Economic potential of establishing fruit bearing perennials in cropped fields

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS AND ECOSYSTEMS IN MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS 7-9 March 2006, Chiang Mai, Thailand Economic potential of establishing fruit bearing perennials in cropped fields R.F. Rañola, Jr. 1, P.A.B. Ani 2 and D.B. Magcale-Macandog 2 1 Department of Agricultural Economics, University of the Philippines Los Baños, 2 Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños College, Laguna, Philippines Abstract In Claveria, Misamis Oriental, the pure crop system of farming was a major contributory factor to the degradation of the soil. To address this problem, timber trees were introduced. As farmers are more inclined to adopt technologies which give immediate benefits and ensure the security of food and income for the household, preference of tree species should also be based in their intrinsic likelihood of sustainability. The paper provides an analysis of the potential of fruit bearing perennials in cropped fields given the socioeconomic conditions of upland farmers. A stratified sampling technique was used to select three hundred (300) farmers to be interviewed for the household survey. Farmers were classified based on the existing spatial arrangement of trees on their farms and elevation: parkland system, border planting, hedgerow system and block planting or taungya system. Information was gathered from both the annual cropping and perennial cropping farmers. The financial viability of establishing trees on farms is also evaluated. The farmers have a number of objectives for growing timber trees. Ninety six percent (96%) of the farmers plant trees to provide the wood materials for the construction of their houses and for future use of their family while 41 % plant trees to increase their income. Another 2% of the farmers prefer trees because they require minimal management. The other uses of trees include the prevention of soil erosion (37%), source of firewood (14%) and to mark farm boundaries (14%). The amount of benefits derived by farmers is substantially improved by the introduction of perennials into the farming system. The increase in area planted to perennials increases the income of farmers. The production of fruits has the potential to increase farmers income as well as their access to food given the suitable biophysical conditions for growing banana and the minimal price fluctuation for the crop. Smallholder farmers, specifically, can incorporate banana in their farms with minimal production and market risk. On the average, farmers increase their income by 39% when they plant bananas in a block of 0.65 has of land compared to simply planting annual crops. Irrespective of the income that may be gained, the agroforestry system that will be adopted by farmers will depend a great deal also on the resources available to farmers. It is important to consider the considerable amount of capital required by the system. This will include the costs of planting materials, fertilizers and chemicals and labor. A hedgerow system costs more than a parkland system given the high costs of labor required for planting in steep areas. While there are very important benefits that can be derived from the adoption of the agroforestry system, it is important to consider the basic objectives of the farmers for growing the crops. Important among these considerations are the need of farmers to generate enough cash to meet

2 their household needs and provide food for the family. This is very important for packaging interventions for smallholder farmers to ensure their sustainability. Keywords: agroforestry, annual cropping, timber, banana (Musa sp.), corn (Zea mays) 1 Introduction In a country that is resource abundant, it is ironic to find that many Filipinos are still going to bed hungry. This means that many Filipinos do not have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs (Briones et.al, 2003 ). This is even true in Mindanao, which is considered to be the food basket of the Philippines with the capacity to produce more food than it can possibly consume. What is even more ironic is that most of the people who go hungry can be found in the rural areas, especially in the uplands where production of food crops is unstable. The reports indicate that productivity of slope lands have been declining at an alarming rate due to the increase in population and consequent degradation or erosion of the soil to meet the growing needs. Soil erosion is the loss of soil nutrients leading to infertility of soil, flood and land degradation. Reports indicate that the rate of soil erosion can range from mt/ha from bare plots on gradients of 27-29% to mt/ha on plots cultivated up and down (Escaño, et.al, 1998). Several conservation approaches and technologies have been developed to address the persisting problem of soil erosion. These include the sloping agricultural land technology (SALT), community-based forest management (CBFM), reforestation, and establishment of agroforestry systems (Jasaan-Claveria Cabulig SAFDZ Plan: , 2002). The approaches or technologies range from the simple conservation species like natural vegetative grasses to the complex combination of trees and crops. Among the initial timber tree species that have been introduced are the fast growing ones like Gmelina arborea (gmelina), Eucalyptus deglupta (bagras) and Acacia mangium and the traditional species like Leucaena leucocephala. Despite the promise of increased crop productivity and additional income from the adoption of these soilconserving technologies using these timber species, farmers have been reluctant to adopt them. The level of production has remained at the subsistence level. Why that is so is quite important to consider. According to Douglas (1989), the viability of a particular soil conservation practice for use by smallholder farmers is far more complex than simply will it reduce soil loss to acceptable levels The recommended practice has to be evaluated, not just in terms of its technical performance under environmental conditions typical of the target farmers, but also in terms of its conformity to their goals and socio-economic circumstances It is necessary to remember that smallholder farmers are rational and purposive in their behavior and the existing land use practices, within their farming systems, are being undertaken to satisfy, to the best of their ability, the following priority goals: (1) to meet the social and cultural obligation to the community, (2) to provide the farm family with a reliable supply of preferred foods, (3) to obtain a supply of cash to meet additional basic needs that cannot be produced on the farm, (4) to generate extra cash resources. This paper presents the case for introducing fruit bearing perennials in the upland farms of Claveria, Misamis Oriental. According to Escaño, et.al, (1998), high-value foodcrops such as fruit trees have become an integral feature of upland sustainable faming. As farmers are more inclined to adopt technologies, which give immediate benefits and ensure the security of food and income for the household, preference of tree species should also be based in their intrinsic likelihood of sustainability. Harvesting of timber is essentially less likely to be sustainable than harvesting fruit trees (Newton, 2003). The paper provides an analysis of the potential of fruit bearing perennials in cropped fields given the socioeconomic conditions of upland farmers. 2

