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In this study, we established consecutive monitoring methods using UAV in pecan orchards of 64 ha each, in San Simon, Arizona, USA. Activity monitoring, tree height map creation and ground surface temperature analysis of trees by UAV with near infrared (NIR)/TIR camera were conducted for pecan orchards in San Simon, Arizona, USA. Using established continuous monitoring methods, the UAV images of a 3-year-old pecan orchard showed circular traces of alfalfa cultivation prior to installation of pivot irrigation that was previously not observed. Tree growth measurements was compared to the trees planted inside and outside of the circle. Growth and tree health activity was found to be better when the trees were outside of the circle.

The construction of dams and reservoirs for hydropower generation has been increasing in major river basins around the world. These dams store huge amounts of water thereby reducing the streamflow in the low-lying regions. Such changed seasonality of streamflow has various socio-economic and environmental consequences. Downstream dwellers are left with reduced water for their daily lives, irrigation, fisheries, and ecological services, resulting in conflicts. This paper aims to study the benefit loss of downstream communities caused by the operation of a huge reservoir in the upstream area for hydropower purposes. The benefits are calculated in terms of economic benefit through hydropower, irrigation, fisheries in both upstream and downstream communities through simulation of socio-hydraulic changes after the reservoir operation. The study area is located in Nam Ngum River Basin, a tributary of the Mekong River in Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). The Nam Ngum 1 Reservoir and its downstream region, which includes the capital city “Vientiane Capital” will be studied. Nam Ngum 1 Reservoir is the largest and oldest reservoir of Lao PDR storing about 8.5 billion m3 of water. The methodology includes 2 operations: reservoir operations and economic benefit calculations. The results obtained from the simulation will certainly help to address the economic problems associated with an uneven share of water and will help in the further investigation and adoption of integrated water resource management in other regional, national or transboundary scales as well. Keywords: dam operation model, integrated water resource management, benefit loss, reservoir operations

Ratoon system is a method of rice cultivation that produces new tillers after the mother plant is harvested and is continued by maintaining and caring for the shoots of the mother plant. In Indonesia, SALIBU and SINGGANG, which are types of rice ratooning, have been developed for Sumatra and Java regions, respectively. SALIBU is an innovation or a modification of the rice ratoon system that focuses on maintaining the time of fertigation and cutting of plant height. SINGGANG, on the other hand, is a rice ratoon system in which the management of fertigation and cutting is not considered. Both systems have not yet been implemented outside their places of origin. This study aims to compare the conventional and modified rice ratoon systems considering parameters such as soil properties, nutrient uptake, and the growth and yield of rice. The effects of rice ratoon systems (SALIBU and SINGGANG,), soil types (Inceptisols, Alfisols, and Vertisols), and cultivars (Pandan Wangi and Mekongga) were evaluated. All treatments were evaluated in a completely randomized design with three replicates in the net house. The results showed that the soil porosity in SINGGANG (48.89%) and SALIBU (46.78%) systems was higher than the conventional system (43.17%) in the Inceptisol soil and Pandan Wangi cultivars. Moreover, SINGGANG had a positive effect on the physical properties of soil (porosity and permeability); whereas, SALIBU had a positive effect on the chemical properties of soil (pH and organic carbon). In contrast, the agronomic parameters showed that the weights of dry matter and dry yield for SINGGANG were 44.96 and 23.09 g per plant clump, respectively, while those for SALIBU were 55.54 and 25.74 g per plant clump, respectively. These were lower than the conventional system (63.18 and 31.21 g per plant clump, respectively). Thus, we concluded that the SINGGANG and SALIBU ratoon systems had a positive impact on soil properties, but both systems could not promote higher rice production than the mother plant in all soil types and cultivars.

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationships between meteorological conditions and the disinfection effect of soil solarization in five greenhouses (located in Kaizu City, Gifu, Japan). The specific analysis focused on soil temperature, the population density of Ralstonia solanacearum before and after soil disinfection, the air temperature inside and outside the greenhouse, the amount of solar radiation, and rainfall. The density of R. solanacearum decreased markedly after soil solarization with the average daily soil temperature exceeded 40 °C for 10 consecutive days or more. In the scope of this study, the meteorological conditions required to meet this condition included: a disinfection period of 24 days or more, an average daily air temperature above 28.0 °C, as well as average daily solar radiation exceeding 17.0 MJ m−2. Moreover, with the average daily soil temperature of the soil surface layers exceeded 40 °C for 10 consecutive days or more, the average daily air temperature and average daily solar radiation should be higher than 29.3 °C and 20.2 MJ m−2, respectively. If the mentioned meteorological conditions were met, a fairly good disinfection effect could be achieved. However, if the greenhouse was poorly insulated, or if the solar radiation and air temperature decreased significantly in rainy and cloudy days, the soil was not likely to reach 40 °C or more for 10 consecutive days.

