Existing Upland Farming Technology in Ilocos Sur

Abstract

This study assessed the existing farming technology in 14 upland municipalities of llocos Sur. It aimed to identify the farmers' socio-economic characteristics, the farm technologies they used, the agencies involved infarm technology transfer, the kind of technology they promoted, the farm technologies adopted or rejected by the farmers, and the reasons for adoption/rejection of the technologies. Majority of the farmer-respondents were male, married, belonged to the 50-69 age bracket, finished elementary, and had a monthly income of less than P5,000.00 derived mostly from their agricultural products. Most of them prepared their seed beds through the wet bed method and used the traditional plow and carabao to prepare the landfor planting, although a considerable number used tractors and kuliglig. They tilled their land twice or thrice before planting, before and during the rainy season. The total land area planted by majority of the farmer-respondents was one hectare and below. Their common crops were rice and vegetables, but some planted corn, tobacco, and root crops. They planted breeder and certified seedsusing two or three of the methods of planting: direct seeding, local practice, random, and straight row planting. They used side dressing, top dressing, and basal methods of fertilizer application following the amount recommended by the agricultural technologists or based on their own experience. Since their plants were rainfed, some used irrigation system and electric pump to supplement the water supplied by the rain. They also used insecticides, pesticides, and bio-pest control; some used fungicides and herbicides. Harvesting of crops was manually done. Very few farmers used rice thresher and mechanical reaper for harvesting rice and the corn sheller for harvesting corn. All the rice and corn farmers sun dried their products after harvesting them. The majority sold their products after drying. Those who did not sell all their products stored them in granaries and warehouses. Only some treated their products with chemicals before storing them. The farm technologies introduced mainly by the Department of Agriculture (DA) extension specialist were: use of chemicals, seed growing technology, integrated pest management, compost preparation, irrigation technology, use of farm machines, legume inoculation, and green manuring. Other sources of farm information were non-government organizations, institutions of higher learning, private organizations, and neighbors/friends. All technologies introduced to the farmers were favorably accepted by the majority of the respondents due to the following reasons: it lessens expenses, increases production and income, improves the product quality, and is economical; integrated pest management prevents pollution; irrigation system provides enough water supply; machines are better farming facilities and make land preparation easier; and legume inoculation improves soil quality and produce healthier plants. Those who did not accept the use of chemicals reasoned out that it was expensive and hazardous to health andsoil nutrients were depleted. Some farmer respondents did not accept legume inoculation because they had no adequate knowledge of the technology.