9.5.8 Philippines 9.5.8.

1 Systems for integrating intercrops, pastures and livestock into coconut land in Zamboanga del Sur, Western Mindinao, Philippines (Dalton, 1982) Background information: A typical owner-operator/caretaker in Zamboanga del Sur has about 4 ha of land. Production of adequate pastures for successfully maintaining a farmer's draft ca rabao is critical to the success of the annual intercrop component of any improv ed farming system for coconut lands, as the extent of the annual crop component is already constrained by the shortage of draft power. The cheapest and easiest procured legumes are Centro and Kudzu which can be hand harvested from existing areas of cover crop already established under smallholder plots of cocoa and rubber and from roadside plantings. Signal grass (B. decumbe ns) is a robust perennial with reasonable drought tolerance that can withstand h eavy grazing and is very productive under good conditions. Rotational grazing systems with livestock tethered are preferred, care must be t aken to ensure survival of the legumes as they tend to be choked out by the domi nant Signal grass. Due to the poor returns currently possible from copra, coconut farmers are very interested in all forms of intercropping with annual and perennial crops and pas tures. To be widely accepted and applicable, intercropping systems should be diversifie d (offer reduced risk, improved cash flow distribution and spread labour demand) and appropriate (low cost, low input, use locally available materials and requi re minimum changes to current practices). The suggested system follows a three years pasture/one year annual crop rotation a nd introduces a new area of cropping each year. By growing just two annual crops ( cereal/grain legume) before planting the area to leguminous pasture, consistentl y good yields can be expected even with a minimum of inputs. This is particularl y true if the new area, cultivated annually, has been growing a heavy legume dom inant pasture for the preceding two to three years. After three years of legumin ous pasture establishment (by undersowing pasture legume seeds into the grain le gume component of the annual crop rotation) a farm would comprise 3 ha of legume -dominant pasture with a total carrying capacity of at least four adult cattle/c arabao (or equivalent i.e. 24 head of adult goats), and 1 ha of upland rice yiel ding 3 tonnes followed by 1 ha of mungo-soybeans and/or peanuts yielding 600 kg. If the farmer owns one draft carabao (which produces no direct cash income but grazes a proportion of the pasture area) the net cash returns from grazing 3 adu lt cattle equivalents should be about 1,500 year-1 (assuming about 50 kg of liv eweight gain per adult cattle equivalent year-1), with expected cash returns fro m cropping of about 3,000 year-1. The established intercropping system would therefore produce a steady net cash r eturn of the order of 4,000 5,000 year-1 with a minimum outflow of cash of about 1,500 for seeds, minimum fertilizer and sprays for the two annual crops. This i s about equivalent to the gross cash receipts obtainable from producing copra on 4 ha of coconut, of which the caretaker would receive only one third share or 1,300 1,700 year-1. Dalton (1982) concluded that in general the average owner-oper ator/caretaker could increase his annual on-farm net cash return by at least 3, 000 year-1 or 200 percent more than the likely returns from copra sales ( 1,500 year-1). With a net cash income of 5,000 his income would be double that of one of the farmers producing only copra (as described in Section 9.3).

