MATTERS OF FACT

* Home gardening can reduce by about 20% a family's total daily food expenditures

* An estimated 10,000 cubic meters of arable soil per hectare are eroded annually.

* Every year, the Philippines import an average of 673 million kilograms of dairy products.

* The forest cover of the Philippine has been destroyed at a rate of 2.5 percent annually during the last 20 years.

Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT 1)
SALT is a packaged technology of soil conservation and food production which integrates several soil conservation measures in just one setting.  It involves planting of field and permanent crops in 3-5 meter bands between double-contoured rows of nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs to minimize soil erosion and maintain the fertility of the soil.

Simple Agro-Livestock Technology (SALT 2)
Under this system, 40% of the farm is devoted to agricultural crops, another 40% to livestock (particularly dairy goats) and the remaining 20% to forestry.

Sustainable Agroforest Land Technology (SALT 3)
This is a small-scale reforestation program in which food production is integrated.  Forty percent of the farm is devoted to agriculture and 60% to forestry.

Small Agrofruit Livelihood Technology (SALT 4)
Fruits, which are not highly-perishable, are planted in between the rows of different nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs.  Agricultural crops are planted in the first three years to fully utilize the farm.

Food Always In The Home (FAITH) Gardening 
In a 100-square-meter garden, a family of six members can harvest vegetables throughout the year.  The central feature is a series of raised garden beds into which trench and basket composts are set.  These are filled with little manure and some decomposed garbage and packed with leaves of leguminous trees and shrubs.

Livestock and Fisheries
Livestock raising is one of the simple low-cost food production methods that a small farmer can get involved in.  Among the livestock MBRLC are raising are goats, swine, rabbits, and ducks.  Inland fishery projects (like tilapia raising and duck-snail-fish integration) are also being promoted.

Impact Extension
MBRLC utilizes an impact area approach in extension.  In an identified area, a team of extension workers - usually composed of agriculturists, health workers, water drillers and community development trainers - work together with the villagers for the development of the area.  When certain development indicators are reached, the team is pulled out and transferred to another impact area.  Before leaving, the area is capable of sustaining the projects/programs being implemented.