Author : Recta, Grace Marjorie R.

Summary : The main purposes of this study were to quantitatively described a rice-based crop-livestock farming in rainfed villages using data obtained from an on-farm crop-animal system research project in Sta Barbara, Pangasinan and to evaluate this system in terms of maximazing farm income from the different components through linear programming (LP). The farms were typically smallhold with average landholding of 1.3 to 1.6 ha. Crop establishment depended on rainfall which had its peak in August. High yielding varieties notably IR-42 and IR-36 were grown with average yields of 2.90 to 3.10 t/ha. Mungbean and cowpea were introduced as dry season crops with average yields of 0.886 and 0.66 t/ha, respectively. The average animal holdings per farm were 1.1 to 1.4 with average daily grains of 0.10 to 0.14 kg for cattle, the low gains being attributed to the seasonal feed supply, use of animals for draft and minimal care paid to the animals during land preparation. Feeds offered to animals comprised mostly of weeds and rice straw with very minimal and occasional supplementation with rice bran and salt. Linear programming analysis of the data showed that with unlimited weed supply and with one animal holding, the gross margin of the optimal plan using farmr's traditional practices was lower (P1837.00) than that the technology introduced by the project (P2072.00). This technology consisted of improved practice through straight row method of planting rice and one animal holding plus unlimited weeds. The gross income could be further increased to 17,627.00 when the animal holding was increased to two heads. When weed supply was limited, however, the optimal plan yielded a negative gross margin of P7747.00. The farm could barely raise one animal because the nutrient requirments cannot be satisfied. Including concentrate supplementation in the model resulted in an increased farm gross margin of P1605.00. The LP model formulated was able to elicit the best choice of rice varieties from among those being grown and the number of livestock to raise given the contraints of land resource, labor supply, minimum rice consumption requirements of the family, maximum loans available, and animal feed supply. Some limitations of the present study include lack of data on nonruminant animals and on animal feed resources obtained by grazing animals. Linear programming by itself is also a limitation by its assumption of linear relationships.