Technology Transfer Strategies for Small Farm Mechanization Technologies in the Philippines

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER STRATEGIES FOR SMALL FARM MECHANIZATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PHILIPPINES

Fernando O. Paras Jr. and Rossana Marie C. Amongo Agricultural Machinery Division and Agricultural Mechanization Development Program, Institute of Agricultural Engineering College of Engineering and Agro-industrial Technology University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Laguna, Philippines

ABSTRACT

There is no guaranteed procedure to ensure the transfer of any technology because of the variability of situations and conditions surrounding popularization and extension of technology. Some important initial considerations in mechanization technology dissemination are careful assessment in identifying mechanization needs and prescribing the appropriate machinery or set of machinery. Equally essential is the approach on how we attempt to have our farmers ‘adopt or adapt’ the technology we offer. This paper presents some problems and experiences associated with the extension of such technologies. Also, the strategies and other possible approaches, which could aid in penetrating the barriers toward small farm mechanization in the Philippines, are discussed.

Key words: Philippines, appropriate technology, strategies, small farm mechanization, technology transfer, extension strategies

INTRODUCTION implements that are simple, cheap, and can be locally serviced or manufactured. In the Philippines, the transfer of agricultural The main criteria which should be mechanization technology has been a very considered during the development are that slow process. Before the 1960s, the level of these machines should be suitable for use in agricultural mechanization in the country was small farms, easily repairable and maintainable, mostly dependent on human and animal power. inexpensive, and environmentally friendly. The A decade later, a multitude of machinery have word “appropriate” should be interpreted as already been imported for adoption. However, appropriate to the farmers in terms of their these machines were designed to favor large needs and affordability (Salokhe 2003). contiguous hectares of land and were then The Philippine government has long been utilized solely by big farm enterprises. striving to achieve modernization of the rural With the continued technology generation sector. To date, the latest major enactment by and the growing capability of our local the government is the Republic Act (R.A.) 8435 machinery manufacturers, we then tried of 1997, popularly known as the Agriculture designing and adapting small imported and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA). It machinery, equipment, and other technology to prescribes urgent related measures to modernize suit our own needs and conditions. These the agriculture and fisheries sectors of the proved to be an effective means of increasing country in order to enhance profitability and to the level of machinery use in the farms and prepare for the challenges brought about by gave birth to the concept of “appropriate globalization. Section 59 of this Act gives technology” or in our special case, priority to the development and promotion of “appropriate agricultural mechanization appropriate agricultural machinery and other technology.” This has been a catch-all phrase agricultural mechanization technologies to for all agricultural tools, machines, and enhance agricultural mechanization in the countryside.

1 Even with such programs and strategies, mechanization of agriculture and fisheries coupled with prior institutional changes to through the generation of mechanization boost the level of mechanization in our farms, technologies. By providing machines and positive change has been diminutive. Difference equipment appropriate for Filipino farmers’ in the level of agricultural mechanization in the farms, the program envisions making these Philippines from 1968 to 1990, as reported by farmers to be at par with their counterparts in the Regional Network on Agricultural the developed world (AMDP 2002). Machinery (RNAM), was merely 0.322 hp/ha (PCARRD 2002). In 1998, the agricultural BARRIERS TO SMALL-SCALE mechanization level for rice and corn farms was FARM MECHANIZATION reported as 1.68 hp/ha (Rodulfo et al. 1998). Agricultural mechanization occupies a special INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING nook in the hearts and minds of people AND AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION concerned with development. However, DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM mechanization as an effective partner of progress and socioeconomic well being still has The Institute of Agricultural Engineering of the a long way to go. A better understanding of College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial its many ramifications can be likened to Technology, University of the Philippines Los watching the interplay of the varying hues and Baños (IAE-CEAT, UPLB) is recognized by the shades of a rainbow that makes definite Commission on Higher Education as the center observations truly difficult (Latin 1985). of excellence in agricultural engineering. The There is no absolute guideline for institute has a three-tier function of instruction, transferring mechanization technology, nor is research, and extension. Research and extension there a tailored set of strategy to promote the activities of the institute are mostly conducted adoption of agricultural machines. Variability of through the Agricultural Mechanization the conditions and the needs of the farmers Development Program (AMDP). AMDP is a limit the creation of a standard approach to major advocate of mechanizing farming systems disseminate mechanization technologies. In in the country. For years, AMDP has been in order to suggest appropriate strategies for the forefront of introducing and promoting small farm mechanization technologies, we first appropriate mechanization technologies and have to reflect on the problems associated with practices for the farming sector (Capareda et al. mechanizing small farms in the Philippines 2002). Its mission is to contribute toward the (Fig. 1).

