Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia

The Green Revolution has benefited many people in Asia, but not everyone. This paper examines how many farmers have increased their productivity with more intensive cropping systems of fruit, vegetables, and in some cases, flowers. Total area under these crops more than tripled between 1977 and 2003...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rerkasem B.
Format: Review
Language:English
Published: 2014
Online Access:http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-25844474114&partnerID=40&md5=273bb606b692d419456f6098c9fe4e39
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/250
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Chiang Mai University
Language: English
id th-cmuir.6653943832-250
record_format dspace
spelling th-cmuir.6653943832-2502014-08-29T07:31:26Z Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia Rerkasem B. The Green Revolution has benefited many people in Asia, but not everyone. This paper examines how many farmers have increased their productivity with more intensive cropping systems of fruit, vegetables, and in some cases, flowers. Total area under these crops more than tripled between 1977 and 2003. Case studies to highlight the transformation include vegetable production to feed Asia's booming cities, diversification of export crops in Thailand, vegetable production in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands, flower production in Yunnan Province of China and opium replacement in the Golden Triangle. Access to the market is necessary for transformation, but changes are also driven by farmers' own innovations combined with contributions from last century's crop science, from phytohormones to hybrid technology. Other inputs are irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides, with overuse of the last two a serious threat to the environment as well as to human health. Concerns have also been raised regarding soil erosion caused by cropping on steep slopes. In addition to building roads and airports, government support has also come in the form of cheap credit for orchard establishment and more efficient quarantine procedures to facilitate exports. Cross-border trade that brings opportunities to inaccessible border regions will be further enhanced by regional free trade policy, particularly when liberalization of trade in fruit and vegetables is specified such as that just signed by ASEAN and China. Finally, a case is made for the need to improve cropping systems in less favorable environment with limited access to the market and the means through which crop scientists can work with farmers to bring this about. 2014-08-29T07:31:26Z 2014-08-29T07:31:26Z 2005 Review 1343943X 10.1626/pps.8.275 PPTSF http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-25844474114&partnerID=40&md5=273bb606b692d419456f6098c9fe4e39 http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/250 English
institution Chiang Mai University
building Chiang Mai University Library
country Thailand
collection CMU Intellectual Repository
language English
description The Green Revolution has benefited many people in Asia, but not everyone. This paper examines how many farmers have increased their productivity with more intensive cropping systems of fruit, vegetables, and in some cases, flowers. Total area under these crops more than tripled between 1977 and 2003. Case studies to highlight the transformation include vegetable production to feed Asia's booming cities, diversification of export crops in Thailand, vegetable production in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands, flower production in Yunnan Province of China and opium replacement in the Golden Triangle. Access to the market is necessary for transformation, but changes are also driven by farmers' own innovations combined with contributions from last century's crop science, from phytohormones to hybrid technology. Other inputs are irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides, with overuse of the last two a serious threat to the environment as well as to human health. Concerns have also been raised regarding soil erosion caused by cropping on steep slopes. In addition to building roads and airports, government support has also come in the form of cheap credit for orchard establishment and more efficient quarantine procedures to facilitate exports. Cross-border trade that brings opportunities to inaccessible border regions will be further enhanced by regional free trade policy, particularly when liberalization of trade in fruit and vegetables is specified such as that just signed by ASEAN and China. Finally, a case is made for the need to improve cropping systems in less favorable environment with limited access to the market and the means through which crop scientists can work with farmers to bring this about.
format Review
author Rerkasem B.
spellingShingle Rerkasem B.
Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia
author_facet Rerkasem B.
author_sort Rerkasem B.
title Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia
title_short Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia
title_full Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia
title_fullStr Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia
title_full_unstemmed Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia
title_sort transforming subsistence cropping in asia
publishDate 2014
url http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-25844474114&partnerID=40&md5=273bb606b692d419456f6098c9fe4e39
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/250
_version_ 1681419448128372736