9.5.8.2 Bakaunlaran - a Philippine model for smallholder dairy development (Esca no and Escudero, 1983; Rajab and Ludebwe, 1981) Carnation Philippines Inc. started an integrated dairy-beef-crop production syst em at Sariaya, Quezon in 1977. The general objective was to develop the potentia l of backyard dairy farming and improve the plight of rural farmers in the cocon ut producing areas. Originating from baka (cattle) and kaunlaran (progress) the Baka unlaran or progressive cattle farming project's goal was to increase family inco me by utilizing idle land between coconut trees, employing excess family labour and agricultural by-products and residues, to achieve greater productivity. The project introduced the practice of upgrading native cattle through artificia l insemination using frozen Holstein and Jersey semen. Grass farming and plantin g of cash crops, under coconut trees, for improved fodder needs and as an additi onal source of income for farmers were begun. Planted forages included ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala), Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), Centrosema (Centrosema pubescens) and Stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis), fodders suited to backyard live stock raising systems. By the mid 1980s more than 400 farmer-cooperators had joined the project. To joi n, a farmer must have at least one breedable cow. The cooperators enjoy free tec hnical assistance, free planting materials and free artificial insemination serv ices. Fodder raising demonstration plots have been established with farmers and schoolteachers receiving training, with a large number of F1's having now been p roduced. Cattle are fed on a cut-and-carry basis and large quantities of rice st raw are available in addition to the various green feeds. Average milk productio n per F1 per day on a once-a-day milking is reported to be 2.3 kg. At a farm gat e price of 3.00 (1 US$ = 10 in 1983) per kg of milk, the farmer would have ext ra income totalling 1587 from milk alone per lactation of 230 days. If the pric e of yearling cattle at 1600 is added, the extra income rises to 3187. The ave rage income of a coconut tenant-farmer in the area, with one hectare of bearing coconut trees is less than 1000 per year with most tenants having holdings of l ess than 2 hectares. With improved pastures a farmer could easily handle 2 milki ng F1's ha-1 of coconuts thus increasing his income. 9.5.8.3 Backyard Cattle Farming in Batangas (Vergara, 1976) and the Bakahang Bar angay Cattle Fattening Scheme (Anon. 1981b) Backyard livestock production in the Philippines is a system of beef production which blends well with the socio-economic setting in the rural areas. Most cattl e raised are considered as important liquid assets which provide badly needed ca sh to farm families as well as additional gainful employment. Non-marketable far m wastes produced in the form of rice straw, corn stover, sugar-cane tops and ot her farm residues are utilized as important feed components for livestock. Thus the system requires only minimal cash expenses for feed and represents an import ant way of increasing the net cash farm income of the farm family. In the case study described by Vergara (see Table 230) cost and return analysis of 73 backyard farms showed that total cost required to produce 2 heads of cattl e per farm was 2,573 with both cash ( 1,582) and non-cash ( 991) costs. Total ca sh receipts were 2,734 with return above cash costs per farm being 576. In ter ms of net gains the farmers obtained a meagre net profit of 161 per family, how ever, family labour accounted for about 36 percent of the costs and considering that the labour had no opportunity costs elsewhere, then backyard cattle farming provided gainful employment for small farm families and helped to stabilize far m income. Similar to the Bakaunlaran scheme also launched in 1977 was the Bakahang Barangay scheme or backyard cattle fattening within a supervised credit programme. This w as designed to support small cattle raisers who represent 80 percent of cattle h olders in the Philippines (Anon., 1981b). The program sought to transform every farm household into a backyard cattle feedlot and small cow-calf operator, thus

integrating crops, livestock, fish and organic recycling into the farming system . As of June 1981, the program had assisted 117,991 project borrowers, financing a total of 247,770 animals with a total loan of 447,607,000 (1 US$ = 7.30 in 1981). 9.5.9 Seychelles - Pilot family farms (Preston, 1979a) Early work using banana forage as a major energy source for cattle led to the es tablishment in 1979, with FAO/TCP and Government funds, of two pilot family farm s of 5 acres (2.02 ha) each in the Seychelles. The concept is that intensive pro duction on small farms is favoured by combining the production of crops for huma n consumption with animal production based on the by-products. Integration of ca ttle with cropping permits recycling of the effluent with the opportunity to sup ply the fertilizer and organic matter needs of the crops. At the same time the s ystem enables the production of energy (methane) for domestic use (light and coo king). Of the 5 acres (2.02 ha), 1 acre (0.4 ha) is allocated for the house and for the production of vegetable crops for family consumption. Of the remaining 4 acres (1.62 ha), 1.3 acres (0.53 ha) is used for Leucaena production and 2.7 acres (1. 09 ha) for combined production of bananas and sweet potatoes. Bananas are plante d at 2 3 m spacing permitting the sweet potato to develop as a ground cover over the whole area. The sweet potato forage is harvested rotationally at intervals of about 6 weeks; when the banana fruit is ready for sale the pseudostem and lea ves are used for forage. The cattle unit comprised 5 cows with 4 calves between birth and one year of age and 4 steers/heifers between one and two years, saleab le at two years of age. For details of estimated feed requirements and farm prod uction see Table 231, while details of expected cash flows are shown in Table 23 2. Unfortunately, the project suffered from poor management and data recording w hich resulted in the non-achievement of the set objectives (Adelaide, 1983). The basic concept should perhaps be tried elsewhere. Table 230. - Costs and returns analysis of 73 backyard cattle farmers in Batanga s (after Vergara, 1976) Item Amount involved ()1 Percent Total (%) RECEIPT Sales of cattle 2,734 COSTS Cash costs Production costs Stock purchase 1,350 (85) Interest on loan 162 (10) Sub-total 1,512 Marketing costs Transport 48 Ownership fee 2 Transfer fee 2 Commission fee

