Agrobiodiversity in Agroforestry – Harmonizing Agriculture and Biodiversity

Agrobiodiversity in Agroforestry – Harmonizing Agriculture and Biodiversity[1]
Virgilio T. Villancio[2] and Roselyn Paelmo[3]

BACKGROUND
T
he Philippines has 30 million hectares and a home for “about 13,500 plants species (5% of the world flora), 1,090 vertebrate species (45% are endemic to the country) and more than 23,000 invertebrates species were recorded in the Philippine forest (UNEP and DER, 1997). However, various unsustainable activities are threatening the high biodiversity of Philippine forests and numbers of species are in threat lists. Among the threats to Philippine biodiversity identified are the over-exploitation of our forest resources and habitat destruction through commercial logging, land use conversion, and development aggression ( such as mining, energy and infrastructure projects, big dams, etc.). As of 2002, Only about 800,000 hectares were reported to be under the natural forest and about 5 million hectares under residual forests. About 9 million hectares of forest lands are currently settled by as much as about 25 million people. There are extensive migrations of farmers from the lowland to the uplands in search for livelihood and land speculation purposes. Further intrusion to the natural forest has to be averted. There are residual forest remnants of commercial logging operations but these also has to be protected from poachers to allow natural regeneration. There are limited efforts to reforest and establish forest plantations in public and private lands but are not extensive enough to replace the rapid deforestation that took place.

Among agricultural areas, there are about three (3) million hectares under rice-based farming systems and another three (3) million hectares in the corn-based farming systems. The recent estimate of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) reported about four (4) million hectares under coconut-based farming systems. Farmers used to maintain a large number of crops varieties and animal breeds on-farm. Crops and animals were produced on-farm for food, feed, fiber, fuel, shelter, fertilizer and medicine. In trying to maximize productivity and profitability, agriculture specialized on few crops and animals. The changing consumption pattern also affected the agricultural systems form diversified to more specialized system. In the Philippines for example, rice has been the dominant specie in lowland agriculture while corn, coconut and sugar cane were planted in the upland areas. For rice, the diversity of cultivars being grown also diminished with the advent of the green revolution with the high yielding varieties which have common parental source dominating the lowland agriculture landscape. The genetic homogeneity of rice cultivars grown resulted to vulnerability to pests, diseases, drought, flooding and other stresses. The traditional diversified agriculture which primarily caters to the needs of farm households gave way to market oriented monoculture farming. This in a way accelerated genetic erosion and loss of biodiversity.

The prevalent poverty and social problems in the upland and its relationship to increasing biodiversity losses are also of equal importance. The pressure placed upon our biodiversity resources and other components of our natural resources by the expanding populations and economic development results to its degradation thus limiting its capability to provide livelihood not only for the people in the upland but the lowland areas as well. It is recognized that the sustainability of agriculture in the lowlands are heavily dependent on the management of the uplands, water being a major productivity determinant. In the same manner, the gradual influx of migrants to the uplands also threatened the remaining forest (only about 800,000 hectares remaining as of 2003). Forest residuals and regeneration are also being logged even with the existing logging ban. The deterioration of the watersheds reduced the water storage and flow potentials thus even in areas that are previously fully irrigated experienced drought during the dry season. Major irrigation dams have reduced storage life due to siltation caused by soil erosion from unprotected uplands. The recent calamities caused by floods and landslides are examples of disasters that may occur due to limited concerns given to the management of the Philippine uplands particularly those in the sloping lands.

The situation is not hopeless. We can do something to avert the situation. Stakeholders can work together and restore the uplands in two fronts: reforestation in the public lands and critical watersheds, and agroforestation in the buffer zones and private lands. Beside its employment, productivity and income implication, Agroforestry has an important role to play in the restoration of the watershed and biodiversity function of the uplands. Agroforestry will enhance capacity of the uplands to provide the basic amenities such as food, fiber, fuel, fodder, medicines and water for household, agriculture, industry and power generation. Floods, landslides and other associated hazards will be reduced if not abated. While the biodiversity of the natural forests can not be attained, the diverse floral and faunal composition as more species are being domesticated in agroforestry provides a venue where agriculture and biodiversity are harmonized.

AGROFORESTRY AND AGROBIODIVERSITY

Agroforestry is defined as “the science, art and practice that deals with the production, management and utilization of woody perennials in combination with other agricultural crops, animals, aquatic and/or other resources either zonally, mixed simultaneously or sequentially for the twin purpose of conservation and socio-economic productivity” (UAP, 1992). Agroforestry combines woody perennial crops and short duration agricultural crops grown simultaneously or sequentially in the farm. It is also referred to as a system of growing trees on farm. Agrobiodiversity is one important services promoted in agroforestry.
Agrobiodiversity had been defined and described in various ways. Agrobiodiversity is also known as agricultural biodiversity. Swaminathan, (1996) defined agrobiodiversity as the genetic variability in plants, animals and micro-organisms of economic value. CIP-UPWARD (2003) defined agrobiodiversity as “a part of biodiversity linked to agricultural production in a broad sense, including food production (e.g. crops, aquatic species, and livestock), livelihood sustenance (e.g. raw materials, medicinal plants, animals for transport) and habitat conservation of agroecosystem.”

