Yield and Income Effects of Ecologically-based Rodent Management in Mekong River Delta, Vietnam

Abstract

Regression-based strategies along with propensity score matching (PSM) were used to assess the farm-level economic impact of community action (CA) strategies associated with ecologically based rodent management (EBRM). The paddy yield and real net income of rice farmer beneficiaries of the EBRM approach in An Giang Province, Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, were analyzed using panel data from 151 rice farmers. PSM along with the difference-indifference framework using the fixed-effect approach were found to be the most appropriate methods to evaluate the farm-level economic impact of the adoption of the CA strategies. The EBRM through CA did not replace what the farmers were doing, but rather built on their practices and incorporated a scientific basis by encouraging farmers to work together at key times of a cropping season. In terms of labor use for rodent control, CA only entailed an additional 0.3 man-days/ha for every CA. Normally, for a 40-hectare (ha) rice field, around 30 persons participated in each CA including men, women, and children. With two to three times done in a season, a total of 1 man-day/ha is as an additional labor for the whole season. The adoption of the EBRM through CA had a significant and positive impact on paddy yield and real net income of rice farmers. The mean paddy yield increased by 0.43-0.45 ton per ha and real net income of the beneficiaries increased by VND1.16–1.19 million/ha (approximately USD65-67/ha). These findings imply that the adoption of the CA strategies in rodent pest management as part of EBRM may not only have partly contributed to food security and increased household income of the rice farmer-beneficiaries but also to environmental improvement in these communities.