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IMPACT ASSESSXIENT OF FARhIIKG SYSTEhlS RESEARCH AND
DEF-ELOPRIENT AT THE FARM LEVEL: THE CASE OF KABSAKA
TECHNOLOGY IN ILOILO, PHILIPPINES
V. T. ~illanciol, C. H. ~analol, hl. L. V. I. ~ebulanan',
A. sotornill, and N. F. C. s an awe era^
One of the most successful farming systems projects in the Philippines
has been the KABSAKA project in Iloilo. The KABSAKA technology
introduced the two three crops option from the traditional single crop
practice that framers were involved in. This study attempted to
quantify some of the benefits derived by the farring communities
which adopted the technology. The study concludes that there are no
strict adopters; farmers use only specific components of the
technology particularly the ones beneficial to them. Also, while the
income of adopter farmers is higher than the nonadopters, still the
incomes are inadequate to sustain the development in the countryside.
KABSAU is the acronym for Kabusugan sa Kaumahan, an llonggo phrase
meaning bortnty irz tlze fanlz. The KABSAKA project was initially a rice-based crop
diversification strategy in the lowland rainfed areas that served as a basis for the
development of a cropping systems research methodology. Although the KABSAKA
project may not have initially used the basic elements of farming systems research
(FSR), most of the FSR components were tested within the project at different
stages of its development.
The KABSAKA project had a farming systems perspective and included
adaptive trials and pilot-production programs implemented in 1974-85 in the rainfed
lowland areas of Iloilo. Two or more crops could be grown because of the
introduction of various components of the KABSAKA technology (which includes
ezrly land preparation; use of early maturing varieties; direct seeding of the first rice
crop; use of fertilizer, insecticide and herbicide; short turnaround period; and
planting of upland crops, particularly legumes, in the drier areas where it is not
possible to grow a second crop of rice).
During the last 10 yr, several studies measured the impact of KABSAKA
technoloa in Iloilo (Price 1982, Barlow et a1 1983, Wangwacharachul 1983). These
studies indicated that the KABSAKA technology had increased cropping intensity,
input usage, annual rice production, and farm income.
a arm in^ System and Soil Resources Institute, College of Agriculture, University of
the Philippines Los Bafios, Laguna, Philippines.
2~ocial Sclences Division, International Rice Research Institute, P.O. Box 933,
Manila, Philippines.