Las Kuatras Marias farm is located in San Narcisso village, near Victoria City in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines, where rice monoculture is the main source of income for family farmers in the area. The household is composed of the family members, three living on the farm (a couple and one child) and three children studying different aspects of agriculture. The family is supported by a young graduate farm technician, including on the monitoring of the farm.
Applying an extensive knowledge of indigenous and organic practices, the farm is strategically structured in distinct components that are designed to maximize one another. A nutrient recycling system generates a virtuous closed loop process on the farm (Figure 1), and biodiversity is intensified to multiply key ecological functions and processes within and among the components (e.g. natural pest management and optimal use of sunlight, rainfall and soil fertility). With an increased occurrence of typhoons, floods and drought in the region, the family has learned, analysed and scaled up the most resilient plants and practices to reduce their vulnerability.
As a result, the family farmers produce quality organic products, including their own seeds and fertilizers, reducing their dependency on external input providers. Despite the farm only being 0.5 hectares, the food and nutrition needs of the family are amply fulfilled with a production including rice (black, red), pigs, poultry, goats, fish, roots, fruits, vegetables, culinary herbs and feed for livestock. Overall, forty indigenous medicine plant varieties are also grown, documented and used. An agro-forestry component provides wood for cooking and material to build or fix the other components, acting as a climate regulator and enhancing favourable habitat for local wildlife.
The human living area itself is a component of the farm with a learning centre and a farm-tourism facility. Local knowledge is valued and shared, and the provision of goods and services to visitors generates additional income for the family and the community, thus fostering the local economy.