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...

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Main Author: Benjavan Rerkasem
Format: Journal
Published: 2018
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http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/62000
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Institution: Chiang Mai University
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spelling th-cmuir.6653943832-620002018-09-11T09:20:46Z Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia Benjavan Rerkasem Agricultural and Biological Sciences 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. 2018-09-11T09:20:46Z 2018-09-11T09:20:46Z 2005-10-10 Journal 1343943X 2-s2.0-25844474114 10.1626/pps.8.275 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=25844474114&origin=inward http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/62000
institution Chiang Mai University
building Chiang Mai University Library
country Thailand
collection CMU Intellectual Repository
topic Agricultural and Biological Sciences
spellingShingle Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Benjavan Rerkasem
Transforming subsistence cropping in Asia
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 Journal
author Benjavan Rerkasem
author_facet Benjavan Rerkasem
author_sort Benjavan Rerkasem
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 2018
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=25844474114&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/62000
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