Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > AN > EA06049
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 47(6)

The ‘Landcare’ approach to soil conservation in the Philippines: an assessment of farm-level impacts

R. A. Cramb A D , D. Catacutan B , Z. Culasero-Arellano B and K. Mariano C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Natural and Rural Systems Management, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.

B World Agroforestry Center, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, UPLB, 4031College, Laguna, Philippines.

C Asian Development Bank, PO Box 789, Manila 0980, Philippines.

D Corresponding author. Email: r.cramb@uq.edu.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47(6) 721-726 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA06049
Submitted: 9 March 2006  Accepted: 19 October 2006   Published: 17 May 2007

Abstract

‘Landcare’ is a group-based approach to the promotion of conservation farming. A case study of the Landcare program in Lantapan in the southern Philippines is presented to assess the farm-level impacts of this approach. The program was successful in promoting the formation of Landcare groups and a municipal Landcare association, resulting in rapid and widespread adoption of conservation practices, particularly among maize farmers. This in turn significantly reduced soil erosion, though the impact on crop yield and income was somewhat delayed. Adoption was thus not motivated primarily by short-term returns but by a concern to reduce soil erosion and provide a basis for diversification into agroforestry.


Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Edith Tajeda and Josephine Liu for assistance with data collection and to Arnold Garcia for advice in the application of SCUAF. Funding was provided by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Thanks also to an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments.


References


Arcenas A (2002) Farmer-led soil conservation initiative in a developing country setting: the case of the Claveria Land Care Association in Claveria, Misamis Oriental, Philippines. PhD Dissertation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

Campbell A (1994) ‘Landcare: communities shaping the land and the future.’ (Allen and Unwin: Sydney)

Cary J, Webb T (2000) ‘Community Landcare, the National Landcare Program and the Landcare movement: the social dimensions of Landcare.’ (Bureau of Rural Sciences: Canberra)

Catacutan D (2005) Scaling up Landcare in the Philippines: issues, methods and strategies. PhD Thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Coxhead I, Buenavista G (2001) Seeking sustainability. In ‘Seeking sustainability: challenges of agricultural development and environmental management in a Philippine watershed’. (Eds I Coxhead, G Buenavista) pp. 1–30. (PCARRD: Los Baños)

Cramb RA (1998) Environment and development in the Philippine uplands: the problem of agricultural land degradation. Asian Studies Review 22, 289–308. open url image1

Cramb RA (Ed.) (2000) ‘Soil conservation technologies for smallholder farming systems in the Philippine uplands: a socio-economic evaluation. ACIAR Monograph No. 78.’ (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research: Canberra)

Cramb RA (2005) Social capital and soil conservation: evidence from the Philippines. The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 49, 211–226.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Cramb RA, Culasero Z (2003) Landcare and livelihoods: the promotion and adoption of conservation farming systems in the Philippine uplands. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 1, 141–154. open url image1

Cramb RA, Nelson RA (1998) Investigating constraints to the adoption of recommended soil conservation technology in the Philippines. In ‘Soil erosion at multiple scales: principles and methods for assessing causes and impacts’. (Eds F Penning de Vries, F Agus, J Kerr) pp. 99–120. (CAB International: Wallingford)

Cramb RA, Garcia JNM, Gerrits RV, Saguiguit GC (2000) Conservation farming projects in the Philippine uplands: rhetoric and reality. World Development 28, 911–928.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Cramb RA, Culasero Z, Catacutan D (2003) Landcare in Bukidnon. ACIAR Landcare Project, Evaluation Report No. 2. University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Douthwaite B, Ekboir JM, Twomlow SJ, Keatinge JDH (2005) The concept of integrated natural resource management (INRM) and its implications for developing evaluation methods. In ‘Natural resource management in agriculture: methods for assessing economic and environmental impacts’. (Eds B Shiferaw, HA Freeman, SM Swinton) pp. 321–340. (CABI Publishing: Wallingford)

Fujisaka S (1993) A case of farmer adaptation and adoption of contour hedgerows for soil conservation. Experimental Agriculture 29, 97–105. open url image1

Lockie S, Vanclay F (Eds) (1997) ‘Critical Landcare.’ (Centre for Rural Social Research, Charles Sturt University: Wagga Wagga)

Mariano K (2005) Bioeconomic modelling of the adoption of a contour farming practice in the Philippine uplands. MNatResEcon Thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Mercado AR, Patindol M, Garrity DP (2001) The Landcare experience in the Philippines: technical and institutional innovations for conservation farming. Development in Practice 11, 495–508.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Midmore DJ, Nissen TM, Poudel DD (2001) Making a living out of agriculture: some reflections on vegetable production systems in the Manupali watershed. In ‘Seeking sustainability: challenges of agricultural development and environmental management in a Philippine watershed’. (Eds I Coxhead, G Buenavista) pp. 94–111. (PCARRD: Los Baños)

Nelson RA (1996) Bioeconomic analysis of hedgerow intercropping in the Philippine uplands. PhD Thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Nelson RA, Cramb RA (1998) Economic incentives for farmers in the Philippine uplands to adopt hedgerow intercropping. Journal of Environmental Management 54, 83–100.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Nelson RA, Cramb RA, Menz K, Mamicpic M (1998) Gliricidia, napier and natural vegetation hedgerows. In ‘Improving smallholder farming systems in imperata areas of southeast Asia: alternatives to shifting cultivation. ACIAR Monograph No. 52’. (Eds K Menz, D Magcale-Macandog, IW Rusastra) pp. 95–112. (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research: Canberra)

Paunlagui MM, Suminguit VG (2001) Demographic development of Lantapan. In ‘Seeking sustainability: challenges of agricultural development and environmental management in a Philippine watershed’. (Eds I Coxhead, G Buenavista) pp. 69–93. (PCARRD: Los Baños)

Poudel DD, Midmore DJ, West LT (2000) Farmer participatory research to minimize soil erosion on steepland vegetable systems in the Philippines. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 79, 113–127.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Stark M (2000) ‘Soil management strategies to sustain continuous crop production between vegetative contour strips on humid tropical hillsides: technology development and dissemination based on farmers’ adaptive field experimentation in the Philippines.’ (Southeast Asia Regional Research Program, International Centre for Research in Agroforestry: Bogor, Indonesia)

Young A, Menz K, Muraya P, Smith C (1998) SCUAF Version 4: a model to estimate soil changes under agriculture, agroforestry and forestry. ACIAR Technical Report No. 41. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra.