Search Filter
- Publications
- Abstract of Theses and Dissertations
- Database
- Farmer development Program of Selected Agencies in the Philippines.
Farmer development Program of Selected Agencies in the Philippines.
Dissertation Abstract:
Purposes of the study were to analyze certain aspects of adult-farmer education programs of selected rural development agencies, to seek change agents; opinions on the program, and to determine how farmers differ in some agricultural indices.
Data were gathered through personal interviews, using one set of questionnaire for 103 field change agents and another, for 180 adult farmers being served by PACD, PRRM, and FHDO mainly in Laguna and Nueva Ecija. Frequency counts, percentages, rank order, analysis of variance technique and chi-square test were used in data treatment.
Findings revealed that the common ultimate goal of three was to improve and enrich rural life through increased production and income, education, health, and self-government. The agencies were aware that development starts from people whose motivating force is necessary to mobilize human and material resources for economic, social, and political development. Among the important guiding principles of the education programs were: local felt needs as the starting point for improvement activities, interrelatedness of farmers’ problems, setting up of community development framework, and involvement of people in planning program operations.
The change agents observed that farmers with relatively high educational and social status tended to be more responsive to agricultural innovations to attain higher income; that landownership and full control of farm projects were the most popular criteria of a successful farmer development program; that farmers’ perceived needs, interest and motivation and the demonstrability and effectiveness of the innovation were the most effective factors in introducing change; and the farmers would not adopt farm practices that required high technical knowledge and skills, long intensive training and bigger capital.
Among the agricultural indices considered, only contact with the change agents, membership and participation in farm organizations/associations, and number of children were related to agricultural productivity and income.