TB27

1 Synthesis The Vegetable Sector in Indochina: A Synthesis Mubarik Ali Introduction The Indochina region consists of three independent countries: the Kingdom of Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Laos, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The region is located at 8.5-23.4º N and 100.0-109.5º E. Total population of the region in 2000 is around 93 million. The major source of livelihood is agriculture, and more than 70% of the population lives in rural areas. The level of economic development measured in per capita income varies from about US$250 in Cambodia and Laos to over US$700 in Ho Chi Minh City in Southern Vietnam. Vegetable production is a booming sector in the region. The production of vegetables increased at 4.9% per annum, from 2.6 million t in 1981 to 6.4 million t in 2000. The main increase in production came from area expansion, which increased at 4.3% per annum from 234,000 ha in 1981 to 517,000 ha in 2000. However, the yield also improved at 0.6% per annum from 10.2 t/ha to 12.3 t/ha in the respective period. The value of vegetables increased from 472 million in 1991 (7% of the cereal value) to over US$1 billion (11% of the cereal value) in 2000. The ratio of vegetable to cereal area improved from 2.8% to 4.3% during 1991-2000. Despite the increase in production, annual per capita availability from commercial vegetable production ranges from 20-24 kg in Cambodia and Laos to 74 kg in Vietnam. It is far below the minimum required level in Cambodia and Laos, while in Vietnam, it is still about one third of the consumption level in developed countries of the region, such as South Korea1. As vegetables are rich and cheap sources of micronutrients, deficiency in their supply creates widespread micronutrient deficiencies in the population. The region is mainly in the lowland tropics where vegetables are difficult to grow, although some favorable upland areas are also available. Poor marketing infrastructure makes it difficult to transport vegetables from remote areas. Therefore, low yields, high production and marketing costs, and seasonality in supplies remain serious issues in the vegetable sector, especially in the less developed parts of the region. Despite these constraints, expansion in the vegetable sector can be a tool as well as an indicator of poverty reduction, especially in the rural areas. Vegetable cultivation currently engages about 800,000 full-time workers at the farm level, and about the same number in the off-farm activities related to their marketing, processing, etc. This study brings the farm and house level perspectives 1 For the minimum requried level of vegetable availability (73 kg per capita per annum and the availability in South Korea (229 kg per capita per annum), See Ali, M (ed.). 2000. Dynamics of vegetable production, distribution, and consumption in Asia, AVRDC, Shanhua, Tainan, Taiwan. Ali 2 on how vegetables can be used to enhance resource-use efficiency in agriculture, generate more incomes to the rural communities, and improve nutritional well-being of the farmers. Realizing the potential role of vegetables in economic development, the National Agriculture Research Systems (NARS) from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam agreed in the mid-1990s to collaborate in boosting vegetable production and consumption in their countries. To formalize this collaboration, a vegetable research and development network, called CLVNET2 was established under the auspices of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Lack of comprehensive and consistent information on various aspects of vegetables was felt to be a major constraint for planning and prioritizing research and development activities in the sector so, in the planning meeting of CLVNET, it was decided to create an information sub-network with the objective of generating necessary data and analysis on vegetable production, marketing and consumption in the region. The specific objectives of the sub-network were to: • • • • • • • • • • • • • characterize vegetable farmers, identify major vegetables produced with their production schedule, quantify the extent of seasonality in vegetable production, estimate the yields of major vegetable crops by season, quantify input use, describe management practices, and estimate the economics of vegetable production, compare the risk in vegetable production with that in cereal production, describe the marketing outlets for vegetables from the farm, quantify the perception of the vegetable farmers regarding pests problems estimate the impact of vegetable production on resource-use efficiency, delineate the role of vegetables in consumption and nutrient availability, identify vegetables of high nutritive value, illustrate the role of vegetables in economic development and poverty alleviation, and offer policy recommendations, especially for research, and to improve vegetable production and consumption in the region. As most of the Indochina countries have been under central planning systems until recently, the production and consumption decisions were not based on supply and demand forces, and socioeconomic data necessary to make such decisions were not required. Therefore, the institutions to collect socioeconomic data on vegetable production, marketing, and consumption were not established, and trained manpower to conduct the socioeconomic survey was not available from the collaborating vegetable research institutes. Hence, there was a need to reinforce and train the manpower to conduct such surveys. To make the information sub-network effective and sustainable, it was decided to train two vegetable researchers from each of the collaborating institutes. 2 The letter in CLV are the initials of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and Net is the abbreviation of “Network” 3 Synthesis The reports for each site that follow after this synthesis discuss in detail the results of the survey conducted on the respective site. This chapter explains the procedure for data collection, elaborates reporting format, describes analysis tools, and compares the findings across the four survey sites. The conclusions and their implications for future research and development in the vegetable sector of the region are discussed in the last section. Data Collection Interviewers Training and Survey Procedure Two key researchers from each member country were trained in Bangkok to organize socioeconomic surveys in their respective countries3. In addition, these researchers were supposed to lead the information sub-network in their respective countries4. The training was comprised of sampling procedures for the survey, development of the survey questionnaire, and data entry format. These trained researchers organized their own survey team for each site, and trained the members of their team. The team included multi-disciplinary scientists which helped to resolve the scientific questions related to other disciplines which arose during the survey, such as specification of soil types, crop names, etc. The key persons on each site handled data entry immediately after completing the survey. The data were processed at AVRDC for analysis and report writing. One key person from each site was invited to AVRDC or the Asian Regional Center (ARC) to undergo training on analytical procedures used in each country report. The questionnaires separately designed for production and consumption aspects were discussed in Bangkok and later adjusted to the local conditions by the survey team in each country. The key persons thoroughly explained the questionnaire to each member of the survey team. It was then pre-tested before the start of the actual survey. During the survey, production-related questionnaires were administered to interview household heads while consumption-related questionnaires were used to interview the housewives. The production data cover the crops grown during the 1998-99 cropping year, although the exact months covered at each site vary (see site reports for the exact months covered). Planting and harvesting schedules of all crops grown during the 14-month period before the survey were recorded. However, input and output data were recorded for only two major vegetables and one cereal crop, which were completely harvested before the survey was conducted. The consumption data refer to the time the survey was conducted on each site. Sampling Because of the distinct differences in the socioeconomic, agronomic, and climatic situations, Northern and Southern Vietnam (In short, North and South Vietnam, respectively) were treated as 3 4 The Agricultural Economist of AVRDC conducted the training in October 1998. However, transfers of these trained staff to other departments in Cambodia and Laos created difficulties to conduct the survey in time. Therefore, a consultant was hired from Pakistan to lead the survey in Cambodia Ali 4 separate survey sites, while Laos and Cambodia each was considered as one site. Depending upon the available resources, three to five major vegetable growing provinces were selected from each survey site. The allocation of total sample to each province is described in each report. Major vegetable growing villages were purposively selected with the consultation of the extension staff in each province depending upon the availability and access to these villages. The given total sample was allocated proportionately to the farming population of each selected village. However, to cover a wider area and crops grown under diversified environments, no more than 15-25 farmers (depending upon the allocated sample for the village) were taken from one village. The allocated sample of farmers in a village was randomly selected. As farmers were randomly selected from the whole farming population in each village, nonvegetable farmers5 when they come through the randomization process were kept in the sample. Table 1. Frequency distribution of the sample farmers and parcels by survey site Farm group Total number of farmers Vegetable Non-vegetable Total number of parcels Vegetable Non-vegetable Cambodia 500 448 52 1349 665 684 Laos 231 211 20 627 418 209 South Vietnam 400 335 65 1591 1046 545 North Vietnam 453 412 41 1934 1126 808 Total 1584 1406 178 5501 3255 2246 However, as the sample was drawn from villages having high concentration of vegetable production, the proportion of non-vegetable growing farmers in the sample was small. Sample Composition Since infrastructure is remarkably poor in the region, considerable resources and efforts were spent to approach the farmers from far-flung areas. These surveys are perhaps the first attempt in the CLV countries to reach farmers in such remote areas for the purpose of understanding their problems related to vegetable production, marketing, and consumption. Production related data for a total of 5501 parcels were collected from 1584 farmers from four sites in three countries of the region. Although the number of non-vegetable farmers was small in the sample, a significant portion of the sample parcels was under non-vegetable crops, mainly cereals (Table 1). This provided us an opportunity to compare vegetable crops with cereals under the same management of vegetable farmers, as well as cereals under different management of vegetable and non-vegetable 5 Farmers who did not grow vegetables during the survey year were considered as non-vegetable farmers. In Cambodia, those who do not have any vegetable growing experience were treated as non-vegetable farmers. 6 A parcel is defined as a contiguous piece of land under one crop in a season 5 Synthesis farmers but in similar socioeconomic and physical environment. Moreover, consumption pattern and nutrient availability from food across the two groups were compared. Types of Data Production survey data, collected by parcel6, contain information on socioeconomic characteristics of farmers, soil texture of each parcel, planting method, power source, cropping schedule, source of irrigation, management practices, and input-output quantities. The cropping schedule on all parcels within fourteen-month period was studied, while input-output quantities were gathered only for the major vegetable and cereal parcels of the sample farms. Marketing data, collected from farmers as part of the production survey, included output disposal patterns and channels, distance involved, and marketing labor and cost. Consumption data included quantities and prices of foods for each meal during the last 24-hours just before the survey, the number of persons who participated in each meal (by gender separately for adult and children), source of food, and outputs from home garden (and garden size). Nutrient content data supplied by the Department of Chemical Analysis in the National Nutrition Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam were used to convert food consumption into nutrient intake. The average recommended levels of different nutrients were taken from the Food and Nutrition Board (1989)7. Secondary time-series data were also collected on different aspects. These include monthly rainfall in the survey districts, monthly vegetable prices, and annual vegetable production of the country and region surveyed, depending upon the availability of these data. Reporting Procedure Soil Types Soils were classified into three groups based on farmers’ perceptions rather than laboratory test of soils. These are light, medium, and heavy soils. Most farmers well-understood these soil categories in these broader terms. If farmers had some confusion in this regard, the following definition of soil categories was explained to them. “Immediately after heavy rain/irrigation when water has just drained out from the field, take some soil and make a ball in your hand. If the ball disintegrates at opening up of the fist, it is light soil. If it stays by opening the fist, but disintegrates with a slight touch, the soil is medium. If it does not disintegrate with slight touch, it is heavy soil.” The distribution of soil types was compared between vegetable and non-vegetable farms, and among different vegetable groups. The purpose was to test if such distribution is a factor in the adoption of vegetable cultivation on the two farms, or in the selection of a particular vegetable group. 7 Food and Nutrition Board (1989), “Recommended Dietary Allowances,” 10th ed. National Academy Press. Ali 6 Land Type Land was divided into three categories according to its drainage status. The categories were good, medium, and poor drainage. Well-drained fields are those where water drains out from the field immediately after a heavy rain, medium-drained are those where water drains out within 24 hrs, Table 2. Group specification of crops in production Group Cereals Tuber Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Crops Rice and corn Potato, sweet potato, winged yam, and cassava Garlic, onion, scallion, shallot, Chinese chives and bunching onion Carrot, radish, ginger, beet root, yam bean and kohlrabi Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Chinese cabbage Cucumber, bottle gourd, jointed gourd, loofah, bitter gourd, wax gourd, pumpkin, cassaba melon, water melon, musk melon and gourd Tomato, yardlong bean, chili pepper, sweet pepper, eggplant, okra, snap bean, field pea Pakchoi, coriander, pak sien, peppermint, water or dry land kangkong, binweed, spinach, sweet pakchoi, celery, sauropus, lettuce, mint leaves, foetid eryngo/sawtooth coriander *, heartleaf houttuynia*, malabar nightshade, white jute, amaranth, mustard, Chinese kale, basil, and petsai Mungbean and soybean Pulses * Foetid eryngo/ sawtooth coriander = Eryngium foetidum L.; heartleaf houttuynia = Houttuynia cordata Thunb. and poorly-drained fields are where water takes more than 24 hours to drain after rain stops. The purpose of comparing the darinage status between the two farm groups and across various crop groups was similar to that of comparing the soil types. In South Vietnam where some samples came from mountainous areas, land type was also categorized into: i) slope with terraces, ii) slope without terraces, iii) plain, and iv) riverside. Planting Period and Cropping Seasons The planting period of a crop was defined as the time between nursery planting to its last harvest. Based on the distribution of monthly rainfall data, three planting seasons were defined in each country. These are wet season, cool-dry (dry1), and hot-dry (dry2). The duration specification of each season varies at each survey site (see the respective site report for the exact specification). If a crop is planted in one season but harvested in another, planting season for the crop was assigned based upon its planting date. Per ha yield of each crop was estimated for one planting period separately for each season as well as for overall irrespective of the season. However, input and costs were estimated for the planting period irrespective of the season. Crop Grouping in Production Crops were grouped into cereals and eight groups of vegetables: tubers, allium, other stem and root, heading cole, cucurbits, other fruit, leafy, and pulses8. The crops included in each group can be seen in Table 2. For the discussion in country reports, all variables (such as input use, costs, returns, etc.) were aggregated for vegetable groups (and overall vegetables), and for cereals by 8 In Laos, only seven vegetable groups were reported in the country report because no tuber-growing farmer was included in the sample. 7 Synthesis farm type (and overall cereals). However, the estimates for individual crops are also reported in appendices. Home Garden and Commercial Production In this study, a home garden is defined as small scale (<1000 m2) diversified production (each crop specie is grown on even smaller scale) of high value crops (especially fruits, vegetables, and medicinal crops) near the house mainly (>75%) for home consumption or exchange with neighbors, but not for sale (<25%). The commercial vegetable production is defined as any scale of production for sale in the market (>95%). Although we observed a wide range of crops grown in home garden, detailed input-output and management practices data were gathered only for commercial cultivation. Inputs Fertilizer and manure Fertilizer quantities applied to different crops were converted into active ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium using the standard nutrient conversion rates specific for each fertilizer type available in each country. Total soil nutrients applied to different crops are reported while different kinds of fertilizer used in each country are also discussed. Organic fertilizer (manure) was not converted into nutrients but reported as raw quantities. Application of ash was included in the organic fertilizer, and CaCO3 was separately discussed. Pesticide Pesticide use was reported as number of sprays and quantities applied to the crops. Data on active ingredients of different types of pesticide used by farmers were not collected. Labor use by type Labor employed in crop production was divided into four major activities: These are: • Land preparation includes plowing, furrowing, and harrowing labor, • Crop management includes sowing, input applications such as fertilizer (including manure), pesticides, weedicides and irrigation, and certain operations before the crop matures such as weeding, staking, and mulching, • Harvesting includes harvesting and threshing, and • Marketing includes labor used for cutting, packing, grading, transporting, and selling. The share of these activities in total labor was estimated. Animals working with human labor were not additionally counted and treated equal to human labor working along with them. Tractor power used for various operations was converted into animal equivalent time using countryspecific conversion factor as average time taken by animals to perform the operation done by tractor. Commodity Grouping in Consumption The consumption data of individual food items were aggregated into seven groups. These are cereals, vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood, egg and milk, and others. Tubers were merged into Ali Table 3. Grouping of food commodities in consumption Cereals Vegetables Bread, cassava, Chinese vermicelli, corn, noodles, potato, rice, rice porridge, rice rolls, sweet potato, taro, winged yam Allium Bunching onion, Chinese chives, chive, garlic, onion, shallot, scallion Other root and stem Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit and flower Alpinia officinarum, bamboo shoot, carrot, ginger, kohlrabi, mushroom, radish, vegetative part of banana, yam bean Cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage Bitter gourd, bottle gourd, chayote, cucumber, ivy gourd, jointed gourd, pumpkin, sponge gourd, wax gourd 8 Fruits Meat Seafood Egg and milk Others Chili, eggplant, neem tree flowers, okra, pimento pepper, sesbania flowers, snap bean, sugar bean, tamarind, tomato, vegetable corn, water lily, yardlong bean, young fruit of palm tree Leafy Acacia, amaranth, basil, bean sprout, black shelf fungi, cassava leaves, celery, Chinese kale, citrus leaf or lemon leaf, coriander, cress, nard grass, dill, garden parsley, garland chrysanthemum, heartleaf houttuynia*, white jute, kangkong, leaves of sweet potato, lemon grass, lettuce, mint leaves, mustard, water mimosa, malabar nightshade, pakchoi, perilla, Piper lolot, Polygonum odoratum, rattan, sauropus, spinach, sramp leaf, swamp leaf, unidentified leafy vegetable Pulses Black bean, mungbean, soybean Apple, banana, coconut, corosol, custard apple, dragon fruit, dua gang, durian, grape, guava, hogplum, Jack fruit, jujube, kaffir lime, lemon, longan, mandarin, mango, mangosteen, mark euk (Fruit Local name), mark sou (Fruit local name), melon, milk apple, mulberry egg fruit, orange, palm tree, papaya, pear, persimmon, pineapple, plum, pomelo, rambutan, rose apple, santol, sapodilla, sour berry (rambi), star apple, star fruit, strawberry, tangerine Beef, chicken, dog, duck, field cricket, grass hopper, monito lizard (varan), pork African carp, amur, anabas, anchovy, blue fish (Scad), carp, cat fish, chub, codfish, crab, crucian carp, cuttle fish, dalag, dry fish, eel, elephants fish, frog, goby, grass carp, grill fish, Hemiculter leucisculus, kanthor fish, mackerel, milling fish, mud carp (Cirrrhina molitorella), mud fish, mussel, pad fish, prawn (stream), red-eyed carp, red snapper, shell, sheat fish, shout fish, shrimp, snail, snake head fish, tilapia, tuna fish, white bait fish, yellow needled anchovy Chicken egg, duck egg, milk, yogurt Black pepper, cake, Chinese olive, cocacola, coffee, fish souce, glutamate, oil, peanut, prawn fermented paste, refine salt, salted animal skin, sesame, soybean sauce, sugar, sugarcane, tuong, vinegar, wine * Heartleaf houttuynia = Houttuynia cordata Thunb. Note: As far as possible, we tried to convert the local names into English names. But in some cases, it was not possible. cereals as they are sources of carbohydrates. The vegetables group was divided into seven subgroups in contrast to eight in production (Table 3). Nutrient Consumption To estimate nutrient availability, all individual food items consumed during the 24-hrs before the survey were converted into nutrients using the nutrient content table for Vietnam. If nutrient conversion for certain commodity is not available in the Vietnam table, the nutrient content table of Taiwan was used. Nine nutrients considered important for health and for which nutrient content 9 Synthesis table provides information were estimated. These are calories, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, and niacin. Analytical Procedure Production Aspects Input quantities, costs, and returns were converted into per ha basis. The simple averages of per ha quantities for each crop group, separately for vegetable and non-vegetable growing farmers in case of cereals, and for aggregate vegetables, were reported. However, values for individual crops were reported in appendices. Frequencies of parcels received important inputs and operations (in percentage) were also estimated. Individual input costs Individual inputs were either purchased or family-owned. The family-owned inputs were valued at opportunity cost. If farm-specific market input prices were not available, average district-level prices were assumed to be the opportunity costs for these inputs. In case these prices were not available even at the district level, the average of the province or of the whole sample prices was taken as opportunity cost. The individual input cost included not only market price, but also its transportation and spreading cost. The irrigation cost included the cost of water, if any, in terms of water tax by the government or purchase cost from the neighboring farmers, irrigation labor cost, plus depreciation cost of irrigation equipment. In case the source of water was tube well, the irrigation cost additionally included the cost of maintenance, depreciation, and operation of the tube well. Total and cash costs Total production cost for each crop was estimated by adding individual cost items. Cash cost was estimated as the total cost less the value of family labor and family-produced manure and seeds. The interest rate on cash cost was also included in the total cost at the rate of 10% per crop season. In the country reports, the cost was reported in the respective currency of each country. However, in this synthesis chapter, all money values were converted into US dollars for convenience of comparison. Factor share The share of each cost item (factor share) in the total cost was estimated in percentage terms. The factor shares for labor, seed, fertilizer, manure, irrigation, pesticide, and others (staking and mulching) were reported. In estimating these shares, the cost of the labor used to apply an input was taken out from the input cost and aggregated into the labor cost. Gross revenue Gross revenue was estimated as outputs (main and by-products) produced in one planting period multiplied by market price of the output. Parallel to opportunity cost of family-owned inputs, Ali 10 family-consumed outputs were evaluated at their respective average market prices in a district, province, or whole sample (if farm-level prices were missing). Economic efficiency in production Various measures of economic efficiency were estimated. These are: • Net returns. Net returns were estimated as gross revenue less cost of all variable inputs. All inputs including family labor and other farm-owned resources, except land and management labor, were considered as variable inputs. Higher net returns, therefore, indicate efficiency of land and management combined. Input use efficiency or partial input productivity (PIP). This was estimated as: PIP ! ( GR ! VC ) / Q • • where GR is per ha gross revenue, VC is per ha variable input cost, and Q is per ha input quantities. In estimating the partial productivity of variable inputs, say labor or water, the cost of all other inputs was assumed as fixed, and only the cost of that input was considered as a variable. In this report, we estimated the economic efficiency of labor, fertilizer, and irrigation9. Benefit-cost ratio. This was estimated as net return (as defined above) divided by all variable costs and multiplied by one hundred. The costs of all inputs including family owned resources, except land, were treated as variable cost in this case. Cost per unit of output. This was estimated as total per ha cost divided by per ha yield. It provided the relative value of different vegetables in a country, and was used to compare output efficiency in rice production between vegetable and non-vegetable farmers. Return per crop day. Duration of land use in vegetables and cereals may be different. Therefore, return per ha per day can give a more accurate measure of economic efficiency of land use in alternative crops. Technical efficiency. In this synthesis chapter, technical efficiency of vegetable and nonvegetable farmers was compared in rice production by estimating a production function on the combined data for the three Indochina countries. The following production function was specified for this purpose. • • • Y ! f ( S , F , M , L, I , T , C ) where Y is rice output in kg, S is seed quantities in kg, F is fertilizer nutrient quantities in kg, M is farm manure in kg, L is labor days, I is irrigation status (irrigated field =1, and zero otherwise), T is farm type (vegetable farmer=1, non-vegetable farmer=0), C represent three country dummies (C1 having the value of 1 for Laos and zero otherwise, C2 having the value of 1 for Cambodia and zero otherwise, and C3 having the value of 1 for North Vietnam and 11 Synthesis zero otherwise). All quantitative inputs and output variables were transformed into per ha basis. To control the selectivity bias in the farm group, another equation was specified as follows: T = f (E, S , I ) where farm type was dependent on the level of education measured in schooling years (E), farm size in ha (S), and irrigation status (I) as defined above. The production function in (2) was specified in translog and the farm-type equation in (3) was in log linear form. Both equations in (2) and (3) were estimated simultaneously using the iterative two stage least square method. The significant value of coefficient of T in equation (2) will represent the extent of difference in technical efficiency between the two groups of farmers, at the given level of their input use. Seasonality Seasonality in vegetable prices was estimated from average monthly data on prices. Monthly data for several years were first converted into a monthly index using January as the base in every year data. This partially removed over-time trends in the data, if there were any, and equalized the numeric weight of all commodities. Monthly averages of monthly indices were taken over the years, and then seasonality was estimated as follows: S i ! [( I h ! I l ) / I l ] * 100 where Ih is the highest and Il is the lowest average monthly index value. Risk in production Risk in crop production was quantified by estimating the coefficient of variation (CV) in yield per ha. To avoid the effect of different vegetable species in a group, the standard deviation of each species was estimated with respect to its mean yield. The CVs for individual vegetable group in comparison with cereals were reported in the country reports. Here in the Synthesis, the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) was estimated for the net income separately for overall vegetables and cereals from the combined data of all the four sites. The objective of analyzing the CDF curve for cereals and vegetables was to compare the probability of losing income between these two crops. Consumption Aspects Per capita per meal consumption was estimated by dividing the household food consumed in 24hours with the number of family members participating in each meal. No adjustment was made for differences in age group and gender across families. Those who dined outside for any meal 9 Due to difficulty in measuring water quantities, total cost of irrigation instead of Q was used in equation (1). See section on individual input costs on how to estimate the cost of irrigation Ali 12 The country reports describe the per capita consumption by food and farmer groups. The overall consumption of the sample was estimated by giving weights specific to each country to vegetable and non-vegetable farms, and urban dwellers. Nutrient deficiency Nutrient deficiency of the ith nutrient (Ndi) was estimated as follows: Ndi = (1- (availability of ith nutrient /recommended level of ith nutrient))*100 The availability of nutrients was estimated from the consumption survey using the nutrient content table for each commodity. The recommended nutrient level was taken from Food and Nutrition Board (1989), Recommended Dietary Allowances, 10th edition, National Academy Press, Washington, DC. Nutritive value A food item may provide some important nutrients but may be lacking in some others. An important question is: what is the overall nutritive value of a food item in comparison with others? To answer this question, we first estimated the relative nutrient cost of each nutrient as total expenditures on all the commodities containing a particular nutrient divided by the nutrient quantities obtained from all these commodities. Then relative nutritive value of a commodity was estimated by multiplying the relative nutrient cost with the respective nutrient content of a commodity and summing up these values for all the nutrients present in the commodity. The relative nutritive value of a commodity was compared with its price to obtain its nutritive efficiency10. The nutritive efficiency can help to prioritize food items for agricultural research when the main objective is to mitigate micronutrient deficiencies. Statistical Tests Frequencies across crop and farmer groups were compared using the χ2-test. Farm characteristics of vegetable and non-vegetable farms with continuous variable were compared using the unpaired t-test. Parameters of input use, costs, and partial productivity of vegetables were compared with rice using the same t-test. These parameters for cereals were compared across the farm types, i.e. vegetable and non-vegetable farms. Results: Production Aspects The two following sections synthesize the results from four survey sites. The results are discussed in detail for each site in the respective report. 10 For more details on nutritive efficiency, see Ali, M. and C.S. Tsou. 2000. The integrated research approach of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) to enhance micronutrient availability, Food and Nutrition Journal, Vol. 21(4), p472-482. 13 Table 4. Difference in vegetable and non-vegetable farmers in selected characteristics Character Larger family size Bigger house size Higher percentage of farmers owning water pumps Higher percentage of irrigated land Higher percentage of light soils Higher percentage of land plowed by tractor Smaller farm size Better education of household head Higher off-farm income Higher percentage of good drained land 1Farm Synthesis Cambodia No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No Laos No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes South Vietnam North Vietnam No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No1 No1 Yes No size and education were not significantly different between the two groups in North Vietnam. Characterization of Vegetable Farmers It is normally perceived that only rich farmers can grow vegetables. However, empirical evidence from the Indochina countries refutes this perception. In terms of resource endowment, vegetable farmers are not rich to start from the onset. They have generally similar family size and house area when compared with average cereal farmers. The percentage of vegetable farmers owning farm assets like water pumps and the proportion of irrigated area do not differ from the farming community at large. The soil types of the land they own and methods of plowing are also similar to those of cereal farmers. On the contrary, there are indications that they are resource poor, as average farm size of vegetable farmers is generally small compared to non-vegetable farmers (Table 4). The only asset in which vegetable farmers are better off is education. They are also better connected or have a better understanding of markets, as they earn higher off-farm incomes. Vegetable farmers make appropriate investments to make their land suitable for vegetable cultivation. For example, their lands are better drained most of the time11. Soil and Land Types Vegetable parcels do not significantly differ from cereal fields in terms of types of soils. However, lands with better drainage usually are planted to vegetables. In South Vietnam, where most of the sample land has good drainage, lands with higher slopes are allocated to vegetables. Types of Vegetables Great numbers of vegetable crops are grown in the region. The highest numbers are in South Vietnam. Cabbage is the major crop in Laos and South and North Vietnam, and cucumber was found most widely grown in Cambodia. However, at the group level, heading cole and cucurbits 11 These characteristics of vegetable farmers are less sharply distinguished from non-vegetable farmers in North Vietnam where vegetable farmers are less specialzed farmers and non-vegetable farmers are not really cereal farmers as they also grow other high value crops than vegetables. Ali 14 are almost equally spread in Cambodia, heading cole and other fruit vegetables in South and North Vietnam, and other fruit vegetables and leafy in Laos are the most widely grown vegetables. Role of Vegetables in Farming System Vegetable farmers allocate 27%, 29%, 35%, and 60% of harvest area to vegetables in North Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam, respectively. The degree of specialization in vegetable cultivation is high in South Vietnam as vegetable farmers allocate major portion of their land to vegetables. On the other hand, vegetable farmers in North Vietnam are least specialized as they allocate the smallest proportion of available land to vegetables. However, vegetable cultivation in North Vietnam is more widely spread across farmers. There is hardly any farmer who does not grow vegetables in a year. In South Vietnam, specialization restricts vegetable cultivation in specialized areas and on specialized farms. The average parcel size of vegetables is invariably smaller than rice. Parcel size is smallest in North Vietnam (0.04 ha), followed by Cambodia (0.13 ha), Laos (0.21 ha) and South Vietnam (0.23 ha). Smallest farm size explains the smallest vegetable parcel size in North Vietnam. However, because of land abundant countries, it was expected that parcel size in Cambodia and Laos would be significantly larger than in South Vietnam. Perhaps, water shortage and limited capacity to bear risk in vegetable cultivation in these countries may have reduced the vegetable parcel size. The smaller parcel size increases the input and management intensities, but makes mechanical operation difficult. Among individual vegetable groups, leafy types generally have the smallest parcel size and pulses largest in all Indochina countries. Crop Schedule and Seasonality Vegetable planting and harvesting are almost equally distributed across the year in South Vietnam. However, cultivation in North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia is concentrated during the later quarter of the year, and harvest during the early quarter of the year. This creates seasonality in vegetable prices during the later half of the year in these countries, while such seasonality is relatively moderate in South Vietnam. Farm Management Practices Great variation in farm management practices was observed across the region. Source of seed, source of power for land preparation, planting method, source of irrigation water and irrigation method, and intensity of weeding, all vary from one site to another. Seed source Most vegetable seeds are either home-produced, uncertified and purchased from the local market, or obtained from neighboring farmers. Even in South Vietnam where seed business is relatively developed, less than half of the seed is purchased from agents. Land preparation The intensity of land preparation is highest in Cambodia and North Vietnam, whereas less tillage is applied in South Vietnam. It seems that land preparation intensity is inversely related with parcel size. It would be interesting to explore how South Vietnam farmers are obtaining highest yield in the region with less tillage. 15 Synthesis On the other hand, invariably almost every field in North and South Vietnam and Cambodia is furrowed, while this practice is rare in Laos. Similarly, vegetables are mostly grown on raised beds in North and South Vietnam, while only half of the vegetable fields have raised beds in Cambodia, but this is also rarely practiced in Laos. Furrows or raised beds are prepared mainly by hand in the Indochina region. In South Vietnam and Laos, about one-third of the fields are plowed and harrowed by tractor, while in Cambodia and North Vietnam mainly animals are used for this purpose. Planting method Vegetables are planted by using tubers, cuttings of plant parts, seeds, and seedlings. Four sowing methods were observed in the Indochina countries. These are transplanting, broadcasting (dry and wet seeded), dibbling, and drilling. Less than 50% of the fields are transplanted (Table 5) and a significant portion of vegetable parcels on every site in Indochina country is planted through broadcasting the seed directly in the field. Even when nursery is planted, its method of preparation is primitive. For example, it is prepared in an open field without any protection from insect and pest infections, although in South and North Vietnam the seedlings are normally prepared in the shade and by providing mulching. Coverage of inputs Modern inputs, such as fertilizer and fertilizer, are widely applied to vegetables fields in the region. Along with inorganic fertilizer, manure is also applied on limited scale. Manure application covers 80% of the fields in North Vietnam, while only one-fourth of the vegetable fields are treated with manure in Laos and Cambodia, and one-half in South Vietnam (Table 5). Table 5. Management practices used (% of total parcels) on vegetable cultivation Practice Transplanting Fertilizer application Pesticide treatment Manure application Irrigation Weeding Staking in cucurbits and fruit type Raised bed Mulching Cambodia 46 91 84 26 88 84 21 55 4 Laos 43 88 57 26 80 42 27 0 8 South Vietnam 44 100 92 53 97 70 70 99 4 North Vietnam 45 95 93 80 95 99 100 100 27 Method and source of irrigation Despite serious water shortages during the dry seasons, vegetables are mainly grown under irrigated conditions in the region (Table 5). Depending upon the country, 10-31% of the vegetables in Indochina countries are grown on a riverbank, thus rivers are a major source of irrigation. Unless the field is on a riverbank, access to irrigation water is the most serious constraint to vegetable production in Laos and Cambodia. In Cambodia and North Vietnam, the extremely small size of the vegetable fields makes it unfeasible to construct a water channel through them. Therefore, Ali 16 farmers here irrigate fields mainly by fetching water from storage tanks filled through rain or pumping water from lakes, open well, and channels. In Laos, if there is access to water, it is used imprudently by using flooding method of irrigation. Weeding In North Vietnam, almost all vegetable fields are weeded, followed by Cambodia and South Vietnam where 84% and 70% fields are weeded, respectively. In Laos, less than half of the vegetable parcels are weeded (Table 5). The number of weedings applied also varies in this order. For example, on the average, 2.5 weedings are given to vegetable fields in North Vietnam, and only one in Laos. Mostly weeds are pulled out manually except in South Vietnam where more than one forth of parcels was treated with herbicides. Improved management practices Staking is more common in cucurbits and other fruit vegetables. In North Vietnam, almost all cucurbits and other fruit vegetable fields are staked, while in South, 70% of the fields are staked, In Laos and Cambodia, only 27% and 21% of the fields are staked (Table 5). In both North and South Vietnam, almost all vegetable parcels are planted on raised beds whereas in Cambodia, 55% fields are planted by this method. Mulching, mainly with rice straw, is practiced on insignificant proportion (4-8%) of vegetable parcels in the region, except in North Vietnam where the majority of the allium and cucurbits fields are mulched (Table 5). Mode of harvesting In Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam, 24%, 12%, and 8% of vegetables produced are sold as standing crop to marketing agents, while no such arrangement exists in North Vietnam. Under this arrangement, marketing agents are responsible for harvesting. This arrangement represents difficulty of farmers in arranging labor and necessary cash for financing the harvesting operation. The standing-crop sale arrangement also helps farmers meeting the immediate cash needs along with transferring some marketing and production risks to marketing agents. If output is not sold to the marketing agent as a standing crop, harvesting is mainly done by the family labor. In Laos, consumers sometimes harvest the crop by themselves. The average number of times a vegetable field harvested is 5.9 in South Vietnam, 6.2 in Cambodia, and 3.6 in Laos. Input Use Intensity Wide variation exists across the Indochina countries in applying different inputs to vegetables (Table 5). This again provides an opportunity of sharing each other’s experiences of growing vegetables with different input use and management intensities. Fertilizer Fertilizer use in South Vietnam is exorbitant. It is also high in North Vietnam especially when it is combined with high amount of manure application (Table 6). In South Vietnam farmers also apply CaCO3. There is a need to investigate the causes of over use of fertilizer, and its effects on productivity and sustainability in South and North Vietnam, and the factors responsible for its low use in other two Indochina countries. Allium in Cambodia, and heading cole in South Vietnam and Laos, and other stem and root in North Vietnam receive the highest amount of fertilizer. 