Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific region - United Nations in ...

markets, and economic viability of alternative cropping schemes (Adriano and Cabezon,1989).Farmers have shifted to rice-based farming systems due to constraints like inadequatewater, land suitability and climatic conditions (Obcemea et al., 1996). Furthermore, theyattributed adoption of this scheme to income stability, increasing demand for non-rice crops,and high profitability per unit area.Francisco (1995) reported that three factors determine the farmer’s choice of ricecropping system. These are farmers’ technical knowledge in growing the crop, adaptabilityof the crop to the local conditions, and amount of resources available to finance theproduction expenses. Aside from these are market forces that affect prices of both the outputand inputs and level of government support extended to the cultivation of both major andother crops.3.1 Diversification in Rice LandsDiversification in rice lands started in the 1970’s when researchers began developingtechnologies and strategies for optimizing farm productivity (Galvez, 1990). According toAdriano and Cabezon (1989), diversification of specific non-rice crops in irrigated landsbegan only during the mid-1980s. This government policy was adopted to raise farmincomes and intensify employment opportunities in the rural areas.The International Rice Research Institute (based in the Philippines) initiated ricebasedcropping studies in the mid-1970’s (Miranda and Panabokke, 1989). This led to theintroduction of crops other than rice during the dry season following the wet season ricecrop.In the rainfed and upland areas of the Philippines, there are 25 rice-based patternswith rice as the main crop followed by another crop (Adriano, 1989). According to theNational Agricultural Research and Extension Agenda (BAR, 1989), cropping patterns differby geographical location (Table 7).A wide range of crops can be grown after rice depending on rainfall and availabilityof water, elevation and land features of the environment. Corn, tobacco, garlic, and legumesare the major crops after rice in these four regions. In 1991-1995, rainfed lowland rice-basedcropping systems, namely, rice-corn, rice-garlic, rice-mungbean, rice-sweet pepper, and ricetomatowere evaluated in Ilocos Norte as part of the Rainfed Lowland Rice ResearchConsortium implemented by Mariano Marcos State University, the Philippine Rice ResearchInstitute (PhilRice) and IRRI (Obcemea et al., 1996; Yokohama et al., 1998).In a nationwide survey done by PhilRice in the last two years (unpublished), sixmajor cropping patters, namely, rice-rice, rice-vegetables, rice-fish, rice-corn, rice-legumes,and others, were studied. The percentage of each cropping pattern was determined asidefrom information such as area devoted to rice farming, number of rice farmers, averagelandholding, tenurial status, seed production area, and local problems in rice production.3.2 Diversification in Coconut Lands98