I.

Introduction
The Philippines is an archipelago in the western part of Pacific Ocean that

consists of 7, 107 islands and has a total area of 299,764 km2. It has an estimated population of 101,833,938 as of 2011. Its climate is very conducive for agriculture. According to Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), 4,225,393 ha of the total land area are used for agricultural purposes. The country is generally an agricultural country that produces subsistence crops like rice, corn, cassava, and sweet potatoes. Rice paddies and c ornfields occupy about half of the arable land of the Philippines. Coconuts are one of the most important cash crops, and the Philippines is one of the worlds leading exporters of coconut products, including coconut oil and copra (dried coconut). Bananas and pineapples are also important commercial crops, both of which are grown on large plantations owned by multinational companies. Other crops include sugarcane, abaca (Manila hemp), coffee, tobacco, and mangoes. Livestock on farms include carabao (water buffalo), cattle, chickens, goats, horses, and hogs. One of the progressive cities in the country is Davao City. It has a land area of 2,443.61 square kilometres. It is divided into 3 congressional districts, which are further divided into 11 administrative districts containing a total of 184 barangays. Almost 50% of its total land area is classified as timberland or forest. Agriculture utilizes about 43%. This is reflective of the fact that agriculture is still the largest economic sector. Big plantations that produce banana, pineapple, coffee, and coconut eat up a large chunk of the total land area.

Barangay Riverside is located in Davao City. It is an agricultural barangay with 90.5% of its total area (approximately 533.03 ha) is used for agriculture. It has a population of 5, 033 thousand. It consists of thirteen puroks, and belongs to the Calinan Administrative District of the Third Congressional District. Nine of these puroks are agriculturally productive. Most of the farmers are small scale which produces rice, coconut, lanzones, banana, cacao, durian, corn and rambutan; and livestock such as dairy cattle and poultry. Many farmers in Barangay Riverside are tenants. These farmers are only renting the land and paying the landowner a share of the crop being produce. Other farm workers include seasonal migrant laborers. Farmers also practice intercropping. According to PAN Germany, intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field. It also means the growing of two or more crops on the same field with the planting of the second crop after the first one has completed its development. The rationale behind intercropping is that the different crops planted are unlikely to share the same insect pests and disease-causing pathogens and to conserve the soil. The reason behind this practice is to have an extra income whenever the fruit trees wouldnt bear fruits.

II.

Statement of the Problem

The researchers would like to raise questions such as: 1. What is the significance of this paper to the farmers in Barangay Riverside? 2. How much is the cost of producing the farmers commodity in farm level?

3. How do they market their produce? Is there an agreement between the buyers and the farmers? 4. How much profit does the farmer gain?

III. Objectives
The objectives of this study are the following: y To evaluate the current situation or status of small scale farmers in Barangay Riverside, Davao City y y To be able to determine the cost of producing their produce To compute the net margins for each crops and livestock that are produced by the small scale farmers in the area y To address the problems of small scale farmers from planting, harvesting to marketing their crops. y To address some issues that may be solved by the government.

IV. Significance of the study

Mindanao is the second largest island in the Philippines and it is also one of the major producers of agricultural products. It has an advantage to progress compared to other areas because the island itself is ideal for year-round crop production. It is rich and abundant with natural resources and is blessed with a good climate which could cater to different economic opportunities. However, farmers in Mindanao dont progress because of the unfair treatment by intermediaries, retailers and wholesalers in terms of the price of the farmers produce. This study intends to analyze the current situation of 3

Barangay Riverside farmers and to develop marketing strategies that they can use for marketing of their produce. It will also broaden the knowledge and computations of the farmers in determining the cost of production of their products. Results of this study can provide information to the readers and future researchers regarding the situation of farmers in Brgy. Riverside and could be used as a future reference to those who wishes to continue this study. Moreover, the recommendations of this study would also help the farmers see what will be the areas to improve for in order to achieve greater income.

