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Archives (2003) : Corn

Total farm productivity by integrating fruit bearing crops by Rita T. dela Cruz

January-March 2003 Volume 5 No. 1

A field study conducted by the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Unit 9 (DA-RFU) developed two alternative farming systems that are both economically viable and environment-friendly for sustainable upland farming. The team that tried this systems in the field was headed by RFU researchers, Ruben Baltonado and Homer Mendoza.

Alternative farming system is an integrated grain cash farming system that aims to increase the net returns of farmers without reducing their main produce. The system is concerned more on developing the totality of the farm rather than extending land holdings for better productivity. Specifically, this type of farming entails maximizing farm spaces by integrating diversified/multiple crops in-between the main crops of the farmers. In this case, the researchers are introducing fruit bearing crops (FBCs) to diversify with corn, which is the main crop of the farmers.

Limited space is not always equated with limited productivity. Farmers, particularly those smallholders of land, could still produce given a suitable farming system is well adopted. Total farm productivity can be achieved by maximizing every space of the farmer's holdings.

To study the effects of alternative farming, researchers introduced the idea to corn-based farmers who own hectares of land. Majority of the farm holders in Zamboanga del Sur rely mainly on upland rice and corn as their important source of income and food. But since the production of farmers is just enough for their food and source of livelihood, operation for large-scale farming is hard to achieve. Added to this, production continues to decline because of farming malpractice and soil erosion.

Specifically, the study evaluated the potential of incorporating FBCs in corn-based areas. Likewise, the study sought to maximize the use of farm resources given the limited unit of land and to encourage farmers to manage the totality of their farms effectively and efficiently.

The project was designed for long-term observation and was started during the first cropping season of 1995 to 2002. The farm used for this study was a three-hectare experimental field located in Zamboanga del Sur. To determine the potentials of alternative farming, three cropping patterns were compared.

The first pattern was the mono- cropping system consisting mainly an outlay of corn-corn. This is the most usual and the most dominant cropping pattern used by farmers in Zamboanga del Sur and is referred to as the farmers practice. This served as the control for the field study.

The second pattern employed consisted of corn + fruit bearing crops (FBC)-corn + FBC. The FBC included banana and mango. This pattern is referred to as alternative farming#1, FBC were planted in between the corn.

The third pattern is diversified/multiple crops + FBC, thus referred to as alternative farming#2. Crops for the multiple cropping included corn, rice, mungbean and peanut.

The FBC were interplanted along the contour lines while the diverse/multiple crops were planted along the bay or space in between the contour lines.

Alternative Farming #1
Since there was a slight cutback in the land area allotted for corn, its yield was reduced compared to the yield under the mono- cropping system. Instead of planting corn, the space was used to plant fruit bearing crops. But the seven-year field data showed that the yield loss in corn was well compensated by the harvest of banana and mango. To date, the farm was able to obtain four times much higher net returns compared to the mono cropping system. The highest net return of P59,413 per hectare of land was obtained using this type of alternative farming.

Alternative Farming #2
This cropping pattern resulted to a decrease yield for corn. Nevertheless, the reduced yield was well compensated by the harvest of the diverse crops i.e., rice, legumes and fruits. The highest net return was computed at about P79, 200 per hectare of land. Moreover, the income will increase once the mango crops bear fruits.

Aside from the high net returns, employing these two alternatives farming also help the environment since it was able to reduce the slope area to 4%. Planting the contour lines with crops enabled the farm to have terraces and at the same time get rid of the watercourses or waterway along the field.

(This study won the AFMA R&D Paper Award under the Crop Science-Downstream Category. For more information please contact Ruben Baltonado and Homer Mendoza of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Unit 9, General V. Alvarez St., Zamboanga City or call them at telephone number (062) 991-2594 or fax at (062) 992-1485)

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