Some socio-economic factors affecting the implementation at the farm level of rice production program in the Philippines

Date

3-1968

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine some socio-economic factors affecting the farm level implementation of the rice production program of the Philippines, and to indicate some policy implications for future agricultural development programming, thereby facilitating more effective use of agricultural resources and better implementation of the development programs.

The socio-economic factors included for consideration in this study are: provision of infrastructures; availability of physical inputs; credit institutions and price incentives; institutional arrangements; farmers' characteristics and human factors; communications and extension education services. Nine hypotheses concerning these socio-economic factors and the farm-level implementation of the agricultural program were derived and tested statistically from the data gathered by interviews, observations, and personal diary notes.

The research areas were located within the rice producing regions of Central and Southern Luzon of the Philippines. Six provinces were chosen by the random sampling method: Laguna, Quezon, Cavite, Rizal, Nueva Ejia, and Bulacan. A total sample of 395 farmers from the 15 barrios and 13 municipalities within these six provinces composed the respondents.

The findings of this study show that the infrastructure factors as a whole, were positively correlated to the farm-level implementation of the rice production program. Since the dominant infrastructure factor that was identified was irrigation water, it may be concluded that the availability of irrigation was a perquisite for effective implementation of the rice production program at the farm level. Therefore, the development of irrigation facilities should rate top priority in project or developmental activities.

The availability of divisible physical inputs was positively related to the farm-level implementation of the rice production program. Further, in the areas where irrigation water was available, more farmers used divisible physical inputs and other recommended rice farming practices than in those where an irrigation water supply was not adequate. Thus, making the production supplies available to the farmers, provided the water is adequate, is necessary for the effective implementation at the farm level of a rice production program.

The results of this study indicate that the use of the divisible physical inputs and the recommended rice farming practices as a whole effected a productivity increase.

The findings of this study show that the existence and use of credit institutions and price incentives affected the farm-level implementation. These findings support the hypothesis that the farm-level implementation of the rice production program is more likely to take place if: (a) credit facilities are available and if such facilities are made use of by the farmers, and (b) the prices of palay sold at the farm is favorable. Therefore, the provision by the government of adequate credit facilities extending credit at a reasonable rate of interest may encourage farmers to implement the rice production program at the farm level.

It was noted that although many agencies were involved in rice production at the higher levels, no specific agency was directly responsible for carrying out the rice production program at the farm level. The findings of this study indicate that institutional arrangements were related to the farm-level implementation of the rice production program; that is, the implementation of the rice production program was more likely to take place if certain government agencies had been in operation at the farm level. Moreover, this implementation was more likely to take place if farmers had been members of farmers' organizations or other organizations related to agriculture. It seems appropriate to suggest that the division of responsibilities between the government and the farm people is necessary for the implementation of the rice production program at the farm level.

This will channel all the efforts to reach the farm people. On one hand, the government should establish and strengthen specialized and related services, and the farm people should be encourage to do what they can and should do for themselves on the other.

The data show that the full-owner-operators and part-owner farmers were less likely to implement the rice production program at the farm level. In other words, tenant farmers as a whole tended to implement the rice production program at the farm level more than the owner-operators. This finding seems to imply that share tenancy is not necessarily a factor affecting the implementation of the rice production program at the farm level. The implementation is that land reform, specifically the creation of owner-operators, is not badly needed under the present stage of agricultural development of the Philippines.

The provision of infrastructures such as irrigation and flood control facilities, as well as feeder-roads, transportation, and marketing facilities, appears to be a more strategic factor than land tenure reform. This implies that the implementation at the farm level of a program, such as the land reform program in the Philippines, should be coordinated with the different stages of agricultural development. In the implementation of the program, it is necessary to differentiate the strategic factors in the different stages of development and to point out the sequence of necessary programs and inputs that are needed in the local areas.

The findings of this study support the hypothesis that the implementation of the rice production program at the farm level is more likely to take place if (a) the farmers belong to the older age group; (b) the farmers' level of educational attainment is relatively high; (c) the number of family members working on the farm is relatively high; and (d) the size of the farm holding is relatively large.

The findings of this study also show, as far as the farmers' awareness of the national agricultural program, the barrio development program, and the divisible physical inputs and recommended rice farming practices are concerned, that communication factors were related to the farm-level implementation of the rice production program. The implementation at the farm level of the rice production program is more likely to take place if farmers were aware of these programs, inputs, and practices.

This study reveals that farmers who were aware of the presence of extension workers in the barrios had more contact with these extension workers, and therefore participated more in extension activities. The implementation of the rice production program at the farm level was found to be related to the extension education services at the farm level. The more favorable the extensive service was, the more likely was the implementation of the rice production program at the farm level.

The findings of this study indicate that the socio-economic factors affecting the farm-level implementation of the rice production program were complementary in nature, that all socio-economic factors were interdependent, and that any single one can influence not only the implementation of the rice production program at the farm level but also the functioning of all the other factors. It was found that farmers who obtained high scores of combined socio-economic factors tended to implement the rice production program at the farm level more than those who had low scores of combined socio-economic factors, and that the combined effects of the socio-economic factors affecting the implementation of the rice production program at the farm level were greater than the effects of any of the factors acting singly.

The socio economic factors as they are associated with the implementation at the farm level are listed in the order of the degree association, starting with the highest degree: irrigation water, divisible physical inputs, extension education services, credit institutions and price incentives, farmers' characteristics, communications and institutional arrangements.

The combined effects of the socio-economic factors had a higher degree of association with the farm level implementation than the effects of any of the factors acting singly. It seems appropriate to indicate that the integrate approach using a sequence of the necessary programs and inputs that is determined by the needs of the local area is the strategy for the effective implementation of the rice production program at the farm level in the Philippines.

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Economics

College

Graduate School (GS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Obdulia F. Sison

Co-adviser

Sam-Chung Hsieh

Committee Member

Pedro R. Sandoval, Juan F. Jamias

Language

English

LC Subject

Rice--Philippines

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 996 1968 A14 L8

Notes

Doctor of the Philosophy (Agricultural Economics)

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