V. Scope and Limitation

The study was conducted at Barangay Riverside, Calinan District, Davao City where nine farmers were interviewed. The respondents reside in different puroks which have different crops being planted or livestock being raised. The researcher wasnt able to acquire recorded data from the farmers, thus the researcher able to obtain the needed data for the study through verbal conversations. The researchers only take into account five farmers which gave the researchers their cost structure and other data needed to compute the net margins. The researchers did not delve deeper in studying the consumer aspect because this study is focused more on the farmers that we have interviewed.

VI. Methodology
The data is obtained through farm visits, interviews to the farmers, and from the internet. There were nine farmers interviewed; and they were identified through the help 4

of Purok Leaders and based on the size of their farms. Because the land area of Brgy. Riverside is big, the researchers decided to focus on three setting, highlighting the major crop being produce, the intercropping practices, and the livestock farms. Interview questions for each corresponding key informants will be provided and designed in such a way that the respondents can give information in a simplest way possible. Questions asked on each respondent will be solely about farm operation, costing, profit, etc.

Below is the list of sample questions that will be asked to the respondents. 1. Who are the key players in the industry? 2. What are the issues and problems that affect the production of the commodities? 3. Are there any support given by the government in terms of marketing of the produce, and seminars in order for the farmers to gain more knowledge on what crop to plant or what areas a farmer needs to develop in his farm? 4. Are there any technologies or research development activities that contribute to the total production of the commodities?

This study used net margin analysis as a way to analyze the net profit that a farmer can get for their produce. The data will also be analyzed in two aspects, internal and external. PEST analysis will be used in external analysis; and in the internal analysis, two methods will be used. These are the SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix.

SWOT Analysis is a simple framework for generating strategic alternatives from a situation analysis and serves as a basis for the development of marketing plans. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. PEST Analysis deals with the environmental concerns. PEST is an acronym for the Political [this includes the ecological/environmental issues, the government interventions, etc.], Economic [this is related to taxation issues, seasonality/ weather issues], Social [this is consists of the consumers perception], and Technology [it involves the research developments, information and communications, technological innovations]

VII. Results and Discussions

A. NET MARGIN ANALYSIS 1. Rice Production Rice Farmer 1: Armaline Marinog; 3/4 hectare of land The table below shows the over-all cost and the net margin of Ms. Marinog. The cost of the seedlings was a bit expensive, since she is not a member of any cooperative that may provide cheaper seeds. In their harvesting, unlike any rice farmer, she has this fixed wage. She pays 130 php. per day for the labor. She said it would be better that way since it will somehow lessen the cost. The irrigation used in this farm comes from tubod, as what she had called it. Tubod is also known as ground water in English. This source of water doesnt run out. The main problem that she thinks affects the rice production a lot is the tungro. It is a disease that stops the growth of a plant, thus, it will 6

lessen the production. According to farmers, the irrigation helps a lot in reducing the effects of tungro.

Table 1. The production cost of rice.

Cost item Cost per cropping season 1110 520 1,323 1132 963.29 1,280 910 7238.29 1,750 kilograms Percent to the total cost 0.15 0.07 0.18 0.16 0.13 0.18 0.13 100% Cost per kilogram 0.63 0.3 0.76 0.65 0.55 0.73 0.52 4.14

Seed Labor Planting Harvesting Fertilizer Complete Urea Tractor Thresher Total Cost Assumption: 35 sacks per 3/4 ha times 50 kilos per sacks Selling Price Total Volume Total Revenue Total Profit Net margin

Php 14 1,750 kilograms Php 24,500 Php 17,261.71 Php 9.86 per kilo

Rice Farmer 2: Lolita Babatuan; 1/2 hectare of farm land

The table shows the over-all cost of production and the net margin of Ms. Babatuan. Her concerns regarding the farm are the same with Ms. Marinog, the tungro. As can be observed, Ms. Babatuan incurred less cost for seedlings. This is because she purchases her seed from a cooperative that is supported by the Department of Agriculture. She also had accounted the wastage with an average volume of 6 kilos per sack. Her suppliers name is Rosa Tan. Ms. Babatuan said that Ms. Tan caters the transportation and the milling cost of the rice. And she sells her produce for Php 14 per kilo. Table 2. The Cost of Producing Rice in one cropping season
Cost item Cost per cropping season 600 1300 2,926 2,264 1,280 1463 11,153 2750 kilograms Percent to the total cost 0.05 0.12 0.26 0.2 0.23 0.13 100% Cost per kilogram 0.22 0.47 1.06 0.82 0.95 0.53 4.05

