2025-12-29
Sujitra Yodda, Suwit Laohasiriwong, Phrueksa Lawongsa, Tanabhat-Sakorn Sukitprapanon, A. Terry Rambo
This study investigated the impact of urbanization on use of soil amendment by rice farmers in three villages along a rural–urban continuum in Northeast Thailand. It shows how urbanization influences their use of types and quantities of soil amendments. Data were collected by interviewing 150 farmers, focusing on types, quantities, sources, costs, and perceived effects of nine different amendments, including rice straw, chemical fertilizers, manures, and green manure. Results revealed significant declines in organic amendment use as villages become more urbanized, with rural farmers employing more diverse and greater quantities of organic amendments while periurban and urban farmers predominantly rely on chemical fertilizers. Quantitative analysis shows that livestock manure use diminishes sharply from over 80% of farmers in rural villages to around 30% in more urbanized communities, reflecting reduced livestock numbers. Discriminant analysis compared the three villages in terms of three dependent variables. (area of paddy fields, quantities of chemical fertilizer and organic amendments applied) showed clearly that all the group means were significantly different. Analysis of quantities of chemical fertilizer and organic amendments applied by individual farmers in all three villages revealed that farmers applying higher amounts of organic matter tended to use less chemical fertilizer. Constraints, including limited supplies, high costs, and labor shortages, inhibited organic amendment application among urbanized farmers. These shifts pose a serious threat to long-term soil quality. The findings underscore the urgent need for policy interventions to promote sustainable organic soil management practices in urbanizing communities to improve soil health and food security.
2025-12-10
Diah Meutia Harum, Sabara Sabara, Helmina Kastanya, Devi Fauziyah Ma'rifat, Selvone Christin Pattiserlihun, Andi Alfian, Vikry Reinaldo Paais
This research aims to examine the ecological values and political practice contained in pantun , particularly that used by the kewang , a customary or adat institution in Haruku Village, Central Maluku. In Haruku, pantun is used as a medium of enviromental education and ecological activism for the community, specifically the young generation. This study is expected to contribute to the reconstruction of a more eco-friendly civilization of the Archipelago by streamlining the potential of local traditions in promoting sustainability andconservation Haruku Village, in this study, becomes a role model and best practice of utilizing kewang as a customary institution, with the head of kewang as the central figure, in building ecological awareness and cultural-political strategy based on oral tradition and literature. By using the case study method and thematic analysis, this research discovered that the role of pantun in environmental activism carried out by kewang as a customary institution is very significant in the efforts of environmental conservation in Haruku. Eliza Marthen Kissya, as the head of kewang , made a strategy by producing pantun , which was then used as a medium for environmental education and cultural-political agenda to protect Haluku’s environment from external threat, as well as a medium for inheriting the ecological harmony, sustainability, and cultural resilience to the young generation of Haruku, especially the young generation who are prepared to become kewang in the future ( kewang muda ). The usage of pantun shows that traditional orality can be effectively utilized to support not only ecological harmony, but also cultivate an ideological, political, and cultural strategy. Therefore, local culture and natural conservation can be synergized in order to develop ecological awareness in the community as well as maintain the eco-political activism inherited in local culture and practices.
2025-09-22
Phayom Saraphirom, Sukanlaya Choenkwan, Arunee Promkhambut, Tansuda Jinai
This study offers new insights into adaptive water management for drought-prone subsistence rice farming in Ban Thum Sub-district, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. By triangulating climate science, agronomy, and farmers’ socio-economic conditions, we assess drought risk and identify feasible adaptation strategies. The analysis integrates 30 years of observed climate data (1994–2023), mid-century projections (2024–2053) under SSP 245 and SSP 585, as well as semi-structured interviews with farmers. Stage-specific effective rainfall, crop evapotranspiration, and supplemental water requirements were calculated. Although total rainfall is projected to rise slightly, severe and moderate droughts are expected to remain frequent, particularly during the heading and ripening stages. In drought years, sustaining yields of 200–300 kg rai⁻¹ will require an additional 200–1,300 m³ rai⁻¹ of water. Groundwater wells and large farm ponds are technically effective but financially inaccessible to most smallholders; smaller ponds represent a more affordable alternative. The findings underscore the importance of targeted adaptation, including enhanced on-farm storage, optimized irrigation scheduling, and supportive policies such as low-interest loans and infrastructure subsidies. By linking climate projections to local capacities, this study provides a practical roadmap for strengthening rice-farming resilience and safeguarding food security in one of Thailand’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
2025-09-09
Tuyen Nghiem, Sumeet Saksena, Hue T. Ha, Truong Dao, Toan Le, Huong D. Vu, Dien Nguyen, Truong Q. Hoc
Vietnam has made a strong commitment to biodiversity conservation, as evidenced by its extensive network of protected areas. However, environmental issues persist in protected areas. Often, the resulting violence complicates the situation, making it more challenging to analyze and manage. We studied the perceptions of people in the buffer zone of the Song Thanh National Park, Quang Nam province, regarding the current status of ecosystem services (ES), the importance of ecosystem services, their changes over time, and people's participation in protecting ecosystem services. We employed a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data. We conducted semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and household surveys. We found that local communities were aware of the current status of ecosystem services they used and the importance of prominent selected services, such as swidden agriculture and water resources, in their lives. The study also showed how people perceived the improvement of regulatory services since the establishment of the national park, while the extraction of forest ecosystem services led to legal violations. People's dependence on the provisioning services provided by protected areas often leads to environmental conflicts in their management. This study provides strong evidence that conservation is essential; however, an ES approach is needed to manage protected areas effectively to meet conservation objectives.
2025-09-09
Famala Eka Sanhadi Rahayu, Nita Maya Valiantien, Alamsyah Alamsyah, Setya Ariani, Ester Lina
This research aims to reveal the position of indigenous women in Indonesia’s capital city in terms of gender equality, culture, and local language preservation. The research is done through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using a phenomenological approach. There are 19 participants selected from two indigenous ethnicities: Dayak, and Paser. The participants reveal that gender equality has long been applied in their community, which can be seen from the equality of education, jobs, domestic affairs, rituals, and representation in government or organization. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate the crucial role of women in preserving culture and language, as they serve as initiators, instructors, mediators, and executors. Looking at women’s vital role, their existence and influences should be supported and made prominent.
2025-07-12
Muhammad Reza Halomoan, Arya Hadi Dharmawan, Satyawan Sunito
Extraction activities across Indonesia have caused drastic changes to forest ecologies. The Indonesian government responded to this through a policy of Industrial Plantation Forest concessions, which were given to the private sector in the hopes of overcoming damages from forest extraction activities while at the same time utilizing unproductive forest land. However, this policy does not pay attention to the existence of people who de facto control and use the land and has triggered new conflicts around agrarian claims based on different interpretations of land rights. In an effort to resolve conflicts, the government has implemented a community-based forest area management policy, which involves a partnership between local communities and companies known as the social forestry partnership scheme. This scheme is partial tenure in the form of management rights and legality to communities to manage land in forest areas. In this study, we report how the community interprets this program as a solution to agrarian conflicts. Using qualitative methods, this study finds that social forestry has not been entirely accepted by local communities for several reasons. These include the low level of public trust due to the actions taken by the company during the land claim process, demands for property rights from social movements that were not fulfilled through this scheme, and the community's continued cultivation of oil palm, which is a non-forest crop, on their land. The last reason requires the community to replace their plantations with non-oil palm plantations if they wish to participate in the social forestry program. This research further examines how the community's readiness to adopt non-oil palm plantations is influenced by factors of income, convenience, socio-cultural and ecological adaptation, and the potential for new conflicts to arise.