CIAT has worked with Asian countries since the 1970s to improve cassava production through training programs and by stationing staff in key countries. This has led to higher yielding cassava varieties being adopted across 50% of Asia's cassava area. Yields have increased from 12.7 to 18.7 tons/ha due to new varieties and improved practices. However, soil erosion and depletion remain issues if not addressed. Through farmer participatory research, soil conservation techniques like contour hedgerows have been widely adopted, improving sustainability and incomes. Emerging pests and diseases now threaten these gains if not effectively addressed.

1. Helping Farmers Help Themselves CIAT’s contribution to cassava production in Asia Reinhardt Howeler May 2009

3. CIAT-Office 1983-present CIAT Cassava Office for Asia in Bangkok, Thailand Working Style Senior staff work in close collaboration with researchers and extensionists in national cassava programs in Asia, mainly in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India; more recently in East Timor, Laos and Cambodia Funding 1983-1998 Breeder: Core funding 1986-1993 Agronomist: Restricted core from Japanese government 1994-2009 Agronomists: Special Project funding from the Nippon Foundation in Japan and from ACIAR in Australia

5. Table 3. Total area under cassava and estimated area under CIAT-related varieties in various countries in Asia in 2006/07 Area under cassava (ha) Area under CIAT - related varieties ———————— —————————————— Country FAO 1) ha (%) Cambodia 96,000 76,800 80 China 268,850 80,655 30 India 242,000 0 0 Indonesia 1,206,904 229,311 19 Malaysia 41,000 100 5 Philippines 210,000 12,600 6 Thailand 1,152,199 1,129,155 98 Vietnam 560,000 392,000 70 Myanmar 16,500 3,300 20 Laos 17,000 1,700 10 Others 34,725 3,170 10 Total 3,845,178 1,932,791 50 FAOSTAT, Aug 2008; data for 2007.

7. Figure 2. Decline in fresh root yields due to continuous cultivation without fertilizers in three soil series in Thailand. Source: Sittibusaya, 1993; Howeler, 1995. Cassava root yield (t/ha) = Sattahip = Huaipong = Korat 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 Crop year

9. In Thailand cassava is generally grown by smallholder farmers on light textured soils with gentle slopes

10. In Vietnam cassava is often grown on rather steep slopes

11. 27 years of continuous cropping without K application (in front) resulted in very poor growth and low yields in Khon Kaen, Thailand; in the back with complete NPK application

12. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 76/77 77/78 78/79 79/80 80/81 81/82 82/83 83/84 84/85 85/86 86/87 87/88 88/89 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Cassava root yield (t/ha) N 1 P 1 K 1 tops removed N 1 P 0 K 1 tops removed N 1 P 1 K 0 tops removed N 0 P 0 K 0 tops removed Response to annual applications of various combinations of N, P and K of cassava grown in Khon Kaen, Thailand for 23 consecutive years

13. During heavy rain storms a lot of runoff water accumulates in natural drainage ways………

14. …… which can break the contour ridges …….

15. … .and cause serious gully erosion

17. Research in Thailand has shown that soil losses by erosion can be greatly reduced by application of chemical fertilizers….

18. … .or planting contour hedgerows of vetiver grass, which, after ten years, resulted in natural terrace formation with one meter high terrace risers in Phu Tho province of north Vietnam

21. Objectives: to enhance the sustainability of cassava-based cropping systems in Asia by the widespread adoption of soil conserving practices. Strategy: to involve farmers directly in the development and dissemination of location-specific, most suitable and most effective soil conserving practices. Nippon Foundation Project Target: to benefit at least 8000 farmers

22. Farmer Participation and Decision Making Problem Diagnosis with farmers Researchers show many technology options in FPR demonstration plots Feed back to research Adopt and disseminate Farmers adapt new practice and scale-up to production field Farmers retest and reselect Farmers select best options Farmers evaluate and select most suitable options/practices Farmers test options in FPR trials on their own fields Farmer Participatory Research (FPR) approach

