From Challenges to Sustainable Solutions for Upland Agriculture in Southeast Asia

Publication Type

Book chapter

Authors

Schreinemachers, P., Fröhlich, H. L., Clemens, G., Stahr, K.

Year of publication

2013

Published in

Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Southeast Asia: Innovations and Policies for Mountainous Areas

Editor

H.L. Fröhlich, P. Schreinemachers, K. Stahr, G. Clemens (Eds.)

Pubisher

Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

Series/labeling

Springer Environmental Science and Engineering

ISBN / ISSN / eISSN

978-3-642-33376-7

DOI

10.1007/978-3-642-33377-4_1

Page (from - to)

3-27

Keywords

sustainability

Agriculture carried out in the mountainous areas of Southeast Asia is intensifying rapidly, driven as it is by economic growth, policy changes, the introduction of new technologies and population growth. Rice, the dominant crop, is giving way to a greater variety of cash crops such as maize, vegetables, fruits, flowers and rubber. Building on a long-term interdisciplinary research project run by the University of Hohenheim over the period 2000–2014, in collaboration with various universities and research institutes in Thailand and Vietnam, we discuss three interrelated problems that tend to accompany land use intensification in mountainous areas, these being rapid land degradation, increasing levels of pesticide use and pollution, and persistent poverty. We set the framework for this book by introducing these problems and discussing how research into the development, testing and adaptation of innovations, as well as the development of knowledge on mountainous land use systems, has contributed to more sustainable land use and rural development among the mountainous areas of Southeast Asia.