Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 20 ISSUE 3
Written by Jessa H. RUALES, Moises Neil V. SERIÑO, Therese C. RATILLA, Jacob G. CUIZON, Wendy C. ENERLAN

Small scale coconut farmers are facing unprecedented challenges when attempting to increase productivity because of the occurrence of extreme weather events and changing climatic conditions. This paper investigates the practices adopted by coconut farmers in response to climate variability and assesses the agricultural practice using an investment lens to evaluate its profitability and potential for scaling up. We use farmers’ survey data complemented with focus group discussion and key informant interviews. Results show that investing in coconut banana intercropping and the use of improved coconut variety are among the potential options that the farmers can adopt. The comparison of these climate smart agricultural practices to conventional coconut farming shows positive incremental benefit and the financial analysis yields positive net present value and higher internal rate of return. These suggest that the adoption of climate smart agricultural practices generates higher farm productivity compared to the conventional farming system. This implies that there is a high potential for improving coconut productivity through scaling up of these feasible options that small-scale farmers can adopt. Considering the capacities of local farming communities, there is a broad scope for government and non-government organizations in enhancing the role of climate smart agricultural practices in coconut farming.

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