Source: NSO, 1991 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries and 2002 Census of Agriculture

Benguet reported the highest number of farms

Among the provinces in CAR, Benguet shared the biggest number of farms with 27.5 thousand, covering 30 thousand hectares of agricultural land. In fact, the total farms for the province accounted for 22.9 percent of the total farms in the region. Areas under agricultural land comprised 10.8 percent of the total land area for the province. Moreover, the number of agricultural farms for the province was higher by 12.1 percent over the 1991 level while the total area was higher by eight percent.

Abra ranked second with 22.4 thousand farms, covering 22.7 thousand hectares while Ifugao came in third with 21.1 thousand farms, covering 40.4 thousand hectares.

Palay was the major temporary crop in the region

Among the temporary crops, palay was the common crop in the region in terms of area planted, which accounted for 82.6 thousand farms with a combined area of 95.1 thousand hectares. Although corn followed next with 20.5 thousand farms reporting, covering 29.2 thousand hectares, it recorded a 17.1 percent decrease in the number of farms but established a 44.9 percent increase in the area planted as compared with the 1991 estimates. Tubers, roots and bulbs, ranked third in 2002. This crop experienced a 7.6 percent reduction in the number of farms but recorded an increase of 18.7 percent in the total area planted over the 1991 figures.

For Abra, Kalinga and Apayao, palay was the top temporary crop, while for Ifugao and Mountain Province, palay was the second major temporary crop, next to corn in 2002. As expected, Benguet, being the (Salad Bowl of the Philippines), its major crops were tubers, roots and bulbs, and leafy vegetables, stems and flowers.

Banana was the dominant permanent crop

In terms of the number of trees/hills/vines, banana was the dominant permanent crop in the region, accounting for 45.8 thousand farms planted with 4.9 million hills. Coffee robusta followed next with 10.2 thousand farms planted with 4.8 million trees. Coffee arabica ranked third with 6.9 thousand farms planted with 1.4 million trees. In 1991, these were also the dominant permanent crops in the region where coffee robusta was the number one permanent crop followed by banana.

Among the top five permanent crops grown in the region, banana was the only common crop among the top five crops in the provinces where it was the number one crop in Apayao, Abra, and Mountain Province; second major crop in Benguet and Kalinga, and the fifth important crop in Ifugao.

Communal system of irrigation was common in CAR

Irrigation was an indispensable means for producing agricultural crops. In 2002, CAR had 96.2 thousand farms with an irrigated area of 97.3 thousand hectares, or 54.7 percent of the total agricultural land. The most common system of irrigation was the communal system, which supplied water to 45.4 thousand farms with a total irrigated area of 32.8 thousand hectares. Individual system of irrigation followed next, which covered 30.5 thousand hectares while other irrigation system such as windmills, water fetching, among others, came in third, supplying water to 19.6 thousand hectares. Agricultural lands 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 CAR during 1991 and 2002 was hogs. A total of 61.9 thousand farms reported to have reared 202.6 thousand hogs as of March 2003. In terms of the number of hogs tended, the figure increased by 9.6 percent over the 1991 total of 184.9 thousand hogs.

Experiencing a 9.4 percent decrease over the 1991 figure, tending of carabao ranked second with 70.1 thousand heads as of March 2003. Cattle raising ranked third in 2002 with 55.8 thousand heads tended, showing a 14.6 percent increase over the 1991 figure.

Hog was consistently the top livestock tended in all provinces of the region in the two census periods (1991 and 2002). Kalinga had the most number of hogs tended with 70.4 thousand heads, or 34.7 percent of the total hogs in the region. On the other hand, Abra shared the biggest proportion of carabaos tended (32 percent) in the region. Likewise, a high proportion of cattle (37.9 percent), horse (49.8 percent) and goat (48.6 percent) were reared in Abra.

Source: NSO, 1991 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries and 2002 Census of Agriculture 

Raising of Chicken Was the Primary Poultry Raising Activity

Raising of chicken was the primary activity in terms of poultry raising in CAR. About 92.3 thousand farms reported to have raised 1.8 million chicken in the region as of March 2003. In terms of the number of chicken raised, the figure was 66.1 percent higher over the 1991 level of 1.1 million heads. This increase recorded the highest increase among the other poultry raised in the region.

Raising of ducks ranked second with 20.3 thousand farms reporting to have raised 145.1 thousand ducks as of March 2003. This registered an increase of 36.4 thousand heads over the 1991 figure of 108.7 thousand ducks.

Among the provinces in the region, Apayao contributed most to the total chicken raised in the region by as much as 32 percent, followed by Ifugao with 27.6 percent and Abra with 13.5 percent.

Ornamental and Flower Gardening Also Common in the Region

While most agricultural operators in CAR were engaged in common agricultural activities like planting palay, corn, etc., others were 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 3.2 thousand farms. Moreover, this figure was 67.9 percent higher than the 1.9 thousand farms reported in 1991.

Mushroom culture also attracted the interest of the agricultural operators in 2002 where it posted a 94.4 percent increase, or from 142 farms in 1991 to 276 farms in 2002. Similarly, orchid growing posted an increase of 22.3 percent, or 63 more farms over the 1991 level of 283 farms.

Male Operators Dominated the Agriculture Operation

More males were engaged as agricultural operators than their female counterparts. In 2002, male operators, numbering 105 thousand, accounted for 87.4 percent of the total agricultural operators in the region.

Majority of the operators in the region, totalling to 74.8 thousand (62.3 percent) belonged to the 30 to 54 year age group.

About 71 percent of the household members who were engaged in any agricultural activity were employed in own agricultural 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 218.3 thousand household members were engaged in agricultural activities. Of this number, about 155.1 thousand (71 percent) were employed in own holding, 49.9 thousand (22.8 percent) were employed both in their own holding and in the holding of others, and 13.3 thousand (6.1 percent) in other holdings.

Household members who were engaged in any agricultural activity were mostly concentrated in the 10 to 24 year age group. About 105.5 thousand or 52.2 percent of the household members in this age group were engaged in any agricultural activity.

While male operators dominated the agricultural operations in the year, female household members who were engaged in any agricultural activity, numbering 129.9 thousand, outnumbered their male counterparts by 45.7 thousand.

While male operators dominated the agricultural operations in the year, female household members who were engaged in any agricultural activity, numbering 129.9 thousand, outnumbered their male counterparts by 45.7 thousand.

Source:   National Statistics Office
                Manila, Philippines