Cost and Benefit of Soil Conservation
Attributes
Medium: Land
Country: Vietnam
Analytical Framework(s): Economic Analysis
Study Date: 2000
Publication Date: 2001
Major Result(s)
| Category | Resource/Environmental Good | VND, thousand currency units (2000) |
VND, thousand currency units (2014)1 |
USD, thousand currency units (2014)2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maize Production | NPV, baseline treatment3 | -1,216.00 | -2,544.92 | -0.12 |
| Maize Production | NPV, Tephrosia Candida Hedgerow Treatment | 2,295.30 | 4,803.74 | 0.22 |
| Maize Production | NPV, Tea Hedgerow Treatment | 2,843.50 | 5,951.05 | 0.28 |
| Maize Production | NPV, Tea and Grass Hedgerow Treatment | 2,844.40 | 5,952.93 | 0.28 |
| Cassava Production | NPV, baseline treatment | 5,088.30 | 10,649.10 | 0.50 |
| Cassava Production | NPV, Tephrosia Candida Hedgerow Treatment | 9,138.00 | 19,124.55 | 0.90 |
| Cassava Production | NPV, Tea Hedgerow Treatment | 9,012.10 | 18,861.06 | 0.88 |
| Cassava Production | NPV, Tea and Grass Hedgerow Treatment | 8,811.20 | 18,440.61 | 0.86 |
About the Inflation Adjustment: Prices in Vietnam (VND) changed by 109.29% from 2000 to 2014 (aggregated from annual CPI data), so the study values were multiplied by 2.09 to express them in 2014 prices. The study values could be expressed in any desired year (for example, to 2026) by following the same inflation calculation and being sensitive to directional (forward/backward) aggregations using your own CPI/inflation data.
Study Note: Soil erosion is a serious problem in the mountainous regions of northern Vietnam. A study was carried out to measure the on-site costs of soil erosion and the benefits of soil conservation practices in this area.
Study Details
Summary: The findings of the study highlighted a significant difference in crop yields between farming practices with and without soil conservation measures. Soil conservation technology of Tephrosia candida hedgerow yields a high net present value (NPV) and is a suitable technique for farmers to use. The results of the production function analysis showed that soil conservation practices facilitated intensive and improved crop productivity. For maize production, a 1% increase in material and labour costs for soil conservation practices would increase the yield of maize by 0.04% and 0.0512% respectively. For cassava production, the yield would increase by 0.0035% and 0.0064% respectively. Expenditure on soil conservation is affected by farm characteristics, farm incomes, labour resources and the education level of the head of the household as well as by rural credit availability. To promote areas of soil conservation practices in the region, the top priority policies should be on land, training on crop production and soil conservation technology, technical support for farmers, and the development of diverse economic activities in the region.
Site Characteristics: The mountainous regions of northern Vietnam are spread over 16 provinces covering a land area of 102,961 km2 with a population of 12.39 million people. This watershed, characterised by its sloping lands, is made up of mountains, hills and small valleys. Any land use changes in these regions affect not only the people, natural species and biological environments on-site, but also influence a large area of the Red River Delta. Such changes therefore have an impact on the economic development and the environment of northern Vietnam. Soil erosion resulting from bad farming practices on sloping lands, without attention to soil conservation, has been known to be a serious problem in the northern mountainous areas.
Comments: The data for the study analysis included time series data collected from experiments on soil erosion during the period 1992 to 1998 and cross-section data from surveys on farm households. The function for the relationship between productivity loss and soil loss and the function for productivity gain from soil conservation practices and financial analysis were used to estimate the on-site costs of soil erosion and the benefits of soil conservation practices. The function for expenditure on soil conservation was also applied to determine factors affecting a farmer's adoption of soil conservation practices.