Lanzones Production and Marketing in Laguna, Philippines: Current Practices, Challenges, and Prospects

The province of Laguna in the Philippines has been a major producer of lanzones. The study was conducted to present the profile of the players in the lanzones industry, describe and assess the current performance of the industry, identify problems as well as investment opportunities and recommend possible solutions for the local lanzones industry. Data gathering involved conducting interviews via a survey of 172 lanzones farmers and 30 lanzones traders selected using stratified random sampling and secondary data collection. Results showed that lanzones farmers practice intercropping in view of the crop’s seasonality and better profitability. Challenges include the onslaught of typhoons, fluctuating temperature and pests and diseases. Prospects include the presence of hardy foreign varieties such as ‘duku’ or ‘longkong’ and macrosomatic cloning to boost production. Using new technologies, farmer participation in seminars, intercropping with rambutan and putting up a demo farm for macrosomatic cloning are among the proposed recommendations

The Effects of Dry Spell on Eggplant Production in Batangas City, Philippines

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, there is an unclear understanding as to the extent to which natural disasters cause significant impacts to the agriculture sector, especially on its subsectors. Most studies holistically focus on the agriculture sector as a whole and fail to address sector-specific industries. This research was conducted to identify the nature and extent of effects of dry spell on a specific sector, eggplant production, in Batangas City in the Philippines. To determine the effects of the dry spell, 71 eggplant farmers situated in the barangays (villages) of Tabangao Dao, Pinamucan East, and Sto. Niño in Batangas City were interviewed. The data was analyzed using frequency and mean analysis as well as cost and return analysis. The respondents reported that the dry spell delayed their transplanting activity, which led to delays in fertilizer application. The dry spell also decreased the quality of the eggplants, as well as increased the number of twisted-shaped eggplants, fruits with brown streaks and lesions on the skin, and fruits which were stunted and thin. Consequently, there was a decrease of good-graded eggplants and the increase in semi-good and rejected eggplants. Lastly, on the average, there was a 105 kg per harvest per hectare decrease in eggplant production in Batangas City, which resulted to a PhP14,880.85 reduction in the expected income of the farmers. It is recommended that the government provide a communal water source, subsidize the costs of some production inputs, and link the farmers to technology developers and agriculture experts who can help develope appropriate coping mechanisms against dry spells. Further, the eggplant farmers must be encouraged to practice mulching, contour farming, and crop rotation to minimize possible production losses from dry spells

Analysis of the Production and Marketing Operations of Swine Enterprises in the City of San Jose del Monte and Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines

Analysis of the production and marketing operations of swine enterprises in two major hog-producing towns in Bulacan was done to assess their status and performance. Seventy-one respondents from the City of San Jose del Monte (CSJDM) and 74 respondents from Sta. Maria, Bulacan, were personally interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive research design and integrated analysis were employed. Profitability and value chain analyses were also done. Sow-herd and growing-finishing production systems were prevalent in CSJDM and Santa Maria, respectively. Most enterprises in CSJDM were small backyard while those in Santa Maria were small commercial. However, CSJDM swine farms had better production performance though the values in both towns were a little behind the national standard. Santa Maria farms had generally wider market reach than CSJDM farms. The intermediaries were narrowed to wholesalers and processors as production level advanced. Profitability analysis revealed increasing profit with increasing scale of operation. Medium commercial enterprises mostly prevalent in Santa Maria showed the highest average net income. Value addition increased from farm to primary intermediary with increasing scale of operation. Sow-herd farrow to finish enterprises were more profitable than growing-finishing farms. Recommendations to further improve the swine enterprises were formulated. For swine raisers, we recommend clustering municipal hog raisers and traders into a cooperative, increasing production volume, adopting a community-based approach in herd-health improvement, encouraging joint production of commercial and backyard swine farms, and increasing efforts to promote social awareness regarding environmental impact of swine production. For the government, we recommend providing low interest loans, regulating meat importation, increasing campaign against pork meat smuggling, and promoting consumption of locally produced pork

Developing Agri-based Technopreneurs in the Academe: The Case of Two DOST-Funded Projects in the University of the Philippines Los Baños

This paper assesses the outcome of two Department of Science and Technology (DOST)–funded projects geared towards promoting technopreneurship among students of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). It describes the various technopreneurial trainings and other inputs under the Agriculture, Foresty, and Natural Resources (AFNR) project. Then, using an action research design, it documents and examines the experiences of twenty-six (26) student-technopreneurs who conducted start-up businesses for five months using three UPLB-developed technologies, with supplementary funds coming from the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD-DOST). The study uses primary and secondary data from the student-technopreneurs, validated through key informant interviews, to gain insights into the process of running the start-ups, including the challenges encountered and lessons learned, and then evaluates their performance using three parameters, namely, financial performance, entrepreneurial competencies developed, and the number of businesses registered after the project. Results show that the student-technopreneurs under the high-end cheese and by-products track were the most financially successful, followed by those under the fruit juice and puree track. Those under the microbial rennet were the least successful. All of the participants reportedly gained personal entrepreneurial competencies, the most important of which being acquisition of technological know-how. On the overall, the two projects are assessed to be successful. Lastly, only seven registered their businesses as most perceived that their current production scale was too small to require business registration. The paper then provides future directions for research and recommendations on how to improve the conduct of similar projects based on the experiences of the participants and the insights from the project management team

Effects of Climate Variability on a Livestock Value Chain: The Case of the Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative Hog Business, Philippines

Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC) is one of the country’s most successful multi-purpose cooperatives which operates diverse enterprises including a hog business. Like any other agriculture-based business, the hog value chain of SIDC is vulnerable to climate variability. Th e general objective of this study is to analyze the effects of climate variability on each link and identify the business risks across the whole hog value chain of SIDC. The study used the value chain approach to identify the effects as well as the climate change adaptation strategies at all points along the SIDC hog value chain. Primary data were gathered through key informant interviews with SIDC’s general manager and other key personnel as well as the hog haulers SIDC deals with. The SIDC hog value chain consists of four major links – input, production, transport and distribution, and marketing. Each point on the value chain was assessed to be affected by climate variability. Feed ingredients such as yellow corn were not properly dried due to prolonged rains. There was an increase in disease incidence among the weanlings grown both by external and internal sources. Hog haulers claimed cases of mortality among the hogs being transported due to extreme heat during travel. Lastly, exposure to extreme heat of pork for retail resulted to meat weight loss. It was recommended, among others, that the cooperative provide a bigger storage area for raw materials at its feed mill, conduct more trainings and seminars related to climate variability adaptation and purchase an Automatic Weather Station (AWS)