Vernooy (2003) viewed agrobiodiversity as a broad concept that includes a variety of biological diversity components -- from agricultural ecosystems, to crop varieties, to genes in plant and animal species. It is generally regarded as biodiversity in an agricultural context and described as the “variety and variability amongst living organisms (of animals, plants, and microorganisms) that are important to food and agriculture and associated with cultivating crops and rearing animals and the ecological complexes of which they form a part.” Agrobiodiversity supports and protects human lives, it provides continued inputs for evolution; it increases the productive capacity of ecosystems. Improvement in agrobiodiversity improves the resilience of the system and its capacity to deal with change. This provides more options for communities to manage their land and resources. The opportunities for the creation and re-creation of knowledge and experimentation -- the very processes that are essential for agrobiodiversity conservation, evolution, and improvement -- are enhanced.

Agrobiodiversity is the result of the anthromorphic interaction between “humans, natural ecosystems and the species that they contain” thus include in it not just the product of environment and natural process but the social, cultural, political and economic influences as well. Adaptation, modifications or transformations within the agroecosystems happens as a result of the matching of new technologies and other interventions in the natural and agricultural systems through a series of adjustments being made on the technical, bio-physical, socio-economic, cultural and other variables at various levels – plot, farm, household, community, landscape.

There are several authors that consider agrobiodiversity as not just a subset of biodiversity but rather an extension of it. While it may be lacking of a lot of characteristics of natural biodiversity, “it can fulfill range of societal values that native biodiversity does not" (Angermeier 1994). “Agrobiodiversity includes all those species and the crop varieties, animal breeds and races, and microorganism strains derived from them, that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, both as human nutrition and as feed (including grazing) for domesticated and semi-domesticated animals, and the range of environments in which agriculture is practiced. It also includes habitats and species outside of farming systems that benefit agriculture and enhance ecosystem functions. “

The components of Agrobiodiversity can be considered at three main levels—those of ecological diversity, organismal diversity, and genetic diversity (Heywood 1995)- and covers a whole range of variables that are important in agriculture and forestry (Table 2). Agroecological diversity deals with the macro aspect of biodiversity from the species, plot, farm to landscape and ecosystems level. The analysis of the Philippine team to the adaptation of the lecture ASB Syllabus (Baguinon, 2004), which segregate the natural ecosystem (P) from agroecosystem (Q). The Philippine land area being constant (about 30,000 hectares) are divided into these broad category of land use. As the area under Q gradually increase then P will also decrease. Given the monocropping nature of Q, the loss of habitat would then results to gradual loss of natural biodiversity.

Agroforestry systems are practiced at various levels- plots, farm, and landscape. Agroforest gardens integrate leguminous trees and vegetables, fuel wood, fodder, and animals in the backyard and homestead. On farm, there are agroforestry systems that integrate at least five crops, three trees, and several animals. The Institute of Agroforestry documented about fifty cases of farmers successfully practicing agroforestry.


THREATS TO AGROBIODIVERSITY

The loss of agrobiodiversity in the lowland and upland agricultural systems were noted (UNEP and DENR, 1997) to be characterized by loss of variability in crops grown with the massive loss of traditional crops and cultivars, narrow biodiversity in the farmers filed and the lost of access to and control over seeds and germplasm. The massive loss in crop biodiversity is attributed to the monocropping and monovariety (HYVs) of agriculture particularly with the advent of the green revolution. Monocropping is basically promoted by the consumer- and export oriented agricultural systems which general favor the marketed commodities. The commodity oriented programs on rice, corn, sugar cane, coconut and selected high value crops are examples of this orientation.

In the 1980s, the introduction of hybrid seeds in corn and recently in rice resulted to increasing control of the big multinational private corporations to agrobiodiversity. The intellectual property rights are controlled by private research organizations which are also sponsored by these big corporations. The use of hybrid seeds are also keep the access to and control of germplasm and seeds resources away from the farm to private enterprises. This dependence are expanded to other production inputs as well.

The introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) was alleged to be contaminating biodiversity. The introduction of Bt corn in the Philippines was met with opposition among the civil society on that grounds as well us the uncertainty of its impact on human and the environment. Among the objections on the commercialization of Bt corn in the Philippines as follows:
1. There is a possibility of irreversible contamination of non-genetically engineered seeds and crops as a result of cross-pollination. Anti-Bt Corn advocates forward the possibility that cross-pollination’s between Bt Corn and native open pollinated varieties (OPV) will lead to contamination of the Bt toxin gene and this will be passed on to subsequent generations. This problem, however, can be avoided by planting Bt corn varieties 21-25 days before or after the native or non-Bt varieties to avoid tasselling at the same time thus no cross pollination will happen.
2. The Bt corn may affect human and animals. A NORWEGIAN scientist was reported to have conducted an independent research on the effects of transgenic crops in the Philippines and claimed to have detected increased levels of three antibodies from the blood sample of se­veral members of B’laan tribe living near a Bt corn farm in South Cotabato province. However, local health authorities also refute this claim as the cause could have been of pesticide rather than the pollen of Bt corn.
3. Corn borer in the Philippines can already be managed using various integrated pest management approaches such as the use of trichogramma, proper timing of planting, and detasselling thus there is no need for Bt corn to be promoted.
4. With widespread planting, the corn borer may easily develop resistance from Bt Corn. There were reports about the development of insect resistance particularly to chemical pesticides thus may also apply for Bt corn.
5. Farmers become dependent on the seed companies producing the seeds. Seeds are also promoted to work best with other input such as herbicide, which is also produced by the same seed producer. Thus with tight linkages of those inputs with each other to attain desired yield may develop dependence of farmers from the company.