100

13 Other costs 5 Sub-total 70 (5) Total cash costs 1,582(100) 61 Non-cash costs Operator labour 576 Family labour 355 Interest or operating capital 20 Depreciation 40 Total non-cash costs 991 39 Total cost 2,573 100 Returns above cash cost 1,152 Net gain 161 Returns per pesos of total cash cost 1 1 US$ = 7.40 9.5.10 Sri Lanka 9.5.10.1 Fish-pig-duck-cattle integrated system (Jayawardana, 1988) In low-lying marshy lands, fish ponds can be started between the rows of palms, once the correct spacing is calculated (as is done in parts of Indonesia). When ducks and pigs are integrated with the fish pond, their excreta is fed to the fi sh, and the silt is collected from the pond once a year to manure the home garde n (and paddy fields). When a biogas digester is incorporated into this system, f uel will be available for cooking and lighting, liquid effluent can be used to m anure the vegetable garden and the solid sludge can be processed for animal feed ing. It can replace 50 percent of the duck feed and 10 percent of the cattle fee d if there is sufficient and suitable land for the latter to be included in the system. Table 231. - Estimated feed requirements and feed production on 5 acre family un its (Preston, 1979a) Forage kg day-1 No. LW Dry Green CSM Cows 5 400 10 Calves 4 120 3 Steers/Heifers 4 300 7.5 Total 92 705 Total t year-1 33.6 Banana kg day-1 Sweet potato kg day-1 1 Leucaena kg day-1 ) Banana t year-1 Sweet potato t year-1 Leucaena t year-1 Minerals 0.5 0.08 0.2 0.02 0.5 5.3 0.72 1.9 27.6 307 37.7 26.7 112

0.76

0.06 0.26 Estimated 251 production t yr89 124 92 33 (plus 24 t fruit 108 39

Cost of supplements: Cotton seed meal (CSM) Rs 2.00 kg-1 = 3,860 Ru pees Minerals Rs 2.00 kg-1 = 524 Rupees Total = 4,384 Rupees 9.5.10.2 A fodder production system for the coconut smallholder (Lane, 1981) In Sri Lanka a cut-and-carry system combined with good management can obtain sig nificant yields (about 65 tonnes green weight ha-1 year-1) from fodder grasses s uch as NB 21 P. purpureum P. americanum hybrid and P. maximum cv. Hamil. This wo uld allow three times the number of stock to be kept, compared to grazed stoloni ferous pastures, and pasture management would be easier if animals were stall-fe d. For smallholders with 1 2 ha of tree crop, 16 squares of coconut, approximately e qual to 0.13 ha, planted to hybrid Napier, would be sufficient to keep one small dairy cow. Such fodder production under coconut can form the basis for integrat ing a dairy or cattle fattening enterprise into a multiple cropping farming syst em, allowing crop by-products such as banana residues, cassava tops and peelings and sweet potato vines to be fully utilized while producing valuable manure. Al so better nutrition for draught animals may result in more timely crop productio n. In this system where coconuts are harvested on 2-month rotation, fodder cutting follows the same cycle so that collection of nuts is not a problem. The fodder g rasses are planted to leave paths along the rows of trees while surplus forage p roduced during periods of peak growth can be ensiled. The potential of intensively managed elephant grass for beef production has been described by Moore and Bushman (1978). It has been suggested that, for backyard cattle raising, small but intensively managed Napier and Leucaena areas should be maintained as the basic source of green feed (Javier, 1974b). 9.5.10.3 The acre farm at the mid-country livestock development centre Mahaberiyat enna, Digana (Westenbrink, 1986) Established in 1983/4 for farmer training at the centre the acre farm had the foll owing objectives: provision of gainful self employment to the farmer and assuran ce of a satisfactory income as quickly as possible after commencement; provision of adequate food requirements for the farmer family; a flexible cropping patter n and sustainability; optimizing of crop-stock integration and demonstration of improved land use methods. Table 232. - Pilot family farm: estimated cashflow over 10 year period Year 1 10 Investment: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Cattle 10,000 Buildings Equipment 17,200 14,400 2,890

Crop establishment 44,490 Operating cost:

Salary 6,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 Fuel and Misc. 764 1,778 1,788 1,788 1,788 1,788 1,788 1,788 1,788 1,788

