The Socio-economic Factors Affecting the Role that Nurseries Play in Efficient Forest Industry Development in Leyte, Phi

1. The Socio-economic Factors Affecting the Role that Nurseries Play in Efficient Forest Industry Development in Leyte, Philippines Nestor Gregorio Research Student University of Queensland, Australia Supervisors:Dr John Herbohn Assoc Prof Steve Harrison

4. Tarsius syrichta (world’s smallest monkey)

5. total land area of 30 M ha; 6.2 M ha forest (dipterocarp 3.4 M ha, old growth 0.81 M ha; residual forest 2.7 M ha) • 7107 islands; 860 are permanently inhabited by 77 M people; 20 M people are farming inside the forest

6. Paradigm shift in forest management Pure plantation of A. mangium Mix plantation of trees (E.deglupta and A. mangium) and agricultural crops (banana and pineapple) Industrial forestry Small-scale forestry

7. The Umbrella Project • ACIAR Smallholder Forestry Project: “Redevelopment of Timber Industry Following Extensive Land Clearing” • Aim: To examine the requirements and opportunities to address the slow uptake of small-scale forestry in Leyte, Philippines

8. Major constraints in promoting smallholder forestry • Unavailability of planting stocks • Use of low quality germplasm • Improper site and species combination

9. Research Aim • To investigate the role that nurseries could play in promoting the uptake of small-scale forestry in the province of Leyte

10. Objectives • Identify and investigate the limiting factors on the access of smallholders to sufficient quantity of high quality planting stocks and use of site-species matching information • Identify the potential support schemes that will effectively overcome the constraints on scarcity of high quality planting stocks and poor site-species combination

11. Investigate the potential role of nurseries in extending the possible intervention measures • Develop a structured methodology for designing a nursery-based support system to improve the pace of adoption of small-scale forestry in Leyte and other regions of the country

12. Data Collection and Processing • Field survey on the nursery sector in Leyte province - personal interview, focus group discussion, use of archives and direct observation • financial capacity and resources • technical skills on nursery management

13. relevant knowledge on site-species matching • attitude towards various tree species • species selection and species raised • germplasm sources, flow and distribution mechanisms

14. constraints in nursery operation • available support programs and implementation schemes • assessment on nursery set-up and quality of planting stocks

15. Sample selection • census of nursery operators • purposive and snowball approach - started from municipalities with tree planting projects/activities

16. Data organisation and analysis • use of SPSS • modeling of the nursery system through SIMILE modeling environment • Designing of nursery-based potential intervention measures

17. Initial Findings • Covered 23 out of 41 municipalities

18. Interviewed 74 nursery operators : • 37 private individuals • 22 people organizations • 15 from government agencies (DENR, DA, PNOC, LSU)

19. Typical set-up of individual/family nursery

20. Common structure of communal nurseries

21. General structure of government nurseries

22. Of the 74 nursery operators, 50 are active and 24 have stopped the nursery operation

23. Reasons. . . • Low sales/less demand of planting stocks • No available germplasm of preferred species • Financial constraint • Area has been fully planted • Disintegration of community groups

24. Purpose of raising planting stocks • Individual nurseries: sale (49%) personal use (49%) free distribution (2%) • Communal nurseries: communal use (73%) sale (18%) free distribution (2%) • Government nurseries: free distribution (100%)

25. Origin of the nursery • Individual: operator-initiated (72%) project-initiated (18%) • Communal: project-initiated (75%) operator-initiated (25%) • Government: thrust of the agency (100%)

26. Species selection • Largely depends on the available germplasm • Exotic species are favored over indigenous • Lack of knowledge on site-species matching

27. Germplasm sources • Unselected seed stands and naturally growing trees on the farm, along the road and school grounds • Seeds are preferred but wildlings are mostly used • Poor practice of germplasm collection

28. Nursery technical skills • Lack of knowledge on appropriate nursery cultural practices • difficulty in germinating seeds e.g. Eucalypts • poor potting medium e.g. clay and acidic • lack of knowledge on identification and control of pests and diseases

29. Low quality of planting stocks in all nursery types • lanky or etiolated seedlings • low or imbalanced root-shoot ratio • root deformation i.e. J-rooting and root coiling

30. Inefficient seedling distribution scheme of the government • problem on transporting seedlings, distance of the nursery • seedling distribution scheme favored the better-off recipients • inadequate advertisement of the program • species raised did not always match the demand of the landholders

31. Policy Implications • The forest nursery industry in the province of Leyte is not well established • planting stock distribution program of the government is inefficient • seedling demands by landholders is mostly catered by the small-scale nurseries

32. Support is needed for small-scale nurseries • improve viability of private and community nurseries • provide information about availability of seedlings to potential buyers • contract production with the government

33. provision of technical information on nursery practices and site-species matching • accreditation to ensure minimum standards • could be through government nurseries or small-scale nurseries currently servicing landholders

34. Facilitate access to germplasm • establishment of seed orchards and seed production areas • survey and identification of existing potential mother trees • formation of farmer-based tree seed centres

35. The End Thank you!