17 Synthesis Table 6. Per ha yield and input use on vegetable Input/yield Fertilizer (nutrient kg) Manure (t) Number of insecticide spray Number of herbicide spray Numbers of irrigation Labor (labor days) Land preparation (% of the total labor) Crop management (% of the total labor) Harvesting (% of the total labor) Marketing (% of the total labor) Yield (t/ha) Cambodia 148 1.7 6.2 50 437 11 73 13 3 10.5 Laos 91 1.3 1.5 21 223 31 37 23 9 10.6 South Vietnam North Vietnam 534 7.6 7.6 0.3 31 297 22 53 23 2 25.2 350 9.6 2.4 5 468 22 40 19 19 18.5 Pesticide Pesticide use is highest in South Vietnam and Cambodia while it is relatively low in Laos and North Vietnam. In Laos, low pesticide use may be due to the government drive against toxic pesticide during the particular year when the survey was being conducted. In North Vietnam, high labor pressure on lands has made manual control of insects more economical. Insecticides are applied in all Indochina countries to control insects. However, in South Vietnam some herbicides are also used to control weeds due to high wage rates. Irrigation A high number of irrigations (varying 31-50) are applied to vegetable fields on all sites, except in North Vietnam where on average only 5 irrigations are given. The highest number in Cambodia and lowest in North Vietnam seem inversely related to the severity of water shortage. Therefore, a higher number of irrigations does not mean more water is used. In fact, the purpose of frequent irrigation with a small amount of water is to reduce water losses. With low output price, it is not possible to construct sophisticated water-saving irrigation techniques. As wages are low also, except in South Vietnam, the only option to save water is to apply frequent irrigation manually. This, however, increases the labor requirement for irrigation. Actually, with the existing irrigation infrastructure, irrigation labor is the major constraint in expanding vegetable cultivation in Cambodia. Labor Labor use is highest in North Vietnam mainly because of the high intensity of operations such as weeding and manuring. High labor requirements for irrigation and manual land preparation also make total labor use in Cambodia high. Therefore, crop management practices absorb most of the labor in Cambodia. A significant proportion of labor in North Vietnam and Laos is allocated to marketing, as farmers have to market a major portion of vegetable output by themselves (84% in North Vietnam and 62% in Laos). Ali 18 Yield Average yield With such high input intensity, it is not surprising that per ha vegetable yield of South Vietnam at 25.2 t/ha is highest in the region. On the other hand, high crop management intensity in North Vietnam brings its yield next highest at 18.5 t/ha. Poor irrigation infrastructure combined with moderate input use and crop management intensity in Cambodia, and low input use and crop management intensity in Laos produced about 140% low yields in these countries compared to that in South Vietnam. Although, more fertilizer, farm manure, and pesticide are applied in Cambodia compared to those in Laos, poor irrigation infrastructure in Cambodia balanced out vegetable yield, therefore, Cambodia and Laos have comparable yields (Table 6). Seasonal yield In North Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, vegetable yields were observed to be significantly higher during the cool-dry season, compared to the yields in the hot-dry and wet seasons (Table 7). However, the magnitude of the difference is not so great. For example, in Cambodia while average cool-dry season yield is 11.1 t/ha, wet season yield is 9.6 t/ha. Similar percentage difference in yield was observed in Laos and North Vietnam. In South Vietnam, cool-dry season yields are actually lower than the hot-dry and wet season yields, and no significant difference was observed in the yields of hot-dry and wet seasons. Table 7. Seasonal yield of vegetables by survey site Dry1 season Crop group Cambodia Laos South Vietnam North Vietnam Observation (number) 420 244 177 569 Yield (t/ha) 11.1a 11.6a 22.1b 19.4 a Dry2 season Observation (number) 112 71 378 125 Yield (t/ha) 9.1b 9.8b 26.9a 16.0b Wet season Observation (number) 133 103 517 432 Yield (t/ha) 9.6b 8.9b 25.0a 18.0b The following may be the reasons of relatively small or no difference in vegetable yields across seasons: • Upland-lowland mix in the sample. The sample in our study covers both lowland and upland areas in each country. The vegetable yields of highlands, even grown during the hot summer season, were found to be reasonably high which increased the average hot season yield of the total sample and reduced the yield difference across seasons. This implies that there are regions in each country where vegetables can give reasonably high yields during the wet season. Appropriate technologies. Some farm-level technologies do exist which allow farmers to grow vegetables during the off-season. These include raised bed, staking, mulching, and appropriate selection of variety of a crop. • 19 • Synthesis Appropriate crop mix. Tropical crops are grown during the hot-wet season which produce high yields during the season. For example, leafy vegetables generally give high yields during the wet season are concentrated during this season. Similarly, heading cole produces the highest yield in the hot-dry season. Despite small yield differences across seasons, however, there is a strong seasonality in the availability and prices of vegetables. Depending upon the country, vegetable prices during the hot wet season are higher by 30-150% compared to the peak vegetable supply season prices. This is because highlands, favorable for vegetable production even when it is hot wet in the lowlands, are not well-connected with the urban centers because of poor infrastructure. In South Vietnam where these regions are relatively well-connected, seasonality in vegetable prices is relatively small. Cost of Vegetable Production With input intensity described earlier, it is not surprising that per ha cost of vegetables is highest in South Vietnam and lowest in Laos. Except in Laos, where fertilizer and pesticide use is low, more than one-third of the total cost is cash cost (Table 8). Even in a low total cost scenario, it is exorbitant compared to the financing power of resource-poor farmers. As financial institutions are not well-established in the Indochina countries, arranging such amounts of cash from within the family resources is impossible for most poor farmers. High cost seems to be the major constraint in expanding vegetable production on all sites. Labor is the most important cost item in vegetable production in all Indochina countries. Its share in the total cost varies from 41% in South Vietnam to 77% in Laos. The next important cost item is fertilizer, even at low fertilizer-using sites. This is because of high fertilizer cost due to transportation difficulties on these sites. Despite high pesticide use in South Vietnam and Cambodia, its share in total cost is less than 10% (Table 8). Table 8. Vegetable production cost and factor share Item Total cost (US$/ha) Factor share (%) Labor Seed Fertilizer Manure Irrigation Pesticide 61.0 7.5 12.6 2.2 4.2 9.1 76.9 5.3 6.7 5.0 4.3 1.6 41.2 12.3 15.7 12.9 6.0 9.9 2.1 61.1 11.9 16.2 1.9 3.9 5.0 Cambodia 1081 (35.9) Laos 669 (20.0) South Vietnam 1355 (46.1) North Vietnam 721 (41.6) Others 3.6 0.2 Note: Figures in parenthesis are cash cost as a percentage of the total cost. Ali 20 South Vietnam spends a higher proportion of total costs on seed, fertilizer, manure, irrigation, and pesticide while less a proportion on labor. It is expected that this will be the direction of cost changes in other Indochina counties when the vegetable sector will develop there. South Vietnam, however, will go to the next stage where labor cost and its share will gradually increase because of increasing wage rate, and the share of material inputs will decrease because of improvement in efficiency both in marketing and their use. Marketing of Vegetables Vegetable marketing institutions are relatively poorly established in all Indochina countries, as very little output passes through open auction wholesale market. These institutions are weak in North Vietnam and Laos where most of the output is self-marketed by farmers compared to only 7% self-marketing in Cambodia, and no involvement of farmers in output marketing in South Vietnam. In Laos, vegetable stalls are set near the house or in the vegetable field. In the absence of vegetable traders, this traditional marketing approach limits rural farmers’ access to a large number of consumers in big cities. Big city consumers produce their own vegetables in the urban or periurban system, or import from Thailand. In this traditional marketing system, it is difficult to regulate supply with demand. Therefore, rural farmers get very low prices, especially during the peak harvest season. In North Vietnam, farmers have to travel 20 km on average to bring vegetables from their fields to the market. Although self-marketing here provides a direct link between farmers and consumers and increases farmers’ share in consumers’ spending, it tremendously increases the labor requirements and has become one of the major constraints for the expansion of vegetables in Laos and North Vietnam. Measuring Economic Performance The efficiency of vegetable production in various Indochina countries was compared using various economics criteria (Table 9). Net returns Net returns from crop production on per ha per cropping period and per ha per day basis are used as a measure of land and management efficiency. The returns are highest in South Vietnam and lowest in Cambodia. However, the returns on per day of land use are similar on all sites, except in Laos where they are less than one half than on other sites. Unit-output cost Judging from the unit-output cost, vegetables are produced at lowest cost in South and North Vietnam. The cost per ton of output in South Vietnam is about 50% less compared to Cambodia, and 26% cheaper than in Laos. Benefit-cost ratio The benefit-cost ratio in vegetable production is lowest in Cambodia and highest in Laos Thed high benefit-cost ratio in Laos is because of relatively low capital investment. However, both 21 Synthesis Table 9. Measure of economic performance in vegetable production Item Net returns Per cropping period (US$/ha/period) Per day of land use (US$/ha/day) Unit output cost (US$/t) Benefit-cost ratio Partial productivity Labor (US$/day) Fertilizer (US$/kg nutrient) Irrigation (US$/US$) Cambodia 452 5 140 96 4 17 8 Laos 696 12 94 170 6 27 11 South Vietnam 1151 12 70 106 8 8 21 North Vietnam 908 11 79 126 3 6 24 total cost and benefit-cost ratio are low in Cambodia compared to South Vietnam reflecting low managerial skill of farmers in Cambodia. Partial productivity Labor. Labor productivity in vegetable cultivation is highest in South Vietnam and lowest in North Vietnam and Cambodia. High labor use in North Vietnam and Cambodia reduces its productivity. However, both labor use and its productivity are low in Laos compared to in South Vietnam partly because of low level of capital investment in vegetable production and partly due to low managerial skills of Laotian farmers. Fertilizer. Its productivity is highest in Laos followed by Cambodia. High fertilizer applied to vegetables in North and South Vietnam has reduced its marginal productivity. Although low fertilizer is used in Cambodia compared to its neighboring country Laos, high fertilizer cost mainly because of transport difficulties has reduced its efficiency even at fairly low level of its use. Irrigation. With the existing irrigation infrastructure, returns on irrigation investments from vegetable production are highest in North and South Vietnam followed by Laos and Cambodia. In Laos, even if additional water is made available, irrigation methods are primitive. This reduces the return on investment for irrigation. In Cambodia, even if additional water is made available, taking water to the field is a great problem. Risk in Vegetable Production Incorporating vegetables in the cropping system generates high income, but variation of incomes is also high. The CVs in vegetable yields reported in the country reports are much higher than in cereal yields. Here the probability of earning different income levels from rice and vegetables is compared by estimating the CDF curve (Figure 1). The probabilities of losing money in vegetable cultivation are higher compared to such in rice (i.e. CDF curve for vegetables lies above rice on the left of the zero-income level). Therefore, vegetable cultivation is not risk-neutral, and resource poor farmers may not be in a position to take the risk of losing money. Ali 120 100 Cumulative frequency (% 80 60 40 20 0 -950 -750 -550 -350 -150 50 250 450 650 850 1050 1250 1450 1650 1850 2050 2250 22 Figure 1. Cumulative Density Function (CDF) curve for rice and vegetable incomes Results: Consumption Aspects Role of Vegetables in Consumption Despite the fact that all three Indochina countries are in close proximity to each other, there is a great deal of variation in the consumption pattern of the people. Vegetable consumption is below the minimum required level of 200 g per day in Laos and Cambodia, while it is above this level in South and North Vietnam. In consumption, vegetables come second to cereals on all sites. Cambodian and Laotian spend respectively 12% and 15% of the food budget share on vegetables compared to about 9% and 10% in South and North Vietnam, respectively12. On each site, the relative shares of various vegetable groups are different (Table 10). Cambodian people prefer the fruit types the most, Laotians root and stem types, while leafy vegetables are most preferred in South and North Vietnam13. The share of leafy vegetables in total vegetable consumption in North Vietnam is almost 10% higher than in South Vietnam. Table 10. Types of vegetables consumed by site Food group Cambodia Laos South Vietnam North Vietnam All vegetables (g/capita/day) 173 186 239 291 Fruit type 58.8 26.8 32.1 21.2 Percentage share Root and stem 7.5 42.8 4.1 4.5 Leafy 33.7 30.4 63.8 74.3 23 Synthesis Bio-diversity Based on both total and average number of food items consumed, food diversity is lowest in Laos, and highest in South and North Vietnam. Vegetables are the major source of food diversity in all Indochina countries (Table 11). More than 80 different types of vegetables are found consumed in 24-hrs consumption surveys in these countries (Table 3). On average, about one-half of different numbers of food items consumed are vegetables. Table 11. Maximum number of food items consumed in the sample area by food group Food group Cambodia Laos South Vietnam North Vietnam 11 45 31 12 18 3 18 138 (1.44) (3.00) (0.39) (1.14) (0.52) (0.22) (3.48) (10.19) Cereals 11 (1.04) 4 (1.04) 14 (1.60) Vegetables 54 (3.25) 48 (5.13) 47 (3.59) Fruits 23 (0.46) 17 (1.30) 20 (0.51) Meat 12 (0.74) 6 (1.02) 9 (0.87) Seafood 20 (1.76) 11 (1.11) 28 (0.77) Egg and milk 2 (0.26) 2 (0.27) 4 (0.36) Others1 11 (3.42) 8 (1.07) 17 (4.14) Total 133 (10.94) 96 (10.95) 139 (11.85) 1 “Others” includes sugar, drinks, salt, oils, etc. Note. Figures in parenthesis are average number of food items consumed per household. Role of Home Garden as a Source of Food Home garden is an important source of biodiversity both in production and consumption in Laos, South and North Vietnam. On these sites, home garden provides 2-3% of the total food consumed, while the contribution of home garden is almost zero in Cambodia14. In South Vietnam about 11% of vegetable and 14% of fruit supplies come from home garden. Contrary to this, high proportion of fruits (i.e. 42%) come from home garden in North Vietnam while it provides only 3% of the vegetables consumed. In Laos, 11% vegetables and 5% fruits are supplied from home garden. The average size of home garden is 846 m2 in South Vietnam and only 138 m2 in North Vietnam15. Nutrient Availability Except calcium and vitamin B2, micronutrient deficiency and vegetable consumption are positively related (Table 12). For example, vegetable consumption in Cambodia and Laos is less than the minimum required level, and consequently the availability of vitamin A, vitamin B1, iron, and niacin (except in Laos) are deficient (positive figures in Table 12). It is slightly higher than the minimum required level in South Vietnam, therefore, supply of vitamin A is sufficient (negative figures in Table 12), although vitamin B1, niacin, and iron can be considered as deficient. The consumption is much higher than the minimum recommended level in North Vietnam, therefore, deficiency of only B1 is positive. The lower budget share despite higher vegetable consumption in South and North Vietnam is because of lower vegetables prices than in other two countries. 13 The main vegetables identified in production and consumption are different, mainly because production is for the whole year while consumption data is based on the 24-hrs consumption survey. 12 Ali 24 Even in the low consumption scenario, vegetables are major sources of vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin B2. They also provide a significant portion of iron, calcium, and vitamin B1. This implies that whatever small amounts of these micronutrients are available, the majority of them come from vegetables. Therefore, enhancing vegetable supply is the natural solution to tackle their deficiency and improve human capacity to work and learn. Economic Efficiency of Food in Supplying Nutrients Nutrient cost by source Our estimates of nutrient cost suggest that in Vietnam, vegetables are the cheapest source of all nutrients, except for carbohydrates and protein in South Vietnam and niacin in addition in North Vietnam. Surprisingly, vegetables are also efficient suppliers of calcium because of their low prices (Please refer to Table 33 in South Vietnam, 30 in North Vietnam, 27 in Laos, and 28 in Cambodia). Vegetables are the cheapest source for only calcium in Laos, and only vitamin B1 and C in Cambodia. This is because of relatively high prices of vegetables in these countries. As high vegetable prices increase the nutrient prices, micronutrient deficiency becomes rampant in the population. Nutritive efficiency The nutrient efficiency estimates based upon the eight most important nutrients in diet are always greater than one for vegetables in all Indochina countries, implying that the value of nutrition consumers obtain is higher than the price they pay for them. However, relative ranking of nutrient efficiency varies across countries. It is highest in South and North Vietnam and second after cereals in Cambodia and Laos. This implies that reallocation of food budget from food items having nutritive efficiency less than one to vegetables would improve the dollar value of nutrition of the whole diet without added cost. Such substitution becomes even more profitable if nutritive efficiency of vegetable is highest. Table 12. Nutrient deficiency by site Calories Cambodia Laos South Vietnam North Vietnam 9 6 9 -5 Protein -24 -25 -25 -38 Calcium 55 68 49 49 Iron 32 22 8 0 Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin 39 36 -5 -27 29 24 11 10 59 51 43 43 20 -5 11 -10 Vitamin C 11 -2 -35 -57 This study also identifies high nutritive food commodities for each country. For example, amaranth, sauropus, sweet potato leave, kangkong, and malabar nightshade in South Vietnam, amaranth, white jute, sauropus, and kangkong in North Vietnam, leafy (especially amaranth) and pod vegetables (like mungbean and soybean) in Cambodia, and cassava leaves and sweet basil in Laos have high nutritive efficiency. 14 Although many vegetable fields in Cambodia are adjacent to farmers’ house but most output(>75%) is for sale, therefore, no field qualified our definition of home garden there 15 Home garden size in Laos was not recorded. 25 Synthesis Effect of Vegetable Cultivation on Economic Development Employment Vegetable cultivation needs many times more labor compared to other field crops, such as cereals (Table 13). On average for all Indochina countries, it is estimated that each hectare of rice converted to vegetable in one season generates about one year-round job (or 220 additional labor days). Agriculture Business Activities and Multiplier Effect Vegetable cultivation requires more purchased inputs, such as fertilizer, pesticide, and irrigation water which obligates more cash (Table 13). This ultimately translates into higher demands for agricultural business activities. For instance more loans are required to finance vegetable production expenses, and more fertilizer and pesticide sales shops are needed. In addition, most vegetable output (except from home-garden) is commercially produced for market in contrast to cereal production in developing countries which is mainly intended for home consumption. Therefore, an expansion in vegetable production will create substantial demand for marketing activities. As vegetables have shorter shelf-life compared to cereal crops, they need sophisticated marketing infrastructure, such as better roads, storage, etc. Once such infrastructure is in place, the efficiency of the whole marketing system improves. The commercial nature of vegetable production creates higher multiplier effect of a given increase in production compared to the same increase in cereals. Through a hypothetical example16, the same worth of initial increase in income in both sectors was shown to create a multiplier effect of 3 in vegetables and less than 2 in cereals. This is because vegetables sell more outputs compared to other sectors, thereby generating higher incomes in the sectors where it passes through until it reaches in the hands of consumers. conomic Efficiency his sub-section shows how vegetable cultivation improves the overall farm efficiency. For this urpose, efficiency between rice and vegetable cultivation on vegetable farms, and efficiency in ice production between vegetable and non-vegetable farms are compared. artial input productivity: vegetables versus cereals he partial productivity of land, labor, irrigation (except in Laos and Cambodia), and fertilizer re higher in vegetable than in cereal cultivation (Table 14). Low irrigation use efficiency in ambodia is due to high application cost, and in Laos it is because of wastage of water through nappropriate irrigation methods. Higher partial productivity in vegetable production implies that hifting them from cereal to vegetables could generate additional incomes to farmers at their iven level of resources. nit cost of cereals: vegetable versus non-vegetable farms 16 This example assumes 90% of the vegetable and 30% of the cereal output sold in market. Similarly, 40% of the inputs in vegetables compared to 50% in cereals are assumed purchased. Ali 26 lthough cereal yield is generally not different, total cost of producing similar yields is lower on vegetable farms than on non-vegetable farms on all sites, except in North Vietnam. This leads to increase in net returns on all sites on the former group in the region. The unit cost of cereal production is also low on the former group except in North Vietnam and Cambodia (Table 15). Table 13. Labor and non-labor input use and cash cost in vegetables and cereals Input/Crop Labor (day/ha) Vegetables Cereals Fertilizer (kg/ha) Vegetables Cereals Manure (t/ha) Vegetables Cereals Pesticide (no. of spray) Vegetables Cereals Irrigation (no.) Vegetables Cereals Cash cost (US$/ha) Vegetables Cereals Cambodia 437 81 148 46 1.7 0.3 6.2 0.6 50 4 388 77 Laos 223 100 91 75 1.3 0.3 1.5 0.1 21 1 134 65 South Vietnam 297 111 534 197 7.6 1.8 7.9 4.1 31 7 625 249 North Vietnam 468 216 350 218 9.6 6.3 2.4 1.5 5 3 300 196 Table 14. Input use efficiency in vegetable versus cereal cultivation Crop/input Land (US$/ha) Vegetables Cereals Labor (US$/labor day) Vegetables Cereals Irrigation (% return on irrigation cost) Vegetables Cereals Fertilizer (US$/kg nutrient) Vegetables Cereals Benefit-cost ratio (%) Vegetables Cereals Cambodia 452 48 3.8 2.0 8 21 17.2 6.7 96 53 Laos 696 80 5.9 1.6 11 42 26.6 16.1 170 54 South Vietnam 1151 120 7.7 4.1 21 15 8.3 3.0 106 43 North Vietnam 908 64 2.7 1.2 24.4 8.2 5.8 2.4 127 19 27 Synthesis Table 15. Economics of cereal cultivation on vegetable versus non-vegetable farms Type of farm/parameter Yield (t/ha) Vegetable farm Non-vegetable farm Total cost (US$/ha) Vegetable farm Non-vegetable farm Net-return (US$/ha) Vegetable farm Non-vegetable farm Unit output cost (US$/t) Vegetable farm Non-vegetable farm Benefit-cost ratio (US$/100US$) Vegetable farm Non-vegetable farm Cambodia 2.2 2.3 184 (42) 209 (37) 52 24 96 96 55 40 Laos 2.5 2.6 247 (24) 302 (29) 84 64 107 119 54 54 South Vietnam 4.8 4.6 430 (56) 448 (60) 137 87 102 106 49 31 North Vietnam 4.9 4.9 409 (49) 392 (46) 61 80 90 83 18 22 Note: The figures in parenthesis are percentage share of cash costs in the total cost. Benefit-cost ratio in cereals: vegetable versus non-vegetable farms Lower cost with similar or higher gross return in cereal production on vegetable farms compared to on non-vegetable farms also increased the benefit-cost ratio in cereal production on vegetable farms compared to non-vegetable farms on all sites, except in North Vietnam (Table 15). Low effect of vegetable cultivation on the efficiency of cereal production in North Vietnam may be because farmers in this region are less specialized vegetable farmers and are not sharply different to non-vegetable farmers. Technical efficiency It can be argued that higher output efficiency of vegetable farmers may be due to the difference in farm size (vegetable farmers have smaller size (Table 4), and small farmers are usually more efficient), difference in education, or input use. Technical efficiency in rice production between vegetable and non-vegetable farmers was compared after controlling the effect of input levels and institutional factors through estimating a production function, as suggested in equation 4. The production function analysis run on the combined data for the three Indochina countries suggests that cereal production is 20% higher on vegetable compared to non-vegetable farms after controlling the effect of input use in production, and the difference in education, farm size and irrigation status of the two groups. Thus once vegetable cultivation is started, the efficiency in other crops also improves. This happens through improved managerial skills of vegetable farmers as they learn production processes and understand agriculture markets better. Vegetable farmers must experience these, as profitability in vegetables is highly sensitive to climatic, biological, and economic environments. Once farmers learn these capabilities, they apply them to other crops. Ali 28 Income Shifting from cereal to vegetable cultivation improves resource-use efficiency. It also improves output efficiency of other crops. All these result in higher overall farm incomes (Table 16). Despite smaller size, vegetable farms earn more income from crop production compared to non-vegetable farmers. When this is added with the off-farm incomes, the earning difference becomes even larger. Summary and Policy Implications The socioeconomic surveys of the farm sector in Indochina countries provide useful insight on various aspects of vegetable production, marketing, and consumption in the region. This is first ever attempt of this scale in the region to contact about 1600 farmers and their housewives in remote areas, and to collect production related data for more than 5500 parcels. This report provides necessary information to identify constraints on vegetable cultivation in Indochina countries. Vegetable farmers in comparison with non-vegetable farmers were characterized. Major vegetables produced and consumed in the region have been identified. Farmers’ perceptions about insect and disease problems have been analyzed. The economics of vegetable cultivation estimated in this study can be used to determine the comparative advantage of producing various vegetables on different sites and countries. Resource-use efficiency in vegetable cultivation was compared with cereal production. The site-specific estimates of resourceuse efficiency can be used to identify the room for improvements in input management. Moreover, roles of vegetables in consumption patter, nutrient supply, and nutrient efficiency of the diet were explained. The synthesis of the results across the four study sites reveals tremendous variation in vegetable production practices in the region. A profitable networking approach can be built upon this variation to benefit vegetable farmers in each country by sharing the experiences of growing and marketing vegetables with one another. As major vegetables grown at each site vary, researchers at one site can focus on the major commodities produced at their own site, and learn from the research on major commodities at other sites. The characterization of farmers in the region suggests that vegetable farmers are resource poor to start with. However, they have slightly higher education, and they invest resources to improve drainage of their lands - an important requirement for vegetable cultivation. They are better connected with the market, therefore, earn more off-farm incomes which enable them to take risk inevitable in vegetable cultivation. It is concluded from the synthesis of individual reports that great potential exists to improve vegetable seed industry in the region. Farmers’ access to certified seed needs to be improved, as a large proportion of seed used in these countries is uncertified. Moreover, developing efficient seed and seedling industry can help in boosting vegetable production in the region. For this purpose, the private seed service industry should be encouraged to supply scientifically prepared nurseries in South and North Vietnam. On the other hand, in Cambodia and Laos, farmers should be trained to prepare vegetable seedlings under minimum structure, as political and economic environments are not ripe to promote the private service industry for this purpose in these countries. 29 Synthesis Table 16. Farm income (US$/family/year) on vegetable versus non-vegetable farms Type of farm/income source Vegetable farm Income from cereals Income from vegetables Income from other crops Off-farm income Non-vegetable farm Income from cereals Income from other crops Off-farm income Cambodia 191 40 87 9 55 88 66 2 20 Laos 311 32 274 5 75 27 48 South Vietnam 1467 59 1093 5 310 488 176 59 253 North Vietnam 590 11 131 3 445 419 17 109 293 In Cambodia and North Vietnam, improvement in the irrigation system at the farm and community levels can save a lot of labor tied up in manual irrigation, and can give a boost to vegetable production. To build such infrastructure, where vegetable plots are so small, requires lot of cooperative spirits among farmers. This involves social management of water and irrigation system, and can be built upon the existing commune structure as it is still loosely and informally exists in the rural communities. In Laos, on the other hand, training of farmers to properly prepare fields for vegetable cultivation to be used for appropriate irrigation method is most urgently needed. Marketing as an institution needs to be established on modern lines in all Indochina countries, especially in North Vietnam and Laos. As a first step, cooperative marketing through communes should be encouraged. This can relieve a lot of family labor tied up in self-marketing, and can give vegetable farmers access to a large number of consumers in other regions. In cities, proper wholesale marketing system should be established. The transport infrastructure should be strengthened, especially in Cambodia and Laos. The comparison of unit output cost and inputs and capital intensities across countries reveals that high inputs (like fertilizer and pesticide) do not reduce the unit output cost, unless they are properly used and supplemented by proper irrigation, marketing, and transport infrastructure. Appropriate training of farmers on how to grow vegetables and proper marketing infrastructure is required for this purpose and to give boost to vegetable supplies in the region. Demonstration plots and mass media can be used to educate farmers for efficient use of these expensive inputs. Vegetable production is input-intensive requiring a lot of cash resources. This limits vegetable cultivation to only those farmers who can commit these resources, and those that can take risks. Development of cost-reducing technologies, instead of searching for high-cost, sophisticated ones, should be an important objective of vegetable research and development programs in Indochina countries. Moreover, formal financial institutions need to be strengthened to overcome this constraint. Despite the application of large quantities of pesticides on vegetables, insect are still not very well-controlled and cause lot of damages to the crops. Notwithstanding that vegetable farmers and their families are relatively better-educated, they have poor knowledge about vegetable pests and diseases. They were able to identify only large insects, but poor in identifying the small Ali 30 insects and diseases. Therefore, integrated pest management (IPM) training of farmers and extension staff on diagnosing insects and diseases and their appropriate control measures can help in reducing production cost as well as in producing healthy vegetables for the consumers. Relatively small differences in the wet and dry season yields of vegetables, in some cases even statistically insignificant, suggests that there exist: • regions which can produce high yields during the hot wet season; • tropical crops, such as leafy, which give high yields during the hot and wet seasons; and • farm-level technologies to mitigate humidity and heat stresses, such as use of protected cultivation in Da Lat, South Vietnam. These factors to mitigate seasonality are more evident in South Vietnam where relatively small seasonality in vegetable prices is noticed. We need to learn more about farmers’ strategies of supplying vegetables during the hot wet season before suggesting high cost technologies obsessed by some researchers. Moreover, connecting suitable vegetable producing regions of highland with less suitable regions of lowlands through infrastructure development can be another solution to mitigate seasonality in vegetable supplies. However, cost of pollution of transporting infrastructure must be included in evaluating the economic viability of such strategy. Promoting vegetables cultivation on small farms can be an important tool to alleviate poverty and nutrient deficiency. Shifting resources from cereals to vegetables itself improves farm resource efficiency and generates additional jobs. Vegetable cultivation also improves managerial skills of farmers which when applied to non-vegetable crops like cereals further improves resource-use efficiency and productivity. The resultant higher total farm income, both from cereals and vegetables, leads to the consumption of better quality food thus improving the nutritional status of farm families. This is reflected by higher resource-use efficiency in cereal production on vegetable farms compared to the efficiency in cereal production on non-vegetable farms. When all these are added with higher off-farm incomes, overall farm and non-farm earnings of vegetable farmers exceed many times of the earnings of non-vegetable farms. Thus vegetable production means healthy, wealthy, and busy farmers, with diversified production and income sources. Vegetables occupy an important place in the consumption pattern of the region. These are the major and one of the cheapest sources of important micronutrients. The nutrient efficiency of vegetables in supplying all nutrients, estimated in this study for all sites, was found to be quite high. Considering the wide spread micronutrient deficiencies, especially in the less developed part, promoting the vegetable sector can improve health of the population in the region. For this purpose, site-specific vegetables with highest nutrient efficiency were identified in this study. Encouraging the production and consumption of these vegetables should be an important component of health improvement programs in the region. A healthy population is a critical element of the overall development of Indochina countries. The AVRDC, along with its national partners, can play a role in the development of vegetable sector and alleviate poverty in the region in following manners. • playing a catalyst role in developing and running the vegetable research and development network in the region, 31 • • • • • • • • Synthesis helping to identify and prioritize the regional issues in the vegetable sector, diagnosing farmers’ strategies to avoid seasonal stresses and helping the national programs in fine tuning the low-cost stress tolerant technologies for the small farmers to help reducing seasonality, understanding farmers strategies to produce vegetables at low unit output cost, and helping national programs in fine tuning small scale technologies for mass adoption, helping national programs in understanding vegetable market functioning for the purpose of developing marketing institution on modern lines, training farmers and extension staff on pest control strategies with reduced pesticide use to produce healthy vegetables, training farmers, extension staff, and private industry personnel for seed and seedling production, training farmers on appropriate irrigation methods according to the availability of water and knowledge of the farmers, and in collaboration with the agriculture and health ministries, identifying the site-specific crops and cropping system to tackle micronutrient deficiencies. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 32 Kingdom of Cambodia Abedullah, Srun Sokhom, and Umar Farooq Introduction The Kingdom of Cambodia (called Cambodia in short) is situated in the tropics between 10-15ºN and 102-108ºE. The country occupies a land area of 181,035 km2 with only 11 million people indicating a low population density of 61 persons per km2 compared to other neighboring countries like Vietnam and Thailand. Civil war during the 1970s and 1980s not only kept population density low, but also reduced production in all sectors of the economy, including agriculture in general and vegetables in particular. Almost all research infrastructures, including precious germplasm on vegetables, were destroyed during the war and the majority of the researchers and technicians were systematically killed in the Khmer Rouge regime during 1975-79. The vegetable area in Cambodia was estimated at 37,747 ha during 1998 with an annual production of 217,258 t (MAFF 1999)1. It contributes about 1.5% and 2% of all crop and rice area, respectively. Per capita availability of vegetables from commercial vegetable production is only 20 kg per annum, considerably lower than the recommended level of 73 kg per annum. Farmers grow all kinds of vegetables (pod, leafy, fruit and root) in Cambodia mainly along rivers, creeks, lakes, and open well because of easy excess to water at these places during the dry season. Vegetable production is limited by impoverished irrigation infrastructure during the dry season and excessive rains during the wet season. The Royal Cambodian Government has a stated policy of agricultural development which emphasizes food security for all citizens of the nation and sustained growth in agricultural production, processing and marketing. Food security mainly implies stability and self-sufficiency in cereal production (Shams et al. 1994)2. However, vegetables rich in vitamins and minerals are neglected from the policy agenda. The laxity of policy-makers towards vegetables caused a shortage in vegetable supply and imbalance in the diet as reflected in the widespread deficiency of vitamin A, iron, and iodine (ADOR 1994)3. Neglect of the vegetable sector can be seen through various other parameters as well. For example, research staff working on vegetables in the country is less than the critical mass. Basic information on vegetables, such as individual vegetable area, production, and prices, are lacking. The purpose of this study is to fill some of the information gaps related to vegetable production. The specific objectives of the analysis are listed on page 2 of this report. It is hoped that the information generated in this study will be helpful in designing 1 MAFF(Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries). 1999. Agricultural Statistics. 1998. Department of Planning and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 2 Shams, N., K. Yon, and H.E. Tong. 1994. Farming systems-province Pursat, Cambodia. Canada Development Program and Provincial Division of Agronomy, Pursat, Cambodia. 3 ADOR (Agriculture Development Options Review). 1994. Cambodia-Agricultural development options review (Phase 1). Nutrition and Food Security Consideration. Working paper. Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations and Investment Center, FAO, UNDP. 33 Kingdom of Cambodia efficient policies so that scarce resources engaged to enhance vegetable production can be efficiently utilized. Data Collection Five major vegetable growing provinces were selected across the country to study various aspects related to production and consumption of vegetable and non-vegetable farmers. These provinces include Kandal, Battambang, Siem Reap, Kompong Cham, and Kampot. Major vegetable production comes from these provinces (Figure 1). The sample provinces are scattered all across the country and cover different socioeconomic and ecological environment (Figure 2). One hundred vegetable farmers were interviewed from each province. The survey was conducted during February-March of 2000. The production data covered the crops grown during November 1998 to December 1999. Eight to sixteen major vegetable growing villages were purposively selected in consultation with the extension staff in each province depending upon the availability and access to these villages. In this way, the survey team visited a total of 56 villages. The sample of one hundred farmers for each province was allocated proportionate to the farming population of each village. However, to cover a wider area and crops grown under diversified environments, not more than 25 farmers were taken from one village. The given sample of farmers in a village was randomly selected. As farmers were randomly selected from the whole farming population in each village, non-vegetable farmers were included in the sample (Table 1). 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 K. Cham Kampot Siem Reap Kandal Battambang Takeo Kg. Chhnang Phnom Penh Kg. Thom Prey Veng Kg. Speu B. Meanchey Pursat Stung Treng Kep Sihanouk Ville Koh Kong Figure1. Vegetable production in Cambodia by province, 1998. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 34 THAILAND LAOS Preah Vihear Banteay Meanchey Siem Reap Stung Treng Battambang Pursat Ratanak Kiri Kompong Th Kratie Mondul Kiri Chhnan Koh Kong Kompong Kompong Kompong Cham Prey Phnom Speu Penh Ven Kandal Takeo Svay Rieng VIETNAM GULF OF THAILAND Kompong Som Kampot Survey province Figure 2. Map of Cambodia by province and study area Table 1. Frequency distribution of the sample farmers and parcels by farm type and province Farm group Total number of farmers Vegetable Non-vegetable Total number of parcels Vegetable Non-vegetable Kandal 100 90 10 265 141 124 Battambang Siem Reap 100 92 8 257 146 111 100 93 7 275 133 142 Kompong Cham 100 79 21 273 109 164 Kampot 100 94 6 279 136 143 Total 500 448 52 1349 665 684 35 Kingdom of Cambodia Production data were collected by parcel for all the crops grown during the survey years. Production related data for a total of 1349 parcels were collected. Therefore, although the number of nonvegetable farmers was small in the sample, a significant portion of the sample parcels was under non-vegetable crops, mainly cereals (Table 1). Climatic Situation Cambodia is in the humid tropics and comes under the influence of the annual alternating high and low pressure systems. The climate is characterized by a cool-dry season from November to January (dry1) and a hot-dry season from February to April (dry2), which leads to a wet season from May to October. Temperature varies between 22-37°C and day-length between 11-13 hours. The annual mean temperature is 27°C and the mean annual precipitation is 1.37 meters, with considerable variation from year to year (UNDP 1989)4. The rainfall pattern in the sample provinces follows the pattern in the country with different intensities (Figure 3)5. During the rainy season, the provinces have sufficient rainfall to grow any crop. In some cases, however, flood can cause problems, especially in cultivating upland crops. The little rain during the dry season may not be enough to grow even highland crops such as vegetables unless supplemental water is available. 450 400 350 Rainfall (mm) 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov . Dec. Kandal Battambang Siem Reap K. Cham Kampot Source: Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Figure 3: Average monthly rainfall in the survey districts (average of 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1998) 4 UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 1989. Report of the Kampuchea needs assessment study. UNDP, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 5 Higher rain during the dry season in some province, for example in Battambang in January, looks out of the trend, and may not represent the normal rainfall situation in these months as our data is only for four years. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 36 Trends in Vegetable Production Vegetable production was badly affected by the aftermath of the civil war of the Khmer Rouge regime during 1975-79. Area under vegetables continuously declined from 47,000 ha in 1981 to an all-time low at 21,000 ha in 1987. Since 1987, it has steadily recovered to the pre-war level at 46,000 ha in 1996. However, despite the improvement in area during the 1990s, vegetable yield did not recover from the civil war shocks. It fluctuated at a low level (Figure 4). Therefore, despite the increase in area, vegetable production never recovered to the pre-war level. There is a need to investigate the constraints to high vegetable yield in Cambodia. 50 45 Planted (000 ha) 40 35 30 25 20 15 12.5 Planted area 11.5 10.5 8.5 7.5 6.5 5.5 4.5 3.5 Yield per ha (t) 9.5 Yield 68 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 Year Source: Official files of MAFF. Figure 4. Trend in vegetable area and yield during 1968-98 Household Characteristics On average, vegetable farmers have similar family size compared to their counterpart nonvegetable farmers and they have similar family labor force available on the farm. They live in similar houses and have similar other household belongings. There are indications, however, that vegetable farmers are poor farmers as they have smaller farm size compared to the nonvegetable farmers and less proportion of the area they own is irrigated. Despite poor resource ownership to start with, vegetable farmers have better managerial skill as indicated by the higher education of the household head. They can better afford to send their children to school as reflected by higher education level of their children. Vegetable farmers can better take the risk of investing in vegetables as they receive more off-farm income. They spend less on luxurious goods such as televisions, while more on equipment such as pesticide sprayers, harrows, and hoes. They make more investment in improving drainage of their lands as 37 Kingdom of Cambodia suggested by the higher percentage of well-drained lands on these farms. They keep few animals on their farm (Table 2). Table 2. Household characteristics and belongings of farmers by farm type Character Family size (number) Adults Children Family labor available on farm (Adult years) Farm size (ha) Education Head (year) Adults (year/family member) Children (year/family member) Off-farm income (000CR/year)1 Good drained land (%) Irrigated land (%) Light soils (%) Ownership of farm equipment (number) Water pump Pesticide sprayer Harrow and hoe Plough House area (m2) Covered area Total area Household belongings (number) Stove Television Motorcycle Bicycle Radio Animal (SAU) 2 Vegetable farmers 6.0 4.3 1.7 3.0 0.8* 4.7 4.5 1.0* 193* 12 17* 6 0.4 0.6* 1.5* 0.7 39 68 0.0 0.4* 0.3 0.8 0.6 4.2 Non-vegetable farmers 6.0 4.4 1.6 3.0 1.3* 4.3 4.7 0.6* 69* 9 25* 17 0.4 0.4* 1.3* 0.8 36 70 0.0 0.6* 0.4 0.9 0.7 4.9 * implies that the values across the two groups are significantly different at the 10% level. 