risks and challenges facing farmers engaged in rice- based farming systems in the region. Conventional agricultural research has focused on plant breeding for high-yielding varieties of rice grown in favourable environments, and national agricultural policies have given priority to intensifying rice production for national self-sufficiency and export expansion. However, farmers in traditional rice-growing environments (irrigated, rainfed lowland, and upland) are responding to changing incentives by diversifying their farming systems (with annual crops, tree crops, and livestock) and pursuing non-farm activities such as labour migration and rural business as part of a range of complex and dynamic livelihood strategies. Moreover, the growth of agribusiness investment has led to new modes of land utilisation, from contract farming to large-scale plantations, with significant implications for the traditional small-scale rice farmer. These changes all have implications for national and international research priorities. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has a large investment in research into rice-based farming systems in MSEA. With the rapid pace of change in these systems it is timely that a review be undertaken to better inform future research investments. Hence the University of Queensland was commissioned in 2013 to coordinate Project C2012/229 “Review of rice-based farming systems in mainland Southeast Asia”. The project aimed to provide: (1) an analysis of recent trends and the current status of rice-based farming systems in both lowland and upland environments in MSEA; (2) an assessment of future trajectories in these systems over a 10-20 year planning horizon; and (3) a diagnosis of critical knowledge gaps and research priorities for these systems. TRAJECTORIES OF RICE-BASED FARMING SYSTEMS 1 IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA This review has drawn on published research and the collective insights of a small team of experienced researchers to identify important trajectories in rice-based farming systems and to draw out the implications for agricultural research as a basis for discussion within ACIAR and the broader research community working on smallholder rice-based farming systems in MSEA. The task of this chapter is to outline the framework that has guided the different parts of the review, sketch the biophysical and socioeconomic context of rice-based farming systems in the MSEA region, and give a brief overview of this report. A FARMING SYSTEMS FRAMEWORK The review has adopted a farming systems framework to address the research objectives. Smallholder farming systems comprise the farm- household as the key decision-making and resource-managing entity, the cropping and livestock systems that the farm-household manages, off-farm and non-farm activities undertaken by household members, the biophysical and socioeconomic environments of the farming system, and the multiple interactions between these various components and influences (Fig. 1.1). A rice-based farming system is one in which rice cropping is an essential (but not necessarily the only) livelihood activity. Traditionally, such farming systems centred on the cultivation of a single, rainfed rice crop in the wet season, whether in a lowland or upland environment, primarily for subsistence but sometimes producing a small surplus for trade. Where irrigation was available, as in the major river basins and deltas, a second rice crop could be grown in the dry season, making the production of a marketable surplus a regular feature of the system. Cattle and buffaloes were typically integrated into such systems, providing draught, dung, and occasionally dollars, in return for stubble- or forest-grazing and a diet based on conserved rice straw and native grasses. Staple food production was supplemented with small-scale production of fruit, vegetables, fish, and livestock, and household members would sometimes engage in off-farm work (i.e., working for wages on other people’s farms) or non-farm work (such as local crafts or business, aquatic- or forest-based activities, or temporary migration to work in other sectors), but this was more to augment or buffer the central activity, which was rice farming. 2 These farming (or farm-household) systems were (again, traditionally) embedded in local communities and wider agrarian systems which governed access to land, water, and forests; constituted a social arena for the exchange of labour, animals, seeds, tools, equipment, food, and knowledge; and provided a collective mechanism for the provision of public infrastructure such as village roads, weirs, and canals (Fig. 1.1). While such rice-based farming systems have been the mainstay of both lowland and upland (swidden) communities for centuries, recent decades have seen the emergence of major trends that are rapidly transforming the nature of rural livelihoods. It is preferable not to use the popular term “drivers” for these trends as this implies that farm- households are merely passively reacting to exogenous forces, whereas it is the choices made by millions of such households (e.g., regarding human fertility, the disposition of family labour, land use, the selection of crop varieties and other technologies, allocations to recurrent expenditure and long-term investment) that in many cases constitute the trends, and indeed influence further change in the economy. Figure 1.1 Components, influencers, and trajectories of farm-household systems INTERVENTIONS AGRARIAN SYSTEM VILLAGE SYSTEM FARM SYSTEM CROPS LIVESTOCK LAND TRENDS FOREST NON-FARM TRAJECTORIES ORGANISATIONS MARKETS SHOCKS TRAJECTORIES OF RICE-BASED FARMING SYSTEMS 3 IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA These trends, together with the influence of development interventions (policies, programs, and projects) and biophysical and socioeconomic shocks (natural disasters, market booms), give rise to various livelihood trajectories (Fig. 1.1). Again, it is important to emphasise that these trajectories are not the mechanistic outcome of external forces (let alone of specific policies or other interventions) but the result of livelihood strategies, which differ from household to household (even within the same village or agro-ecological zone) depending on their particular goals and circumstances. THE MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA REGION MSEA is defined to include the five countries of (from west to east) Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam (Fig. 1.2). The region incorporates a total of 1.9 million km2, much of it mountainous, hence