Number of farms increased by 7.2 percent in 2002
In 2002, Western Mindanao registered 252.7 thousand farms for agricultural use, covering 785.3 thousand hectares. The region's total agricultural land area comprised almost half (45.2 percent) of the region's total land area. As a result of the increase in the number of farms and area planted by 7.2 percent and 16.2 percent, respectively over the 1991 estimates, the average farm size increased from 2.87 hectares per farm in 1991 to 3.11 hectares per farm in 2002.
The region reported an average of two parcels per farm in 2002.
Table A. Number and Area of Farms by Province: Western Mindanao, 1991 and 2002
(Data are tabulated by residence of operators; Area is in hectares; Details may not add up to total due to rounding)
| Region and Province | Number of Farms | Area of Farms | ||
| 2002 | 1991 | 2002 | 1991 | |
| Western Mindanao | 252,659 | 235,674 | 785,294 | 675,723 |
| Zamboanga del Norte | 104,070 | 88,084 | 295,295 | 266,879 |
| Zamboanga del Sur (including Zamboanga Sibugay) |
148,589 | 147,590 | 490,000 | 408,844 |
| Zamboanga del Sur (excluding Zamboanga Sibugay) |
103,865 | 235,400 | ||
| Zamboanga Sibugay | 44,724 | 254,600 | ||
Source: National Statistics Office, 1991 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries and 2002 Census of Agriculture
Zamboanga del Norte had the highest number of farms
Among the provinces in Western Mindanao, Zamboanga del Norte shared the highest number of farms with 104.1 thousand, covering 295.3 thousand hectares of agricultural land. The total farms for the province accounted for 41.2 percent of the total farms in the region. Moreover, this posted an 18.1 percent increase in the number of farms and 10.6 percent in the area of farms as compared to that of the 1991 figures.
Zamboanga del Sur followed closely with 103.9 thousand farms, accounting for 41.1 percent of the total farms in the region. Zamboanga Sibugay, on the other hand, had 44.7 thousand farms with an area of 254.6 thousand hectares. The number and area of farms of these two provinces when combined registered an increase of 0.7 percent and 19.9 percent, respectively over the 1991 levels.
Palay was the major temporary crop in the region
Among the temporary crops, palay was the major temporary crop in the region in terms of area planted. This crop accounted for 75.6 thousand farms with a combined area of 292.3 thousand hectares. Corn followed next with 138.3 thousand farms reporting, covering 202.5 thousand hectares. On the contrary, this crop ranked first in 1991 and palay ranked second in terms of area planted with 229.3 thousand hectares and 129.4 thousand hectares, respectively.
Tubers, roots and bulbs ranked third both in 1991 and 2002 where there was a decrease in the number of farms and area planted in 2002. From 82 thousand farms and 19.1 thousand hectares in 1991, the numbers decreased to 77.7 thousand farms and 16.7 thousand hectares in 2002.
Coconut was the dominant permanent crop
In terms of the number of trees/vines/hills planted, coconut was the predominant permanent crop in the region, accounting for 27.2 million trees as reported by 165.2 thousand farms. These figures were higher by 16.9 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively from the 1991 figures. Rubber followed with 11.4 million trees, while banana ranked third with 134.9 thousand farms planted with 6.9 million hills. In 1991, banana ranked second (8.4 million hills) and rubber (6.4 million trees) ranked third.
All provinces in the region have the same top three crops namely, coconut, rubber and banana both in 2002 and 1991.
Individual system of irrigation was common in Western Mindanao
Irrigation was an indispensable means for producing agricultural crops. In 2002, Western Mindanao had about 50.3 thousand farms with an irrigated area of 107.7 thousand hectares, or 13.7 percent of the total agricultural land. The most common system of irrigation was the individual system, which supplied water to 15.5 thousand farms with an irrigated area of 33.7 thousand hectares. Communal system of irrigation followed next, which covered 22.2 thousand hectares while national irrigation system came in third, supplying water to 25.8 thousand hectares of agricultural land. Farms planted with temporary crops benefited most of the irrigation facilities in the region.
Hog raising dominated the livestock raising activity
The dominant livestock raised in Western Mindanao was hogs. A total of 140.8 thousand farms reported to have reared 331.3 thousand hogs as of March 2003. In terms of number of hogs reared, the figure was 12 percent less than the 1991 total of 376.5 thousand hogs.
Cattle raising ranked second with 163.2 thousand heads tended, experiencing a 128.7 percent increase over the 1991 figure. Carabao raising followed with 139 thousand heads as of March 2003, registering a decrease of 8.1 percent from the 1991 figure.