Apart from these, the introduction of exotic species affected agrobiodiversity and the ability of the species to withstand local conditions. In the case of the Leucaena hybrid that was introduced of the Philippines in the 1980s which had been promoted in various agroforestry endeavor for soil conservation and amelioration as well as in integrating livestock to the farming systems. A leguminous tree with high protein content, the leaves are excellent feed ingredients for livestock and fertilizer materials in the uplands. The trees were planted all over the Philippines and dominated its landscape until such time that it was attacked by Phsylid in the late 1980s to the extent that it is almost wiped out. The Philippines have a wide experience in this regards with Golden apple snail, Thailand mudfish, tilapia, Swietennia macrophylla, Gmelina arborea, and many other dominant exotic floral and faunal species displacing local species.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

While there are threats to agrobiodiversity, there are also some trends favoring the promotion of agrobiodiversity in agroforestry in the Philippines as follows:
Moves towards sustainable agriculture. Attempts to develop sustainable agricultural production in such a way that its negative impacts on natural biodiversity are minimized. Integration of organic farming in agriculture does only favor the crops but the soil biodiversity as well.

Domestication. Cultivating a greater diversity of crops and the domestication of new species are recognized as a way of promoting agricultural sustainability. The need to survey and inventory those plant and animal resources that may be used in agricultural development is imperative as this will led to the domestication of several wild species and reduce the pressure from harvesting in the forest. The diversity of wild and semi-domesticated species play significant role in food and livelihood security of farm households and their potential for further development and wider use.

Bioregional perspective. Adoption of a broader perspective of agriculture as an element within a broader panorama of bioregional and landscape development. The concept of the sustainable development unit (SDU) and delineating biodiversity corridor provides a framework where agroforestry can provide the link and fill up the gaps.

Genetic resource conservation. With the very narrow diversity maintained in agriculture, there is a need to broaden the genetic basis of crops and animals. Efforts to conserve genetic resources both in situ and ex situ are being intensified.

Mobilizing stakeholders. There are various NGOs focusing on increasing and maintaining agrobiodiversity in farmer’s fields as well as strengthening farmer’s management system of plant genetic resources through community empowerment and actions. Indigenous people are also empowered to conserve and protect biodiversity. The importance of on-farm management of crop genetic diversity in the form of land races and the need to manage and enhance these are also recognized.

Importance of biodiversity in natural ecosystems. Recognition of the fact that natural and semi-natural ecosystems contain wild plant species, races, and populations that are of importance for food and agriculture, such as wild relatives of crops, are important sources of material for agroforestry, habitat restoration, and reforestation, and species that are wild harvested and contribute to farm household incomes.

Importance of traditional knowledge. Recognition of the importance of traditional knowledge about agricultural practices and individual species and the need to record and conserve this knowledge.

Reducing the impact of biotechnology and GM crops. Recognition of the need to assess the effects of biotechnology on agriculture, the need to review mechanisms by which GM crops could be monitored, and impacts on Intellectual property rights.

REFERENCES

CIP-UPWARD. 2003. Conservation and Sustainable use of Agricultural Biodiversity: A Sourcebook. International Potato Center-User’s Perspectives with Agricultural research and Development. Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines. 3 volumes.

DENR & UNEP (1997): Philippine biodiversity. An assessment and plan of action. Bookmark, Makati City, Philippines

Ignacio, J. Undated. Addressing the threats on the environment and on the people of Dingalan. Integrated Rural Development Foundation of the Philippines (IRDF)

Jarvis, D.I. et al. Agrobiodiversity as a Natural Resource for Sustainable Production in Agroecosystems: Examples from IPGRI's Global In situ Conservation On-Farm Programme.

Pelegrina , W.R.. Managing Local Agrobiodiversity Under Changing Philippine Market and Agricultural Production Systems: SeaRice Experiences, South East Asia Regional Institute for Community Education (SEARICE)

Ravanera, O. Undated. Farmers’ & Fisherfolk’s Actions To Protect the Environment & Achieve Food Security. Center for Alternative Rural Technology (CART

Reid, W. and K. Miller. 1989. keeping options alive: The scientific basis for conserving biodiversity. World resources Institute, Washington DC.

Swaminathan, M.S. (ed). 1996. Agrobiodiversity and Farmers' Rights, xvi, 303 p.,

Vernooy, R. 2003. In_Focus: SEEDS THAT GIVE Participatory plant breeding. IDRC

Villancio, V.T. and R. Paelmo. 2004. Agrobiodiversity in Agroforestry – Harmonizing Agriculture and Natural Resources Management in Southern Sierra Madre. Paper presented during the Sierra Madre Stakeholders’ Consultative Workshop, Las Brisas, Antipolo City, 2-3 September 2004

[1] Paper presented during a Workshop on “Harmonious co-existence of Agriculture and biodiversity, Tokyo, 20-22 October 2004.
[2] Chair, Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network; and Manager, UP Land Grant Management Office, UPLB, College, Laguna
[3] University Research Associate, Institute of Agroforestry, CFNR, UPLB, College, Laguna

