Coordinator of the ASIALAND Acid Soils Network

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam

Dr Rod Lefroy
Phone: phone: +856-21-770090
Fax:
Email: r.lefroy@cgiar.org

• National Institute for Soils and Fertilisers, Vietnam
• Central Mindanao University, Philippines
• University of Queensland, Australia

$1,432,420

01/01/1994 - 31/12/1998

01/01/1999 - 30/06/2000

Dr Ian Willett

The ASIALAND Acid Soils Network of the International Board for Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM) sought to develop viable and improved soil management technologies for sustaining food crops and other agricultural production on upland acid soils of the humid and subhumid tropics of Asia. This restricted core grant provided for the coordination of this network. It was associated with a series of ACIAR-funded projects operated through the Department of Agriculture at the University of Queensland - starting with project 1983/075 operating in Malaysia, followed by project 1989/004 operating in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam and, in mid 1996, by Project 1994/014. Project 1994/014 operated in Vietnam and Philippines, and came to form the core of the acid soils network. This project followed on from support provided by AIDAB (AusAID) until the end of 1993.

One of the basic requirements of IBSRAM's network approach towards sustainable land management was coordination of that network. The objective of the restricted grant was to support a coordinator to facilitate the implementation, monitoring and execution of the experiments within the network, in close liaison with the leaders of ACIAR projects 1989/004 and1994/014.

The achievements of the Asialand Acid Soils Network were strongly related to the achievements of the Coordinator. The Research Network Coordinator was originally Dr Bob Myers. Dr Myers left in 1996 and Dr Rod Lefroy replaced him. Collaborators at the University of Queensland greatly assisted the Coordinator in his technical and scientific approach, and this in turn strengthened and supported the Asialand Acid Soils Network. This special arrangement, whereby ACIAR supported project collaborators in Asia and Australia and the Coordinator position, was the ultimate basis for the success of the Acid Soils Network.

The Coordinator was instrumental and supportive in all project activities related to the network involving the bilateral projects 1989/004 and 1994/014. He played a substantial role in implementing the recommendations of the review of 1989/004, including the shift in focus from aluminium toxicity to phosphate availability. In particular, the Coordinator assisted in developing and implementing a systematic approach for on-farm research experiments. The eight researcher-managed, on-farm experiments that were undertaken in Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam were established after a well-defined procedure of site characterisation, glasshouse and on-site homogeneity trials and adaptation of farmers' practice.

Similarly the Coordinator was instrumental in helping to improve field and laboratory monitoring and analyses through identification of required equipment, assisting in formal training, organisation of interactive laboratory quality assurance and standardisation of methods. This increased the research capacity of the national agricultural research partners. In some respects, the building research capacity, expertise and independence amongst the collaborating Asian partners has been the key outcome, as indicated by their responses to a questionnaire. This was amply demonstrated by the marked improvement in laboratory facilities in Hanoi together with an excellent field site. A further initiative of the Coordinator to establish a network for maintenance of laboratory quality in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian Laboratory Network (SEALNET), was designed to lift the capability of the Asian collaborators in this respect.

The introduction of socioeconomic methods to the network brought the experiments closer to the farm, added value to the results, widened the knowledge of collaborators and improved their interaction across borders. The involvement of the Coordinator in a series of farmer-managed, on-farm trials to evaluate practical approaches to acid upland soils improvement was designed to benefit the network with regard to extension opportunities.

The Coordinator was involved in the production and dissemination of publications, both directly relevant (at least 17) and related (at least 28). He also interacted with many individuals, universities and research institutions outside the network, which were of great benefit to the collaborators. There is no doubt that the activities of the Coordinator contributed significantly to developing strategies for the sustainable management of infertile acid soils in Southeast Asia.