| CERES No. 148 July - August 1994 | By R. Remonde, L. Villamore
and Erik J. Simonides Alayon sa Banika (ALAB), a Filipino
farmers' cooperative, has been experimenting for almost 12 years
with organic contour farming. To estimate how much extra labor
is needed for such farming compared to farming with inorganic
chemicals, co-op staff studied the experiences of members in
their home municipality in the mountains of Argao, on the east
coast of Cebu Island. In the early 1960s, the Philippine
government started promoting the use of chemical fertilisers in
the Argao region, and by the 1970s their use was well-
established. High-yielding varieties were also introduced,
accompanied by pesticides. Seminars were organised in which new
techniques like mono cropping and calendar spraying were
explained. Farmers who adopted the complete techno-package were
offered loans from the Land Bank, brokered by extension workers.
Everything worked beautifully in the first years. Farmers raised
bountiful harvests. But after 1980 the