Environmental effects of the triple-rice practice under high-dike protection in An Giang province and farmers’ perception on livelihood transformation

Abstract

Triple-rice crop has been the most popular farming system in agricultural production in An Giang province, an upper floodplain in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD). However, many research results show that the soil and water environment in triple-rice cultivation areas are increasingly negatively affected. As a result, the livelihoods of most farmers, especially those with small farming areas, are challenging because of the increasing costs of fertilizers and pesticides used for ensuring rice yields. This study evaluates the survey results on the current status of fertilizer and pesticide use in the triple-rice practice compared to the double rice. We analyzed 520 interviews with doubleand triple-rice farmers in new and old high-dike farming areas and quantitatively evaluated fertilizer and pesticides use, and their livelihood vulnerability. Besides, 998 interviews on farmers' perceptions were also scrutinized to examine rice-based farmers' perceptions regarding livelihoods transformation to other crops. The results show that fertilizers and pesticides are increasing for the triple-rice farms compared double-rice ones. The triple-rice farmers under the old high dike areas have increased their use of fertilizers and pesticides than those in the new high dike areas. Regarding the farmers' awareness assessment on changing livelihoods to replace triple-rice crop, most farmers responded different reasons to persuade cultivating triple-rice. Technical constraints are one of the main reasons along with high initial capital investments to implement new farming systems such as vegetables or fruit trees. However, the market is the largest obstacle that should be seriously addressed before transformation policy is applied. Our study results could be used in identifying the impacts of the triple-rice practice in the VMD and understanding farmers' perceptions to help the government develop timely solutions and policies to support rice farmers' better livelihood, especially in livelihood transformation, and used to be referenced by future studies applying for similar provinces where are under intensive rice cultivation.