Abstract
Increasing crop production, while maintaining sustainability, is a priority for agricultural development projects, particularly in developing countries. This study investigated the factors contributing to the effectiveness of agricultural development projects in improving the sustainability of cropping systems in a small upland watershed in south-west China. This involved a review of recent related projects and detailed evaluation of one project: the SHASEA Project. Farmers’ perceptions of several agricultural technologies are discussed, along with factors contributing to farmers’ adoption of these technologies. Local, national and international institutions need to adopt several strategies to improve project effectiveness and agro-environmental sustainability.
Highlights
In many parts of the developing world over the past five decades, increasing agricultural production has been the highest priority of agricultural development projects
The purpose of this paper is to share the experience of conducting participatory evaluation and discuss issues related to technology adoption in the Chinese context
The comparison is based on available information about the other projects, which was collected from various sources
Summary
In many parts of the developing world over the past five decades, increasing agricultural production has been the highest priority of agricultural development projects. Large areas of the world are facing problems of soil degradation [7], water erosion, groundwater pollution and natural resource depletion and the sustainability of many current agricultural systems is questionable [8,9,10] This situation is more apparent in poor and developing countries, which depend more on agriculture for their income. More effective soil and water conservation, while maintaining or increasing productivity, have become essential goals if agriculture is to be sustained on sloping land in these highland areas In this context, the SHASEA (Sustainable Highland Agriculture in South-East Asia) Project investigated more holistic approaches for the development and evaluation of agronomic and soil conservation measures, designed to improve the productivity and sustainability of cropping systems at a field scale. The purpose of this paper is to share the experience of conducting participatory evaluation and discuss issues related to technology adoption in the Chinese context
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