This paper reviews the consideration of the operation of agricultural water control structures (AWCSs) as sources of bundles of ecosystem services (ESs) and the subsequent design of payment for ecosystem service (PES) programs around these ESs. It is thought that PES schemes for AWCSs can complement irrigation service fees (ISFs) in funding the operation and maintenance of irrigation schemes. Case studies from Japan, the United States of America and Tanzania, representing a variety of socio-economic, geographic and climatic conditions, are discussed. In countries where the PES programs had legal backing, they showed evidence of sustainability and success. The measurement of marginal ESs flows from AWCSs proved to be one of the challenges to PES programs. There is a need to improve the measurement and modelling of hydro-meteorological and water quality parameters to ensure the transparency and success of the programs. In general, there was a realisation that ESs flow from irrigated agriculture, but there was no systematic design of PES programs around these ESs flows. An opportunity is seen to complement ISF through the design of PES programs around ES flows from the operation of AWCSs.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have passed their target year of 2015 and are followed by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of the MDG targets was halving the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water. It was the first target achieved in the long history of internationally agreed global targets on drinking water. However, a simplified monitoring indicator could have led to the mistaken conclusion that the MDG target on ‘safe’ drinking water had actually been achieved. We show that the major contributors to the achievement of the MDG target were China and India and that the increase in the percentage of population with access to improved sources was closely associated with economic development in most nations during 1990–2015. We expect that a synergetic relationship between drinking water access and economic development will be consistently true for most nations in the current SDG Target 6.1, which aims to secure safe and affordable drinking water for all. Millennium and sustainability goals may be well known, but the history of how those goals are formed remains hidden. This Analysis examines the political and academic factors that led to MDG 7C and how China and India have tried to achieve it.

From the perspective of national food security, strengthening domestic rice production is an urgent issue for Kenya. For this purpose, it is helpful to consider varieties that generate novel and competitive values different from those of conventional varieties. Recently, domestic japonica rice, which is now being distributed, has become an attractive variety with a high market price and its production is expected to increase. Although it is competitive and promising as a crop for small-scale farmers, the production stage costs and benefits are not clear. Thus, a study was conducted to perform a cost–benefit analysis of japonica rice in comparison to conventional rice at the production stage and evaluate strategies for strengthening the domestic production of rice. We conducted an experimental cultivation of japonica rice in the Mwea region, Kenya, where japonica rice is produced. As a result, although production costs for japonica rice are higher than costs for conventional varieties (24.46 KSh/kg versus 22.63 KSh/kg), when a high-yielding variety is grown (6.44 tons/ha for japonica rice compared to 6.07 tons/ha for conventional rice), a larger net profit can be obtained (65.54 KSh/kg versus 32.37 KSh/kg). We believe that initiatives to improve difficulties at the production stage would make the production of both japonica rice and conventional rice more economically viable and facilitate strengthening of the overall domestic rice production.

We have rectified the list of ethnic groups in Java, which should include Madurese and the often neglected, forgotten, and stigmatized Chinese Indonesians [...]

Understanding the effects of local knowledge on actions and decisions taken during a crisis is important, empirical studies and scientific data can be instructive to this end. This study integrated local knowledge (Pranata Mangsa) in Jawa, Indonesia, with scientific data on diurnal rainfall, extreme precipitation events, using the Local and Indigenous Knowledge System (LINKS). The results showed that Pranata Mangsa has informed aspects of agriculture including crop calendars, crop patterns, and farming activities, for over 1000 years in Jawa. Pranata Mangsa also enhances community resilience by mitigating the effects of extreme droughts, this finding was validated using scientific data.

Small hydropower plants utilizing unharnessed energy in existing irrigation systems are a prominent source of renewable energy. In Japan, land improvement districts play a key role in the management of irrigation systems, but face serious problems in terms of management sustainability and require participation from non-farmers. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of residents&rsquo, involvement in small hydropower projects on their environmental awareness and understanding of the projects&rsquo, multifunctional regional value. We administered a questionnaire survey to 238 households in three areas: Itoshiro, Kashimo and Ibigawa. The respondents were categorized into four groups: participation, recognition, knowledge and control. Based on the degree of respondents&rsquo, involvement in small hydropower projects, inclusive relationships between their involvement and awareness were revealed. These relationships suggest that the trigger of resident involvement is a key factor in developing sustainable small hydro facilities within existing irrigation systems.