Supplements 1,062 2,934 4,394 4,394 4,394 4,394 4,394 4,394 4,394 7,830 16,710 18,170 18,170 18,170 18,170 18,170 18,170 18,170 18,170 Income 6,000 31,120 45,420 45,420 45,420 45,420 45,420 45,420 45,420 45,420 Cash flow (46,320) 14,580 27,250 27,250 27,250 27,250 27,250 27,250 27,250 27,250 Coconuts were planted at a wide spacing of 12 m 12 m and the land area was divid ed into three segments for banana with underplanted grass, vegetables and tree l egumes, and pepper, coffee and fruit trees underplanted with grass, respectively . The initial development cost included labour (Rs. 30,000), house (Rs. 10,000), cattle shed (Rs. 4,000), bio-gas plant (Rs. 3,000) and cattle (Rs. 7,000). The unit consisted of 2 dairy cows and 2 offspring, 30 coconut trees, 1 jak tree, 20 7 pepper vines, 64 coffee bushes, 12 fruit trees, 8 pawpaws, 187 banana clumps, tree legumes planted on 600 metres of alley and fence, 800 m2 of vegetables and 3,000 m2 of pasture. Records of all inputs and outputs have been maintained and actual gross margins for 1984 and 1985 are shown in Table 233 with the projected gross margins for 1986, 1987 and 1988. As well as providing an annual income of Rs. 12,000 in 1984 and Rs. 17,000 in 1985 the farm also provided vegetables and starch foods for home consumption, litre of milk per day from the dairy and fre e energy for cooking and lighting. From 1988 onwards it was expected that annual income would reach Rs. 20 25,000. However it was not possible to obtain any addit ional information. 4,394 Table 233. - The Income sources Dairy 5,000 Vegetables Banana 4,000 Pepper, coffee Total 12,000 acre farm : gross margins per year (Rs.) 1986 7,000 3,000 5,000 -1,000 21,000 1987 1988 7,000 3,000 2,000 4,000 -1,000 4,000 22,000

1984 1985 7,000 7,000 4,000 4,000 7,000 5,000 and coconuts 17,000 19,000

6,000

7,000

9.5.10.4 A model integrated system for coconut small holdings (Jayasundara and M arasinghe, 1989; Liyanage et al., 1989) Established in 1985 at Rathonalagara Estate, Madampe in the wet intermediate rai nfall zone (1,595.5 mm yr-1) under 45 year old tall coconut palms spaced at 8.4 8.4 m (137 palms ha-1 this model was designed to increase the coconut production and productivity of land by introducing a pasture/fodder/cattle system with the major consideration of reducing expenditure to the bare minimum and making the system ecologically sound and economically viable. Covering approximately 1 ha t he model included 6 paddocks with 24 coconut palms in each. Although for experim ental purposes 1 paddock was used as a control, the recommended paddock mixture was Leucaena leucocephala planted in double rows along the coconut avenue at a s pacing of 2.0 1.0 m with Gliricidia sepium and leucaena planted alternately (1.0 m apart) along the boundary fence and a pasture mixture of Brachiaria miliiform is and Pueraria phaseoloides. Coconuts were fertilized at the rate of 0.75 kg of muriate of potash and 0.18 kg of saphos phosphate per palm annually, with a mix ture of urea, saphos phosphate and muriate of potash in equal proportions (at th e rate of 25 kg ha-1 each) being applied to the grass legume mixture at the time of planting. One year after establishment 4 Jersey local cross bred heifers at six months of age were introduced and paddocks were grazed (animals being tether ed and moved each day) on a 30-day rotation. In addition to grazing the grass-le gume mixture (at the rate of around 35 kg of fresh matter head-1 day-1, the catt le were fed loppings of Gliricidia and Leucaena at 2 kg of fresh matter head-1 d ay-1 rising to 5 kg as cattle grew). During drought periods grazing depended on feed availability and urea treated straw (4 kg urea dissolved in 100 l of water and mixed with 100 kg of straw) was fed ad lib. supplemented with 750 1,000 g (dry weight) of Gliricidia/leucaena leaves. The amount of straw rose from an initial

4 kg head-1 day-1 to 10 kg. Drinking water and a commercial mineral mix were av ailable. For further information on the use of rice straw and supplements refer to section 6.6.7 in Chapter 6 and the paper by Pathirana and Mangalike (1992). Over a three-year period nut and copra yields were maintained, nutrient levels i n coconut leaves were unchanged, nutrients were returned through cow dung and ur ine, the pasture mixture produced over 20,000 kg ha-1 dry matter each year with additional forage prunings from the Gliricidia and Leucaena, and heifer liveweig hts increased from an initial 70 kg to 200 kg at the end of the first year, givi ng a mean weight gain of 306 g head-1 day-1. The cost of inorganic fertilizer pe r coconut palm was reduced from Rs 8.10 palm-1 yr-1 to Rs. 2.49 palm-1 yr-1 (a s aving of 69 percent in fertilizer cost) due to the nutrients returned in dung an d urine. Although data collection was continuing the model clearly demonstrated that it is technically and economically viable, leads to considerable savings on inorganic fertilizers and could play an important part in improving soil struct ure and soil fertility.