Ecological Engineering for Rice Insect Pest Management: The Need to Communicate Widely, Improve Farmers’ Ecological Literacy and Policy Reforms to Sustain Adoption
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Methodology
1.2. Revisiting IPM in Asian Rice Production
2. Ecological Engineering
2.1. Ecological Engineering Methods in Rice Production
No Early Spray
2.2. Ecological Engineering Techniques Used in China’s Rice Production
3. Entertainment Education
3.1. Understanding Farmer Decisions
3.2. The Long an TV Ecological Engineering Program Series
4. Policy Support Needed for Ecological Based Pest Management
5. Concluding Remarks
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Review Stages | Problems and Issues Identified |
---|---|
Problem identification | Research and empirical work in the past 4 decade related to rice pest management suggested that farmers’ pest control decisions and practices in Asia have remained unchanged since the Green Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. There had been several initiatives to address this problem but they had not been sustainable. Greater understanding of the ecological, social and political dimensions and their integration is needed as a possibly effective way to more sustainable interventions. Thus the purpose of this review was to examine the factors and identify intervention options as related to improving farmers’ pest management. |
Literature search | Published papers on rice pest management, ecological engineering and decision making between 1970s and 2018 had been used in the review. Wherever information is lacking the review had relied on unpublished reports and authors’ decades of experiences working on rice pest management in the region. |
Data collection | The review have used data published. Newly collected research data on the effects of the TV ecological engineering series in Vietnam was presented to complement the discussion. Information gathered from the numerous focus group discussions (FGDs) authors had conducted between 1990 and 2020 in the region provided valuable qualitative data on rice farmers’ decisions. |
Analyses | With regards to the why decades of implementing pest management initiatives had not been sustainable the review used a broad framework to better understanding the root causes. By incorporating concepts from communication sciences, economics, marketing and behavioral sciences issues beyond technical aspects of pest management new innovative intervention can be identified. |
Syntheses | Farmers training to increase knowledge seem insufficient to sustain their practices. Further training aimed at increasing their ecological literacy would be essential to build confidence. Pesticide marketing is a major stabling block and requires authorities and new policies to address it. The example of Korea’s Environmentally Friendly Agriculture Act (EFA) 2010 was shown to have changed pest management practices and pesticide use in Korea. Communicating to the millions of farmers is a daunting and expensive and new innovative use of mass media such as using entertainment education principles has been shown to be effective in Viet Nam. |
Belief Statements | Viewers | Non Viewers | Χ2 | Sig 1 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Planting flowers on the bunds will reduce insecticide use. | 57.3 | 0.5 | 183 | ** |
Flowers on the bunds will attract natural enemies and help protect the rice | 63.1 | 1.0 | 187 | ** |
Planting flowers on the rice bunds can make the landscape beautiful. | 68.0 | 3.1 | 179 | ** |
Bees and parasitoids will help me reduce the number of insecticide sprays | 67.5 | 0.5 | 186 | ** |
The plants around the rice fields provide a home to natural enemies that protect rice. | 66.0 | 2.1 | 174 | ** |
All useful organisms in the rice field, bees and parasitoids must be protected by not spraying. | 67.5 | 2.1 | 314 | ** |
Viewers | Non Viewers | F | Sig 1 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sample size | 206 | 194 | ||
Mean number insecticide sprays | 1.06 | 2.59 | 228 | ** |
Mean timing of 1st insecticide spray (days after sowing) | 39.1 | 28.5 | 1799 | ** |
Mean total N kg/ha | 89.6 | 90.2 | 0.1 | ns |
Mean total P kg/ha | 55.3 | 50.0 | 5.1 | * |
Mean total K kg/ha | 42.2 | 41.6 | 0.7 | ns |
Mean EE belief index | 0.7 | 0.4 | 81.9 | ** |
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Heong, K.-L.; Lu, Z.-X.; Chien, H.-V.; Escalada, M.; Settele, J.; Zhu, Z.-R.; Cheng, J.-A. Ecological Engineering for Rice Insect Pest Management: The Need to Communicate Widely, Improve Farmers’ Ecological Literacy and Policy Reforms to Sustain Adoption. Agronomy 2021, 11, 2208. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11112208
Heong K-L, Lu Z-X, Chien H-V, Escalada M, Settele J, Zhu Z-R, Cheng J-A. Ecological Engineering for Rice Insect Pest Management: The Need to Communicate Widely, Improve Farmers’ Ecological Literacy and Policy Reforms to Sustain Adoption. Agronomy. 2021; 11(11):2208. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11112208
Chicago/Turabian StyleHeong, Kong-Luen, Zhong-Xian Lu, Ho-Van Chien, Monina Escalada, Josef Settele, Zeng-Rong Zhu, and Jia-An Cheng. 2021. "Ecological Engineering for Rice Insect Pest Management: The Need to Communicate Widely, Improve Farmers’ Ecological Literacy and Policy Reforms to Sustain Adoption" Agronomy 11, no. 11: 2208. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11112208