Suchergebnisse

The study was conducted in Sarangani Province to evaluate the upland rice farming in Sarangani Province. There are 275 respondents who came from the eight municipalities of the province. Descriptive statistics, costs and returns analysis, and the Cobb-Douglas production function were used in analyzing the data. In the performance of the cultural management practices of upland rice production, the whole family is involved; for planting and harvesting, both female and male members; for fertilization and pest management, only male members; and lastly, for postharvest activities, only female members. In terms of resource productivity, land is the most significant, followed by labor, in increasing the yield. Pesticide and fertilizer also significantly affected yields. Moreover, the farms have increasing returns to scale, which means that increased input will result in increased output. Since labor, land, fertilizer, and pesticides significantly affected yield, these will become constraints when not properly used. With these findings, it is recommended that research institutions must give more attention to upland rice farming to develop technologies to increase yield. Moreover, a gene bank must be provided to preserve all the upland rice cultivars. The government must also reach out to the farmers to provide credit as well as extension services so that their productivity will be enhanced. Another important factor is providing a good market to them so that they can take advantage of a higher price. Hence, government institutions must work hand in hand for the betterment of the upland rice farmers.

In 2016, we conducted a study among 211 upland farmer respondents to discover their organic farming practices and who among them are beneficiaries of an organic agriculture program in the country. Since there was no list of upland rice farmers at the office of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the respondents were selected through convenience, snowball, and cluster samplings. Data were gathered through personal interview. The data were analyzed through descriptive analysis and costs and returns analysis for profitability. Results revealed that upland farmers were not beneficiaries of an organic agriculture program implemented by the government. Out of the 211 respondents, 147 farmers (69.67%) are practicing organic farming. Their practice is considered traditional, and they are now called organic producers by default. Though they produce organic rice, their farm management practices are not consistent with the recommended practice. However, their traditional practice is sustainable. In terms of profitability, it is still profitable though their yield per hectare is way below the potential yield. All the accounts are under noncash since they only produce for consumption and they also practice bayanihan; hence, their expenses are also noncash. Hence, DA must include upland farmers as beneficiaries for development programs since organic agriculture is not contrary to their beliefs and culture and provide them with technical assistance to achieve the potential yield from organic farming, thereby improving their productivity and socioeconomic condition