3 2 Methodology A stratified sampling technique was used to select three hundred (300) farmers to be interviewed for the household survey. Farmers were classified based on the existing spatial arrangement of trees on their farms and elevation. The existing spatial arrangement of trees was classified as the parkland system, border planting, hedgerow system and block planting or taungya system. Information was gathered from both the annual cropping farmers and perennial cropping farmers. The information gathered included their demographic and other socio-economic profile, farm biophysical resources, their motivation in adopting trees to their fields, perceptions of risks and other local ecological knowledge. Plot level data from corn and banana were also gathered to determine the effect of trees/perennials on cropped fields. Descriptive statistics like frequencies, percentages and means are used to establish trends. The financial viability of establishing trees on farms is also evaluated. 3 Results 3.1 Description of the study site Claveria is a land-locked agricultural municipality in the province of Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao. It is the biggest municipality in the province of Misamis Oriental with a total land area of about 82,500 hectares and is composed of 24 barangays (CCLUP, 2000). Out of the 24 barangays, 17 barangays are included in the study. 3.2 Sampling for the household interview The distribution of the 300 farmer-respondents for the household interview is presented in Fig. 1. Figure 1: Distribution of the respondents for the household survey 3.3 Adoption of agroforestry in Claveria There are four identified agroforestry systems adopted by farmers in Claveria based on spatial arrangements of trees. The border planting is one of the least dense systems. Farmers only plant trees on farm borders to mark boundaries. In parkland system, trees are scattered on the field. Farmers adopting these systems usually have limited spaces on their farms. Another is hedgerow planting of trees, which has evolved from natural vegetative strips (NVS) and is usually practiced on steep areas. Block planting however is a highly dense practice of adopting trees, mostly observed by farmers who have a relatively bigger space. Figure 2 shows the relative proportion of agroforestry systems adopted by the respondents per barangay in the study site. 3

4 Agroforestry Practices of Respondents per Barangay in Claveria Figure 2: Distribution of agroforestry practices in Claveria, Misamis Oriental 3.4 Dominant land use In the 1930s, 90% of the upland area of Claveria, Misamis Oriental was covered with tropical dipterocarp forest. The early settlers were an indigenous group called Lumads who practiced indigenous methods of farming. Starting 1946, they started practicing shifting cultivation, which aggravated by pressures from rapidly increasing population eventually led to the conversion of large areas into grasslands. In the 1960 s, because of the logging activities and encroachment of the forested areas by migrants from neighboring islands, only 40% of the original forest of Claveria remained. There was a rapid conversion of the forested areas into settlements and farmlands (SAFODS Annual Report, 2002). Within a span of five decades, the landscape rapidly changed from deeply forested areas to fragmented crop areas and settlements. Twenty seven percent (27%) of the area was converted and used for crop production and 43% to perennial crops. More than 33% of the area utilized for food crop production is found in steep slopes (Garrity and Agustin, 1995). Results of the survey indicate that 44% of the farmers are practicing agroforestry, a system of farming where woody and herbaceous perennials are planted in cropped fields (Pattanayak, et.al, 1998). Among those who practice agroforestry, twenty three (23%) percent devote a major portion of their farms to trees, while 21% have fields dominated by annual crops but have significant number of trees. These farms are considered as in-transition. On the other hand, 56% of the farmers are annual croppers with farms that are dominated by annual crops like corn, rice, tomato and other vegetables. 3.5 Tree and perennial crop production Gmelina and other timber trees are commonly found in the area because they were introduced as a possible technology for soil conservation. The planting of banana on the other hand started even before the conservation technologies were established. Figure 3 shows the dominant trees and crops located in the area. 4

