III. SALIENT FEATURES OF ASIAN FARMING SYSTEMS

South Asia
Southeast and East Asia

South Asia

Key features of the South Asia sub-region in terms of potential of the farming systems are summarized in Box 1. Of the 11 farming systems of the sub-region, four, namely, rice-wheat, rainfed mixed, rice-rice, and highland mixed, in that order, are most important. These four systems engage 87 percent of the agricultural population, 33, 30, 17 and 7 percent, respectively. The rice-wheat system has the highest potential for growth and poverty alleviation, while the other three have moderate potential. Livestock and horticultural crops are integral parts of most of the farming systems.

For the sub-region as a whole, cereal production is expected to reach 392 million tons by the year 2030. The large-ruminant population is expected to stabilize or even decline. Globalization provides comparative advantages to adopt integrated farming systems, geared to niche export markets for horticultural, livestock, and fish products. Even within the sub-region, consumption/head of both meat and dairy products is forecast to double in the next 30 years. The urbanization trend - increasing from the current level of 28 percent to 53 percent in 2030 - and the increased demand for off-farm employment, may require increased mechanization.

The irrigated-land-area proportion is expected to grow slowly, from 40 percent now to 44 percent in 2030. On non-irrigated land, soil erosion, and overgrazing, if not arrested, will further degrade the natural resource base. Water resources must be managed more efficiently from basin level to farm level to avoid a "water crisis" over major parts of the region.

If significant climate changes were to occur, low lying coastal areas will come under intensive pressure from sea level rise, storms and flooding and rainfed semi-arid areas are likely to be seriously affected by increased rainfall variability.

Southeast and East Asia

Key features of the East Asia sub-region in terms of potential of the farming systems are summarized in Box 2. Of the 11 farming systems identified for this sub-region, four systems, namely, lowland rice, upland rice intensive mixed, temperate mixed and tree crops mixed, in that order, are most important. These four systems account for 89 percent of the agricultural population: 44, 28, 14 and 3 percent, respectively. The tree crops mixed system has highest potential, while the other three have moderate potentials. Livestock and horticultural crops are important components of all the four systems. Under lowland rice, aquaculture is also important.

In this most populous sub-region of the world, the population is projected to grow to 2.31 billion by 2030. The proportion of urbanization is expected to rise from the current 37 percent to 53 percent by 2030. There are eight low-income food deficit countries in the region. The current average food intake is 2783 kcal/person/day and is expected to increase to 3170 kcal by 2030, accompanied by improvement in the quality of the diet with significant growth in consumption of meat (65 percent increase by 2030), milk and dairy products (90 percent), thus underpinning strongly the need for promotion of synergistic linkages between crop-agroforestry-livestock sectors for growth in agricultural GDP and poverty reduction.

Box 1: Characteristics and potentials of farming systems: South Asia

Farming systems	Land area (percent of region)	Agric popn* (percent of region)	Principal livelihood	Incidence of poverty	Potential for poverty reduction	Potential for agric. growth
Rice	7	17	Rice (both seasons), vegetables, legumes, off-farm activities	Extensive severe poverty	Moderate	Moderate
Coastal artisanal fishing	1	2	Fishing, coconuts, rice, legumes, livestock	Moderate to severe poverty	Moderate	Low
Rice-wheat	19	33	Rice, wheat, vegetables, livestock including dairy, off-farm activities	Extensive moderate and severe poverty	High	Moderate-high
Highland mixed	13	7	Cereals, livestock, horticulture, seasonal migration	Moderate to severe poverty	Moderate	Moderate
Rainfed mixed	29	30	Cereals, legumes, fodder crops, livestock, off-farm activities	Extensive poverty, severity varies seasonally	Moderate	Moderate
Dry rainfed	4	4	Coarse cereals, irrigated cereals, legumes, off-farm activities	Moderate poverty	Moderate	Moderate-high
Pastoral	11	3	Livestock, irrigated cropping, migration	Severe poverty, especially drought included	Low	Low
Sparse (arid)	11	1	Livestock where seasonal moisture permits	Severe poverty, especially drought induced	Low	Low
Sparse (mountain)	7	0.4	Summer grazing of livestock	Severe poverty, especially in remote areas	Low	Low
Tree crop	little, dispersed	little	Export or agro-industrial crops, cereals, wage labour	Moderate poverty, mainly of agricultural workers	Moderate	High
Urban based	neg	little	Horticulture, dairying, poultry, other activities	Moderate	Low	Low

Source: Weatherhogg, Dixon and de Alwis, 2001, FAO, Rome
Principal farming systems are shaded.
^*Defined as those working in crop or livestock production or forestry and their dependents.

Farming systems	Land area (percent of region)	Agric popn* (percent of region)	Principal livelihood	Incidence of poverty	Potential for Poverty reduction	Potential for agric. Growth
Lowland rice	12	44	Rice, maize, pulses, sugarcane, oilseeds, vegetables, livestock, aquaculture	Extensive severe poverty	Moderate	Moderate
Tree crops mixed	5	3	Rubber, oil palm, coconuts, coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, rice, livestock	Moderate poverty mainly of smallholders	High	High
Upland intensive mixed	20	28	Rice, pulses, maize, sugarcane, oil seeds, fruits, vegetables, livestock	Extensive moderate and severe poverty	Moderate	Moderate
Highland extensive mixed	6	4	Upland rice, pulses, maize, oil seeds, fruits, forest products, livestock	Moderate to severe poverty	Moderate	Moderate
Temperate mixed	6	14	Wheat, maize, pulses, oil crops, livestock	Extensive moderate and severe poverty	Moderate	Low
Pastoral	20	1	Livestock with irrigated crops in local suitable areas	Severe poverty especially drought induced	Low	Low
Root-tuber	1	<1	Root crops (yam, taro, sweet potato), vegetables, fruits, livestock (pigs and cattle)	Limited poverty	Good	Moderate
Sparse (forest)	11	1	Hunting, gathering	Moderate	Low	Low
Spare (arid)	20	2	Local grazing where water available	Severe	Moderate	Low
Urban based	not available	little	Horticulture, dairy, poultry	Low to moderate	Low	Moderate
Coastal artisanal fishing	not available	little	Fishing, coconut, mixed cropping	Moderate	Moderate	Low

Source: Ivory, 2001, FAO, Rome/Bangkok
Principal farming systems are shaded.
*Defined as those working in farming, forestry or fishing and their dependents.

The past and future trends for bovines and small ruminant production in the region are similar; they project increases annually of 1.3 percent up to 2030. The potential for increasing the supply of feeds for ruminants is anticipated to be a significant constraint; it calls for a system-wide integration between the crop and livestock sectors in land use and allocation among crops. Animal feed supplies will come from large increases in maize production at the expense of rice and wheat production.