ABSTRACT

Intensive maize cultivation in the uplands of North-west Vietnam has resulted in soil erosion leading to reduced maize yields along with negative impacts downstream. Despite the introduction of sustainable agricultural technologies over many years, adoption rates are low mostly due to their incompatibility with existing farming systems and lack of secure markets for alternative crops. In addition, the temporary nature of development programmes and limited capacity of government extension systems have resulted in limited spread of technology, and where they have been introduced, unable to secure long-lasting commitments from farmers. In this study, we explore an alternative model involving maize value chain actors for attaining more durable transition towards sustainable maize farming systems. We find maize traders operating at lower levels of the value chain with active engagement with the farming community to be best suited for engaging in technology dissemination. While their involvement may require additional incentives and oversight from the government it is imperative that support for commercialization through promising market links are established to achieve a more meaningful shift towards sustainable farming methods.

摘要

越南西北部高地的玉米集约化种植导致水土流失，导致玉米产量下降，并对下游产生负面影响。尽管多年来引入了可持续农业技术，但采用率仍然很低，这主要是因为它们与现有农业系统不兼容，并且缺乏替代作物的安全市场。此外，发展计划的临时性质和政府推广系统的能力有限，导致技术传播有限，而且在引进技术的地方，无法获得农民的长期承诺。在这项研究中，我们探索了一种涉及玉米价值链参与者的替代模型，以实现向可持续玉米耕作系统的更持久过渡。我们发现玉米贸易商在价值链的较低层次上与农业社区积极接触，最适合从事技术传播。虽然他们的参与可能需要政府的额外激励和监督，但必须通过有前景的市场联系建立对商业化的支持，以实现更有意义的向可持续耕作方法的转变。