Rice Farmers' Awareness and Perception of Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Extension Services Program (RCEF-RESP) in Nagcarlan, Laguna, Philippines

Date

5-2024

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Ma. Teresa A. Acda

Committee Member

Maria Noriza Q. Herrera, Fitz D. Jimenez, Melodee Marciana E. De Castro

Abstract

The Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) reduced consumer prices of milled rice from P46 to P39 in 2019. With this, the implemented law addressed consumers’ need for low-cost rice. However, on the rice production side, local farmers were put at a disadvantageous position due to the removal of quantitative restrictions on imported rice. To address this, a 10B appropriation of tariffs collected from rice imports would directly go to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) aimed at assisting local farmers. Part of the revenues has been dedicated to RCEF-Research Extension Program (RCEF-RESP) which has operated over 200 Farmer Field Schools (FFS) nationwide. Its training programs focused on the production of inbred rice and seed, farm mechanization, and other relevant skills. The country is predominantly reliant on the public provision of extension services given by the Department of Agriculture and affiliated organizations, however, there are little to no studies reviewing the impact of agricultural services and training programs offered by local government units other than quantification of intervention to farmers such as reporting accomplishments on the number of bags of seeds distributed, number of farmers attendance in training, number of fertilizers distributed (in bags/in kg), and other quantifiable inputs. Public advisory services have historically been underfunded, in part because it is difficult to demonstrate the impact of extension. This study aimed to explore the nature and reach of agricultural extension activities in Nagcarlan, Laguna. Particularly, it assessed farmers’ perception of RCEF-RESP on Production of High-Quality Inbred Rice, Seed Certification, and Farm Mechanization in terms of knowledge transfer, which is inclusive of quality of training methods and delivery; as well as the adoption of improved practices, and evaluated the effectiveness in terms of yield productivity. Ultimately, the study aimed to recommend potential developmental pathways in the delivery of these agricultural training services in Nagcarlan, Laguna.

Following a descriptive quantitative research design, data were collected using a validated structured questionnaire and were distributed to a total of 85 farmers belonging to select barangays in Nagcarlan, namely, Brgy Yukos, Brgy Taytay, Brgy Manaol, Brgy Banago, Brgy Silangang Napapatid, Brgy Palayan, and Brgy Malaya. The data was subjected to various non-parametric statistical methods such as descriptive statistics i.e., frequencies, means, mode, and standard deviation, Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman rho correlation test, Ordinal regression, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

The study revealed that majority of farmers were male, aged 30-86 years old, had graduated high school, had more than 31 years of experience, and lived with 3-5 family members. Their major source of household income comes from sales of crop yield. Most of the farmers who have off-farm employment are in the services sector. The findings also indicated that most of the farmers have access to agricultural extension services and information, and are particularly trusting with information from cooperatives/farmers’ associations, fellow farmers, and government extension staff. In terms of participation to RCEF-RESP, majority of the farmers are aware of RCEF-RESP on Production of High- Quality Inbred Rice, Seed Certification, and Farm Mechanization, however, most of them have not participated in the season-long training. Furthermore, farmers’ perception was assessed in terms of adoption and knowledge transfer, the latter being further characterized by extent of dissemination, overall perception, extent of usage and effectiveness of training methods, the extent of satisfaction to trainers, and perceived impact of training approaches. With that, farmer participants generally perceived that they learned a lot from the sessions, particularly from the PalayCheck system, basic rice machinery operation, and integrated pest management which were all disseminated and completely adopted in their respective farms. In terms of training methods, the majority of the farmers perceived that seminars, method demonstrations, result demonstrations, booklets, and meetings were effective to a great extent. The farmers generally perceived that the performance of RCEF-RESP trainers is satisfactory, in which, this perception is associated with their training approach of providing opportunities to farmers to understand and demonstrate learning. Finally, it was reported that the amount of palay harvest was higher after joining RCEF-RESP than before, rendering a statistically significant change in yield productivity.

In light of the findings, key focus areas were identified to provide recommendations for capacity improvement of RCEF-RESP. Firstly, there was a need to increase participation in RCEF-RESP by strengthening extension personnel, supplementing advisory services with physical marketing collaterals, and conducting marketing events. Secondly, intensifying farmer-driven orientation of the program was recommended through performing community appraisal and modifying training program formulation. Lastly, the study suggests that in order to ensure inter-coordination within RCEF programs, there is a need to intensify production means and assist in farm transition.

Language

English

LC Subject

Rice trade, Rice farmers

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2024 M17 D83

Notes

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Document Type

Thesis

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