Seed Labor Planting Harvesting Fertilizer Complete Tractor Thresher Total Cost Assumption: 50 sacks per 2/4 ha times 55 kilos per sacks Selling Price Total Volume Total Revenue Total Profit Net margin

Php 14 2750 kilograms Php 38,500 Php 27,347 Php 9.95 per kilo

2. Intercropping 8

Farmer 1 Asuncion Ginez produces durian and banana at the same time. Shes in this business for 5 years already. At first, she produces rice but then she saw a potential for durian and banana thats why she converted a part of her land for durian and banana.

Table 3. The production cost of producing Durian and Banana

Cost item Seedlings Pesticides Foliar Fertilizer Potash Total cost Total Volume Selling Price Total Revenue Total Profit Net Profit Cost per cropping season (Banana) 756 1000 600 2,356 280 kilograms Php 25 Php 7000 Php 4644 Php 16.59 per kilo Cost per kilogram 2.7 3.57 2.14 8.41 Cost per cropping season (Durian) Cost per kilograms

1000 600 1600 200 kilograms Php 28 Php 5600 Php 4000 Php 20 per kilo

5 3 8

The table shows the over-all cost of production and the net margins of banana and durian. Ms. Ginez said that intercropping really helped her a lot financially. Because of her gains in this business, she already bought a thresher. The advantage of this intercropping is that, she would still earn money at any time of the year, since each fruit have different season of bearing. Ms. Ginez is also a retailer. She sells her products in Calinan Public Market. And she prefers that the farmers should sell their products

directly to the market. With this, the profit would be maximized. She also buys the banana tissues for Php 12. 3. Livestock Dairy Cattle Mr. Victoriano Cano is one of the dairy cattle raisers in Brgy. Riverside. He is a member of the Federation of Davao Dairy Farmers, located in Malagos, Baguio District. He has been in the business for 21 years and owned a 1.4 ha of farm land. He is a graduate of mechanical engineering in Laguna. When his eyes were affected by a disease, he stopped his engineering career and he decided to settle here in Davao with his family. He has 14 cows, 9 are females and the other five are males. This cooperative supplies milk to Dairy Best Corp. Table 4. The production cost of Victoriano Cano for dairy cattle.
Cost item Labor Feeds Concentrated Mixed Total cost Total Volume Selling Price Total Revenue Total Profit Net Margin Cost per day 300 120 504 80 liters Php 25 Php 1600 Php 1,096 Php 13.7 per liter Percent of the total cost 0.6 0.24 100% Cost per liters 3.75 1.5 6.3

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The table shows the production cost and net margin of dairy farming. This is based on a daily basis. The only problem that he is concern with is the climate change. It triggers diseases to the cattle. It also lessens the volume of grass in the pasture. Poultry The Fran Poultry Farm is located in Purok 6, Brgy. Riverside. It has a land area of 1 ha and has 17 workers. It has three buildings that cater 160-170 chicken each. This farm has a contract growing agreement with San Miguel Corporation. San Miguel Corporation provides the inputs such as the chicks, broiler feeds and the transportation cost. The assistants are restricted to give information about the costing of the poultry farm. Though some information was provided like; there is a total average volume of production of 900.68 kilograms.

B. PEST analysis

Political

Government gives support to Riverside farmers through conducting seminars that could add up to the knowledge of the farmers about their crops and the improvements they should do to have a high volume of produce which gives way to a higher profit. Department of Agriculture and Philippine Coconut Association are some of the departments of government which help the farmers in terms of providing good quality seedlings for the farmers.

