SFB 564:  Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Mountainous Regions of Southeast Asia

• Subject Area: Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine
• Term: from 2000 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5484187

High population growth, aggravated by resettlement programs and immigration from the lowlands, has led to an increasing pressure on the fragile, ecologically vulnerable natural resources in large parts of the mountainous regions in Southeast Asia. Due to these circumstances self-accelerating vicious circles with shorter fallow periodsand in combination with erosion and loss of soil fertility lead to a decline of agricultural productivity and a degradation of living conditions. Widespread poverty, unemployment and food and nutritional insecurity are the consequences.
It is the objective of the collaborative research centre 564 to contribute on a scientific basis to the sustainable use of natural resources and to improve the living conditions of the rural population in the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia. Two important areas closely interlinked and mutually dependent on each other are the focus of research: sustainable land use and sustainable rural development.
The collaborative research centre combines 13 Subprojects of which six are located in Thailand, three in Vietnam and four in both countries. The research itself is based on a participatory and interdisciplinary approach. This implies that the different disciplines are cooperating intensively with each other in an interdisciplinary way. Moreover they cooperate with the local population and farmers concerned in order to integrate them with their knowledge and experiences in the research work. At the same time the "participatory approach" itself is a research subject of the program. The research program cooperates with seven universities and research institutes in Thailand and Vietnam.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• International Connection: Austria, Thailand, Vietnam

Completed projects

• A01 - Potential and constraints of participatory research approaches: Fostering multi-stakeholder knowledge and innovation partnerships (Project Heads Bellows, Anne C. ;  Hoffmann, Volker )
• B01 - Water conservation scenario development at the regional level based on innovative mapping techniques - Regional resource conservation (Project Heads Herrmann, Ludger ;  Stahr, Karl )
• B02 - Probabilistic assessment of the environmental fate of agrochemicals under varying land use in a Watershed in Northern Thailand (Project Heads Ingwersen, Joachim ;  Streck, Thilo )
• B03 - Irrigation and fertigation strategies for water saving and optimum nutrient supply in subtropical fruit orchards utilizing stress responses (Project Heads Müller, Joachim ;  Müller, Torsten ;  Römheld, Volker )
• B04 - Towards sustainability of land use in a highly vulnerable and degraded tropical soil landscape of northern Viernam - bridging scales (Project Heads Cadisch, Georg ;  Stahr, Karl )
• B05 - Transport of agrochemicals in a watershed in Northern Vietnam (Project Heads Lamers, Marc ;  Streck, Thilo )
• C01 - Sustainable litchi production in mountainous regions of northern Thailand: Focus on landscape diversity effects on functional diversity and metapopulation dynamics of pests and beneficials (Project Heads Martin, Konrad ;  Sauerborn, Joachim )
• C02 - Rehabilitierung degradierter Hanglagen: Verbesserung von Gemeinschaftsweideland (Project Head Schultze-Kraft, Rainer )
• C04 - Impact of Intensification on Land-use Dynamics and Environmental Services of Tropical Mountainous Watersheds (Project Heads Cadisch, Georg ;  Hilger, Thomas )
• D01 - Regulation of flowering in subtropical fruit crops on erosion prone sites in northern Thailand (Project Head Wünsche, Jens-Norbert )
• D02 - Community driven breeding and management programmes building on local resources, local knowledge and organisation opportunities at village, regional and national level (Project Head Valle Zárate, Anne )
• D3 - Einzelbetriebliche und regionale Beertung der Nachhaltigkeit von Betriebssystemen in Bergregionen Nordthailands und Nordvietnams (Project Heads Doppler, Werner ;  Zeddies, Jürgen )
• D04 - Nutztierparasiten und parasitäre Zoonosen bei kleinbäuerlicher Tierhaltung in Nordvietnam (Project Heads Mackenstedt, Ute ;  Merli, Michael )
• D05 - Untersuchungen zum Nährstofffluss in ressourcenarmen Aquakultursystemen in der Provinz Son La, Nordvietnam (Project Heads Becker, Klaus ;  Focken, Ulfert )
• D06 - Causes, effects and prevention of premature fruit drop in mango (Project Heads Hegele, Martin ;  Wünsche, Jens-Norbert )
• D07 - Research for improved fish nutrition and fish health in upland aquaculture systems in Yen Chau, SonLa Povince, Northern Vietnam (Project Heads Becker, Klaus ;  El-Matbouli, Mansour ;  Focken, Ulfert )
• E01 - Multi-layer drying models for optimization of high value crop drying in small scale food industries (Project Heads Carle, Reinhold ;  Müller, Joachim )
• E02 - Shelf life extension of fresh litchi, longan and mango fruits through integrated postharvest techniques (Project Heads Carle, Reinhold ;  Neidhart, Sybille )
• E03 - Das Potential von Maärkten für hochwertige Agrarerzeugnisse als Determinante für ländliche Entwicklung in Nordthailand und Nordvietnam (Project Heads Isvilanonda, Somporn ;  von Oppen, Matthias )
• E04 - Food quality and safety issues in markets for high-value products in Thailand and Vietnam (Project Heads Heidhues, Franz ;  Qaim, Matin )
• F01 - Optimizing the use of direct methods for environmental valuation in northern Thailand and Vietnam (Project Heads Ahlheim, Michael ;  Frör, Oliver )
• F02 - Impact Analysis of Financial Market and Land Allocation Policies on Ressource Use and Farm Household Income (Project Heads Heidhues, Franz ;  Keil, Alwin ;  Zeller, Manfred )
• F03 - Entwicklungsprojekte, staatliche Verwaltung und lokale Gesellschaft: Bedingungen politischer Partizipation im Hochland Nordthailands und Nordvietnams (Project Head Korff, Heinz-Rüdiger )
• G01 - Assessment of Innovations and Sustainability Strategies (Project Heads Berger, Thomas ;  Doluschitz, Reiner )
• T01 - Development of automated contol systems for water saving irrigation of fruit orchards (Project Head Müller, Joachim )
• T02 - Development of enrgy-efficient systems for high-quality friut drying (Project Head Müller, Joachim )
• T03 - Integrated tropical fruit processing by recovery of food ingredients from procesing residues, particularly from mango peels (Project Heads Carle, Reinhold ;  Neidhart, Sybille )
• T04 - Multi-sensor inline system for non-invasive mango quality assessment during postharvest processing by fruit export industries in Thailand (Project Head Müller, Joachim )
• T06 - Modelling Land-use Dynamics and Environmental Services (Project Heads Cadisch, Georg ;  Hilger, Thomas )
• T07 - Transfer of a Community-Based Breeding Programme Incorporating Local Breeds into Sustainable Practice in Son La Province, Northwest Vietnam (Project Heads Markemann, André ;  Valle Zárate, Anne )
• Z - Central administration and organization (Project Heads Heidhues, Franz ;  Müller, Joachim ;  Stahr, Karl )
• Z02 - Verwaltung (Project Head Stahr, Karl )

• Applicant Institution: Universität Hohenheim
• Participating Institution: Chiang Mai University; Hanoi University of Agriculture; Kasetsart University; Mae Jo University; National Institute of Animal Husbandry; Silpakorn University; Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry; Chiang Mai University ; Faculty of Agriculture ; World Agroforestry Centre
• Partner Organisation: Ministry of Science and Technology; National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT)
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Karl Stahr