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

The ‘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."越南西北部小农生计农林业（agroforestry）"项目（2011—2016年）聚焦于该国西北山区农场的农林业试验。本研究旨在对当前高地农业系统进行全面清查，并识别各系统的关键优势与短板，涵盖经济效率维度。农业系统诊断基于参与式评估、焦点小组讨论，以及对安沛省、山罗省和奠边省17个村庄的45名项目"农户合作者"开展的深度访谈。 研究覆盖三大农业生态区与四个族群：海拔低于600米（masl）的区域，主要为京族聚居（2个村庄）；海拔600—800米的区域，以泰族为主（6个村庄）；海拔高于800米的区域，涵盖赫蒙族与克木族（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研究。 本次清查共识别出20余种不同的农业系统。然而，无论农业生态区与族群背景如何，高地坡地的主导土地利用方式均为主食作物单一种植。超过90%的农户合作者种植玉米，且玉米也是82%农户的主要收入来源。该模式的估算年利润区间为每公顷不足100万越南盾至1250万越南盾。该模式的主要弊端为土壤肥力持续下降与产量降低。 此外，高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）、2000万越南盾（木薯间作掸茶（shan tea））至2600万越南盾（番茄种植）。海拔越高，利润越低，原因如下：1）为应对土壤肥力下降，化肥施用量不断增加，但增产幅度无法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）本研究中对偏远田块的劳动力成本估算可能偏高。 因此，农户希望找到替代性农业系统，但鲜有农户了解适宜的林木保护性耕作模式。小规模的农林业实践已存在若干范例，例如山罗省的果树庭院或咖啡与用材树/果树套种（作为遮荫）、安沛省的木薯与掸茶间作、奠边省的林冠下小豆蔻种植。 本研究识别出若干潜在农林业模式，例如兼顾短期收入的主食作物种植、用于水土保持与饲料供应的草带种植，以及用于中长期收入的林木种植。本研究结果将有助于筛选具备推广潜力的农林业系统，并为该地区高效农林业研究的设计与重构奠定基础。