Participatory and Integrated Research in Mountainous Regions of Thailand and Vietnam:Approaches and Lessons Learned

Participatory and integrated research approaches employed by a long-term Thai- Vietnamese-German collaborative research program, ‘The Uplands Program’, that address the vicious circles of resource scarcity, environmental degrada- tion and rural poverty in mountainous regions of northern Thailand and northern Vietnam are discussed in this paper. We present two examples from the Thai component of the research program to show how different disciplines and stakeholders need to cooperate at different scales to make meaningful scientific contributions towards sustainable land use and rural development in mountainous regions. The case of resource conservation in the Thai highlands shows that local and scientific knowledge, conven- tional surveys and participatory modeling can be creatively combined. Integrated research on the potential of integrating fruit trees and associated technologies into mountain farming systems suggests that natural scientists have to work alongsideeconomists and social scientists to avoid harmful effects of purely technology-driven and productivity- enhancing approaches. The success of new technologies cannot be measured solely by adoption rates and yield increases, but also needs to take into account their long-term impact on various groups of farmers and the ecological, economic and social trade-offs that they entail. Technical and institutional innovations need to go hand in hand to provide viable livelihood opportunities for smallholder farmers in mountain watersheds. The major lesson learned from the first six years of our research in the mountains of Thailand and Vietnam is that conventional and participatory approaches are not antagonistic; if scientists from various disciplines and research paradigms are open-minded, the combination of both approaches can produce meaningful results that cater for the needs of both the academic community and local stakeholders in mountain environments.

Systems of Agriculture Farming in the Uttranchal Himalaya, India

Agricultural practices are the main stay of the people of Uttranchal. Out of the total population, more than 75% people are engaged either with the main occupation of agriculture or its allied practices, dominated by traditional subsistence cereal farming. Among them, the main crops are rice, wheat, millet, barley, all types of pulses, all types of oilseeds and almost all types of fruits. The crops, vegetables and fruits of all varieties are grown in the different climatic zones such as tropical, temperate, and cold because, the region is characterized by the different altitudinal zones elevated from 200 m to more than 8000m. As a result, different climates are found from hot tropical to sub temperate and chilly cold. Pulses varieties are grown extensively. Among vegetables, potato, onion, carrot, all types of green leaf vegetables, brinzal, pumpkin, ladyfinger, pea, gram, radish, ginger, garlic, etc, are grown widely. All fruit varieties are grown in the different altitudinal zones. The main fruits are orange, malta (a big size of orange), elephant citrus, lemon and all other types of citrus, apple, stone fruits including peach and pears, many kinds of nuts, and the fruits which are grown in the low lying areas. In spite of feasible climatic conditions, agricultural dominant society, and availability of all types of crops, the production and productivity of these crops are very low, even they are unable to meet the grain-need of the people in Uttaranchal. Agricultural crops are grown almost in all the altitudinal zones — from the low-lying areas, which are called ‘Gangarh’, to the highly elevated region, where the legendary term is given as ‘Danda’. The growing seasons vary according to the heights. The present paper aims to discuss the agricultural practices including cropping season, cropping pattern, land use, production of crops and ecological aspect of agricultural system in this Himalayan state and suggest some measures for developing farming system, which could lead the sustainability, in terms of meeting the food grain needs of the people on the one hand and restoring the ecological balance on the other.

Water Resource Management and Its Role in Development of Integrated Mountainous Agriculture——A Case from Ningnan County of Sichuan Province

This paper reviewed rainwater collection and water resource management in Ningnan County in southwestern mountain of China,as a case study for solving the problems of water management in a simple and sustainable way. In this mountainous agriculture system,private agricultural enterprises were introduced into local mountain agriculture to solve capital fund shortage for the construction of rainwater harvesting system. Agreement was signed by private agriculture enterprises with the target farmers to subscribe for the household agriculture production at a protection price. Cash invested by the enterprise and subsidy from the government were collected for purchasing materials,while the farmers supplied labors for the construction of water harvesting systems. The system solved the share of input and benefits between the local government,enterprise and household farms successfully. In addition,the micro water harvesting tanks and micro irrigate systems extend quickly in this mountainous county. Up to 2007,more than 12 000 rainwater harvesting tanks had been established and more than 8.5×104 hm2 dry arable land accounting for nearly 75% of the total arable land had been irrigated efficiently. Per capita income of farmer had been increased by 14 times in the past 20 years. Considerable potential for further improvement in implementation of the models for solving water shortage and water resource management in mountain region maybe depend on more local private agriculture enterprises and households than the government.

Sustainable Waterfront Development-A Case Study of Bahary in Alexandria, Egypt

Sustainable waterfront development is about creating a vision for an area and then deploying the skills and resources to realize it after involving a dialogue with the customer within an area. Also, it draws together many strands of place making such as environmental responsibility, social equity and economic viability, planning and transportation policy, architectural design into the creation of places of beauty and distinct identity. The development of waterfronts shapes communities around the water bodies and reflects the ability of cities to adapt to altered economic and social circumstances. The aim of this paper is to identify some approaches for applying sustainable waterfront development. By respecting the quality of life and defining sustainability in a broader context, a case will he made for enhancing the waterfront development, through the place making criteria, analyzing the Bahary waterfront in Alexandria, Egypt. The paper concludes some recommendations to develop Bahary waterfront based on the principles that are collected from the theoretical study in order to well design a waterfront responded to the wishes of the community.

Study on Development of the West of Shandong Province Based on Overall Regional Development Planning Pattern

The overall regional development planning pattern has been considered to be a new and effective pattern as for development of provincial economy.The article analyzed the current conditions of the west of Shandong Province and tried to find the generation mechanisms of current non-balanced economic development of Shandong Province.And then approaches to regional development were put forward according to the theory of regional development pattern as a whole.