1One US$ = 3700 Cambodian Ryal (CR) during the survey year. 2The standard animal unit (SAU) was estimated as SAU=0.93*buffalo+1.08*cow+0.5*pig+0.19*goat +0.4*young stock. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 38 Soil and Land Type In the sample areas in Cambodia, medium soils dominate. There is not much distinction between the types of soils allocated to vegetables and cereals (Table 3). However, there is some difference in the type of land allocated to vegetables with respect to drainage situation. Overall, vegetables and upland cereals such as corn are grown more on good and medium-drained lands, while medium soils and poorly-drained lands are allocated to rice. This distinction sharpens when we look at the data by vegetable group. Individual vegetable groups are predominantly grown on good drainage lands, except tubers, cucurbits and pulses where medium-drained land dominates (Table 3). Table 3. Types of soils and drainage situation by crop group Crop group Cereals Rice Corn Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 1 Percent distribution of soil Heavy 20 19 25 18 20 13 17 21 22 10 23 31 Medium 65 63 71 76 80 68 74 74 74 84 73 69 Light 15 18 4 6 0 19 9 5 4 6 4 0 Percent distribution of land type by drainage1 Good 27 24 38 49* 40 87 77 43 32 58 53 23 Medium 32 28 44 32 60 13 9 37 41 27 32 54 Poor 41 48 18 19* 0 0 14 20 27 15 15 23 Number of parcels2 636 464 172 665 10 21 50 151 134 149 131 19 Good drained lands are those where water drains out from the field immediately after rain stops, medium drained lands are those where water drains out within 24 hrs, and poor drained lands are those where water takes more than 24 hrs to drain from the field after rain stops. 2 Total parcels in this column are less than reported in Table 1, parcel for other crops are not reported here. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Major Vegetables Thirty-eight vegetables were grown commercially in the survey provinces during 2000 (Appendix 1). The major vegetables grown are cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, and eggplant (Figure 5). 39 Kingdom of Cambodia 14 Cucumber 12 Percentage of parcels 10 8 6 4 2 0 Vegetables Cabbage Cauliflower Eggplant Yardlong bean Tomato Chinese cabbage Mustard Figure 5. Major vegetables in the survey Role of Vegetables in Farming System Farmers grow vegetables on a small piece of their land. The survey results suggest that vegetables constitute about 22% of the total planted area in the sample, and the remainder goes to cereals, mainly rice (Table 4).6 However, vegetable farmers allocate about 29% of the planted area to vegetables. Other crops, such as sugarcane and tobacco, occupy less than 1% of the total planted area on the sample farms (not reported in the table). In the dry-season, vegetable area does not compete with other crops because prime share of the land is left fallow. Vegetables are grown on smaller parcels compared to those in cereals. On average, the parcel size in vegetables is 0.13 ha compared to 0.85 ha in rice and 0.19 ha in corn. The smallest parcels are in leafy vegetables, and the largest are in pulses. Crop Schedule and Seasonality Unlike cereals which are mainly grown in the wet season, only 22% of vegetable area is planted in the wet season (Table 4). Our survey results suggest that farmers in Cambodia grow vegetables mainly during dry1 season, perhaps to avoid damage caused by rains and high temperature. Area planted to vegetables during the wet season is slightly higher than in dry2 season. Planting of vegetables during the dry season, however, depends on the availability of supplementary irrigation, as rains are scant during this period. 6 However, these results are biased towards vegetables, as the majority of the sample farmers in the survey area are vegetable growers. So this represents a situation mainly on vegetable farms. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 40 Table 4. Distribution of harvested area (by season) and parcels size by crop group Crop groups Cereals Rice Corn Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Total % share in the planted area Dry1 Dry2 Wet 10 8 25 63 96 39 45 77 66 80 40 60 22 6 4 28 15 24 3 7 18 13 24 21 8 84 88 47 22 4 37 52 16 16 7 36 19 70 Planted area (ha) surveyed (% of total the area) 450 412 38 126 2 4 11 27 26 22 22 12 576 (78.1) (71.6) (6.5) (21.8) (0.3) (0.7) (1.9) (4.7) (4.5) (3.8) (3.8) (2.1) (100) Parcel size (m2) 0.65 0.85 0.19 0.13 0.16 0.10 0.19 0.13 0.15 0.11 0.09 0.46 0.35 Farmers harvest most of the vegetables before the onset of the rainy season in July so very low vegetable supplies are available during August-December (Figure 6). The planting and harvesting schedule for individual vegetables can be seen in Appendix 2. These results contradict the secondary data reported in MAFF (2000)7 which suggest that major vegetable area falls in the wet season. However, our results are consistent with the seasonal variation in vegetable prices (Figure 7). Vegetable prices are lowest when major vegetable harvest comes in the market during January-March, and starts increasing in April until May. From June to November, prices remain at a high level. The prices during the off vegetable supply season are about 78% higher than during the peak supply season prices. Farm Management Practices Seed Source The majority of farmers purchase vegetable seed from the markets. This is also true for the individual vegetable groups, except for tubers, and fruit-type including cucurbits where mainly home-produced seed is used (Table 5). However, farmers are not satisfied with the quality of the seed supplied by the local market. The seed available in the village market is mainly purchased or collected from farmers’ fields. There is rarely any proper packaging, and information on variety 7 MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries). 2000. Agricultural Statistics.1999. Department of Planning and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Phom Penh, Cambodia. 41 Kingdom of Cambodia description, purity, germination rate, or expiry date on the package. On the basis of our personal judgment, farmers acquire seed from the local market, despite its low quality, because of the difficulty in accessing to the city market, especially during the rainy season. In contrast, cereal seeds are mainly home-produced. Planting schedule % of individual vegetable area planted 35 Allium % of overall vegetable area % of overall vegetables area 60 40 20 0 Overall planted 30 25 20 15 10 5 Other stem and root Cucurbits Heading cole Other fruit Leafy Pulses Tuber Jan. Apr. Jul. Month Oct. 0 % of individual vegetable area harvested Harvesting schedule Overall 25 20 15 10 5 0 Allium Other stem and root Cucurbits Heading cole Other fruit Leafy Pulses Tuber 80 60 40 20 0 Jan. Apr. Jul. Month Oct. Figure 6. Planting and harvesting schedule of vegetables by crop group and overall vegetables. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 42 175 Price index 150 125 100 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Month Figure 7. Monthly average vegetable price index in Cambodia Table 5. Source of seed by crop group Crop group Village market Cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 15 67 30 90 86 98 47 29 85 81 Seed agent 1 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 1 0 Percentage of parcels Home-produced 81 28 40 10 6 1 43 66 12 14 Village market + home-produced 3 4 30 0 4 0 10 5 2 5 Power Source for Land Preparation As an economy develops, increase in wage rate creates demand for mechanization, especially in the agricultural sector. The first farming activity that becomes the subject of mechanization is land preparation. Therefore, the source of power for plowing, harrowing, and furrowing indicates the stage of development in agriculture and non-agriculture sector. The majority of farmers in Cambodia use animals for plowing and harrowing in preparing land for vegetables and cereals, while in vegetables, furrowing is mainly done by hand (Table 6). Negligibly small proportions of vegetable and cereal parcels are harrowed by using tractor. 43 Kingdom of Cambodia Table 6. Power source for land preparation by crop group Crop group Cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 1 Parcels plowed by animal (%)1 93 95 100 90 98 96 89 98 98 81 % of parcels harrowed by1 Hand 0.0 0.3 0.0 4.8 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Animal 83 94 100 90 96 95 89 97 97 86 Tractor 5.5 2.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.3 7.4 1.3 0.8 0.0 % of parcels furrowed by1 Hand 10 76 50 86 74 87 52 80 98 0 Animal 9.6 10.8 40.0 9.5 24.0 3.3 20.0 10.7 2.3 14.3 Tractor 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 The values less than 100 in each column imply that the operation was not done on the remaining percentage of parcels. Planting Method If botanical nature of the crop does not limit the choice, the selection of appropriate planting method depends on alternative cost of the method in comparison to the value of the same and other crops in the cropping system affected by different methods (Pandey 1996; Paudal 1996)8. Transplanting method is used by 46% farmers in growing vegetables compared to 64% in cereals. In allium, heading cole, other fruit and tubers, the majority of farmers use the transplanting method. Usually the transplanting method is preferred in those vegetables where imported seed is used. Seedlings are prepared on small raised beds, while there is little use of pots for this purpose. Ungsa and Han (1994)9 reported that the traditional method of seedling usually produced weak and thin seedlings, and when pulled from the seedbeds, the root systems were often destroyed. The broadcasting method is mostly used to plant seed in cucurbits, other stem and root, pulses, and leafy vegetables. A significant percentage of tuber, cucurbits, and other fruit vegetable parcels are also planted by the dibbling method, especially in tubers (Table 7). The planting method for each individual crop is reported in Appendix 3. 8 Pandey, S. 1996. Dry seeded rice research for rainfed lowlands: Issue and priorities. Social Sciences Division Discussion Papper. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna, Phillipines. Paudal, K.R. 1996. The economic of rice establishment methods in rainfed lowland areas in Pangasinan, Phillipines. Unpublished PhD thesis in Agricultural Economics, University of Phillipines, Los Banos, Laguna, Phillipines. 9 Ungsa, M. and Han, H.V. 1994. Vegetable production, research and policy. Department of Agronomy, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 44 Table 7. Planting method by crop group Percentage of parcels Crop group Cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Transplanting 64 46 50 90 8 84 16 51 41 5 Broadcasting (dry and wet) 29 38 10 0 80 5 55 26 56 95 Bulb planting 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 Drilling 4 2 0 0 10 0 2 4 0 0 Dibbling 3 14 40 0 2 11 27 19 3 0 Method and Source of Irrigation Vegetables are generally grown under irrigated conditions, compared to cereals which are predominantly rain-fed. This is true for individual vegetables, except tubers, pulses, and other stem and root vegetables where the majority of parcels are also rain-fed. Farmers apply irrigation to vegetables mainly with hand or mixed of many methods (Table 8). Water is stored during the rainy season in small ponds to be used over the year for daily household and agriculture requirements. When ponds become empty, farmers rent small pumps to fill these ponds. Water for these ponds is obtained from channels, lakes, or open wells. In most cases farmers use buckets (by hand) to irrigate crops. They carry water from ponds to the field. On average, a pond is located about 150 m from a field. A significant proportion of vegetable parcels (about 13%) are grown on riverbanks, and fields are directly filled or saturated through seepage from river. In few villages, farmers have water pumps running on battery because electricity or even gasoline is not accessible. Only 8% vegetable and 13% cereal farms are irrigated by pump. 45 Kingdom of Cambodia Table 8. Irrigation method and source by crop group Crop group Cereals(vegetable farmer) Cereals(non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 1 Irrigation method (percentage) Rain/no Manual2 Pump3 Sprinkler Mix4 irrigation 81 52 75 12 90 0 50 0 11 9 4 80 4 1 4 59 0 42 30 74 60 63 62 5 11 19 13 8 10 24 14 3 10 13 2 10 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 28 8 20 0 29 6 23 19 15 30 5 Irrigation source (percentage)1 River Channel Lake 3 1 3 13 0 37 12 15 21 6 6 10 7 35 11 26 0 29 10 29 23 33 30 0 5 6 5 21 0 5 10 19 16 24 34 10 Open well 3 1 3 19 10 29 6 26 16 23 18 0 Mix5 1 5 3 9 0 0 12 11 13 5 8 0 The percentage in each row may not add up to 100, as remaining parcels are rain-fed. 2 Manual means, first farmers fill their pond by hiring pump, or rain water especially during the rainy season, and then irrigate crops using buckets. 3 Pump means pumping the water from an open-well. 4 This includes different combinations (i.e. pumped water from channel or river into a storage and then irrigated their fields by carrying water through buckets using manual labor or sprinkle through manual sprinkler, and obtain water directly from channel by using manual labor. 5 This includes, pond, rain and river, channel and river, rain and open well, channel and rain, rain and pond, channel and lake, rain and deep well, lake and rain, and open well and river. Mode of Harvesting In Cambodia, a significant portion of crops are sold to marketing agents who take the responsibility of harvesting. This practice is more common in vegetables (24%) than in cereals (15%). Only vegetable farmers sell their cereal crops as standing to marketing agents. This may be to meet high financial needs of vegetable crops. Across vegetable groups, this practice varies from zero percent in tubers to 48% in allium (Table 9). Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq Table 9. Harvesting of vegetables and cereals Crop group Cereals(vegetable farmer) Cereals(non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage of parcels harvested by Owner Agent 82 18 99* 1* 85 15 76* 24* 100 0 52 48 80 20 64 36 84 16 96 4 59 41 76 24 46 Intensity of Management Operations Almost all fields, both in the case of cereals and vegetables, are prepared before sowing. The seedlings are normally prepared in the open fields. A significantly higher proportion of vegetable parcels receive weeding, spraying, fertilizer (both organic and inorganic), and irrigation compared to the cereal parcels. For example, 91% of the vegetable parcels are given fertilizer compared to 66% in cereals, and 26% of the vegetable parcels receive organic manure compared to 9% in cereals. Similarly, the majority of cereal parcels (more than three-quarters) have no irrigation while most vegetable parcels (88%) receive irrigation. The percentage of cereal parcels on nonvegetable farms receiving these operations is significantly higher than that of cereal parcels on vegetable farms (Table 10). Some variations across vegetables exist in the extent of receiving different management operations and inputs. For example, most tubers and pulses parcels do not receive weeding, manuring, fertilization, and irrigation, while in other vegetables, the majority or sometimes all parcels receive most of these operations and inputs. 47 Table 10. Parcels received different management operation by crop group Percentage of parcels received Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * Kingdom of Cambodia Land preparation Plowing Harrowing Furrowing Total 99 100 99 99 100 95 100 100 98 99 99 98 86 99* 88 97* 100 95 98 98 96 99 98 86 23 3 20 87 90 95 98 91 72 91 100 14 99 100 99 100 100 100 100 100 99 100 100 95 Weeding Spray- Manure Fertilizer Irrigation ing 50 69* 53 84* 20 100 98 94 72 87 88 29 25 34* 26 84* 10 57 40 100 92 89 84 48 7 18* 9 26* 0 14 10 34 36 26 21 0 62 86* 66 91* 20 100 48 100 97 99 98 14 19 48* 24 88* 10 100 50 100 90 91 96 19 in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from overall cereal in the same column at least at the 10% level. Not only a large percentage of vegetable parcels receive different operations, the average number of operations applied to vegetable parcels is also higher compared to such operations given to cereal parcels (Table 11). Table 11. Average number of management operation by crop group Crop Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * Land preparation Weeding Irrigation Spraying Harvesting Plowing Harrowing Furrowing Total 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.2* 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.1 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.5 2.1* 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.0 1.4 0.2 0.0* 0.2 0.9* 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.9 1.1 0.2 3.6 3.5 3.6 5.2 4.9 5.4 5.4 5.6 5.1 5.3 5.2 3.1 0.7 1.0* 0.7 1.8* 0.2 4.0 2.1 2.0 1.2 1.6 2.1 0.3 3 5 4 50* 1 60 26 52 59 67 40 3 0.6 0.7 0.6 6.2* 0.8 3.9 3.4 10.0 4.8 6.7 5.3 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 6.2* 1.7 1.1 2.9 2.0 10.0 13.7 1.8 2.3 in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 48 Vegetable plots have more pest problems. A higher number of sprays and weedings on vegetable compared to cereal plots supports this hypothesis. The number of weedings varies from 0.2 in tubers to 4.0 in allium. Cereal parcels on vegetable farms receive significantly fewer weedings compared to such parcels on non-vegetable farms. Weeding is done manually in Cambodia. Vegetables are irrigated almost daily, and the average number of irrigations is around twelve times higher than in cereals. The number of irrigations varies from one in tubers to 67 in other fruit vegetables (Table 11). A high number of irrigations to vegetable crops, however, does not reflect abundant availability of irrigation water. Our observation is that water is thinly spread and plants remain under water stress unless vegetable field is on the riverbank. A high number of irrigations in an environment of low output price and low wages actually reflects a primitive irrigation infrastructure. Most irrigations are manually done rather than through gravity flow of water in canals or water channels. The irrigation water has to be transferred manually from distant places requiring lot of labor. This puts a serious labor constraint on the expansion of vegetable production in Cambodia. Vegetable farmers apply a fewer number of irrigations than non-vegetable farmers to cereal crops, perhaps to save some water for vegetables if they are grown in the same season. Cereals are mainly harvested once, while vegetables on an average are harvested about six times (Table 11). The number of harvests varies from one in allium to 14 in other fruit vegetables. Similar variations in numbers of various operations across individual vegetable and cereal crops can be seen in Appendix 4. Vegetables are cultivated using some advanced methods such as raised bed, staking, and mulching. About 80% of vegetable parcels have raised beds or furrows. The proportion of corn parcels grown on raised-bed is also lower than vegetables (Table 12). Staking and mulching are practiced only in vegetables, although only a small percentage of cucurbits, other fruits, and tubers (yam bean) parcels receive these operations. These activities not only increase labor demand, but also cash requirements. Table 12. Use of advanced management practices (% of parcels) by crop group Crop group Rice Corn Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Raised bed 0 18 55 70 81 80 64 33 50 47 5 Bed type Furrow 8 48 25 20 14 16 24 28 29 28 10 Flat bed 92 34 20 10 5 4 12 39 21 25 85 Staking 0 0 9 10 0 0 0 21 21 0 0 Mulching 0 0 4 0 14 2 1 1 1 13 0 49 Kingdom of Cambodia Inputs In the following subsections we compare the input use on vegetables across various groups, and on cereal crops grown by vegetable and non-vegetable farmers. The input use for individual vegetable and cereal crops can be seen in Appendix 5. Seed The weight and cost of seed can be an important factor in dissemination of new varieties, especially when marketing infrastructure is poor. The amount of per ha seed used in different vegetable groups varies from 0.7 kg in heading cole to 33.3 kg in other stem and root, depending upon the size of seed (Table 13). On average, cereals require more than ten times the amount of seed than vegetables. This makes the diffusion of varietal innovation much easier in vegetables. However, in tubers, allium, and other stem and root vegetables, where plant materials are used as seeds and seed requirements are quite large and expensive, dissemination of varietal innovation becomes much more difficult. Vegetable farmers use a significantly lower quantity of cereal seed than their counterpart non-vegetable farmers. Fertilizer Most sample farmers use urea, complex, and diammonium phosphate (DAP). On average, 148 kg of fertilizer nutrients are applied to one ha of vegetables compared to only about 46 kg in case of cereals. Total fertilizer nutrient applied to different crops varies from only 4 kg/ha on pulses to 237 kg/ha on allium. Fertilizer application on cereals managed by non-vegetable farmers is significantly higher compared to cereals on vegetable farms (Table13). Average fertilizer use on vegetable and cereal crops is far less than the recommended level, and far lower than in the neighboring countries. This suggests a shortage of the chemical fertilizer availability, lack of credit to buy fertilizer, and/or low productivity and return of the input applied. Farm Manure Farm manure is believed to maintain the soil fertility in the long run by maintaining the organic matter and other important micronutrients in the soil. The average amount of manure applied to vegetables is at 1.7 t/ha compared to 0.3 t/ha in case of cereals. On the average, vegetable farmers apply less manure to cereals compared to non-vegetable farmers, although the difference is not significant (Table 13). This is because vegetable farmers own less animals, and they need more manure for vegetable parcels. Pesticide Vegetables are more sensitive to insects and disease attacks. In extreme cases, pest attack can completely destroy a vegetable crop. This explains the higher intensity of pesticide application on vegetables compared to cereals. Average pesticide use on vegetables is 15.4 kg/liter per ha around 14 times higher compared to cereals. In some cases, the survey team observed the farmers using pesticide almost daily. Average quantity of pesticide among individual vegetable group varies from 23 kg (or liter) in heading cole to 1.1 kg (or liter) in tubers. Vegetable farmers apply more pesticide to their cereal crop compared to their counterpart non-vegetable farmers (Table 13). Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq Table 13. Per ha non-labor input quantities by crop group Crop group Seed (kg/ha) 74.3 95.6* 77.7 6.8* 5.0 33.9 0.7 2.8 3.7 8.4 28.1 Plant material (kg/ha) 567 656 225 463 Fertilizer (kg/ha) N 32 46* 34 102* 7 177 41 128 112 70 133 3 P 10 19* 11 46* 1 60 42 54 40 45 53 2 K 10 19 11 46 1 60 42 54 40 45 53 2 Total 42 65* 46 148* 8 237 83 182 153 115 185 4 Manure (t/ha) 0.3 0.5 0.3 1.7* 0.0 0.4 2.3 2.6 2.1 1.6 0.8 0.0 Pesticide (kg or liter/ha) 1.1 0.6* 1.1 15.4* 1.1 10.9 9.9 22.9 10.0 16.1 17.1 3.3 50 Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * on the figures in a row of cereal (non-vegetable farmer) implies that the values are significantly different across the two groups of farmers at the 10% level. Similarly, * in the row of overall vegetables implies that the figures are statistically different from the overall cereal value at least at the 10% level. A total of 45 different types of pesticides are available with different brands or local names. Pesticides with local names are made by mixing different types of unbranded pesticides in different proportions. However, Folitox, Phosdrine, Mevinophos, Azodrin, D.D.V.P, and Padan are the major pesticides used by 85% of farmers (Appendix 6). Farmers usually consult the pesticide dealers to get recommendations about pesticide use in order to treat the infestation of insects and diseases. Labor On average, about 437 labor days are needed to cultivate and market vegetable output from one ha compared to only 81 days in case of cereals (Table 14). This implies that conversion of one ha of cereals to vegetables in one season can generate about one-and-a-half year-round jobs in the agriculture sector. Heading cole and allium are most labor-intensive crops, and labor requirements of tubers and pulses are similar to cereals. High utilization of labor in vegetables is due to a more numbers of manual irrigations, weedings and harvestings, intensive pesticide treatments, and higher amount of manures. Therefore, a greater proportion of labor - about 73% - is engaged in crop management activities in vegetables compared to 46% in cereals. The percentages of labor used for land preparation, harvesting and marketing in cereals are higher than vegetables, although this does not imply that vegetables employ less labor in absolute terms in these operations. The per-ha labor use on cereals by vegetable farmers is significantly less than by non-vegetable farmers. 51 Kingdom of Cambodia Table 14. Labor use and its distribution by farming activity and crop group Crop group Cereals(vegetable farmer) Cereals(non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Percentage distribution of labor to Land preparation 20 15* 19 11* 27 9 20 8 11 10 Management 45 50* 46 73* 37 78 51 86 72 68 Harvesting 27 25* 26 13* 28 9 22 4 14 18 Marketing 8 10* 9 3* 8 4 7 2 3 4 Total labor days/ha 80 88* 81 437* 79 542 233 557 373 436 Leafy Pulses 10 22 81 20 7 46 2 12 502 88 * on the figures in the row of cereal (non-vegetable farmer) implies that the values are significantly different across the two groups of farmers at the 10% level. Similarly, * in the row of overall vegetables implies that the figures are statistically different from the overall cereal value at least at the 10% level. Output Average per ha yield of all vegetables in Cambodia is 10.5 t, which is about 140% lower than the average vegetable yield in South Vietnam, but comparable to the average yield in Laos. However, estimated yield in our study is higher than the yield reported in the secondary data of MAFF (2000)10. There is a need to improve the quality of statistics reported on vegetables. It is worth noting that the coefficient of variation (CV) in cereal yields is significantly lower than in vegetable yields, suggesting that vegetable yields are more risky to produce (Table 15). There is considerable variation in the yield of individual vegetable crops as well as in the yield of the same crop across provinces (Appendix 7). Vegetables produce higher output per unit area in a season than cereal crops, partly because of the difference in the dry matter content and partly due to the difference in the intensity of crop management. The difference is more pronounced when yield is estimated on per day of land use basis, because vegetables generally use land for shorter periods of time. There is no significant difference in cereal yields across the two groups of farmers (Table 15). 10 MAFF. 2000. See footnote 7. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 52 Table 15. Per ha and per day crop yield and coefficient of variation in yield (CV) by crop group Crop group Cereals(vegetable farmer) Cereals(non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Average yield (t/ha) 2.2 2.3 2.2 10.5 8.1 11.5 15.7 11.9 9.7 9.8 9.9 0.8 CV Crop duration (days) 19 18 19 44 42 38 47 58 46 47 36 44 126 146 129 88 90 84 108 82 82 116 62 91 Yield per crop day (kg/ha/day) 17 15 17 119 90 138 146 145 118 85 160 9 Overall vegetable yields are statistically higher in the dry1 season compared to the dry2 and wet seasons (Table 16). This is generally true for all individual vegetable groups, except leafy and pulses, although the difference is statistically significant only in case of other stem and root and heading cole. The dry1 season yields, on an average, are 22% higher than the yields in the dry2 season. This explains why vegetables are mainly produced in the later and early parts of the year. Cereal yield during the dry1 season is also higher compared to dry2 and wet season, and the difference is significant on the vegetable farm. Table 16. Seasonal yield of vegetables and cereals Dry1 season Crop group Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Observation (number) 67 23 90 420 10 14 28 111 82 109 54 12 Yield (t/ha) 2.6a 2.4a 2.5a 11.1a 8.1 12.4a 18.3a 12.6 a 10.3 a 10.3 a 9.5 a 0.9 a Dry2 season Observation (number) 47 4 51 112 0 3 4 14 22 25 40 4 Yield (t/ha) 2.0b 2.3a 2.1b 9.1b 7.5a 10.5b 9.8 b 9.5 a 8.9 a 9.6 a 1.0 a Wet season Observation (number) 421 74 495 133 0 4 18 26 30 15 37 3 Yield (t/ha) 2.1b 2.2a 2.1b 9.6b 11.4a 11.6b 9.8 b 8.5 a 8.0 a 10.6 a 0.7 a Different superscripts in a row imply that the yield is different across the two seasons. 53 Kingdom of Cambodia Output Disposal Pattern Around 99% of total vegetable production is sold in the market and less than 1% is consumed at home (Table 17). Across individual vegetable groups, consumption varies from 0.05% for allium and leafy to 6% for pulses. Contrary to vegetables, only 11% of the total production of rice is sold in the market while 89% is consumed at home. These output disposal patterns suggest that vegetables are an important source of cash income to buy necessities of life not supplied by own farm production such as education, clothing, farm equipment, etc. As cash income is spent on these necessities of life, it increases the demand and income of these non-farm sectors. Thus, the multiplier effect of vegetable production on the income and employment of non-farm sector is much higher than that of cereals. Table 17. Output disposal pattern by crop group Percentage of output sold Distance (km) Retail by Wholesaler Agent Table 17. Output disposal pattern by crop group themselves in the market In the home As standing crop Sold Consumed Percentage of output sold Distance Rice group 10.9 89.10 0 1 9 1 0 Crop (%) (%) (km) Retail by Wholesaler Agent Corn 99.8 0.22 2 9 45 44 1 themselves in the market In the home As standing crop Overall vegetables 99.4 0.55 7 16 57 19 2 Rice 10.9 89.10 0 1 9 1 0 Tubers 99.8 0.20 0 0 100 0 0 Corn 99.8 0.22 2 9 45 44 1 Alliumvegetables 100.0 0.05 0 5 52 43 1 Overall 99.4 0.55 7 16 57 19 2 Other stem and root 99.8 0.22 Tubers 99.8 0.20 02 0 14 100 66 0 18 0 1 Heading cole 99.2 0.79 Allium 100.0 0.05 07 5 12 52 56 43 25 1 1 Cucurbits and root 99.9 0.12 9 20 57 14 Other stem 99.8 0.22 2 14 66 18 1 3 Other fruitcole 99.3 0.72 8 20 67 5 Heading 99.2 0.79 7 12 56 25 1 2 Leafy 100.0 0.05 Cucurbits 99.9 0.12 98 2017 57 41 14 34 3 2 Pulses fruit 94.4 5.58 Other 99.3 0.72 85 2021 67 58 5 11 2 5 Leafy 100.0 0.05 8 17 41 34 2 Pulses 94.4 5.58 5 21 58 11 5 Crop group Sold (%) Consumed (%) Economics of Vegetable Production Cost and Factor Share Overall, vegetables require more than five times higher cost to cultivate one ha than cereals. Costs on all individual items are also many times higher in vegetables than in cereals. A similar relationship can be seen for individual vegetables, except for potato, sweet potato, soybean, mungbean, and chili (Appendix 8). Among vegetable groups, per ha cost is lowest for pulses and highest for allium (Table 18). Judging from per unit cost, pulses and allium are high value vegetables, and tubers and other stem and root are low value. Cost per ha of cereal production is lower on vegetable farms than on non-vegetable farms, although the difference is significant only at the 10% level. This is because of the lower use of seed, Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 54 fertilizer, pesticide, and labor by the former than by the later group. However, vegetable farmers spend a significantly higher proportion of cereal cost on seed and labor because they pay more for better quality of these inputs, and lower proportion on manure and fertilizer. Table 18. Cost of production and factor share by crop group Crop group Total cost (000CR/ha) 680 774* 695 4000* 866 5932 2562 4457 4723 3838 3872 713 Output Factor share (%) cost Labor Seed Fertilizer Manure Irrigation Pesticide Others (CR/kg) 350 68.4 10.8 13.0 1.4 1.9 2.1 2.4 356 63.4* 7.9* 19.8* 3.0* 2.0 1.9 2.0 357 517* 116 685 242 544 574 511 476 984 67.7 61.1* 85.1 46.5 45.9 63.6 58.9 60.9 65.1 77.3 10.3 7.4* 6.0 25.5 35.6 6.0 4.0 3.2 3.4 10.3 14.1 12.5* 1.4 11.7 8.7 12.7 13.3 12.6 15.4 2.1 1.6 2.2* 0.0 0.3 1.8 2.8 3.0 2.4 1.2 0.0 1.9 4.2* 1.3 8.3 1.6 3.4 4.4 4.9 5.0 0.3 2.0 9.1* 0.8 5.0 6.2 11.5 8.0 9.3 9.3 8.8 2.4 3.5* 5.4 2.7 0.2 0.0 8.4 6.7 0.6 1.2 Cereal (vegetable farm) Cereal (non-vegetable farm) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * on the figures in the row of cereal (non-vegetable farmer) implies that the input use is significantly different across the two groups of farmers at the 10% level. Similarly, * in the row of overall vegetables implies that the figures are statistically different from the overall cereal value at least at the 10% level. Note: All zero values representing factor share less than 0.1. Labor is the most important cost item in crop production in Cambodia. The share of labor in total production is about two-thirds of the total cost both in vegetables and cereals, while the share of seed cost is small (3-6%) in most individual groups, except in allium, other root and stem, and pulses. Labor, seed, and fertilizer share is lower in vegetables than in cereals while manure, irrigation, and pesticide shares are significantly higher in vegetables (Table 18). Gross and Net Return As vegetable cost is about five times higher than cereals, they generate more than six times higher gross return and about ten times higher net returns (Table 19). This difference between vegetable and cereals further improves when net returns are estimated on per day of land use (because vegetables generally occupy land for a shorter duration). Net return on per day use of land actually gives the opportunity cost of land and management in alternative use, and these results suggest that it is more profitable to allocate additional land and management time to vegetables than to cereals. Availability of cash is a very serious limitation for farmers in Cambodia. Return on investment, therefore, is an important criterion to allocate resources among competing crops. On average, benefit-cost ratio on the total cost invested in vegetable production is 96%, compared to 53% in cereal production, and the difference is statistically significant. The higher benefit-cost ratio is generally true for individual vegetable groups, with few exceptions (Appendix 9). Tubers followed 55 Kingdom of Cambodia by allium, and other root and stem vegetables have the highest benefit-cost ratio, and leafy and pulses give the lowest rate of return on investment in vegetables (Table 19). Table 19. Economics of cultivation by crop groups Crop group Gross return (000CR/ ha) 874 863 872 5672* 2037 16862 4223 7129 4777 5100 5277 971 Net return Return on (000CR/ crop day ha) (00CR/crop day) 193 89* 177 1672* 1171 10930 1661 2672 54 1262 1405 258 1.5 0.6* 1.4 19.1* 13.0 130.8 15.4 32.7 0.7 10.8 22.8 2.8 B-C ratio (%) Labor Fertilizer Irrigation productivity productivity productivity (CR/labor (00CR/kg (CR/CR day) fertilizer irrigation nutrient) cost) 7550 5540* 7231 14113* 21608 35363 22510 11809 14304 13732 10914 6600 266 186* 249 637* 1027 1379 613 721 536 675 478 379 15 33* 21 8* 6 11 23 5 8 11 4 22 Cereal (vegetable farmer) Cereal (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 55 40* 53 96* 295 256 132 82 80 101 72 66 * on the figures in the row of cereal (non-vegetable farmer) implies that the values are significantly different across the two groups of farmers at the 10% level. Similarly, * in the row of overall vegetables implies that the figures are statistically different from the overall cereal value at least at the 10% level. Vegetable production improves productivity of resources, as partial productivity of labor, fertilizer, and irrigation is significantly higher in vegetables compared to cereals (Table 19). This implies that additional labor, fertilizer, and irrigation employed will generate a higher return in vegetables than in cereals. Labor and fertilizer productivity is highest in allium, while return on irrigation was highest in other stem and root vegetables and pulses. The effect of vegetable cultivation is beyond higher resource productivity from vegetable fields. It also improves the managerial skill of those farmers engaged in vegetable cultivation. This is reflected by the higher net return, benefit-cost ratio, and resource productivity on vegetable farms compared to the values of these parameters for cereals on non-vegetable farms. Constraints to High Vegetable Production Insect and Diseases After adopting all the control measures, about 38% of the farmers still face serious insect problems, and only 2% think that diseases may be limiting vegetable yields (Table 20). Low perception about disease problems may be due to poor differentiation between disease infestation and insect Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 56 attack. The farmers’ perception about insect problems on each individual vegetable is shown in Appendix 10. The farmers cited big insects such as armyworms, stem borers, fruit worms, cut worms, etc. as the most common insects on vegetables. They failed to notice small insects as well as mites. They also failed to identify the important diseases on vegetables. Table 20. Farmers’ perceptions about insect and disease problems in vegetables by crop group Crop group Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage parcel with insect problem No problem Insect problem 62 67 80 55 64 57 61 71 38 33 20 45 36 43 39 29 Percentage parcel with disease problem No problem Disease problem 98 96 99 99 98 95 2 4 1 1 2 5 Total parcel (number) 665 21 50 151 134 149 131 19 “-“ implies that no parcels with significant disease problem was observed. Other Constraints In addition to pests and diseases, farmers also reported socioeconomic constraints on vegetable production. Problems in input availability, output marketing, and credit are the major socioeconomic constraints reported by the majority of vegetable farmers (Table 21). It should be noted that marketing is not so serious a constraint in cereals. The reason might be that all farmers harvest cereal crop together, and agents and wholesalers approach producers to get their output in bulk. In the case of vegetables, output is extremely diversified over the years and across farmers, therefore, it is not economical for agents and wholesalers to approach the producers to purchase a small amount of vegetable output. The problem of timely unavailability of inputs and credit has almost the same intensity both for vegetables and cereals. These constraints cause low use of inputs, especially fertilizer. Other problems, especially rats, are more serious in cereal production compared to vegetable cultivation (Table 21). 57 Kingdom of Cambodia Table 21. Socioeconomic constraints by crop group Crop group Input1 Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit type Leafy type Pulses 1 This 2 Percentage of parcels facing the problem of Marketing2 Credit1 Flooding 15 6 14 32 40 10 26 34 29 36 35 24 21 15 20 18 40 0 16 19 25 17 10 24 5 10 6 3 0 0 0 2 3 2 3 14 Others3 42 59 45 17 30 5 14 17 26 13 11 29 24 20 23 20 40 5 22 21 27 18 11 19 implies unavailability of the input/credit on time. This implies problems in selling their output. 3 Others include the problem of shortage of labor during the peak season, seed germination problem, and losses of crop due to rat and/or birds’ attack. Consumption Pattern The average per capita daily food consumption in Cambodia (820 g) is one of the lowest in Asia (Ali 2000)11. More important than quantity is the quality of food. Cereals dominate in the diet claiming more than a 50% share of the total food items. Vegetable consumption is at only 175 g per capita per day, which is lower than the minimum requirement of 200 g recommended by AVRDC. This is despite the fact that the survey was conducted during the peak supply period for vegetables. The situation would be worse during the rainy season because, as noticed earlier, little vegetable supply comes during this season (Figure 6). Vegetable production helps improve both quality and quantity of the food items consumed. Vegetable producers consume about 17% more vegetables, 53% more fruits, and 22% more fish. Although there is a significant increase in the consumption of egg and milk, this figure still remains low. On the other hand, cereal consumption is lower on the vegetable farm families but the difference is not statistically significant (Table 22). 11 For per capita daily food consumption in other Asian countries, see Ali, M.(ed.) 2000. Dynamics of vegetable production, distribution and consumption in Asia. Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center. Shanhua, Taiwan, AVRDC publication no. 00-198, 470 p. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 58 Table 22. Per capita food consumption (g/day) by farm type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Milk and egg Others Total Vegetable farmer 436 a 178 a 55 a 43 a 112 a 14 a 14 a 851 a Non-vegetable farmer 460 a 152 b 36 b 40 a 92 b 6b 13 a 799 a Overall1 459 154 45 48 92 9 14 820 Different superscript in a row implies that the value is significantly different across the two farm groups at least at the 10% significance level, and vice versa in case they are same. 1 This includes vegetable and non-vegetable farmers and urban dwellers with the respective weights of 0.05, 0.85, and 0.10. Biodiversity in Food In the 133 food items which were found being consumed in the 24-hour survey, 54 of them are vegetables12. On average, about 11 food items are consumed per family per day, and 3 of them were vegetables. Important vegetables consumed during the survey period are shown in Figure 8. Cucurbits dominate in consumption in Cambodia followed by other fruit vegetables and leafy types. There is no significant difference in the share of different vegetable groups consumed across the two types of farmers (Table 23). 25 Wax gourd Cucumber Tomato Cabbage Kangkong Eggplant Chinese cabbage Chinese kale Chinese radish Bottle gourd Mustard Yardlong bean Bunching onion Cauliflower Bitter gourd Tamarind Water lily Amaranth Others 20 Consumption (g/capita/day) 15 10 5 0 Figure 8. Major vegetables consumed in the 12 In the production survey, 38 vegetables were found grown commercially. Obviously, not all vegetables found in consumption survey were covered in the production survey, because production survey was restricted to only commercial vegetable production. Perhaps many more vegetables reported in the production survey are produced in the home garden, and collected from forest (called foraging). 59 Kingdom of Cambodia Table 23. Share of vegetable group in total vegetable consumption Vegetable groups Vegetable farmer Allium Other root and stem Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy type Pulses 1 Same as in Table 22. 2.6 3.9 13.2 35.0 28.0 17.0 0.3 Percentage share Non-vegetable farmer 4.6 3.4 19.2 39.3 20.6 12.9 0.0 Overall1 4.6 3.7 18.7 37.9 20.2 14.9 0.1 Importance of Vegetables in Food On average, the value of home-produced (both on farm and in the home garden), and purchased food consumed daily is 1245CR. The consumption of cereals, meat, and seafood each claims about one-fourth of the food expenditure. The share of vegetables in the value of total food is about 10%, higher than that reported in RGC (1994)13, which varies from 3.7-5.8% in different regions14. Vegetable farmers spend a smaller proportion of their food expenditure on cereals, meat and ‘other’ food items and a larger proportion on all other individual food items (Table 24). Table 24. Budget share (%) by food items Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Milk and egg Others Daily per capita expenditure (CR) 1 Same Vegetable farmer 25.4 11.7 3.1 25.9 26.9 4.7 2.3 1262 Non-vegetable farmer 30.1 10.7 2.1 26.1 25.7 2.7 2.6 1113 Overall1 28.7 10.5 2.9 27.3 24.9 3.2 2.6 1245 as in Table 22. 13 RGC (Royal Government of Cambodia). 1994. Report on the socio-ecomic survey of Cambodia. 1993-94. (All Rounds). The Royal Government of Cambodia. 14 This difference may be because in the RGC (Royal Government of Cambodia) survey, the contribution of expences on vegetables was compared with the expences on food, while in our study the value of total vegetables consumed was compared with the value of all food both obtained from all sources. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 60 Source of Food In Cambodia, about 54% of the total food consumed is produced on the farm, 45% is purchased, while 1% (mainly fruits and vegetables) is shared as gifts among families. More than threefourths of the cereals and one-half of the fruit consumed are farm produced, while other food items are mainly purchased. Interestingly, about two-thirds of the vegetables consumed are purchased, and it is the highest purchased item among the plant-based food (Table 25). In Cambodia, the role of the home garden in supplying food seems not important, so it is not quantified in this survey. The share of farm-produced fruits and vegetables is higher on vegetable farm families than the farm-produced share of these food items on non-vegetable farm families. Thus farm-produced, rather than purchased, fruits and vegetables are the source of increased consumption of these food items by vegetable farm families. A significantly higher proportion of fruits and vegetables are shared as gifts among vegetable farm families compared to non-vegetable farm families, perhaps at the time of abundant harvest from their fields and home gardens. This sharing system perhaps has increased the consumption of these items among the non-vegetable farm families as well. Table 25. Source of food by food item and farmer type Food source/ Type of farmer Vegetable farmer Farm produce Purchase Gift Non-vegetable farmer Farm produce Purchase Gift Average Farm produce Purchase Gift Percentage contribution of Cereals 59.7 40.2 0.1 97.5 2.5 0.0 79.1 20.8 0.1 Vegetables 36.4 56.6 7.0 27.0 73.0 0.0 32.0 64.2 3.8 Fruits 52.8 43.5 3.7 48.9 49.7 1.4 51.3 46.0 2.7 Meat 10.5 89.0 0.5 0.0 100.0 0.0 5.4 94.3 0.3 Seafood 15.4 83.7 0.9 13.4 86.6 0.0 14.5 85.0 0.5 Milk and egg 4.1 95.9 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 2.9 97.1 0.0 Others 0.7 98.2 1.1 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.4 99.0 0.6 Total 44.3 53.8 1.9 65.0 34.9 0.1 54.3 44.7 1.0 Nutrient Availability Cambodian food is deficient in almost all nutrients except protein. Deficiency of nutrients is about 9% and 11% in case of calories and vitamin C, to 59% and 55% in vitamin B2 and calcium, respectively (Table 26). Iron and vitamin A are also among the highly deficient nutrients. These 61 Kingdom of Cambodia conclusions are consistent with other studies (UNICEF 1994; GTZ 1996)15. These studies also concluded that intake of vegetables in some parts of the year is low enough to induce problems like night blindness and anemia. Therefore, serious efforts are required to improve the quantity as well as the quality of food in Cambodia. Table 26. Availability and deficiency level of major nutrients by farmer type Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C 1 Unit (kcal) (g) (mg) (mg) (IU) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Recommended level 1800-2400 45-65 800-1200 10-15 4200-5000 1.12 1.22 14.66 50-70 Nutrient availability 1914.5 68.0 454.7 8.5 2817.8 0.8 0.5 11.8 53.3 Deficiency level (%)1 9 -24 55 32 39 29 59 20 11 Deficiency level was estimated as (1-(Nutrient availability/Recommended level of nutrient))*100. In case of a range of recommended level, the middle point of the range was considered. Vegetables as a Source of Nutrients Cereals, being the main food, are main suppliers of calories, protein, iron, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and niacin, while seafood is the major source of calcium. Vegetables, even at a low consumption level, are major sources of vitamins, especially vitamin A and C (Table 27). They are also one of the important sources of iron and vitamin B1 and B2. Nutrient Efficiency Vegetables are the cheapest source of vitamin B2 and vitamin C. Fruits and vegetables are almost equally efficient in providing vitamin A. Vegetables are the cheapest source of iron only after fruit, calcium only after fish, and niacin and B2 only after cereals. Cereals are also the cheapest source of calories and protein (Table 28). Milk and egg are the highest nutritive value food in Cambodia evaluated at the market price of each nutrient present in these foods (Table 29). However, when nutritive values are compared with the respective prices, cereals and vegetables have the highest nutritive efficiency. The efficiencies of these food groups are greater than one implying that their consumption tends to 15 GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit). 