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Labor requirement
Labor requirements (men and women) for each activity within the 3 farming system
models are presented in Tables 5 and 6. In general, the total number of hours
required per hectare in FS I during the WS and DS was relatively higher than that
required by FS I1 and FS 111.
Men worked in almost all activities, particularly in land preparation, rat
hunting, chemical spraying, weeding, and harvesting. Women performed rice
planting, weeding, and harvesting. They spent more time in these activities than
men.
Land preparation for rice farming and rice-fish farming was mostly done
using hand tractors, which cost IRP49,000/ha in 1989-90 and IRP63,000/ha in 1990-
91. However, manual labor was also used, particularly to hoe the corner plots of rice
and to repair dikes and canals.
In 1989-90, the use of labor for land pre aration was reduced. This indicated
that cultivation of fish during the third season after two rice seasons) made land
preparation easier.
Rice and equivalent rice yields
The average land size per family in FS I and FS I1 was 0.7 ha, while in FS I11 was
1.1 ha. All yields and incomes were converted into hectares except in the case of fish
in the second DS. The formula used was
Price of fish Rp/kg of fish equiv kg
Equivalent rice = X quantity of fish = X kg fish =
Price of rice Rp/kg rice Price
The rice yield and total equivalent rice yield in FS I were higher than the
yields in FS I1 and FS 111. This result was consistent in 1989-90 and 1990-91. The
additional yield from rice - fish farming resulted from both fish production and
cultivation of rice. Production figures for FS I, FS 11, and FS 111 are given in Table 7.
The increase in rice yield in FS I and FS 11 in the WS may be due to the
residual effect of third-season fish cultivated in both farming systems. Furthermore,
the high yield of rice in FS I may be due to the biological control of weed and insect
infestation. Most of the RFFS areas were relatively less vulnerable to insect
infestation and weed problems during the crop years 1989-91 and 1990-91. This was
evident from the lower levels of insecticide, herbicide, and labor used for weeding
and chemical application, compared with FS 111. In the DS, FS I also produced the
highest rice yield. However, the increase of 32% compared with FS 111 in 1989-90
was reduced to 23% in 1990-91.
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