Rapidly increasing population pressure across Southeast Asia has meant that very little potentially arable land is left uncultivated. The small areas of arable land that are not being used are mostly of marginal potential. Improving the management of the land that is being cultivated or restoring land that has been degraded, are critical issues. CIAT is building capacity for research and development in Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) as a response to these key issues.

Most of CIAT's current activities in CBNRM are located in the countries of the Mekong basin. The main context of this work is the shifting cultivation systems of the mountainous regions of northern Laos and Vietnam, where entrenched poverty and natural resource management issues are inextricably linked. These systems are under great pressure for change. Increasing populations have resulted in decreasing fallow periods, which in turn result in declining soil fertility and increasing weed problems. The longer fallow periods (>6-8 years) result in arboreal fallow species, which have a lower weed potential, but the shorter fallow periods (1-3 years) result in shrubby fallow species which seed prolifically and become the dominant weeds in subsequent crops. Consequently, upland rice crops planted after short fallow periods need at least two rounds of weeding , taking from 100-300 person-days/ha. This increasing demand on labour contributes strongly to what is perhaps the key problem for farmers in these areas: declining productivity of labour. It is widely agreed that these farming systems are not sustainable, but for farmers to be able to make the transition to more-permanent agriculture in the uplands, they need the 'breathing space' in their livelihoods to be able to take the risks necessary to make a transition. As long as they have to invest such huge amounts of labour in weeding their rice fields to simply produce enough rice to survive, they cannot find this 'breathing space'.

CIAT is directing its research towards these key issues through:

• investigation of improved upland cropping and forage management systems that have the potential to reduce weed pressure in upland rice systems, maintain soil fertility, and thus maintain or increase productivity(especially productivity of labour)
  
• studies on land tenure systems and farmers' approaches to risk-taking in relation to whole system changes
  
• field experiments on improved farming systems, particularly related to nutrient cycling and soil fertility, and direct involvement in improving soil fertility assessment and management recommendations. In collaboration with IRD and IWMI, the Southeast Asian Laboratory Network (SEALNET) was established as a loose coalition of research groups interested in developing a recommended set of analytical techniques and improvements in regional soil fertility management recommendations.

These activities are undertaken through a number of research associations: through undergraduate projects, postgraduate studies, and integrated research in collaboration with other research institutions. One such projects is the Integrated Upland Agricultural Research Project (IUARP) in the District of Pak Ou in Luang Prabang province, Laos, which is coordinated and implemented by NAFRI and involves researchers from IRRI, CIAT, ICRAF, and IWMI.

CIAT Contacts

Rod Lefroy
Regional Coordinator and Upland Systems Specialist
PO Box 783
Vientiane, Lao PDR
Phone: +856 (21) 770090
Fax: +856 (21) 770091
E-mail: r.lefroy@cgiar.org

Karen McAllister (PhD Student)
PO Box 783
Vientiane, Lao PDR
Phone: +856 (21) 770090
Fax: +856 (21) 770091
E-mail: k.mcallister@cgiar.org
PhD Subject: Land Tenure and Risk Management in shifting cultivation farming systems of northern Laos
Affiliated with: McGill University, Canada

Pheng Sengxua (PhD Student)
National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI)
PO Box 811
Vientiane, Lao PDR
Phone: +856 (21) 770090
Fax: +856 (21) 770091
E-mail: psengxua@laotel.com
PhD Subject: Fallow management in shifting cultivation farming systems of northern Laos
Affiliated with: Khon Kaen University, Thailand (jointly supervised with IRRI)

National Partner Organisation

National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), LAO PDR
Contact: Viengsavanh Phimphachanhvongsod
P.O. Box 811
Vientiane, Lao PDR
Phone: +856 (21) 222 796
Fax: +856 (21) 222 797
E-mail: vieng63@laotel.com