5 Figure 3: Toposequence of barangays in Claveria by elevation. Adapted from Brown, 2003 The most common crops and trees planted by elevation and slope in Claveria are shown in Table 1. Banana and corn are grown widely at all elevations. About 47% of the flat to sloping areas and 41% of the moderately steep lands are planted to banana. Corn is most commonly planted in flat to moderately steep areas. On the other hand, Gmelina is predominant in lower Claveria, especially in the flat to sloping land. In upper Claveria because of the lower temperature, the most predominant crops are coffee and tomato. Table 1: Observation frequency of crops and trees in relation to elevation and slope 5

6 In lower Claveria over various slopes, fruit bearing perennials are more dominant than timber trees. These include banana, coffee, coconut, marang, jackfruit, lanzones, rambutan and durian while the timber trees most commonly incorporated in farms are gmelina, mahogany, bagras and bamboo. Gmelina and mahogany are common in lower Claveria while bagras and bamboo are more common in upper Claveria Farmers preferences for fruit-bearing based system over timber-based system The farmers have a number of objectives for growing timber trees (Table 2). Ninety six percent (96%) of the farmers plant trees to provide the wood materials for the construction of their houses and for future use of their family while 41 % plant them to increase their income. Another 2% prefer them because they require minimal management. The other uses include the prevention of soil erosion (37%), source of firewood (14%) and to mark farm boundaries (14%). Table 2: Long-term objectives of farmers in planting trees Tree species Primary reasons Home Consumption (as log and food) (%) Income (%) Timber Fruit Soil Conservation (%) Food and economic security are major considerations of farmers in planting fruit bearing perennials. About 59% have indicated that they planted fruit bearing perennials to ensure that food is available for the household. Sixty one percent (61%) mentioned that fruit bearing perennials would add income to the family and can be used to finance the children s education and other basic needs. Nine percent (9%) reported that it would conserve the soil while thirty one percent (31%) consider them as an investment that can be passed on to their children. Other farmers regard fruit bearing perennials as a sustainable source of food and income. During the productive years of the fruit tree, they provide food and when they are no longer productive, they provide the timber. The majority of farmers plant timber trees to meet their house construction needs and fruit bearing perennials to add to their income. Only 41% of the farmers consider planting trees for the sale of the timber. This is not surprising given the relatively low prices of timber. Among the farmers planting fruit bearing perennials, 29% intend to plant more fruit trees to replace and add to the existing ones. Only 11% of the farmers would like to plant more timber trees while the rest are contented with the number of trees they have presently. These figures indicate an increasing preference for the planting of fruit-bearing perennials than timber trees Production and Marketing of fruit bearing perennials Banana is the most abundant fruit in the area and can be found in all elevation classes and agroforestry systems. It is adaptable to poor soil condition and its gestation period is short. The time between planting a banana and harvesting goes from 9 to 12 months (M@rket Information, 2003), thus farmers can take advantage of the abundant harvest. Farmers have a general preference for planting banana because they consider them as their survival crop given that they can be harvested at least twice a month. They provide a continual source of food for the family even during the hungry-period given that they can produce fruit all year-round (Inibap, 2001). Thus, the practice is that farmers would only sell the portion of the produce, which the family cannot consume. 6

7 This general preference for bananas is reflected by the fact that most farms in the Philippines and even worldwide plants them. It is the leading fruit in terms of area, volume and value of production. About 328,000 hectares in the Philippines are planted to banana with a production of 3.4 MT valued at billion pesos (PCARRD Commodity Status, 1999). In Northern Mindanao where Claveria is located, area devoted to banana is 17,000 hectares and production is valued at 175MT (Philippine Fruit Network, 2003). Price is relatively stable and fluctuates only occasionally. The marketing of fruits is also similar to that of other crops. Because areas devoted for fruit trees are limited and the volume relatively small, most of the farmers directly sell their fruits to the market. Sometimes, local traders in the barangay buy from the farms and sell them to the Poblacion, the center of commerce in Claveria. Aside from banana, the other locally produced fruits sold include marang, durian, lanzones, jackfruit and mango. A major concern of farmers however is the perishability of their fruits. Given the short storage life of fruits, farmers are forced to sell them as soon as possible even at lower prices. However, farmers still prefer fruits over timber despite the short storage life and low price that they can command because the cash inflow is regular unlike timber, which can only be converted into cash after a number of years Economic returns from fruit bearing perennials There are three important advantages of incorporating banana into a cornfield. One is that banana can be harvested all-year round. Another advantage is that fruits can contribute significantly in meeting household food needs. A third advantage is that it can be a ready source of cash. Table 3 shows the annual benefits from incorporating banana into the cornfield under different agroforestry systems given a hectare of land. The benefits are computed based on the effective area planted to banana and corn. The net return to a hectare of land when planted to both corn and perennial fruits varies with the kind of agroforestry system adopted. As a whole however, the net returns for the agroforestry system with corn and banana planted is greater than the returns from the annual cropping of corn. The amount of benefits derived by farmers is substantially affected by the introduction of perennials into the farming system. The increase in area planted to perennials increases the income of farmers. On the average, farmers increase their income by 39% when they plant bananas in a block of 0.65 has of land compared to simply planting annual crops. Farmers who plant banana on borders to mark farm boundaries increase their income by 9.86%. When bananas are introduced into the agroforestry system as hedgerows with an effective area of 0.23 has., the increase in income is 18.63%; and as a parkland with effective area of 0.16 has., the increase in income is 13.74%. Irrespective of the income that may be gained, the agroforestry system that will be adopted by farmers will depend a great deal also on the resources available to farmers. For instance, despite the fact that block planting may offer the greatest economic returns, it will be important also to consider the considerable amount of capital required by the system. This will include the costs of planting materials, fertilizers and chemicals and labor. A hedgerow system costs more than a parkland system given the high costs of labor required for planting in steep areas. Thus, it will be more feasible for smallholder farmers to start with border planting where input requirements are low and eventually adopt block planting. 7