ON EL NINO IMPACTS AND COPING STRATEGIES: ISABELA EXPERIENCE

ON EL NINO IMPACTS AND COPING STRATEGIES: ISABELA EXPERIENCE

Virgilio T. Villancio


The impact of El Nino on the productivity of rice and corn were clearly stated by the speaker. The trend in rice and corn production showed decline during the El Nino period compared to every previous year production. One thing that caught my attention is the ability of production to bounce back to its supposedly normal production period hence showing an upward trend in production despite the El Nino disturbances. This is primarily due to the increase in area harvested during normal years particularly during the January-June harvest. With this observation, I started looking at the possible inconsistencies between the reported occurrences of El Nino in the Province of Isabela (Table 3) and the comparison of palay production during the normal and El Nino years (Table 4). Year 1998 was one of the severely felt El Nino year which was not mentioned in Table 3 but table 4 did show a decline in production by as much as 36 percent compared to 1997 production. The same trend was shown in corn production. Of course the mixed trends in production could not solely be attributed to El Nino since the province is also frequently visited by typhoon which partially explains why there are lower productions during July-December in some years. With this, I agree that improving our databases, is necessary in designing and implementing strategies to cope up and lessen the impact of El Nino.
Yes, there are production decline in rice and corn production and these involved more than 100,000 farm households. I would like to know how they were affected by El Nino and how did it impact on there lives. I do not have personal experience on how rice farmers able to cope with El Nino and thereafter. My personal knowledge about one of our farmer in Laguna whose crop was completely damaged by typhoon can probably illustrate how it is. Production may be able to bounce back the next normal season but the farm households still have to bear the impact of the aftermath of the disaster. This farmer able to pay the losses he incurred as a result of the typhoon damage for almost four seasons. It is good that he still able to pay. He needed four good seasons to make up for a bad season. The same experience is true in the case of the coconut farmers, whose nut production were drastically reduced after a drought year and take at least two years before production recovers. With this, I would like to emphasize that if the farm households are the one who received the worst impact, then we have to understand how they are coping with it and then design with them strategies to be prepared and ready with El Nino.
The initiatives of the local governments at the provincial and municipal level are commendable. Every government instrumentalities are mobilized due to impending disaster as El Nino. I could also appreciate the limitation they have in meeting the problems associated with it such as the lack of funds, deficiency of databases, and short term and ad hoc nature of various interventions made.
Let us take a look at the trend in area harvested to rice, which showed a great decline from 1992 1993 until 1998 and then an increasing trend since 1999. I do not what happened in 1999, but I would like to believe that efforts were made to expand rice areas to where it is in 1992. I have to speculate that some irrigation systems should have been rehabilitated or that the shallow tube well, which were distributed after the El Nino in 1998 should have been in operation (Table 7). What I want to point out is that to mitigate the impact of El Nino, we do not have to look at it as a disaster but something that could be internalized into our planning horizon. Intervention will not only be on the construction or rehabilitation of irrigation system but should also be in making sure that watershed are rehabilitated and protected. Water is not just stored in dams but also in the mountains. Watershed management strategies may not have been viewed in the paper as an important strategy to mitigate the impact of El Nino, but the LGUs of Isabela have a significant contribution in this regard.
I agree with the recommendation to identify drought vulnerable areas and develop long term strategies to address problems before it comes. These strategies can be categorized into two: escaping from El Nino and living with El Nino. In areas where it is possible to provide water then we can escape from El Nino by providing irrigation systems, water pumps, small farm reservoir and other water providing strategies.
On the other hand, in areas where you could not escape, then live with it. The early warning system in 1998 saved a lot of losses. In Pangasinan, planting corn after rice instead of another rice as early as October resulted to higher yield of corn. This was the period when a farmer in Moncada, Tarlac able to get a yield of 9 MT per hectare using IPB 911. However, those who did not make use of the information and planted late suffered losses.
In the upland areas which are the most vulnerable, crop diversification also save the day. Root crops, which abound in Isabela (171 percent sufficiency), can be food alternatives. I remember there were days when we have to eat cassava, Yautia, banana, and even arrow root to substitute with rice. In some municipalities of Quezon Province, trees under coconut were harvested and sold for timber or fuel and the proceeds were used to buy foods. This showed my bias in agroforestry as a land use strategy in the uplands. You, may plant crops, raise animals and fish, and grow trees, to satisfy the household needs to be food secured.
Maybe we can escape from El Nino but not always. We have to live with it. El Nino is not just affecting rice and corn. It affects people lives. Those who can not escape into the wrath of El Nino and not able to live with it remains in poverty. Those in the northwestern Luzon, who had been exposed to distinct wet and dry period seems to have lived with it. We have to learn from their experiences and live with it.
These will have implication on how we view El Nino. We will not need calamity funds but regular funds. El Nino is becoming a regular occurrence and there are available technologies and strategies to mitigate its impact on people. Government can help but still more effort should also come from the people themselves. We have to provide them the means and environment to prepare themselves and not be caught napping by El Nino but rather live with it. I agree, Isabela is just starting. There are more things that can be done to cope with El nino. This, I believe, Isabela can again be number 1.

_____________________
Discussion made on the paper of Tumamao, D.B. El Nino Impacts and Coping Strategies: Isabela Experience. Presented during the In-country Seminar on El Nino, February 7, 2003 at BSWM Conference Hall, SRDC, BSWM, Diliman, Quezon City.

