Southeast Asian Country

Paper Number 6

Soil fertility management and conservation under agriculture
productivity improvement project in Cambodia*

Ho Puthera
Department of Agronomy and Agricultural Land Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

1. Introduction

Food and fiber production systems in the Royal Government of Cambodia now and into the future needs to meet three major requirements: (1) to provide adequate supply of safe, nutritious, and sufficient food for the world’s growing population, (2) to significantly reduce rural poverty through augmentation of household income derived from activities, and (3) to curb further degradation of natural resources, particularly land resources. These challenges have to be resolved in anticipation of unpredictable changes in global climate- a key factor in natural and agro-ecosystem productivity. Other major factors that will influence how agriculture meets the challenge of food security include globalization of markets and trade, increasing market orientation for agriculture, emerging technologies and increasing public concern about the impacts of unsustainable natural resource management.

It is imperative, therefore, to share lessons learned and focus on the strategic management and implementation of the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in pursuance of the objectives of United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

SLM initiatives through the Soil Fertility Management and Conservation (SFMC) in the country are being undertaken through:

• High quality research and development activities in different agro-ecosystem target areas to demonstrate, extend and raise awareness of SFMC technologies;
• Capacity building activities to strengthen the capability of partners to demonstrate and extend relevant SLM technologies to their farmer clients; and
• Effective coordination and information support to strengthen and improve the existing collaborative with regions having similar problems.

2. Activities and achievements

While poor external participation, institutional limitations and national funding uncertainties have acted to impede progress, and that limited human and institutional skills have undermined the value of very good ‘Science’ in the SLM programme. For instance, the Agricultural Productivity Improvement Programme (APIP) for SFMC has achieved its objectives within the design timetable as follows:

• Field activities of SLM core site saw the establishment, operation and maintenance of
  3 run off and soil loss monitoring sites. Data collection, ollation and assessment completed.

From these works, rainfall patterns at each site with recorded annual rainfalls showed the following summarized data trends:

• Typically >2 500 mm rainfall level for all sites;
• 71 percent of rain occurs in falls of <10 mm/day, 24 percent in falls of 10-50 mm/day and
  4 percent in falls of >50 mm/day; and
• Similarly, low rainfall intensities (<10 mm/hr) were observed in 81 percent of rain events, and higher, more erosive intensities (>20 mm/hr) were observed in 9 percent of instances reflecting catastrophic events such as various effective cyclones were recorded.
• The recorded/collected information and data suggests that run off is initiated at rainfalls in the excess of 5-10 mm/day i.e. only in about 29-38 percent of all rainfall events. Run off under ‘normal’ rainfall was typically <5 percent of total rainfall suggesting these soils is stable with low erosivity, respectively.

The recently collected soil loss data suggests that contour-based farm treatments can be grouped into four broad categories, viz. (1) Farmers Practice (FP), (2) FP + vetiver, (3) FP + short to medium-term cash crops, and (4) FP + agroforestry hedges. The actual annual soil losses per site vary relative to FP (= 0 percent or no change). Obviously, the on-farm demonstrations using the above 4 categories have one common message that reconfirmed hedgerows planted across the slopes can effectively control soil erosion. Figure 1 describes the following trends in relative annual soil loss:

1. Vetiver grass strips reduced soil losses to 30-50 percent of FP in the 2 years after planting, and to >90 percent after that;
2. Short to medium-term cash crop barriers reduced soil losses initially to 50 percent of FP, and to >90 percent after 3 years (very similar trend to vetiver grass); while,
3. Agroforestry hedges maintained soil losses at around 50 percent of FP during this time.

Figure 1. Trends in relative annual soil loss for treatment groupings on APIP-SFMC sites

The network of SFMC on-farm techno-demos

The network of on-farm techno-demos covered and ensured the implementation of thousands on-farm demonstration and survey activities over 14 provinces. In addition to the technical data on-farm production, due consideration was given to the three impact areas such as environmental impact, social impact and economic impact.

The quantified measurements of local impacts of the techno-demos in various sites resulted in the further development of farming system models for semi-commercial producers which considered soil fertility and erosion control, giving due consideration to the productivity of the hedges/barriers, especially as it affects needs and access of poor and vulnerable to basic production-improving services.

Cooperators showed through their country programmes that they could apply SFMC knowledge learned during training. Coordination and technical backstopping visits supported on-the-job training in areas relating to implementation, day-to-day management and demonstration of techniques and collection, collation, analysis and reporting gathered data. Regular activities associated with field trial management are being institutionalised and activities included as line items in Ministry budgets.