In general, there is a gap between people’s subjective and objective assessment of risk and resilience and objective resilience is larger than a subjective one. The aim of this paper is to analyze farmers’ perception of climate change comparing with objective data. We conducted the questionnaire survey in Khon Kaen Province in Northeast Thailand and clarified the farmers’ profile, agricultural management, and perception of climate change. In addition, comparing to questionnaire result and objective data, we discussed how much the actual farmers’ perception of climate change is different from the objective data. As a result, the farmers perceptions to the rainfall amount in 10 years and trend of objective data were not consistent. This gap suggests that farmers perceived changes in short-term rainfall as climate change rather than changes in long-term rainfall, and that farmers may perceive their production as decreasing due to the increased amount lost due to the expansion of paddy fields into unsuitable areas.

Climate change adaptation (CCA) is an emerging topic in recent years since global temperature is continuing to rise and posing threats to natural biodiversity and human life. Its diverse nature requires efforts from a broad range of sectors to cope or adjust. This review paper aims to systematically study the cross-sectoral approaches in CCA decision making and develop probable strengths and shortcomings of those approaches. Literatures concerned with Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Method, or Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) are reviewed since it is considered as a holistic approach to integrate multiple sectors and combine monetary and non-monetary terms prevailing in sectoral and regional aspects, mainly in agriculture and water resource management. The literatures were searched through Scopus and PRISMA method was adopted to systematically refine the published articles based on our criteria. Out of 383 articles discovered, 139 were related to CCA out of which, 33 articles which applied MCA as their methodological approach were shortlisted for the core study. The result showed that MCA is extensively used in CCA decision making, prioritizing options, and formulating adaptation strategies at local and regional scale and considered as a flexible, transparent, and effective method because of an active engagement of stakeholders and experts’ judgement. But its inability to address the underlying uncertainties of climate change scenario is one of the major drawbacks seen. Thus, many literatures suggest incorporating Sensitivity analysis, Dynamic Adaptive Pathways, Real Option Analysis, or Robust Decision-Making Analysis with MCA to overcome those deep uncertainties.

Vientiane, Lao PDR, has been subject to extensive and ongoing urbanization plans, including development of natural marshes and residentialization of paddy fields into suburban areas, despite natural marshes playing a vital role in treating wastewater from urban areas. Therefore, it is important to understand the current situation regarding the nutrient balance in these natural wastewater treatment systems to predict future conditions and design appropriate measures against water quality deterioration. However, limited data are available in Vientiane on the hydrological characteristics of water and nutrient runoff that flow into marshes through drainage canals. In this study, we conducted a periodic survey of drainage canals and Mak Hiao River in the wastewater catchment system surrounding Vientiane during the rainy and dry seasons. We monitored the discharge of surface water at 21 observation sites and analyzed water quality of nitrogen, phosphorus, and total organic carbon. These observations revealed that the concentrations of dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus were significantly higher at sites in urban areas, followed by sites in the main river basin and those in agricultural areas. Dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations varied with runoff discharge, especially in urban and river basin sites, with lower concentrations in the rainy season and higher concentrations in the dry season. On the other hand, we found no significant differences between the rainy and dry seasons in nutrient concentrations in the agricultural basin. Finally, we proposed measures to counteract the deterioration of water quality during dry seasons and simulated the impact of these measures.

Drought is one of the climate change phenomena that has a profound impact on agricultural crops. Various adaptation strategies are used to deal with the impacts of climate change, one of which is the ratoon system of rice cultivation. This study aims to examine the effects of providing a combination of organic amendment and the application of PGPR on soil characteristics, growth, and yield of salibu ratoon system in the rainfed dry land. The research was conducted in Wonosari Village, Gondangrejo, Karanganyar, Central Java. This research used a complete randomized block design with three replications consisting of 2 factors. The first factor is the organic amendment, which is without the addition of organic matter (C1), compost (C2), and rice husk charcoal (C3). The second factor is the PGPR treatment, which is non-inoculated PGPR (P1) and inoculated PGPR (P2). Data analysis used ANOVA level of 5% followed by Duncan’s test. The results showed that the addition of organic matter and the inoculation of PGPR affected the variable root length, yield, and biomass. The addition of organic matter and PGPR can increase crop yields and plant resistance to drought stress by maintaining soil moisture and root elongation mechanisms. Based on the research results, the addition of rice husk charcoal and PGPR inoculation is the best combination for ratoon rice cultivation in the rainfed dry land.