Small Farm Size Lack of Limited Information Resource

Lack of Training for Small Farm Resistance to Extension Mechanization Change, Risk Personnel Aversion

Lack of Appropriate Other Fig. 1. Barriers to small farm Machines Problems mechanization.

2 Lack of Information The Rural Farmers and Agrarian Reform Support Credit Program is implemented by the Information is the key to making sound Department of Agrarian Reform and the Land decisions. Some farmers are unaware of the Bank of the Philippines (LBP) through the availability of a suitable machine, tool, or donor agency, the Japan Bank for International implement that could aid in their usually Cooperatives (JBIC). LBP interest rates range tedious work. They might be secluded from the from 14% to 18% per year, while moneylenders technology by natural barriers and and traders charge 60-120% per year. Yet, sociopolitical boundaries. Sadly enough, some many farmers prefer the non-bank sources for farmers are even lackadaisical and seemingly support. This is because of the lesser time to uninterested in mechanization. process the application, minimal documentary One simple tool for example is the AMDP requirement, and timely release of the loan manual corn sheller. This manual corn-shelling (RASCP-TA CMO 2002). gadget has been available for so many decades but due to lack of information, the corn Small Farm Size farmers of Barile, Cebu, have been using the traditional method of hand shelling which is Of the 4.61 million farms recorded in 1991, 78% inefficient, slow, and painful to the wrist and of these were less than 3 ha. Also, from 1991 palms of the sheller. Barile, Cebu, is one of the to 2002, there was a 2.36% reduction in the corn-growing areas in the Visayas Region number of farms (BAS 2004). Indeed, the where corn serves as the staple food. Upon majority of the agricultural farms in the the introduction of the technology, most Philippines are small and the reduction in farmers of the cooperative shifted from the number may be due to land conversion to traditional method to the use of the AMDP satisfy the housing, industrial, and recreational manual sheller. The technology did not only needs of the growing population. make corn-shelling operations easier, faster, and A small-sized farm is a big issue when it efficient, but also made the farmers happier comes to mechanization because this is against owing to the saved time and reduced wrist the principle of economies of scale. The pains and blisters. mechanization of small, non-contiguous parcels Likewise, it is a big possibility that some of land may prove to be inefficient especially extension agents are oblivious of mature in operations like land preparation and technologies that could be appropriate to their harvesting. area of responsibility. Whenever extension personnel visit our machinery pool, someone Reluctance, Resistance would always be enlightened with the simple to Change and Risk Aversion machines on display. In our experience, the Filipino farmers are Limited-resource Farmers calculating and generally reluctant to changes in their farming activities for this is their way Around 27 million Filipino farmers remain poor. of life. They have the “wait-and-see” attitude. About one-half of them live in the rural areas. Although many farmers are very much open to Highest poverty incidence is found among corn new ideas and technology, there are more farmers (41%); rice and corn workers (36%); farmers who would first want to see a working sugarcane farm workers, coconut farm workers, model or system before they follow the lead. forestry workers (33%); and fishermen (31%) Many would think that this is psychological in (PCARRD 2003). These farmers have limited nature. In reality, the more progressive farmers resources and are unable to readily embrace are the ones with more resources. technology. Even with the availability of credit At times, the unfavorable attitudes and from banks and non-banks, these are seldom orientation of farmers caused by risk in patronized by farmers because of the fear of adopting locally manufactured equipment is debt. Contributory factors to this fear may be rooted in their bad experiences with agricultural high interest rate, long processing time, and machinery. sometimes, the requirement for a collateral or a guarantor.

