Effects of Farmers' Machinery Utilization Under Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund's Mechanization Program on Farm Yield and Net Income in Selected Rice Farmers in Calamba City, Dry Season, 2024

Date

6-2024

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Arvin B. Vista

Committee Member

Geny F. Lapiña, Maria Angeles O. Catelo

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Abstract

The Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) was highly debated. Tobias (2019) stated that Filipino farmers must compete with cheap importing while unsure of the preventive measures, leaving them poor. However, the DA-PhilRice (2019) emphasized that the law enabled farmers to improve productivity, reduce production costs, and receive RCEF programs. One program under RCEF was the mechanization program, which aimed to increase yield and income. However, there was a lack of empirical data about rice farmers’ machinery utilization under RCEF’s mechanization program and its relationship to farm yield and net income. Hence, the study aimed to determine the effects of farmers’ machinery utilization under RCEF’s Mechanization Program on farm yield and net income in Calamba City during the dry season.

The study was conducted in Calamba City where 42 rice farmers under the program and 25 rice farmers without the program were interviewed using a survey questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Poisson regression, cost and return analysis, Student’s t-test, and Spearman’s correlation.

Results showed that land preparation, harvesting, and threshing were the activities in which farmers mostly utilized farm machinery. Rice farmers benefiting from the program highly utilized hand tractors while rice farmers without the program favored floating tillers. With and without the program, a combine harvester was the most utilized farm machinery in harvesting and threshing. Among the beneficiaries of the program, rice farmers also used their own, custom hire, and cooperative-owned machinery. It was observed that rice farmers under the program prefer to custom hire smaller machinery and utilize RCEF’s big farm machinery. The study also identified significant machinery- related factors (affordability, compatibility, trialability, and observability) and institutional factors (access to farm machinery and equipment, access to expanded rice credit assistance, and access to rice extension services) using Poisson regression.

The study presented that rice farmers without the program had higher average total revenue and expenses per ha than rice farmers with the program. In addition, the study showed a positive relationship between machinery utilization and the farm yield of rice farmers under the program using Spearman’s correlation. Meanwhile, the machinery utilization of rice farmers without the program had a positive relationship with farm yield and net farm income. Moreover, the Student’s t-test revealed that there is no significant difference in farm yield and net farm income between rice farmers under the program and those without the program. Thus, the study recommends reviewing and evaluating RCEF’s mechanization program concurrently with the reported amendment of the RTL. If RCEF programs are pursued, the study suggests linking RCEF’s credit program, and extension program with the mechanization program to help rice farmers. For future research, comparing the costs and returns between rice farmers only using RCEF machinery among program beneficiaries and rice farmers without the program may be conducted in other RCEF beneficiary areas to capture the effects of machinery utilization under the program on farm yield and net farm income on a national scale.

Language

English

LC Subject

Rice farming--Philippines, Farm buildings--Mechanical equipment, Farm income

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2024 A14 L59

Notes

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Document Type

Thesis

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