HARMONIZING TOURISM AND AGRICULTURE

HARMONIZING TOURISM AND AGRICULTURE

Virgilio T. Villancio

You just came to Baguio, last Friday evening and you have the taste of the city at night. You went around the city early Saturday- PMA, Mines View Park, Camp John Hay, Wright Park, etc and you have the best time when you watched the flower festival. Despite the elbow to elbow situation, you enjoy the float and the colorful sight. Last Sunday, I saw you picking strawberries at La Trinidad, Benguet then you are picking roses at Bahong at 10:00. You are talking with the Manager of the Flower Producer cooperative just after visiting their Chrysanthemum farm below the slopes. Well, that is a smaller version of the things that you have seen at King Louie Flower Farm. Oh, at least, now you know that you need not be as sophisticated as the King Louie Farm. The story of that Lady coop manager can tell you that you can start small and make business. As you are going back to Baguio City, you stopped by a cabbage farm and start to wonder how the cabbage head is formed. You were informed by the farmer that if you want to buy cheaper vegetable, be sure to be at the La Trinidad Trading post early in the morning the next day before you go back to Los Banos. You stopped by at the Benguet State University to buy peanut brittle, strawberry jam, ube, and other products. At the end of the day you have a lot of everything in your van from potatoes to carrots not only for yourself but for your friends, neighbors and most especially for your mother-in-law. Are you satisfied? I bet you are looking forward of coming back for the next year Panagbenga Festival. Maybe you will try Atok and Buguias. Meantime, it is time to work back home.

Last year, you were at the world famous Banaue Rice Terraces. Have you ever wondered how those rice fields were carved out in the mountains? Have you ever imagined how the farmers were going up and down the slope in their search for livelihood as they prepare the land, plant rice, irrigate the fields, harvest, and process the rice into something that they could eat and into wine that they could drink? Do you know the rituals associated into each of those activities or the importance of rice wine in the culture of the highlands? This information you will not know if you are just an ordinary tourist who just make use of your faculty of sight to appreciate things and leisure to enjoy. A present day tourist go to places not just to visit but to learn, not just to eat but to savor, not just to experience but to be educated, not to be a stranger but to belong. My experience told me, tourism and agriculture can do exist in harmony.

TOURISM AS EXPERIENCED

My first impression about what tourism refers to is “travelling for pleasure, going to places, an outing for more than a day, getting away from work”. My personal experience as a local tourist is getting away for a week with my family. However, we are not the usual tourists who goes to places for pleasure but to experience what are beyond our home and our community. I toured around the Philippines as a development worker with my work at the Department of Agriculture and at UPLB. I traveled into several corners and pockets of the country and these experiences I want to share with my family.

The first time we went into was a week trip to Baguio City in 1997. A middle income earner with ample savings for a four-day trip, we rented a van and brought with us a part of our home- ie. kitchen and the bedroom- and made the places we visited as our living room. We have been to Manila for some shopping thus the kids were not that excited but rather sleeping when we traversed EDSA. They woke up when we passed by the longest bridge connecting Bulacan and Pampanga- the viaduct. I have some little information about the area and talk to them about the Candaba swamp and how it is planted to rice during the rainy season or get flooded when the typhoon comes. During the dry season, you can see rice and water melons. We have our breakfast at Pulilan, just after getting out of the North Expressway. We parked by the roadside and took out our packed meals. I could just tell them about the “knelling carabao”.

We intentionally by-passed Clark Air Base because that will be our itinerary when we are going back home. The sight of Lahar before the Bamban Bridge was enough to show them what is Lahar and the damage it has done to people and property. We stopped for a merienda at the Capas Shrine. I told them about the Death March and my kids contributed what they learned in their Sibika class. I just have to tell them we are passing by Hacienda Luisita. How I wish I could bring them to see the Sugar Central, where they could see how sugar are planted, harvested, milled, refined, and bagged. Well, I may also have to tell them about the fate of the sacadas.

We met a little traffic at Carmen Rosales, Pangasinan and a peddler offered “tupig” and I bought a bunch for my kids to taste. As we go along to Pangasinan, we passed by a feed mill in Villasis. What are inside the feed mill but dusts. But are we interested on how it works? Well, we did not go inside but I have to tell my family how it is in Pangasinan during summer. You can see corn, tobacco, mungbean, tomato and eggplant in the fields. On the roadside, shops are selling Bagoong, garlic, onions, mangoes, and Singkamas where travelers from Baguio stop and buy. We again stopped by the roadside in Sison, Pangasinan and look for a shade under a Mango tree to take our lunch. We have Chicken Adobo and fried Tilapia in our stocks. We really have fun sitting in a mat at a picnic mood while savoring the taste of my wife cookings.

After lunch, we traversed the way to Marcos Highway, saw the Marcos Bust, stopped by the view deck, and reached La Trinidad, Benguet before sundown. We stayed at the UPLB Guest House near Benguet State University. The next day, we have just done what you have experienced. On the way home, we passed by the Duty Free Shop at Clark.
Since then, we set aside a one week per year vacation to go around. We went to Cebu in 1997 and able to go to Bohol and Leyte but failed to have a trip to Dumaguete. In 1998, we planned to go to Davao-GenSan route but settled for Quezon Pahiyas instead and went for Banaue-sagada in 1999. In 2000, we did not go to other places but settled for a thanksgiving treat for our families and friends in a Private resort in Calamba, Laguna. My family and friends went to Puerto Galera in 2001.

Last year, was a dip at del Prado Resort in Sariaya, Quezon where you could taste the sea, watch the coral beds, enjoy the freshwater swimming pool and the countryside. This is where I appreciated the effort by the local government to pave the road leading to barangay Guisguis.