Severity of natural hazards and related disasters are increasing worldwide. Of the several disasters, forest fires are most common in South/Southeast Asia including Laos. In this study, we use the satellite imagery to detect forest fires in the prior to farming and to quickly estimate the total area of forest burned due to the farmers' land preparation activities Nam Kading national bio-diversity conservation area (NBCA). Pre-fire and post-fire dates were between January and April 2018. Specifically, we used Sentinel-2 data to calculate Differential Normalized Burned Ratio (dNBR) for burned area mapping in Google Earth Engine (GEE). Ground-truth was done at random sites to verify the results. Results suggested burnt areas about 2689 ha inside NBCA and 16,923 ha in the neighboring study area. A total of 500 random points were used to validate the burned area map and the results suggested an overall accuracy of about 97.4%, (98.1% of producer's accuracy, 96.2% of user's accuracy with 0.94 kappa-statistics). Our results highlight the potential of NBR in GEE framework for rapid assessment of burnt areas useful for fire management and mitigation purposes.

Understanding how extremes are changing in long-term rainfall conditions is an important first step for planning appropriate adaptation measures of climate change. The purpose of this study is to investigate an uneven precipitation distribution and hydrometeorological events through the long-term trend of precipitation in Penajam Paser Utara, the new capital city of Indonesia. We used gridded precipitation APHRODITE and Mann-Kendall trend test over 60 years (1954-2015). The results showed the number of consecutive wet days (CWD) is higher than consecutive dry days (CDD). It also makes the number of floods larger than the drought. Even, the trend of rainfall was decreased from 1990 to 2015.

The differences in land resource use methods depend largely on climate change, the natural situation of the area and society. Until now, there has been much research on climate change and the impact of economic globalization on land use in the region, but land use hasn’t been discussed as a regional strategy. In this research, the land use map was reconstructed while paying attention to the historical changes of Ishigaki Island in Japan. Tourism is the main industry in the island. However, coral reefs, which are important as tourism resources, have been threatened by red soil runoff from farmland and development sites. Red soil runoff became worse in the pineapple boom that has occurred since the 1950s. After that, the “Red soil prevention law of Okinawa Prefecture” was enacted in 1994, and the red soil runoff was suppressed. Based on these social changes, we reconstructed the land use maps in 1921 (before pineapple boom), 1966 (the pineapple boom) and 2004 (after Red Earth Ordinance). As a result, it was found that the cultivated area of pineapple is expanding and reducing with the pineapple boom.

Frequent and severe flood by climate change is a big problem in the world. But there are many areas where water use and flood control facilities are not fully installed especially in developing countries. In these areas, a flood caused by heavy rainfall is getting frequent and now more serious. Few previous researches have analyzed the range and season of inundation due to lack of high resolution and frequency satellite imagery. Today, Planet Labs provides high resolution (+3.0m∼) and high frequency (1 day∼) CubeSat imagery. The primary goal of this research is to develop a model to analyze the range and season of springing in rainy season for Laos with clear rainy and dry season. We analyzed some land use areas from satelite imagery during rainy season with two indexes. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) are the indexes where is identify vegetation and water covers. We analyzed seasonal change of two individual values and the relationship of two values and we distincted from the degree of two indexes for each land use (City area, Water area, Wetland, Paddy Field). It suggests that each land use has its own value depending on the season.

In Southeast Asia, economic and population growth are expected in the near future. Rapid change is anticipated especially in the Lao PDR. Concern has been expressed that population growth will lead to an increased demand for food and economic growth to changes in the use of land. For food production to keep pace with the growth of population, it is very important to understand decision-making in rice paddy cultivation in urbanizing areas; for this reason, this study with the SEM model was conducted. The original data were collected by a questionnaire survey in some Lao villages; the survey included questions on various conditions, such as the availability of water in the dry season (irrigation), the access to a city, and job opportunities other than farming. The findings of the study demonstrate that the planting of a second rice crop was related to such factors as the productivity of rain-fed rice and cash crops and, most importantly, job opportunities other than farming.