Farmer Tree Planting Barriers to Sustainable Forest Management - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 418

seed sector (research organizations, government agencies, and forest industry);
farmers and the non-government organizations (NGOs) that support them have lit-
tle linkage or influence over the formal tree seed sector (Harwood et al. 1999). As
a result most smallholder tree production systems focus on fast-growing exotics -
often timber species like G. arborea - for which there are reliable sources of germ-
plasm and well-established propagation and management techniques (see Box
20.4). In the Philippines and also elsewhere, farmer preferences for species largely
depend on household needs and markets (Lawrence 1999; Yuliyanti and Roshetko
2002; Schuren and Snelder, Chapters 3, this volume; Manurung et al. Chapter 4,
this volume). However, farmers are not always able to plant or test those, often
indigenous, tree species in which they are interested due to a lack of knowledge or
germplasm (Tolentino 2000; Tolentino et al. 2001). Promising ITS planting initia-
tives undertaken by smallholder farmers in the Philippines show good perspectives
for a wide range of indigenous timber tree species as reported by Tolentino
(Chapter 15, this volume; Box 20.4).
This constraint to agroforestry system development can be overcome. Farmer-
designed trials (Roshetko et al. 2005; Tolentino, chapter 15, this volume) and participa-
tory evaluation are a low-cost method to increase farmer participation in species
evaluation and agroforestry technology development process for their specific biophysi-
cal and socioeconomic conditions, as well as to enhance the effectiveness of research
activities to meet farmers' needs and improve their welfare (Franzel et al. 2002).
Box 20.4 The case study in the Philippines
In the Philippines Gmelina arborea was the basis of farmer-led, market-
oriented agroforestation and land rehabilitation efforts (Garrity and Mercado
1994; Pasicolan and Tracey 1996; Tolentino, Chapter 15, this volume).
Philippine farmers grow G. arborea in monocultures or mixed with other tim-
ber, fruit and MPTS species. Block plantations are preferred, although border
and contour plantings are also established. Most farmers establish 0.25-
0.75 ha of plantations at tree spacing of 3 × 3 to 4 × 4 m (Pasicolan and Tracey
1996; Magcale-Macandog et al. 1999). In general these tree-farming systems
are more profitable than annual crop production (Predo 2002; Rahman et al.,
Chapter 11, this volume; Predo and Francisco, Chapter 14, this volume). The
development of a viable and widespread smallholder timber production sys-
tem in Claveria, Mindanao, Philippines has resulted in depressed prices for
G. arborea timber, the main species produced by smallholders. Traders respond
that the size and quality of smallholder timber is often sub-optimum, so they
must reduce prices to compensate for the additional risk assumed. Reliability
and quantity of supply are also important issues. In Leyte, Philippines a suc-
cessful smallholder timber production project has led to disappointment due
to a lack of markets. A nearby wood processor prefers to procure timber from
(continued)