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FROXl GREEN REVOLUTION TO FARhlING SYSTEhlS APPROACH
The national thrust on FSR&D stemmed from the lessons and experiences gained
from various projects that used the FSA (Table 1). These had several common
characteristics: a focus on mu1 tiple cropping and cropping systems research and
extension (R&E) in the rainfed lowland areas (e.g., MCEPP, KABSAKA, RADOS,
MAhTBILAYAKA. and KASATINLU); the implementation of cropping systems
R&D as a component of an integrated development project (e.g., ABC project,
CVIADP, NSIRDP. and PIADP); a focus on croppin systems RcYrE in the uplands
and hilly areas (e. .. VRP and AUDP); a divergence T. rom activities oriented toward
cropping systems P e.g., FSDP-EV and FSDP-B~col); and the development of
regional and provincial capabilities to implement FSR&E activities, such as those
done by the Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Systems (RIARS) and later
by the AMP-ROS.
The development of FSR&D in the Philippines was characterized by a shift
from a comniodity-oriented strategy to a m~~ltifarni-enterprise approach. With the
intention of increasing the income of small-scale farmers, \rarious crop
intensification and diversification programs were implemented. In 1972, a
collaborative pilot project knolvn as the Multiple Cropping Extension Pilot
Production Program (MCEPP) was launched by the University of the Philippines
Los Baiios (UPLB) in collaborcltion with Central Luzon State University (CLSU)
and Camarines Sur State Agricultural College (CSSAC).
The strategy for diversification included expanding the farm area, increasing
yield per unit area, and increasing the number of crops grown in an area for one
year. To a large extent, the strategy focused on rice-based farming systems. This
prompted the establishment of an interagency applied research project on rainfed
and upland rice with other crops by the Department of Agriculture, IRRI, and the
Bureau of Agricultural Extension (BAEX).
The government recognized the need to consolidate the efforts of various
commodity programs and the successes of the pilot multiple cropping projects. Thus,
the National hlultiple Croppirig Production Program (NhlCPP) was launched in
1975. The program integrated the existing commodity progfams (hf-99, Masaganang
Maisan, and GSK). Integration \vas designed along three d~niensions: the use of a
cropping systems approach in crop productio~i, thc change of respo~isibility of
agricultural technicians from sinsle-crop to multiple-crop cultivation on the farm,
and the provision of credit facilities hy shifting from single-crop loans to loans for all
crops grown lvithin a period of 1 yr.
In a parallel development to the NMCYP, IRRI, BAEX, and the Bureau of
Plant Industry (BPI) conducted cropping systems research in 1974 in the rainfed rice
areas of Iloilo through the KARSAKA Project. This research demonstrated the
feasibility of t~vo cropping seasons for rice plus a third upland crop in the area.