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Contents & Foreword, Characterizing And ... - IRRI books

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Economics of intensive rainfed lowlandrice-based cropping systemsin northwest Luzon, PhilippinesM.P. Lucas, S. Pandey, R.A. Villano, D.R. Culannay, and T.F. MarcosFarming in the rainfed lowlands of Ilocos Norte, Philippines, is highly intensive,diversified, and commercialized. The cropping system is predominantlyrice-based in the wet season and high-value cash crops are grown during thedry season. The profitability of cash crop production has encouraged farmersto use high levels of purchased inputs such as chemical fertilizers andpesticides. Concerns are being raised about the long-run sustainability ofsuch intensive systems. This chapter assesses the sustainability of suchsystems using a total factor productivity analysis.The trend in total factor productivity was positive (1992-95) initially butthen became negative (1996-97). However, the total factor productivity estimatesfor six years do not show any clear negative trend. Groundwater pollution,particularly with NO 3-N, has occurred as a result of the excessive use offertilizers on dry-season crops. If the effect of this negative externality werealso captured in the total factor productivity estimates, the decline for recentyears could have been sharper. Although fluctuations in total factor productivitywithin the short period analyzed may be attributed mainly to climaticfactors, technological interventions for improving input-use efficiency arenevertheless needed to reduce both the input cost and the contamination ofgroundwater.Farming in the rainfed lowlands of northwest Luzon, Philippines, is highly intensive,diversified, and commercialized. As in other rainfed environments, weather conditionsare erratic with interspersed dry spells. The cropping system is predominantlyrice-based in the wet season (WS) from May to October and high-value crops aregrown during the dry season (DS) from November to April. Garlic (Allium sativumL.), maize (Zea mays L.), mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek), sweet pepper (Capsicumannum L. var. annum), and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) are amongthe most common DS crops grown after rice (Fig. 1). Some farmers maximize landuseintensity by growing two or three cash crops. These crops depend on irrigationwater from tube wells.Economics of intensive rainfed lowland rice-based cropping systems . . . 391

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