23. Partners Nippon Foundation in Japan – funding agency CIAT Cassava Program for Asia-project implementation in collaboration with: 1. Research and extension organizations in Thailand -Department of Agriculture (DOA) -Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE) -Land Development Department (LDD) -Kasetsart University (KU) -The Thai Tapioca Development Institute(TTDI) 2. Research and extension organizations in Vietnam -Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (TNUAF) -National Institute for Soils and Fertilizers (NISF) -Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute (VASI) -Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF) -Institute of Agricultural Sciences of South Vietnam (IAS) -Tu Duc University of Agric. and Forestry (TDUAF) 3. Research and extension organizations in China -Chinese Academy for Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) -Guangxi Subtropical Crops Research Institute (GSCRI) -Honghe Animal Husbandry Station of Yunnan

24. Farmers become aware of the seriousness of soil erosion when they can actually see the soil losses in their own fields

25. Farmers can see in their own FPR trials that some simple practices can markedly reduce runoff and erosion

26. Farmers, researchers and extension workers evaluate the treatments in all the FPR trials conducted in the village Field day at time of harvest

27.         32 31 30 33 34 28                5 1 2 3 4 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 31 16    9 8 27  32   28  27  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24    1 2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31  32  33 25  26  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  29  30 1 2 3 4 5 6       7 8 9 10 11      12  13  14  • • • • • • • • • • 26 25 29 Figure 1. Location of FPR pilot sites in China, Thailand and Vietnam in the Nippon Foundation cassava project in 2003.

29. Development of Farmer Participatory Extension (FPE) Approaches - Cross-visits -Field days at time of harvest -Large-scale field days -Setting up “Cassava Development Villages” -Training local “FPR teams” -Pamphlets, posters, booklets, videos, TV programs, newspaper articles etc.

30. Thailand

31. Cassava Development Villages In Thailand, 21 Cassava Development Villages have been set up with the objective to empower the community to make their own decisions and help each other improve cassava production and farm income while protecting the natural resources

32. Cassava farmers in Thailand have planted a total of about 150 km of vetiver grass hedgerows to control erosion in their cassava fields

33. Vietnam

34. Thong Nhat commune in North Vietnam in 1998 Serious erosion problems and low yields of cassava and tea

35. Thong Nhat commune in North Vietnam in 2000 A farmer proudly shows off his “new cassava” field

36. In Van Yen district of Yen Bai province in north Vietnam farmers have planted 500 km of double row hedgerows of Tephrosia candida to control erosion

38. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Before project After project Before project After project Thailand Vietnam Cassava yield (t/ha) Figure 1. Average cassava yields of farmers participating in the Nippon Foundation cassava project or of nearby but non-participating farmers, before the project started and at the end of the project. Data are from PRRA census forms collected from 439 households in Thailand and 393 household in Vietnam For comparison the national average cassava yields in 1999 (before) and 2003 (after) are also shown = project participants = non-participants = all country (1999-2003)

39. Figure 2. Change in cassava yield in four countries in Asia from 1994 to 2003. Year Cassava root yield (t/ha) India Thailand China Vietnam 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

42. …… but, there are some dark clouds on the horizon…. This year, for the first time, there are some serious disease and pest problems in cassava in Asia This will need serious and quick attention in order to find an effective solution, as these problems could have a devastating effect on the whole cassava sector in Asia

43. Spiraling whitefly ( Aleurodiscus dispersus) Excellent resistance of MEcu 72 to Aleurotrachelus socialis in Colombia MEcu 72

44. Cassava mealybug ( Phenacoccus manihoti )? Cassava mealy bug (Ferrisia virgata)? Occurs mainly on plants weakened by K deficiency

46. This new mealy bug species has now spread to cassava fields in 25 provinces of Thailand

47. We also see a very unusual growth, which may be due to the mealy bug, to CBB or to a phytoplasm such as witches broom disease

48. These phytoplasm-like symptoms are widespread in southern Vietnam and in Thailand in 2009 and may seriously affect yields and the availability of clean planting material

49. …… ..So Is this the future of our children?

50. … .or can we help farmers improve their livel i hood AND protect the environment?..

51. Our Future!!!