Farming systems development project - Eastern Visayas

The project will focus on onsite crop and animal research and will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture"s (MOA) Region VIII Office. Six farming systems research (FSR) demonstration sites will be established in connection with six farmer sub-groups. A baseline study will be conducted of resource and infrastructure conditions in the target area, as well as of existing farming patterns, cultural practices, production constraints, and the availability of such farm resources as credit, labor, and income. More detailed socioeconomic and other special studies may also be conducted. Study data will be used to design FSR trials for each area. Research will be conducted on-farm by Site Research Management Unit"s (SMNU"s) - multidisciplinary teams composed of personnel from the line agencies of the MOA"s Regional Office and from the Visayas State College of Agriculture (VISCA) and other local agricultural schools. Trials will be research-managed (i.e., with farmers providing the labor and the research team the managerial inputs). Emphasis will be placed on improving existing farming systems, although new plant and animal materials may also be introduced. In cases where solutions to existing constraints cannot be tested on-farm, VISCA will conduct trials under more controlled conditions on the VISCA campus. The trials will be evaluated following the harvest and will be repeated over several seasons. After 2 years, the results that seem most promising - at least 100 improvements are expected - will be tested in some 1,000 farmer-managed trials (with farmers providing their own land, labor, capital, and management inputs. In the third year, issues relating to the wider extension of the new technologies will be evaluated. VISCA will train SMNU staff members and the 360 participating farmers in research methodologies and in SMNU organization and operation. A total of 10 Ph.D. and 6 M.S. degrees, equally divided between VISCA and MOA regional staff, will also be funded. Technical assistance will include a long-term expert from a Title XII U.S. Land Grant University.