Short description of the best practice

The following environmentally friendly rural practices were developed and applied in vineyards and orchards:
• Contour tillage, • Forest belts;
• The channels for water retention and evacuation which are built with a secondary inclination of up to 1.5 degrees as opposed to the slope inclination;
• The land dams capture the water flowing down the slope and distribute it into a channel for its evacuation;
• Barriers in the way of the water are built of any agricultural waste: straw, tree branches, twigs, etc., which are fixed in places where the rain usually forms rivulets;
• Perennial grassed waterways; • Each 3-5th row is grassed.
Arable lands are protected from erosion through:
• Contour farming, • Strip cropping,
• Buffer stripes planted with perennial plants resistant to draught;
• Tree planting on the land affected by landslides and soil erosion;
Integrated plant protection actions are carried out, which allowed fewer treatments with chemicals and prevented a certain amount of soil and water pollution;
• Plantation and maintenance works are carried out in the restored forest;
• Cleaning of natural springs (11) in the forest and their protection is ensured;
• Plantation of forest species trees around the homes in the village.
• Actions for waste management, cleaning village streets and maintaining the order on the village territory and surroundings are carried out, the activity being under permanent control.|

Location

Tartaul de Salcie village, Cahul district, Republic of Moldova|

If the location has well defined boundaries, specify its extension in hectares:

50.0

Estimated population living in the location:

1300.0

Brief description of the natural environment within the specified location.

Tartaul de Salcie belongs to the Pri-Danube steppe pedologic region. Clay-sandy carbonated chernozem is predominant on the territory of the village.The intensification of the erosion process conducts to certain compaction of upper horizons.  The drainage porosity is big in the weakly and moderately eroded soils and medium in heavily eroded soils. There is a big impact of the erosion degree on the resistance to penetration. There is a danger of soils alcalization in case it is irrigated.
The landscape is hilly, very fragmented with a dense network of valleys. Almost 85% of the land is situated on slope. About 60% of land has a gradient from 2 to 6 degree, while 25% of land has an inclination exceeding 6 degree. Water erosion processes are widespread and quite intense. The predominant length of the hillsides in Tartaul de Salcie is over 1000 m.|
Climate is moderately continental: the summers are warm and long, with temperatures averaging about 22°C, and the winters are relatively mild and dry, with January temperatures averaging -2°C. Annual rainfall, which ranges from around 500 millimeters; long dry spells are not unusual. The heaviest rainfall occurs in summer; heavy showers and thunderstorms are common.|

Prevailing socio-economic conditions of those living in the location and/or nearby

The sources of income are agricultural corps, mainly grapes and walnuts for sale, but also vegetables for own consumption.  People also have cows and sheep in their household, mainly for own consumption and some extra for sale.|
People in the community have land plots of about 2 to 4 hectares per household which belongs to them and they have title deeds and land maps to prove it.  The main problem relates to registration and legalization of sale or inheritance of land which is bureaucratized and expensive. The principal landowner in the village is the association of shareholders “TarSalAgro”.
Income level in the area depends much on the amount of precipitation and also on market access and prices, but on the average for the last 3 years the estimated income per capita per month was  38 US dollars per month. |

On the basis of which criteria and/or indicator(s) (not related to The Strategy) the proposed practice and corresponding technology has been considered as 'best'?

- Improvement of farm crops productivity,
- Existence of a framework for soil and water conservation and local responsibility for landscape conservation
- Reduction of the soil and water loss,
- Improvement of the soil properties.|

Main problems addressed by the best practice

- Soil erosion,
|- soil fertility,
|- water scarcity,|- low productivity of crops.

Outline specific land degradation problems addressed by the best practice

- Control of runoff,
- maintain/ increase soil fertility,
- increase/maintain water stored in soil.|

Specify the objectives of the best practice

- Promoting the adoption of environmentally friendly rural practices by farmer associations, family farms, individual farmers and rural population;
|- promoting sustainable use of land and natural resources in the project pilot area.

Brief description of main activities, by objective

1. Development of environmentally friendly rural practices.
|2. Use of good agricultural practices by farmer associations, family farms and individual farmers on cropland.
- Public awareness and education.
|-  Monitoring and evaluation.
- Combine income generation with land management, such as planting rows of currant bushes against soil loss with torrential rains and making preserves of the currant (jams, jelly) for sale.
|- Give up unproductive land use practices, such as burning of stubble or vine branches and providing advice on
Learn to obtain income by using less inputs and adapting to local climate

Was the technology developed in partnership?

