AN EMPIRICAL TYPOLOGY OF BRACKISH-WATER POND AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS IN THE PHILIPPINES: A TOOL TO AID COMPARATIVE STUDY IN THE SECTOR |
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| Authors: | James R Stevenson Xavier T Irz Rose-Glenda Alcalde Pierre Morrisens Jean Petit |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, University of Reading , Reading UK jstevenson@oxfam.org.uk;3. Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, University of Reading , Reading UK;4. Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development , Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines;5. Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) , Montpellier, France;6. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) , Rennes, France |
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| Abstract: | Aquaculture in the Philippines is long-established but has witnessed rapid technical change in the last 20 years with the introduction of hatchery technology and commercial feed mills changing the production possibilities for a fishpond operator. To understand the sector, a typology of brackish-water pond farming systems is constructed using multivariate methods (principal components analysis, cluster analysis). Eight input variables across all major factors of production are used in the analysis, gathered from a net sample of 136 farms in two regions in 2003. Three latent variables are described, accounting for 58% of variance in the original data: specialization; land vs. labor intensity; and feeding intensity. Five clusters (farm types) are subsequently described: extensive polyculture (40% of sample); semi-intensive prawn-oriented polyculture (11%); low-input labor-intensive farms (27%); very large, extensive milkfish-oriented farms (8%); and semi-intensive milkfish monoculture farms (14%). Implications for technical efficiency estimation and comparative study of economic indicators are discussed. |
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| Keywords: | chanos chanos penaeus monodon farming systems Philippines variable inputs principal components analysis |
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