MSEC Papers Presented at the 12th ISCO Conference
	MSEC Project Submitted to iSC as INRM Case Study
	Preparation for the 7th MSEC Assembly Underway
	MSEC Prepares to Conduct Impact Assessment Study

MSEC Papers Presented at the 12th ISCO Conference

The 12th ISCO Conference with the theme "Sustainable Utilization of Global Soil and Water Resources" was held in Beijing, China from 26-31 May 2002. It was attended by over 600 scientists from 61 countries. More than 300 technical papers were presented in six parallel sessions and three special sessions.

Three papers discussing results of the MSEC project were presented during the meeting. The paper "Soil erosion under land use change from three catchments in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam" authored by V. Chaplot, A. Boonsaner, J.P. Bricquet, A. de Rouw, J.L. Janeau, P. Marchand, T. Phommassack, T.D. Toan, and C. Valentin presented the use of a GIS-based model to simulate and predict runoff production and soil erosion under different land use and climate change scenarios. The results showed a four-fold increase in soil erosion with an increase in the proportion of the area cultivated to annual crops from 9 to 60%. It also shows the high sensitivity of soil erosion to land use change as compared to climate change.

Dr. Fahmuddin Agus of Indonesia presented the paper "Catchment size and land management systems affect water and sediment yields" which he co-authored with T. Vadari, Sukristiyonubowo, B. Hermiyanto, J.P Bricquet, and A. Maglinao. The amount and size of sediment originating from the catchments largely depended on land management systems and catchment size. For small catchments, the major contributor to sediment yield is the bed load, as larger size sediments travel short distances. For larger catchments, the bed load component is negligible on a per unit area basis.

Dr. Amado Maglinao presented the paper "Soil erosion management in catchments: Identifying best bet options with farmers' participation" co-authored with A. Agus, R.O. Ilao, T.D. Toan and F. Penning de Vries. The paper also indicated the significant influence of land use and catchment size on soil erosion. Smaller and more intensively cultivated catchments yielded relatively higher soil loss. Variants of the contour hedgerow farming in combination with soil fertility management, use of improved crop varieties, and livestock integration were the primary options identified. Presentation and discussion of the results of monitoring in the catchments with the farmers helped very much in the evaluation of the land management options for a particular area.
All three papers are published in the proceedings of the conference, both as hard and CD copies.

MSEC Project Submitted to iSC as INRM Case Study

IWMI submitted the MSEC project, along with two others, as case examples of INRM projects within the CGIAR that illustrate a more or less complete approach from design to field research to outreach with scaling and to policy if appropriate. Examples of 4 to 6 cases selected from the different centers will be organized into a document to serve the goal of lending the interim Science Committee (iSC) of the CGIAR weight to considering INRM as a a complete approach leading to outreach impact within production systems. The document will likely be reviewed at the INRM workshop at ICARDA in September 2002.

Preparation for the 7th MSEC Assembly Underway

The 7th Annual Assembly of MSEC is scheduled from 3-7 December 2002 in Laos. The technical papers that have to be prepared and presented during the meeting have been identified during the last MSEC Steering Committee meeting on 2-3 May 2002 in Bangkok, Thailand. As usual, there will be a visit to the project site in Luang Prabang and a meeting of the Steering Committee. Local organization is led by the Soil Survey and Land Classification Center (SSLCC) in Vinetiane.

MSEC Prepares to Conduct Impact Assessment Study

A guide questionnaire has been drafted and circulated to all partners before it is finalized and used. It was prepared based on the outputs that have been generated by the project in the countries. Field survey is expected to be concluded in October and a technical paper will be prepared and presented at the annual assembly in Laos.

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