The Socioeconomic Factors Affecting the Role that Nurseries Play in Efficient Forest Industry Develo

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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

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Tarsius syrichta (worlds smallest monkey)
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• 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

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• 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
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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

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Major constraints in promoting smallholder
forestry

• Unavailability of planting
• stocks
• Use of low quality
• germplasm
• Improper site and species
• combination

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Research Aim

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

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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

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• 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

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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

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

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

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

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

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Initial Findings

• Covered 23 out of 41 municipalities

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

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Typical set-up of individual/family nursery
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Common structure of communal nurseries
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General structure of government nurseries
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• Of the 74 nursery operators, 50 are active and 24
  have stopped the nursery operation

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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

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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)

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Origin of the nursery

• Individual operator-initiated (72)
• project-initiated (18)
• Communal project-initiated (75)
• operator-initiated (25)
• Government thrust of the agency (100)

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Species selection

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

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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

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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

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• 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

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• 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

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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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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The End Thank you!