Abstract
In Thailand, the Green Revolution initiated in the late 1960s contributed to a drastic increase in both food production and human population. Thailand is known as a rice-exporting country, but it is also known that the country’s rice yield is still relatively low among the tropical Asian countries. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the effect of the Green Revolution on the changes in paddy soil fertility status in Thailand over the last 50 years. In total, 65 soil samples were collected in 2015 and 2016 from the surface layer of paddy fields in the northeast, north, central plain, and Bangkok Plain of Thailand. To compare the fertility-related data of the samples with those of soils collected from 1964 to 1972 (Kawaguchi and Kyuma 1977), the sampling sites in the 2010s were placed at or near the same locations of the original sites. Over the last 50 years, the mean pH, total C, total N, available N, available P, 0.2 mol L−1 HCl extractable P, and exchangeable K values increased significantly (p < 0.01). In particular, the available P content increased tremendously from 3.19 to 42.8 mg kg−1, reflecting the rapid increase in fertilizer application. Contrarily, the mean exchangeable Mg and clay content values decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Regionally, the total C and total N contents of the soils in the northeast were significantly lower than those in the other regions (p < 0.05), and the available P, exchangeable K, and available Si contents were often evaluated as deficient, reflecting the very sandy texture of the soils in the northeast. In conclusion, the fertility status of the paddy soil in Thailand has improved considerably over the last 50 years owing to the Green Revolution, and the increase in total C suggests the potential of paddy soil for C sequestration, even in the tropics. Thus, these temporal changes in soil fertility levels and their regional variations should be considered to achieve more sustainable food production and environmental conservation in Thailand.
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Acknowledgments
This chapter is mainly derived from Yanai et al. (2020) published in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 66, 889-899, Taylor and Frances, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00380768.2020.1814115. The authors would like to thank Drs. Ketsuda Dejbhimon and Anongnat Sriprachote, Khon Kean University, Porntiva Kanyawongha, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thanakorn Lattirasuvan, Maejo University, Ms. Mina Hirose, Kyoto Prefectural University, and Mr. Keita Sakamoto, Kochi University, for their collaboration during the entire course of this research, and Dr. Kazutake Kyuma, Emeritus Professor of Kyoto University, and Dr. Toshiyuki Wakatsuki, Emeritus Professor of Shimane University, for their supervision on this research. This research was partly funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science through a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (overseas academic) (No. 15H05247).
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Yanai, J., Tanaka, S., Nakao, A. (2022). Changes in Paddy Soil Fertility in Thailand Under the Green Revolution During the Last 50 Years. In: Yanai, J., Tanaka, S., Abe, S., Nakao, A. (eds) Changes in Paddy Soil Fertility in Tropical Asia under Green Revolution. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5425-1_3
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