1996. Base line survey report. Integrated Food Security Programme. Kampot Province. GTZ, Phnom Penh. UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund). 1994. Report on food and nutrition surveys in 1993-94. UNICEFFamily Food Production. UNICEF-Phnom Pehh, Cambodia. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq Table 27. Source of major nutrients by food group Nutrient Cereals Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C 80.0 50.5 32.3 39.5 0.2 64.1 29.8 66.0 0.2 Vegetables 1.9 4.0 16.9 20.1 58.7 14.8 20.3 6.2 73.3 Percentage contribution of Fruits Meat Seafood 1.5 0.8 2.7 12.7 30.0 2.6 3.9 1.7 25.7 5.3 11.8 1.2 10.4 1.6 10.3 15.8 13.9 0.8 5.3 29.6 39.8 7.4 0.6 4.7 19.3 11.7 0.0 Egg and milk 3.8 3.0 2.4 5.9 8.9 3.1 9.1 0.1 0.0 Others 2.2 0.3 4.7 4.0 0.0 0.4 1.8 0.4 0.0 62 Table 28. Nutrient cost (CR/unit) by food type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Fish Milk and egg Calories (kcal) 0.2 4.2 2.6 4.4 3.5 1.0 Protein (g) 10.2 56.3 147.6 55.7 17.6 36.9 Calcium (mg) 2.37 2.02 6.21 80.77 1.96 6.90 Iron (mg) 104 90 69 506 554 153 Vitamin A (IU) 0.45 0.09 0.07 9.23 6.75 0.31 Vitamin B1 (mg) 711 1373 3229 5607 9749 3211 Vitamin B2 (mg) 2228 1454 3034 5173 3472 1609 Niacin (mg) 45 214 376 262 253 4563 Vitamin C (mg) 11 4 5 310 357 . produce nutrition values which are higher than their respective costs. Thus improving the consumption of these food groups will improve the nutritive value of the whole diet. Table 29. Nutritive value of food by food group Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Fish Milk and egg Others Market price (CR/100g) 77.3 88.3 114.9 775.5 338.3 424.9 220.9 Nutritive value (CR/100g) 167.6 125.7 124.9 216.9 231.9 330.1 354.9 Nutritive efficiency 2.17 1.42 1.09 0.28 0.69 0.78 1.61 Looking at the individual food items, vegetables with high consumption rates in Cambodia, such as wax gourd, have low nutritive values. On the other hand, vegetables with low 63 Kingdom of Cambodia consumption rates, such as leafy (especially amaranth) and pod vegetables (like mungbean and soybean), have high nutritive values (Appendix 11). Therefore, nutritional awareness programs on radio and television should be arranged to popularize the consumption of high nutritive value vegetables in Cambodia. Effect of Vegetable Production on Nutrition As noticed earlier, vegetable cultivation increases vegetable consumption from own-farm production, as does the nutrient availability to vegetable farmers (Table 30). Especially, availability of important micronutrients such as calcium, vitamin A and C, and iron, is improved significantly on vegetable farm families compared to non-vegetable farm families. Despite the improvement, however, these nutrients, except Vitamin C, remain deficient even on vegetable farm families. Table 30. Nutrient availability by farm type Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C Unit (kcal) (g) (mg) (mg) (IU) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Recommended level 1800-2400 45-65 800-1200 10-15 4200-5000 1.12 1.22 14.66 50-70 Vegetable farmer 1815 65 447* 8.23* 2705* 0.72 0.48 11.09 53* Non-vegetable farmer 1807 61 378 6.45 2419 0.69 0.46 10.92 32 * in a row implies that the nutrient availability is significantly different across the two groups of farmers. Summary and Conclusion This report provides first hand comprehensive information from farmers’ fields and farm households on vegetable production, marketing, and consumption in Cambodia. Data on a total of 1349 crop parcels were collected by interviewing 500 farmers and their spouses in five major vegetable-growing districts. A total of 56 villages in these districts were visited. With primitive infrastructure in the country, this required considerable resources and determination of the survey team to reach farmers in remote areas in these districts. This is the first extensive survey of this scale on vegetables in the country. The survey results suggest that vegetable farmers, to start with, are relatively poor farmers as they own smaller land holdings, and less proportion of irrigated area compared to their counterpart non-vegetable farmers. However, they have slightly higher education and are better in a position to take risk as they earn off-farm income. Vegetable farmers are prudent in spending on luxurious Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 64 goods, save for farm equipment and children’s education, and make careful decision in allocating well-drained lands to vegetables. They allocate only 29% of the harvested area to vegetable crops suggesting that they are not specialized vegetable farmers. The parcel size of vegetables is kept smaller than that of cereal parcels, which makes water management easier but mechanization difficult. Most vegetable production comes during the dry season, which is consistent with the price seasonality data but inconsistent with the secondary data reported by the MAFF. This difference may partly be due to different definitions of season adopted by MAFF. In any case, there is a need to verify these results, as this has important implications for setting research priorities across eco-regions. In Cambodia, low-quality vegetable seed produced at home or purchased from village markets is used. Transplanting and broadcasting are common methods of planting. Nursery preparation methods are primitive. Therefore, lots of improvements can be made in the way nursery crops are raised and transplanted, which can go long way in improving vegetable productivity. Although vegetables are mainly cultivated under irrigated condition, water is thinly spread unless the fields are on a riverbank. Fields are irrigated manually almost daily by fetching water in buckets from far places. This requires lot of labor. Therefore, labor for irrigation becomes a major constraint to expand vegetable production in Cambodia. Investment on irrigation infrastructure, therefore, is required to mitigate this constraint, and to boost vegetable production in the country. However, to build such infrastructure where plot sizes are so small will require cooperative action at the community level. Compared to cereals, vegetable production requires more labor in the applying irrigation, manure, inorganic fertilizer, and pesticide, weeding, and harvesting of crops. It is estimated that converting one cereal plot into vegetable in one season can generate about one-and-a-half-year-round jobs. Therefore, encouraging vegetable production can create a lot of productive employment in the country. Vegetable production requires a considerable amount of non-labor inputs as well. For example, fertilizer use is three times higher, the number of sprays ten times, weedings more than two times, the number of irrigations twelve times, and the number of harvestings about six times higher in vegetables than in cereals. This requires a lot of commitment of cash and non-cash resources. Therefore, vegetable cultivation is limited to those farmers who can commit these resources and take risk, as vegetable cultivation is more risky. Reducing production cost should be an important objective of vegetable research and development programs in Cambodia. Main socioeconomic constraints to vegetable production identified by vegetable farmers are problems in input availability, output marketing, and credit-seeking. Therefore, infrastructure and institutions should be developed to efficiently deliver necessary inputs and collect vegetable outputs. Vegetable production, by nature, is more risky than cereal crops. Uncertainty in input availability and output marketing can add risk into an already risky venture, and most farmers will therefore shy away from vegetable cultivation. 65 Kingdom of Cambodia Compared to South and North Vietnam, vegetable cultivation in Cambodia is less management intensive. Only half of the vegetable parcels are grown on raised bed, and few vegetable parcels receive mulching and staking. Despite using a high number of sprays, on average, 38% of the farmers still have insect problems causing significant vegetable yield losses. Therefore, there is room to improve vegetable yields in Cambodia by encouraging the use of improved management practices. Promotion of vegetables cultivation can be an important tool in poverty alleviation in Cambodia as it enhances resource-use efficiency in agriculture production as well as managerial skills of farmers. It can also help to improve the quality of the diet of Cambodian people, which is relatively poor as suggested to a large extent by deficient availability of micronutrient. To tackle micronutrient deficiency, vegetables with high nutritive efficiency in supplying overall nutrients are identified in this report. These are mainly leafy, especially amaranth, and pod vegetables especially mungbean and soybean. Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq Appendix 1. Sample parcel distribution by vegetable and province Crop Kandal Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Mustard Coriander Cauliflower Water melon Chinese cabbage Onion Sweet potato Radish Winged yam Pakchoi Wax gourd Chinese chives Bunching onion Ginger Eggplant Bitter gourd Chinese kale Pumpkin Sponge gourd Lettuce Amaranth Bottle gourd Yam bean Muskmelon Sweet pepper Kangkong Petsai Basil Chili Snap bean 0.0 0.0 4.3 10.6 7.8 0.0 7.8 5.7 6.4 0.7 0.0 0.0 6.4 0.7 0.0 5.0 0.0 2.8 2.8 1.4 2.1 0.7 2.8 2.8 9.9 0.0 0.0 7.1 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.3 1.4 0.7 5.0 % of parcels by province Battambang Siem Reap K. Cham 0.0 0.7 17.1 1.4 17.8 0.7 2.7 6.8 4.8 0.0 11.6 4.1 1.4 0.7 0.0 1.4 0.0 0.7 1.4 0.0 5.5 0.0 1.4 0.0 2.1 3.4 2.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 7.5 0.0 1.4 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.8 6.0 11.3 0.0 7.5 0.0 8.3 0.0 6.0 3.0 6.8 0.8 0.0 3.0 0.8 3.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.3 5.3 3.8 0.8 0.0 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.5 3.8 1.5 6.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9 0.9 10.1 2.8 14.7 0.0 3.7 0.0 2.8 0.0 1.8 0.0 4.6 0.0 7.3 5.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9 0.0 15.6 2.8 0.9 0.0 0.0 6.4 0.0 0.0 14.7 0.9 1.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9 Kampot 0.0 0.0 5.9 8.8 10.3 0.0 8.1 0.0 0.7 0.0 19.9 0.0 6.6 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5 0.7 14.7 1.5 2.2 0.7 0.0 2.2 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 10.3 3.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 Overall sample 0.2 0.3 9.5 6.0 12.3 0.2 6.0 2.7 4.7 0.2 8.1 1.5 5.1 0.5 1.2 3.0 0.2 1.4 1.1 0.3 2.1 0.3 7.5 2.4 3.9 1.1 0.6 3.5 0.3 0.2 4.2 1.1 1.5 2.4 3.2 0.3 0.2 1.2 66 67 Appendix 2. Crop schedule by crop and season Crop Rice Corn Potato Sugarcane Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Mustard Coriander Cauliflower Water melon Chinese cabbage Onion Peanut Sweet potato Radish Winged yam Pakchoi Wax gourd Chinese chives Bunching onion Ginger Eggplant Bitter gourd Chinese kale Pumpkin Sponge gourd Lettuce Amaranth Bottle gourd Yam bean Muskmelon Sweet pepper Kangkong Petsai Basil Tobacco Chili Snap bean Parcel (no.) 77 59 1 21 2 59 46 55 34 16 17 2 56 10 25 2 6 9 18 1 6 8 3 13 59 13 14 7 3 21 3 16 4 10 15 13 1 3 3 3 Dry1 season1 Planting Harvesting2 time time 2nd Dec. 4th Mar. 4th Dec. 2nd Mar. 1st Nov. 2nd Feb. 1st Jan. 4th Jun. 4th Dec. 4th Feb. 4th Dec. 3rd Mar. 3rd Dec. 1st Apr. 4th Dec. 2nd Mar. 4th Dec. 4th Mar. 4th Dec. 4th Mar. 3rd Dec. 2nd Feb. 3rd Dec. 4th Feb. 4th Dec. 3rd Mar. 1st Jan. 4th Mar. 3rd Dec. 4th Feb. 1st Dec. 1st Apr. 2nd Dec. 2nd Mar. 2nd Dec. 2nd May 3rd Dec. 2nd Feb. 2nd Jan. 2nd Dec. 4th Dec. 1st Feb. 2nd Dec. 4th Mar. 2nd Dec. 2nd Feb. 1st Jan. 3rd Mar. 4th Dec. 2nd Jun. 3rd Dec. 3rd Mar. 2nd Dec. 1st Feb. 3rd Dec. 1st Apr. 4th Dec. 1st Jul. 3rd Dec. 1st Feb. 2nd Jan. 3rd Feb. 2nd Dec. 4th Apr. 4th Dec. 4th Feb. 2nd Dec. 3rd Mar. 1st Jan. 2nd Apr. 4th Dec. 2nd Feb. 4th Jan. 1st Aug. 2nd Dec. 4th May 3rd Dec. 3rd May 2nd Dec. 1st Mar. Parcel (no.) 30 48 7 6 7 19 14 5 10 5 3 9 2 3 2 9 3 6 1 6 4 11 3 13 3 2 2 7 7 1 Dry2 season1 Planting Harvesting2 time time 2nd Mar. 1st Jul. 1st Apr. 4th Jun. 4th Mar. 2nd Oct. 1st Mar. 1st Jun. 1st Mar. 4th May 4th Mar. 1st Jun. 2nd Mar. 2nd Jun. 4th Mar. 4th Jun. 3rd Mar. 3rd May 4th Feb. 3rd May 2nd Feb. 1st May 2nd Mar. 1st May 1st Apr. 1st Sep. 2nd Apr. 2nd Jul. 3rd Mar. 3rd May 1st Mar. 4th Apr. 2nd Mar. 2nd May 2nd Mar. 3rd May 4th Feb. 4th Aug. 4th Feb. 3rd Jul. 1st Mar. 2nd Jun. 4th Mar. 2nd May 2nd Mar. 1st Aug. 3rd Mar. 1st May 1st Apr. 3rd May 3rd Mar. 1st Jun. 4th Feb. 4th May 2nd Mar. 3rd May 4th Mar. 1st May 4th Feb. 4th Apr. Parcel (no.) 381 94 5 20 4 27 1 8 4 9 8 14 1 6 1 5 1 6 6 2 1 5 21 1 30 1 12 2 3 10 3 Kingdom of Cambodia Wet season1 Planting Harvesting2 time time 4th Jul. 4th Dec. 4th May 2nd Aug. 1st Jul. 1st Mar. 1st Sep. 1st Dec. 3rd Jul. 2nd Nov. 1st Jul. 1st Sep. 1st Jul. 2nd Oct. 2nd Jun. 1st Sep. 2nd Jul. 4th Oct. 2nd Jul. 1st Sep. 1st Oct. 4th Dec. 2nd Aug. 3rd Oct. 1st May 3rd Aug. 2nd Jul. 3rd Sep. 3rd May 3rd May 1st Jun. 3rd Jul. 1st May 2nd Aug. 4th Jul. 4th Sep. 3rd Jun. 1st Sep. 2nd Aug. 1st Feb. 1st Sep. 1st Sep. 1st Jun. 3rd Sep. 1st Aug. 2nd Sep. 1st May 4th Aug. 2nd Jul. 1st Sep. 1st May 1st Aug. 2nd Jul. 2nd Dec. 2nd Aug. 3rd Nov. 4th Jul. 2nd Sep. 3rd Jul. 1st Sep. 1st Jul. 3rd Sep. 1st, 2nd, .. implies first, second, … week of the month. 1 Seasons are based upon the planting months. Dry1 season is November-January, dry2 season is February-April, and wet season is MayOctober 2 Harvesting date indicates the time of last harvest Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 68 Appendix 3. Planting method by crop Crop Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Mustard Coriander Cauliflower Water melon Chinese cabbage Onion Sweet potato Radish Winged yam Pakchoi Wax gourd Chinese chives Bunching onion Ginger Eggplant Bitter gourd Chinese kale Pumpkin Sponge gourd Lettuce Amaranth Bottle gourd Yam bean Muskmelon Sweet pepper Kangkong Petsai Basil Chili Snap bean Rice Corn Transplanting 100 100 85 74 5 0 5 5 65 0 87 10 76 100 50 5 0 89 29 100 86 50 80 38 54 57 50 43 0 100 7 14 40 0 0 100 0 0 87 3 Percentage of parcels Broadcasting Bulb planting 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 64 0 100 0 77 0 95 0 35 0 100 0 0 0 40 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 95 0 100 0 11 0 29 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 4 0 25 0 42 0 29 0 50 0 57 0 100 0 0 0 75 0 86 0 0 0 81 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 75 0 13 0 71 0 Drilling 0 0 0 3 4 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Dibbling 0 0 13 23 27 0 13 0 0 0 13 50 6 0 50 0 0 0 42 0 0 50 10 37 4 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 60 19 0 0 100 25 0 1 Note: Zero means no observation for that crop in that province. 69 Kingdom of Cambodia Appendix 4. Number of management operation by crop Crop Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Mustard Coriander Cauliflower Water melon Chinese cabbage Onion Sweet potato Radish Winged yam Pakchoi Wax gourd Chinese chives Bunching onion Ginger Eggplant Bitter gourd Chinese kale Pumpkin Sponge gourd Lettuce Amaranth Bottle gourd Yam bean Muskmelon Sweet pepper Kangkong Petsai Basil Chili Snap bean Rice Corn Plowing Harrowing 1.0 2.5 2.5 2.2 2.2 0.0 2.2 1.7 2.4 2.0 2.5 1.9 2.4 2.7 2.1 2.2 2.0 2.4 1.4 1.0 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.6 2.3 1.7 1.0 2.0 2.3 2.9 2.5 2.4 2.0 2.0 1.0 2.3 1.9 2.0 1.0 2.5 2.1 2.0 2.1 0.0 2.2 1.4 2.2 2.0 2.4 1.7 2.3 2.3 2.1 1.9 2.0 2.1 1.4 1.0 2.2 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.0 2.6 2.3 1.6 1.0 2.0 2.3 2.9 2.2 2.3 2.0 2.0 1.0 2.1 1.3 1.9 Furrowing 0.0 0.5 0.9 1.1 0.8 0.0 1.0 0.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.3 1.0 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 1.1 0.9 0.5 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.9 0.0 0.8 Land Weeding Spraying preparation 2.0 1.0 0.0 5.5 5.5 5.2 5.1 0.0 5.4 3.3 5.6 5.0 5.8 4.1 5.6 6.0 5.3 5.1 5.0 5.6 3.1 3.0 5.6 6.0 5.4 5.5 5.3 6.0 5.0 4.4 3.0 5.0 5.6 6.6 5.5 5.6 5.0 5.0 2.0 5.3 3.2 4.7 2.5 2.2 1.6 1.1 1.0 1.5 0.3 2.5 5.0 1.9 0.7 1.9 4.7 0.0 2.6 1.0 1.8 1.4 10.0 3.2 3.5 1.6 1.4 2.0 2.0 3.5 2.2 1.0 0.0 1.7 1.3 1.8 1.8 1.5 4.5 1.0 1.4 0.6 1.0 0.5 11.7 4.0 4.7 0.0 7.9 1.4 5.7 10.0 8.5 4.9 9.3 4.7 0.0 8.4 8.0 7.7 6.6 11.0 3.1 1.5 8.1 5.2 7.7 2.6 0.5 4.3 1.0 5.0 0.0 6.7 5.0 0.8 4.9 8.5 0.0 8.3 0.4 1.2 Irrigation 0 50 51 64 63 0 88 4 40 22 53 35 51 83 0 60 12 41 29 18 62 43 52 56 35 104 85 36 45 0 0 21 96 53 40 55 2 33 2 9 Harvesting 1.0 1.0 1.5 12.0 11.1 1.0 10.8 2.4 1.2 7.0 3.2 1.8 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 7.0 1.0 11.6 3.0 1.0 1.0 19.1 7.4 2.0 6.4 16.4 1.5 1.7 8.0 4.1 11.9 6.3 3.7 1.3 5.5 15.0 15.1 1.0 1.1 Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 70 Appendix 5. Per hectare input quantities and parcels receiving different inputs by crop Crops Seed (kg) Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Mustard Coriander Cauliflower Water melon Chinese cabbage Onion Sweet potato Radish Winged yam Pakchoi Wax gourd Chinese chives Bunching onion Ginger Eggplant Bitter gourd Chinese kale Pumpkin Sponge gourd Lettuce Amaranth Bottle gourd Yam bean Muskmelon Sweet pepper Kangkong Petsai Basil Chili Snap bean Rice Corn 0.6 0.4 3.1 65.2 9.5 26.0 1.1 6.7 0.5 2.1 1.0 3.6 6.1 1.3 3.2 3.3 5.6 0.7 1.0 1.3 6.0 2.4 1.5 4.0 3.3 53.8 1.8 0.7 59.1 1.4 0.7 0.8 14.3 95.9 28.5 Plant material (kg) 960 225 629 571 463 Fertilizer Manure Pesticide Labor (kg) 46 139 195 78 164 0 131 4 239 112 188 45 148 256 0 198 35 124 123 251 245 20 119 239 254 136 109 102 93 64 6 50 145 177 170 53 92 159 39 58 (t) 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.3 2.2 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.8 0.0 2.1 0.6 5.9 0.0 0.0 5.5 0.0 1.6 1.0 0.0 0.6 1.5 2.4 2.9 0.4 3.1 1.3 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.1 3.1 1.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.3 0.5 (kg or liter/ha) 0.0 33.0 26.3 10.2 8.2 0.0 17.7 3.5 21.6 10.7 20.1 6.7 21.2 16.1 0.0 15.3 11.4 9.0 9.9 25.6 4.5 93.0 19.4 21.3 25.4 7.3 4.1 15.7 0.9 3.7 0.0 16.5 13.5 2.3 19.6 2.7 0.0 21.6 0.4 2.7 Percentage of parcel received (day) Fertilizer Manure Irrigation Spray Weeding 49 471 513 397 379 35 531 77 485 248 577 176 555 612 58 359 264 367 203 484 510 228 400 406 454 589 599 441 387 112 121 161 529 700 504 281 17 210 80 75 100 100 100 100 99 0 100 15 100 100 100 100 100 100 0 100 100 100 86 100 100 50 98 100 100 100 100 96 100 100 11 71 100 94 95 100 100 100 65 66 0 0 30 33 34 0 18 0 16 0 41 40 32 0 0 20 0 44 29 0 21 50 22 56 19 29 25 26 0 0 0 29 70 19 24 0 0 13 8 11 0 100 100 95 90 0 98 20 100 100 100 100 100 100 0 95 100 100 71 100 100 100 82 100 92 100 100 100 100 0 14 57 100 88 95 100 100 88 19 36 0 50 100 68 90 0 100 50 100 100 100 100 100 67 0 95 100 100 100 100 50 50 96 94 100 100 50 78 50 100 0 100 90 13 95 100 0 100 21 41 100 100 92 88 67 100 85 22 90 100 96 60 94 100 0 95 100 100 86 100 100 100 84 94 85 100 100 91 100 0 100 57 100 69 95 100 100 88 44 76 71 Kingdom of Cambodia Appendix 6. Frequency of different types of pesticide use on crops Sr. No. Pesticide 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Folitox Phosdrine D.D.V.P Azodrin Mevinophos Padan Pegasus Photrin or Poltrin Marathon DDT Providol Bayer Netoxin No. 72 Thiodan Parcels(%) Sr. No. Pesticide 37.8 13.8 10.5 10.3 9.5 3.3 1.9 1.3 1.1 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Blue Powder Hopsan No. 75 75% Ipan Zinc Phosphate Filitox Regent Eyanamid Metaphose Vitagro Schutz Louis Regana Sanonda No. 585 Parcels(%) Sr. No. Pesticide 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.5 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Cyperan Luxicn Locuphos Fruit Nocess BM 999 Elxydol Unidentified Meirimphas Radia Tiak Toxsaveal Malachang Sumicidin Trebon Sotrin Pc Parcels(%) 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 72 Appendix 7. Yield (t/ha) of individual crop by sample province Crop Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Mustard Coriander Cauliflower Water melon Chinese cabbage Onion Sweet potato Radish Winged yam Pakchoi Wax gourd Chinese chives Bunching onion Ginger Eggplant Bitter gourd Chinese kale Pumpkin Sponge gourd Lettuce Amaranth Bottle gourd Yam bean Muskmelon Sweet pepper Kangkong Petsai Basil Chili Snap bean Rice Corn Kandal 16 8 11 8 1 12 9 12 20 11 4 6 9 13 4 6 5 10 9 8 8 3 5 9 3 2 Battambang 7 17 15 10 1 8 1 16 5 10 17 17 13 12 7 8 25 12 15 22 6 2 4 14 7 6 3 2 Siem Reap 13 11 7 9 10 7 9 11 6 14 9 9 12 12 5 9 8 11 9 5 11 10 1 2 K. Cham 4 5 18 7 14 10 10 6 14 9 15 11 14 7 13 7 21 4 7 10 3 3 Kampot 15 9 10 7 15 9 10 10 28 3 13 6 13 8 7 2 8 12 8 2 3 Overall sample 4 6 16 9 10 1 8 1 12 9 7 9 12 14 9 13 9 7 7 9 12 3 13 5 11 13 22 8 2 4 18 8 6 12 9 3 5 9 2 2 “-“ implies no observation for that crop in that province. 73 Kingdom of Cambodia Appendix 8. Cost of production and factor share by crop Crop Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Mustard Coriander Cauliflower Watermelon Chinese cabbage Onion Sweet potato Chinese radish Winged yam Pakchoi Wax gourd Chinese chives Bunching onion Ginger Eggplant Bitter gourd Chinese kale Pumpkin Sponge gourd Lettuce Amaranth Bottle gourd Yam bean Muskmelon Sweet pepper Kangkong Petsai Basil Chili Snap bean Total cost (000CR/ha) 622 894 615 5523 4606 2730 5309 439 5905 728 4106 3477 4305 1821 4425 5597 368 3723 5108 2824 1809 3419 6421 3550 3246 5834 3879 5584 4902 3834 2209 1092 1662 1929 3727 4419 3935 2148 1165 3211 Labor 69 64 34 49 57 72 60 40 50 79 61 38 68 68 68 55 99 55 22 68 58 50 44 48 62 52 59 57 72 64 92 47 39 49 68 75 68 72 55 40 Seed 9.8 11.6 54.7 21.5 8.3 1.4 3.9 37.1 7.8 8.9 1.0 3.8 6.5 6.9 1.1 13.5 0.6 5.1 0.6 1.5 5.7 5.4 31.5 0.1 1.1 1.3 1.0 4.0 2.9 3.7 0.5 1.5 60.0 7.0 1.7 13.9 2.6 2.2 0.4 5.9 Percentage of cost allocated to Fertilizer Manure Irrigation 14.1 1.6 1.3 13.9 1.7 3.5 11.4 0.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 12.1 2.2 7.2 12.8 2.7 5.6 12.2 2.8 2.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.8 1.4 3.7 2.1 0.0 0.3 18.7 0.8 5.1 16.1 0.0 35.8 12.5 2.6 0.1 8.0 2.5 5.6 14.2 4.1 1.6 16.5 0.0 8.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 19.5 4.5 3.2 2.2 0.0 12.8 15.7 3.3 3.1 19.5 1.4 4.2 26.0 0.0 2.8 9.5 0.5 10.3 15.7 1.2 0.9 14.3 2.7 4.9 19.3 4.9 2.6 21.0 0.8 4.0 9.8 3.9 20.7 6.5 0.8 10.4 10.6 2.2 10.5 6.8 0.0 0.0 40.3 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.6 17.7 3.2 7.3 13.2 5.4 0.3 8.6 1.1 0.0 14.8 0.8 3.6 15.7 0.0 5.6 13.7 0.0 30.9 15.4 0.3 9.6 Pesticide 0.9 5.0 0.0 15.8 13.0 5.9 6.9 0.0 7.0 9.2 12.1 6.6 10.0 9.4 11.1 6.6 0.0 12.2 7.8 8.9 11.4 16.1 1.6 34.3 13.0 11.2 14.3 4.2 3.0 7.0 0.9 11.5 0.0 15.8 11.1 1.0 9.5 4.5 0.0 14.8 Other 3.2 0.1 0.0 8.4 0.0 0.0 11.8 23.0 20.2 0.0 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 54.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.8 0.0 1.7 8.9 0.2 0.0 4.9 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.0 14.3 Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 74 Net return Return on land B-C ratio (000 CR/ha) use (%) (00 CR/crop day) Labor productivity (00 CR/labor day) Irrigation Fertilizer productivity productivity (CR/CR) (000 CR/kg) 6 7 12 5 6 22 3 11 4 19 3 3 15 6 2 5 20 12 27 7 18 12 1 5 3 0 62 7 18 0 4 0 12 47 31 7 39 271 70 108 46 41 38 31 154 64 68 89 35 33 167 36 74 40 155 214 52 49 50 63 142 87 18 17 195 42 92 28 48 22 47 64 21 34 Appendix 9. Economics of cultivation by crop Crop Gross return (000 CR/ha) Potato 1850 1235 125 201 316 Shallot 14500 8983 1386 189 252 Cabbage 8264 3712 416 100 160 Tomato 5105 2385 237 185 177 Cucumber 4167 837 116 54 96 Soybean 490 51 5 12 81 Yardlong bean 4804 -681 -79 16 74 Mungbean 892 276 30 77 65 Mustard 5151 1079 184 38 80 Coriander 17800 14323 1565 412 624 Cauliflower 6218 1932 229 66 85 Water melon 2828 1227 141 133 172 Chinese cabbage 6418 2007 329 80 93 Onion 10127 4558 307 95 209 Sweet potato 1563 1195 133 341 208 Radish 4112 414 73 72 108 Winged yam 6020 64 7 1 183 Pakchoi 3096 299 56 34 49 Wax gourd 4127 2402 223 232 392 Chinese chives 5600 2181 715 63 75 Bunching onion 20207 13956 1980 333 439 Ginger 6900 3354 191 561 407 Eggplant 4312 1137 69 78 108 Bitter gourd 6691 2620 312 140 204 Chinese kale 7312 3466 518 147 209 Pumpkin 6989 1418 133 15 56 Sponge gourd 14059 9369 622 248 184 Lettuce 6031 2247 475 98 129 Amaranth 1746 -463 -78 -16 -4 Bottle gourd 1540 448 49 41 92 Yam bean 4303 2655 210 158 296 Muskmelon 2999 1073 136 161 332 Sweet pepper 8258 4531 446 174 189 Kangkong 4063 -303 -27 20 55 Petsai 3935 30 8 66 71 Basil 1550 -586 -47 -26 2 Chili 4500 3732 245 486 672 Snap bean 7538 4326 554 172 307 Rice 820 97 7 18 58 Corn 987 132 17 79 111 ”-“ implies that input was not applied to the crop, hence partial productivity can not be estimated. 75 Kingdom of Cambodia Appendix 10. Farmers perception about insect problem on vegetable by crop Crops Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Yardlong bean Mungbean Mustard Cauliflower Water melon Chinese cabbage Onion Radish Pakchoi Wax gourd Chinese chives Bunching onion Ginger Eggplant Bitter gourd Chinese kale Pumpkin Lettuce Yam bean Musk melon Sweet pepper Kangkong Percentage of parcels with No problem Insect problem 50 2 10 17 10 35 10 9 40 9 66 10 11 0 50 43 50 16 25 12 14 26 93 0 40 69 50 98 90 83 90 65 90 91 60 91 34 90 89 100 50 57 50 84 75 88 86 74 7 100 60 31 Total number of parcels 2 63 40 83 40 20 31 54 10 34 3 20 9 7 2 14 2 50 16 26 7 23 28 7 10 16 21 2 8 Petsai 10 90 Basil 0 100 Snap bean 13 87 Note: Crops missing from this table do not have any insect problem as perceived by farmers Abedullah,Sokhom, and Farooq 76 Appendix 11. Nutritive value of major individual food items Food name Rice Corn Potato Amaranth Soybean Mungbean Chinese kale Yardlong bean Tomato Garlic Tamarind Pumpkin Radish Cucumber Bunching onion Eggplant Bottle gourd Wax gourd Papaya Longan Guava Mango Banana Chicken Beef Pork Shrimp Boiled fish Fry fish Chicken egg Fish sauce Market price (CR/100g) 77 300 200 49 95 73 144 110 81 293 131 70 62 60 167 101 49 60 44 517 200 242 66 741 899 768 486 521 265 373 129 Nutritive value (CR/100g) 168 96 92 679 610 461 280 213 149 127 104 92 86 58 51 49 35 31 212 118 114 99 50 249 244 202 991 104 104 333 446 Nutritive efficiency 2.2 0.3 0.5 13.8 6.4 6.3 1.9 1.9 1.9 0.4 0.8 1.3 1.4 1.0 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.5 4.8 0.2 0.6 0.4 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.3 2.0 0.2 0.4 0.9 3.5 77 Laos Lao PDR Phayvanh Siphandouang, Mei-Huey Wu and Kham Sanatem Introduction Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR or Laos in short) is located at 14-22º N, 100-108ºE, and is bordered with China to the north, Myanmar to the northwest, Thailand to the west, Vietnam to the east, and Cambodia to the south. It is a landlocked nation of approximately 236,800 km2 in the center of Southeast Asian peninsula with a population of about 5.0 million in 2000. This gives a very low population density of 21 inhabitants per km2. The country is dominated by mostly rugged mountains, and has only 3% arable land. Still, more than one ha of arable land is available for each person in the country. However, with an annual population growth of 2.5%, high availability of arable land may erode rapidly. The climate of the country is typically tropical in nature with a rainy season from May to September, a cool-dry season from October through January, and a hot-dry season during February to April. Laos is predominantly a rural and agriculture-based country. Agriculture accounts for almost 52% gross domestic product and approximately 85-90% of workforce. About 83% of the population lives in the rural areas. Per capita income in 1998 is about US$265. The market-oriented and economic liberalization policies since 1986 have reversed the agricultural collectivization policy, and led to relatively high economic growth in general and vegetable production in particular. The main crop grown is rice, although corn, tubers, coffee, and peanuts are also grown in significant areas. Vegetables are grown in about 31,000 ha, which constitutes about 3.9% of the total area under all crops, producing a total output of 117,300 t. This gives per capita annual availability of 23.5 kg compared to the minimum required level of 73 kg1. The main development emphasis of the government is on agriculture as it is the main stake of the economy. However, to achieve food security, development efforts are more focussed on rice. But for improved incomes, balanced diet, and new employment opportunities, vegetables can play an important role. With diverse climatic environments, Laos is suitable to produce tropical and subtropical vegetables. Therefore, the government is putting emphasis to develop the vegetable sector in the country. However, important information are missing for this purpose. For example, the basic information on individual vegetable area and production, economics and seasonal dimension of vegetable production, production constraints, role of vegetables in consumption, etc., are lacking. The main objective of this study, as in other Indochina countries, is to fill the information gap on vegetable production, marketing, and consumption in the country (see page 2 of this report). 1 Ali, M. and C.S. Samson. 1997. Micronutrient deficiency and Vegetables: A neglected Food Frontier in Asia, Food Policy, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp:15-38 Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 78 Data Collection The survey was conducted in April-May 1999 in three major vegetable growing provinces: Savannakhet from the south, Vientiane and Vientiane municipality from the center, and Luangprabang from the north (Figure 1). Each province represents a different eco-region in which vegetables are grown. The Savannakhet in the south represents a pure tropical situation in which vegetables are mainly grown in the rice-based system; vegetables in Vientiane are closer to the intensive year-round peri-urban vegetable production system. Luangprabang represents upland vegetable production, where crop intensity is not very high. CHINA Phongsaly MYANMAR Luangnamtha Bokeo Oudomxay Luangprabang Xiengkhuang Houaphan Northern Region Xayabury Xaysomboon Vientiane Borikhamxay Central Region VIETNAM Khammuane THAILAND Savannakhet Provincial boundary Regional boundary Survey provinces Southern Region Saravan Champasack Sekong Attapeu CAMBODIA Figure 1. Map of Laos by province and study area 79 Laos Initially, we planned to interview at least 65 farmers from each province. However, Vientiane has relatively large vegetable area so the sample size for the Vientiane province including Vientiane municipality was increased to 101. Eight to thirteen major vegetable growing villages were selected in each province. In this way, 34 villages were visited during the survey. The given sample was allocated to each village depending upon the size of its farming population. However, to cover a wider area and crops grown under diversified environments, not more than 15 farmers were taken from one village. The sample of farmers in a village was randomly selected. The farmers were divided into vegetable and non-vegetable groups based upon the crops grown during January 1998 to February 1999. As farmers were randomly selected from a village, nonvegetable farmers were also included in the sample. However, since the sample farmers were selected from vegetable growing villages, the proportion of non-vegetable growing farmers was low (Table 1). Input and output data of 627 parcels were collected for the crops grown during the period of January 1998 to February 1999. About two-thirds of these parcels were under vegetable crops, and one-third under non-vegetable, mainly cereal crops (Table 1). Thus there was a good opportunity of comparing crop husbandry practices and economics of production in vegetable crops with cereals as well as cereals on vegetable and non-vegetable farms. Table 1. Frequency distribution of farmers and parcels by farmer type and province Savannakhet Total number of farmers 65 Vegetable 52 Non-vegetable 13 Total number of parcels 188 Vegetable 105 Non-vegetable 83 Type of farmer/parcel Vientiane 101 94 7 275 189 86 Luangprabang 65 65 0 164 124 40 Total 231 211 20 627 418 209 Climatic Situation The climatic situation in the sample area is typical of tropical with some variations across the sample provinces. The rains start in May and subdue in October2. April is the hottest and driest month in Vientiane and Savannakhet. Luangprabang has a relatively milder and shorter summer (Figure 2). In this analysis, October-January is defined as dry1, February-April as dry2, and MaySeptember as wet season. 2 The unusual dry spell in Savannakhet in July and high rains in April in Luangprabang seem to be abnormal, because of only one-year data used in this analysis. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 80 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Rainfall in Temperature in 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 Jan Feb Mar Apr Vientiane May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Savannakhet Luangprabang Source: MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) .1999. Agricultural Statistics of Laos PDR, 1998. Permanent Secretary Office of MAF, Vientiane. Figure 2. Rainfall and temperature in the survey districts in 1998. Trend in Vegetable Production The data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry suggest that there was a steep increase in vegetable production in Laos during the 1990s. It more than doubled from 53,500 t in 1990 to 117,000 t in 1998 (Figure 3). The increase in production, however, came from a 250% increase in vegetable area during this period. Per ha yield has declined sharply from 7.5 to 6.5 t in this period. It is not clear however, if the decrease in yield is due to a decline in vegetable productivity, loss of agronomic potential of varieties used by farmers, change in the mix of vegetable crops grown, 81 Laos degradation of resources in vegetable cultivation, and/or a change for the worse in management practices. Area (000 ha) and production 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 10 Yiel 8 6 4 Productio Area 2 0 Year Source: MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) .1999. Agricultural Statistics of Laos PDR, 1998. Permanent Secretary Office of MAF, Vientiane. Figure 3. Trends in area, production, and yield in Laos during 1990-98 Household Characteristics There is no significant difference in the family size, availability of family labor for farming, and farm size between vegetable and non-vegetable farmers. However, vegetable farmers have slightly higher education. They also invest to improve the drainage of their fields, which explains higher proportion of good drainage fields on their farms (Table2). Table 2. Average household characteristics of farmers by farm type Variable Family size Adults Children Farm size (ha) Owned Rented Education Head (year) Adults (year/adult) Children (year/child) Adult family labor available for agriculture (no.) Well drained area (%) Irrigated area (% of the total area) Light soils (% of the total area) Vegetable farmers 6.3 4.6 1.7 1.3 1.1 0.2 5.7 5.6 1.9 2.7 30a 43 42 Non-vegetable farmers 7.3 5.0 2.4 1.4 1.2 0.2 5.0 5.2 1.6 3.1 12b 41 31 Yield Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 82 Vegetable farmers live in smaller houses, own fewer ploughs and harrows, but have a higher number of tube wells. There is no significant difference in the household belongings such as television, motorcycle, etc. between the two groups (Table 3). Table 3. Ownership of farm equipment and household belongings by farmer type Variable Tractor Cart Plow & harrow Tube well House area (m2) Household belongings (no.) Stove Refrigerator Motorcycle Bicycle Television Vegetable farmer 0.07 0.41 1.35* 0.40* 648* 0.20* 0.35 0.39 1.46 0.71* Non-vegetable farmer 0.05 0.40 2.00* 0.25* 1076* 0.05* 0.25 0.40 1.75 0.50* * The values across the two groups are significantly different at the 10% level. Soil and Land Type Soils in in the sample areas in Laos are mainly medium and light. Vegetable parcels are almost equally distributed among light and medium soils, while cereals are mainly grown under medium soils. There are variations across vegetable groups. Allium, cucurbits and leafy vegetables are dominantly grown on medium soils, while other stem and root, other fruit, pulses, and heading cole type vegetables are dominantly cultivated on light soils (Table 4). Vegetables are grown on medium drained fields where water drains out within 24 hours after rain (Table 4). Major Vegetables Twenty-seven vegetables were found grown commercially in the country during 1998-99. The major vegetables grown during 1998-99 are shown in Figure 4 and those grown in each province are reported in Appendix 1. In Laos, area under other fruit vegetables dominates over other vegetable groups (Table 5). Importance of Vegetables in Cropping System The proportion of vegetable to other crop area in the whole sample is 31% (Table 5). However, vegetable farmers allocate 35% of the harvested area to vegetables (not reported in the table). Vegetables are grown in smaller plots to make water and weed management easier but mechanical 83 Laos operations become difficult. Average plot size for vegetables is 0.21 ha compared to about one ha in rice. Plot size for corn is similar to vegetables. Allium and leafy vegetable fields are smallest while pulses field are largest (Table 5). Table 4. Types of soils and drainage by crop type Crop group Cereals Rice Corn Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percent distribution of soil Heavy Medium Light 10 10 4 7 4 0 2 8 9 10 5 54 53 58 46 65 0 43 67 35 51 14 37 37 38 47 30 100 54 25 56 39 82 Poor 62 61 69 20 1 0 20 25 26 20 18 Percent distribution of drainage Medium 26 26 27 73 83 100 78 67 67 72 68 Good 12 13 4 7 7 0 1 8 8 8 14 Note: Total number of parcels in this table may not match with those reported in Table 1 as parcels for non-vegetable and non-cereal crops are not reported here. 16 12 8 4 Cabbage Pakchoi Onion Eggplant Lettuce Coriander Yardlong bean Cauliflower Mungbean Cucumber Kangkong Hot pepper Kidney bean Tomato Cow pea Percentage of parcels 0 Vegetables Figure 4. Major vegetables grown in the survey area Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 84 Table 5. Distribution of planted area (by season) and parcel size by crop group Crop group % share in the planted area1 Dry1 Dry2 Wet 5 4 37 49 54 52 93 40 53 47 9 83 19 10 10 25 15 27 0 3 47 27 16 0 11 12 84 86 38 36 18 48 4 13 21 37 91 6 69 Cereals Rice Corn Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Other crops Total Planted area (ha) Parcel surveyed size (% of total the area) (ha) 184 (66.4) 0.93 176 (63.7) 1.02 7 (2.7) 0.28 86 (31.0) 0.21 4 (1.6) 0.09 1 (0.4) 0.20 17 (6.3) 0.21 6 (2.2) 0.25 21 (7.7) 0.23 17 (6.1) 0.12 19 (6.7) 0.85 7 (2.6) 0.67 277 (100) 0.44 Parcel numbe 198 172 26 418 46 5 83 24 93 145 22 11 627 Crop Schedule and Seasonality Vegetables are mainly grown during September-January and harvesting is concentrated during January-April before the onset of rainy season (Figure 5). The schedule of cultivation for individual vegetables can be seen in Appendix 2. Although, there are differences in seasonal concentration among individual vegetable groups, about half of the total vegetable area is concentrated in dry1 season (Table 5). For example, heading cole is mainly concentrated in dry1 season, other stem and root are almost equally distributed between dry1 and wet seasons, and cucurbits are equally distributed between dry1 and dry2 seasons. High concentration of vegetables harvested during the early part of the year reduces their prices in Laos. The vegetable prices start increasing during the wet season and remain high until the end of the year. The off-season prices are almost double than those during the peak vegetable supply season (Figure 6). 85 Laos % of individual vegetables area 20 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan. Mar. May Jul. Sep. Nov. 0 20 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan. Mar. May Jul. Sep. Nov. 0 5 10 % of overall vegetables area Oct. Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 15 Overall 10 5 % of individual vegetables area Overall 15 Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Figure 5. Vegetable crop schedule 250 Price index (January 100) 225 200 175 150 125 100 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Nov. Dec. Month Note: Estimated from the monthly individual vegetable prices in the three major vegetable-growing districts, which are same as our survey sample districts Source: MAF (1999) Figure 6. Monthly average vegetable price index in Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 86 Farm Management Practices Seed Source Except in heading cole and other stem and root vegetables, seed in Laos is mainly home- produced (Table 6). Those who buy seed from the market complain about the poor quality in terms of low germination rate. To improve vegetable production, access to good quality seed is very critical. Table 6. Seed and seedling source by vegetable group Crop group Cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and roo Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Home produced 84 55 80 0 1 71 78 57 77 Percentage of parcels Purchased from neighboring Purchased from market farmer 7 9 12 34 17 2 0 100 10 89 8 21 5 16 16 27 14 9 Power Source The majority of fields in vegetables is plowed by hand, while this is rare in cereals. Main power sources in cereals are animals and tractors. Smaller field size of vegetables compared to cereals may explain this difference. About one-third of the parcels are plowed and harrowed by using tractor both in vegetables and cereals. Furrowing is done only in vegetables mainly by hand, but covers only about one-third of the fields. There are variations in individual across vegetable groups in terms of power source (Table 7). Planting Methods Less than one- half of the parcels are transplanted in vegetables compared to 81% in cereals (Table 8). Compared to broadcasting, transplanting minimizes seed cost although labor cost increases. Leafy vegetables are planted using mainly broadcasting method. In allium, farmers use bulb transplanting. The nurseries are prepared from bulb, which are transplanted later in the fields. A significant proportion of vegetable parcels, especially in other stem and root, cucurbits, and other fruit groups, are planted by dibbling in which seeds are placed in holes . This method further minimizes seed losses although it incurs even higher labor costs. Pulses are planted using drilling or broadcasting method. Methods and Sources of Irrigation Vegetables are grown mainly under irrigated situations while cereals are rainfed. This is true for individual vegetable groups except for other fruit vegetables and pulses. Thus, access to irrigation may be a major constraint in the expansion of vegetable area. On the other hand, those who have access to water do not use it efficiently. This is evident by the observation that a majority of parcels are irrigated by flooding. Water use efficiency may be improved if land is appropriately 87 Laos prepared, such as making furrows, or using advanced irrigation technologies such as sprinkler. Most irrigation water is obtained from rivers or channels. Only 21% of vegetable and 1% of cereal parcels are connected to tube wells (Table 9). Table 7. Power source for land preparation by crop group Crop Group Cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses % of parcels plowed by Animal Tractor Hand 53.5 21.1 37.0 0.0 10.8 0.0 18.3 31.0 0.0 33.8 30.1 19.6 40.0 31.3 50.0 32.3 18.6 90.9 7.1 40.7 43.5 60.0 50.6 45.8 37.6 40.7 0.0 % of parcels harrowed by Animal Tractor Hand 43.9 13.2 26.1 0.0 2.4 0.0 11.8 20.0 4.6 35.4 30.1 19.6 40.0 32.5 50.0 30.1 26.2 45.5 3.5 9.6 4.4 0.0 14.5 0.0 4.3 15.2 0.0 % of parcels furrowed by Animal Tractor Hand 0.0 7.7 8.7 0.0 2.4 0.0 0.0 17.2 4.6 1.5 4.5 2.2 0.0 4.8 41.7 0.0 2.8 0.0 2.0 24.2 39.1 0.0 26.5 4.2 8.6 35.9 0.0 Note: Addition less than one hundred indicates that the remaining percentage of parcels was not given that operations. Table 8. Planting method by crop group Crop group Cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage of parcels Broadcasting Transplanting Dibbling Bulb planting 7 81 0 0 28 43 18 4 4 61 0 35 0 0 100 0 0 100 0 0 0 50 50 0 0 37 63 0 73 14 0 0 45 0 0 0 Drilling 12 7 0 0 0 0 0 12 55 Harvesting Other fruit vegetables and cucurbits are harvested 10 and 7 times, respectively, while all other groups are harvested only once or twice. This changes the demand for harvesting labor accordingly. Farmers do not harvest 12% of vegetable parcels by themselves. These parcels are sold to market agents who are responsible for harvesting. Sometimes consumers come to the field and directly harvest the output. Selling the standing crop to marketing agents or consumers is rare in cereals (Table 10). Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 88 Table 9. Irrigation method and source by crop group Crop group Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 1 Rainfed 62 61 62 20 9 0 1 4 41 11 100 Irrigation method (%)1 Flooding Furrow Hand Sprinkler 27 10 0 1 19 17 0 3 25 11 0 2 64 8 1 7 76 0 0 15 80 0 0 20 64 23 2 10 83 4 0 8 37 13 3 6 83 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 Irrigation source (%)1 River Canal Tube well 12 22 1 17 22 0 13 22 1 28 31 21 2 57 30 60 40 0 61 30 7 33 21 42 33 17 9 15 39 34 0 0 0 Addition less than hundred indicates that the remaining percentages of parcels are rainfed. Table 10. Harvesting in vegetables and cereals Crop group Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage of parcels harvested by Own Consumer/marketing agent 98 97 98 88* 78 100 92 100 96 79 100 2 3 2 12* 22 0 8 0 4 21 0 Intensity of Management Operations Most vegetable and cereal parcels are plowed and harrowed, and receive fertilizer doses. However, only about one-third of vegetable parcels are furrowed. Vegetables are mainly irrigated while only 38% of cereal parcels are irrigated. Weeding is done on less than one-half of vegetable parcels and one-fifth of cereal parcels. Surprisingly, the percentage of parcels receiving manure is 89 Laos similar in cereals and vegetables (about one-fourth). More than half of vegetable parcels and only 7% of cereal parcels are treated with pesticide spray. There are variations across vegetable groups in receiving different management operations (Table 10). Similar variations can be seen across individual vegetables (Appendix 3). A higher percentage of cereal parcels belonging to nonvegetable farmers receive manure compared to cereal parcels belonging to vegetable farms. More than 50% of the vegetable parcels are not weeded. A higher percentage of vegetable parcels are weeded compared to cereals. On cereal parcels, no significant difference is observed in the percentage of parcels that receives weeding operated by vegetable and non-vegetable farmers (Table 11). Table 11. Percentage of parcels receiving different operations by crop group Crop group Plowing Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 93 100* 95 92 100 100 93 96 88 90 91 Land preparation Harrowing Furrowing Total 82 86 83 53* 50 40 49 50 46 61 50 4 0 4 36* 50 0 33 46 9 56 5 93 100* 94 95 100 100 94 100 88 97 91 Fertilizer Manure Irrigation Pesticide Weeding Spray 80 97* 83 88 93 60 98 92 81 99 0 19 42* 23 26 39 40 22 79 16 26 0 38 39 38 80* 89 100 99 96 59 89 0 6 11 7 57* 37 0 96 96 68 28 68 17 19 18 42* 33 100 53 8 52 37 36 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. The average number of plowings and harrowings given to vegetables and cereals plots is about the same (Table 11). More weedings and sprays are applied on vegetables compared to cereal. On average, 1.5 sprays are made on vegetables during the whole season compared to 0.1 on cereal parcels. That could be due to a more careful management of the crop and/or more pest infestation problem on vegetables. The number of pesticide sprays is highest in heading cole and cucurbits, and lowest in other stem and root vegetables. Surprisingly, pulse fields also receive one pesticide treatment. On average vegetable fields are weeded once, while cereal fields are weeded less than once. This suggests that weeds are more of a problem in vegetables rather than in cereals. There is no significant difference in the number of weedings done on cereal parcels operated by vegetable and nonvegetable farmers (Table 12). Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 90 Table 12. Average number of different management operations by crop group Crop group Cereals(vegetable farmer) Cereals(non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.3* 1.5 1.0 1.4 1.0 1.1 1.3 0.9 Land preparation Plowing Harrowing Furrowing Total 0.9 1.0 0.9 0.7* 0.8 0.4 0.6 1.0 0.6 0.9 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4* 0.5 0.0 0.3 0.8 0.1 0.6 0.0 2.4 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.7 1.4 2.4 2.9 1.7 2.8 1.6 0.3 0.3 0.3 1.1* 0.9 2.8 1.4 0.2 1.3 0.9 0.9 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.5* 0.8 0.0 2.9 2.1 1.9 0.5 1.4 Weeding Spraying Irrigation Harvesting no. 1.5 1.3 1.4 21.5* 27.8 34.2 23.9 39.8 15.5 21.7 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 3.6* 1.0 1.0 1.0 7.4 10.3 1.5 1.0 Improved management practices such as staking and mulching are used only in vegetables but on a limited scale. About two-thirds of cucurbit and only 13% of other fruit vegetables are staked. Mulching is practiced in leafy, allium, and heading cole on a limited scale (Table 13). Table 13. Use of advanced management practices by crop group Crop group Rice Corn Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage of parcels Staking Mulching 0 0 7 2 0 0 67 13 1 0 0 0 8 11 0 2 0 0 19 0 Total no. of parcels 172 26 418 46 5 83 24 93 145 22 Inputs In the following section we compared the input use on vegetables by group, and cereals on vegetable and non-vegetable farms. The input use pattern for individual vegetable crops can be seen in Appendix 4. 91 Laos Seed In most vegetables, seed is used as planting material except for allium where bulbs are planted. On average, 14 kg per ha seed is used on vegetables compared to 10 kg per ha in case of cereals. The highest amount of seed is applied in pulses, and lowest in heading cole. The quantity and cost of seed have implications for the adoption of varietal innovation. There is no significant difference in seed rate used on cereals by vegetable and non-vegetable farmers (Table 14). The seedlings are normally prepared in the open fields. Fertilizer Urea is the main fertilizer used by farmers in both cereals and vegetables. Mainly nitrogen is applied, and very little phosphorus and potash are used. On average, 91.4 kg of nutrients per ha are applied in vegetables from inorganic fertilizer sources compared to 75.3 kg in cereals. The fertilizer used varies from zero on pulses to 112 kg per ha on heading cole. Similar variation in fertilizer use can be seen in individual crops in Appendix 4. There is significant difference in fertilizer application on cereals by vegetable and non-vegetable farmers (Table 14). Table 14. Per ha input quantities by crop group Crop group Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Seed (kg) 43.5 44.8 43.8 10.3* 5.0 4.3 0.6 4.9 16.1 10.6 36.8 Plant mat (kg/ha) 327 327 Fertilizer (kg) N 67.6 76.4 69.2 76.7* 81.6 54.7 96.9 79.1 58.5 87.2 0.0 P 2.7 4.1 2.9 7.3* 7.0 9.8 7.7 1.8 14.0 4.8 0.0 K 3.0 4.2 3.2 7.5* 7.8 11.5 7.7 1.8 14.0 5.0 0.0 Total 73.3 84.7* 75.3 91.4* 96.4 76.0 112.3 82.7 86.5 97.0 0.0 Manure (t) 0.20 0.73* 0.30 1.26* 1.47 5.80 2.26 2.79 0.40 0.95 0.00 Pesticide (kg or liter) 0.04 0.08 0.05 0.96* 0.45 0.00 1.88 1.45 1.24 0.39 0.84 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Farm Manure Average application of manure on vegetables is about four times higher than on cereal parcels. Amount of manure varies from zero in pulses to 5.8 t/ha in other stem and root vegetables. Vegetable farmers apply less manure to cereals compared to non-vegetable farmers (Table 14). Pesticide About one kg or liter/ha of pesticide is applied to vegetables compared to only 50 g/ha in cereals (Table 14). The highest amount of pesticide is used in heading cole. Vegetable farmers apply less amount of pesticide to cereal plots than by non-vegetable farmers. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 92 Irrigation The number of irrigation varies from zero in pulses to about 40 in cucurbits. Certain vegetables, especially during the flowering and reproductive stage, receive irrigation almost every day. Vegetable farmers use slightly higher number of irrigation on cereal compared to the non-vegetable farmers, however the difference is not significant (Table 14). Labor On average, 227 labor days are required to cultivate, manage, harvest, and market one ha of vegetable parcel, compared to about 101 days for cereals (Table 15). The labor requirements are highest in cucurbits, and lowest in pulses. Nearly half of total labor is used in management of vegetable parcels, mainly planting, irrigating, weeding, manuring, and spraying the fields. The proportion of total labor used in harvesting is high in pulses, other fruit, and cucurbits mainly because these are multi harvest crops, except pulses. About one-tenth of the total labor used on vegetables is engaged in marketing. The percentage of the total labor in cereals which goes to land preparation and harvesting is higher than in vegetables, although this does not mean that the actual amount of labor used in these activities is more in cereals than in vegetables Per ha labor use on cereals by vegetable and non-vegetable farmers is not significantly different. Table 15. Labor use and its distribution by farming activity and crop group Crop group Land preparation Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 21 22 21 18* 18 15 22 12 10 21 18 Percentage distribution of labor Management 34 35 34 48* 60 63 57 43 32 53 26 Harvesting 43 39 42 26* 13 9 12 38 51 15 56 Marketing 2 4 2 9* 9 13 9 6 7 11 0 Total labor (days/ha) 100 105 101 227* 191 237 212 309 303 207 85 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. 93 Laos Output Average per ha yield of all vegetables in Laos is 10.6 t, which is about 138% lower than that in South Vietnam but comparable to Cambodia. There is considerable variation in individual as well as overall vegetable per ha yield across provinces (Appendix 5). Vegetables produce higher output per unit area in a season than cereal crops. The difference is more pronounced when yield is estimated on a per day of land use basis, because vegetables use land for shorter periods of time. There is no significant difference in cereal yields across the two groups of farmers (Table 16). Table 16. Crop yield and duration by crop group Crop group Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Average yield (t/ha) 2.5 2.6 2.5 10.6* 5.2 15.3 13.8 15.4 7.1 13.2 1.8 Crop duration (days) 119 114 118 82* 86 105 89 82 117 50 105 Yield per crop day (kg/ha/day) 23 23 23 188 71 152 171 191 71 335 19 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Except leafy vegetables and pulses, vegetable yields are generally higher during the dry1 season. This explains the concentration of vegetable cultivation during this season. On average, dry1 season yields are 30% higher than the wet season. Allium and leafy yields are higher during the dry2 season compared to the wet season. No significant difference in cereal yields is observed across the season on any farm group (Table 17). Output Disposal Pattern Less than 1% of the vegetables are consumed at home, while 77% of cereals produced at the farm are retained for home consumption. Therefore, vegetables are more commercially oriented crops than rice. Among vegetables, the proportion of pulses kept for home consumption is highest. In vegetables, about 62% of the output sold are directly traded to the consumers and the remaining 38% are traded through market agents. This significantly reduces market cost but increases the family labor engaged in marketing activities. Eleven percent of vegetable crops are sold to market Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 94 Table 17. Seasonal yield by crop group Crop group Dry1 season Observation Yield (no.) (t/ha) 16 7 23 244 26 4 72 11 48 79 4 3.2a 2.9a 3.1a 11.6a 5.9a 15.8* 14.2a 17.7a 7.7a 13.0ab 1.7a Dry2 season Observation Yield (no.) (t/ha) 26 7 33 71 12 5 8 29 16 1 2.7ab 2.6ab 2.6a 9.8b 4.9b 12.0b 13.9ab 7.2ab 16.0a 2.1* Wet season Observation (no.) 120 22 142 103 8 1 6 5 16 50 17 Yield (t/ha) 2.4b 2.5b 2.4b 8.9b 3.5c 13.5* 11.4b 12.6b 5.4b 12.6b 1.8a Cereals(vegetable farmer) Cereals(non-vegetable farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Different superscript in a row implies that the values across two seasons are significantly different at the 10% level, and vice versa in case of no superscript. * No valid comparison because of few observations. agents not involved in the harvest. This practice is done only in vegetables. Another 22% of the marketed-output goes to the agent after harvesting, but the agent visits the house to get the output (Table 18). Table 18. Output disposal pattern by crop group Crop group Percentage of the output sold Retail by farmers To the agent In the market In the garden/home Standing crop Sole in the field/home after after harvesting harvesting 7 35 37 60 35 33 37 37 9 12 27 11 40 35 58 38 8 77 1 11 20 0 7 0 2 19 0 8 27 33 0 23 8 23 35 14 Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 95 Laos Economics of Vegetable Production Cost and Factor Share Except for pulses, production cost for vegetables on a unit of land basis is more than double when compared to that for cereal crops (Table 19). This is generally true for individual crops as well (Appendix 6). Among vegetables, per ha cost of production is highest for cucurbits and lowest for pulses. Unit output cost for vegetables is lower than for cereals. Other fruit and allium have the highest value of cost per output unit, and other stem and root as well as heading cole have the lowest value. Per ha cost of cereal is significantly higher on non-vegetable farms than on vegetable farms (Table 19). This is due to the higher fertilizer and manure use by the former group (Table 14). Per unit output cost of cereals is also lower on vegetable farm than on non-vegetable farm, although the difference is not statistically significant. Labor is the major cost component of crop production in Laos. It consumes about 80% of the total cost both in vegetables and cereals. The share for manure, irrigation, pesticide, and others is significantly higher in vegetables than that in cereals. However, in pulses seed is the next important item after labor, as no fertilizer, manure and irrigation are applied in the fields. Despite high use, the share of pesticide cost is less than 4% in most vegetables. Table 19. Cost of production and factor share by crop group Crop Total cost Cost per Percentage of the total cost (000LAK/ha)1 output Labor Seed Fertilizer Manure Irrigation Pesticide Others unit (LAK/kg) 1855 2265* 1929 5019* 4972 6654 5515 6924 5156 4817 1543 801 894 818 708* 1072 420 406 498 1142 507 858 83 77* 82 77 71 70 72 75 84 76 85 3.9 3.7 3.8 5.3 4.1 2.3 5.5 3.8 5.4 5.1 10.7 9.9 9.5 9.9 6.7* 7.9 6.3 8.3 3.9 6.1 7.4 0.0 2.8 7.7* 3.7 5.0* 7.9 19.2 5.8 10.3 2.0 5.0 0.0 0.7 0.8 0.7 4.3* 6.5 2.5 5.3 4.7 1.6 5.3 0.0 0.1 0.8 0.2 1.6* 2.5 0.0 2.6 2.6 1.1 0.5 3.8 0.0 0.6 0.1 0.2* 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.0 Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-veg. farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetables row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal in the same column at least at the 10% level. 1 One US$ = 7500 Laos Kip (LAK) during the survey year. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 96 Gross Revenue and Net Return Vegetables generate more than four times per ha gross revenue and net return compared to cereals (Table 20). This is true for individual vegetables with few exceptions (Appendix 7). The return from vegetables compared to cereals further improves when it is calculated on per day basis of land occupied by crops because vegetables generally occupy land for shorter period. Other stem and root vegetables, which include mainly carrots, generate the highest net returns while the returns are the lowest in pulses. On average, benefit-cost ratio on the investment made in vegetables (including cash and non-cash costs) is 170%, compared to 54% in cereals. Pulses have the highest benefit-cost ratio, and cucurbits the lowest. High benefit-cost ratios are also observed for most individual vegetables (Appendix 7). Vegetable cultivation improves economic efficiency of the resources engaged in the crop production including labor and fertilizer, as these resources produce higher return in vegetables compared to cereals. This implies that if given resources are shifted from cereals to vegetables, overall income of farmers will improve. Thus vegetable cultivation can help to alleviate poverty. However, irrigation productivity is significantly lower in vegetables than in cereals, highlighting the need to improve water use efficiency in vegetables. Table 20. Economics of cultivation by crop group Crop group Gross return (million LAK/ha) 2.5 2.7 2.5 10.2* 11.2 14.4 10.9 11.3 9.7 10.3 5.4 Net return (million LAK/ha) 0.6 0.5* 0.6 5.2* 6.2 7.7 5.4 4.4 4.6 5.5 3.9 B-C ratio Labor Fertilizer (%) productivity productivity (000 (000 LAK/day) LAK/kg) 54 54 54 170* 199 162 160 96 135 179 314 11 13 12 44* 58 47 45 32 26 50 70 143 41* 121 199* 254 107 143 546 190 168 Irrigation Return per day productivity of land use (AK/LAK) (000LAK/day) 42 41 42 11 11 6 13 7 9 10 8 11 8 87* 76 74 73 48 49 138 39 Cereals (vegetable farmer) Cereals (non-veg. farmer) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level using the t-test * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level using the t-test. Heading cole has the highest and other stem and root vegetables the lowest irrigation productivity. Labor productivity is highest in pulses and allium and lowest in other fruit vegetables. Cucurbits produce the highest fertilizer productivity while lowest fertilizer productivity is in other stem and 97 Laos root vegetables. Therefore, encouraging the production of pulses and allium can help most to improve the income of poor farmers than other vegetables. Vegetable production improves resource productivity in cereal production as well. Net returns and fertilizer productivity are significantly higher on vegetable farms compared to non-vegetable farms, although benefit-cost ratio is similar across the two groups. Production Constraints Despite use of pesticides, 54% of the farmers think they are unable to control insects, and insect attacks cause significant yield losses in vegetables. Six percent of the farmers perceive yield losses in cereals due to insect attacks as an important problem. Yield losses due to diseases, as perceived by farmers, is not important. Only one-half of a percent of farmers think they have yield losses due to disease infection in vegetables. Consumption Pattern Average per capita daily consumption of food in Laos is about one kg (Table 21). Like in other Indochina countries, food in Laos is cereal dominated, but vegetables are an important part of the diet, next to cereals. Even though the consumption survey was conducted in April, the peak vegetable supply season, average per capita vegetable consumption, especially on non-vegetable farms which is the main population group, is lower than the 200g recommended by AVRDC. The per capita consumption of non-vegetable farmers, the main population in the country, is about 13% less than the minimum required level during the peak season, while vegetable farmers are near to the recommended level. Fruit and milk and egg consumption is also higher on vegetable farm families. Thus, vegetable cultivation can help improve the quality of food. Table 21. Per capita food consumption (g/day) by farmer type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Milk and egg Others Total Vegetable farmer 499a 194a 117a 78a 83a 15a 11a 996a Non-vegetable farmer 470b 159a 82b 60a 84a 6b 3b 864b Overall1 470 161 87 64 82 7 4 875 Different superscript in the same row implies that the coefficients are significantly different at the 10% level 1 This includes vegetable and non-vegetable farmer, and urban dwellers with the respective weights of 0.05, 0.85, and 0.10, respectively. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 98 Biodiversity in Food In the 24-hour consumption survey, a total of 96 different food items are consumed and 48 of them are vegetables. On average, each family member consumes 11 different food items and 5 of them are vegetables. Other root and stem vegetables, usually low in micronutrients, are the major vegetables consumed in Laos in both vegetable and non-vegetable farms. In vegetable farm families, this is followed by leafy, while on non-vegetable farm families cucurbits are the second important vegetable (Table 22). Major vegetables consumed in the whole sample are bamboo shoot, mushroom, and leafy (Figure 7). Table 22. Share of vegetable group (%) in total vegetable consumption Vegetable groups Allium Other root and stem Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy 1 Vegetable farmer Non-vegetable farme 5.4 37.1 0.6 11.1 14.0 31.7 4.9 44.7 0.0 22.6 10.6 17.2 Overall1 5.1 43.3 0.3 21.5 11.2 18.6 Same as in Table 21. Note: No household consumed pulses during the survey, therefore, not reported here. 36 32 28 24 20 16 12 8 4 0 Bamboo shoot Mushroom Other leafy vegetable Kangkong Eggplant Pepper Cucumber Spring onion Phak sai Ivy gourd Pumpkin Consumption (g/capita/day Figure 7. Major vegetables consumed in the survey area 99 Laos Table 23. Budget share of food items (%) by farmer type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Milk and egg Others Total 1 Same Vegetable farmer Non-vegetable farmer 22.9 25.2 15.2 14.4 7.5 7.6 28.7 25.8 21.1 25.3 2.4 1.2 2.2 0.5 3594 2979 Overall1 24.8 14.3 7.7 26.7 24.3 1.3 0.8 3049 as in Table 21. Importance of Vegetables in Food In Laos, cereals, meat, and seafood claim an almost equal share in food expenditures. About 14% of the food budget goes to vegetables, which is the fourth most important food item (Table 23). The expenditure on milk and egg and other food items is about 2% of the total food cost. Vegetable farm families spend a lesser share of expenditure on cereals, fruits and seafood, and more on meat, milk, egg and others. They also spend a slightly higher expenditure share on vegetables compared to their counterpart non-vegetable farmers. Table 24. Source of food items by farmer type Type of farmer Vegetable farmer Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden Non-vegetable farmer Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden Average Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden 50.2 49.8 0.0 0.0 76.7 23.3 0.0 0.0 52.5 47.5 0.0 0.0 54.4 33.6 0.4 11.6 49.6 44.4 0.0 5.9 54.1 34.5 0.3 11.2 Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood 45.7 53.6 0.7 0 48.9 48.7 2.4 0.0 46.0 53.1 0.9 0.0 Milk & egg 23.6 75.7 0.7 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 22.6 76.7 0.6 0.0 Others 15.4 83.8 0.4 0.4 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 15.0 84.2 0.4 0.4 Total 47.9 49.5 0.5 2.2 61.8 37.0 0.2 1.0 49.1 48.4 0.5 2.0 Percentage contribution 52.7 12.3 40.0 86.5 2.0 1.1 5.3 0.2 Percentage contribution 61.2 3.0 38.0 97.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.0 Percentage contribution 53.3 11.6 39.9 87.2 1.8 1.1 5.0 0 Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 100 Source of Food About half of the food items in Laos are purchased, while another half are farm produced. The contribution of the home garden in supplying food is about 2%. Eleven percent of vegetables and 5% of the fruits come from home garden. The contribution of home garden on vegetable farms is much higher compared to that on non-vegetable farms. Vegetable farmers purchase less vegetables compared to their counterpart non-vegetable farmers, implying that higher consumption of the former group mainly comes from home produce (both farm and home garden). The higher income from vegetables, however, helps them to improve the quality of food by purchasing more of other kinds of food items from the market. Therefore, the overall contribution of purchased food on vegetable farms is much higher than on non-vegetable farms (Table 24). Nutrient Availability All major and micronutrients, except protein, niacin, and vitamin C, are deficient in the Laotian population. While the extent of energy deficiency is about 6%, serious deficiency is observed in calcium, vitamin B2 and vitamin A which are deficient to the extent of 68, 51, and 36%, respectively. Iron and vitamin B1 are also deficient (Table 25). Therefore, serious efforts are required to improve the quality of food in Laos. Table 25. Availability and deficiency levels of major nutrients Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C Unit (kcal) (g) (mg) (mg) (IU) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Recommended level 1800-2400 45-65 800-1200 10-15 4200-5000 1.12 1.22 14.66 50-70 Nutrient availability 1968 69 320 9.7 2964 0.85 0.60 15.43 61 Deficiency level (%)1 6 -26 68 23 36 24 51 -5 -1 Vegetables as Source of Nutrients Cereals are the single most important source of calories, protein, vitamin B1 and niacin. Although consumed at less than the recommended level, vegetables are an important source of micronutrients. They are the major source of vitamins A and C, and one of the important sources of calcium, iron, and vitamin B2 (Table 26). Therefore, enhanced vegetable supply can be an important tool to tackle the micronutrient deficiency in Laos. 101 Laos Table 26. Source of major nutrients by food group Nutrient Cereal Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C 84.6 53.9 49.4 37.4 0.0 62.6 28.1 54.7 0.0 Vegetable 1.8 5.1 21.4 20.0 49.6 16.0 24.8 11.7 59.0 Percentage contribution Fruit Meat Fish 2.6 0.9 4.1 5.6 38.0 5.0 6.4 1.9 39.3 5.6 18.6 2.5 18.1 1.4 9.8 19.6 18.5 1.1 3.5 15.8 16.6 9.2 1.0 4.1 14.3 12.9 0.6 Egg and milk 0.9 2.3 2.3 3.0 10.1 2.1 5.8 0.1 0.0 Others 1.0 3.4 3.8 6.6 0.0 0.3 0.9 0.0 0.0 Nutrient Efficiency Surprisingly, vegetables are the cheapest source of calcium in Laos. The cheapest sources of calories, protein, iron and vitamin B1 are cereals. Milk and egg are the cheapest source of Vitamin A, and B2. Fruits are the cheapest sources of vitamin C. However, vegetables are the next cheapest source of calcium, iron, vitamin B1, B2, niacin, and vitamin C (Table 27). Table 27. Nutrient cost (LAK/unit) by food type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Milk and egg Calories (kcal) 0.5 14.5 5.4 9.3 10.6 4.4 Protein (g) 22 146 465 80 66 51 Calcium (mg) 5 8 21 128 14 11 Iron (mg) 223 268 507 584 812 284 Vitamin A (IU) 3.85 0.35 0.24 25.33 23.87 0.27 Vitamin B1 (mg) 1516 3804 6420 12270 20536 4647 Vitamin B2 (mg) 4777 3471 7099 8720 8421 2321 Niacin (mg) 96 286 929 359 363 3642 Vitamin C (mg) 15 12 1175 1753 670 Milk, egg and meat have the highest nutritive value. However, when nutritive value of a commodity is compared with its respective price, cereals and vegetables have the highest nutritive efficiency (Table 28). This implies that reallocating food budget to cereals and vegetables will improve the overall nutritive value of food. Looking at the individual food items, leafy vegetables such as cassava leaves and basil have the highest nutritive efficiency (Appendix 8). Effect of Vegetable Production on Nutrition As vegetable production improves food quality, nutrient availability improves for the vegetable farm families compared to non-vegetable farm families. This is true for almost all nutrients. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem Table 28. Nutritive value of food by food group Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Milk and egg Others Market price ($/100g) 165.3 278.5 241.7 1326.4 918.0 602.7 713.1 Nutritive value ($/100g) 376.9 365.9 273.4 482.4 385.9 771.6 1403.6 Nutritive efficiency (ratio) 2.28 1.31 1.13 0.36 0.42 1.28 1.97 102 However, despite improvement, important micronutrients, especially calcium, and vitamin A remain deficient even on vegetable farm families (Table 29). Table 29. Nutrient availability by farmer type Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C Unit (kcal) (g) (mg) (mg) (IU) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Recommended level 1800-2400 45-65 800-1200 10-15 4200-5000 1.12 1.22 14.7 50-70 Vegetable Farmer 2013 71 334 10 3272 1 1 16 65 Non-vegetable farmer 1838 62 272 8 1812 1 1 14 42 Summary and Conclusions This report summarizes the results of a farm and household survey conducted in three most intensive vegetable growing districts of Laos. A total of 231 farmers and their housewives were interviewed, and data for a total of 627 crop parcels were recorded. The survey results suggest that vegetable farmers in Laos are typically rice farmers having similar farm and family sizes and soil types, and owning similar household belongings. However, vegetable farmers have slightly higher education than their counterpart non-vegetable farmers. They invest more to improve the drainage of their fields. Vegetable farmers allocate only 35% of the harvested area to vegetables suggesting that they are not very specialized vegetable growers. 103 Laos Most vegetables in Laos are produced during the cool-dry season. This creates strong seasonality in vegetable supply and prices. The off-season prices are more than double compared to the peak season. There is a need to support the off-season vegetable production in Laos by developing offseason production technologies. Moreover, the produce from the efficient vegetable producing regions in the country needs to be connected to the urban demand centers. This requires efficient transport and communication systems. Except in a few export vegetables, seed used in vegetable production in Laos is often homeproduced whcih results to low germination rate. Therefore, improving the access of farmers to good quality seed should be the first step to improve productivity of the vegetable sector. Moreover, some basic training of farmers on how to prepare nurseries will help to boost vegetable production in the country. As vegetables are mainly grown under irrigated conditions, proper method of applying irrigation water is important. In Laos, mostly fields are flooded and furrows are rarely made. This reduces water use efficiency and limits water availability for large vegetable area. It may even damage the crop and reduce its yield. Therefore, improvement in water application method can help to improve vegetable production in the country. Compared to the neighboring countries, vegetable cultivation in Laos is the least input intensive. Furrows are rarely made, few vegetable parcels receive mulching and staking, and fertilizer and pesticide use is low. More than half of the parcels are not weeded at all. Farmers seem to lack the knowledge of effective insect pest control. There is a large need to improve vegetable yields by encouraging input intensity to the optimum level, and improving management practices in vegetable cultivation in Laos. The results of the household consumption survey indicate that not only the quantity of food consumed in Laos is insufficient, but the quality is poor as well. Therefore, Laotian people are deficient in almost every micronutrient. While the average deficiency in calories uptake is 6%, deficiency is very serious in calcium, vitamin B1, B2, A, and iron. As vegetables are an important source of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, and they are among the sources with highest nutritive efficiency in supplying nutrients, expansion in vegetable cultivation can help to solve micronutrient deficiency in the population. To tackle micronutrient deficiency through vegetables, vegetables having high nutritive efficiency in supplying overall nutrients are identified in this report. These are mainly leafy especially cassava leaves and basil. Economic evaluation of different crops presented in this study using different parameters can be used to select various crops to achieve various economic goals. For example, benefit-cost ratio is highest in pulses, implying that those farmers with a constraint to arrange for large costs should select pulses. These crops can give the highest labor productivity. Those who want to maximize net return should select allium and other stem and root vegetables. These crops also give the highest fertilizer and labor productivity. Those who have limited irrigation resources should put up heading cole because it gives the highest irrigation productivity in Laos. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 104 Unlike other Indochina countries, a large proportion of output is sold directly to consumers near the house without visiting the market. Therefore, in Laos, stress on family labor to market vegetables is less than in other countries. This chapter provides necessary information to identify problems in vegetable cultivation in Laos. High production cost with primitive technologies is a major constraint to develop a progressive vegetable sector in Laos. Major vegetables produced and consumed in Laos have been identified. Economics of production of various vegetable crops in comparison with cereal crops were estimated. It is hoped that the information generated in this chapter can help to streamline effective policies to encourage vegetable production in the country. 105 Laos Appendix 1. Percentage of parcels by province and crop Crop Savannakhet Vientiane Luangprabang Municipalit y 1.9 0.0 0.0 12.4 0.0 2.9 4.8 20.0 5.7 14.3 18.1 1.0 0.0 1.9 7.6 2.9 3.8 1.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 2.2 3.3 0.5 0.0 11.5 4.9 10.9 12.6 7.1 12.6 12.0 0.0 2.7 4.9 0.5 6.0 0.0 1.6 2.7 0.0 1.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.1 0.8 10.5 1.6 28.2 5.6 0.0 2.4 6.5 2.4 8.1 1.6 3.2 1.6 1.6 2.4 0.0 1.6 0.0 3.2 1.6 0.0 2.4 5.6 0.8 Vientiane Overall Sample 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.9 27.6 1.0 5.9 0.4 10.6 3.8 7.7 5.2 7.0 8.3 5.3 0.4 2.0 3.5 1.3 3.1 0.2 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.8 0.1 0.6 1.4 0.2 Garlic Mungbean Tomato Yardlong bean Soybean Cabbage Cauliflower Onion Coriander Lettuce Pakchoi Eggplant Sweet pepper Hot pepper Kangkong Cow pea Cucumber Pak sien Celery Peppermint Water melon Carrot Basil Chinese cabbage Kidney bean Gourd Note: Zero implies that no observation of that crop from that province. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 106 Appendix 2. Crop schedule by season Crop Parcel (no.) Rice Garlic Mungbean Tobacco Tomato Corn Yardlong bean Soybean Cabbage Cauliflower Onion Coriander Lettuce Pakchoi Eggplant Sweet pepper Hot pepper Kangkong Cow pea Cucumber Pak sien Peanut Sugar cane Celery Peppermint Water melon Carrot Basil Chinese cabbage Kidney bean Gourd 12 5 4 6 3 11 13 52 18 23 21 22 27 21 5 4 3 7 1 3 2 3 4 2 3 1 2nd 1st 3rd 3rd 2nd Dry1 season Planting Time 4th Jan. 3rd Nov. 3rd Oct. 1st Dec. 3rd Nov. 2nd Dec. 2nd Dec. 4th Nov. Nov. Dec. 1st Dec. 2nd Dec. 1st Dec. 1st Dec. Nov. 1st 3rd Jan. 4th Nov. 3rd Dec. 4th Dec. 2nd Dec. 3rd Dec. 2nd Jan. 4th Oct. Dec. Dec. 2nd 1st 1st 1st Harvesting1 time 1st May 3rd Feb. 4th Jan. 3rd Apr. 3rd Feb. 1st Mar. 4th Mar. 4th Feb. Feb. Feb. 2nd Feb. 1st Feb. 2nd Jan. 2nd Apr. May 1st Mar. 4th Feb. 2nd Mar. 4th Dec. 4th Jan. 2nd Mar. 2nd Apr. 2nd Feb. Feb. Mar. Dry2 season Parcel Planting (no.) time 29 1 3 4 8 1 3 2 12 2 2 7 9 2 4 2 2 7 1 1 1 2 1 1 3rd 3rd Feb. 1st Feb. 2nd Apr. 4th Mar. 2nd Mar. 4th 1st 4th Mar. Mar. Feb. 3rd Feb. 2nd Mar. 1st Apr. 1st Mar. 1st 2nd Apr. Apr. 3rd Mar. 1st Mar. 3rd Mar. 2nd Mar. 2nd Apr. 4th Apr. 3rd Feb. 4th Feb. Apr. 3rd 1st Feb. Harvesting1 time 2nd May 3rd Jul. 2nd Jun. 1st Jun. 4th 3rd 3rd Jun. Apr. Apr. 2nd May 1st Jul. 2nd May 4th Apr. 3rd 2nd Aug. Sep. 4th Aug. 1st Apr. 3rd Jun. 3rd May 3rd Aug. 4th Jun. 2nd Jun. 4th Apr. Jul. 1st May 4th May Wet season Parcel Planting Harvesting1 (no.) time time 131 16 1 11 6 1 4 1 6 9 12 11 3 2 13 1 4 2 2 3 1 1 3 4th 2nd 4th 2nd 4th Jul. 1st Sep. 1st Jun. 1st Jun. 1st Jul. 3rd 4th 1st Aug. Sep. Jun. 3rd Sep. 4th Jul. 3rd Jun. 2nd Jun. 4th May May 4th 1st Jul. 2nd Jun. 3rd Jul. 3rd May 3rd May 4th Jun. Sep. May Jul. 4th 4th 3rd 1st Dec. 3rd Dec. 2nd Sep. 4th Aug. 2nd Oct. 3rd Nov. 1st Dec. 4th Dec. 2nd Nov. 1st Jul. 3rd Jul. 3rd Jul. 1st Sep. Oct. 3rd Sep. 2nd Sep. 3rd Sep. 3rd Sep. 3rd Jul. 1st Aug. Jan. Jun. Oct. - 3rd Dec. 1st May 1st, 2nd, ! implies first, second, ! week of the month. 1 Harvesting date indicates the time of last harvest. Note: “-“ Implies that no observation of that crop in that season was available. 107 Laos Appendix 3. Number of different operation by crop Crop Plowing Rice Garlic Mungbean Tomato Corn Yardlong bean Soybean Cabbage Cauliflower Onion Coriander Lettuce Pakchoi Eggplant Sweet pepper Hot pepper Kangkong Cow pea Cucumber Pak sien Celery Peppermint Water melon Carrot Basil Chinese cabbage Kidney bean Gourd 1.5 1.2 1.0 2.0 0.9 1.1 0.0 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.0 1.0 3.0 1.3 0.1 1.0 Land preparation Harrowing 1.0 0.4 0.7 1.3 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.1 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.0 0.6 0.9 0.2 1.2 0.0 0.8 1.2 0.4 0.4 1.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 Furrowing 0.0 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.2 1.1 1.0 0.6 0.8 0.2 0.0 1.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 Total 2.5 2.2 1.8 3.3 1.6 1.5 0.0 2.3 2.7 2.8 3.1 2.5 2.8 2.1 1.0 1.6 2.6 1.3 3.3 2.0 2.4 3.2 1.6 1.4 5.0 2.3 0.1 1.0 0.2 1.2 0.9 0.0 1.1 1.2 1.0 1.5 1.1 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.8 1.5 2.5 1.6 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.0 1.6 2.7 0.0 2.8 3.0 1.3 2.4 3.0 0.1 0.0 1.5 2.1 0.0 2.4 0.0 2.9 3.0 0.9 0.1 0.0 1.4 2.3 1.5 1.1 0.1 1.5 2.1 1.0 0.4 0.2 2.4 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 1.1 55.4 0.0 3.6 7.2 25.7 0.0 53.0 47.9 44.3 36.8 49.6 42.1 30.5 15.0 16.3 13.5 40.7 58.5 134.0 25.2 111.8 66.2 65.2 48.0 26.0 0.0 210.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 8.9 1.1 11.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 10.7 9.0 14.7 1.0 8.2 9.5 1.0 1.0 9.2 1.0 1.0 30.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Weeding Spraying Irrigation Harvest Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem Appendix 4. Per ha input quantities and parcels receiving input by crop Crops Seed (kg) 44.8 33.4 0.6 36.8 36.9 70.7 0.6 0.5 5.0 0.1 1.5 1.7 0.4 0.3 0.5 69.4 36.0 6.0 18.8 12.7 0.2 1.2 4.3 0.6 0.9 37.5 5.0 Plant material (kg/ha) 327 Fertilizer (kg) 75 88 0 117 80 64 0 110 119 97 92 90 110 99 79 104 95 72 93 60 88 84 64 76 142 121 70 0 Manure (t) 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.3 1.0 0.0 2.0 3.4 1.6 0.2 2.1 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.9 0.0 3.7 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.1 5.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 Labor (day) 98 179 89 200 112 277 41 196 244 188 194 221 196 341 254 377 122 306 370 120 194 387 105 237 622 251 112 239 Fertilizer 83 80 0 100 81 70 0 100 90 95 100 100 100 88 50 91 95 67 94 100 100 100 100 60 100 100 71 0 Parcel received inputs (%) Manure 24 40 0 0 12 30 0 19 33 39 9 47 24 12 50 18 26 0 89 0 20 0 40 40 0 0 0 100 Irrigation 35 60 0 57 54 52 0 98 100 93 88 94 96 76 50 64 58 67 94 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 0 100 108 Spray 8 0 75 71 0 81 0 98 100 41 6 0 71 76 50 55 5 67 100 100 40 17 80 0 100 33 0 100 Rice Garlic Mungbean Tomato Corn Yardlong bean Soybean Cabbage Cauliflower Onion Coriander Lettuce Pakchoi Eggplant Sweet pepper Hot pepper Kangkong Cow pea Cucumber Pak sien Celery Peppermint Water melon Carrot Basil Chinese cabbage Kidney bean Gourd 109 Appendix 5. Distribution of yield across provinces by crop Crop Savannakhet Rice Garlic Mungbean Tomato Corn Yardlong bean Soybean Cabbage Cauliflower Onion Coriander Lettuce Pakchoi Eggplant Sweet pepper Hot pepper Kangkong Cow pea Cucumber Pak sien Celery Peppermint Water melon Carrot Basil Chinese cabbage Kidney bean Gourd 2.2 2.4 3.2 9.4 13.8 13.6 5.5 8.2 7.7 22.6 3.8 1.5 13.2 6.9 15.2 2.0 10.0 20.0 Yield (t/ha) Vientiane Municipality 2.4 2.8 1.9 23.8 3.7 11.3 14.1 13.3 5.6 7.2 7.7 22.7 4.8 2.2 13.9 6.2 12.6 4.5 11.3 14.4 27.0 Luangprabang 2.2 1.8 32.4 4.6 9.0 2.3 13.9 13.6 7.5 7.1 22.8 4.6 2.6 2.7 12.7 7.4 13.9 3.8 17.8 16.8 13.3 1.7 37.0 Vientiane 2.4 1.7 - Laos Note: “-“ implies that no observation of that crop in that province was available. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 110 Appendix 6. Cost of production and factor share by crop Crop Total cost (000 LAK/ha) Rice Garlic Mungbean Tomato Corn Yardlong bean Soybean Cabbage Cauliflower Onion Coriander Lettuce Pakchoi Eggplant Sweet pepper Hot pepper Kangkong Cow pea Cucumber Pak sien Celery Peppermint Water melon Carrot Basil Chinese cabbage Kidney bean Gourd 1898 5917 1616 3874 2134 5157 817 5223 6401 4857 4306 5571 4554 5786 4255 6089 3608 5330 7971 5012 5803 7100 2948 6654 9996 5074 2101 7964 Labor 82 58 89 85 73 75 49 72 75 73 88 76 78 91 86 90 54 78 76 61 69 87 71 71 85 83 82 71 Seed 3 25 7 0 10 14 51 7 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 28 13 2 5 17 0 9 2 0 1 8 3 Percentage of cost allocated to Fertilizer 10 8 0 11 11 4 0 8 8 8 8 6 9 6 8 6 8 4 3 3 5 4 6 6 5 6 10 0 Manure 4 3 0 0 4 5 0 5 8 8 2 10 3 1 3 1 8 0 13 0 7 0 2 19 0 0 0 3 Irrigation 1 6 0 1 1 2 0 5 4 7 3 7 7 1 2 2 1 4 4 30 2 9 5 2 0 9 0 22 Pesticide 0 0 4 3 0 1 0 3 3 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 7 0 10 1 0 1 Marketing 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Note: Zero implies that operation was not applied for that crop. 111 Laos Appendix 7. Economics of cultivation by crop Crop Gross Net return Return on return (million labor day (million LAK/ha) (000 LAK/ LAK/ha) labor day) 2.0 7.2 5.5 33.0 6.2 13.5 4.5 9.4 13.8 11.6 8.1 6.3 17.6 4.0 6.4 7.4 6.9 7.7 11.6 1.4 2.6 8.3 9.0 14.4 23.0 20.0 5.2 18.5 0.1 1.3 3.9 29.2 4.1 8.3 3.7 4.2 7.4 6.8 3.8 0.7 13.0 -1.8 2.2 1.3 3.3 2.4 3.6 -3.6 -3.2 1.2 6.1 7.7 13.0 14.9 3.1 10.5 3 18 49 120 42 39 242 32 49 53 28 6 94 -3 10 3 46 20 13 -30 -13 11 66 37 21 59 30 44 Return on crop day (000 LAK/ crop day ) 1 14 39 310 61 90 41 46 107 83 87 17 345 -15 13 8 65 24 44 -28 -83 20 60 74 212 364 31 77 B-C ratio (%) 25 45 276 801 248 207 692 137 206 218 126 27 402 -20 70 22 134 95 57 -72 -44 64 228 162 130 292 156 132 Labor Fertilizer Irrigation productivity productivity productivity (000 LAK/ (000 LAK/ (LAK/LAK) day) kg) 6 33 51 123 48 44 258 40 57 61 31 13 100 -1 13 5 62 24 19 -14 -3 14 74 47 23 63 34 54 128 70 301 76 470 147 123 273 110 160 272 62 44 72 84 84 652 21 28 118 183 107 158 184 59 . 46 4 54 27 42 42 47 12 3 2 16 3 4 6 33 7 4 -4 4 44 46 6 5 7 2 Rice Garlic Mungbean Tomato Corn Yardlong bean Soybean Cabbage Cauliflower Onion Coriander Lettuce Pakchoi Eggplant Sweet pepper Hot pepper Kangkong Cow pea Cucumber Pak sien Celery Peppermint Water melon Carrot Basil Chinese cabbage Kidney bean Gourd Note: “-“ implies that inputs was not used for that crop, so productivity cannot be estimated. Siphandouang, Wu and Sanatem 112 Appendix 8. Nutritive value of selected food items Food item Rice Corn Spring onion Mushroom Pepper Basil Kangkong Bamboo shoot Lemon grass Pepper mint Garlic Eggplant Chinese cabbage Mint Celery Lettuce Gourd Cabbage Tomato Yardlong bean Cucumber Pumpkin Cassava leaves Bean sprout Mango Papaya Banana Pineapple Guava Orange Pork Chicken Beef Fish Shrimp Crab Egg Milk Market price ($/100g) 163 600 354 417 477 178 215 186 140 132 422 139 800 245 500 311 393 188 653 224 135 223 150 546 237 114 210 170 200 400 1314 961 1419 991 1200 250 596 670 Nutritive value ($/100g) 378 214 138 330 436 1399 668 174 979 979 303 118 515 979 1897 478 178 320 464 529 150 259 3527 412 309 670 123 138 395 292 383 533 521 373 1701 2362 813 356 Nutritive efficiency 2.31 0.36 0.39 0.79 0.91 7.85 3.11 0.94 7.01 7.41 0.72 0.85 0.64 3.99 3.79 1.54 0.45 1.70 0.71 2.36 1.11 1.16 23.51 0.76 1.31 5.89 0.59 0.81 1.98 0.73 0.29 0.56 0.37 0.38 1.42 9.45 1.36 0.53 113 Northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Mei-Huey Wu and Tran Van Lai Introduction Northern Vietnam (North Vietnam in short) consists of the Red River Delta and the North Mountain and Midland regions1. The intensity of vegetable cultivation is highest in this region as vegetables occupy 7.2% of the arable land compared to 3.6% in the whole country. With about 40% of the population and 25% of the arable land of the country, North Vietnam contributes 41% of the total vegetable area in the country. Per ha yield of vegetables is slightly higher than that of the whole country mainly due to high yield in the Red River Delta. Per capita vegetable availability in the Red River Delta region is relatively high, and low in the North Mountain and Midland region (Table 1). Table 1. Basic demographic and agricultural statistics for North Vietnam during 1995 Vegetable Vegetable Per capita Share of Population Arable Share of the availability yield (million) land region in the vegetable area production (% (kg/annum) (t/ha) (million vegetable area in the arable share in total country ha) of the country land of region production) (%) (%) 23.4 12.1 11.3 78.0 1.85 0.69 1.16 7.40 40.5 23.2 17.4 100 7.2 11.0 4.9 3.6 44.3 29.0 15.3 5.6 (MT) 13.8 15.8 11.1 13.4 78.4 99.1 56.2 74.3 Region North Vietnam Red River Delta North Mountain and Midland Whole country (unit) Source: For the source of the regional data for 1995, see the General Statistical Office, Department of Agricultural Statistics (1996). Statistical data of agriculture, forestry and fishery 1985-1995. Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi. Whole country statistics for 2000 were obtained from the official files of the General Statistics Office. North Vietnam has a unique environment in the region due to its high latitude and relatively milder and shorter summer. Moreover, this region has long been under the communist system until 1986. Comparison of North Vietnam with South Vietnam and countries in the Indochina region can highlight the effect of different political and geographical environments on vegetable cultivation. The objectives of the survey in North Vietnam are similar to those in other Indochina countries (see page 2 of this report). 1 If the country is divided into only North and South Vietnam, North Vietnam also includes North Central Coast. However, we consider this region to be part of the Central Vietnam, The North Mountain and Midland region recently has been further divided into North East and North West. However, latest data for these two regions are not available separately, so we continue reporting the data for the two -region classification. Thuy, Wu, and Lai 114 Sample Selection Hanoi, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen from the Red River Region, and Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh from the North Mountain and Midland were selected based on their high contribution in the vegetable area in North Vietnam (Figure 1). The total sample was proportionately allocated to each province depending upon their contribution in total vegetable area in the region. The largest sample came from Hanoi province as it covers 4 of its rural districts. The given sample for each province was proportionately allocated to the major vegetable growing villages in each province. A total of 453 farmers were interviewed from 19 major vegetable growing villages. As the sample was randomly selected, some non-vegetable farmers (mostly rice farmers) were present in the sample. The production data for the crops grown during January 1998 to February 1999 covered 1126 vegetable parcels and 808 non-vegetable parcels (Table 2). The survey was conducted during February-March of 1999. Table 2. Frequency distribution of the sample farmers and parcels by farm type and province Type of farmer/parcel Hanoi Total number of farmers Vegetable Non-vegetable Total number of parcels Vegetable Non-vegetable 114 102 12 415 197 218 Province Hai Duong Vinh Phuc Hung Yen Bac Ninh 89 89 0 434 313 121 49 49 0 209 149 60 96 75 21 421 201 220 105 97 8 455 266 189 Total 453 412 41 1934 1126 808 Climatic Situation In North Vietnam, the minimum temperature ranges from 14°C in January to 26°C in July, while the maximum temperature is from 19°C in January to 32°C in July. Therefore, July is the hottest month, and January is the coolest month in North Vietnam. The highest rainfall occurs in August (Figure 2). For the operational purpose, we define May-September as wet season, OctoberDecember as dry1, and January-April as dry2. 