Economical 11

Most of the farmers solely depend on the income they get in farming for their daily living. Some have other sources of income such as tricycle driving; making copra in coconut farm; selling of chicken manures which is used as a fertilizer by some farmers, etc so as to support their family. Upon harvesting, there are farmers who have sure buyers without an agreement. Verbal arrangements is made prior to harvesting or through suki system. There are also farmers which have contract agreements to its buyers just like the poultry farm and the dairy cattle farm. The crops are being sold in markets of Calinan as well as in Davao City.

Social

Technological There are several research developments, seminars, and training that were conducted in Barangay Riverside. The evident use of technology is in the plowing of rice paddies.

C. SWOT ANALYSIS
The SWOT analysis would focus on the over-all production of crops, livestock and poultry in the barangay. STRENGTHS

This barangay is located before the Calinan Proper. It is the gateway of Calinan. Thus, it makes it easy for the farmers to buy materials that are essential for their business. Most of the farmers, in this barangay, practice the pakyawan style. In this style, a buyer would buy all the produce of the farmer and offer bigger amounts. With this, the buyer provides the transportation, thus, minimizing the cost. And the hardworking farmers are very essential for the production of crops here, in Brgy. Riverside.

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The type of soil was also highlighted by the barangay officials. The type of soil in the barangay is Tugbok Clay. It is excellent for abacca, fruit trees, corn, and ramie. And also the presence of irrigation is very helpful for the farmers, since, the irrigation is free. And it seems it had an abundant supply of water. In the barangay, there were three identified source of water; the creeks, underground water and river banks.

WEAKNESSES

The market system exists in the barangay is not beneficial. As what the farmers said, intermediaries offer small prices for their produce and they don t have any choice but to sell it to the intermediaries because it is a sure market for their products. This market system hinders the farmers to sell their products to a good buyer and to have a good price for their produce. If only farmers would have the right information on where to sell and what price should they consider for their produce. We also see that the government lacks that proper guidance to our farmers. This lack of government intervention leads to the buyers and intermediaries taking advantage over the farmers. And lastly, some of the small scale farmers are financially incapable. With this problem, farmers are faced with many debts, even if they haven t started planting yet. This is also because of the lack of financial support from the government.

OPPORTUNITIES

Technology had been playing an important role in human lives, nowadays. And in agriculture, it helps in enhancing the productivity of a farmer. This would also lessen the work exerted by the farmer. This is a good opportunity for the farmers, but it is, somehow, expensive. Nowadays, more Filipinos are health conscious. The increase in population of healthy eaters increases the demand for vegetable, fruits and even, chicken meat. And this should be exploited by the farmers.

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THREATS

We had been experiencing an abrupt change of the weather, nowadays. Scientists had said it is global warming. This poses a big threat to the farmers, as changes in climatic patterns disrupt the growing cycle of some plants, livestock and poultry. This may lessen the productivity of the farmers. With the current trend on prices of different factors of production, it is rapidly increasing. This wouldn t help the farmers and the consumers, as prices of factors would increase, the prices of commodities would also increase. And lastly, the presence of pest in farms poses a big threat, as production would somehow decrease.

SUMMARY
STRENGTHS: y y y y y There is a sure market for the produce of the farmers, thus, transportation cost is less because it is being provided by the buyers. The availability of the factors in the production of crops, livestock, and poultry such as seeds, labor and etc. The type of soil in Barangay Riverside is conducive for agriculture. Thus, production of crops is high. Hardworking farmers. Presence of free irrigation, like tubod , riverbanks or creeks.

WEAKNESSES: y y y y Lack of information for prices and markets for the produce. Lack of government assistance. Lack of financial support. Presence of intermediaries.

OPPORTUNITIES: y y THREATS: y There is an increase in prices of different factors of production.

Investment in new technology to increase productivity.

High demand for healthy foods like chicken, vegetables and fruits.

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y y

Climate Change may affect production of crops, livestock and poultry. Pest infestation, like what happened in the corn fields of Davao del Sur were affected by rats.

VIII. Summary and Conclusion IX. Recommendation The researchers recommend

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