Environmental performance of livestock integration in an upland farming community in Batangas, Philippines

Environmental performance of livestock integration in an upland farming community in Dela Paz Pulot Itaas was assessed in terms of its management, operational performance and environmental condition. Formal and informal interviews of farmer respondents, field measurements and computer simulation were used and data were analyzed at the household- and community- levels. The small-scale crop-livestock systems have poor environmental performance owing to poor management and operational performance and resulted to poor environmental condition. The poor management performance was attributed to the lack and weak implementation of existing environmental policies and programs and poor farm management practices despite farmers' high environmental awareness. Operational requirement for feed materials and water was high, which resulted in excessive extraction of fodder from the forests and grasslands, heavy importation of commercial feeds and utilization of springs for livestock use. Generation of livestock manure and wastewater has likewise increased but not recycled in the farm lots. Poor environmental condition was attributed to: a) the excessive extraction of fodder, which resulted in forest depletion, b) increase in generation of livestock manure and wastewater, which caused river pollution and health problems, c) increase in asthma cases in the community, which was attributed to malodor of livestock wastes, d) utilization of springs for livestock use, which reduced the stream flow, reduction in water level of the river and consequently it's drying up and e) drying up of the river during dry season resulted to the disappearance of its aquatic organisms. The extent of crop-livestock integration, which were more of a mixed but less integrated system, was influenced by households' and farm attributes, as well as institutional and policy factors. Results of computer simulations indicated that the appropriate livestock mix is a combination of swine and cattle. This gave high income but minimized natural resource depletion and pollution loading. Environmental management strategies identified to improve environmental performance of small-scale crop-livestock integration include use of livestock manures as fertilizer for crops or as input to produce biogas for domestic use and increase farmers' awareness on the economic implications and agro-ecological interactions between crop-livestock systems and the upland environment.