115 Northern Vietnam 4 1 6 8 7 5 North Vietnam 11 20 19 16 15 14 10 9 3 22 17 25 24 21 23 2 13 12 26 27 28 Study area Central Vietnam 29 30 31 32 33 34 36 35 37 38 39 40 South Vietnam 45 44 4 48 43 42 1 50 49 46 47 53 52 51 57 54 55 5658 60 59 61 1.Cao Bang 32. Quang Nam 2. Ha giang 33. Quang Ngai 3. Lao cai 34. Kontum 4. Lai chau 35. Binh Dinh 5. Lang son 36. Gia Lai 6. Bac kan 37. Phu Yen 7. Tuyen Quang 38. Dak Lak 8. Yen Bai 39. Khanh Hoa 9. Quang Ninh 40. Ninh Thuan 10. Bac Giang 41. Lam Dong 11. Thai Nguyen 42. Binh Thuan 12. Hai Phong 43. Bien Hoa 13. Hai duong 44. Dong Lai 14. Hanoi 45. Binh Phuoc 15. Vinh Phuc 46. Ba Ria Vung 16. Bac Ninh Tau 17. Hung Yen 47. Ho Chi Minh 18. Son Tay 48. Binn Duong 19. Phu Tho 49. Long An 20. Son La 50. Tien Giang 21. Thai Binh 51. Tay Ninh 22. Nam Dinh 52. Dong Thap 23. Hoa Binh 53. An Giang 24. Ninh Binh 54. Kien Giang 25. Thanh Hoa 55. Can Tho 26. Nghe An 56. Vinn Long 27. Ha tinh 57. Ben Tre 28. Quang Binh 58. Tra Vinh 29. Quang Tri 59. Soc Trang 30. Thua Thien 60. Bac Lieu Hue Figure 1. Map of Vietnam by province and study area Thuy, Wu, and Lai 116 400 350 35 Minimum temperature Rainfall in millimeter 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 25 20 Rainfa ll 15 10 Figure 2. Rainfall and temperature in Hanoi Household Characteristics Vegetable farmers in North Vietnam have similar farm size but slightly larger family size than non-vegetable farmers so they have higher family labor availability on their farms. Education levels of the heads of the vegetable and non-vegetable growing families and their other adult family members are similar, however, children of the vegetable farmers have higher level of education than those of non-vegetable growing farmers. The head of the vegetable farmers has longer experience in vegetable cultivation than that of non-vegetable farmers. Vegetable farm families get more off-farm income from their kins engaged in off-farm employment than what non-vegetable growing farm families get (Table 3). Household and Farm Belongings Vegetable farmers own fewer water pumps but more farm equipment than non-vegetable farmers. The former group of farmers has larger house area, more television sets, but fewer number of radios. There are no significant differences in other household belongings such as average number of stoves and motorcycles (Table 4). Temperature in centigrade Maximum t t 30 117 Northern Vietnam Soil and Land Type Soils in the sampled area are either medium or light. No significant difference in soil types allocated to overall cereals and vegetables was observed. There is not much difference in the types of soils allocated to different types of vegetables except that more light soils are allocated to leafy, pulses, allium, and cucurbits compared to other individual vegetable groups. More parcels with good and medium drainage are allocated to vegetables compared to cereals. A higher percentage of vegetable parcels are owned compared to that in cereals (Table 5). Table 3. Average household characteristics of farmers by farm type Farmer’s character Family size (number) Adults Children Farm size (ha) Owned Rented Education (years completed) Head Adults Children Total available family labor (work years) Experience in agriculture of family head (years) Off-farm income (1000 dong/month)* Vegetable farmer 4.8 a 4.0 a 0.8 a 0.25 0.23 0.02 7.2 6.7 2.0 a 2.3 a 21 a 520 a Non-vegetable farmer 4.1b 3.5 b 0.5 b 0.24 0.22 0.02 7.2 7.0 1.1 b 1.8 b 17 b 342 b Different superscript in a row implies that the values across the two groups of farmers are significantly different at the 10% level, and vice versa in case of no superscript. * One US$ = 14000 Vietnam dong (VND) during the survey year. Thuy, Wu, and Lai 118 Table 4. Agricultural implements and farm belongings by farmer type Variable Farm equipment (number) Tractor Water pump Other equipment House area (m2) Home appliances (number) Stove Motorcycle/Tricycle Radio Vegetable farmer 0.01 0.09 b 1.08 a 128.20 a 0.02 2.23 Non-vegetable farmer 0.00 0.27 a 0.60 b 102.40 b 0.02 2.12 0.80 a 0.90 b 0.07 Television Other home appliances (refrigerator, washing machine, etc.) Land and soil quality Percentage land with good drainage Percentage light soils 0.67 b 0.97 a 0.005 19 45 24 53 Different superscript in a row implies that the values across the two groups of farmers are significantly different at the 10% level, and vice versa in case of no superscript. Major Vegetables The survey showed that 28 kinds of vegetables are commercially grown in North Vietnam. The major vegetables grown based on percentage of parcels are cabbage, shallot, tomato, potato, onion, soybean, etc. (Figure 3). At the group level, heading cole and allium are major vegetable groups grown in North Vietnam (Table 5). Role of Vegetables in the Farming System Like other Indochina countries, vegetable farmers in North Vietnam are relatively less specialize in vegetable production. Only one-fourth of the harvested area on the survey farms is planted to vegetables (Table 6). On vegetable farms, however, about 27% of the harvested area is allocated to vegetable crops (not reported in the table). Northern Vietnam 119 Vegetables are grown on very small plots (400 m2) compared to the plot size in cereals (1800 m2). Vegetable parcels in North Vietnam are much smaller than in South Vietnam and in other Indochina countries. Pulses and other stem and root vegetables have slightly bigger plot (Table 6). The smaller parcel size makes water management in vegetables easier, but mechanical operation more difficult. Table 5. Soil, land ownership, and drainage type by crop group Crop group Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Soil texture Heavy Medium Light 4 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 0 4 50 50 61 45 51 54 47 56 41 38 46 48 38 54 47 45 52 42 59 58 Percentage distribution of Land ownership Tenant Owner Rent 21 5 10 0 2 2 0 1 26 3 77 93 89 99 96 96 100 97 72 94 2 2 1 1 2 2 0 2 2 3 Drainage Medium Poor 48 54 56 64 42 55 57 61 22 51 32 19 26 15 15 23 13 8 37 15 Total parcels 720 1126 142 219 47 243 90 186 125 74 Good 20 27 18 21 43 22 30 31 41 34 16 Percentage of vegetable parcels 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Cabbage Shallot Tomato Potato Onion Soybean Kohlrabi Cucumber Chinese cabbage Gourd Figure 3. Major vegetables grown in the survey area Thuy, Wu, and Lai 120 Crop Schedule and Seasonality in Production Vegetable planting is more concentrated in October after the rainy season. About 64% of the total vegetable area isis grown in the dry1 season, 20% in the dry2 and 16% in the hot-wet season (Table 6). Some pulses, leafy vegetables, and cucurbits are also grown in January-February (Figure 4). The crop schedule for individual vegetable crops can be seen in Appendix 1. Harvesting is concentrated in January and February. April-July is the lean supply period (Figure 4). As a result, vegetable prices are highest during this period (Figure 5). Table 6. Distribution of planted area (by season) and parcel size by crop group % share in area Crop group Dry1 15 9 83 64 95 70 74 87 32 55 49 22 28 Dry2 38 40 15 20 1 13 15 2 47 37 32 29 33 Wet 47 Cereals Rice Corn Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Total harvested area 51 2 16 4 17 11 11 21 8 19 49 39 Planted area (ha) surveyed (% of total area) 127 (73.4) 116 (67.3) 11 (6.2) 46 (26.6) 8 (4.5) 6 (3.7) 4 (2.4) 7 (4.0) 6 (3.4) 7 (4.0) 3 (1.5) 5 (3.0) 173 (100) Parcel size (ha) 0.18 0.21 0.08 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.06 0.10 Farm Management Practices Seed Source The major source for vegetable seeds is local market, compared to cereals where a majority of the seed s is home-produced. However, farmers complain that local market agents do not have very authenticated pure seeds. These agents sometimes get seeds from the local vegetable-producing farmers. Only in other stem and root and heading cole groups do a significant proportion of seeds come from seed sale agents. (Table 7). 121 Northern Vietnam Power Source for Land Preparation Farmers frequently use animals for plowing or harrowing while furrowing is mainly done manually (Table 8). There is not much difference in the method of land preparation between vegetables and cereals. However, most farmers prepare furrows for vegetables compared to only 28% for upland cereals. Table 7. Seed source by crop group Crop group Local market 13 Percentage of parcels Seed sale agent Home-produced 35 52 Cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 55 51 65 53 59 49 58 50 30 23 14 13 45 34 21 31 16 15 22 35 22 2 7 30 11 34 55 Thuy, Wu, and Lai 122 Planting schedule % of individual vegetable parcels 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan. Mar. May Jul. Sep. Nov. % of overall vegetable parcels Overall 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit veg. Leafy veg. Pulses Harvesting % of individual vegetable parcels 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan. Mar. May Jul. Sep. Nov. % of overall vegetable parcels Overall 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit veg. Leafy veg. Pulses Figure 4. Planting and harvesting schedule by crop group and overall 300 250 Price indices 200 150 100 50 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Months Figure 5. Seasonality in overall retail vegetable price in Hanoi, average of 1990-93 123 Northern Vietnam Table 8. Power source for land preparation by crop group Crop group Cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses % of parcels plowed by Manual Animal Tractor 5.6 12.5 6.3 13.2 6.4 15.2 8.9 18.3 8.8 13.5 70.4 78.3 86.6 81.7 89.4 74.5 85.6 75.8 71.2 67.6 24.0 8.3 7.0 5.0 4.3 10.3 5.6 5.9 12.0 18.9 % of parcels harrowed by Manual Animal Tractor 8.3 15.8 7.0 15.1 6.4 21.0 15.6 22.0 12.0 14.9 68.5 75.3 84.5 79.0 91.5 68.3 78.9 72.0 72.0 68.9 17.2 7.2 7.0 5.9 2.1 10.3 5.6 5.9 3.2 16.2 % of parcels furrowed by Total parcels Manual Animal Tractor (number) 27.9 93.3 92.3 99.1 95.7 97.9 94.4 93.6 72.8 94.6 1.3 0.5 3.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.4 0.3 0.4 2.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 720 1126 142 219 47 243 90 186 125 74 The percentages in an operation do not add up to 100 because the remaining parcels did not receive the operation. Planting Methods Vegetables in North Vietnam are transplanted (45%), dibbled (26%), or broadcasted in the dry field called dry-seeded (20%). All pulses fields and nearly half of leafy vegetable parcels are broadcasted. Cereals, dominated by rice, are mainly transplanted, and one- fifth of the fields, mainly for upland crops such as corn, are dry seeded (Table 9). The planting method for each crop can be seen in Appendix 2. Thuy, Wu, and Lai 124 Table 9. Planting method by crop group Crop group Cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage of parcels Broadcasting Dibbling Transplanti Drilling Other Wet Dry Bulb/tuber ng Cutting seeded seeded planting 67.8 44.8 0.0 11.4 93.6 97.5 66.7 73.1 1.6 0.0 6.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 19.2 19.5 0.0 0.5 6.4 2.5 33.3 26.9 44.8 100.0 0.0 26.4 73.2 88.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 26.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 24.0 0.0 6.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 3.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 29.6 0.0 Methods and Sources of Irrigation The main irrigation method for vegetables is manual while in cereals, pumping is the main irrigation method. There are certain variations in irrigation methods across vegetable groups. For example, a significant proportions of allium and tubers fields are irrigated by pumping. More than 90% of other stem and root parcels are irrigated manually. Major sources of water in North Vietnam are channels and rivers. About one- third of the vegetable parcels and more than one- fourth of the cereal parcels are grown on the riverside, thus they are dependent on river for irrigation source (Table 10). As most fields are irrigated manually, the main water sources (i.e. rivers and channels) do not pass through their own fields. The very small size of the fields makes such structures not feasible. Mode of Harvesting Almost all cereal and vegetable parcels are harvested by family labor. Unlike in South Vietnam, there is no arrangement here for harvesting between market agents and farmers. and cereals, receive weeding, fertilization, and irrigation. A large number receive manure and pesticide spray as well (Table 11). This means that crop cultivation in North Vietnam is generally more management intensive than in South Vietnam and other Indochina countries. However, the proportion of vegetable parcels treated with spraying is lower than that in South Vietnam and Cambodia. Northern Vietnam 125 Total number of land preparation operations done on vegetables is higher than in cereals, mainly because of additional furrowing operation on vegetable parcels. Vegetable parcels receive significantly higher weedings, sprays, and irrigations also (Table 12), however, the difference is not as great as in South Vietnam. Table 10. Irrigation method by crop group Crop group Cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Irrigation method (% of parcels) Rain Hand Pumping Both 3.3 4.5 0.7 9.6 0.0 0.8 2.2 2.7 10.4 9.5 38.6 63.8 51.4 46.6 93.6 66.7 75.6 72.0 62.4 77.0 57.4 31.5 47.9 43.8 6.4 32.5 22.2 25.3 25.6 13.5 0.7 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.0 Irrigation source (% of parcels) Rain River Channel Lake 3.3 4.5 0.7 9.6 0.0 0.8 2.2 2.7 10.4 9.5 26.8 31.1 28.9 22.8 76.6 27.2 46.7 31.7 32.8 18.9 63.5 47.2 38.0 45.7 21.3 56.0 42.2 39.3 56.0 68.9 6.4 17.2 32.4 21.9 2.1 16.0 8.9 26.3 0.8 2.7 Almost all vegetable parcels receive 2-3 weedings. Tubers, on average, receive less than one spray, leafy and pulses little over one, allium little more than two, while all other vegetables receive more than three sprays. On average, tubers, leafy, cucurbits, and pulses receive 3-5 irrigations, while the number of irrigations to other vegetables ranges in between 5-7. Similar variation in the intensity in management operations can be seen across individual vegetables in Appendix 3. Vegetable farmers apply slightly less number of irrigations and sprays to the cereal fields compared with non-vegetable farmers, however, the difference is not significant. In other operations, there is no difference in treating the cereal parcels between vegetable and non-vegetable farmers (Table 12). Thuy, Wu, and Lai 126 Table 11. Percentage of parcels received different management operation by crop group Crop group Land preparation Weeding Spraying Manure Fertilizer Irrigation Plowing Harrowing Furrowing Total Cereal of vegetable farmer 100.0 94.4 29.3 100 99.5 84.6 84.4 99 97 Cereal of non-vegetable farmer 100.0 91.3 30.4 100 100.0 79.4 78.3 100 98 Overall cereal 100.0 94.0 29.5 100 99.6 83.9 83.6 99 97 Overall vegetable 99.1 98.3* 94.2* 99.5 98.7 72.6* 80.3 95* 95 Tubers 100.0 98.6 98.6 100 97.9 31.7 85.9 98 99 Allium 100.0 100.0 99.1 100 100.0 73.1 86.3 93 90 Other stem and root 100.0 100.0 95.7 100 95.7 91.5 78.7 98 100 Heading cole 100.0 99.6 97.9 100 98.4 85.2 85.6 100 99 Cucurbits 100.0 100.0 94.4 100 100.0 77.8 85.6 100 98 Other fruit 100.0 100.0 93.6 100 98.9 84.4 81.7 98 97 Leafy 92.0 87.2 72.8 95.2 98.4 61.6 66.4 94 90 Pulses 100.0 100.0 95.9 100 97.3 78.4 48.7 68 91 * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. All vegetable parcels, except pulses, in North Vietnam are grown on raised beds, and cucurbits and other fruits type vegetables are staked. Moreover, the majority of allium and cucurbits fields are mulched. Table 12. Number of different operation by crop group Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Plowing 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.3* 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.0 Land preparation Harrowing Furrowing 1.7 0.3 1.7 1.7 1.8* 1.8 2.0 1.4 1.7 1.9 1.6 1.5 1.8 0.3 0.3 1.2* 1.2 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 Total 3.1 3.1 3.1 4.3* 4.2 4.7 3.7 4.3 4.4 3.9 3.6 3.8 Weeding 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.5* 2.0 2.8 2.3 2.6 2.5 2.9 2.2 2.5 Spraying 1.5 1.6 1.5 2.4* 0.7 2.2 3.4 3.0 3.1 3.3 1.5 1.6 Irrigation 3.2 3.4 3.2 5.3* 3.6 5.8 6.3 6.8 4.8 6.0 3.6 3.2 * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. 127 Northern Vietnam Input use Labor Labor used to cultivate one ha of vegetables is more than double than that in cereals. A demand for about 252 additional labor days (or 32 days more than one full, one-year job considering 220 working days in a year) is generated if one ha cereal is transformed into vegetables in one season (Table 13). One major difference in labor allocation between cereal and vegetables is marketing labor. One-fifth of the total labor used in vegetables goes to marketing while very little labor goes for marketing in cereals. Vegetable marketing is the responsibility of the individual farmers in North Vietnam. This leaves a relatively small labor share for crop management and land preparation operations. Therefore, the proportion of labor allocated to land preparation, management, and harvesting in vegetables is significantly less than in cereals, although it does not imply that these operations need less labor in vegetables than in cereals. Table 13. Average distribution of labor by farm activity and crop group Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage distribution of labor to Land preparation 31.4 27.1* 30.8 21.9* 30.1 22.7 22.3 19.9 19.7 15.7 19.1 32.8 Management 45.2 48.0* 45.6 39.6* 43.0 37.5 46.7 43.5 41.0 36.7 30.4 43.6 Harvesting 21.8 22.7 22.0 19.3* 19.8 18.9 9.3 9.5 20.0 25.0 34.0 18.1 Marketing 1.6 2.2 1.6 19.2* 7.1 20.9 21.7 27.1 19.3 22.6 16.5 5.5 Total labor (days/ha) 215 219 216 468* 294 454 457 491 533 603 517 271 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Labor requirements are highest in other fruit and cucurbits and lowest in pulses and tubers. The high requirement in these crops is due to multiple harvesting involved. Similar variation in labor requirements can be seen in individual vegetables in Appendix 3. There is no statistical difference in the labor use for cereals between vegetable and non-vegetable farms although vegetable farmers allocate more proportion of labor on land preparation, and less on crop management. Seed and Seedling Seeds are planted in most vegetables, except in allium, tubers, and some leafy where plant materials other than true seeds are used. Some farmers reported plant numbers, instead of weight of seed or planting material, suggesting that nurseries are prepared in most of these cases. The seed rate in vegetables is lower than in cereals. Among vegetables, pulses use the highest quantity of seeds (Table14). Vegetable and non- 128 Thuy, Wu, and Lai vegetable farmers use about the same seed rate for cereals. Seed quantities for individual crops are reported in Appendix 4. The seedling is normally prepared in the field. It is rare to prepare nursery plants in trays. Although nursery plants are normally protected through mulching and shades, it is not protected from virus and insect attacks. Fertilizer The main fertilizer types used by farmers are urea and superphosphate. Unlike in South Vietnam, large quantities of potash are applied here to both cereal and vegetable crops. On average, 350 kg soil nutrients per ha are applied to vegetables from inorganic source, which is 60% higher than in cereals. The highest amount is applied to other stem and root, heading cole, and cucurbits. Vegetable farmers use more fertilizer on their cereal fields than non-vegetable farmers do, but the difference is not significant (Table 14). Vegetables also receive 52% more manure than cereals. The lowest use of manure is in pulses. Vegetable farmers apply more manure to cereals than non-vegetable farmers do (Table 14). Table 14. Seed and fertilizer use by crop group Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Seed rate (kg/ha) 76.1 75.1 75.9 15.3* 1.9 1.2 1.4 3.4 21.3 1.5 53.0 Plant material weight (kg/ha) 1739 697 167 5452 Plant no./ha N 65898 114284 48134 39669 26719 37265 124 116 123 186* 144 172 228 227 219 200 193 67 Fertilizer (kg/ha) P 44 42 44 74* 55 77 75 88 91 83 56 39 K 52 50 51 90* 72 95 125 102 95 105 80 20 Total 220 209 218 350* 270 343 429 417 405 388 330 126 Manure (t/ha) 6.41 5.53* 6.30 9.59* 10.66 9.64 10.80 10.63 10.86 9.58 8.16 4.08 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Pesticide The percentage of parcels treated with pesticide is lower for vegetables than for cereals, but vegetables receive more amount of pesticide and number of sprays. On average, vegetables receive 6 kg (or liter) of pesticide quantity compared to 4 kg (or liter) in case of cereals. Average quantity of pesticide used varies from 2.2 kg (or liter) in tubers to about 9 kg (or liter) in other stem and root, other fruit, and cucurbits (Table 15). There is wide variation in pesticide application to individual crops (Appendix 5). Northern Vietnam 129 Not only less numbers of vegetable parcels are treated with pesticide spray in North Vietnam, the average number of spraying in vegetables is also far below here than in South Vietnam and Cambodia. This implies that vegetable cultivation is relatively safer in North Vietnam. Table 15. Per ha use of pesticide by crop group Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Pesticide % of parcels sprayed 84.6 79.4 83.9 72.6* 31.7 73.1 91.5 85.2 77.8 84.4 61.6 78.4 No. of sprays 1.5 1.6 1.5 2.4* 0.7 2.2 3.4 3.0 3.1 3.3 1.5 1.6 Quantity (kg or liter) 4.2 3.2* 4.1 6.2* 2.2 5.8 8.6 6.7 8.5 8.6 4.1 5.9 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Output Yield Average per ha yield of vegetables in North Vietnam is at 18.5 t which is much higher than in neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia, but about 27% lower than in South Vietnam. Heading cole has the highest per ha yield, and the lowest yield is in pulses (Table 16). Similar variations in crop yield can be seen across individual vegetables over the sample provinces (Appendix 6). On average, vegetables occupy land significantly for a shorter period compared to cereals. However, there are variations in crop duration across vegetable groups. Other stem and root are the shortest duration crops, while tubers occupy the field for the longest time. Average yield per crop day in the field is highest for heading cole, and lowest for pulses (Table 16). The coefficient of variation (CV) in vegetable yield, on average, is three times higher than that in cereal yields, and this is generally true for all vegetables. There is no significant difference in average per ha yield of cereals between vegetable and non-vegetable farms. However, the per-ha per-day yield is significantly higher on the former group. On average, vegetable yields are higher during the dry1 season compared to dry2 and wet season, however, the difference is not as great as to be expected (Table 17). The yields of other fruit and pulses are highest during the dry1 season, the yields of allium, other stem and root, and leafy are highest during the dry2 season, while the yields of heading cole and cucurbits are highest during the wet season. 130 Thuy, Wu, and Lai Significant regional variation in vegetable yields across region was observed (Table 18). Hai Duong and Hung Yen have generally highest yields. Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh, which lie in deltas, have generally lower yield. Table 16. Average yield of vegetable and cereals Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy1 Pulses Yield (t/ha) 4.88 4.89 4.88 18.49* 8.92 11.85 18.46 30.22 26.93 22.55 15.98 1.75 CV of yield 28 19 27 81 37 81 40 46 51 76 88 43 Crop duration (days) 98 110* 99 84* 103 86 58 75 81 93 70 90 Yield per day (kg/ha/day) 51 45* 51 236* 87 132 336 410 341 248 248 19 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. 1 The long duration for leafy vegetables in North Vietnam is due to many observation of sauropus included in this group which goes as long as more than 100 days. The year-round cultivation of kankong was considered to have new crop after each two harvesting within 60-70 days. 131 Table 17. Seasonal yield of vegetables and cereals Dry1 season Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Observation (no.) 137 23 160 569 97 86 12 158 57 84 42 33 Yield (t/ha) 4.71b 5.24a 4.78b 19.43a 9.18a 10.66b 19.79a 30.30a 24.42b 26.33a 13.28b 1.86a Dry2 season Observation (no.) 85 26 111 125 35 4 19 2 17 42 6 Yield (t/ha) 5.27a 4.90ab 5.18a 16.02b 14.27a 21.00a 25.85b 21.00b 5.10b 18.81a 1.51c Northern Vietnam Wet season Observation (no.) 406 43 449 432 45 98 31 66 31 85 41 35 Yield (t/ha) 4.86b 4.70b 4.85b 17.97b 8.37a 12.03ab 17.62a 31.28a 31.92a 22.31a 15.86b 1.69b Different superscript in a row implies that the values across two seasons are significantly different at the 15% level, and vice versa in case of same superscript. Table 18. Average yield of vegetable by province Crop group Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Hanoi 16.51b (197) 7.75c (26) 7.30 c (44) 17.52 b (33) 28.94ab (29) 31.92 ab (2) 15.26 c (16) 26.72 a (37) 1.59 a (10) Hai Duong 21.24a (313) 10.27b (35) 12.27 b (34) 17.85ab (4) 32.81 a (92) 26.23 b (36) 23.17 b (47) 14.15 b (51) 1.80 a (14) Yield (t/ha)* Vinh Phuc 16.39b (149) 12.16 a (7) 16.24 a (49) 23.45 a (4) 26.86 b (30) 19.52 c (18) 9.07 d (29) 6.52 c (6) 1.46 a (6) Hung Yen 20.68 a (201) 9.60b (21) 13.03ab (20) 24.19 a (5) 26.31 b (54) 34.79 a (24) 36.66 a (32) 7.43 c (11) 1.87 a (34) Bac Ninh 16.24b (266) 7.92 c (53) 11.12b (72) 3.36 (1) 33.15a (38) 22.90abc (10) 22.99 b (62) 8.35 c (20) 1.63 a (10) Different superscript in a row implies that the yield is significantly different across the two provinces at the 10% level, and vice versa in case the superscripts are similar. *Number in parenthesis means number of observations. Thuy, Wu, and Lai 132 Economics of Vegetable Production Cost of Production Vegetables require about two times more costs than cereals (Table 19). However, vegetable cost of per ha cultivation in North Vietnam is about 47% less than that in South Vietnam. Other fruit, allium, heading cole, and other stem and root vegetables are the highest cost crops. Pesticide cost accounts for only 5% of the total cost of vegetable production, less than the factor share for pesticide use in cereals. Fertilizer use accounts for about 16% of the total cost. Factor share for labor is highest, claiming about two-thirds of the total cost. Compared to cereals, factor share for seed is higher in vegetables while the shares of fertilizer and pesticide in total costs are lower than in cereals. However, there are variations among different vegetable groups (Table 19). Similar variations can be seen across individual vegetables (Appendix 7). The per ha cost for cereal production is lower on non-vegetable farms than that on vegetable farms, and the difference is significant. Vegetable farmers allocate less budget share on labor, but more on seed. Table 19. Total cost and factor share by crop group Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Labor 59.2 64.0* 59.8 61.1* 46.2 60.8 59.1 58.6 61.7 68.2 69.3 67.6 Seed 7.3 5.3* 7.0 12.0* 29.6 14.0 10.0 11.0 6.2 6.3 5.4 8.8 Percentage of the total cost Fertilizer Manure Pesticide 18.0 17.6 18.0 16.2* 15.5 14.8 17.7 18.9 19.7 15.3 16.5 8.8 2.3 2.1 2.3 1.9* 2.6 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 1.6 1.8 1.2 6.8 4.4* 6.5 5.0* 1.6 4.9 8.1 5.9 6.4 5.3 2.9 7.3 Irrigation 6.4 6.5 6.4 3.9 4.5 3.6 3.3 3.5 3.8 3.2 4.2 6.3 Total cost (MVND1/ha) 5.7 5.5* 5.7 10.1* 8.3 10.6 10.9 10.5 10.1 12.0 9.8 6.0 * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. MVND = Million Vietnamese dongs. 133 Northern Vietnam Benefits and Returns On average, vegetables generate more than three times higher gross revenue and about fourteen times higher net returns than cereals. Although per ha production cost in vegetable is two times higher than in cereals, the benefit-cost ratio is more than six times higher. The higher benefit-cost ratio than cereals is generally true for individual vegetable groups (Table 20). Net returns and benefit-cost ratios in individual vegetables, except carrot, coriander, and binweed, are higher than those in rice (Appendix 8). Cost of one kilogram of vegetable production is slightly lower than that of cereals in North Vietnam. Pulses, allium and tubers are the most expensive and heading cole and cucurbits are the cheapest vegetables to produce (Table 20). Vegetable cultivation improves resource productivity such as labor and fertilizer. On average, labor and fertilizer productivity in vegetables is, respectively, 122% and 141% higher than in cereals. Labor productivity is highest in heading cole and cucurbits and lowest in leafy and pulses. There is no significant difference in gross revenue, net returns, benefit-cost ratio in cereal production between vegetable and non-vegetable farms. Labor efficiency on vegetable farms is significantly higher than on non-vegetable farms, however, the reverse is true for benefit-cost ratio but the difference is not statistically significant. Table 20. Economics of cultivation by crop group BenefitNet Gross cost return return ratio (MVND/h (MVND/h (%) a) a) 6.6 6.6 6.6 22.8* 11.8 19.9 26.0 34.4 30.9 27.9 12.1 8.0 0.9 1.1 0.9 12.7* 3.4 9.3 15.1 23.9 20.8 15.9 2.4 2.0 18 22 19 126* 45 90 148 238 240 127 27 39 Cost (VND/kg) 1262 1161* 1249 1102* 1099 1579 777 437 524 882 823 3811 Labor productivity (VND/day) 17387 15474* 17142 38114* 29647 32141 45727 63430 61887 32030 11477 15451 Irrigation productivity (VND/VND) 8.2 7.7 8.2 24.4* 15.1 19.5 24.4 38.4 36.8 25.8 14.1 9.5 Fertilizer Productivity (VND/kg) 33400 33710 33440 80583* 49208 86468 81420 109553 102293 80212 42493 54332 Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * In the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Thuy, Wu, and Lai 134 Marketing In North Vietnam, vegetable marketing, as an institution, is not developed on modern lines because of the long history of the region under the communist rule. At the time this survey was conducted during 1998-99, there was no concept of open auction wholesaling in vegetable marketing here. A person from each vegetable growing family, usually a female, iis reserved to bring and market vegetables in the nearby city or town market, called a ‘wholesale market’ simply because vegetables are sold in relatively large quantities but not through wholesale open auction. The marketing persons start early morning hours from their houses. The sale starts in the wholesale market at around 3:00 o’clock in the morning. The retailers from the scattered city markets come to buy vegetables in large bulk although consumers who want to buy fresh vegetables also come during early hours of the morning. The marketing of the vegetables finishes before 7 a.m. Marketing people travel back, and after taking some rest, they arrange for harvesting of vegetables for the coming night. Usually little grading or packaging is done at the farm-level. The survey in Hanoi market suggests that the vegetable marketing persons travel, on average, about 20 km (one way) from their field to market to sell their vegetables in the city. They mostly use motorcycles or bicycles to bring vegetables from the farm to the market. Average quantity of vegetables brought in the market by each marketing person is about 20 kg. About 84% of the vegetables are brought by the farmers to the market, and only a small portion (1.6%) are sold through the marketing agent who buy vegetables from the farmers at their farm (Table 21). In case the commodity is for export, assemblers collect vegetables from farmers in large quantities. But very few such cases came up in the survey. Table 21. Types of marketing by crop group Crop group Overall cereal Overall vegetable Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses In the market 11.3 83.7 * 34.9 93.0 94.8 97.4 94.8 95.7 91.1 42.0 Sold type(%) Agent at home 0.1 1.6 * 0.0 5.4 4.3 0.0 0.0 0.5 2.4 0.0 Note: The sum in a row may not add up to 100 because the remaining portion of the crop is not sold and consumed at home or kept to be used as seed in the coming season. * In the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. 135 Northern Vietnam Biological Constraints in Production As noticed earlier, most vegetable farmers use some pesticides to protect their vegetables from insect pests and diseases. Despite this, a large number of farmers fail to protect their crops from insect pests. On average, 55% of the farmers complain to have serious insect problem (Table 22). Insect problem is less serious on tubers and allium. Farmers can identify only large-sized insects such as worms as major insects on their fields. Farmers’ perceptions about insect and disease problems in individual vegetable crops are shown in Appendix 9. More than one-third of the farmers report diseases as production constraint in vegetables. Those farmers who are able to identify the disease problem mention that the symptoms of leaf spot and late blight are serious problems in their fields. Table 22. Farmers’ perceptions about insect and disease problems on vegetables by crop group Vegetable group Tuber Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy vegetables Pulses Overall Parcels with insect problem (%) Insect problem No problem 82 18 58 42 28 72 29 71 33 67 31 69 54 46 32 68 45 55 Parcels with disease problem (%) No problem Disease problem 85 15 58 42 73 27 64 36 50 50 52 48 77 23 45 55 63 37 Total parcel (number) 142 219 47 243 90 186 125 74 1126 Consumption Pattern People in North Vietnam consume about 1.1 kg of food every day. A ittle less than 50% of the food items consumed consist of cereals. Vegetables are an important component of diets, contributing about one-fourth in the total quantity of food items consumed. Unlike in other Indochina countries, average per capita daily consumption of vegetables in North Vietnam is higher than the minimum required level of 200 g. Consumption of fruits, meat, seafood, egg and milk is relatively small. Vegetable cultivation further improves vegetable and fruit consumption as their consumption is significantly higher among vegetable farm families compared to the consumption among non-vegetable farm families. However, seafood consumption is significantly lower among vegetable farm families when compared with non-vegetable farm families, although the quantity consumed of these items in both groups is relatively small (Table 23). Thuy, Wu, and Lai Table 23. Per capita food consumption (g/day) by farm type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg & milk Others Total Vegetable farmer 525a 303 a 52 a 79 a 56 b 9a 97 a 1119 a Non-vegetable farmer 496 a 210 b 16 b 80 a 80 a 15 a 83 a 980 b Overall1 481 240 59 95 72 18 88 1053 136 Different superscripts across a row indicate that the consumption of the commodity in the row is different across farm type, and similar superscripts imply that they are statistically the same, both tested at the 10% level. 1 This includes vegetable and non-vegetable farmer, and urban dwellers with the respective weights of 0.2, 0.6, and 0.2. Biodiversity in Consumption In North Vietnam, a total of 138 different food items are consumed in the 24-hour record survey, and 40 of them are of different vegetable species. On average, about 11 different food items are consumed daily by each household, and 3 of them are vegetables. The major vegetables consumed are shown in Figure 6. 100 80 Consumption 60 40 20 0 Kangkong Mungbean sprout Sauropus Shallot Pakchoi Salted mustard Perilla White jute Jointed gourd Cabbage Malabar nightshade Radish Sponge gourd Eggplant Mustard Others Figure 6. Major vegetables consumed in the survey area 137 Northern Vietnam About two-thirds of vegetables consumed in North Vietnam are leafy (Table 24). The importance of other types of vegetables varies among the two family groups. While heading cole is the next important vegetable consumed among non-vegetable farm families, cucurbits rank second to leafy among the vegetable farm groups. The contribution of allium, other root and stem, heading cole, other fruit type, and pulses is relatively small in the consumption pattern of North Vietnam. Table 24. Share of vegetable groups (%) in total vegetable consumption Vegetable group Allium Other root and stem Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Total (g per capita per day) 1 Vegetable 1.5 1.9 2.6 15.6 5.0 71.6 1.8 303 Non-vegetable 1.0 6.6 26.7 3.8 1.8 60.1 0.0 210 Overall1 2.5 5.1 17.6 8.1 3.4 62.7 0.5 240 Same as in Table 23. Food Expenditure and Budget Share On average, 5576 VND per capita is spent daily on food in North Vietnam. This is about 11% lower than the expenditure on food in South Vietnam although the amount of food consumed in the North is higher than that in the South. This may be due to the cheaper price and better food availability, or difference in food composition in the North compared to that in the South. Although vegetables in the overall sample rank second in terms of quantity of food consumed (Table 23), the share of vegetables in total food expenditure ranks fifth in position after cereals, meat, seafood, and others (Table 25). This indicates that vegetables are the cheaper source of food. The budget shares spent on vegetables and fruits are higher on vegetable farm families compared to on non-vegetable farm families. This, however, is partly at the cost of reduced budget share of seafood and egg and milk at the former group of families. Thuy, Wu, and Lai 138 Table 25. Budget share of food items (%) Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg and milk Others Total (VND per capita per day) Vegetable farmer 36.6 10.7 3.8 28.0 8.8 3.3 8.9 4499 Non-vegetable farmer 32.8 6.7 1.7 27.2 18.7 5.3 7.7 4410 Overall1 30.0 7.4 5.1 28.8 15.0 5.1 8.6 5576 Source of Food Unlike in South Vietnam where most of the food items are purchased, in North Vietnam, they are mostly home-produced. About 56% of the food items consumed are produced in their own farm, another 2.8% are supplied by the home garden, and about 42% are purchased from the market (Table 26). The contribution of home garden in supplying food is higher in South Vietnam, perhaps because of the bigger farm size. Vegetable cultivation increases the purchase of cereals but reduces the purchase of almost all other food items when comparing the percentage of food purchased by vegetable versus nonvegetable farm families. Something noticeable is the decrease in the purchase of fruits and vegetables on the vegetable farm families. There is a slight decrease in the contribution of vegetables coming from home garden on the vegetable compared to non-vegetable farm families but the contribution of home garden in supplying fruits is significantly higher on the former than in the latter group. On the whole, we can conclude that higher fruit and vegetable consumption on vegetable compared to non-vegetable farm families is induced through own-farm production of these food items. 139 Northern Vietnam Table 26. Source of food by farmer type and by food item Food source/type of farmer Vegetable farmer Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden Non-vegetable farmer Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden Average Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden Cereals 88.5 11.5 0.0 0.0 94.7 5.3 0.0 0.0 89.1 10.9 0.0 0.0 Vegetables 41.3 55.0 0.4 3.3 0.0 93.5 0.0 6.5 38.5 57.6 0.4 3.5 Fruits Meat Seafood Percentage contribution 30.2 15.3 6.9 17.1 84.4 92.0 9.7 0.3 1.1 43.0 0.0 0.0 Percentage contribution 0.0 4.4 0.0 100.0 95.6 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Percentage contribution 29.2 19.8 9.4 41.6 14.2 85.5 0.3 0.0 6.0 93.0 1.0 0.0 Milk and egg 20.2 79.5 0.3 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 17.1 82.6 0.3 0.0 Others 3.3 96.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 96.8 0.2 0.0 Total 55.9 40.6 0.6 2.9 45.0 53.5 0.0 1.5 55.0 41.6 0.6 2.8 Home Garden Eighteen different vegetable crops are grown in the home garden in North Vietnam during the time of survey. Major vegetables produced in the home garden are shown in Figure 7. Average home garden size is 138 m2. 30 25 Frequency (% ) 20 15 10 5 0 Kangkong Pepper Other leafy veg. Sponge gourd Mint leav es Others Pakchoi Shallot White jute Sauropus Thuy, Wu, and Lai 140 Nutrient Availability Due to high cereal and vegetable consumption in North Vietnam, on average, there is no deficiency in the nutrient consumption of calories, protein, iron, vitamins A and C, and niacin. However, calcium, and vitamins B1 and B2 are still highly deficient (Table 27). Therefore, vegetables with high content of deficient nutrients should be promoted in the consumption. Table 27. Availability and deficiency level of major nutrients Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C 1 Unit (kcal) (g) (mg) (mg) (IU) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Recommended level 1800-2400 45-65 800-1200 10-15 4200-5000 1.12 1.22 14.66 50-70 Nutrient availability 2212 76 511 12.5 5843 1.01 0.70 16.1 94 Deficiency level (%)1 -5 -38 49 0 -27 10 43 -10 -57 Deficiency level is estimated as (1-(Nutrient availability/ Recommended level of nutrient))*100. In case of a range of recommended level, the middle point of the range is considered. In North Vietnam, vegetables are important sources of micronutrients. They are the major sources of vitamins A, C, and B2, and calcium. They are almost equally important to cereals in supplying iron. Vegetables are second only to cereals in supplying vitamin B1. Cereals are the major sources of energy, protein, vitamin B1 and Niacin. (Table 28). 141 Northern Vietnam Table 28. Source of nutrient availability by food group Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C Cereals 74.1 48.0 30.5 30.5 0.1 54.5 23.0 53.7 0.7 Percentage of total uptake supplied by Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg and milk 3.0 9.1 35.1 29.1 88.3 18.8 34.5 9.7 76.1 1.1 0.5 2.4 4.8 4.6 2.2 2.6 1.2 22.0 8.9 14.4 1.9 9.5 3.1 13.3 19.3 12.7 0.4 2.7 10.0 7.8 3.7 1.3 2.8 9.3 8.6 0.1 1.8 1.8 1.5 2.4 2.5 1.5 4.4 0.1 0.0 Others 8.4 16.2 20.8 20.0 0.1 6.9 6.9 14.0 0.7 Total nutrient availability* 2212 76 511 12.5 5843 1.01 0.70 16.1 94 * The unit of total nutrient availability can be seen in Table 27. As noticed earlier, vegetable cultivation improves domestic vegetable consumption of farm families when compared with their counterpart non-vegetable farm families. This improves nutrient availability, especially of the deficient nutrients, on the former group. Vegetable farm families consume significantly higher quantities of calcium, iron, vitamins B1 and B2, and niacin compared to the non-vegetable farm families (Table 29). Table 29. Nutrient availability by farm type Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C Unit (kcal) (g) (mg) (mg) (IU) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Recommended level 1800-2400 45-65 800-1200 10-15 4200-5000 1.12 1.22 14.66 50-70 Vegetable farmer 2231a 76a 517a 12.4a 5635a 1.02a 0.69a 16.4a 92a Non-vegetable farmer 2164a 74a 398b 10.4b 5398a 0.91b 0.55b 14.1b 90a Different superscripts across a row indicate that the consumption of the commodity in the row is different across farm type, and similar superscripts imply that they are statistically the same, both tested at the 10% level. Nutritive Efficiency Vegetables are the cheapest sources of most nutrients, except calories, protein and niacin which are cheaply available from cereals (Table 30). Thuy, Wu, and Lai 142 Table 30. Nutrient cost (VND/unit) by food type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg and milk Calories (kcal) 0.98 7.28 13.96 7.57 8.25 5.19 Protein (g) 44.3 70.0 890.5 136.2 65.7 153.7 Calcium (mg) 10.38 2.69 26.65 154.95 12.46 26.64 Iron (mg) 424 133 544 1250 1090 692 Vitamin A (IU) 8.58 0.09 0.88 8.29 5.61 1.42 Vitamin B1 (mg) 2942 2538 14384 11122 15615 13593 Vitamin B2 (mg) 10070 2004 17989 10301 7711 6650 Niacin (mg) 186 309 1713 678 356 15523 Vitamin C (mg) 75.8 6.8 15.7 1190.1 716.9 1560.0 Egg, milk and meat are the highest nutritive value foods in North Vietnam. However, when the nutritive value of different food groups is compared with their respective market prices, vegetables are most efficient in supplying overall nutrients (Table 31). Therefore, enhancing the share of vegetables in the diet and reducing the share of those food groups having the lowest nutritive efficiency, such as meat, can improve the nutritive value of food in North Vietnam. Table 31. Nutritive efficiency of food groups Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg and milk Whole diet Market price (VND/100g) 318 166 511 1713 842 1704 456 Nutritive value (VND/100g) 436 411 222 563 479 764 462 Nutritive efficiency (ratio) 1.37 2.47 0.43 0.33 0.57 0.45 1.01 Among vegetables, leafy types have the highest nutritive efficiency. This is followed by pulses and heading cole (Table 32). Looking at the individual food items, amaranth, white jute, and sauropus (all leafy vegetables) have the highest nutritive efficiency (Appendix 10). 