By Reynaldo E. Andres
Contributor
Batac CITY—The Extension
Directorate of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) has been doing an
excellent job in transferring various rice production technologies among
farmers in major rice producing areas of Ilocos Norte, thus, becoming
instrumental in increasing the rice buffer stock in the province.
These areas, located in the towns of Pagudpud, Dumalneg,
Vintar, Laoag City, Burgos and Bangui, were identified as Agrarian Reform
Communities (ARCs) by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) with various
existing Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs).
In a need assessment and design assessment (NADA) survey
conducted by MMSU and DAR, farmers in these areas are already into farming
since childhood, but their production yield was still way below the optimum
harvest. Thus, the MMSU had put up a project on intensified rice production
through the provision of Common Service Facility (CSF) that was proposed by DAR
Provincial Office to establish a sustainable agri-based enterprises of the
ARBOs.
“The project was successful,” said Dr. Marivic M.
Alimbuyuguen, former MMSU extension director who spearheaded the delivery of
extension services prior to her designation as dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences (CAS), as she narrated how the project has been successfully
undertaken.
“What we did was to conduct a NADA to evaluate or determine
the feasibility of the project in terms of professional services and CSF to be
provided so that these will benefit a critical number of ARBs and if the ARBOs
have the capacity to manage the enterprise,” she said.
Records show that although rice is the major agricultural
commodity produced by these farmers, still they cannot reach the optimum
productivity from their rice farming, because of production gap, and lack
of technical, financial, social, and marketing assistance.
Dr. Alimbuyuguen said that farmers’ assistance came with
the introduction of modern rice technologies and innovative schemes such
as the use of hybrid varieties and balance fertilization to reduce yield losses
due to pests and diseases. These approaches to crop production have increased
the yields of farmers in these areas.
Some of the major problems experienced by farmers which
were given solution were the following:
1. The high production cost of
chemical inputs, labor, and transportation. Most of the farmers practice
intensified cash-crop production by applying greater amounts of inorganic
fertilizers and pesticides in addition to irrigation.
In vegetable production, for instance, large amounts of
inorganic fertilizer are usually applied in sweet pepper, garlic, and tomato.
Some farmers used combinations of organic and inorganic inputs from which
higher yields are obtained compared with using traditional farming practices.
But only few farmers use biological fertilizers and other biological materials
for pest control.
2. High cost of labor and farm
equipment. In rice production, farmers are often faced with problems on the
high cost of labor and farm equipment such as those used in plowing and
harrowing. These equipment are necessary to ease and lower labor cost for
higher profit and quality produce.
3. Lack of capital which is
compounded by the lack of lending institutions that cater to capital needs of
small-scale farmers. If ever these institutions are present, high interest
rates and numerous paper works hinder the farmers from availing of their
services. The absence of government subsidy or lack of government support to
make farm inputs more affordable worsens the problem.
Findings on the need assessment show that the ARBOs have
well-structured organization but their by-laws are not annually
updated. Members and officers are committed and dedicated to their roles,
but not all have financial loan portfolio from formal
institutions. For those with productive or mobility loan, the Land
Bank of the Philippines (LBP) serves as their credit source.
All the ARBOs consider the operation of a CSF as a
potential agri-enterprise they can manage, in addition to their consumers’ and
credit service through production loan that they are now
operating. There are also ARBOs that identified palay buying and
vegetable and fruit production as potential agri-enterprises they can engaged
into. The identified hindrance to engaging in agri-enterprise is the
lack of capital. They believe that they can generate 20-25% return on
investment (ROI) within six months at the least and 1-2 years
utmost. Rice is easy to dispose, but the middlemen control and
dictate the price of the commodity.
“It is an accepted fact that low levels of technology
adoption cannot be totally explained by the problems mentioned above,” Dr.
Alimbuyuguen said adding that low adoption of technology is also blamed on the
irrational farmer behavior. This condition is often brought forth by the
consequence of conflict between the technology available to the farmers and the
limitation within which the farmer must or does operate.
Such limitations maybe caused by a series of factors such
as: a) risk and uncertainty due to climatic or price variation; b) lack of
ability to cope with large variations in income; c) lack of knowledge resources
and capital, and d) soil and climatic conditions unsuited to the
particular technology or production system.
With the interventions of MMSU and the DAR, some of these
problems were immediately resolved and farmers are now enjoying full assistance
by the MMSU and DAR. The DAR led in the implementation of the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and is mandated to lead in the implementation of
agrarian reform and sustainable rural development in the countryside through
land tenure improvement and provision of integrated development services to
landless farmers, farm-workers, small landowner-cultivators, and the delivery
of other agrarian services.
Armed with its mandate and vision, the MMSU and DAR are
currently strengthening the delivery of support services to the farmers with an
intervention that will intensify production in rice farming communities through
the provision of CSF. The project has already established a
sustainable agri-based enterprises of the ARBOs.
As a long-term project, it involves both material and human
resources. Earlier on, proposals on interventions to address the
concerns of providing professional services and CSF to ARBOs were developed by
MMSU and DAR which emanated from the articulated production, post-harvest, and
processing needs of the ARBO.
It is expected that through the provision of professional
services with CSF, the project will continue to increase farmers’ productivity
and income, develop the capacity of the ARBOs in operating and managing
profitable enterprises, and to improve their recording systems. Thus,
ultimately lead to the reduction of poverty among ARBs and other small farmers.
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