8 Table 3: Net income from corn and banana under different agroforestry system, Claveria, 2003 Agroforetry System Effective area of corn (ha) Income from corn (PhP) Effective area of banana (ha) Income from banana (PhP) Combined income of corn and banana (PhP) Increase in income from the integration of banana crop (%) Block , , , Border , , , Hedgerow , , , Parkland , , , Summary and Conclusion In the past decades, there have been significant changes in the landscape of Claveria. The once forested areas were transformed into croplands and settlements. This transformation however led to the degradation of the land and the decline in crop productivity. Thus, several conservation technologies were introduced in the area to address the problem. However, despite the increase in areas devoted to crop production and the introduction of several conservation technologies, the production of food crops like corn was too low to meet the requirements of the family. Farmers remained at subsistence level. The adoption of the agroforestry system seemed to be the answer. In the initial years of its introduction, farmers saw the possible benefits from conservation by adopting this type of farming system. They saw the economic potential of incorporating timber species into their cropped fields. However, while there was project support for the production aspect of the system, there was no program to ensure that farmers would get good prices for their timber. In the absence of such a marketing program, farmers could not command good prices for their timber. In addition, timber could not provide them with continuous cash flow since they have to wait for a number of years before they can realize its benefit. To address this problem, farmers have started incorporating fruit bearing perennials into the cropping system. The production of fruits has the potential to increase farmers income as well as their access to food given the suitable biophysical conditions for growing banana and the minimal price fluctuation for the crop. Smallholder farmers, specifically, can incorporate banana in their farms with minimal production and market risk. While there are very important benefits that can be derived from the adoption of the agroforestry system, it is important to consider the basic objectives of the farmers for growing the crops. Important among these considerations are the need of farmers to generate enough cash to meet their household needs and provide food for the family. This is very important for packaging interventions for smallholder farmers to ensure their sustainability. References Briones, A. J. Cajinat and C. Ramos Food Security Perspectives: Focus on Asia and the Philippines. http//: Brown, David Considering the role of landscape, farming systems and the farmer in th adoption of trees in Claveria, Misamis Oriental Province, Philippines. MS Thesis. Imperial College, University of London. Claveria Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CCLUP) Municipal Development Council, Claveria Misamis Oriental, Philippines. 8

9 Douglas, Malcolm Integrating Conservation into the Farming System: Land Use Planning for Smallholder Farmers Concepts and Procedures. The Food Production and Rural Development Division Commonwealth Secretariat, London. Escaño C.R. and S.P. Tababa Fruit Production and Management of Slopelads in the Philippines. Food and Fertilizer Technology Center. Garrity, D.P. and P.C. Agustin Historical land use evolution in a tropical acid upland ecosystem. Agriculture, ecosystems and environment. 53: INIBAP Banana-food and wealth. International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain. Parc Scietifique Agropolis Montpellier Cedex 5, France. M@rket Inform@tion in the Commodities Area banana.htm Newton, A.C Sustainable use and conservation of tree species. Institute of Ecology and Resource Management. University of Edinburgh. Pattanayak, S. and D.E.Mercer Valuing soil conservation benefits of agroforestry: contour hedgerows in the Easter Visayas, Philippines. Agricultural Eonomics. 18 (1998): PCARRD Commodity Status Philippine Fruit Network http//: Smallholder Agroforestry Options for Degraded Soils (SAFODS) 2002 Annual Report. EcoInformatics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, UPLB, College, Laguna, Philippines. The Jasaan-Claveria Cabulig SAFDZ Plan:( ) Localized Planning and Budgeting for Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones: A Paradigm for Attaining Food Security. October Jasaan and Claveria, Misamis Oriental. 9