Temporal dynamics of dairy health and production in rural smallholder communities in Northern Vietnam

The objective of this field study was to describe the temporal pattern of dairy cattle health and production and associated risk factors in rural smallholder communities in northern Vietnam, one of the target areas of the government's dairy development programme. A total of 99 dairy farms (11 per commune) were recruited from 9 of 32 communes in Ba Vi District, Ha Tay Province, using random two-stage cluster sampling. All dairy cattle present on the selected farms were included. After the initial questionnaire survey was conducted, farms were visited to collect follow-up information at 3-monthly intervals over a period of one year. The results suggest that offtake as well as mortality are important productivity indices because farmers sell or slaughter dairy cattle that are in poor health at low prices during summer months. Changes in relation to the farming operation suggest that for the farmers adopting dairy production it has become one of the main agricultural activities.     

The conservation impact of commercial wildlife farming of porcupines in Vietnam

Commercial farming of wildlife, particularly in Southeast Asia, is currently the subject of much debate and to date, its conservation impact has been largely unexplored. This study used semi-structured interviews to build a detailed understanding of the dynamics of the commercial farming of Southeast Asian porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) in the northwest Vietnamese province of Son La. Although farm owners are obliged by law to propagate stock solely from farm-bred animals, 58% of farm owners admitted purchasing wild founder stock, with at least 19% continuing to buy wild individuals. Despite the number of farms, the primary demand on them is to supply other farms, and wild meat restaurants were still sourcing their meat from wild populations. Lower cost was a major factor driving the trade in wild animals, with wild adult porcupines being bought for half the price of farm-bred adults. With high demand from farms and restaurants, increased targeted hunting may be the cause of a dramatic decline in the wild population of porcupines across the region.     

Tour guides as tourist products in Dalat,Vietnam: Exploring market freedoms in a communist state

This paper investigates how tour guides position themselves in Vietnam's transition from a command economy to market socialism. The case study of the Dalat Easy Riders motorcycle guides demonstrates that tour guides take advantage of, personify and contribute to the economic, political and social transitions in the country. Relatedly, we argue that Vietnam's transition (known as ??i m?i) is a key component of the Easy Riders' promotional narratives. In sum, we analyse how tour guides become tourist products in a transitional society.     

The effects of land tenure policy on rural livelihoods and food sufficiency in the upland village of Que,North Central Vietnam

The paper documents how the implementation of the land tenure policy of the Vietnamese government has affected the agricultural system, livelihood strategies and food self-sufficiency of Thai farmers in a remote upland village, Que, in Nghe An Province, North Central Vietnam. It is shown that the enforcement of restrictions on the area under swidden agriculture has resulted in a strong reduction of swidden agriculture production and shortened fallow periods, not compensated for by the slow increase in paddy rice production. It is suggested that while the changes imposed on land use certainly lead to an increase in forest cover, it is likely that the shortened fallow cycle on the land allocated to swiddening will lead to declining yields and replacement of forest fallow by bush and grass fallow, and thus to decreases in labour productivity. It is discussed whether there are options open to farmers for changing their portfolio of income generating activities in order to maintain and improve food self-sufficiency, income and living conditions. Finally, new trends in Vietnamese land tenure policy are outlined, and their possible implications discussed.     

Asset management modelling framework for irrigation and drainage systems: Principles and case study application

Sustainability of irrigation and drainage infrastructure poses many challenges to many irrigation authorities worldwide due to a mismatch between the actual cost incurred in the provision of irrigation and drainage service and pricing of this service. This shortfall often leads to inadequate expenditure on maintenance in the absence of adequate subsidies from government or other sources.The asset management modelling framework (AMMF) presented in this paper enables the quantification of on-going ownership costs and operation costs. A life cycle cost (LCC) model for the evaluation of alternative irrigation and drainage asset management strategies is also presented. The AMMF is applied to the evaluation of asset ownership costs and LCC for alternative maintenance and interest rate scenarios in the Cu Chi irrigation system, Vietnam. The cost of three renewal strategies was evaluated: linear depreciation, full annuity and partial annuity. The cost ranges between US$ 28.00/ha and US$ 41.00/ha when interest rate varies between 9 and 3%. The average maintenance expenditure during recent years was estimated to be only US$ 1.30/ha which translates into 0.68% of the total asset replacement cost.The application of a simplified LCC model reveals that the least LCC varies with the level of maintenance and interest rate between US$ 353.5/ha for 5% maintenance expenditure and 12% interest rate to US$ 522.3/ha for 3% maintenance expenditure and 6% interest rate. The importance of exercising value judgements in applying the LCC model is also emphasised and discussed.     

The financial viability of irrigation management companies: A case study of Cu Chi irrigation system,Vietnam

A crucial, yet little understood, element in the economic studies of irrigation is the role played by companies who manage the supply of water. Many of these companies are publicly managed as they have the potential to act as monopolists. Possibly as a consequence of their ownership structure, analysts have questioned the economic viability and management of these firms. The case is made that many of these companies do not run profitably, that they rely on government subsidies to survive, that they do not spend enough on maintenance and that they run down their capital base. The purpose in this paper is to specify the measures that allow analysts to examine the financial viability of a publicly owned irrigation management companies and to apply these to a scheme in Vietnam. Of concern and contention in any irrigation scheme is the price that a company should charge for water in order to recover costs in the short-run. It was found that the company under investigation could not operate without subsidies and did run down their assets. It was found that a great disparity exists between what the consumers were charged for water and what the company received for supplying it. To ensure the sustainability of the Irrigation Management Companies in long term, they may have to increase the water fee by 3.75 times the current rate set by the provincial government (US$ 20 per ha).     

PermVeg: A Model to Design Crop Sequences for Permanent Vegetable Production Systems in the Red River Delta,Vietnam

The constraints in current vegetable production systems in the Red River Delta, Vietnam, in which vegetables are rotated with flooded rice, called for the design of alternative systems of permanent vegetable production. The practical model, PermVeg, was developed to generate vegetable crop sequences for permanent vegetable production, as based on a set of rules and restrictions. Permanent vegetable production systems were designed based on the following five scenarios: (i) increased profit, (ii) reduced labour requirement, (iii) decreased costs of pesticide use, (iv) improved crop biodiversity and (v) selected crops with low‐perishable products. PermVeg showed that theoretically all selected crop sequences in the different alternative systems increased farmers' income compared to the traditional system. The system with the highest profitability increased profit per hectare per day by a factor of three as compared to the traditional system. Labour requirement in days per hectare per day in a crop sequence also increased in all systems. Except for the system with low costs of pesticide use, permanent vegetable production systems had higher pesticide costs than the traditional, vegetable – flooded rice crop sequence. Given the model outcomes, permanent vegetable production systems can be an option to improve farmers' income, to provide labour opportunities, and, in the case of the high crop biodiversity system, to contribute to the development of sustainable production systems. The PermVeg model can act as a practical tool to rapidly explore crop sequence options and to help farmers' decision‐making.