There are more destinations I want you and my family to visit. We can have the Palawan destination. One week trip to Northern Palawan is enough but you have to go back for another week to enjoy the southern part. The Bicol route is another week. Have you been to Camiguin? Include it as itinerary when you travel to Northern Mindanao. The Davao-GenSan corridor is another exciting package. You can hike Mt. Apo or Mt. Matutum. I have not been to Lake Zebu but my friends always want to go back there. Of course, we should not forget the historical Ilocandia destination. This year we are planning for a Panay-Boracay trip. Maybe we could go to zamboanga Peninsula in 2010 when the condition there settles down.

AGRICULTURE IS THERE

I recognized that I had been an agrotourist all the way as I traveled from one place to another. My agriculture background and my work made me so. I also became an agrotourist guide to my family as we go along our travels. My training also prepared me to be inquisitive and start asking people about what they are doing, how are they doing it and why they are doing it. Every trip we made is education, a learning experience.

The strawberry fields, rice terraces, flower farms, vegetable gardens, rice fields, fruit orchards, green houses, agroforests, pineapple plantations, rubber trees, oil palms, and many more are agriculture. They are quite an experience to those who have just heard and read about it. I could just tell you how happy are my kids when they picked strawberry fruits in La Trinidad and the sight of an apple tree with small fruits at the experiment station of the Bureau of Plant Industry in Guisad. My son was surprised that you do not need to put a pot on cabbage to produce heads. My daughter is excited posing for pictures in a garden of roses in Bahong.

In most instances, however, the agriculture of it is set aside in favor of tourism. I remembered when we went to Puerto Galera and we visited the local market. My wife asked the market vendor as to where do they buy the eggplants, rice and other things they sell. She was quite surprised that almost all of what they were selling in the market was from Batangas City. The woman said that most of the people in Puerto Galera are busy in the tourism services that they are no longer interested in agriculture. Is this also happening in Banaue, Benguet, Bohol, Cebu or anywhere else that tourism industry dominate?

You go to Banaue because of the rice terraces. However, there were limited information about it. Our trip to Banaue as a family tourist was without the benefit of a tour guide nor tourism package. However, we got some information about Banaue and the terraces in one restaurant where we took our dinner. How I hope that those information can be made available in every view deck or entrances to the rice terraces destinations like Hapao. Will you not be amazed how they made the rice terraces and the intricate irrigation system that assured the whole year round of water to the fields? Have you been told that the forest-agriculture combination made it happened? Saving the rice terraces is one concern. Have you read in the paper about the large worms damaging the terraces? A national commission was created to take charge of rehabilitation of the terraces. Will you not chip-in your ten peso bill for saving the rice terraces?

It is not just the agriculture of it. The agriculture we would be referring to should be the appropriate one. How would you appreciate it if you see cabbage being sprayed with insecticide and fungicide every three days? Or you see, tomatoes being waxed with kerosene, or Ampalaya being dipped into a bucket of chemicals? When you go to Old kano’s Farm in Cavite or the Carandang’s Farm in Tanauan, Batangas, you will appreciate that organic farming without chemicals are possible. Try the Urban gardening showcase at Central Luzon State University (CLSU) and you will find good possibilities in your backyard.

Have you been told that hotdogs got earthworm in it? I do not know if it is true but one thing sure is that earthworms are used to compost farm by-products. You could just imagine how the ladies got tickled when the farmer took a bunch of earthworm in a box where he is having his vermicomposting. Silk is expensive. Have you seen those who have made it? They are silkworms. It is another tickling experience putting those worms one by one in the rack where they are feed mulberry leaves, sleep and weave cocoon producing silk.

Do not be surprise that a lot of the young today does not know or not recognize a rice plant so much so that they do not know how the food that they eat came to their tables. I participated in a one-week rice production training at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1982 as a part of a group of agricultural economist being prepared for a farming systems project. I can only just smile how my co-participants tip-toed in going down to the paddy fields and dipped their candle-like fingers into the mud while planting rice. It maybe be a sweating experience not just because of the hot sun but the idea that there might be leeches hanging on your feet the next time you get it up. They enjoyed it anyway. And the experience is told whenever we met each other as to who got soak into the mud, who got four leeches in its feet, who screams louder and so on. If you have a group in Makati who would like to experience planting rice, dehusking coconut, picking lanzones fruits, riding in a carabao, milking a goat, etc., maybe we can organize an agricamp for them.

In going home, do not forget to buy Buko Pie. We have the best in town not just the Original Buko Pie but Letty’s, Shella’s and Collette’s buko pie and its other pie variations are recommended. When you go to Davao, I am sure you will not forget buying Durian and Mangosteen either as fresh fruits or candies. The airlines made available provision for you to check-in fresh Durian fruits from Davao. Of course, do not forget a crate of Davao Pomelo and King Mandarins. You will not bring with you bananas, since these are widely available at reasonable price. In GenSan, they already have frozen tuna for you to take home. In Cagayan de Oro City, right at the airport you can pick up roasted cashew produced from the nearby Barangay Lumbia. Guitar and boneless danggit from Cebu; peanut kisses from Bohol; Pili nuts from Albay; Tikoy from Lucban, Quezon; Moron and Binagol from Dagami, Leyte; sabutan hats from Aurora; Carabao milk pastillas from Bulacan; handicrafts from Benguet and Paete; and many more. Whenever you go to those places, it is but necessary to bring them as pasalubong. Anywhere the Filipinos would be, they can not go home without them.

