Philippines National IPM Programme

From its modest beginnings of an FAO-assisted pilot Farmer Field School (FFS) project in 1992, the Philippine National IPM Program or KASAKALIKASAN has become a self-reliant national program with funding support from national and local governments.

KASAKALIKSAN is implemented in 78 provinces and 3 chartered cities covering almost 11,000 barangays in 1,226 municipalities nationwide.

Achievements:
There have been significant reductions in insecticide usage in rice, corn and vegetable production resulting from the implementation and promotion of the National IPM Program as shown on the trends in insecticide use and frequency of application in major rice producing provinces in Central and Southern Luzon (Rola & Pingali, 1993; Mataia, Jamora, Maya & Dawe, 2009; Warburton, Palis & Pingali, 1995; Dawe, 2006; IRRI, 2007).

Despite marked reductions in pesticide use among IPM FFS farmers, average yields have increased by 10-14% with yield variability across seasons decreasing by 12.5-17.3% (KaPCIE, Searca, 1997). National paddy rice production increased by 60%, from 10.5 MMT in 1994 to 16.8 MMT in 2007.

Farmer education in IPM, together with pesticide policy changes have been successful at reducing incidence of pesticide poisoning, from 3.27 during 1982-1985 to 1.08 in 1991-1995 (Panganiban, 2002). A comparison of results from a 2007 survey of farmers with 1989 survey data in Nueva Ecija, a major rice-growing province, show a 50% reduction in the number of farmers reporting pesticide illness (Rola & Pingali, 1993).

Sustainability:

KASAKALIKASAN has successfully brought a new brand of IPM to Filipino farmers. The Philippine Government has maintained a high level of political will, supporting IPM in the face of vested interest opposition.

In May 1993, Presidential Memorandum Order No. 126 laid the basis for the implementation of the National IPM Program aimed at making IPM the standard approach to crop husbandry and pest management. With the devolution of agriculture extension to local governments, provincial governors and municipal mayors were tasked to create Training Teams to train farmers in season-long FFS.

In 1997, the Philippine Congress legislated the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act calling for the development of medium and long-term plans at reducing the use of agrichemicals. The FFS became the extension approach of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Programs in Rice, Corn and High Value Commercial Crops with IPM as the crop protection strategy. For 2009, the Department of Agriculture is allocating US$25M in its F.I.E.L.D.S. budget for the conduct of Training of Trainers and FFSs targeting 3,500 extension workers and 600,000 rice, corn and vegetable farmers.

In response to greater awareness on the hazards of pesticides to human health and the environment, major changes have been made to pesticide regulations. The Philippine Government banned all pesticides belonging to the “Dirty Dozen”, all organotin and Category 1 compounds, while restricting endosulfan to 5 EC. The Central Bank guidelines called for the non-issuance of Letters of Credit for the importation of banned pesticides. The Department of the Interior and Local Government likewise enjoined all provincial governors and municipally mayors to effectively enforce of the pesticide ban.

Over the years, local governments provided both moral and fiscal support to their local IPM programs, shouldering at least 15% to 100% of the cost of a season-long FFS. IPM Farmer Congresses and IPM Field Days are conducted through counterpart funding from Internal Revenue Allotments from local government units. Regional, provincial and municipal federations of IPMFFS farmers have been organized and have been active in sustaining local governments’ support to sustainable agriculture.

KASAKALIKASAN has been actively collaborating with 24 NGOs and church-based organizations to develop their technical expertise and to strengthen their training processes in the conduct of FFS. A major partnership with SEARICE is the development and implementation of pilot FFS on plant genetics and seed rehabilitation in rice and corn, FFS in organic sugarcane and FFS in corn production among rebel-returnees in Mindanao.

KASAKALIKASAN has provided support to the Organic Movement in the Philippines leading to the development of the Philippine Standard for Organic Agriculture. The Good Agricultural Practices or GAP Standards for corn as well as for fruits and vegetables have been developed and will be part of FFS training curricula.

Innovations:
Aware that IPM concepts and practices continue to evolve towards sustainable agriculture, KASAKALIKASAN currently engages in the following development activities:

Addressing the emerging challenges to food security, KASAKALIKASAN is undertaking a major venture towards the development and promotion of an integrated form of village-based participatory research and extension addressing the whole-farm production system, including the sustainability of natural resources and the protection of the environment - the transformation of the FFS into the Barangay Food Security Volunteers or BFSV. The BFSV is composed of FFS farmer graduates tasked with the responsibilities of taking care of food, community and the environment. The BFSV is operationalized through the establishment of village or barangay-based (1) Food Security Monitoring Teams, (2) Model Farms and Processing Centers, (3) Barangay Seed Nurseries, (4) Bantay Peste Brigades, (5) Barangay Waste Recycling Facilities, (6) Barangay Bio-con Production Centers, and (7) Farmer-led PAR Teckno-Kliniks.