The Evolutionary Changes in Rice-crop Farming: Integrated Pest Management in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam

Abstract

From the time the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Programme--initiated by the FAO--was introduced in Indonesia in early 1990 and other Asian countries afterwards, a gradual change in IPM farmers' knowledge, practices, empowerment, and dignity has been occurring. In line with the aims of the program to introduce knowledge, stimulate farmers' own curiosity, and improve their decision making ability, the implication of this program for farmers' knowledge and farming practices has been significantly different from the Green Revolution program and other technological interventions in crop farming. An "evolutionary" or gradual change rather than a "revolutionary" one or sudden change is going on among the IPM farmers in several countries in Southeast Asia. Not only are their technical understandings of growing crops enriched and modified, but also their creativity, dignity, and self-confidence are enhanced. Nevertheless, knowledge enrichment, production, implementation, and transmission are not simple processes. They are embedded in the local settings and within the course of the agricultural development and history in each locale. Some similarities and many variations are found in different countries in Southeast Asia. This paper examines these phenomena by looking at the evolutionary changes found in IPM farmers' knowledge and practices in ricecrop farming in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam.