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According to the World Bank, in 2009 about 40% of the population in Laos were living below the poverty line, and as forests are cleared for agriculture, land use planning is now a national policy to reduce shifting cultivation and fight poverty. Using communities in the Viengkham District of Laos as a case study, the work presented here explores whether locally recognised plant indicators of soil productivity could improve land use planning by involving local communities in land management.CIFOR researcher Imam Basuki gave this presentation at the 18th International Symposium on Society & Resource Management (ISSRM) held on 17–21 June 2012 at the University of Alberta, Canada. The main theme of the conference was ‘Linking North and South: Responding to Environmental Change’, and 350 participants from 50 countries came together to discuss the intersection of social issues and natural resource management.
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THINKING beyond the canopy
Exploring plant indicators for soil quality assessment in Laos:
improving the roles of communities in land management
Imam Basuki et al. – 18th ISSRM Alberta University, Edmonton, 2012
Laos
• Laos covers 236,800 km2
–68% (1986) forest reduced to 47% (2010)
–43% (2010) agricultural lands
• Of 5.23 M people in Laos 39% are poor (WB 2009)
Context
Urban area
Rural area
• Land use planning as a national policy to reduce shifting cultivation and poverty in Laos: lack of capacity and information (Saito et al. 2006)
• Would land use planning be more effective with participatory and multidisciplinary approaches?
Context
Objectives
• To examine and demonstrate the need for local land assessment for effective land use planning in Laos, and
• To clarify whether locally recognised plant indicators of soil productivity can play a useful role.
Study sites
• Community meetings – Soil types and plant
indicators
– Scoring exercise
• Participatory mapping and group discussions
Approach
• Field tests for plant indicators (14 sites)
• Soil sampling (25 sites)
Approach
1. Soil
• Local soil map
• Local soil types
• Soil fertility
• Land suitability for rice
• Local & scientific approaches
2. Plant indicators
• Identification of plant indicators
• Index of soil productivity
Results in two parts
Result 1/1 – Local soil map
The grey and reddish areas are the better soils;
Potential for land zoning in land use planning.
Result 1/2 – Local soil types
Soil type Mean
Importance (%) Mean productivity
(kg/ha) Trend in
productivity Area
(hectare)
Dark soil 32 1785 -7 7716
Sandy soil 20 1245 -2 1293
Reddish soil 16 600 -5 4279
Dark red soil 14 1465 -3 1343
Rocky soil 13 630 -1 1988
Soil with roots 5 665 -1 1984
Productive soils are more extensive than non productive, but… productivity for rice cultivation is decreasing.
Table of importance and productivity by soil types, as perceived by communities
Result 1/3 – Land evaluation: soil fertility
Village Fertility Status Limiting Factors Boummi Low Phosphorus, CEC, Base sat. Don Keo Low Phosphorus, CEC, Base sat. Houaykhon Low Phosphorus, CEC Muangmuay Low Phosphorus, CEC, Base sat. Paklao Low Phosphorus, CEC Padheng Low Phosphorus, CEC, Base sat. Vangkham Low CEC
Evaluation of five chemical indicators of soil fertility; phosphorus, potassium, cation exchange capacity (CEC), base saturation and carbon content
Table of fertility status and limiting factors of the soils in villages
Result 1/4 – Land suitability for rice
Suitability class Oryza sativa L. S1 0 S2 3 S3 6
N (Not suitable) 16
Main limiting factors are:
– water shortage, erosion and soil fertility.
Table of soil suitability class for rice
Result 1/5 – Local & scientific approaches
Local classes of soil productivity are significantly correlated with soil pH and nutrients (p-value < 0.1).
77N =productivenon-productive
Pote
ntia
l pot
assiu
m (p
pm)
120
80
40
077N =
productivenon-productive
pH (
KC
l)
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
5
• Current land use zoning has shortened the fallow period and eroded soils decreased productivity + land degradation
• Local land assessment can improve current land zoning
Implications 1
Result 2/1 - Identification of plant indicators
Example of identified plant indicators Plant scores in villages Local name Scientific name DK MM HK VK VM BM PL
yak kee lor Eupatorium odoratum L. 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
thong koop Macaranga denticulata (Blume) Müll. Arg. 5 - - - - 6 -
------- -------
may muem Aporosa villosa (Lindl.) Baillon 6 4 - - - 2 3
may tiou Cratoxylum formosum (Jack) Dyer subsp. 1 1 1 2 2 1 1
------- -------
•52 plant indicators were identified
•29 plants indicate productive soils
Table of plant indicators and index-score of productivity by village (example)
Result 2/2 - Index of soil productivity
Indicator plants MM VK HK VM BM DK PL
Eupatorium odoratum L. 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 - - 0 0
Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauvois
0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
---
---
Soil Productivity Index 7.0 2.0 6.6 4.6 6.4 4.4 5.3 4.0 7.4 4.1 6.7 4.3 6.6 4.1
Local index range:
Productive (>5) and Non-productive (<5) Table of Local index of soil productivity (example)
A plant-index is a quick and simple approach: • Complements the current approaches • Appropriate land allocation • Can detect change in soil productivity better land management
Implications 2
Conclusion
• Local land assessment and the local plant-index could inform a better land use planning.
• We advocate wider use of the local index
with follow up trials in other areas.
THINKING beyond the canopy
• SDC
• CIFOR/ICRAF
• NAFRI/NAFREC
• Communities in Viengkham District
• 18th ISSRM 2012 Organizers
Cifor website: http://www.cifor.org
Acknowledgement
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