Development of agricultural technologies in developing countries to respond to climate change

2021-03-02

The project, as shown in Fig. 1, is composed of the following three components: 1) to propose mitigation measures on emission reduction and absorption of greenhouse gases (GHG), 2) to develop adaptation technologies for rainfed and irrigated rice, and 3) to evaluate the impact of climate change through developing and applying a supply-demand model.
In the component for the mitigation of global warming, we shall develop and apply technologies that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from irrigated rice paddies and the livestock industry, and develop rural societies through the use of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

In the theme for the irrigated paddy fields, we shall demonstrate the effect of the ‘alternate wetting and drying’ (AWD) water-saving technology on the mitigation of GHG emissions in the Mekong Delta region and aim to disseminate the technology to the region. Under the AWD irrigation management, the paddy soil is intermittently under relatively dry conditions to save water, and this causes lower methane emission. For farmers, this results in the reduction of costs for pumping up irrigation water (Fig.2, left). In the theme for the livestock industry, we shall establish methods for monitoring methane emissions from ruminant livestock and develop technologies for reducing methane emissions through improvement in feeding technologies (Fig.2, right).

Development of a model for sustainable rural communities with low GHG emission will be conducted in Vietnam, Ethiopia and Paraguay. Carbon sequestration through reforestation and agroforestry in degraded areas is the main activity in Ethiopia and Paraguay. Emission reduction of GHG by changing cooking fuel use from fossil gas and nonrenewable firewood to renewable biogas produced by the newly introduced biogas digester for low income pig farming households will be achieved in Vietnam. The activities of carbon sequestration and GHG emission reduction are aimed to formulate a CDM project in each country, and provide carbon credit for funding rural development, after obtaining registration and verification by the Executive Board of CDM, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

To develop a long-term field experiment network in Southeast Asia, the effect of long-term organic matter application to carbon sequestration in farmlands will be observed in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The study will identify the impacts of manure application, conservative tillage and cover crops on soil organic carbon. Farmers can obtain multiple benefits from increased soil organic carbon such as improved productivity and environmental sustainability.
We have two themes with respect to the component of adaptation technologies on 1) development of climate change adaptation technology in rainfed lowland rice which is a collaborative research with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and 2) adaptation technology in irrigated rice areas in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and under cascade tank systems areas in the dry zone in Sri Lanka.

In the theme of the technology development for rainfed rice production, we will focus on developing a more efficient nutrient management technology rather than conventional methods by adapting JAMSTEC’s ‘coupled ocean-atmosphere model’ to develop a seasonal weather predicting model and a decision support system. Furthermore, developing a tolerant rice variety, most especially on breeding a heat tolerant-variety, to cope with climate change is a main focus.

Changes in land suitability conditions in paddy fields are analyzed under the theme of the impact evaluation of climate change on agricultural production. Using the outputs of the analyses of land conditions, a land evaluation model for forecasting of land suitability under climate changes will be developed. Supply and demand models of rice in developing countries for the evaluation of climate change on agricultural markets will be developed combining the land evaluation model and a crop model known as CERES-Rice to the econometric models. Furthermore, a world food model for long-run forecasting will be developed for the evaluation of climate changes on the world food market.

Fig. 1 Development of agricultural technologies that respond to climate change in developing countries (Climate Change Response)

Note: AWD: Alternate Wetting and Drying, CDM: Clean Development Mechanism, CER: Certified Emission Reductions

Fig. 2 Clarification of the mechanism of GHG emissions from livestock industry and rice farming and measures to mitigate them

Information leaflet(Indonesian language) on "Chemical fertilizer reduction by horse manure application for temperate vegetable production in West Java Highland, Indonesia"

West Java Highland, underlain by soils derived from volcanic ash, is one of several production centers of temperate vegetables in Indonesia. This leaflet, written in the local language (Bahasa Indonesia), introduces technologies to replace chemical fertilizers with horse manure without negative impacts on vegetable yield.

Leaflet
20200910.pdf866.53 KB

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