10.7.5 Conclusion
Using an agent-based modeling approach in which the economic decision-making
of farm households was simulated using whole farm programming, we assessed the
potential impact of four innovations aimed at improving the profitability of litchi
cultivation. We showed that artificial flower induction, cooperative fruit drying and
water-saving irrigation methods could each contribute to profitability, but not
enough to reverse the currently observed decline in litchi area, even when combined. To maintain the existing area under litchi, these innovations would have to
be combined with a minimum farm gate selling price of 12 baht/kg (or 15 baht/kg
without innovations), which is substantially higher than the selling price of 9–10
baht/kg in 2010.
10.8 Case Study 8: Considering Spatial Effects of Soil
Conservation Measures in a Mountainous Watershed in
Northern Vietnam Using a Coupled Model
10.8.1 Introduction
The availability of natural resources and ecosystem services to people is influenced
by the natural resource endowment of a landscape and by the modifications its
inhabitants apply to their environment.
10 Agricultural landscapes are, on the one
hand largely shaped by humans, and on the other set the framework for people’s
nutrition, welfare, traditions and lifestyles. In one direction, soil fertility, that is,
nutrient status, but also soil physical characteristics like structure or water supply to
the soil, drive farmers’ decisions on crop rotation, land use and management. In
turn, farmers’ land use and management build up or degrade soil fertility and
decrease or increase soil water holding capacity.
Integrated modeling aims to represent processes and interactions relevant for a
given research question, in this case at the landscape level. However, most models
specialize in certain scientific domains covering certain aspects of a landscape, and
so particularly interactions between human and environmental spheres are often
considered too complex to be accounted for in detail by a single model.
In three previous sections of this chapter, biophysical and socio-economic
models (LUCIA and MP-MAS respectively) were introduced and typical
approaches and applications highlighted:
10 This section was written by Carsten Marohn, Pepijn Schreinemachers, Dang Viet Quang, Prakit
Siripalangkanont, Thanh Thi Nguyen, Thomas Berger and Georg Cadisch and draws on Marohn
et al. (in press).
418
C. Marohn et al.
Using an agent-based modeling approach in which the economic decision-making
of farm households was simulated using whole farm programming, we assessed the
potential impact of four innovations aimed at improving the profitability of litchi
cultivation. We showed that artificial flower induction, cooperative fruit drying and
water-saving irrigation methods could each contribute to profitability, but not
enough to reverse the currently observed decline in litchi area, even when combined. To maintain the existing area under litchi, these innovations would have to
be combined with a minimum farm gate selling price of 12 baht/kg (or 15 baht/kg
without innovations), which is substantially higher than the selling price of 9–10
baht/kg in 2010.
10.8 Case Study 8: Considering Spatial Effects of Soil
Conservation Measures in a Mountainous Watershed in
Northern Vietnam Using a Coupled Model
10.8.1 Introduction
The availability of natural resources and ecosystem services to people is influenced
by the natural resource endowment of a landscape and by the modifications its
inhabitants apply to their environment.
10 Agricultural landscapes are, on the one
hand largely shaped by humans, and on the other set the framework for people’s
nutrition, welfare, traditions and lifestyles. In one direction, soil fertility, that is,
nutrient status, but also soil physical characteristics like structure or water supply to
the soil, drive farmers’ decisions on crop rotation, land use and management. In
turn, farmers’ land use and management build up or degrade soil fertility and
decrease or increase soil water holding capacity.
Integrated modeling aims to represent processes and interactions relevant for a
given research question, in this case at the landscape level. However, most models
specialize in certain scientific domains covering certain aspects of a landscape, and
so particularly interactions between human and environmental spheres are often
considered too complex to be accounted for in detail by a single model.
In three previous sections of this chapter, biophysical and socio-economic
models (LUCIA and MP-MAS respectively) were introduced and typical
approaches and applications highlighted:
10 This section was written by Carsten Marohn, Pepijn Schreinemachers, Dang Viet Quang, Prakit
Siripalangkanont, Thanh Thi Nguyen, Thomas Berger and Georg Cadisch and draws on Marohn
et al. (in press).
418
C. Marohn et al.