143 Table 32. Nutritive efficiency of vegetable groups Vegetable group Allium Other root and stem Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Market price (VND/100g) 287 214 149 169 338 140 589 Nutritive value (VND/100g) 170 205 261 118 189 496 1104 Northern Vietnam Nutritive efficiency (ratio) 0.59 0.96 1.75 0.70 0.56 3.55 1.87 Summary and Conclusions This report summarizes the results of the vegetable production and consumption surveys conducted in five provinces of North Vietnam. A total of 412 vegetable farmers and 41 neighboring nonvegetable farmers were interviewed for the enumeration of input-output and farm-management practices in crops on a total of 1934 parcels. A complete inventory of consumption patterns during the last 24 hours was also made. Farm-size in North Vietnam is very small, although vegetable farmers have slightly bigger family size and more availability of family labor for farm operations compared to their counterpart nonvegetable farmers. Both vegetable and non-vegetable farmers have similar farm-size, and household heads of both groups possess similar level of education. Vegetable farmers are better connected with the markets as indicated by the higher off-farm income they earn. They are not very specialized vegetable farmers, as only 27% of the planted area isis allocated to vegetables. However, vegetable cultivation is horizontally spread. Hardly any farmer can be found without growing vegetables in the region. Average parcel size of vegetables is extremely small compared to other Indochina countries as well as to South Vietnam. Vegetable cultivation is concentrated mainly during the later part of the year (dry1 season). This creates strong seasonality in vegetable supply. There is over supply during January-February while a very limited amount is available during April-July. Although vegetable yield on the whole is higher during the dry1 season compared to dry2 and wet seasons, the difference is not as great as expected. Therefore, a low supply of vegetables during the hot dry and hot wet months may not be attributed solely to climatic factors. It may be due to poor supply links between consumption centers and favorable vegetable producing regions, such as highlands. As the size of vegetable plots is very small, vegetable cultivation in North Vietnam is very intensive. Almost all fields, except pulses, are grown on raised beds, majority of fruit vegetables are staked, and allium and cucurbits parcels are mulched. A large proportion of vegetable fields areare irrigated manually using buckets. This makes the labor requirements for vegetable cultivation the highest among the Indochina countries. However, one good part of the intensive vegetable cultivation in North Vietnam is that pesticide application to vegetable is one of the lowest in the region. Many farmers even manually pick and kill insect pests during their field visits. However, fertilizer use Thuy, Wu, and Lai 144 is second highest after South Vietnam. All these produce reasonably high vegetable yield, second only to South Vietnam. Seeds is mainly purchased from the local market, and seedlings are not prepared scientifically. Therefore, encouraging the private seed industry can improve vegetable production in North Vietnam. Local communes can be a vehicle in getting good quality seeds from seed agents, and distributing them to the farmers. Moreover, encouraging the agricultural service sector, which can supply scientifically prepared nursery, can help to boost vegetable production in the region. Poor marketing institutions are a great bottleneck in the expansion of vegetable consumption in North Vietnam. There is no established wholesale marketing system, and transportation facilities are primitive. As this activity cannot be assigned to hired labor or middlemen in North Vietnam, farmers have to do the marketing by themselves which consumes lot of labor. Therefore, developing marketing institutions on modern lines, where few middlemen can handle marketing activities efficiently and competitively, will release a large amount of individual family labor used in vegetable marketing. This farm-family labor can then be more efficiently employed in vegetable cultivation and can give boost to vegetable production in the region. Similarly, farm-level channels or other modern irrigation infrastructures can help relieve lot of labor used in irrigating the field manually. However, to build such structures, where land holdings are very small, requires formulating the effective water-users’ associations. Such tasks may not be difficult where local commune structures still exist, although relatively loosely. Government support is needed to introduce modern water management and its distribution technologies for crop production in general and vegetable cultivation in particular. Vegetables occupy an important place in consumption, next to cereals, in North Vietnam. They are important source of biodiversity. About 25% of the total food comes from vegetables, and 10% of the food expenditure goes to vegetables. Leafy types are the main vegetables consumed in the region constituting more than two- thirds of the total vegetable consumption. Home garden is an important source of fruit supply. However, only a small portion of vegetables consumed (3.5%) come from home garden. The availability of vitamins A and C, protein, calories, and niacin, on average, are above the minimum recommended level in North Vietnam. However, calcium and vitamin B2 are highly deficient while vitamin B1 is moderately deficient. Analysis in this report suggests that vegetables have the highest efficiency of supplying nutrients in North Vietnam. However, there is a need to identify vegetables rich in deficient nutrients. This will not only help to overcome the micronutrient deficiencies but also to improve the nutritive value of the diet. 145 Appendix 1. Crop schedule by crop and season Dry1 season Crop Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Carrot Coriander Small eggplant Cauliflower Sweet pepper Chili Binweed Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong Parcel Planting (no.) time 15 112 46 55 76 50 28 7 1 6 4 1 1 24 4 2 22 5 31 25 9 6 5 2nd Dec. 3rd Oct. 2nd Oct. 2nd Oct. 2nd Oct. 2nd Oct. 4th Oct. 1st Oct. nd Oct. 2 3rd Oct. 1st Nov. 1st Oct. 2nd Nov. 2nd Oct. 1st Nov. 2nd Oct. 4th Oct. 2nd Oct. 1st Oct. 1st Nov. 2nd Oct. 3rd Oct. 3rd Oct. Harvesting time 1st Apr. 1st Feb. 4th Jan. 4th Dec. 4th Dec. 1st Jan. 2nd Jan. 1st Jan. th Jan. 4 4th Nov. 1st Jan. 4th Dec. 3rd Mar. 2nd Dec. 3rd Dec. 1st Jan. 2nd Feb. 2nd Dec. 3rd Jan. 4th Feb. 2nd Jan. 4th Jan. 4th Dec. Dry2 season Parcel Planting (no.) time 102 9 18 13 1 1 6 16 2 15 3 2 17 4 7 1 1 18 1st Feb. 3rd Feb. rd Mar. 3 1st Apr. 2nd Feb. 4th Jan. 4th Feb. 3rd Mar. 1st Mar. 3rd Apr. 3rd Feb. 4th Apr. 1st Mar. 3rd Feb. 1st Mar. 3rd Mar. rd Jan. 3 2nd Apr. Harvesting time 3rd May 1st Jun. 1st May 4th Jun. 4th May 3rd Apr. 4th May 4th Jun. 3rd Jun. 4th May. 3rd Apr. 1st Jul. 2nd Jul. 3rd Apr. 3rd Jun. 1st Jun. 2nd Apr. 2nd Jun Northern Vietnam Wet season Parcel Planting (no.) Time 416 66 58 69 81 66 14 61 7 2 3 15 3 22 11 3 1 16 . 25 38 35 7 5 30 1 7 1 12 1st Jul. 2nd Sep. 2nd Sep. 3rd Jul. 1st Sep. 1st Sep. 1st Sep. 3rd Jul. 1st Sep. 2nd Sep. 2nd Sep. 2nd May 4th Jun. 1st Sep. 2nd Sep. 2nd Sep. 3rd Jun. 2nd Sep. . 1st Sep. 3rd Aug. 1st Sep. 3rd Aug. 2nd Jul. 3rd Jul. 3rd Sep. 4th Aug. 4th Jul. 1st Jun. Harvesting time 1st Oct. 2nd Dec. 3rd Dec. 1st Oct. 3rd Nov. 2nd Dec. 1st Dec. 2nd Oct. 2nd Dec. 3rd Dec. 2nd Dec. 2nd Jun. 4th Sep. 3rd Nov. 3rd Dec. 2nd Jan. 1st Sep. 3rd Nov. . 4th Nov. 2nd Dec. 4th Oct. 1st Dec. 4th Oct. 1st Oct. 4th Dec. 2nd Nov. 1st Nov. 1st Aug. The figures prefixed with the month are weeks of the month. Note: “-“ implies that no observation of that crop in that season was available. Thuy, Wu, and Lai Appendix 2. Planting methods by crop Crop Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Carrot Coriander Small eggplant Cauliflower Sweet pepper Hot chili Binweed Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong Transplanting 92 0 0 0 100 100 49 0 0 40 0 0 100 100 100 100 0 86 0 0 33 100 0 0 87 57 0 100 0 Wet seeded 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Percentage of parcels Dry seeded Bulb/tuber planting 0 74 0 0 0 0 51 100 100 60 100 100 0 0 0 0 100 14 100 100 1 0 0 0 13 43 100 0 0 0 0 100 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Drilling 0 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cutting Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 Total parcels (no.) 533 187 104 142 170 117 43 74 23 5 3 36 3 29 12 4 1 42 4 27 77 44 38 37 40 7 12 2 30 146 Note: “0“ implies that no observation of that crop sown by using that method was available. 147 Appendix 3. Number of management operation and labor use by crop Crop Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Carrot Coriander Small eggplant Cauliflower Sweet pepper Chili Binweed Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong Land Preparation 3.0 3.8 4.4 4.7 4.5 4.0 4.6 3.9 3.9 3.6 5.3 4.3 3.7 4.5 3.3 4.0 4.0 3.8 4.3 3.6 4.7 3.6 3.8 5.1 4.1 3.6 4.8 4.5 0.5 Weeding 2.0 2.3 2.0 2.6 2.6 3.1 2.7 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.7 2.9 1.7 2.2 3.5 2.5 2.0 3.1 1.5 2.1 3.1 2.4 2.0 1.9 2.4 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.1 Spraying 1.7 1.1 0.8 2.1 2.9 4.1 4.7 1.6 1.7 2.0 1.0 1.4 0.7 3.2 1.2 1.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 2.5 2.3 3.5 0.6 1.2 1.6 2.1 1.8 2.0 2.1 Irrigation 3.2 3.2 3.6 4.9 7.3 6.9 6.4 3.2 5.1 8.2 8.0 3.3 3.0 6.2 3.2 7.8 3.0 5.1 5.3 4.2 7.7 6.1 3.4 3.9 3.0 5.4 5.3 3.0 2.0 Northern Vietnam Labor (days/ha) 194 277 295 439 512 715 667 271 334 351 541 388 373 446 477 451 144 447 494 454 480 452 292 595 363 676 400 309 665 Thuy, Wu, and Lai Appendix 4. Per ha use of seed and fertilizer by crop Crop group Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Carrot Coriander Small eggplant Cauliflower Sweet pepper Chili Binweed Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong Plant per hectare (no.) 168553 32828 37975 36400 44432 25900 69116 51104 48134 26002 Seed rate (kg) 92.4 29.0 1.1 0.7 0.8 53.0 64.5 2.7 5.6 0.3 2.8 1.1 2.3 1.0 1.9 3.5 34.9 1.9 0.7 8.2 9.5 3.9 4.9 Plant material weight (kg) 803 167 404 274 11838 Fertilizer (kg) N 109 161 147 143 237 248 245 67 113 155 107 156 86 294 129 100 0 149 142 125 224 236 134 167 199 168 215 64 282 P 34 71 55 79 90 102 127 39 49 63 60 61 34 76 60 67 0 82 78 47 73 76 55 68 62 36 69 157 26 K 48 61 79 87 92 126 108 20 37 70 126 64 56 207 167 81 0 70 98 53 109 125 52 152 78 110 109 105 3 Total 192 294 281 309 419 475 481 126 199 287 293 281 176 577 356 248 0 301 318 225 406 438 241 387 340 315 393 326 311 Manure (t) 6.45 5.85 11.80 9.58 10.59 11.04 13.45 4.08 6.55 2.52 3.73 8.06 2.80 14.84 11.55 14.70 0 7.72 14.70 4.95 9.75 11.29 7.53 10.71 8.89 6.20 13.07 14.00 3.50 148 Note: High seed rate for kangkong is because the crop is grown in flowing water where some percentage of seeding material is flown away. Kangkong is an annual crop, and seed is used only once although the crop is harvested about six times in a year. Only in this case, crop period is considered from one harvest to another, rather than from sowing to the last harvest. All inputs, including seed, fertilizer, and pesticide, used in a year time was divided into six crops harvested in a year. This made the input use and return comparable with other vegetable crops. 149 Appendix 5. Pesticide use by crop Crop Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Carrot Coriander Small eggplant Cauliflower Sweet pepper Chili Binweed Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong % of parcels sprayed 93 58 35 72 85 92 74 78 65 20 33 58 67 83 75 50 100 86 50 78 75 95 24 41 88 43 67 100 97 No. of sprays 1.7 1.1 0.8 2.1 2.9 4.1 4.7 1.6 1.7 2.0 1.0 1.4 0.7 3.2 1.2 1.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 2.5 2.3 3.5 0.6 1.2 1.6 2.1 1.8 2.0 1.7 Northern Vietnam Quantity (kg or liter/ha) 4 4 2 5 6 11 10 6 5 3 1 4 4 5 2 3 1 9 3 6 7 9 3 3 7 4 5 6 6 Thuy, Wu, and Lai Appendix 6. Distribution of yield across provinces Crop Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Carrot Coriander Small eggplant Cauliflower Sweet pepper Chili Binweed Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong Hanoi 4.80 4.58 8.08 5.16 33.68 17.86 1.59 4.62* 11.41 4.20* 22.71 11.20* 2.80* 18.60 17.94 7.63 85.40* 31.92* 7.00* 22.89 Hai Duong 5.02 5.83 10.37 6.42 36.23 29.49 22.40 1.80 4.63 2.80* 8.71 28.42 17.31 4.48* 14.84 21.73 22.87* 9.94 13.25 29.29 23.33 Yield (t/ha) Vinh Phuc Hung Yen 4.80 3.81 11.57 8.32 33.09 10.28 14.35 1.46 10.64* 4.50 24.92 7.30 14.53 10.55* 21.71 23.45 12.60 33.60* 19.40 5.13 4.69 9.58 4.11 30.91 42.47 25.86 1.87 5.30 7.00* 7.33 32.34* 1.40* 18.03 21.95 24.19 9.80* 43.74 9.80 12.88* Bac Ninh 4.68 4.71 7.51 5.46 34.22 35.24 8.04 1.63 5.27 3.36* 8.35 5.04* 30.52 9.24 15.47 28.11 11.15 57.56* Total 4.90 4.84 8.81 5.83 34.25 30.15 19.53 1.75 5.44 10.53 3.45 7.81 5.04 27.33 7.30 9.24 1.40 16.87 7.51 14.88 22.96 19.48 9.25 19.10 36.20 19.40 19.95 9.94 22.89 150 * Number of observations is less than 4. Note: “-“ implies that no observation of that crop in that province was available. 151 Appendix 7. Total cost and factor share by crop Crop Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Carrot Coriander Small eggplant Cauliflower Sweet pepper Chili Binweed Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong Labor 59.9 59.5 40.8 61.8 58.8 69.5 67.0 67.6 64.6 80.4 73.7 69.4 75.7 56.9 58.8 64.1 76.6 59.9 65.9 69.4 59.1 58.1 61.0 65.4 54.8 68.5 63.4 35.1 74.7 Seed 7.2 6.6 35.6 12.8 11.0 3.7 1.1 8.8 12.5 0.9 3.2 2.9 0.5 7.7 8.9 13.5 13.2 12.0 4.8 10.8 16.3 10.5 12.9 9.6 12.5 1.1 6.1 40.4 3.4 Percentage of the total cost Fertilizer Manure Pesticide 16.5 22.3 15.1 14.7 19.2 16.4 20.1 8.8 12.6 10.1 18.1 16.6 12.3 23.6 21.9 13.7 0.0 14.8 19.0 10.6 15.0 17.6 16.5 17.9 19.4 19.3 19.7 14.6 14.6 2.4 1.8 2.8 2.0 2.0 1.6 2.4 1.2 1.6 0.4 0.6 1.9 0.8 2.7 3.2 3.5 0.0 1.5 3.2 1.0 1.6 2.0 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.5 3.1 2.2 0.7 7.4 4.1 1.6 4.9 5.5 6.2 6.2 7.3 3.8 3.4 0.7 4.5 5.5 5.6 2.6 1.2 2.0 8.0 3.1 4.7 4.9 8.6 1.9 1.2 7.0 4.2 2.7 4.8 2.9 Northern Vietnam Total cost (MVND/ha) 5.5 6.3 8.9 9.8 10.7 13.9 11.7 6.0 7.4 8.0 9.7 8.0 7.1 10.9 7.6 8.7 4.2 9.6 8.9 10.3 12.2 11.0 6.8 11.6 8.7 7.4 8.1 12.5 10.8 Irrigation 6.6 5.8 4.1 3.8 3.5 2.6 3.2 6.3 5.0 4.9 3.7 4.7 5.2 3.5 4.6 4.0 8.2 3.8 4.0 3.6 3.1 3.3 5.5 3.7 4.3 5.4 4.9 2.8 3.7 Thuy, Wu, and Lai Appendix 8. Economics of cultivation by crop Crop Rice Corn Potato Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Carrot Coriander Small eggplant Cauliflower Sweet pepper Chili Binweed Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong Gross Net return return (MVND/ha) (MVND/ha) 5.6 9.4 12.5 10.9 36.0 35.8 20.3 8.0 8.1 10.3 9.7 8.1 8.9 42.6 14.8 16.1 4.2 22.2 11.7 20.2 36.6 27.1 9.6 14.7 41.6 34.9 16.7 36.5 12.5 0.1 3.1 3.7 1.1 25.4 21.8 8.5 2.0 0.7 2.3 -1.6 0.1 1.7 31.7 7.2 7.4 -0.03 12.5 2.8 9.9 24.4 16.1 2.8 3.1 32.8 27.5 8.6 24.1 2.1 Benefitcost ratio (%) 6 54 43 15 249 161 75 39 16 33 -12 7 24 319 90 84 -1 139 30 107 229 158 48 17 384 436 126 189 30 Cost (VND/kg) 1161 1501 1200 2111 383 709 791 3811 1604 888 3294 1195 1400 428 1218 1032 3023 620 1428 792 597 640 821 711 260 395 464 1325 478 Labor productivity (VND/day) 15177 22743 32640 12461 64786 38308 18290 15451 9614 11470 5298 7501 9839 86885 20775 25757 6649 39861 11690 32322 68433 48483 21454 10860 108148 65355 33356 103008 8394 Irrigation productivity (VND/VND) 7 13 16 13 42 31 16 9 9 7 7 12 13 39 16 13 4 24 11 24 31 26 12 14 58 41 15 45 19 152 Fertilizer productivity (VND/kg) 31508 39056 50120 48473 113119 82984 52450 54332 54078 119825 15325 38872 44966 100104 44183 68551 98550 41783 111336 152703 84424 46693 31338 146613 155217 63431 169062 38648 Note: “-“ implies that the input was not used for that crop, therefore, partial productivity can not be estimated. 153 Appendix 9. Farmers perception of infestation of insect pests by crop Crops Shallot Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mustard Coriander Cauliflower Sweet pepper Chili pepper Chinese cabbage Spinach Snap bean Onion Kohlrabi Sweet potato Sauropus Gourd Pumpkin Pakchoi Broccoli Kangkong Percentage of parcels No problem Insect problem 49 13 9 12 13 9 80 6 14 0 50 19 25 4 16 5 58 62 13 29 50 0 60 51 87 91 88 87 91 20 94 86 100 50 81 75 96 84 95 42 38 87 71 50 100 40 Northern Vietnam Total parcels (numbers) 142 170 117 43 74 23 5 36 29 12 4 42 4 27 77 44 38 37 40 7 12 2 30 Note: vegetable missing from the table implies no serious insect problem. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 154 Southern Vietnam Vu Thi Bich Hau, Chu Van Chuong, and Abedullah Introduction Southern Vietnam (South Vietnam in short) comprises three regions: the Central Highlands, the North-East-South, and the Mekong River Delta. It contains more than one-half of arable land and one-third of agriculture population of Vietnam, shares 36% of vegetable area, and contributes two-fifths of the vegetable production in the country. Per ha yield and per capita availability of vegetables in the region are higher than the national average (Table 1). Table 1. Basic demographic and agricultural statistics for South Vietnam Vegetable Vegetable Per capita Popu- Arable Share of the Share of region in the vegetable area production yield availability lation land (t/ha) (kg/annum) (million) (million vegetable area in the arable (% share in total of the country production of the ha) land of the (%) country) region (%) 18.9 2.5 3.4 13.0 78.0 4.3 0.6 1.0 2.7 7.4 35.7 5.4 10.0 20.2 100.0 2.7 3.1 3.2 2.4 3.6 42.1 6.8 12.4 22.9 5.6 (MT) 15.0 15.9 15.6 14.3 13.4 87.2 107.1 143.0 68.9 74.3 Region South Vietnam Central Highland North-East-South Mekong River Delta Whole country (unit) Source: 1. The regional statistics are for 1995, and taken from the General Statistical Office, Department of Agricultural Statistics (1996). Statistical data of agriculture, forestry and fishery 1985-1995. Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi. The regional data is for 1995. 2. The statistics for the whole country are for 2000 obtained from the official files of the General Statistical Office The central highland and the North-East-South regions have a favorable environment for vegetable cultivation while the lowlands of the Mekong River Delta are more suitable for rice production. Per capita availability (assuming there is no inter-province trade) is highest in the North-EastSouth, and lowest in the Mekong River Delta. The North-East-South and Central Highlands regions are well known to supply vegetables to metropolitan areas such as Ho Chi Minh City. Among all the other sites included in this study, South Vietnam has the most developed infrastructure, and has a relatively shorter history of being ruled under the central planning system. Therefore, its inclusion as a separate site in the study has provided a different perspective for the comparison with other sites. The objectives of the survey in South Vietnam are similar to those in other Indochina countries (see page 2 of this report). 155 Southern Vietnam Sample Selection One province each from the North-East-South (Ho Chi Minh) and the Central Highlands (Lam Dong) and two from the Mekong River Delta (An Giang and Tien Giang) were selected based on the highest vegetable area in these provinces in the respective region. Sample provinces are shown in Figure 1. One district from Lam Dong (Dalat), and two districts each from Ho Chi Minh (Cu Chi and Hoc Mon), Tien Giang (Cho Gao and Chu Thanh) and An Giang (Long Xuyen and Cho Moi) were selected again based upon the highest vegetable area in each district in the respective provinces. The seven selected districts are scattered all across South Vietnam covering different socioeconomic and ecological environment. Two major vegetable growing villages in each district, except four from Dalat, were also purposively selected based upon the highest vegetable cultivation in these villages. Twenty-five farmers from each village were randomly selected. In this random process, more than 15% of non-vegetable farmers were also included in the sample. However, more than one-third of the parcels for which input-output data were recorded were under nonvegetable crops, mainly cereals (Table 2). The survey was conducted during April-May 2000, but production data were recorded for the crops grown during January 1999 to February 2000. Climatic Situation The climatic situation in South Vietnam varies across districts. Lam Dong province of the Central Highlands region receives rainfall throughout the year except during November-January, while Ho Chi Minh province in the North-East-South region starts receiving rainfall in May which continues until the end of the year. In An Giang and Tien Giang of the Mekong River Delta, rain starts in May and subsides in October in the former province and in November in the later (Figure 2). However, for seasonal vegetable supplies in the region, we have standardized the definition of wet season for all provinces. October-December was defined as dry1, January-March as dry2, and April-September as wet season. The monthly average temperature varies from 24-30ºC in the North-East-South and Mekong River Delta provinces, and from 15-20ºC in Lam Dong province of the Central Highlands. Generally, May is the hottest month of the year (Figure 2). Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 156 Table 2. Frequency distribution of farmer and parcel by farmer type and provinces Type of farmer/parcel Total number of farmer Vegetable Non-vegetable Total number of parcel Vegetable Non-vegetable Tien Giang 100 77 23 362 189 173 Lam Dong 100 99 1 396 395 1 An Giang 100 70 30 382 150 232 Ho Chi Minh 100 89 11 451 312 139 Total 400 335 65 1591 1046 545 Household Characteristics Vegetable and non-vegetable farmers have similar family size, and similar family labor availability for farm operations. They have similar proportion of light soils suitable for vegetable cultivation. However, vegetable farmers have smaller farm size. They also have bigger home garden and smaller lakes, but the difference is not statistically significant. The family head and other adults in the family have higher education, but the head have same farming experience to his counterpart non-vegetable farmer. The vegetable farmers get significantly higher income from lakes (i.e. fishing) than non-vegetable farmer. Vegetable farmers have a higher percentage of well-drained land. They also receive higher off-farm income, although the difference is not statistically significant (Table 3). Household and Farm Belongings Vegetable farmers have significantly higher number of farm machinery, such as tractors and water pumps, compared to non-vegetable farmers. They also own bigger house areas and slightly higher number of animals, but the difference is not significant. The household belongings such as bicycles, radios, etc. are also higher in vegetable families compared to those in non-vegetable families (Table 4). Soil and Land Type Most soils in the sampled area in South Vietnam are medium and light (Table 5). There is no significant difference in the allocation of soil between cereals and overall vegetables. However, heading cole is more dominant on medium soils and leafy on light soils compared to other vegetable types. About half of the vegetables are grown on the plain land, 41% on slope lands, and 11% on the riversides. Cereals are mainly grown on plain lands and 30% sample parcels are on the riversides (Table 5). There are variations across individual vegetable groups in land type chosen for individual 157 Southern Vietnam 2 4 3 8 20 7 6 1 North Vietnam 5 19 11 10 9 15 18 14 13 23 22 12 24 21 25 26 27 28 Central Vietnam 29 30 31 32 34 36 South Vietnam 45 33 35 37 39 Study 38 44 49 53 54 61 51 56 59 51 47 57 43 46 1 41 40 1 42 58 1.Cao Bang 2. Ha giang 3. Lao cai 4. Lai chau 5. Lang son 6. Bac kan 7. Tuyen Quang 8. Yen Bai 9. Quang Ninh 10. Bac Giang 11. Thai Nguyen 12. Hai Phong 13. Hai duong 14. Hanoi 15. Vinh Phuc 16. Bac Ninh 17. Hung Yen 18. Son Tay 19. Phu Tho 20. Son La 21. Thai Binh 22. Nam Dinh 23. Hoa Binh 24. Ninh Binh 25. Thanh Hoa 26. Nghe An 27. Ha tinh 28. Quang Binh 29. Quang Tri 30. Thua Thien Hue 32. Quang Nam 33. Quang Ngai 34. Kontum 35. Binh Dinh 36. Gia Lai 37. Phu Yen 38. Dak Lak 39. Khanh Hoa 40. Ninh Thuan 41. Lam Dong 42. Binh Thuan 43. Bien Hoa 44. Dong Lai 45. Binh Phuoc 46. Ba Ria Vung Tau 47. Ho Chi Minh 48. Binn Duong 49. Long An 50. Tien Giang 51. Tay Ninh 52. Dong Thap 53. An Giang 54. Kien Giang 55. Can Tho 56. Vinn Long 57. Ben Tre 58. Tra Vinh 59. Soc Trang 60. Bac Lieu 31. Da Nang Figure 1. Map of Vietnam by province and study area Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 158 32 27 Temperature 22 17 12 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. An Giang Tien Giang Lam Dong Ho Chi Minh 500 Rainfall (mm) 400 300 200 100 0 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Month Figure 2. Monthly average temperature and rainfall in the sample districts 159 Southern Vietnam vegetable groups. For example, about one-third of allium and leafy vegetables are grown on the riversides, and heading cole and root vegetables are dominantly grown on terraces in hilly areas. The types of land and its relationship with types of crops grown are highly varied by the geographical location. For example terraced lands are mainly from the highlands of Da Lat where mainly heading cole and root crops are grown. On the other hand, plain type lands come from the delta provinces of Tien Giang and An Giang where leafy vegetables dominate. Table 3. Average household characteristics of farm by farmer type Variable Family size Adults Children Family labor available on farm Farm size (ha) Home garden size (m2) Lake size (m2) Education (year) Head Adult Child Farming experience of family head (years) Off-farm income (1000 dong/month)* Lake Income (1000 dong/year) Land with good drainage (%) Land with light soils (%) Vegetable farmers 5.2 4.6 0.6 2.5 0.5b 330 125 7.3a 7.3a 0.7 22 336 301 85a 33 Non-vegetable farmers 5.0 4.4 0.7 2.5 0.6a 310 139 6.4b 6.5b 0.7 22 281 169 63b 37 Different superscript in a row implies that the values across the two groups of farmers are significantly different at the 10% level, and vice versa in case of no superscript. * One US$ = 14000 Vietnam dong (VND) during the survey year. There is a significant difference in the drainage situation of land for vegetable and cereals. About 93% of vegetable parcels have good drainage situation, compared to 67% of the cereal parcels with good drainage (Table 5). Major Vegetables Forty-seven vegetables were found to grow commercially in the sample area during 1999-2000. However, 12 vegetables shown in figure 3 covers about three-fourths of the sample parcels. Cabbage and Chinese cabbage are the two most important vegetables in the region (Figure 3). Based on the number of parcels, heading cole is the most widely grown vegetable group. This is followed by other fruit and cucurbits vegetables (Table 5). Hau, Chuong and Abedullah Table 4. Agriculture implements and livestock by farmer type Variable Farm equipment (numbers) Tractor Water pump Other equipment House area (m2) Animal (SAU)1 Home appliances (number) Stove Motorcycle/Tricycle Radio Video Other home appliances Vegetable farmer 0.06a 1.00a 1.10 94.20 0.11 0.34a 0.67a 0.88a 0.02a 0.93 Non-vegetable farmer 0.02b 0.72b 1.03 86.50 0.09 0.14b 0.40b 0.74b 0.00b 0.86 160 Different superscript in a row implies that the values across the two groups of farmers are significantly different at the 10% level, and vice versa in case of no superscript. 1 The standard animal unit (SAU) was estimated using the following conversion ratios: SAU = 0.93*buffalo+1.08*cow+0.5*pig+0.19*goat+0.4*young stock. Table 5. Soil, land, and drainage type by crop group Soil Heavy Medium Light Percentage distribution of Land Slope Plain River Slope –side without with terraces terraces 2 2 66 30 39 2 49 11 83 3 11 3 18 1 48 33 68 0 32 0 82 0 17 1 3 6 82 9 2 3 86 9 4 1 64 31 5 0 47 48 Total parcels1 Drainage Good Medium Poor Crop group Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 1 13 8 8 10 5 6 9 9 13 5 55 57 52 56 60 81 44 50 31 48 32 35 40 34 35 13 47 41 56 47 67 93 98 89 96 98 85 87 98 90 25 6 0 11 4 2 14 11 1 10 8 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 519 1046 66 80 123 289 160 173 134 21 Total number of parcels in this table may not match with those reported in Table 1 as parcels for non-vegetable and non-cereal crops are not reported here. 161 Southern Vietnam 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Cabbage Carrot Lettuce Chinese cabbage Cucumber Cauliflower Onion Bitter gourd Sweet pakchoi Radish Potato Okra % of vegetable Figure 3. Major vegetables grown in the sample district Role of Vegetables in the Cropping System Unlike other Indochina countries, vegetable farmers in South Vietnam are more specialized vegetable producers. About half of the planted area on the survey farmers is allocated to vegetables (Table 6). On vegetable farms, however, about 60% of the harvest area is allocated to vegetable crops (not reported in the table). Vegetables are grown on smaller parcels (0.23 ha) compared to bigger parcel size in rice (0.57 ha). However, vegetables and corn have similar parcel size. The smallest parcel size is in leafy, and the largest in pulses (Table 6). The smaller parcel size makes the irrigation management in vegetables easier, but mechanical operation becomes more difficult. Crop Schedule and Seasonality in Production Taken both the dry seasons together, vegetables, as a group, are almost equally distributed among the dry and wet seasons. This is true for cereal as well (Table 6). This reflects the access of farmers to resources and technologies to protect their crops from the hot-wet season stresses. They also overcome the seasonal stresses by adopting suitable crops in each season. For example, tubers are concentrated in dry1 season, pulses in the dry2 season, and heading cole and cucurbits in the wet season. Looking at the crop schedules of vegetable groups by month, vegetable cultivation seems almost uniformly distributed across the year. The crop schedule for individual crops can be seen in Appendix 1. Taken as a whole, both planting and harvesting times of vegetables are reasonably equally distributed over different months of the year. Uunlike other Indochina countries therefore, Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 162 % of individual vegetable parcels Planting schedule 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan. Mar. May Jul. Sep. Nov. 25 % of overall vegetable parcels % of overall vegetable parcels harvested Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 20 Overall 15 10 5 0 Month Harvesting 25 Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses % of individual vegetable parcels 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan. Mar. May Jul. Sep. Nov. 20 Overall harvested 15 10 5 0 Month Figure 4. Planting and harvesting schedule by crop group and overall vegetables 163 Southern Vietnam there is little seasonality in vegetable availability in South Vietnam (Figure 4). This gives small seasonality in vegetable prices of 40% (Figure 5). Table 6. Distribution of planted area (by season) and parcels size by crop group Crop group Overall cereals Rice Corn Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Total harvested area 1 % share in planted area Dry1 Dry2 Wet 31 31 22 16 44 7 14 12 11 16 18 8 24 22 21 38 36 17 37 45 34 34 32 33 89 28 47 48 40 48 39 56 41 54 56 52 49 3 48 Planted area (ha) surveyed (% of total the area) 272 255 17 244 22 18 36 67 33 43 17 9 517 (52.8) (49.5) (3.3) (47.2) (4.3) (3.4) (6.9) (12.9) (6.4) (8.3) (3.3) (1.7) (100) Parcel size (ha) 0.52 0.57 0.23 0.23 0.34 0.22 0.29 0.23 0.21 0.25 0.13 0.43 0.33 October-December was defined as dry1, January-March as dry2, and April-September as wet season. If a parcel was planted in a season but harvested in another, the season was based on the planting date. 200 175 Price index 150 125 100 75 50 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Month Figure 5. Monthly average vegetable prices in Ho Chi Minh city. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 164 Farm Management Practices Seed Source The major source for vegetable seed is sale agents involved in the business of supplying agricultural inputs including seed, compared to the mainly home produced seed used in cereals (Table 7). The seed shops of the sale agents are usually located in big towns so farmers have to travel quite long distances to get vegetable seeds. As most vegetable-growing families own motorcycles (Table 4), travelling to nearby towns is not a serious problem in South Vietnam. Table 7. Seed source by crop group Crop group Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage of parcels Local market 3.3 2.8 4.5 5.0 0.8 0.7 2.5 4.6 2.2 19.0 Sale agent 23.3 46.5 4.5 25.0 69.1 47.1 45.6 52.6 53.0 33.3 Home produced 48.2 17.5 72.8 10.0 17.9 2.4 29.4 23.1 6.7 14.4 Other farmer 25.2 33.2 18.2 60.0 12.2 49.8 22.5 19.7 38.1 33.3 Other major sources of vegetable seed are neighboring farmers, and home production. As seed from neighboring farmers and home produced may not be pure and certified, there is a scope to improve vegetable production by strengthening the seed supply system through sale agents. A small portion of the seed also comes from local retail market (Table 7). Power Source for Land Preparation When farmers plow or harrow their fields, they mainly use tractor, while furrowing is mainly done manually. Leafy vegetables are an exception as large proportion of land for leafy vegetables is plowed and furrowed manually (Table 8). This may be due to very small parcel size of leafy vegetables (Table 6). Planting Methods Vegetables in South Vietnam are either transplanted (44%) or broadcasted in the dry field called dry seeded (48%). There are variations for individual vegetable group (Table 9). For instance, allium and heading cole are mainly transplanted. Bulbs or stems are planted through dibbling method in tubers. A small portion of leafy vegetables are also stem-propagated. Pulses are dryseeded. Cereals, dominated by rice, are mainly wet-seeded, and less than 15% of the fields are 165 Southern Vietnam transplanted, perhaps because of high wage rate in South Vietnam. The planting method for each crop can be seen in Appendix 2. Table 8. Power source for land preparation by crop group Crop group Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses % parcels plowed by Manual Animal Tractor 2.9 8.0 6.1 12.5 1.6 3.8 1.9 4.6 33.6 4.8 1.0 4.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 12.5 10.4 5.2 0.0 43.0 30.8 24.2 22.5 36.6 43.6 26.3 29.5 11.9 38.1 % parcels harrowed by Manual Animal Tractor 0.4 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 1.3 1.7 1.5 0.0 1.2 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.6 5.2 0.0 0.0 74.8 37.7 66.7 20.0 48.8 42.6 43.8 35.3 8.2 42.9 % parcels furrowed by Manual Animal Tractor 8.1 68.3 66.7 73.8 75.6 63.7 63.1 64.2 85.8 33.3 0.0 0.8 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.1 0.6 0.0 0.0 4.6 29.1 30.3 23.8 24.4 35.6 31.3 34.7 10.4 38.1 The percentage sum across source in an operation may not add up to 100, implying that the remaining parcels did not receive the operation. Table 9. Planting method by crop group Crop group Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Transplanting 12.5 44.2 0.0 91.2 11.4 87.5 21.9 22.5 35.8 0.0 Percentage of parcels Broadcast Dibbling Wet seeded Dry seeded Bulb planting Stem 48.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 14.3 48.2 0.0 6.3 83.7 12.5 78.1 77.5 59.7 100.0 0.0 6.5 92.4 2.5 4.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 1.1 7.6 0 0 0 0 0 4.5 0 Drilling 24.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Methods and Sources of Irrigation The main irrigation methods for vegetables are pumping, and a combination of more than one method, while in cereals pumping is the main irrigation method. Only 18% of vegetable parcels and 6% of cereal parcels are manually irrigated. There are certain variations in irrigation methods across vegetable groups. For example, allium and leafy are mainly irrigated by hand, export crops Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 166 like fruit and cucurbits are irrigated by pump, while a mix of irrigation methods are used to irrigate tubers and heading cole. About 10% of vegetable parcels and 15% of cereal parcels are grown on river water (Table 10). Mode of Harvesting Output from one-fourth of the heading cole and 11% of stem and root parcels are sold to market agents before harvesting. These agents are responsible for the harvesting in these cases. In cereals, marketing agents harvest about four percent of the parcels (Table 11). Table 10. Irrigation method and source by crop group Irrigation method (% parcels) Crop group Rain Hand Pumping Sprinkler 5.6 18.1 4.5 46.3 10.6 10.0 10.6 16.8 44.8 4.8 69.6 34.6 9.1 21.2 36.6 30.1 59.4 54.9 3.0 61.8 0.0 7.9 0.0 17.5 0.0 1.4 2.5 4.0 40.3 0.0 Mix 5.7 36.4 78.8 12.5 48.7 57.1 24.4 22.0 8.2 28.6 Rain 19.1 3.0 7.6 2.5 4.1 1.4 3.1 2.3 3.7 4.8 Irrigation source (% parcels) UnderStream/ Lake ground Channel 0.6 5.7 25.8 0.0 19.5 6.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.5 23.8 0.0 3.8 11.4 7.3 52.5 48.6 31.4 4.8 59.3 57.7 66.6 72.4 62.6 84.4 28.1 38.1 43.3 57.1 River 14.5 9.8 0.0 21.3 2.4 0.3 16.3 11.0 21.6 33.3 Overall Cereal 19.1 Overall vegetables 3.0 Tubers 7.6 Allium 2.5 Other stem and root 4.1 Heading cole 1.4 Cucurbits 3.1 Other fruit 2.3 Leafy 3.7 Pulses 4.8 Intensity of Management Operation Most farmers prepare land either by doing some plowing, harrowing, or furrowing. A higher proportion of fields for vegetables are furrowed compared to cereals (Table 12). A significantly higher proportion of vegetable than cereal parcels receive weeding, manuring, and irrigation. However, proportions of parcels receiving pesticide spray and fertilizer are similar in cereals and vegetables. Vegetable farmers treat more of the cereal parcels with manure, but a lesser proportion is treated with harrowing and irrigation compared to the cereal parcels of nonvegetable farmers. There is no significant difference across the two groups in the percentage of cereal parcels treated with other operations (Table 12). Some variation exists across vegetable groups in treating vegetable parcels with different management practices. For example, weeding is done on fewer parcels in other fruit, cucurbits, and pulses, lesser parcels of leafy vegetables receive pesticide applications, and no parcel under pulses and only few under allium receive manure (Table 12). 167 Southern Vietnam Table 11. Harvesting in vegetables and cereals Crop group Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage of parcels harvested by Owner Agent 96 92 100 100 89 75 100 100 100 100 4 8 0 0 11 25 0 0 0 0 Table 12. Percentage of parcels received different management operation by crop group Crop group Land preparation Plowing Harrowing Furrowing Weeding Spraying Manure Fertilizer Irrigation Total Cereal of vegetable farmer 48.0 72.5 12.7 98.8 38.2 95.1 21.4 99.1 77.2 Cereal of non-vegetable 44.5 83.8* 12.7 98.3 41.6 94.8 12.1* 100.0 88.4* farmer Overall cereals 46.8 76.3 12.7 98.7 39.3 95.0 18.3 99.4 80.9 Overall vegetables 43.4 40.2* 98.1* 98.8 70.4* 91.7 53.3* 99.5 97.0* Tubers 30.3 66.7 100.0 100.0 92.4 84.8 48.5 100.0 92.4 Allium 35.0 20.0 97.5 100.0 70.0 92.5 16.3 100.0 97.5 Other stem and root 38.2 48.8 100.0 100.0 87.8 93.5 61.8 100.0 95.9 Heading cole 48.4 42.9 99.3 99.7 92.7 97.9 58.1 99.7 98.6 Cucurbits 40.6 50.6 97.5 98.1 38.8 94.4 68.1 99.4 96.9 Other fruit 44.5 42.2 99.4 100.0 43.9 95.4 67.6 100.0 97.7 Leafy 50.7 9.7 96.3 96.3 70.1 70.9 31.3 98.5 96.3 Pulses 42.9 42.9 71.4 81.0 52.4 95.2 0.0 95.2 95.2 * in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the cereal of vegetable farmer in the sam column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from overall cereal in the same column at least at the 10% leve Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 168 Vegetable parcels receive almost double the number of weedings and sprays, and more than four times the number of irrigations than cereals1. Vegetable fields are harvested almost six times, while cereals are harvested only once (Table 13). This indicates that vegetables need intensive management, which would require more labor. Table 13. Average number of different management operation by crop group Crop group Land preparation Weeding Spraying Irrigation Harvesting Plowing Harrowing Furrowing Total Cereal of vegetable farmer 0.6 1.2 0.1 1.9 0.6 4.1 6.1 1.0 Cereal of non-vegetable farmer 0.5* 1.2 0.1 1.8 0.7 4.2 7.6* 1.0 Overall cereals 0.5 1.2 0.1 1.8 0.7 4.1 6.6 1.0 Overall vegetables 0.5 0.6* 1.0* 2.1* 1.4* 7.9* 31.1* 5.9* Tubers 0.3 1.0 1.0 2.3 1.8 10.4 38.2 1.0 Allium 0.4 0.4 1.0 1.8 1.5 7.5 25.2 1.4 Other stem and root 0.4 0.9 1.0 2.3 2.1 4.9 31.3 1.0 Heading cole 0.5 0.5 1.0 2.0 1.7 10.7 39.7 1.0 Cucurbits 0.6 0.8 1.0 2.4 0.8 7.5 24.3 13.3 Other fruit 0.6 0.7 1.0 2.3 1.2 8.6 29.1 18.6 Leafy 0.7 0.1 1.0 1.8 1.2 3.8 26.8 1.6 Pulses 0.5 0.6 0.7 1.8 1.0 5.3 5.4 1.3 * in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Variations were observed in the intensity of farm management practices applied to different vegetables. For example, the highest numbers of weedings are applied to root type vegetables, sprays and irrigations in heading cole, and harvesting in fruit type vegetables. Similar variation can be seen across individual vegetables in Appendix 3. Vegetable farmers apply less irrigation to the cereal fields compared with non-vegetable farmers. There is no significant difference in the intensity of other farm management operation to the cereal crop across the two groups of farmers (Table 13). All vegetable parcels, except pulses, are grown on raised bed, while only 12.5% of the cereal (mainly corn) parcels are grown on raised bed. Moreover, about one-fifth of vegetable fields, mainly cucurbits and other fruits, also have staking. Less than four percent of vegetable parcels, mainly other stem and root type, receive mulching (Table 14). Input use Labor Labor requirements to cultivate one ha of vegetables are more than double than that in cereals. The demand for about 186 additional labor days (or 34 days less than one full year job of 220 days) is generated if one ha cereal is transformed into vegetables in one season (Table 15). As 169 Southern Vietnam noticed earlier, vegetables need intensive management. Therefore, major proportion of labor used in vegetables goes to management. In cereals, labor is almost equally divided into harvesting and management of crops. The proportion of labor that goes to harvesting is higher in cereal than in vegetables, although it does not imply that harvesting needs more labor in cereals than in vegetables. Table 14. Use of advance management practices by crop group Crop group Raise bed Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 12.5 99.4 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 71.4 % of parcels Staking 0 22.3 0 0 0 0 100 42.2 0 0 Mulching 0 3.5 0 0 19.5 0.3 3.1 2.9 1.5 0 Table 15. Labor use and its distribution by farming activity by crop group Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Percentage distribution of labor to Land preparation 20.7 16.2* 19.2 22.1* 23.4 26.8 20.4 22.4 18.8 17.3 26.2 31.4 Management 37.4 44.5* 39.8 53.3* 52.9 46.5 57.6 66.2 49.4 41.5 53.3 32.4 Harvesting 40.8 37.6* 39.7 23.1* 22.9 20.8 20.8 10.8 31.4 40.6 16.3 32.9 Marketing 1.1 1.7 1.3 1.5 0.8 5.9 1.2 0.6 0.4 0.6 4.2 3.3 Total labor (days/ha) 110 111 111 297* 303 317 294 262 264 340 253 166 * in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 170 Labor use is highest in other fruit and allium, and lowest in pulses. The high labor use in allium is due to intensive land preparation. In other fruit vegetables, it is due to multi-harvesting. Similar variation in labor requirements can be seen in individual vegetables in Appendix 3. There is no statistical difference in the labor use on cereals between vegetable and non-vegetable farms, although vegetable farmers spend more proportion of labor on land preparation and harvesting, and less on crop management (Table 15). Seed Except allium, tubers, and other stem and root vegetables, where certain plant material other than seed is used, seed rates for vegetables are low compared to cereals (Table 16). Therefore, it is relatively easy to disseminate seed of new varieties in vegetables. In some cases, farmers reported number of plants or tubers, rather than seed quantity, used as seedlings. This is an indication of nursery preparation or purchase of nursery in those cases. Vegetable farmers use significantly less seed on cereal crop than non-vegetable farmers. Seed quantities used in different crops can be seen in Appendix 4. Seedlings are prepared in fields under shade, and normally given mulching. However, seedling trays are rarely used, and seedlings are not protected against diseases. Table 16. Quantities of seed, fertilizer, and manure use by crop group Crop group Seed (kg/ha) 153.1* 178.8 161.6* 6.5 2.3 6.6 1.4 5.5 9.6 6.4 23.4 Plant material wt.(kg/ha) 1743 1738 1800 Plant per hectare (no.) 33236 30000 34771 15200 20000 Fertilizer (kg/ha) CaCO3 Manure K 30 34 31 182* 623 104 367 267 38 48 32 17 Total 190 212* 197 534* 1251 341 790 826 211 273 220 136 0 0 0 217* 565 3 566 400 0 8 22 0 2136 1130* 1801 7609* 6145 1288 7502 8382 9304 10041 6560 0 Inorganic fertilizer nutrient N 112 125* 116 227* 363 153 271 352 120 156 138 85 P 48 53* 50 125* 265 84 152 207 53 69 50 34 Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. 171 Southern Vietnam Fertilizer The main fertilizer types used by farmers are urea and phosphate containing 16% phosphorous. More than one-half ton of soil nutrients per ha is applied to vegetables from inorganic source, which is 171% higher than in cereals. The highest amount of fertilizer is used on tubers and lowest on pulses. Vegetable farmers use significantly less fertilizer on their cereal fields than non-vegetable farmers (Table 16). Vegetables receive more than four times the amount of manure than cereals while pulses do not receive any manure at all. Vegetable farmers apply significantly more manure to cereals than nonvegetable farmers (Table 16). It seems that vegetable farmers substitute manure with inorganic fertilizer in cereals. In some vegetables, especially in tubers, heading cole, and other stem and root, a significant amount of CaCO3 is also applied (Table 16). Fertilizer use to individual crops can be seen in Appendix 4. Pesticide Percentage of parcels treated with pesticide is similar for cereals and vegetables, although vegetables receive more than double the amount of pesticide and number of sprays. Average number of sprays varies from 3.6 in leafy to 10.5 in heading cole. The proportion of cereal parcels treated with herbicide is about three times higher than that of vegetable parcels. Accordingly, number of sprays and quantity of herbicide applied to cereals are significantly higher in cereals (Table 17). This may be because there are more specific herbicides for few cereals than few herbicides for a large number of vegetables grown in the region. There is variation in pesticide application to individual crops (Appendix 5). Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 172 Table 17. Per ha use of pesticide and herbicide by crop group Crop group % of parcels sprayed Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 89.0 85.6 87.9 91.0* 83.3 90.0 92.7 97.9 94.4 95.4 68.7 95.2 Pesticide No. of Sprays 3.3 3.2 3.3 7.6* 10.3 7.2 4.6 10.5 6.9 8.0 3.6 5.2 Quantity (kg or l) 6.5 6.0 6.3 14.0* 25.4 15.7 22.5 19.0 6.6 9.0 5.5 6.5 % of parcels sprayed 74.3 82.7* 77.1 26.2* 7.6 28.8 22.0 12.1 48.1 48.6 14.9 14.3 Herbicide No. of sprays 0.8 0.9* 0.9 0.3* 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.5 0.6 0.1 0.1 Quantity (kg or l) 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.6* 0.7 0.3 0.6 0.5 0.8 0.9 0.2 0.1 * in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Output Yield Average per ha yield of vegetables in South Vietnam is at 25.2 t which is much higher than in neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia. Heading cole has the highest per ha yield, and the lowest yield is of pulses (Table 18). Similar variations in crop duration can be seen across individual vegetables over the sample provinces (Appendix 6). On average, vegetables occupy land significantly for a shorter period compared to cereals. However, there are variations in crop duration across vegetable groups. Leafy are the shortest duration crops, while other fruit vegetables occupy the field for the longest time. Average yield per crop day in the field is highest for heading cole, and lowest for pulses (Table 18). The coefficient of variation (CV) in vegetable yield, on average, is almost equal to that in cereal yields. However, the yields of tubers, allium, and other fruits have significantly higher CV than cereals while the CV in the yields of other vegetables is similar to that in cereal yields. The average per ha cereal yield on vegetable farms is higher than on non-vegetable farms although the difference is not statistically significant. Similarly, no significant difference of per ha per day cereal yield across the two groups of farmers was observed (Table 18). 