Assessing the effectiveness of the technology transfer process of the 40-kg seedling rate technology of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) / Glenn Y. Ilar

Year : 2006

Number of Pages : 97 leaves

Adviser : Prof. Glen A. Imbang

Executive Summary

The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has always been striving to develop technologies and information to help rice farmers greatly improve their farm productivity and profitability. Through the years, PhilRice disseminates technologies through trainings, technology briefings, and technology demonstrations. In year 2000, the Technology Promotion group of PhilRice widely disseminated the 40-kg seedling rate technology, one of the cost-reducing and yield enhancing technologies developed by PhilRice, to rice farmers through trainings using the extension workers in the local government units (LGUs) trained by PhilRice. Several knowledge products like technology bulletin, pamphlets, posters, and video were also developed to support its effective dissemination. It has been observed, however, that even with these innovative ways of disseminating the technology, still many farmers are not adopting or utilizing the technology. It is in this light that this study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the technology transfer process of PhilRice. The use of survey instruments and interview schedule for the extension workers and farmers, respectively, were used for the study. There were 11 RSTC graduates and 28 TOT graduates used as respondents for the extension workers. A total of 90 farmers from 12 Barangays of Talavera were used as respondents. Measures of effectiveness of the transfer process such as number of similar trainings conducted and adoption of the technology were identified. Socio-economic and technological factors hindering and facilitating adoption of the technology were identified. Likewise, it solicited suggestions and recommendations on how PhilRice can further improve the technology and its technology transfer process. Results of the study showed that the technology transfer/promotion process implemented by PhilRice is effective as manifested by the : 1) number of similar trainings conducted by the extension workers for farmers and 2) the level of adoption on the technology by the respondents after their training.

In terms of similar trainings conducted, results revealed that 73 percent of the RSTC graduates and 86 percent of the TOT graduates were able to disseminate the technology to their fellow extension workers and to farmers. Similarly, 95 percent of those farmer-respondents who adopted the technology were able to disseminate to their fellow farmers, friends and relatives. In terms of adoption of the technology after the training, results further revealed that 64 percent of the RSTC graduates and 93 percent of the TOT graduates have adopted the technology after the training. On the other hand, only 43 percent of the farmer-respondents adopted the technology after the training. This study also attempted to identify factors affecting adoption of the technology. Results showed that even if about 48 percent of the farmer-respondents did not adopt the technology after the training, non-adoption of the technology was not correlated to the technology transfer process but due to some socio-economic, socio-cultural and technological factors. Among the socio-economic characteristics identified with correlation to their non-adoption are their tenurial status and their farm sizes. Results revealed that mostly partly owners and with smaller farm areas did not adopt the technology. Reasons can be attributed to the risks involved in using the new technology, in that, they do not want to gamble in case the technology fails. On the other hand, trainings attended by the farmer-participants greatly affect adoption behavior of the farmers. Results showed that, the more training they have attended, the greater is the chance of adopting the technology. Among the socio-cultural factors affecting the rate of adoption includes farmers' past experiences and stock with their old beliefs and practices. On the other hand, among the technological factors affecting adoption behavior of the respondents on the technology is the relative advantage and compatibility of the technology to their existing norms and experiences. Among the relative advantage perceived by the respondents is the increase in income due to savings in using lesser amount of seeds and increased yield by 10 to 20 percent. On the other hand, technological factors such as complexity and observability of the technology affected adoption of the technology by the respondents. According to them, the technology is too meticulous and more laborious, thus, very hard to follow by the farmers and their farm-helpers. This study also solicited feedbacks and recommendations from the respondents on how PhilRice can further improve the technology and its technology transfer process. Majority of them suggested for more trainings and re-trainings of farmers. Also, technology demonstrations must be established especially in areas where the technology is not adopted. On the other hand, some suggested that PhilRice researchers must continue to find ways or strategies to further improve the difficulty of the seed-pulling process. Also, some suggested that PhilRice must look into reducing the seeding rate to 20-kg per hectare as in the case of hybrid rice.