Traditional and Adaptive Papait Farming Among Smallholders in Central Pangasinan: Practices, Constraints, and Perceptions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2026.004Keywords:
Farmer perceptions, Indigenous leafy vegetables, Mollugo oppositifolia, Smallholder farmers, Traditional knowledgeAbstract
Indigenous leafy vegetables contribute to food security and smallholder livelihoods. However, they remain understudied, particularly in the Philippines. Guided by the Perceptions–Constraints–Practices Decision Framework, this study examined the cultivation practices, constraints, and farmer perceptions associated with papait farming among smallholders in Central Pangasinan. The study employed a basic qualitative design with semi-structured interviews of 11 farmers selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's six-phase thematic analysis. The analysis revealed three key domains. Cultivation practices included natural regeneration, manual weeding, and observation based irrigation alongside other traditional techniques. Perceived constraints comprised environmental pressures from flooding and pests, economic instability from price volatility and limited institutional support, labor intensity, and land scarcity. Farmers' perceptions shape cultivation decisions, centered on economic viability, cultural significance, and ecological adaptability. These findings demonstrate that papait cultivation persists through a conservative core of stable traditional practices and an adaptive periphery of flexible responses to environmental shocks. This persistence resolves the documentation gap by showing that indigenous vegetable systems rely on locally transmitted knowledge and adaptive strategies rather than external innovations. The findings also reveal that farmers face interlocking constraints that threaten sustainability. A key limitation is the small sample size, which limits generalizability beyond the study context. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated support, including price stabilization, farmer organization, and climate-adaptive resources tailored to local contexts. The findings contribute to the limited literature on indigenous vegetable systems and demonstrate that low adoption of agricultural innovations in the Global South reflects institutional failure to recognize valued knowledge systems rather than farmer resistance to change.
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