Timely technical assistance, training and capacity building activities and workshops on SFMC provided:

• Technical assistance, training and capacity building activities involving 503 provincial technical staff, extension worker and private sectors participants (16 percent females).
• Effective links with other 6 national programmes, and the 14 PDAs network coordinator attended. Cooperative links with regional and bilateral activities developed during Phase 1 were strengthened to promote longer-term sustainability of national and regional activities. Successful regional staff exchanges added value to regional training workshops and coordination and technical backstopping visits by allowing network members to share experiences and extend ‘lessons learned’ to their peers. These experiences further rewarded both trainees and trainers through skill recognition, communication and personal networking.

Effective administration, management and information distribution systems allowed:

• Leadership;
• Effective distribution of information on SFMC/SLM several Agri-Notes, balanced approach to the network management function, and country programme 5 annual technical reports, and workshop reports.

A total of 3 440 soil samples were collected in the farmers field and field stations and were analysed to provide soil chemical properties and soil fertility relational data base and benchmarks. This massive and systematic soil sampling programme aimed to: (i) determine and/or confirm soil types, (ii) compare the soil and soil properties of the field station with those used by the farmers in the adjoining farms, and (iii) prepare an inventory of soil types, soil chemical properties and fertilizer management practices for these field areas. Inventory activities were undertaken in conjunction with other agronomic and infrastructure databases being developed for each field sites.

Table 1. Soil sampling and analysis by provinces

The Soil and Plant Analysis Laboratory’s mission is to provide a quality national soil, fertilizer and plant nutrient analysis service to encourage sustainable land management and improve food security in Cambodia. Its purpose is to serve Government, national research institutions, NGOs, agribusinesses and farmers as a semi-autonomous agency under DAALI. The laboratory, likewise, participated in the regional soil and plant sample exchange programme.

3. Lessons learned

SFMC is an institutional capacity building programme of technical staff and extension workers and other stakeholders learning to work together under the leadership of DAALI under the National Action Programme (NAP). The processes of human and institutional capacity building and the actual knowledge and experiences gained in the hands-on implementation in the various stations and farmer’s field provided important lessons learned and unlearned:

• To address SLM issues, and its function. For its operation, external funding is required, from one or more donors. Further, the network needs scientific and organizational guidance, especially for the poor resources;
• The ability and willingness for further achieving SFMC/SLM needs time for development and guidance supporting a longer-term intervention;
• Integration into national and regional programmes and communication of experiences within and between national and regional organizations and activities with value added of minimising risks associated with project isolation.
• Individual objective has to be consistent with the NAP’s objectives to encourage longer-term sustainability;

4. Problems and constraints

1. SFMC staff limited skills and knowledge on management, planning, monitoring and reporting;
2. Not enough resources for TA to supervise and provide on the job training;
3. Some specific natural and administrative constraints are recognized: (i) interruption of field activities by yearly flood occurrences (ii) Slow release of funds, (iii) Delays in arrival and subsequent release of procured items, (iv) A lack of clear procedural guidance.

5. SWOT analysis

From field observations and analysis of data collected in the soil fertility and land management area, the following strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) were recognized:

• Strengths: Laboratory and provincial personnel are collaborating with other agencies. The Soil and Plant Analysis Laboratory is applying QA/QC procedures to further progress soil fertility and land management activities. Counterparts and provincial cooperators are undertaking technical M&E visits to inspect field trial sites for experimental rigor. Counterparts have recognized their own limitations in many technical areas and see the need for further technical training. Strong collegiate networks exist among counterparts. There is an awakening recognition of the value ofapplying a holistic approach to working in a professional environment.
• Weaknesses: Land Management Office (LMO) and laboratory insufficient attention to: (1) trial design, (2) field and technical M&E activities. Not enough quality management support to field operatives and farmers efforts to improve data management, analysis and reporting skills should also be continued.
• Opportunities: Counterparts should continue networking and collaborative land management activities. Great potential exists for technical and laboratory staff to plan and undertake collaborative activities with CARDI, DAE, provincial NGOs and extension staff. This is especially so when linking field operations and specialized analytical functions in areas of plant nutrition, soil fertility and land management. However, institutional reform and ongoing technical ‘mentoring’ (i.e. as technical guidance) will be required for this to happen smoothly. Also the sustainable management of land and resources is likely to become an increasingly important political issue in Cambodia. LMO should continue to develop:

1.  Expert knowledge in soil fertility management in order to become a storehouse of related knowledge on land management and an adviser to government, NGOs, other agencies, agribusinesses and farmers.
2. Simple, transparent administrative and financial management systems and practices to further streamline information flows in collaborative activities.

Institutional and legislative processes to develop national land management policies that link sustainable production and food security to appropriate land use strategies and practices.