173 Southern Vietnam Table 18. Average yield, crop duration, and coefficient of variation (CV) by crop group Crop group Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Average yield (kg/ha) 4751 4559 4687 25180* 21121 17366 27930 43847 16259 17054 14790 2006 CV in yield 35 31 35 37 48 54 35 34 26 53 29 29 Crop duration (days) 103 100 102 92* 112 80 104 85 93 116 58 79 Yield per day (kg/ha/day) 48 46 48 296* 215 258 291 512 180 156 289 27 * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. On average, vegetable yield of dry1 season, considered to be most favorable for vegetable cultivation, is lowest and yields of dry2 and wet seasons are not statistically different (Table 19). Thus the yields in South Vietnam, on the whole, are not limited by the climatic factor, such as rain or temperature. This may be due to the wider geographical coverage of this study including the hilly areas of Dalat, the plains of Ho Chi Minh, and the delta of An Giang and Tien Giang provinces. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 174 Table 19. Seasonal yield by crop group Crop group Dry1 season Observation (number) Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 90 52 142 177 29 7 15 33 22 33 27 2 Yield (kg/ha) 5013a 4924a 4980a 22093b 21517b 20143a 32133a 39924b 15095a 19067a 13399b 1510b Dry2 season Observation Yield (kg/ha) (number) 82 39 121 378 14 30 56 102 50 56 43 18 5023a 4743a 4933a 26852a 25036a 16333b 27068b 47923a 15602a 18548a 14363ab 2083a Wet season Observation (number) 174 82 256 517 23 43 52 154 88 84 64 1 Yield (kg/ha) 4487b 4239b 4408b 25013a 18239c 17634b 27646b 41988b 16923a 15266b 15664a 1600* Different superscript in a row implies that the yield of the crop is statistically different across season at the 10% level, and vice versa in case of same superscript. * means significance level can not tested because of one observation only. There is a difference in individual vegetable yield across seasons. For example, tubers, heading cole and pulses produce the highest yield in the dry2 season. The yields of allium and other stem and root vegetables are highest in the dry1 season, while leafy vegetables give slightly higher yield in the wet season (Table 19). Low yield of one type of vegetables in one season may be compensated by the high yields of other types of vegetables. A significant regional advantage in the yields of one region over the other was observed (Table 20). The sample of the province Lam Dong came from the highland district of Dalat. Therefore, Lam Dong has generally highest yields while Tien Giang and An Giang provinces which lie in delta have generally lower yield. This leads to, as mentioned in the introduction section, low per capita vegetable availability in the Mekong River Delta. Output Disposable Pattern Insignificant proportion of vegetables are consumed at home, compared to 58% of the cereal production retained for home consumption. This has important implications on the multiplier effect of vegetable versus cereal incomes. The crops traded more in market generate higher multiplier effects. As vegetable farmers have relatively small area under cereal crops (because some area is used for vegetable cultivation), therefore, they have to keep larger proportion of cereal production for home consumption compared to the non-vegetable farmers. 175 Southern Vietnam Table 20. Average yield by vegetable group and province Crop group Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root veg. Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit vegetables Leafy vegetables Pulses Tien Giang 14480c (189) 11071c (7) 13521c (38) 17143c (21) 13895c (38) 12664c (11) 15090b (30) 15125ab (44) Lam Dong 40471a (395) 22482a (55) 27393a (14) 28981b (83) 49969a (236) 32500a (3) 17625ab (4) 18750b (4) 20354a (29) 18038ab (21) 15830a (44) 2006 (21) Yield (kg/ha)* An Giang 15631c (150) 20000b (4) 17852b (27) Ho Chi Minh 17303b (312) 1000 (1) 35263a (19) 25091b (11) 15599b (120) 16985ab (119) 13080b (42) - * Figures in parenthesis means number of observations. Different superscript in a row implies that the yield of the crop is statistically different across provinces at the 10% level of significance, and vice versa in case of same superscript Economics of Vegetable Production Cost of Production Due to intensive input application, vegetables require about three times more costs than cereal (Table 21). Tubers and heading cole are the highest costing vegetable group mainly because of high fertilizer use in these crops, and high price of seed in case of tubers. Despite high pesticide use, pesticide cost accounts for only 10% of the total cost in vegetables, less than the factor share for manure. Fertilizer use accounts for about 16% of the total cost. The factor share for labor is highest, claiming more than two-fifths of the total cost. In comparison to cereals, the factor shares for seed, manure, and protective structure are higher in vegetables, while the shares of labor, fertilizer, pesticide and irrigation in total costs are lower than in cereals. However, there are variations among different vegetable groups (Table 21). Similar variations can be seen across individual vegetables (Appendix 7). The cost of per ha cereal production is lower on vegetable farms than that on non-vegetable farms. This is because of significantly lower input use on cereals by the former group, such as irrigation, seed, and inorganic fertilizer. Therefore, vegetable farmers allocate less budget share on fertilizer, irrigation, but more on farm manure. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 176 Table 21. Total cost and factor share by crop group Crop group Labor Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses 44.4 43.3 44.0 41.2* 30.9 37.0 36.8 33.9 45.3 47.3 50.0 62.3 Percentage of the total cost Seed Fertilizer Manure Pesticide Irrigation Protective structure 7.8 8.2 8.0 12.3* 26.3 32.1 9.7 13.9 6.9 6.6 7.6 4.2 20.0 21.4* 20.4 15.7* 26.3 10.6 23.2 21.4 8.9 9.4 11.0 14.2 5.9 2.7* 4.8 12.9* 7.0 2.9 15.4 12.8 17.0 16.0 13.2 0.0 14.1 14.1 14.1 9.9* 6.5 8.9 11.2 11.4 9.9 10.8 6.7 14.1 7.7 10.3* 8.6 6.0* 3.0 8.4 3.6 6.6 4.1 4.5 11.3 5.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.1* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.9 5.3 0.2 0.0 Total cost (MVD/ha) 6.0 6.3 6.1 19.0* 26.1 17.0 19.5 21.9 15.8 17.9 10.8 5.9 * in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Benefits and Returns On average, vegetables generate more than four times higher gross revenue, and about nine times higher net returns than cereals. Although production cost in vegetable is higher than in cereals, so is the benefit-cost ratio. This is true for individual vegetable group (Table 22). Net returns and benefit cost ratios of individual vegetables are higher than those of rice (Appendix 8). The cost of one kilogram of vegetable production is lower than cereals in South Vietnam. Pulses, other fruits and tubers are the most expensive while leafy and heading cole are the cheapest vegetables to produce (Table 22). Vegetable cultivation improves resource productivity such as labor and irrigation. On average, labor and irrigation productivity are, respectively, 90% and 40% higher than in cereals. Labor productivity is highest in heading cole, and lowest in pulses. Irrigation productivity is highest in pulses and cucurbits, and lowest in leafy vegetables. Vegetable farmers also earn significantly higher gross revenue from cereal production. However, as per ha cost of cereal production is lower on vegetable farms, they earn significantly higher net returns compared to non-vegetable farmers. So the benefit-cost ratio in cereal production is about 58% higher on vegetable farms. The unit output cost of cereal production is also lower, although the difference is not statistically significant. The irrigation productivity in cereal production is also higher on vegetable farms than on non-vegetable farms, however, labor productivity is same on both the farm types. 177 Southern Vietnam Table 22. Economics of cultivation by crop group Crop group Gross return Net return BCR (MVND/ha) (MVND/ha) (%) 7.9 7.5* 7.8 34.3* 40.9 31.5 37.3 39.2 28.8 39.1 23.6 9.3 1.9 1.2* 1.7 16.1* 14.7 14.4 17.8 17.3 13.0 21.2 12.8 3.4 49 31* 43 106* 79 91 119 87 95 130 145 82 Cost VND/kg 1426 1488 1446 981* 1287 1103 780 570 1079 1421 822 3034 Labor productivity (VND/day) 58069 55127 57089 108325* 121273 91779 119759 131242 94890 98567 90509 44763 Irrigation productivity (ratio) 16 13* 15 21* 20 22 24 15 29 26 13 34 Fertilizer productivity (VND/kg) 45265 35300* 41924 116395* 46098 128368 77531 60356 168021 180124 161799 85090 Cereal (vegetable farm) Cereal (non-vegetable farm) Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses * in the cereal of non-vegetable farmer row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of cereal of vegetable farmer in the same column at least at the 10% level. * in the overall vegetable row implies that the figure is significantly different from the value of overall cereal row in the same column at least at the 10% level. Marketing Market infrastructure in South Vietnam is more developed than other Indochina countries. Unlike in other Indochina countries, vegetables in South Vietnam are mainly sold through marketing agents collecting the output from farmers’ field. In some cases, farmers take the output to the wholesale market by themselves (Table 23). In this case, farmers have to travel to relatively small distance, on average, less than a kilometer. When farmers have to bring vegetables to the market, bicycles and motorcycles are the major modes of transportation. A small amount, especially allium, is also transported through boats (Table 24). Production Constraints As noticed earlier, vegetable farmers use a lot of pesticide to protect their vegetables from insects and diseases. Despite this many farmers fail to protect their crops from insects. On average, 11% farmers complain to have serious insect problems. Pulses, allium, heading cole, and fruit types are the vegetables where insect problem is more serious (Table 25). Farmers are able to identify only big insects, like armyworm and diamondback moth, as major insects on vegetable crops in Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 178 South Vietnam. Farmers’ perceptions about insect problem on individual vegetable crops are shown in Appendix 9. Table 23. Types of marketing and distance vegetables traveled from farm to market by crop group Crop group Percentage of output sold to Wholesale Agent Field Market Field Market Standing crop 0.6 0.0 0.4 1.2* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 1.2 6.7 0.0 3.6 9.0* 5.7 16.1* 0.0 25.6 1.6 1.4 35.2 32.1 17.9 28.6 86.8 87.4 87.0 73.2* 100.0 72.5 87.8 74.0 62.4 64.7 69.4 71.4 0.4 0.0 0.2 1.5* 0.0 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.1 2.0 6.0 0.0 8.6 3.6* 6.7 8.0 0.0 0.0 10.6 24.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Distance to market (km) 0.1 0.5* 0.3 0.6* 0.0 1.1 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.1 0.7 1.5 Cereal of vegetable farmer Cereal of non-vegetable farmer Overall cereals Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Table 24. Mode of transportation by vegetable Crop group Overall vegetables Tubers Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses No transport 82.8 100.0 72.5 98.4 98.6 63.8 65.9 78.4 71.4 Bicycle 7.8 0.0 5.0 0.8 0.7 18.8 14.5 12.6 14.3 Motorcycle + tricycle 5.6 0.0 2.5 0.8 0.7 13.1 16.2 3.0 4.8 Boat 3.5 0.0 17.5 0.0 0.0 3.7 3.4 6.0 9.5 Others 0.3 0.0 2.5 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 Only one percent of the farmers report diseases as a production constraint in vegetables. This may be due to mixing disease with insect symptoms or the inability of farmers to understand the disease symptoms at all. Those farmers who are able to identify the disease problem, the symptoms of serious diseases reported by them on their fields resemble to those of bacterial wilt, yellow leaf, and fruit rot. 179 Southern Vietnam Table 25. Farmers’ perceptions about insect and disease problems in vegetables by crop group Vegetable group Percentage of parcels with insect problem No problem Insect problem 79 97 83 94 85 94 71 89 21 3 17 6 15 6 29 11 Percentage of parcels with disease problem No problem Disease problem 99 99 98 97 99 2 1 2 3 1 Total parcel (number) 80 123 289 160 173 134 21 1046 Allium Other stem and root Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Pulses Overall vegetable Note: “-“ implies no parcel was identified with serious disease problem. Consumption Pattern Average daily per capita food consumption in South Vietnam is at 973 g. About 50% of the total food quantities come from cereals. However, vegetables have an important place in food, which is next to cereals, and contribute 25% in the diet. The average consumption of vegetables in South Vietnam is more than the minimum required level recommended by AVRDC, but far lower than in East Asian countries, suggesting the scope for improvement. The consumption of fruits, meat, seafood, and egg and milk is relatively small (Table 26). Table 26. Per capita food consumption (g/day) by farmer type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg and milk Others Total Vegetable farmer 479b 254a 56a 49a 77a 20a 41a 976a Non- vegetable farmer 519a 220b 12b 32b 90a 12b 43a 928b Overall1 492 223 53 55 76 19 38 955 Different superscripts across rows indicate that the consumption of the commodity is different across farm type. 1This includes vegetable and non-vegetable farmer and urban dwellers with the respective weights of 0.2, 0.5, and 0.3. Cultivation of vegetables further improves the role of vegetables in the diet. Families of vegetable farmers consume significantly higher amounts (about 15%) of vegetables than their counterpart families of non-vegetable farmers. Vegetable cultivation improves the whole quality and quantity Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 180 of food. That is why consumption of fruits, meat, and egg and milk is significantly higher, and consumption of cereal is significantly lower among vegetable growing families when compared with non-vegetable growing families. Overall food quantities are higher by about 5% among the families of the former group (Table 26). Biodiversity in Consumption In the 24-hrs consumption survey, 138 different food items are consumed, and 47 of them are different vegetable species. On average, a family consumes about 12 different food items daily, and four of them are vegetables. The major vegetables consumed in decreasing order are reported in Figure 6. 40 Consumption (g/capita/day) 30 20 10 0 Pakchoi Tomato Bottle gourd Shallot Malabar nightshade Kangkong Lettuce Amaranth Sauropus Wax gourd Cabbage Cucumber Sponge gourd Bitter gourd Others More than 50% of the vegetables consumed are leafy, and other one-third are fruit type (including cucurbits). Vegetable cultivation significantly improves the consumption share of heading cole and other fruit group, and reduces the share of leafy and cucurbits groups among vegetable farm families compared to non-vegetable farm families (Table 27). Food Expenditure and Budget Share On average, 6252 VND per capita is spent daily on food in South Vietnam. Although vegetables ranked second in terms of quantity of food consumed, their share in the total food expenditure ranked fourth. This indicates that vegetables are the cheaper source of food. After cereals, meat and seafood claim the major shares in food expenditure. Vegetable cultivation improves the food budget allocated to fruits, meat, and egg and milk, and reduces the share allocated to cereals and seafood. Although vegetable consumption in vegetable farm families is higher than non-vegetable farm families, their shares of food expenditures allocated to vegetables are quite close (Table 28). 181 Southern Vietnam Table 27. Share of vegetable group (%) in total vegetable consumption Vegetable group Vegetable farmer Non-vegetable farmer Allium Other root and stem Heading cole Cucurbits Other fruit Leafy Total (g per capita per day) 2.9 1.1 12.4 17.3 14.1 52.2 254 2.5 1.4 2.9 19.8 11.7 61.7 220 Overall1 2.9 1.3 6.7 19.9 12.6 56.6 223 1 Same as in Table 26. Note: No household consumed pulses during the survey, therefore, not reported here. Table 28. Budget share by food group and farmer type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg and milk Others Total (VND per capita per day) 1 Vegetable farmer 36.5 10.1 5.1 21.3 16.8 5.5 4.7 5606 Non-vegetable farmer 44.3 9.8 1.4 15.8 19.3 4.6 4.8 4601 Overall1 40.7 8.7 4.4 21.2 16.1 4.6 4.3 6252 Same as in Table 26. Source of Food About one-half of the food in the farming community of South Vietnam is purchased and more than one-third is farm produced. Additionally, more than 3% of the total food comes from home garden, and about 3% is shared among farm families. As high as three-fifths of vegetables are purchased in South Vietnam (Table 29). Vegetable cultivation significantly increases the proportion of the purchased food by vegetable growing families compared to the non-vegetable growing families. However, the main difference is due to higher cereal purchase. In fact, vegetable-growing families reduce the purchase of vegetables from market, and increase the consumption of vegetables produced on their own farm. There is no significant difference in the share of vegetables coming from the home garden across the two groups of farmers (Table 29). Therefore, vegetable cultivation increases vegetable Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 182 consumption through inducing the consumption of own-farm produced vegetables rather than through higher purchase from the market. Table 29. Source of food by farmer type Food source/type of farmer Vegetable farmer Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden Non-vegetable farmer Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden Average Farm produced Purchased Gift Home garden 61.1 38.6 0.1 0.2 19.9 60.3 8.7 11.1 81.0 19.0 0.0 0.0 16.4 62.6 10.6 10.4 39.7 59.8 0.1 0.4 22.8 58.3 7.1 11.8 Cereals Vegetables Fruits 3.0 68.6 11.2 17.2 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 2.4 74.3 9.2 14.1 Meat 7.0 92.2 0.8 0.0 6.0 94.0 0.0 0.0 6.5 93.0 0.5 0.0 Seafood 13.7 85.1 1.2 0.0 23.1 75.6 1.3 0.0 18.8 80.0 1.2 0.0 Milk and egg Others Total 18.3 81.3 0.4 0.0 13.7 86.3 0.0 0.0 16.6 83.1 0.3 0.0 0.2 99.8 0.0 0.0 2.4 97.4 0.2 0.0 1.3 98.6 0.1 0.0 27.5 65.6 2.7 4.2 51.9 43.0 2.6 2.5 39.3 54.6 2.7 3.4 Percentage contribution Percentage contribution Percentage contribution Home Garden Twenty-four different vegetable crops were found to be grown in the home garden in South Vietnam during the time of survey. Major vegetables produced in the home garden are shown in Figure 7. Average home garden size is 317 m2, and average lake size in the sample area is 127 m2. 183 Southern Vietnam 60 50 Frequency (%) 40 30 20 10 0 Amaranth Jute Bottle gourd Others Chili Malabar nightshade Sponge gourd Kangkong Sauropus Other leafy vegetables Nutrient Availability Relatively high vegetable consumption in South Vietnam leads to sufficiency of vitamins A and C availability to the population. However, calcium and vitamin B2 are highly deficient compared to the recommended level. The levels of energy and iron deficiencies on average are in the range of 8-9%, while vitamin B1 and niacin are also deficient to the extent of 11% of the recommended level (Table 30). Vegetables are the major sources of vitamin A, C, and B2. They are also one of the major sources for calcium, iron, and vitamin B1. Cereals, being the staple food, are the major source of energy, protein, iron, calcium, vitamin B1, and niacin, and are also one of the major sources of vitamin B2 (Table 31). Such a heavy dependence on cereals for almost all nutrients is not healthy. As noticed earlier, vegetable cultivation on the farm has improved overall quantity as well as quality of the diet, so is the case for nutrient availability. There is higher nutrient availability in calcium, iron, vitamin A, B1, B2, and C for the vegetable farm families compared to their counterpart non-vegetable farm families (Table 32). Nutritive Efficiency Vegetables are the cheapest source of Vitamin A, C, B1 and B2, and niacin. Surprisingly, they are also the cheapest source of calcium and iron. However, carbohydrates and protein are most expensive from vegetables, and cheaply available from cereals (Table 33). Hau, Chuong and Abedullah Table 30. Availability and deficiency level of major nutrients Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C Unit (kcal) (g) (mg) (mg) (IU) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Recommended level 1800-2400 45-65 800-1200 10-15 4200-5000 1.12 1.22 14.66 50-70 Nutrient availability 1918.7 68.6 514.1 11.5 4812.3 1.0 0.7 13.0 81.0 Deficiency level (%)1 9 -25 49 8 -5 11 43 11 -35 184 1Deficiency level was estimated as (1-(Nutrient availability/ Recommended level of nutrient))*100. In case of a range of recommended level, the middle point of the range was considered. Table 31. Source of nutrient availabilities by food group. Percentage of total uptake supplied by Nutrient Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg and milk Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C 1 For Others 2.8 4.7 9.7 10.5 0.2 1.1 4.0 1.1 0.2 Total nutrient availability1 1919 69 514 11.5 4812 0.97 0.71 13.0 81.0 78.0 52.1 30.4 34.3 0.6 54.7 25.2 61.9 1.7 2.5 6.5 26.2 24.5 82.5 16.8 35.3 9.6 83.1 1.7 0.8 2.0 9.6 7.9 2.5 2.8 1.4 14.4 8.8 17.3 1.1 12.3 2.3 19.4 15.7 17.2 0.4 2.9 15.4 27.7 4.7 0.5 2.9 9.5 8.6 0.1 3.3 3.2 2.9 4.1 6.0 2.6 7.5 0.2 0.1 the units of these nutrients, see Table 30. 185 Table 32. Nutrient availability by farmer type Nutrient Calories Protein Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin Vitamin C Unit (kcal) (g) (mg) (mg) (IU) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Recommended level 1800-2400 45-65 800-1200 10-15 4200-5000 1.12 1.22 14.66 50-70 Vegetable farmer 1940.2 68.2 536.9 11.6 5095 0.95 0.70 12.7 84.3 Southern Vietnam Non-vegetable farmer 2008.0 68.2 521.9 9.9 4020 0.90 0.60 12.9 60.2 Table 33. Nutrient cost (VND/unit) by food type Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Milk and egg Calories (kcal) 2 11 12 9 17 5 Protein (g) 67 122 742 127 89 143 Calcium (mg) 15.2 3.9 38.2 270.5 6.6 20.9 Iron (mg) 604 188 350 1071 1731 675 Vitamin A (IU) 22.16 0.13 0.95 4.90 30.98 1.09 Vitamin B1 (mg) 4492 3237 15483 7999 33866 12529 Vitamin B2 (mg) 13203 2086 18943 13435 13888 5867 Niacin (mg) 295 423 2161 650 836 13415 Vitamin C (mg) 34 8 33 1453 2132 1123 The nutritive values of different food groups were estimated at the existing market prices for all major micro- and macro-nutrients. Meat and seafood have the highest nutritive value for the consumers of South Vietnam. However, when nutritive value was compared with their respective prices, vegetables have the highest nutritive efficiency in South Vietnam (Table 34). Thus shifting food expenditure from those commodities with low nutritive efficiency, especially those with nutritive efficiency less than one, to vegetables can improve the nutritive efficiency of the whole diet. Among the individual food items, leafy vegetables such as amaranth, sauropus, sweet potato leaves, kangkong and malabar nightshade have the highest nutritive efficiency (Appendix 10). So to improve overall nutrient availability in South Vietnam, the indigenous leafy vegetables should be promoted. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 186 Table 34. Nutritive efficiency by food group Food group Cereals Vegetables Fruits Meat Seafood Egg & milk Others Market price (VND/100g) 497 227 597 2613 1283 1469 689 Nutritive value (VND/100g) 619 543 319 1355 819 966 1087 Nutritive efficiency (ratio) 1.25 2.39 0.54 0.52 0.64 0.66 1.58 Summary and Conclusions This chapter summarizes the results of a vegetable production and consumption surveys conducted in four provinces of South Vietnam. The detailed enumeration of input-output and farmmanagement practices in crops, understanding of marketing procedures for different outputs, and complete inventory of consumption patterns illuminate us with the vegetable sector in the region. The vegetable farmers in South Vietnam are typical average farmers, except that they have smaller farm-size, better education, and are in a better position to take risk as their income sources are more diversified. They spend more on farm equipment, and invest more on the improvement of drainage of land. They possess more transportation and communication equipment, such as motorcycles, radios, etc. They are specialized vegetable farmers, with as large as 60% of the planted area allocated to vegetables. Average parcel size of vegetables is lower than the average parcel size of rice. There is not much seasonality in vegetable supplies in South Vietnam. Farmers overcome seasonality problems in the supplies by cultivating appropriate crops for a season, and adopting appropriate cultivation practices to overcome seasonal stresses. Therefore, there is not much seasonal difference in the yields of different vegetable crops. Farm management practices of vegetable cultivation are fairly developed in South Vietnam. About half of vegetable seeds are purchased from sale agents. However, only a little less than one-half of the fields are transplanted and private nursery business is not developed yet. Therefore, encouraging the private seedling industry can further improve vegetable production in South Vietnam. Existing commune structure should also be used to encourage cooperative marketing for seed. Mainly tractors are used for plowing, and mostly vegetables are grown on raised beds. Cucurbits and other fruit vegetables are mainly staked. Fairly large proportions of vegetable fields receive 187 Southern Vietnam furrowing. Farm-level irrigation infrastructure is fairly developed as half of the fields have water channels. Most fields are weeded and sprayed. The number of sprays and amount of fertilizer applied are highest in the region. All these produce reasonably high vegetable yields. To further enhance the yields, therefore, emphasis in South Vietnam should be on improving the appropriate combination and application methods of inputs, rather than on enhancing the input levels. Moreover, emphasis on judicious use of fertilizer and pesticide can help to reduce production cost and decrease the extent of toxic residues on vegetables. Appropriate mass media and extension services could be used to educate the farmers about insect/pest scouting, knowledge about threshold population levels of various insects, efficient pesticide application techniques (i.e., appropriate quantity, type, and application time), as well as impacts of high pesticide use on health in order to produce healthy vegetables. Next to cereals, vegetables occupy an important place in consumption in South Vietnam. They are also an important source of biodiversity. About 25% of the total food comes from vegetables, and 10% of the food expenditure goes to vegetables. Leafy vegetables are the main types consumed in the region contributing more than 50% in the total vegetable consumption. Although the major food source, vegetables included, of the farming community is purchased, the home garden is also an important source of food supplies. About 11% of vegetables and 14% of fruit supplies come from the home garden. Vitamins A and C and protein availability, on the average, are above the minimum recommended level in South Vietnam. However, calcium and vitamin B2 are highly deficient. Iron, vitamin B1 and niacin are also moderately deficient. Analysis in this report suggests that vegetables have the highest efficiency in supplying nutrients in South Vietnam. However, there is a need to identify vegetables rich in deficient nutrients. This will not only help overcome the micronutrient deficiencies but also improve the nutritive value of the diet. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah Appendix 1. Crop schedule by crop and season Crop Dry1 season Parcel Planting Harvesting1 (no.) Time time 2nd Nov. 1st Nov. 2nd Nov. 3rd Nov. 4th Oct. 2nd Nov. 2nd Nov. 4th Dec. 2nd Nov. 1st Nov. 4th Oct. 3rd Oct. 4th Nov. 1st Nov. 3rd Oct. 4th Nov. 3rd Oct. 2nd Dec. 4th Nov. 3rd Nov. 3rd Nov. 1st Nov. 2nd Nov. 1st Nov. 2nd Nov. 4th Nov. 2nd Oct. 3rd Nov. 1st Oct. 1st Nov. 4th Dec. 4th Nov. 1st Oct. 3rd Feb. 4th Jan. 3rd Feb. 1st Mar. 3rd Jan. 4th Feb. 4th Jan. 3rd Mar. 3rd Feb. 4th Dec. 2nd Feb. 4th Jan. 1st Jan. 1st Jan. 4th Jan. 3rd Mar. 4th Dec. 4th Mar. 2nd Mar. 1st Jan. 1st Mar. 1st Jun. 3rd Apr. 2nd Jan. 4th Dec. 3rd Feb. 2nd Jan. 3rd Feb. 4th Mar. 2nd Dec. 4th Apr. 4th Dec. 1st Jan. Dry2 season Parcel Planting Harvesting1 (no.) Time Time 95 26 13 29 55 9 22 5 4 13 3 34 15 1 32 13 17 21 13 1 1 1 3 1 7 8 11 1 1 23 3 2 3 1 3 2nd Feb. 2nd Feb. 4th Jan. 1st Feb. 3rd Feb. 1st Feb. 2nd Feb. 1st Feb. 4th Feb. 2nd Feb. 1st Mar. 3rd Feb. 2nd Feb. 1st Feb. 4th Feb. 1st Feb. 1st Feb. 2nd Feb. 3rd Feb. 2nd Feb. 1st Feb. 1st Mar. 1st Mar. 1st Feb. 1st Feb. 1st Mar. 4th Feb. 2nd Mar. 2nd Jan. 3rd Feb. 1st Mar. 2nd Mar. 3rd Feb. 1st Mar. 3rd Feb. 3rd May 2nd May 4th Apr. 2nd May 4th May 4th May 1st May 3rd Apr. 1st Jun. 1st May 3rd Apr. 1st Jun. 3rd May 1st Jul. 1st May 3rd May 2nd Apr. 3rd May 2nd Apr. 2nd May 1st Oct. 4th Dec. 3rd Nov. 2nd Dec. 3rd Jun. 4th May 2nd Apr. 4th May 4th Mar. 4th May 3rd Apr. 2nd Jun. 4th Mar. 3rd Apr. 3rd Jun. 188 Wet season Parcel Planting Harvesting1 (no.) time time 226 30 17 41 75 9 42 9 1 13 35 2 32 1 1 1 47 24 1 11 6 25 13 4 2 7 3 4 4 8 3 2 12 1 1 1 29 1 4 3 1 4 4 2 2nd Jun. 3rd Jun. 4th Aug. 2nd Jun. 2nd Jul. 3rd Jun. 4th Jun. 2nd Jul. 1st Apr. 1st Jul. 2nd Jul. 1st Jun. 1st Jul. 2nd May 4th Jul. 4th Apr. 2nd Jul. 1st Aug. 1st May 2nd Jul. 4th Jul. 4th Jun. 4th Jun. 3rd Jun. 2nd Apr. 4th Jun. 1st Jun. 2nd Jun. 4th Jun. 3rd Jun. 4th May 2nd May 4th Jun. 3rd Jun. 4th May 4th May 2nd Jun. 1st Jun. 3rd Aug. 4th May 3rd Sep. 2nd Jul. 2nd Jul. 2nd Jun. 4th Sep. 3rd Sep. 1st Dec. 3rd Sep. 2nd Sep. 1st Oct. 3rd Sep. 3rd Oct. 3rd Jun. 2nd Aug. 4th Oct. 3rd Jul. 2nd Oct. 2nd Oct. 3rd Sep. 2nd Jun. 3rd Sep. 2nd Nov. 3rd Sep. 4th Sep. 2nd Nov. 2nd Oct. 2nd Aug. 3rd Sep. 2nd Dec. 1st Mar. 2nd Jan. 4th Jan. 2nd Oct. 1st Nov. 4th Aug. 2nd Apr. 2nd Aug. 2nd Oct. 2nd Mar. 4th Sep. 3rd Sep. 2nd Jan. 1st Oct. 4th Aug. 3rd Jan. 2nd Aug. 2nd Aug. 1st Oct. Rice 124 Corn 18 Potato 25 Onion 7 Cabbage 12 Tomato 12 Cucumber 11 Soybean 2 Yardlong bean 4 Mungbean Pakchoi 5 Carrot 9 Coriander Cauliflower 5 Sweet pepper Water kangkong 2 Dry kangkong Chinese cabbage 16 Snap bean 7 Sweet potato 4 Radish 6 Bottle gourd 1 Okra 5 Sweet pakchoi 6 Jointed gourd 1 Scallion Chili 1 Ginger Winged yam Sponge gourd Eggplant 3 Celery 2 Sauropus Lettuce 6 Mint leaves 1 Cassava Pumpkin Cassaba melon 1 Bitter gourd 7 Foetid eryngo 1 Heartleaf houttuynia Malabar nightshade 2 Beet root Field pea 1 White jute 2 Amaranth One kind of gourd ( Muop khia-) 1 189 Southern Vietnam Appendix 2. Planting method by crop Crop Percentage of parcels Transplantin Wet Dry Bulb g seeded seeded planting 15 0 0 0 0 0 94 33 0 35 0 40 96 98 69 32 29 50 25 0 50 7 0 70 0 100 0 0 67 56 0 10 0 67 0 28 0 0 69 0 100 100 0 89 100 0 0 56 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 6 0 100 65 0 60 4 2 31 68 71 50 75 100 50 93 100 30 100 0 100 100 33 44 100 90 100 0 100 72 100 0 31 0 0 0 100 11 0 100 100 0 0 100 0 100 100 0 67 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total Drillin Ste parcels g m (number) 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 33 0 0 0 100 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 445 74 55 5 5 1 77 3 78 34 6 5 142 52 95 75 7 6 4 1 2 59 6 30 17 2 44 51 9 18 2 21 2 3 1 32 13 2 29 3 1 1 9 9 5 7 14 Rice Corn Potato Sweet potato Winged yam Cassava Onion Scallion Carrot Radish Ginger Beet root Cabbage Cauliflower Chinese cabbage Cucumber Bottle gourd Jointed gourd Sponge gourd Pumpkin Cassaba melon Bitter gourd One kind of gourd (Muop khia-) Tomato Yardlong bean Sweet pepper Snap bean Okra Chili Eggplant Field pea Pakchoi Coriander Water kangkong Dry kangkong Sweet pakchoi Celery Sauropus Lettuce Mint leaves Foetid eryngo Heartleaf houttuynia Malabar nightshade White jute Amaranth Soybean Mungbean Note: “0“ implies that no observation of that crop sown by using that method was available. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 190 Appendix 3. Number of different management operation and labor use by crop Crop Rice Corn Potato Onion Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Pakchoi Carrot Coriander Cauliflower Sweet pepper Water kangkong Dry kangkong Chinese cabbage Snap bean Sweet potato Radish Bottle gourd Okra Sweet pakchoi Joint gourd Shallot Chili Ginger Winged yam Sponge gourd Eggplant Celery Sauropus Lettuce Mint leave Cassava Pumpkin Cassaba melon Bitter gourd Foetid eryngo Heartleaf houttuynia Night shade Cu den Field pea White jute Amaranth One kind of gourd (Muop khia-) Land preparation 1.9 1.7 2.5 1.8 2.1 1.7 2.4 1.6 2.1 1.9 1.4 2.4 2.0 2.1 2.5 2.7 2.0 1.8 2.7 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.7 1.8 1.0 1.7 1.1 1.2 1.0 1.8 2.2 0.8 1.0 2.0 1.3 2.0 3.0 2.0 2.7 1.0 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.0 2.3 2.6 2.5 Weeding 0.6 1.3 2.0 1.2 1.7 2.0 0.7 1.4 0.7 0.8 1.6 2.5 0.0 1.8 3.0 1.3 3.0 1.5 0.6 0.6 1.1 0.3 0.7 1.1 3.7 8.7 4.1 2.3 1.4 0.0 1.7 1.3 9.0 1.0 0.7 2.0 1.0 1.0 0.7 0.0 2.0 0.9 2.0 2.0 0.9 0.6 0.8 Spraying 4.3 3.3 12.1 7.4 11.2 8.3 7.9 3.1 8.1 6.4 5.0 4.7 1.5 12.0 9.0 5.0 5.0 9.0 9.1 3.2 5.4 1.9 7.8 4.9 7.8 9.0 11.9 1.7 0.2 4.5 8.4 2.8 10.0 2.2 5.0 0.0 4.0 4.0 7.9 4.0 2.0 4.7 7.2 10.0 1.8 2.6 7.8 Irrigation 6.2 8.9 44.9 25.2 41.7 25.8 25.3 4.9 28.8 5.7 35.1 35.6 20.0 40.3 12.5 16.7 25.0 36.3 29.9 9.4 28.0 13.4 32.6 28.8 20.7 26.7 19.0 1.0 1.8 13.8 29.3 23.0 30.0 27.6 24.3 0.0 30.0 30.0 24.6 30.0 16.0 24.1 24.8 31.5 20.6 14.0 29.2 Harvesting 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 13.9 12.8 1.0 12.4 1.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 25.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 14.7 1.0 1.0 25.3 23.8 1.0 8.3 11.0 29.8 1.0 1.0 13.3 22.9 1.0 27.5 1.0 10.7 1.0 14.0 6.0 13.6 1.0 4.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 11.2 Labor (day/ha) 104 151 319 293 267 390 290 133 356 182 331 308 193 261 322 189 258 254 279 232 272 173 269 250 300 434 679 257 184 169 431 218 646 228 514 315 285 295 244 305 398 197 269 272 170 164 241 191 Southern Vietnam Crop Seed Plant (kg/ha) material wt (kg/ha) 184.2 25.6 2.3 1.0 0.3 1.1 19.9 13.6 25.1 1.9 6.2 7.3 0.4 0.5 67.0 60.0 2.0 19.7 7.9 3.9 7.9 2.9 3.0 0.3 5.0 0.3 10.0 5.0 2.5 5.0 5.0 2.5 10.3 1.5 3.0 8.2 3.5 27.5 13.0 1.0 13.6 1738 2080 1800 1540 1000 Plant (no./ha) 34675 18750 18500 32257 36483 6000 18666 30000 25000 6000 10000 N 111 144 397 146 402 159 119 89 130 84 135 338 174 333 155 83 108 288 117 207 115 165 127 95 177 325 356 237 202 33 225 90 1246 122 239 54 55 104 117 112 1160 117 314 387 67 84 136 Fertilizer (kg/ha) Inorganic fertilizer CaCO3 P K Total 50 33 194 0 45 19 208 0 310 745 1452 678 83 104 333 3 242 315 959 435 73 65 297 33 50 31 200 0 33 11 133 0 59 51 240 0 34 20 138 0 47 29 211 0 211 541 1100 841 6 3 183 0 179 301 813 196 56 200 411 0 51 37 171 0 16 8 132 0 169 176 633 460 71 29 217 0 50 10 267 0 43 36 194 0 127 167 459 0 44 25 196 0 23 10 128 0 93 46 316 0 129 102 556 0 139 85 580 0 71 34 342 0 37 18 257 0 16 20 69 0 85 58 368 0 44 13 147 0 84 42 1372 0 69 46 237 103 66 63 368 0 8 4 66 0 32 112 199 0 28 12 144 0 48 34 199 0 36 15 163 0 400 360 1920 0 67 51 234 0 65 306 685 800 228 355 970 200 51 28 146 0 58 38 180 0 50 10 196 0 Appendix 4. Use of seed and fertilizer by crop Manure 1834 412 7375 1279 8414 3033 9385 0 6088 0 0 8351 0 12038 35000 18333 0 6332 10873 0 5541 2143 13749 1391 0 1500 0 0 0 15000 16000 0 0 7741 0 0 13000 0 11302 0 0 23333 16600 2500 25000 24000 5000 Rice Corn Potato Onion Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Pakchoi Carrot Coriander Cauliflower Sweet pepper Water kangkong Dry kangkong Chinese cabbage Snap bean Sweet potato Radish Bottle gourd Okra Sweet pakchoi Jointed gourd Scallion Chili Ginger Winged yam Sponge gourd Eggplant Celery Sauropus Lettuce Mint leaves Cassava Pumpkin Cassaba melon Bitter gourd Foetid eryngo Heartleaf houttuynia Malabar nightshade Beet root Field pea White jute Amaranth One kind of gourd (Muop khia-) Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 192 Appendix 5. Per ha use of pesticide and herbicide by crop Crop % of parcels sprayed Rice Corn Potato Onion Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Pakchoi Carrot Coriander Cauliflower Sweet pepper Water kangkong Dry kangkong Chinese cabbage Snap bean Sweet potato Radish Bottle gourd Okra Sweet pakchoi Jointed gourd Scallion Chili Ginger Winged yam Sponge gourd Eggplant Celery Sauropus Lettuce Mint leaves Cassava Pumpkin Cassaba melon Bitter gourd Foetid eryngo Heartleaf houttuynia Malabar nightshade Beet root Field pea White jute Amaranth One kind of gourd (Muop khia-) 88.5 83.8 94.6 90.9 99.3 86.7 97.3 85.7 88.2 100.0 90.5 93.6 50.0 94.2 100.0 66.7 100.0 97.9 100.0 60.0 100.0 57.1 100.0 93.8 66.7 66.7 88.9 50.0 0.0 75.0 94.4 53.9 50.0 41.4 33.3 0.0 100.0 100.0 98.3 100.0 100.0 88.9 80.0 100.0 44.4 60.0 100.0 Pesticide No. of sprays 3.3 2.9 12.1 7.1 11.1 8.0 7.4 3.0 7.7 6.3 4.9 4.5 1.5 11.8 9.0 4.7 5.0 8.9 8.3 2.8 4.9 1.7 7.1 4.8 7.8 9.0 11.8 1.5 0.0 3.8 7.9 2.6 10.0 2.0 5.0 0.0 3.0 4.0 7.2 4.0 2.0 4.4 6.6 10.0 1.6 2.2 7.5 Quantity (kg or liter) 6.5 5.3 30.4 15.8 19.8 6.2 6.7 3.3 10.4 8.0 6.3 29.0 0.5 25.5 8.6 3.0 1.2 14.2 9.6 1.4 9.5 2.0 8.8 7.6 2.2 13.6 18.9 12.1 0.0 6.8 6.9 2.8 20.5 5.4 2.7 0.0 10.0 0.5 7.8 3.4 1.0 6.5 22.1 7.5 2.9 2.5 4.7 % of parcels sprayed 84.5 32.4 3.6 29.9 10.6 16.7 44.0 14.3 41.2 14.3 4.8 12.8 0.0 23.1 0.0 33.3 0.0 8.4 63.6 40.0 44.1 14.3 70.6 12.5 0.0 0.0 11.1 16.7 20.0 75.0 38.9 23.1 0.0 17.2 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 62.7 0.0 0.0 22.2 20.0 0.0 22.2 40.0 33.3 Herbicide No. of sprays 0.9 0.4 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.8 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.6 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.3 Quantity (kg or liter) 1.1 0.6 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.8 0.1 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.9 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.1 1.2 0.3 1.0 0.1 1.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.3 1.3 0.6 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.8 0.3 Note: Zero implies that the spraying was not done. 193 Appendix 6. Distribution of yield by crop and province Crop Tien Giang Rice Corn Potato Onion Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Pakchoi Carrot Coriander Cauliflower Sweet pepper Water kangkong Dry kangkong Chinese cabbage Snap bean Sweet potato Radish Bottle gourd Okra Sweet pakchoi Jointed gourd Scallion Chili Ginger Winged yam Sponge gourd Eggplant Celery Sauropus Lettuce Mint leaves Cassava Pumpkin Cassaba melon Bitter gourd Foetid eryngo Heartleaf houttuynia Malabar nightshade Beet root Field pea White jute Amaranth 4093.0 7127.0 12836.0 17571.0 16050.0 17750.0 6000.0 13353.0 13065.0 6000.0 15467.0 17500.0 13875.0 8700.0 25840.0 10500.0 21333.0 12800.0 5000.0 19714.0 13038.0 42500.0 8333.0 48000.0 7500.0 11000.0 Lam Dong 22482.0 27393.0 54428.0 7500.0 29544.0 45242.0 44045.0 17625.0 20200.0 45000.0 Yield (kg/ha) An Giang 5112.0 6276.0 17852.0 20000.0 20292.0 21526.0 2160.0 14860.0 1929.0 13875.0 8500.0 24000.0 15000.0 17500.0 24000.0 20000.0 31000.0 5000.0 14342.0 10080.0 8000.0 13333.0 22750.0 13000.0 17220.0 10000.0 60000.0 15000.0 Ho Chi Min 3702.0 3900.0 . 34000.0 22000.0 15617.0 9566.0 26333.0 16500.0 17500.0 15250.0 11952.0 35263.0 23750.0 18062.0 16500.0 10000.0 11333.0 36318.0 9423.0 22000.0 15255.0 15163.0 13564.0 13200.0 Southern Vietnam Average 4403.0 6391.0 22482.0 17242.0 51551.0 18540.0 17228.0 2160.0 10792.0 1929.0 13452.0 29544.0 8500.0 44152.0 16500.0 19667.0 15000.0 32164.0 12500.0 17200.0 26529.0 24929.0 17806.0 14563.0 9160.0 20560.0 10222.0 21333.0 12800.0 9750.0 29861.0 13038.0 42500.0 11655.0 31167.0 7500.0 22000.0 12000.0 15422.0 10000.0 60000.0 15144.0 20200.0 45000.0 13564.0 13200.0 Note: “-“ implies that no observation of that crop in that province was available. Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 194 Appendix 7. Total cost and factor share by crop Crop group Labor Rice Corn Potato Onion Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Pakchoi Carrot Coriander Cauliflower Sweet pepper Water kangkong Dry kangkong Chinese cabbage Snap bean Sweet potato Radish Bottle gourd Okra Sweet pakchoi Jointed gourd Scallion Chili Ginger Winged yam Sponge gourd Eggplant Celery Sauropus Lettuce Mint leaves Cassava Pumpkin Cassaba melon Bitter gourd Foetid eryngo Heartleaf houttuynia Malabar nightshade Beet root Field pea White jute Amaranth One kind of gourd (Muop khia-) 42.7 52.1 28.3 36.3 31.7 51.6 46.1 67.5 51.2 59.7 56.0 33.8 56.5 32.3 39.6 40.2 72.9 38.0 41.5 43.2 45.2 32.6 47.9 56.6 54.8 55.9 54.6 28.6 34.8 36.1 46.6 39.6 58.4 52.3 72.9 88.5 44.0 60.7 44.2 53.4 35.8 37.1 37.7 38.9 32.7 35.2 51.5 Seed 8.2 6.7 24.6 32.7 15.3 7.1 6.3 3.5 6.9 4.6 6.6 9.0 5.9 12.4 7.4 1.1 0.9 12.7 9.1 29.5 4.9 31.2 4.4 4.8 1.8 16.8 5.2 50.6 46.6 4.6 5.4 36.2 0.1 4.3 0.7 5.1 2.6 10.9 5.6 1.0 2.2 1.3 4.5 15.9 7.7 0.5 4.6 Percentage of the total cost Fertilizer 20.4 20.9 28.5 10.4 23.3 10.9 8.4 14.9 8.8 13.8 11.3 29.8 13.2 20.5 9.4 8.1 10.4 18.9 6.9 15.7 10.4 18.0 8.1 8.6 18.1 15.7 16.5 14.4 17.0 2.9 10.9 8.7 27.9 12.7 15.6 6.4 9.7 6.4 7.9 7.2 54.8 9.7 18.8 35.1 7.0 9.6 11.2 Manure 5.4 1.4 8.3 2.9 12.6 3.7 16.8 0.0 8.2 0.0 0.0 16.4 0.0 17.2 35.8 36.6 0.0 10.5 17.1 0.0 14.1 7.0 24.3 3.6 0.0 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 34.3 24.7 0.0 0.0 16.0 0.0 0.0 28.1 0.0 20.3 0.0 0.0 43.1 28.2 3.8 48.8 51.1 8.9 Total cost Pesticide Irrigation Protective (MVD/ha) structure 14.7 8.6 0.0 6.1 10.4 8.4 0.0 6.2 7.2 3.1 0.0 29.6 9.0 8.6 0.0 16.9 11.4 5.6 0.0 23.7 9.2 10.2 7.2 16.4 10.1 4.5 7.9 16.8 10.5 3.6 0.0 5.4 7.5 7.2 10.2 16.7 15.9 6.0 0.0 6.1 9.6 16.0 0.5 11.1 8.0 3.1 0.1 21.8 4.0 20.4 0.0 6.4 12.6 5.0 0.0 23.0 7.3 0.5 0.0 26.0 9.9 4.0 0.0 12.0 1.2 14.6 0.0 7.7 10.8 9.0 0.1 18.6 11.0 2.5 11.8 19.3 6.5 5.1 0.0 9.7 20.0 5.5 0.0 14.6 1.3 2.6 7.2 14.1 12.4 2.7 0.0 15.4 8.9 17.1 0.4 8.8 7.3 11.4 6.6 12.1 5.1 4.7 0.0 19.8 20.4 3.3 0.0 21.6 6.0 0.5 0.0 14.7 0.5 1.1 0.0 8.3 6.4 4.1 11.5 12.8 8.4 3.9 0.1 21.9 8.2 7.4 0.0 9.4 8.4 5.2 0.0 21.5 4.5 10.2 0.0 10.4 3.9 6.8 0.0 13.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.9 8.3 2.5 4.9 12.2 2.7 13.4 5.9 10.2 11.6 2.8 7.6 15.9 21.2 17.2 0.0 11.3 1.0 6.3 0.0 22.4 4.4 4.3 0.0 13.7 8.1 2.6 0.0 22.6 1.5 2.8 1.9 19.0 2.1 1.7 0.0 13.5 2.3 1.3 0.0 13.0 9.2 2.7 11.8 11.6 195 Southern Vietnam Appendix 8. Economics of cultivation by crop Crop Gross return (MVND/ha) 7.4 10.4 43.7 31.4 43.6 24.8 26.5 7.2 21.2 10.3 14.1 41.0 24.7 47.8 111.2 24.3 22.5 27.9 32.8 20.4 23.9 26.9 35.3 16.6 15.7 33.1 136.7 70.4 36.6 14.5 37.1 24.8 45.8 28.8 44.2 22.0 14.1 35.6 12.0 48.0 23.6 31.4 148.0 33.1 25.4 21.8 Net Benefit-cost return ratio (MVND/ha) (%) 1.3 4.1 14.1 14.5 19.8 8.4 9.7 1.8 4.4 4.2 3.0 19.2 18.3 24.8 85.2 12.3 14.8 9.3 13.5 10.7 9.3 12.8 19.8 7.8 3.5 13.3 115.1 55.7 28.3 1.8 15.2 15.4 24.2 18.4 30.3 9.8 3.9 19.7 0.7 25.6 9.9 8.8 129.0 19.7 12.5 10.1 34 98 51 93 86 60 64 86 30 80 50 99 285 120 288 140 193 70 82 115 112 127 141 93 56 47 614 411 365 18 80 243 112 216 247 81 41 141 6 115 78 119 906 153 110 106 Cost (VND/kg) 1488 1196 1391 1085 502 974 1066 2446 2507 3327 925 790 767 535 1986 642 513 690 1660 633 697 586 952 644 1403 1569 3480 799 909 1268 864 771 570 998 528 553 861 1141 1134 373 897 1180 733 985 962 910 Labor productivity (VND/day) 56700 59426 112537 94570 143682 49683 74917 56323 39299 38983 30847 113342 109714 163451 338544 101857 65400 95017 97498 78510 87036 133955 108843 49100 35843 20145 195937 414368 283865 61129 77234 163614 56263 109131 86486 58342 27007 129500 19485 100643 98954 88838 610967 170575 127409 68914 Irrigation productivity (ratio) 15 14 19 23 17 9 22 21 12 40 4 24 8 17 141 23 9 11 29 10 16 103 24 7 3 16 60 149 65 27 26 6 11 15 8 22 5 35 2 22 19 21 113 35 30 17 Rice Corn Potato Onion Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Pakchoi Carrot Coriander Cauliflower Sweet pepper Water kangkong Dry kangkong Chinese cabbage Snap bean Sweet potato Radish Bottle gourd Okra Sweet pakchoi Jointed gourd Scallion Chili Ginger Winged yam Sponge gourd Eggplant Celery Sauropus Lettuce Mint leaves Pumpkin Cassaba melon Bitter gourd Foetid eryngo Heartleaf houttuynia Malabar nightshade Beet root Field pea White jute Amaranth One kind of gourd (Muop khia-) Hau, Chuong and Abedullah 196 Appendix 9. Farmers’ perceptions about insect and disease problems on vegetables by crop Crops Percentage of parcels with Percentage of parcels with Total parcels insect problem insect problem No problem Insect No problem Insect problem problem 78 22 77 80 20 142 67 33 93 7 30 93 7 96 4 75 57 43 7 59 41 94 6 17 79 21 14 86 14 21 77 23 52 92 8 95 89 11 44 88 12 94 6 34 96 4 51 88 12 32 75 25 4 75 89 97 93 25 11 3 7 78 22 4 18 29 59 9 Onion Cabbage Tomato Cucumber Soybean Yardlong bean Mungbean Pakchoi Cauliflower Chinese cabbage Snap bean Radish Okra Sweet pakchoi Chrysanthemum (flower) Sponge gourd Eggplant Lettuce Bitter gourd Chili Note: vegetable missing from the table implies no serious insect and disease problem, and “-“ implies that the parcel has no serious insect or disease problem. 197 Appendix 10. Nutritive efficiency of selected food items Southern Vietnam Food group Rice Sweet potato Kangkong Ginger Mungbean sprout Chili Wax gourd Cucumber White jute Malabar nightshade Tomato Sauropus Amaranth Onion Okra Sweet potato leaves Carrot Banana Papaya Mango Pork Beef Chicken Hen egg Cow milk Market price (VND/100g) 318 200 149 400 313 1078 250 200 535 188 270 190 172 287 258 123 280 314 265 951 2403 4129 2600 1896 1048 Nutritive value (VND/100g) 634 389 668 366 515 2298 105 193 1507 829 427 1722 2038 211 1002 857 756 172 589 284 1489 883 903 1043 477 Nutritive efficiency (ratio) 2.0 1.9 4.5 0.9 1.6 2.1 0.4 1.0 2.8 4.4 1.6 9.1 11.9 0.7 3.9 7.0 2.7 0.5 2.2 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.5