Theory and reality of integrated rice–duck farming in Asian developing countries: A systematic review and SWOT analysis

The integrated rice–duck farming (IRDF), in which ducks feed on insects and weeds in paddies and fertilise rice plants, has been a flagship of Asian sustainable-agriculture movements. Nevertheless, IRDF is not spreading rapidly enough to the extent to which it becomes a successful alternative agriculture. This paper undertakes a systematic review of a collection of experimental IRDF studies in order to derive an insight from the divergent experimental settings and findings. The paper also identifies the strengths and weaknesses of, opportunities for and threats to IRDF from the perspective of IRDF farmers, using the expert elicitation method. Five IRDF expert farmers from each of South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam were interviewed for this purpose. The experimental studies and the expert farmers concurred that the most recognisable empirical strength of IRDF is the synergy of rice and ducks. It was found that the establishment of organic food certification systems provides an opportunity for IRDF to grow. On the other hand, labour-intensiveness was found the most challengeable weakness of IRDF. In parallel, labour shortage in rural areas was found as a serious threat to IRDF. It appears that the weaknesses and threats are more influential than the strengths and opportunities to shaping the adoption of IRDF. In order to make IRDF economically more feasible, the non-market ecological benefits of IRDF in mitigating land degradation and global warming can and should be internalised through appropriate policy instruments.