by providing valuable animal feed, thus mitigating the negative impacts. In field
trials conducted by the Uplands Program in Yen Chau district, the relay crop
Phaesolus calcaratus provided 1.1 Mg ha
À1 yr
À1 of protein-rich grain feed
(Vu Dinh et al. 2012b), while Arachis pintoi used as a cover crop and strips of
Panicum maximum produced on average 3.3 and 16.3 Mg ha
À1 yr
À1 of fresh forage,
respectively. This means that almost 240 kg of grass carp can be produced,
assuming that for 1 kg of grass carp, 68.1 Æ 17.5 kg of fresh grass is needed
(Steinbronn 2009). A reduction in the labor required for fodder collection, plus
the additional income generated though the rearing of cattle and through aquaculture, would make the adoption of SCT more attractive for upland farmers.
A workshop conducted in Yen Chau in September 2011 confirmed that province
and district officials, agricultural extension officers and local farmers are well aware
that the ongoing rate of soil erosion will lead to a degradation of most soils within
less than 20 years, and there was agreement among all groups at the workshop that
there is a need to expand animal husbandry in the area, especially cattle rearing.
However, this is not a viable option for all farmers, and so it is necessary to develop
diverse measures to combat soil degradation, which will require substantial government support. In the workshop, farmers highlighted secure land use rights as
being one of the important prerequisites to long-term investment in soil conservation measures, which confirms the results of our econometric analyses presented in
Sects. 7.6.2 and 7.6.3. Moreover, all the involved groups agreed that there is a need
for more field trials to take place at the regional and communal levels in order to test
soil conservation techniques under local conditions and to adapt them to farmers’
needs.
Nevertheless, the immediate monetary benefits provided by fodder producing
SCT, such as the ones described above, may not fully outweigh the opportunity
costs of SCT in terms of maize yields foregone and/or the higher labor
requirements for maintaining such systems. Hence, in addition to the development, testing, and promotion of economically attractive SCT, payment for environmental services (PES) schemes have to be considered as an option to boost the
adoption of soil conserving land use practices. Soil conservation is a public good,
since its benefits do not only extend to upland farmers, but also to society as a
whole in terms of water safety, food security and sustainable rural development.
Hence, land degradation needs to be addressed as a societal issue, which justifies
the use of direct payments to farmers in order to compensate for the opportunity
costs incurred by establishing SCT. Based on the use of conventional SCT
without additional monetary benefits provided, Quang (2012) estimated appropriate payments to be in the magnitude of 3 million VND ha
À1 yr
À1 (approx. 150
USD) using a mathematical programming based multi-agent simulation model, a
study described in more detail in Chap. 10. In a land use system that integrates
animal husbandry, aquaculture and fodder producing SCT, PES could be used as
a complementary measure, with reduced payments. However, assessing the viability of a PES scheme in the research area will require a more comprehensive
investigation that accounts for the transaction costs incurred in terms of
establishing and monitoring such a policy.
272
T. Hilger et al.
trials conducted by the Uplands Program in Yen Chau district, the relay crop
Phaesolus calcaratus provided 1.1 Mg ha
À1 yr
À1 of protein-rich grain feed
(Vu Dinh et al. 2012b), while Arachis pintoi used as a cover crop and strips of
Panicum maximum produced on average 3.3 and 16.3 Mg ha
À1 yr
À1 of fresh forage,
respectively. This means that almost 240 kg of grass carp can be produced,
assuming that for 1 kg of grass carp, 68.1 Æ 17.5 kg of fresh grass is needed
(Steinbronn 2009). A reduction in the labor required for fodder collection, plus
the additional income generated though the rearing of cattle and through aquaculture, would make the adoption of SCT more attractive for upland farmers.
A workshop conducted in Yen Chau in September 2011 confirmed that province
and district officials, agricultural extension officers and local farmers are well aware
that the ongoing rate of soil erosion will lead to a degradation of most soils within
less than 20 years, and there was agreement among all groups at the workshop that
there is a need to expand animal husbandry in the area, especially cattle rearing.
However, this is not a viable option for all farmers, and so it is necessary to develop
diverse measures to combat soil degradation, which will require substantial government support. In the workshop, farmers highlighted secure land use rights as
being one of the important prerequisites to long-term investment in soil conservation measures, which confirms the results of our econometric analyses presented in
Sects. 7.6.2 and 7.6.3. Moreover, all the involved groups agreed that there is a need
for more field trials to take place at the regional and communal levels in order to test
soil conservation techniques under local conditions and to adapt them to farmers’
needs.
Nevertheless, the immediate monetary benefits provided by fodder producing
SCT, such as the ones described above, may not fully outweigh the opportunity
costs of SCT in terms of maize yields foregone and/or the higher labor
requirements for maintaining such systems. Hence, in addition to the development, testing, and promotion of economically attractive SCT, payment for environmental services (PES) schemes have to be considered as an option to boost the
adoption of soil conserving land use practices. Soil conservation is a public good,
since its benefits do not only extend to upland farmers, but also to society as a
whole in terms of water safety, food security and sustainable rural development.
Hence, land degradation needs to be addressed as a societal issue, which justifies
the use of direct payments to farmers in order to compensate for the opportunity
costs incurred by establishing SCT. Based on the use of conventional SCT
without additional monetary benefits provided, Quang (2012) estimated appropriate payments to be in the magnitude of 3 million VND ha
À1 yr
À1 (approx. 150
USD) using a mathematical programming based multi-agent simulation model, a
study described in more detail in Chap. 10. In a land use system that integrates
animal husbandry, aquaculture and fodder producing SCT, PES could be used as
a complementary measure, with reduced payments. However, assessing the viability of a PES scheme in the research area will require a more comprehensive
investigation that accounts for the transaction costs incurred in terms of
establishing and monitoring such a policy.
272
T. Hilger et al.