Replication data for: Diagnosis of farming systems in the Agroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder farmers in Northwestern Viet Nam project

This dataset was moved to: https://doi.org/10.34725/DVN/24974The ‘Agroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder farmers in Northwestern Viet Nam’ project (2011–2016) focuses on agroforestry trials on farms in the northwestern mountainous region of the country. The objective of the study was to make an inventory of the current upland farming systems and identify key strengths and weaknesses of each system, including economic efficiency. The farming system diagnosis was based on participatory assessments and focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with 45 project ‘farmer co-operators’ in 17 villages in Yen Bai, Son La and Dien Bien provinces. The study covered three agro-ecozones and four ethnic groups: less than 600 masl, generally populated by Kinh (two villages); 600–800 masl, dominated by Thai (six villages) and greater than 800 masl, including H’mong and Kho Mu (nine villages). The economic assessment accounts for annual inputs and labor costs. To our knowledge, there was no previous systematic study at this scale. The inventory identified over 20 different farming sy stems. However, regardless of agro-ecozones and ethnicity, the predominant land-use on upland slopes was mono-cultivation of staple crops. Over 90% of the farmer co-operators grew maize, which was also the main source of income for 82%. The estimated economic profit of this system ranged from below VND 1 million to 12.5 million per hectare per year. The main drawback of this system was declining soil fertility and yields. In addition, upland farmers’ profits were generally low, ranging from VND 2.4 million (maize) through VND 20 million (cassava with shan tea) to VND 26 million (tomato) per hectare per year. Profits were lower at higher elevations. This was because 1) in response to declining soil fertility, increased amounts of fertilizers were applied but the productivity failed to compensate for increasing production costs; 2) local varieties of hill rice and maize seem to have degenerated; 3) farmers sold unprocessed grains and tubers at low, and volatile, prices because their market access and storage capacity was limited; and 4) the estimated labour costs in this study might be overestimated for distant fields. Farmers, therefore, wanted to find alternative farming systems, however, few were aware of appropriate tree-based conservation farming practices. Certain types of agroforestry existed on a small scale, for example, home gardens with fruit trees or coffee with timber trees or fruit trees as shade (in Son La), cassava intercropped with shan tea (in Yen Bai), cardamom under forest canopy (in Dien Bien). This study identified several potential agroforestry models, for example, a combination of staple crops for short-term income, grass strips for protection from soil erosion and feed, and trees for medium-to-longer-term income. The findings of the study will help identify agroforestry systems with potential for wider adoption and will lay the groundwork for the design or redesign of effective agroforestry research in the region.

本数据集已迁移至：https://doi.org/10.34725/DVN/24974。“越南西北山区小农生计农林业（Agroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder farmers in Northwestern Viet Nam）”项目（2011-2016年）聚焦于该国西北山区农场的农林业试验。本研究旨在对当前旱地农作系统进行清查，并识别各系统的核心优势与短板，涵盖经济效率维度。农作系统诊断基于参与式评估、焦点小组讨论，以及对安沛、山罗与奠边省17个村庄的45名项目农户合作方开展的深度访谈。本研究覆盖3个农业生态区与4个族群：海拔低于600米区域（多为京族聚居，覆盖2个村庄）；600~800米海拔区域（以泰族为主，覆盖6个村庄）；以及海拔高于800米区域（涵盖赫蒙族与克木族，覆盖9个村庄）。经济评估核算了年度投入与劳动力成本。据我们所知，此前尚无此规模的系统性相关研究。本次清查共识别出20余种不同的农作系统。然而无论农业生态区与族群差异如何，旱地坡地的主要土地利用方式均为主食作物单一种植。超过90%的项目农户合作方种植玉米，且玉米也是82%合作方的主要收入来源。该系统的预估经济利润区间为每公顷每年不足100万越南盾（Vietnamese Dong，VND）至1250万越南盾。该系统的主要短板为土壤肥力与作物产量持续下降。此外，旱地农户的利润普遍偏低，区间为每公顷每年240万越南盾（玉米种植）至2000万越南盾（间作掸茶的木薯种植），最高可达2600万越南盾（番茄种植）。海拔越高，利润越低。其原因在于：1）为应对土壤肥力下降，农户增加了化肥施用量，但产量增幅未能抵消生产成本的上涨；2）当地山地稻与玉米品种似乎已出现退化；3）由于市场准入渠道与仓储能力有限，农户以低价且波动的价格出售未加工的谷物与块根作物；4）本研究中对偏远地块的劳动力成本估算可能偏高。因此，农户希望寻找替代性农作系统，但鲜有农户了解适配的林木型保护性耕作技术。部分农林业模式已小规模存在，例如山罗省的果树家庭菜园、以用材树或果树为遮荫作物的咖啡种植园；安沛省的间作掸茶的木薯种植；以及奠边省的林冠下豆蔻种植。本研究识别出若干具备推广潜力的农林业模式，例如：以主食作物获取短期收益、以草带防治水土流失并提供饲料、以林木获取中远期收益的组合模式。本研究结果将助力识别具备大规模推广潜力的农林业系统，并为该地区有效农林业研究的规划与优化奠定基础。

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集总结了越南西北部山区小农农业系统的诊断研究，覆盖2011-2016年项目期间45名农民合作者在17个村庄的调查。研究发现，尽管存在多种农业系统，但主要土地利用为单一作物种植（尤其是玉米），导致利润低和土壤退化；研究同时识别了潜在的农林复合模型，旨在为区域农业可持续发展提供基础。