According to the World Bank, in 2009 about 40% of the population in Laos were living below the poverty line, and as forests are cleared for agriculture, land use planning is now a national policy to reduce shifting cultivation and fight poverty. Using communities in the Viengkham District of Laos as a case study, the work presented here explores whether locally recognised plant indicators of soil productivity could improve land use planning by involving local communities in land management. CIFOR researcher Imam Basuki gave this presentation at the 18th International Symposium on Society & Resource Management (ISSRM) held on 17–21 June 2012 at the University of Alberta, Canada. The main theme of the conference was ‘Linking North and South: Responding to Environmental Change’, and 350 participants from 50 countries came together to discuss the intersection of social issues and natural resource management.

1. Exploring plant indicators for soil quality assessment in Laos:
improving the roles of communities in land management
Imam Basuki et al. – 18th ISSRM
Alberta University, Edmonton, 2012
THINKING beyond the canopy

2. Context
Laos
• Laos covers 236,800 km2
–68% (1986) forest reduced to 47% (2010)
–43% (2010) agricultural lands
• Of 5.23 M people in Laos 39% are poor (WB
2009)

3. Urban area
Rural area

4. Context
• Land use planning as a national policy to
reduce shifting cultivation and poverty in
Laos: lack of capacity and information (Saito
et al. 2006)
• Would land use planning be more effective
with participatory and multidisciplinary
approaches?

5. Objectives
• To examine and demonstrate the need
for local land assessment for effective
land use planning in Laos, and
• To clarify whether locally recognised
plant indicators of soil productivity can
play a useful role.

6. Study sites

7. Approach
• Community meetings
– Soil types and plant
indicators
– Scoring exercise
• Participatory mapping
and group discussions

8. Approach
• Field tests for
plant indicators
(14 sites)
• Soil sampling (25
sites)

9. Results in two parts
1. Soil 2. Plant indicators
• Local soil map • Identification of
• Local soil types plant indicators
• Soil fertility • Index of soil
• Land suitability productivity
for rice
• Local & scientific
approaches

10. Result 1/1 – Local soil map
The grey and
reddish areas
are the better
soils;
Potential for
land zoning in
land use
planning.

11. Result 1/2 – Local soil types
Productive soils are more extensive than non
productive, but… productivity for rice
cultivation is decreasing.
Table of importance and productivity by soil types, as perceived by communities
Mean Mean productivity Trend in Area
Soil type Importance (%) (kg/ha) productivity (hectare)
Dark soil 32 1785 -7 7716
Sandy soil 20 1245 -2 1293
Reddish soil 16 600 -5 4279
Dark red soil 14 1465 -3 1343
Rocky soil 13 630 -1 1988
Soil with roots 5 665 -1 1984

12. Result 1/3 – Land evaluation: soil fertility
Evaluation of five chemical indicators of soil
fertility; phosphorus, potassium, cation exchange
capacity (CEC), base saturation and carbon content
Table of fertility status and limiting factors of the soils in villages
Village Fertility Status Limiting Factors
Boummi Low Phosphorus, CEC, Base sat.
Don Keo Low Phosphorus, CEC, Base sat.
Houaykhon Low Phosphorus, CEC
Muangmuay Low Phosphorus, CEC, Base sat.
Paklao Low Phosphorus, CEC
Padheng Low Phosphorus, CEC, Base sat.
Vangkham Low CEC

13. Result 1/4 – Land suitability for rice
Table of soil suitability class for rice
Suitability class Oryza sativa L.
S1 0
S2 3
S3 6
N (Not suitable) 16
Main limiting factors are:
– water shortage, erosion and soil
fertility.

14. Result 1/5 – Local & scientific approaches
Local classes of soil productivity are
significantly correlated with soil pH and
nutrients (p-value < 0.1).
5.0 120
5
Potential potassium (ppm)
4.5
80
pH (KCl)
4.0
40
3.5
3.0 0
N= 7 7 N= 7 7
non-productive productive non-productive productive

15. Implications 1
• Current land use zoning has shortened
the fallow period and eroded soils 
decreased productivity + land degradation
• Local land assessment can improve
current land zoning

16. Result 2/1 - Identification of plant indicators
•52 plant indicators were identified
•29 plants indicate productive soils
Table of plant indicators and index-score of productivity by village (example)
Example of identified plant indicators Plant scores in villages
Local name Scientific name DK MM HK VK VM BM PL
yak kee lor Eupatorium odoratum L. 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
thong koop Macaranga denticulata (Blume) Müll. Arg. 5 - - - - 6 -
------- -------
may muem Aporosa villosa (Lindl.) Baillon 6 4 - - - 2 3
may tiou Cratoxylum formosum (Jack) Dyer subsp. 1 1 1 2 2 1 1
------- -------

17. Result 2/2 - Index of soil productivity
Local index range:
Productive (>5) and Non-productive (<5)
Table of Local index of soil productivity (example)
MM VK HK VM BM DK PL
Indicator plants
             
Eupatorium odoratum L. 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 - - 0 0
Imperata cylindrica (L.)
0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Beauvois
---
---
Soil Productivity Index 7.0 2.0 6.6 4.6 6.4 4.4 5.3 4.0 7.4 4.1 6.7 4.3 6.6 4.1

18. Implications 2
A plant-index is a quick and simple approach:
• Complements the current approaches
• Appropriate land allocation
• Can detect change in soil productivity
 better land management

19. Conclusion
• Local land assessment and the local
plant-index could inform a better land
use planning.
• We advocate wider use of the local index
with follow up trials in other areas.

20. Acknowledgement
• SDC
• CIFOR/ICRAF
• NAFRI/NAFREC
• Communities in Viengkham District
• 18th ISSRM 2012 Organizers
Cifor website: http://www.cifor.org
THINKING beyond the canopy