Fruit Tree-Based Agroforestry Systems for Smallholder Farmers in Northwest Vietnam—A Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment

Abstract

Rapid expansion of unsustainable farming practices in upland areas of Southeast Asia threatens food security and the environment. This study assessed alternative agroforestry systems for sustainable land management and livelihood improvement in northwest Vietnam. The performance of fruit tree-based agroforestry was compared with that of sole cropping, and farmers’ perspectives on agroforestry were documented. After seven years, longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.)-maize-forage grass and son tra (Docynia indica (Wall.) Decne)-forage grass systems had generated 2.4- and 3.5-fold higher average annual income than sole maize and sole son tra, respectively. Sole longan gave no net profit, due to high investment costs. After some years, competition developed between the crop, grass, and tree components, e.g., for nitrogen, and the farmers interviewed reported a need to adapt management practices to optimise spacing and pruning. They also reported that agroforestry enhanced ecosystem services by controlling surface runoff and erosion, increasing soil fertility and improving resilience to extreme weather. Thus, agroforestry practices with fruit trees can be more profitable than sole-crop cultivation within a few years. Integration of seasonal and fast-growing perennial plants (e.g., grass) is essential to ensure quick returns. Wider adoption needs initial incentives or loans, knowledge exchange, and market links.

Agroforestry-Based Ecosystem Services

“…Focus on farmers/managers: Fruit tree-based agroforestry systems for smallholder farmers in northwest Vietnam-a quantitative and qualitative assessment [8] Farmer knowledge, economic analysis…”

“…The second group of papers described in Table 1 has farmer knowledge, choices, and preferences as their primary focus. Agroforestry practices with fruit trees can be more profitable than sole-crop cultivation within a few years, as data for Viet Nam and two local fruit tree species show [8]. After seven years agroforestry systems with longan (Dimocarpus longan) and son tra (Docynia indica) had generated 2.4-times higher average annual income than sole maize, the main comparator in the area.…”

Enhancing Vietnam’s Nationally Determined Contribution with Mitigation Targets for Agroforestry: A Technical and Economic Estimate

“…For tea, the net annual income from a sole tea plantation in the Central Highlands was USD 720 ha −1 year −1 [29], while a tea-Acacia mangium system in the North East generated USD 1688 ha −1 year −1 , as reported in the SCAF database. There is also evidence of agroforestry's role in stabilizing farmers' annual incomes from fruit tree-based systems in the North West [51] and acacia-based systems in the North Central Coast [26,52]. Higher and more stable incomes from agroforestry mean that farmers can reinvest in improved adaptation strategies.…”

Simulating Agroforestry Adoption in Rural Indonesia: The Potential of Trees on Farms for Livelihoods and Environment

“…Further determinants include topography [39], biophysical factors like soil fertility [40], and country-specific effects [41], which indicates the importance of institutions who provide extension services and access to information and materials [42][43][44]. Subsequent to agroforestry adoption by farmers, further studies have contributed to the literature by investigating tree, soil, and crop interactions either through agroforestry experiments on-farm and on-station [45,46] or via simulations [26,47] showing either competitive, complementary, or balanced interaction between trees and crops. Complementing purely econometric or biophysical studies, a few applications combine behavioral and ecological aspects of agroforestry adoption.…”