An e-publication by the World Agroforestry Centre
METEOROLOGY AND AGROFORESTRY
|
|
An e-publication by the World Agroforestry Centre |
|
METEOROLOGY AND AGROFORESTRY |
|
|
section 3 : regional examples The need for climatic information for agroforestry systems in the Philippines B.P. Sapitula
Agroforestry Department, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University
Abstract The paper presents the status and extent of use and the need for climatic information for agroforestry systems in the Philippines and hopes to draw suggestions from the participants for a better system of implementation of our programme in agroforestry. Existing agroforestry systems in the Philippines have no sustained productivity because aside from being still in the experimental stages, the lack of acceptance by the upland farmers and considerable support from the government, environmental factors like climate which directly affect plant/animal growth and survival have not been significantly considered. Moreover, there are not enough meteorological stations which could provide climatic information. Many existing ones do not have the necessary instruments. Most of the existing meteorological stations are providing data for their own projects or other linked agencies' consumption. There is very minimum effort of trying to provide such useful information to the upland farmers to assist or guide them in the selection of site, selection of plant or animal species, proper combination of agroforestry crops, timing of cultural treatments, pest and disease control, conduct of development activities and other actions aimed at improving the productivity of their agroforestry farms. Because of this present situation there is a dire need for agencies in gathering and monitoring climatic information to coordinate with agencies implementing agroforestry programmes to come up with a better plan and effective implementation of the programmes. There is a need to increase the present number of stations and the kind of instruments presently used to efficiently provide agrometeorological information necessary to support developmental efforts of the government to increase the level of productivity especially in the hillside farms.
Information on various weather elements are being monitored for use from specific areas relevant to agricultural planning to information required in the construction of infrastructure; for the development of alternative sources of power, e.g., water, wind, and sun; for the safety, efficiency and regularity of all types of transportation and movement of perishable merchandise; and information required by legal authorities and insurance companies in resolving cases. In agriculture and forestry, climatic information has as much importance as in other fields. From the time the seeds are sown until the plants are harvested and stored, crops are more or less at the mercy of the weather, particularly during certain critical periods in their growth. Variations in the weather during the growing season, such as delay in the outbreaks of rain, untimely or excessive rains, droughts, etc. would very seriously affect the development and the final yield of the crops. Studies conducted in other countries such as India have given ample evidence for concluding that of all the 'controls', climate had the greatest effect on crop yields over a series of years (Acuna 1980). In the field of agroforestry, climatic information could be used as a basis for determining which species of plants and animals could better survive in an area; in the implementation of a cropping pattern in terms of proper combination of the crops; in the proper timing of cultural and development activities; and finally, as a factor that could be considered in planning and implementing a project to ensure effective and economic conduct of different activities. This should remind planners, agriculturists and foresters on the importance of climatic information and the need to take all efforts for its consideration in planning and implementing a project. This paper presents the status and the extent of use and the need for climatic information for agroforestry systems in the Philippines.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is the government agency mandated to monitor atmospheric, geophysical and astronomic information for their useful utilization. The agency is best known to the public through its daily weather forecasts, advisories, bulletins and warnings through the broadcast and print media. It has the following functions (PAGASA 1977):
The following are the types and numbers of stations composing the networks:
PAGASA is divided into major offices or divisions; one is the Agrometeorological Division which manages the operations of the different agrometeorological stations. These stations were established to gather and provide, on a routine basis, simultaneous meteorological and biological information. A list of existing stations is given in the Appendix. A typical agrometeorological station in the Philippines has the following recording instruments set up in a well-exposed area: raingauges (ordinary and automatic) for precipitation intensity; sunshine recorder for sunshine duration; pyrheliometer for solar radiation; evaporation pan for evaporation rate; soil thermometer to record soil temperature; hygrothermograph to record relative humidity and atmospheric temperature; and an anenometer for wind velocity. At present, there are 28 agrometeorological stations of which about 75% are auxiliary stations stations owned by other government agencies, schools or private institutions. They receive assistance from PAGASA in the setting up of the instruments and for technical support. Many of these stations are located at agricultural and forestry schools (Acuna 1980) and most of them are in an experimental site to monitor the effects of weather elements on crops. From the various meteorological stations, data are relayed to the Agrometeorological Division which is responsible for the processing and interpretation of data prior to dissemination. To complement its services to the public, it conducts lectures and advisories, offers technical assistance to other agencies and individuals, and disseminate information through the broadcast and print media. It also conducts weather-crop relation studies and their application to farm operations. The response of the crops to weather conditions at different times of the year are used in recommending crop-weather calendars for specific localities (Acuna 1980).
