Opportunities and challenges for integrated smallholder farming systems to improve soil nutrient management in Southeast Asia

This paper explores the dynamics between soil degradation, integrated farming options and the uptake of these options in Southeast Asia. It begins with an overview of the status of soils, the reasons for degradation and the role nutrient management approaches could play in mitigating soil degradation, including available information on nutrient flows in smallholder integrated farming systems. This is followed by an assessment of the uptake and scale of integrated farming options in the region. Our findings indicate that the adoption of integrated systems by smallholders has not occurred at scale and we identify reasons for this at the farm and community levels. These factors include barriers to uptake and gaps in knowledge and data. We identify institutional barriers including limited research on the mitigation and reversal of soil degradation in the region, de-prioritized funding focus, and systemic research and implementation failings that result in significant uncertainties regarding the suitability of integrated approaches. While we do not explore the causes behind these factors and shortcomings in detail, we provide suggestions for improvements and alternative approaches to address the complexities inherent in integrated systems. We conclude that measurable improvements in soil degradation require changes in research and innovation promotion and that the additional costs incurred by sustainability-focused management need to be accounted for in international market principles.