Farmers' perception and socio-economic determinants on land degradation in northern lao PDR: A case study of maize farming

Land is a very important and as a main property of Lao farmers. The land has effected on the livelihood of rural population through agricultural practices, every year the farmland offers food and incomes for rural livelihoods. Therefore, land degradation is regularly associated with land use practices and socio-economic factors. Without understanding farmers' perception on land issues, sustainable management of land resources is impossible because they have intimate knowledge on their land. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to find famers' perception on land degradation and to examine the socio-economic determinants of land degradation in the study area. The data was carried out during September 2010. Face to face interviews were conducted from a total of 98 maize farmers that were randomly selected from 8 villages identified as maize growing zones of Bokeo Province, Laos. The logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the socio-economic determinant on land degradation and farmers' perception on the status of land degradation in northern Laos. This study is the first research to study on determinant of land degradation of maize farming in Laos. The model predicted four determinants of land degradation in the study area had positive significance and three determinants had negative relation on land degradation. Finding of this study have important policy implications for controlling land degradation in the study area as well as in the country.