Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
spices and condiments such as hot pepper (
Capsicum frutescens
). Eggplant is one
of the most favorite crops because it can be harvested every three days during a long
period of time providing both food and some cash income. The homegarden further
supplies all sorts of green leafy vegetables like pechay (
Brassica chinensis
), mus-
tard (
Brassica juncea
), amaranth (
Amaranthus viridus
and
Amaranthus spinoza
)
and leaves of vegetables like bitter gourd and sweet potato and flowers of squash
(Table 2.3), all of which are species typically used throughout the year and often
bartered with neighbors. They form a good source of vitamins (Villareal et al. 1979;
PCARRD 1988; Rasco and Maghirang 1989). It should further be noticed that
many of the apparently useless weeds have a medicinal value, although not always
practiced as such by farm households.
Homegardens contain up to five structural layers or canopy strata (Photo 2.4). The
highest (>5.0 m) canopy stratum is composed of about six tree crop species including
mango, jackfruit (
Artocarpus heterophyllus
), paper tree (
Gmelina arborea
) and coco-
nut (see also Table 2.3). A larger number of crop species (at least 61) can be found in
the second stratum (1.5-5.0 m), including banana, horseradish, guava, and also the
younger trees of the first canopy stratum. The third stratum (0.75-1.50 m) includes at
least 42 non-ornamental species and is composed of hedgerow species like pruned
tawwa-tawwa (
Jathropha curcas
), madre de cacao (
Glidricidia sepium
) and alim
(
Melanolepsis multiglandulosa
), but also of crops like hot pepper and several orna-
mental shrubs. The fourth stratum mainly consists of climbing vegetables (at least 24
species) like beans, gourds, squash and alugbati (
Basella alba
). Vegetables, like egg-
plants, tuber crops, and herbal plants (at least 140 species, including herbal weeds)
form the lowest (<0.75 m) vegetation stratum. Cans planted with spices and seedlings
Photo 2.4
Differential vegetation layers in a lowland homegarden in Isabela Province, the
Philippines (©DJ Snelder)
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