Smallholder Rubber Agroforestry System in Mindanao, Philippines: A village approach to Climate Change Mitagation

Rubber Agroforestry System (RAS), the deliberate integration of rubber trees with agricultural crops and or livestock, is considered a viable upland farming option for smallholders. It optimizes aboveground resources (space and light) and optimizes use of vertical and horizontal belowground resources (space, water and nutrients). The system sustains farmers’ income by using multi-canopy hedgerow systems which conserves soil, water and nutrients, as well as sustains environmental services, particularly carbon sequestration. The RAS options vary from extensive systems requiring less input and investment to more intensive with relatively higher cost for establishment. The options are flexible and can be adapted to meet local context and opportunities. Natural rubber production is currently short by 20,000-30,000 t to meet domestic demand. Annually, the said demand is increasing by 15-20% as a result of the growing population. The Philippines need to establish at least 20,571 hectares of rubber plantation just to meet this domestic demand. This situation creates a good market opportunity for smallholder farmers to obtain substantial amounts of income from RAS. Moreover, the world markets’ 0.31MMT of deficit in natural rubber production and through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) creates a global market opportunity for RAS farmers. RAS is economically feasible and sustainable due to low cost production while providing food in every farmers table before, during and after the start of tapping year. With increasing number of farmers adopting RAS, the Local Government of Claveria provided training funds for farmers living in the upper watershed of the Municipality, while the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) provided budded and nonbudded rubber seedlings for farmers’ budwood and rubber nurseries. Planting of annual crops such as upland rice, corn and vegetables in between rubber trees will provide income for the rubber farmers during the first 5 to 6 years before rubber tapping begins. Shaded interrows under mature rubber could be fully exploited with planting shade-tolerant species. The rubber trees can also be widely spaced at 22 to 30 meters between rows to provide ample space for the growth of agricultural crops for daily subsistence and commercial purposes. Latextimber clones of rubber can provide additional income to farmers through harvesting timber when tapping starts to decline and becomes uneconomical at about 35 years.

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