In previous ACIAR studies it has been demonstrated that activities which have the highest adverse impact on agricultural sustainability (and therefore long term economic sustainability) in upland farming on Bohol, include: up and down cultivation on sloping lands, continuous use of nutrient-depleting crops such as corn and cassava, and extensive cultivation of steep upland soils. These non-sustainable farming systems have been identified as those with the greatest potential for improvement to reduce soil loss and poverty. In addressing these issues, a key objective of this project is to quantify, demonstrate and provide examples to farmers of the environmental and farm-level economic benefits that can be realised by implementing selected best management practices for soil, water and crop management in affected areas.
The Project team has successfully established 3 improved practice and 3 conventional practice sites in the upper Inabanga watershed, with highly erodible soils on sloping uplands and which include a corn-cassava rotation. The sites are located in the municipalities of Carmen, Sierra Bullones and San Carlos/Pilar. Farmer-cooperators at the improved practice sites have been guided in implementing improved practices. Additionally, sites have been established in the upper Abatan watershed on steeply sloping land where erosion control measures have been implanted for at least 5 years and also on conventionally farmed land. The sites are in the Cadungao municipality, and had received earlier guidance in improved practices through previous ICRAF Landcare activities.
All the sites have been topographically surveyed, geo-referenced and characterised to determine site soil and water components, including physico-chemical properties, soluble and exchangeable cations, pH and nutrients. On-site weather station and automatic water flow and sampling equipment commissioning is being completed. Cropping maps and 5-year cropping schedules have been completed for the sites, with ongoing labour, planting material and fertiliser inputs recorded for all cropping activities. Additionally, crop transport and crop return revenues are recorded. Training workshops on record keeping using farm journals and farm budgeting have been conducted for farmer-cooperators, local government and Municipal Agriculture Officer (MAO) representatives. FMD teams have developed 5-year cropping plans and have been guided in appropriate land management, following initial characterisation of the farm sites.

The socio-economic team has carried out baseline and end-of-cropping-season surveys to quantify productivity of crops, input costs, marketable yields, market prices and overall economic returns on all farms within the improved and unimproved subwatershed sites. Case study data has been collected by the farmer cooperators and the Project team and is being used to guide the team in upcoming cropping periods.

A key objective of this project is to quantify, demonstrate and provide examples to farmers of the environmental and farm-level economic benefits that can be realised by implementing selected best management practices for soil, water and crop management in affected areas.
In addressing this objective, the Project team has established three improved practice and three conventional practice farmer managed demonstration (FMD) sites in the upper Inabanga watershed, with highly erodible soils on sloping uplands and which include a corn-cassava rotation. The sites are located in the municipalities of Carmen, Sierra Bullones and San Carlos/Pilar. Farmer-cooperators at the improved practice sites have been guided in implementing improved practices. Additionally, two FMD sites have been established in the upper Abatan watershed on steeply sloping land. On one site, an improved site, erosion control measures have been implemented for at least 5 years and on a conventionally farmed, unimproved site, no improved land management practices have been used. The sites are in the Masonoy municipality, and farmers for the improved site received earlier guidance in improved practices through previous ICRAF Landcare activities.
All the sites have been topographically surveyed, geo-referenced and characterised to determine site soil and water components, including physico-chemical properties, soluble and exchangeable cations, pH and nutrients. Eight gauging stations with on-site weather station and automatic water flow and sampling equipment are operational and regularly monitored. Initially developed cropping maps and 5-year cropping schedules have been reviewed and updated for sequential cropping periods. Detail of ongoing labour, planting material and fertiliser inputs, crop transport and crop return revenues are recorded and used in proactive planning for subsequent cropping and land management planning.

In addition to soil/ water management and agro-economic/socio-economic issues, the project has actively introduced improved farming practices that have the potential to increase farmers' production. All of the Project FMD sites have improved soil and water management practices implemented (for the improved sites), however there is a need for improved production technology techniques and strategies to complement established Landcare practices. Farmer cooperator groups are being introduced to a range of different and appropriate crop production technologies. They may then evaluate which among the practices can increase their production and income. These practices may then be promoted to other farmers.

Training-of-trainers workshops and farmer field schools which focus on improved crop production strategies have been established in a cooperative initiative involving the BSWM, ICRAF, East-West Seed Co., Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), DENR, LGUs and Australian project staff.

Significant progress has been achieved towards meeting key objectives of this project, to quantify, demonstrate and provide examples to farmers of environmental and farm-level economic benefits, which can be realised by implementing selected best management practices for soil, water and crop management in affected areas.
In the establishment and ongoing maintenance of farmer managed demonstration (FMD) sites, local municipalities in the San Isidro and Inabanga watersheds have provided consumables such as fertilizer, seed and cuttings. ACIAR Project partners provide instrumentation, training and soil management/cropping expertise. Additional fertiliser and seed supplies are provided by Project partners to enable recommended cropping practices to be implemented in the FMD sites. The establishment and ongoing community management of the FMDs has assisted in the process of improving adoption by provincial farmers.
It has been estimated by Project training staff and local municipal agriculture officers that approximately 50% of the farmers in the upper Inabanga watershed are now adopting improved farming practices as a consequence of project training and dissemination of project results, cropping advice and supply of planting materials. The improved practices include use of contour cultivation, natural vegetated strips (NVS and NVS with crops, eg. pineapple), minimum tillage planting, cover crop plantings, alternative cropping including vegetables, natural residue and/or plastic mulching, accelerated composting and Vermiculture techniques.
Agro-economic data analysis and soil/water monitoring budgets are being developed to identify which farming practices and which crops were most successful in improving economic returns in relation to those that were most successful in improving soil and water losses.