Hog raising was also the top livestock activity in all provinces of Western Mindanao, with Zamboanga del Norte sharing the highest number of hogs tended (43.3 percent of the total for the region), followed closely by Zamboanga del Sur (41.6 percent). Carabao raising was the next top livestock activity in Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay while cattle raising in Zamboanga del Sur.
Raising of chicken was the primary poultry raising activity
Raising of chicken was the primary poultry raising activity in Western Mindanao. About 196.9 thousand farms reported to have raised 3.3 million chickens in the region as of March 2003. The figure for the number of chicken raised was 10.7 percent higher than the 1991 level.
Raising of ducks ranked second with 8.8 thousand farms reporting to have raised 138.5 thousand ducks as of March 2003. The number of ducks was comparatively lower by 68.2 thousand over the 1991 level of 206.7 thousand ducks.
Among the provinces in the region, Zamboanga del Sur contributed most to the total chicken raised in the region by as much as 54.5 percent, while Zamboanga del Norte followed with 34.3 percent.
Ornamental and flower gardening (excluding orchid) also common in the region
While most agricultural operators in Western Mindanao were engaged in common agricultural activities like planting palay, corn, etc., others were also involved in other agricultural activities like bee culture/honeybee production, silkworm production, among others. For these types of agricultural activities, ornamental and flower gardening (excluding orchid) reported the highest number in the region with 2.8 thousand farms.
Mushroom culture posted the highest percent increase in the number of farms engaged in other agricultural activities, where there was a six-fold increase, from 123 farms in 1991 to 878 farms in 2002. Similarly, sericulture/silk/cocoon activity displayed a three-fold increase, or 638 more farms over the 1991 level.
Male operators dominated the agricultural operation
As expected, there were more male operators engaged in agricultural operation than their female counterparts. In 2002, male operators (226.8 thousand) accounted for 89.8 percent of the total agricultural operators in the region.
Meanwhile, majority of the operators in the region (61.8 percent of the total agricultural operators) belonged to the 30 to 54 year age group.
Majority of the household members engaged in agricultural activity were working in their own holding
Household members of the agricultural operators were asked if they were engaged in any agricultural activity, whether in their own holding, in other holding or both.
In 2002, a total of 296.4 thousand household members were engaged in agricultural activities. Of this number, 236 thousand (79.6 percent) were employed in own holding, 43.8 thousand (14.8 percent) both in their own holding and in the holding of others, and 16.6 thousand (5.6 percent) in other holdings.
More than one-third (37.3 percent) of the household members 10 to 24 years old were engaged in any agricultural activity. Four in five (79.1 percent) of them were working in their own holding.
Moreover, while male operators dominated the agricultural operations in the year, female non-operator household members who were engaged in any agricultural activity (182.6 thousand) outnumbered their male counterparts by 72.5 thousand.
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TECHNICAL NOTES Reference period - The reference period of the 2002 Census of Agriculture (CA 2002) was from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. However, the data on livestock and poultry for CA 2002 were recorded as of the date of visit of the enumerators, i.e., anytime from March 3 to April 5, 2003, while the 1991 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF) data for livestock and poultry were recorded as of August 31, 1991. Moreover, the reference period applied for the temporary crops during CA 2002 was from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002 while as of December 31, 2002 for the permanent crops. During the 1991 CAF, the reference period used for recording data on temporary and permanent crops was the past 12 months. Farm - Any piece or pieces of land having a total area of at least 1,000 square meters used wholly or partly for growing of crops such as palay, corn, fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc., and/or for tending of livestock and/or poultry, regardless of number; or any land, regardless of area, used for raising of at least 20 heads of livestock or 100 heads of poultry. Area of farm - The physical or actual measurement of the land, reported only once regardless of how many times it was used during the reference period, i.e., January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. Temporary Crops - Plants grown seasonally and whose growing cycle is less than one year and which must be sown or planted again for production after each harvest. In 1991, pineapple was treated as temporary crop. Hence, the data for this crop was in terms of area planted and not the number of hills. Permanent Crops - Plants that occupy the land for a period of time and do not need to be replaced after each harvest. Following the Food and Agriculture (FAO) classification of pineapple as permanent crop, data for this crop for CA 2002 was in terms of number of hills. Data Limitation - The data referring to farms were tabulated according to the geographic area of the operator's residence, which may not be the same as the actual location of the farm or farm parcels. Data for Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay - For purposes of comparison with 1991, data for Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay were also combined in 1991. |
Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines
