Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In addition to his house, Donio has a farm shed on one of their adjacent maize fields
about half a kilometer away from the road. The farm shed is only one 2.5-m
2
room where
harvest and some farm tools are stored, is made of indigenous materials, wood and
bamboo as is their house. The house floor is raised about a meter from the ground and
is made of bamboo slats. Under the floor is a space where chopped wood and coconut
husks for fuel are stored. Adjoining the room is the kitchen and work area. The roof
above the area is made of nipa
k
and the floor is the ground, which becomes muddy
when it rains. At the front wall of the farmhouse is an overhang with a stall for
resting or keeping farm tools.
The estimated farm shed cost is a P1000 ($19.02) because Donio did not buy most
of the materials and did not put value on his labor. But if all are included the value of his
farm shed is about P4000 ($76.10). Except for the farm shed, Donio has not made any
major or permanent investment in the farms because they are not his.
Harvest and Cost of Attaining It
R
ICE
. Donio said that he is planting a Masipag,
1
an inbred variety yielding an
average of 120 sacks of tipasi (newly harvested unmilled grains) per hectare per
harvest in his 2070-m
2
rice field. He is not certain whether it is really Masipag or
not; this is what other farmers told him.
Donio's April 2006 harvest yielded 990 kg of tipasi, which is about average. Donio
spent an estimated P6213.34 ($118.21) in producing this rice and would get a gross
income of P8910 ($169.52) from selling his rice. Since he plants twice in a year, we
may double these figures; however, many times, his second cropping does not do
well because of typhoons that come toward the end of the year.
Donio “pays” some of his expenses in harvested grain and so does not have the full
amount of the harvested 990 kg grain as “profit.” Although on paper Donio may appear
to make a little from rice farming, the reality is very different. When major costs are
deducted from the 990 kg of harvest, he is left with 331.32 kg of harvest, which he
dries and takes to the rice mill.
After drying and milling, he recovers 183.05 kg of rice. About a month after
harvest, Donio gleans his field during which he is able to gather about another three
sacks of tipasi, which will ultimately give him 82.86 kg of milled rice. Thus, overall,
he makes 265.93 kg of milled rice in one cropping. If sold after milling, Donio's rice
would return P5584.53 ($106.26). Since his production cost was P6213.34 ($118.21),
rice farming is a losing venture for Donio, although he does not realize this. He does
not sell the rice because it is used to feed his family.
M
AIZE
. Donio plants maize three times a year: January, May, and August. The last
planting is usually affected by typhoons that come during the last months of the year.
Donio's harvest varies, depending on the weather, but his most recent harvest was about
440 kg from each field, or a total of 800 kg.
k
Nipa is a marsh plant whose leaves are
3 to 4 cm wide and 30 to 50 cm long, which is folded over a strip of
bamboo 60 cm long and “sewn” into place to form a “shingle” used to cover the roof.