The joy is not just on having it. You will have more excitement when you visit the farms that produces it, the processing plants, the wood carvers and the weavers, not because you can buy the commodity cheaper but the fact that you have seen and sometimes experienced how those were made or produced. New learnings and experiences that you gained made it more meaningful.

LEARNING THE BASICS

Reil G. Cruz in his paper cited Ryan (2002), which described sustainable tourism as a “model form of economic development that can improve the quality of life of the host community, provide a high quality of experience to visitors, and maintains the quality of the environment on which both the host community and visitors depend”. He also cited a WTO definition of sustainable tourism development as development that leads to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled, while maintaining the cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems.

Based on my personal experiences and learnings from the theory and practice of ecotourism (Cruz, undated; Libosada, undated; and other authors), sustainable agrotourism should be consistent with the overall sustainable development policy framework and institutional mechanism with the following elements:

• Systems oriented as it involves not only the tourist destinations but the whole community as well. Agrotourism stakeholders are not only the tourist but the service providers as well. In here, historical destinations, parks, beaches, processing plants, integrated farms and other amenities became part of the overall design. Each of them added value to the package. Negative impacts caused by any of them reduced the desirability of the whole.

When we visited Del Prado Resort in Sariaya, Quezon last year, how I wish there will also be some agroforest destinations under the half-century old coconut trees where tourist could enjoy the taste of Buko Juice, fruits, and other products from Quezon. Maybe a mangrove with elevated pathway will also showcase the importance of mangrove in marine ecosystem with mangrove species properly labeled. Can the government with the resort owners have a joint venture on this and add value to the tourism package of the place?

• Natural resources management and stewardship is an element that seeks to conserve natural resources, enhance environmental quality, promote and protect biodiversity. Agriculture should be able to promote soil and water conservation in order not to result to soil and water quality deterioration. Increase in soil erosion results to sedimentation of rivers and waterways. The use of high dosage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture are contributors of water pollution. A new form of stewardship among stakeholders is therefore necessary.

A report cited the contribution of the wood carving industry in deforesting the Muyong (forest) component of the watershed in the rice terraces systems. The increasing demand for wood crafts as a result of the growth in tourism would increase demands for wood among wood carvers. While before, there are specific species for wood carving, the increase demand result to use of any wood species in the forest thus resulting to deforestation. Since banning wood carving will be synonymous to killing a livelihood, expertise or a part of culture, strategy should be developed to allow the wood carvers themselves or they pay agroforesters to grow trees that they will be carving. Market mechanism can also be used to see to it that wood carving industries are kept alive without jeopardizing natural resources sustainability.

Conservation of endangered species of flora and fauna can also be promoted through ecotourism. Botanical gardens, zoo, arboretum, bambusetum, and the like are ways to conserve those species. Medicinal gardens, fruit orchard, multi-storey agroforest, or even homelot garden can be designed to promote conservation and biodiversity.

• Partnership among various stakeholders. There are several tourism projects cited to have promoted partnership among various stakeholders. Among the examples are the Mt. Pinatubo Ecotours in Zambales, Donsol Whaleshark Interaction Tours in Sorsogon, and Cambuhat River Tours in Bohol. In these cases, the community with the local and national government, academic institutions, private sectors, civil society and the religious are involved in various ways. They could be involved directly as service providers or as members of local tourism councils.

Even the travelers are partners themselves. They also want to participate and be involved in something. They could be requested to plant their trees or contribute something to maintain it in exchange for trees named after them. They could catch fish and pay for it. The adventure of fishing is great. In the same manner, the children could climb guava trees and pay for the fruits that they gathered rather than just buying it from the basket.

• Accountable and responsible particularly in providing and accessing the necessary services as claimed. Product labeling should be honestly provided. Organically produced vegetables are properly identified and if possible accreditation should be imposed. Unnecessary competition should be avoided while standardized quality services should be aspired for. In tourism, one enterprise can not do it alone. The more diverse services that are provided by several service providers in a particular destination will be more desirable to provide the public with range of options. However, each providers and tourist should be responsible enough that the agrotourism objectives, elements and principles– eg. ecological balance, environmental protection, conservation and promotion of biodiversity, human development, respect for human and nature dignity, respect and promotion of culture, among others – are subscribed. Rules of access and provision of services should be clearly communicated to the public so that they will know their responsibilities and accountabilities.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) are implementing laws and regulations related to promotion of sustainable tourism. Monitoring and evaluation of compliance is necessary. Service provider who does not follow the regulation shall be penalized while those who follow should be rewarded.

• Educational for the public so that they need not necessarily join tour packages in order to avail of the other tourism services. Brochures, signs, and other information and communication materials about particular destination such as park, water falls, farms, and other sites are of great help. Making these information available add value to the tourism destination. The information can make enough leeway for them to be more adventurous but not to violate certain rules. This is a responsibility not only of the national and local tourism office but also among tourist operators and members of the community. The objective is for the public to be well-informed and learn something from the experience. Well-informed and well-served tourists are the best public relation officers to promote tourism destinations.

• Limits and boundaries should be clearly delineated. The capacity of a particular destination is limited by its carrying capacity. Nature park for example, should limit access to some extent that resources will not be exploited particularly by prospectors and vandals. There will be zones for farms, eating, lodging, recreation and other services. Environmental standards for structures that will be built particularly in beaches, natural sites, historical landmarks and other critical areas are also to be specified. In the case of agrotourism, land use is also dependent on the suitability and capability of the resource to be productive without sacrificing its sustainability. As one report mentioned it “don’t overuse, don’t overrun”.

