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A cost-benefit analysis of hedgerow intercropping in the Philippine uplands using the SCUAF model

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 17:56 authored by Nelson, RA, Grist, PG, Menz, KM, Cramb, RA, Paningbatan, EP, Mamicpic, MA
Soil erosion in the Philippine uplands is severe. Hedgerow intercropping is widely advocated as an effective means of controlling soil erosion from annual cropping systems in the uplands. However, few farmers adopt hedgerow intercropping even in areas where it has been vigorously promoted. This may be because farmers find hedgerow intercropping to be uneconomic compared to traditional methods of farming. This paper reports a cost-benefit analysis comparing the economic returns from traditional maize farming with those from hedgerow intercropping in an upland community with no past adoption of hedgerows. A simple erosion/productivity model, Soil Changes Under Agroforestry (SCUAF), is used to predict maize yields over 25 years. Economic data were collected through key information surveys with experienced maize farmers in an upland community. Traditional methods of open-field farming of maize are economically attractive to farmers in the Philippine uplands. In the short term, establishment costs are a major disincentive to the adoption of hedgerow intercropping. In the long term, higher economic returns from hedgerow intercropping compared to open-field farming are realised, but these lie beyond farmers' limited planning horizons.

History

Publication title

Agroforestry Systems

Volume

35

Pagination

203-220

ISSN

0167-4366

Department/School

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)

Publisher

Kluwer Academic Publ

Place of publication

Van Godewijckstraat 30, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 3311 Gz

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Maize