On-farm research on mixed cropping with rice in Arakan Valley [Cotabato, Philippines]
2004
Hondrade, R.F.,University of Southern Mindanao, Kabacan, Cotabato (Philippines) | Hondrade, E. | Elorde, S. | Requita, E. | Ona, I. | Paris, T. | Javier, E. | Vera Cruz, C.M.
The major challenge in Arakan Valley, Cotabato [Philippines] is to increase the productivity of limited agricultural areas that are mostly inaccessible and to provide farmers with a level of income that could meet their household needs. There is a need for technologies that are practical and sustainable for resource-poor farmers in Arakan Valley. Previous studies showed the crop diversity using mixtures of corn, peanut and mungbean with upland rice resulted in increased yield and increased income from mixtures of these crops in comparison to monocrop. The highest net income was obtained from upland rice plus peanut. Based on these results, studies were undertaken to develop crop diversification technologies that can be adopted by farmers to increase their yield and income, and help them maximize the use of their farms. Several crop combinations that included rice plus soybean, rice plus peanut, rice plus mungbean, rice plus corn and rice alone (Dinorado and NSIC Rc9 only) were evaluated on-farm in five farmer-managed fields and one researcher-managed experiment (as control) at the USM farm site in Arakan Valley during March-September 2003. Fertilizers at the rate of 80-40-0 (NPK) per hectare were applied in all fields. Before harvest, the crop combinations preferred by farmers were determined through questionnaires. Among the crop combinations evaluated, farmers mostly preferred combination of mungbean and corn with rice. However, cost-benefit ratio indicated that the maximum benefit could be obtained from rice and peanut combination and rice alone. Rice yield was highest in plots with rice alone. Majority of the farmers agreed to plant rice together with other crops.
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