• Less disruptive. Tourism can also be disruptive to the host communities. As more people flux to the community, their activities will be affected. The demand for food will drive the price higher. In some instances, the people are driven out of their communities to accommodate tourism development. Speculators who have the resources can buy them out.

Another form of disruption is in terms of the ecology itself. If more people are visiting flower gardens, bird farms, and the like, there will more exposure to possible contamination. In the case of a natural forest, stress caused by the presence of a visitor as they walk through the trails does not only translate to soil compaction but into the flora and fauna that are under it. Concrete trails may be provided but make sure that it will protect rather that exacerbate the stress provided into the system.

• Integrated in the sense that the necessary services for tourist are properly provided for. The destination has available lodging houses, food services, recreation, education, business, even internet, services, communication and other support services. In the case of nature destination, there may be camping provisions and evacuation option in case of untoward incidents.

• Equity which could be translated terms of distribution of benefits, access to resources, and intergenerational concern that the next generation should not be deprived of the amenities provided for by the tourism resources.

AGROFORESTRY: HARMONIZING AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND TOURISM

Agroforestry as a science and practice can contribute in harmonizing agriculture, forestry and tourism. As a land use system, agroforestry combines agricultural crops, woody perennials, animals and other enterprises in a parcel of land in a particular spatial and temporal arrangement. There are several systems identified depending on the combinations of those component enterprises. As a system, agroforestry provides productive, economic, environmental and aesthetic services, which are generally compatible with tourism. Although it can not approximate a natural forest, agroforestry can also provide, to some extent the basic environmental services that forest can do – ie. Timber and other products, watershed services, soil and water conservation, and to limited extent agrobiodiversity. Despite these services, there were limited promotion and utilization of agroforestry as a system thus I have been looking for a strategy to make people aware of the good things of agroforestry and erase the misconception that going agroforestry is expensive.

I have those visions come into senses when Ka Ely of Pooc II, Silang, Cavite approached me about developing an agroforestry tourism project in their village. What I could remember is the noble objective of preserving the agroforestry systems that they have been practicing for generations. He is worried about the on-going urbanization and the pressure it exerts in the use of the land. Their neighboring communities are already being converted to subdivisions and factories. The offer of immediate capital gains is enormous as the land values are rising. They are determined to preserve their agroforestry systems and this is where agriculture, forestry, and tourism may need to be harmonized.

I have been to the village with the prodding of Dr. alelli Luna of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of DENR. She told me about the system and got my interest on it. They documented the agroforestry system and labeled as 1:4 agroforestry system. I went around the village and see their systems. I could see the whole 50 years of agroforestry transformation in that village. I can see coconut farms planted to corn and peanut, which is a characteristic of a newly-opened lands. This we could term as 1:3 system where you have three crops in a farm parcel. After the harvest of peanut but before the harvest of corn, coffee, pineapple and papaya are planted. Thus in the second year, the farm has 1:4 system composed of pineapple, papaya, and coffee. Papaya are harvested within the second year while pineapple started to be harvested during the first quarter of the third year. A well-kept coffee could be flowering by then and may have a good harvest in the fourth year. You can see a fifty year old coffee plantation in a 1:4 system. The old trees are cut for another cycle of the agroforestry system. These trees are sold as drift wood for orchids but I saw them in one of the resort used as poles for tables and walls for the cottages.

This system I am now promoting as Uno por Cuatro but the Barangay Chairman Virgilio Tibayan said his system can even be labeled as Uno por Otso. In his farm parcel, he has mahogany, pineapple, black pepper,ube, papaya, and vegetables particularly pole sitao, not to include the cattle, swine and chicken in his farmstead. He was awarded as 2002 Outstanding Farmer Practicing Conservation Farming by the Conservation Farming Movement, Inc.

These Agroforestry systems at various stages can be seen at Barangay Pooc, Silang, Cavite. The documentation made by ERDB and the subsequent interaction of the program collaborators to the Barangay Council explored the vision of establishing a Cavite Agroforestry village, which will showcase those agroforestry systems and inspire students, farmers, development workers and other interested individuals. The establishment of the Agroforestry Development Center will also provide a venue for research, extension and education to enhance and promote the existing Cavite Agroforestry System in other upland areas of the country with similar characteristics.

The productive, economic, environmental and tourism values of agroforestry will be explored. Cottages, dormitories, recreation facilities and other amenities will be provided with due consideration of the basic elements mentioned above. The Agroforestry Village will not only cater to small farmers but also to potential farmers and the general public who needs to be educated on the relationship of agroforestry and the environment. We would like the visitors to dream about their farms on what they would aspire for and see that these are actualized in a place like Pooc II, Silang, Cavite, an agroforestry village. Overall, this program will attempt to mobilize the support of various institutions and the public in enhancing and preserving the Agroforestry legacy of Cavite- where Agriculture, forestry and tourism will be in harmony.


REFERENCES

Cruz, R.G. undated. In Search of an Environmentally Sustainable Tourism in the Philippines.
Libosada, C.M.. Undated. The Value of Preparing Communities for the Impacts of Tourism.

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Paper presented for EcoForum 2003 – National Conference on the Promotion of Eco-Agro Tourism, Local Government Academy Training Center (LGTC), UP Los Banos, College, Laguna, February 25-28, 2003

Director, institute of Agroforestry, College of Forestry and Natural Resources and Manager, Land Grant Management Office (LGMO), UP Los Banos