ECHO Asia Note Articles

田间诊断农作物营养缺乏

俗话说“你不知道你有一个问题你就不可能解决问题”，这是诊断植物营养缺乏基础科学的支撑。多年来，很多农民和科学家一起工作，通过多种线索来判断农作物的营养缺乏。这些线索和症状十分有用，特别是在土壤和植物组织试验做不了或行不通时。

热带种子储存:从网络学到的

This article is from ECHO Asia Note #28

对于热带地区的农民和研究人员，种子储存是非常令人沮丧的。在蒙多基里省，从收获到新的种植季 节期间农民基本不能把种子保存超过 6 个月。种子储存的时间如果长于 6 个月，就会在湿季从潮湿的空气 中吸收很多湿气失去活性，或者遭受病虫害使种子繁殖性和外形遭到破坏。在我们的研究中心，我们已经 建立了一个很多有用的种子品种的存货清单，不需要每一年都种出每个品种。但是，与农民类似，我们的 种子经常很快就失去了活性或者在储存中被害虫破坏。

冷藏和冷冻是众所周知的大多数传统种子延长种子寿命的方法，(参见 ECHO 亚洲期刊 14“真空密封 对比冷藏 Vacuum Sealing versus Refrigeration”)，但是没有提供合适蒙多基里省这种地区的办法，蒙多基 里的电力不稳定并且很昂贵。在长老会饥饿项目和 ECHO 亚洲的合作下，Ntuk Nti 的工作人员通过多年的 研究设计和实验了合适种子储存的方法。在这篇文章中，我们将分享几个我们的发现——改进种子储存方 式的有效方法，甚至最贫困和最边远的农民都可以用。

农户自制饲料:鸡食制作

This article is from ECHO Asia Note #28

农户自产饲料贡献了一个更加可持续发展的农业系统。作物残茬和动物粪便是 植物生产营养循环的一部分。通过使用喜温的堆肥、蚯蚓培养、博卡西和/或绿肥 就能降低投入的成本。农户自产饲料也能通过管理和利用既得资源来减少费用。小 规模的农户购买商业饲料来喂鸡特别是小鸡是非常昂贵的。在这篇 ECHO 亚洲期刊 的文章中，我们将探索多种可供选择的小规模家禽饲料。

土壤微生物：它们是什么和怎么测量它们

This article is from ECHO Asia Note #27

微生物是不能用肉眼直接观察到的微小生物；他们包括真菌类、藻类和细菌类（Rao, 1995）。这些小 生物存在于任何地方：水里、空气里和土壤里。在农业上，微生物的数量在堆肥、动物粪便和IM（本地微 生物（Indigenous Microorganisms））液里、EM（有效微生物（Effective Microorganisms））的液体里特别多。微生物是土壤的重要组成部分，它们帮助分解有机物，也将岩石和空气中的营养物质转化成农作物可用的形式，还帮助固定土壤结构（Tisdall, 1994; Hayat et al. 2010）。土壤微生物也在维持植物健康上扮演重要的角色，因为它们能促进营养循环并分解杀虫剂，如果有益微生物充足还可以降低植物病虫害（Anderson, 1984; Mendes et al., 2011）。

改良型种子储存冷藏室的建设

This article is from ECHO Asia Note #27

种子储存的原则
当要建一个“冷藏室”或“种子储藏室”来达到保持种子活性的目的时，最先要考虑的种子储存的最佳条件。在ECHO 亚洲期刊14（ECHO Asia Note 14）（2012 年6 月），我们分享了真空密封和冷藏的对比结果，并强调对于种子储存湿度和温度控制的重要性。我们发现湿度控制（真空密封）比温度控制（冷藏）更有效地保存种子活性。在这个ECHO 亚洲的实验中，热带种子最佳的储存方式是干燥后（为了保持较低的种子湿度）立刻真空密封，然后把种子储存在较低的温度之下。要设计一个最适宜种子储存的冷藏室，好的绝缘和制冷时最重要的；但是如何没有一个很好的湿度隔绝，制冷的过程就会把湿度从外界带进来并制造冷凝，导致含水量增加。如何种子没有储存在真空袋中，或者真空袋破裂，这种环境会伤害种子。

水管理水土保持模式介绍 - 2015-12-15

This series of articles on water management has been reprinted with permission from Thailand’s Natural Farming Magazine and serves as an introduction to small-scale water management. Many of the ideas offered in these articles are consistent with permaculture design principles, which promote farmer resiliency against varying weather extremes. To read more about permaculture options for smallholder farms, please see this “Permaculture in Development” article by Brad Ward in ECHO Development Note #129.

制定和测试小农农民的替代除草剂

ECHO Asia Impact Center staff members first heard about alternative herbicide recipes that use fermented papaya and pineapple from a retired technical school teacher and organic farmer, Kru Pratoom. As weeding is a big part of any farmer’s life, the Seed Bank staff wanted to try out a lower-risk herbicide to see if its effects on weeds would warrant its use. They also wanted to ensure that this herbicide would not pose a risk to soil pH, microbiology, structure, and plant uptake and health. This ECHO Asia Research Note describes the process used to create this herbicide, as well as a sampling technique to determine its efficacy on weeds. Look for a future note about the methodology used to help determine its effects on soil microorganisms and health.

小农场的选择：水管理设计原则 - 2015-09-01

At the beginning of last year, Thailand experienced its most severe drought in twenty years. Only four years ago it also experienced its most severe flooding. Natural disasters are occurring with increasing frequency and severity; it is therefore vital to establish defenses against catastrophes like these. One such defence is redesigning areas based on the “mound, reservoir, and paddy” model of water management, which is one way of implementing a concept promoted by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. This model is an efficient method of coping with water disasters, whether flooding or drought.

A Small Farm Water Management Case Study: Fighting Climate Change and Promoting Self Sufficiency

This article is from ECHO Asia Note #26

Mr. Bunlom Taokaew is the son of rice farmers. He chose a career as a businessman after he finished school. Because he didn’t make enough of a living, he went into debt to the order of hundreds of thousands of baht. He borrowed money from his father, a farmer using integrated farming methods, many times to repay his debts, until finally his father told him to return to being a farmer instead. Mr. Bunlom decided to take his advice, but he didn’t believe farming would help relieve him of his debts. He started by building a structure to cultivate oyster mushrooms, which didn’t require a large investment, and little by little he started to produce enough to sell locally, reducing his living costs, until there was enough money left over to save, and until, finally, he was able to repay his debts. His sustainable life began more than ten years ago. It was a result of following in the footsteps of His Majesty the King, and his own father, who set an example he could follow.

给热带牧草作物带来平衡和注意 - 2015-08-01

Invasive alien species (often IAS in the literature) are those species introduced to an area outside their normal or native range, either purposefully or by accident, whose colonization causes significant harm. The species may become weeds, pests or pathogens, affecting both human interests and natural systems, and impacting agricultural systems, native ecosystems, biological diversity, or human well-being (Perrings et al. 2002; UNEP; CBD). Wellknown examples of invasive alien species include kudzu in the United States, water hyacinth throughout the tropics, zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, and European starlings in North America.