Background. Many Thai farmers who live in national parks farmlands lack a formal education. They usually lack of knowledge on soil quality improvement and proper use of fertilizer. They illegally ...trespass in forest areas because of soil deterioration in their own limited expanses of farmland. Consequently, most of them are arrested, creating individual and family problems.
Aim. This “soil analysis and appropriate fertilizer use game” (SAAFU game) was designed for farmers having low-formal education to realize the soil analysis before planting and improve the appropriate chemical fertilizer usage.
Method.This quasi-experiential research used pre- and post-tests to evaluate the game session processes and learning of the players. The important steps were: 1) analysis of soil in the land box; 2) making decisions to buy fertilizer; 3) calculating, harvesting and selling products. Debriefing was also used to discuss and exchange their knowledge and experiences. Follow up process was also performed.
Results. The pre- and post-test score showed the better understanding of appropriate fertilizer use of the players. Soon after the gaming sessions, players went to their fields and collected 31 soil samples for soil nutrient analysis. Players also disseminated knowledge to their relatives and neighbors. As a result, non-players of Dongbak(22), Wangmon(9) and Chaimongkol(2) collected soil samples for soil nutrient analysis. Moreover, they grouping together to buy quicklime and fertilizers to get cheaper price.
Conclusion. This simple game can be used effectively with farmers having low-formal education. After the game and simulation, most of them realized how important of soil nutrients and soil analysis before planting and were able to teach their relatives and neighbours about soil collecting. This indicated the successful of this game.
ABSTRACT
The pH‐dependent release of cadmium, copper, and lead from soil materials was studied by use of a stirred flow cell to quantify their release and release rates, and to evaluate the method as ...a test for the bonding strength and potential mobility of heavy metals in soils. Soil materials from sludge‐amended and nonamended A horizons from a Thai coarse‐textured Kandiustult and a Danish loamy Hapludalf were characterized and tested. For each soil sample, release experiments with steady state pH values in the range 2.9 to 7.1 and duration of 7 d were performed. The effluent was continuously collected and analyzed. Release rates and total releases were higher for the Hapludalf than the Kandiustult and higher for the sludge‐amended soils than the nonamended soils. With two exceptions the relative release rates (release rate/total content of metal in soil) plotted vs. steady state pH followed the same curves for each metal, indicating similar bonding strengths. These curves could be described by a rate expression of the form: relative release rate = kH+a, with specific a (empirical constant) and k (rate constant) parameters for each metal demonstrating that metal release in these systems can be explained by proton‐induced desorption and dissolution reactions. With decreasing pH, pronounced increases in release rates were observed in the sequence cadmium > lead > copper, which express the order of metal lability in the soils. The flow cell system is useful for comparison of metal releases as a function of soil properties, and can be used as a test to rank soils with respect to heavy metal leaching.
