ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ORGANIC SHEEP-CITRUS BASED INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM
Marilou B. Agaid
Organic Agriculture in Region 02 was introduced in 2012. It opened awareness of consumers and producers especially on agriculture related business. Citrus on the other hand is a regional commodity. Some citrus orchards were established 25 years ago but as years passed, the trees were unproductive. Meanwhile, sheep (Ovis aries L.) were introduced lately by the Department of Agriculture, additional source of meat in the locality. Hence this study was conducted on how to integrate sheep in citrus orchards to showcase a technology a sheep-citrus based farming system.
Questions on choosing what type of ruminants to be raised under citrus was confidently answered by the respondents as the integration sheep.
Integrating 10 sheep in a hectare of citrus can increase income by as much as 70% in the second year of operation. Weed problems in the orchard were managed with sheep foraging on them. Provided that appropriate shed and pasture development are put in place and organic farming is practiced. The technology can be replicated in farmers’ field for further validation and dissemination of the technology.
Key words: sheep, organic animal production, citrus production, organic farming