Suchergebnisse

A survey of the production and marketing system of Gmelina arborea (Roxb.) in smallholder farms was conducted in Claveria. Survey respondents included farmers, who planted and have undertaken their first harvest of Gmelina trees, and sawmill operators in the nearby coastal towns who are processing and marketing Gmelina logs. Average farm size in the study was 2.5 ha. The majority of farmers have planted half or less than half of their farms to Gmelina arborea. The most common method of planting Gmelina is block planting while some farmers planted Gmelina as hedgerows along contour areas. The number of trees planted in these smallholder farms ranged from less than 100 to 1020 trees. Farmers planted Gmelina trees mainly for construction materials for future family houses. However, most of the farmers had to cut and sell their trees to meet immediate financial needs such as payment of their children's schooling and loans, and to buy farm equipment, household appliances, and animal feed. Harvested trees are sold either as timber (unprocessed log) or flitches (processed log). Higher prices are being paid for processed logs (USS 114.48-161.12 m-3 during the wet season) to cover cutting and sawing costs. Prices of Gmelina products fluctuate seasonally, with higher prices during the dry season due to high demand. Unprocessed logs are sold at USS 55.12 m-3 during the wet season and can sell as high as USS 114.48 m-3 during the dry season. Selling timber by boardfoot1 was considered better than crude scaling of whole trees because the former is a more accurate method of estimating wood volume. Lessons learned by farmers include the greater advantages of harvesting the trees during the dry season to fetch better timber prices, cutting trees at full maturity for better wood quality, growing cash crops during the first two years of tree growth, hedgerow planting of Gmellna trees for better soil erosion control, and planting the trees at 3 m × 4 m spacing for optimum growth. There is a big market for Gmelina tree products in Claveria, both locally and internationally. Tree products marketed include wood for house construction and furniture making, slabs for forklift crates and tomato boxes, and for electric posts. However, government policies should be formulated to provide an efficient pricing system and improve the marketing system of timber products in the area as well as in other parts of the country. Government assistance will also be needed to encourage smallholder tree planting to improve the country's timber industry.

Mariculture was envisioned to contribute to poverty reduction by increasing employment opportunities and income in the area where it is situated. This paper assesses the participation in mariculture of local men and women in seven mariculture sites in the country, the roles they perform, and their willingness to be involved in mariculture operation. The data used were collected through a household survey, focus group discussion, and key informant interviews conducted in January to August 2015. Results show that only 24 % of the 785 households had members with any participation in mariculture since it was established in the area. By site, household participation ranged between 5 % and 44 %. This was translated to only 228 individuals. Although the men dominated mariculture, the women had demonstrated that they can equally contribute to mariculture as an operator, caretaker or feeder. The majority of the study participants expressed they like having mariculture in their municipalities, particularly men from non-fishing households. The willingness to be involved in mariculture was also high, particularly among men from fishing households. The willingness to become a mariculture operator was higher among women than men. The women or local residents, particularly from households who are interested in mariculture, must be given support to start up small-scale mariculture operations towards increasing local employment and reducing poverty in mariculture areas. To increase women participation in mariculture, women stereotypes need to be overcome and also local legislations that will require a certain percentage of all mariculture harvests to be sold directly to local retailers and small processors, mostly dominated by women, are needed.

© 2019, Department of Science and Technology. All rights reserved. This study assessed the potential of young kawayan tinik (Bambusa blumeana J.A. & J.H. Schultes) plantation for energy production by determining changes in biomass and calorific content over a three-year period. Yearly determination of biomass and culm growth was done for the plantation in Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation (FMMR) in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, by harvesting entire aboveground culms and non-culm portions of the plant. Culms were separated from branches and leaves and culm dimensions, height and diameter, and mass were obtained for both the culm and non-culm portions. Basal clump diameter was also measured and the number of culms per clump was counted. The chemical properties (volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash) of the culm and the branches plus leaves (B+L) were likewise determined. Calculations were done for individual culm and total aboveground dry biomass per clump. Analysis of variance showed that both basal clump diameter and culm height were significantly affected by clump age, while culm number per clump and culm diameter did not vary significantly from year to year. Aboveground dry biomass increased with clump age. Chemical properties except for the ash content of the culms were all significantly affected by clump age. Analysis of variance also showed significant effect of clump age to the measured gross calorific values (GCVs) of culms while the corresponding value for B+L samples did not vary with clump age.

© 2018, University of the Philippines Los Banos. All rights reserved. This study examined the involvement of women in agricultural decision-making among farming households in Ligao City, Albay, Philippines and related this to enhancement or decline of their adaptive capacity to extreme weather events. Data were collected through a household survey in the three selected barangays representing coastal, lowland and upland communities. More than 50% of husbands solely made decisions on choice of food crops, cash crops, tree species, and farm production. This parallel findings in the Philippines showing male dominance in agricultural production. Nevertheless, women still participated in decision-making in a limited way as 13-16% of them singly decided on behalf of the household while 30-38% made decisions together with the husband. Following the Sustainable Livelihood Framework, an adaptive capacity index was developed for the households. The analysis revealed that 96.17% of the respondents had low (0.5), with all scores ranging from 0.0982 to 0.6171. Age and choice of trees species by husband positively influence adaptive capacity, while choice of cash crops by husband has negative relationship. Farm decision-making is gendered, and giving authority to the person with more capabilities to make effective decisions based on his/her relationship to this resource-based livelihood should be considered despite prevalent notion of the dominance of one gender.