Eco-Friendly Intensification and Climate resilient Agricultural Systems (EFICAS)

Description

Over the past decades a large range of technical options have been tested successfullyin the northern uplands of Lao PDR to support a sustainable intensification of upland agriculture.For example, cropping systems based on agroecological principles have proved effective inrestoring degraded soils and improving agricultural productivity while (i) decreasing laborrequirements, especially for women who are usually in charge of the time consuming weedingoperations, and (ii) limiting soil tillage and use of chemical inputs. Today, soil conservationtechniques are well known by most stakeholders, including village communities, but they are notspontaneously adopted. The reasons for low adoption are often not related to the croppingtechniques themselves but to external causes, such as the roaming cattle and buffaloes thatdamage cover crops, the limited knowledge of existing market outlets, or simply because farmersfind it less labor consuming to till their land or to use chemical products instead of organicpractices. Innovation is not a straightforward process.