Nutrient flow on agroforestry farms in the province of Son La in northwest Vietnam

Abstract: The population in the high mountains of the northwest provinces of Vietnam belongs to the poorest population in the country. Among the reasons behind this are the high frequency of minority groups in the region and the infertile soils of the steep slopes. As a result of the diversified elevation in northwest Vietnam, farmers are forced to cultivate fields with a gradient of more than 25 %. Additionally, the heavy rainfall events in the region increase the runoff, which is the main mechanism in erosion. Erosion leads to loss of bulk soil, and large losses of plant nutrients. In addition to erosion, nutrient leakage also occurs especially where a surplus of nutrients is applied. This is often the case when fertilizers are not applied with care. Nutrients are a limiting factor within agriculture, and with better nutrient management, the yield, and thus the farmers' economy, increases.The overall aim of this study was to locate and quantify sources and sinks of nutrients within the ten chosen farms. To achieve this aim, two specific objectives were researched. The first objective was to quantify the farm gate balance to get an overall idea of nutrient surplus and deficit and environmental risks. The second objective was to quantify and map out the internal flows i.e the field balances and the nutrients lost during manure storage. This will help locate sources and sinks of nutrients within each farm. Additionally, it will show if the grass strips help absorb nutrients lost through erosion.The study was carried out in Mai Son District in Son La Province in northwest Vietnam. The data was mainly collected through interviews with farmers on ten farms in the study area, as well as observations made during the field visit. Five farms with cows were chosen, while five farms had no cows. The farms mainly grew maize, longan, mango, and forage grass. Additionally, analyses were made on the nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium concentration in the compost, and the nitrogen concentration of the Guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq) which made up the grass-strips in the sloping land. The analysis of Guinea leaves was made to calibrate the SPAD-meter used in the field to gather nitrogen-values of the grass strips in the fields.The calculated balances indicated that the elements N, P and K on each farm varied between 32 to 580 kg/ha/year for N, -680 (16) to 53 kg/ha/year for P and -130 to 220 kg/ha/year for K. It also showed that Guinea grass, when grown along the contour lines, did as anticipated; absorb excess nutrients from the soil. However, the result shows that the forage grass mines the soil from potassium. Finally, the result showed that the farmers seem to over fertilize the plants. When estimating the nutrient lost from manure storage, the calculation showed significant losses of both nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium during storage.The result of the study shows that the handling of manure, choice of compost or mineral fertilizer and fodder and use of grass strips on the farms affects the nutrient loss within the farm. It also shows that a system with forage grass on the contour is, above all, effective when used on farms with grass eating animals as the farmers otherwise don’t harvest the grass.