Yes

List the partners:

CRSSEC, RISSA, Romania, RIBPP, RISSA, NFFM, NGO BP, Moldova.|

Specify the framework within which the technology was promoted

• Local initiative

Was the participation of local stakeholders, including CSOs, fostered in the development of the technology?

Yes

List local stakeholders involved:

LPA, farmers, teachers, District Ecological Agency, • „TarSalAgro” JSC|

For the stakeholders listed above, specify their role in the design, introduction, use and maintenance of the technology, if any.

• LPA, farmers, „TarSalAgro” JSC, teachers were the stakeholders who requested NGO BIOS to develop and promote the initiative.
• District Ecological Agency supported community and NGO BIOS in implementation and promotion  of environmentally friendly practices in community and in the South region of Moldova.
• Central Research Station for Soil Erosion Control, Perieni, Romania - developed together with NGO BIOS the land management plan.
• Research Institute of Soil Science & Agrochemistry, Chisinau - performed together with NGO BIOS soil research.
• Research Institute for Soil Science & Agrochemistry, Bucharest, Romania - organised together with NGO BIOS Conference on sustainable agriculture.
• NGO “Biodiversity Protection” - performed inventory of flora species according to existing classifications.  For each site improvement actions were recommended having in mind their usefulness for the local population, conservation of a certain area aiming at its inclusion in an ecological tourist route
• Research Institute of Biological Plant Protection - developed integrated pest management practices and monitored their implementation.
• Research Institute of Agriculture Agrochemical Service - performed water research.
• National Farmers Federation of Moldova was co-organizer together with NGO BIOS of awareness building campaign and training for NFFM trainers in environmentally friendly practices.|

Was the population living in the location and/or nearby involved in the development of the technology?

Yes

By means of what?

• Participatory approaches

Describe on-site impacts (the major two impacts by category)

While illegal cutting of trees still occurs, people started planting forest species of trees on all spare spaces in the village, which improved the environment and compensates for earlier loss of tree cutting without replacement planting. |
Community cohesion has improved.  People became less isolated through participation in meetings, training events, exchange opinions more frequently and assist each other. |
Productivity is paramount, since is guarantees future income.  For the soil to be productive for many years ahead sustainable technologies were proposed and implemented.  Thus, while the crops have not increased much, the replacement of mineral nutrients with manure diminished expenditures and neede|
Changes included cleaner community and cleaner households, better use of existing resources, more attention to hygiene.   |

Describe the major two off-site (i.e. not occurring in the location but in the surrounding areas) impacts

In Zarnesti village (about 30 km away) people also plant forest species of trees on spare public  land, which was earlier a place where people threw waste. In Beleu Nature Reserve (about 50 km away)  Cahul Scaut Association implemented various environmentally protected actions. Comrat University (40 km) included study tours for students to Tartaul de Salcie site.  |
Cahul District Executive Committee organise in Tartaul de Salcie meetings related to agro-environmental issues.

Impact on biodiversity and climate change

Explain the reasons:

Environmentally friendly rural practices implemented in Tartaul de Salcie improved soil properties, water quality, restored forests, planted forest belts, i.e. they create very good conditions for the development of agricultural biodiversity and wild biodiversity in farming landscapes. |
Environmentally friendly rural practices are one of the main sink of carbon dioxide. Thus, they have a positively impact on climate change mitigation. |
Environmentally friendly rural practices are in harmony with Nature and they positively impact on climate change adaptation

Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out?

Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out?

No

Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

Yes

Where?

1. Grinauti village, Edinet district, |2. Cirpesti village, Cantemir district, |Dusmani village Glodeni district|Baimaclia commune, Cantemir district.

Were incentives to facilitate the take up of the technology provided?

Were incentives to facilitate the take up of the technology provided?

Yes

Specify which type of incentives:

• Financial incentives (for example, preferential rates, State aid, subsidies, cash grants, loan guarantees, etc)

Can you identify the three main conditions that led to the success of the presented best practice/technology?

2. Support of local entrepreneurs and local authorities
1. Bad weather conditions which led to financial problems and the need to learn new things.
3. Clearly expressed objectives and expectations in respect to individual benefits.  All these can be replicated anywhere.

Replicability

In your opinion, the best practice/technology you have proposed can be replicated, although with some level of adaptation, elsewhere?

Yes

Related to human resources

Show sincere interest in people's life and their problems.  Seek expertise among wise village people and encourage them to share it.  Accept people as they are and provide assistance for their growth.

Related to financial aspects

Teach people to save and plan.  Advice them that wise investment always pays off.  Teach them to invest more in things they treasure most (family, health, land, local forests, etc.) proportionally.  |

Related to technical aspects

Try out and experiment with new things on a small scale, so that failure does not affect income significantly. |