Most of the existing agroforestry systems in the Philippines do not have sustained productivity. Among the various reasons for the relatively unsuccessful implementation are:
Agencies involved in the implementation of agroforestry programmes are the Bureau of Forest Development (BFD); Forest Research Institute (FORI); University of the Philippines at Los Banos; College of Forestry (UPLBCF); Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research and Development (PCARRD); logging companies; some upland farmers; and several schools offering agroforestry and forestry programmes such as the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DMMMSU). FORI and the College of Forestry at UPLB conduct researches on agroforestry and other related fields. The results of these researches are transmitted to the implementing agency, the BFD, for execution. It is the responsibility of the BFD to establish extension services to transmit the improved technology to the farmers. But since agroforestry is still a relatively new concept and with the presence of tree components requiring a long period to maturity, there are still very few completed research projects. In the case of the UPLBCF, it has its own Social Forestry department to implement research findings in the field. Nevertheless, the mode of implementing their programmes is the same. Because it is difficult to change the farming system of a certain upland community, the approach is to introduce improvements to the existing cropping schemes.* And because of the lack of provisions and acceptance by the upland farmers, existing agroforestry farms are located in selected pilot project areas and will serve as demonstration farms to adjacent communities. Some improvements being introduced are the planting of forest crops (e.g., ipil-ipil, acacia, agoho, narra, mahogany); short-term crops (e.g., sweet potato, peanut, ginger, mongobean, corn); medium- term crops (e.g., pineapple, cassava); and long-term crops (e.g., papaya, cacao, coffee, black pepper); and the application of farming techniques (furrow contour, hedgerow and furrow contour, contour strip cropping, terracing and buffer contour) (FORI 1986). Some logging industries such as the Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines (PICOP) have also promoted the practice of agroforestry by inducing farmers to plant fast-growing tree species on their farm lots and then buying their wood products at reasonable prices. Universities and other agencies conduct agroforestry researches with the financial assistance of PCARRD, the National Science and Technology Authority (NSTA), the International Foundation for Science (IFS), and other funding institutions. But most of the researches being conducted are cropping patterns, still discovering whether a certain tree crop is compatible with a set of agricultural crops already thriving in the locality. Within some of the different research stations, meteorological instruments are set up to monitor the effect of climatic factors on crops. In short, climatic information is only being used in agroforestry research to assess the effects of weather elements on crop responses and performance. In most of the other agroforestry systems, farmers plant the combination of trees and agricultural crops that have been thriving in the locality and those that could provide their economic needs. With this practice, at least, climatic factors have been considered; but there may be more crop combinations that would perform better in the area if they were guided by meteorological information. As of this time, most of the agrometeorological studies conducted on agroforestry have been on provenance trials, soil moisture, germination, soil erosion, shading by trees, environmental changes as a result of farming schemes, plant diseases, rehabilitation of forest areas, and time of planting (Gayanila 1984). With these, it seems that many important researches have already been conducted but most of the results have not yet been transformed to marketable goods for the farmers. The extension services must do a lot of work in this regard.
The response of many plants to the different weather elements is still the subject of continuing research. With only 28 agromet stations, it could be inferred that there are not enough stations to provide climatic information specifically for agroforestry. Almost 50% of these stations are located in schools and other agencies not directly involved in agroforestry. They are not really being used to provide direct information to the upland farmers but to satisfy the immediate needs of the agencies' projects. For schools, for example, the instruments are used for instruction and in supporting research projects. Because of this situation, there is a dire need for agencies involved in gathering and monitoring climatic information to coordinate with agencies implementing agroforestry programmes, with the goal of producing better plans and implementation of programmes. This will maximize the use of the very few agromet stations. There is an apparent need to increase the present number of agromet stations and the kind of instruments used to provide agrometeorological information. Likewise, a more comprehensive and effective extension programme should be formulated to disseminate more information in a manner acceptable to the upland farmers.
Acuna, R.C. 1980. The National Agricultural Weather Service - making weather work for the Filipino farmer. Quezon City: PAGASA. FORI. 1986. Information Brochure. Gayanilo, V.G. 1984. Abstract bibliography of agrometeorological researches. Terminal Report. PAGASA. 1977. Primer.
Footnote__________ * Personal interviews with Nicanor Iscala, BFD; Marcelino Dalmacio, FORI; and Vicente Ato, UPLBCF. |