3 Lack of Appropriate Machinery In a survey conducted, extension staff felt (Design and Quality) that their training courses had not been long enough to provide an in-depth treatment of the Even if as much as 80% of the farm power is topics. This in turn affected farmers, since the provided by human beings, there is still a need courses missed out on a number of details to develop simple, manual equipment for which might have been very useful to them. In various farm operations. In most developing an effort to supplement the information countries, the human labor force comprises as transmitted in training courses, the Department much as 60% women workers. Thus, the of Agriculture (DA) sponsors regular national proposed appropriate machine designs should television programs (Encanto 2000). be based on the ergonomic limitations of the individuals (Salokhe 2003). Other Problems Research and development (R&D) has a bias against the development of appropriate Political interference. The government machinery for small farms. Scientists and has been allocating funds for the development engineers have a tendency to create something of the countryside, including the mechanization that is novel, without much regard to small of farms. However, some politicians use farm applications. Recognition for developing mechanization projects for their own interests appropriate machinery for small-scale application especially in areas where agricultural is not as glorious and rewarding as it is with development is not the priority of the local creating a bigger, more complex machine or government. They only use mechanization system. projects to source out funds; actual In terms of quality workmanship for the implementation is sometimes not realized. Aside local manufacture of machinery, majority of from this, if the project is implemented, the our manufacturers are still in the “cut-and- acquisition of machines or other technologies weld” level of manufacturing technology. This is sometimes being dictated by political leaders limits the capability of our machinery who may not have the technical background, manufacturers in designing and fabricating often resulting in the mismatching of machines. Also, the availability of low-cost, technologies. low-quality machinery in the market could be Institutional weaknesses. Problems in the disastrous to our objective. The purchase of a overall organizational structure obscure low-cost, low-quality machine may, in the end, accountability. The DA secretary is ultimately be a liability owing to frequent repairs on the responsible for the performance of the sector, unit (Amongo 2001). yet he does not have effective control over Second-hand, imported machinery influx is agricultural R&D budgets and management. The also a problem. However, these machines are research community blames slow technological attractive to farmers because of their lower progress or the weakness of the extension initial cost. But because these are not locally system, not realizing that much weakness stems manufactured, replacement parts may be hard from the lack of profitable new technologies to to find. Furthermore, conditions for which the extend. Since neither the Department of Science machinery was designed for may not be and technology (DOST) nor the state colleges suitable to the local conditions. and universities (SCUs) are held accountable for agricultural development and are Lack of Training of independent of the DA, there is no effective Extension Personnel pressure on the research system, in general, to improve its performance through more efficient Extension is the battlefront of technology allocation of resources. Even within the DA, transfer. The people involved in extension must the multi-functional, commodity-based structure not only be technically updated but must also and autonomy of several major commodity possess good management and interpersonal agencies make it extremely difficult to skills. With so much on their shoulders, most effectively manage and monitor performance of of them might be lacking the capability to the research units under its umbrella (David integrate the mechanization technology into the 1995). total farming system.

4 BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS TO the like, should be actively pursued in the SMALL FARM MECHANIZATION countryside where these are wanting. Conducting such activities in the metropolitan After identifying the major problems that hinder area would be like “selling ice to the Eskimos.” the transfer of mechanization technology, we Actual field demonstrations and loan-out of now try to identify strategies or means so that prototypes are conducted right at the farmers’ we could penetrate these barriers. Fig. 2 field or at pilot areas. illustrates some strategies to accomplish our With the rich culture of the Filipinos, we objective. have gained a lot of traditional or indigenous agricultural knowledge. Incorporating this Information Dissemination knowledge into the mechanization system and Management would limit farmers’ reluctance to the mechanization technology. Popularized versions A popular phrase in a local news segment is of training and technical materials in the local that “knowledge is power.” Information is the dialects would promote better understanding of key to making sound decisions. It is this these materials. information that we need to impart to our A centralized information database for the farmers so that they may be able to have Philippines, linking all information concerning better control of their lives. agricultural mechanization that can be accessed Information dissemination activities by farmers, extension personnel, scientists, through tri-media, displays, farmers’ day, and engineers, students, and policy makers would

Farmers Information Organization, Dissemination & Land Clustering Management and Consolidation

Training for Small Farm Farmers, Creation of Lack of Size Extension Agents Information Lack of Credit Facility, & Manufacturers Capital Increase income

Lack of Training for Small Farm Mechanization Resistance to Extension Change, Risk Personnel Aversion

Lack of Appropriate Other Model Farmer, Revitalized Machines Problems Model Farms Government Policies

Other Alternative Approaches Focused R&D

Fig. 2. Breaking the barriers to small farm mechanization.

5 greatly contribute to the transfer of the operations that include village-level processing technology. of farm products and by-products need to be continuously developed (Rodulfo and Geronimo Creation of Farmers’ Organizations 2004). Philippine Agricultural Engineering Standards, ergonomics, and environmental Encouraging and helping farmers put up their impact should be special concerns for R&D farmers’ organization have been an effective work. approach toward development. With the formation of an organization, the farming Training for Farmers, Extension community can be empowered with the Agents and Manufacturers knowledge and skills to identify its needs and problems, harness its resources to deal with The education and training of farmers and this problem, and take action collectively. operators are at times inadequate and need Furthermore, it is the take-off point for some of intensification by both government agencies our strategies. Technical support, facilitation of and machinery-manufacturing firms. The R&D credit assistance, land clustering and results are not reaching the intended end-users consolidation, and the like will not work and, therefore, could not create the necessary without cooperation among farmers. Also, the impact in the countryside. farmer’s organization is the usual entry point Local manufacture of agricultural of developmental programs by government and machinery can be promoted through trainings non-government organizations (NGOs). on village-level craftsmanship, manufacturing The premise for land clustering and technology, operation, repair, and maintenance. consolidation is to transform the land and Local manufacturers can be provided with facilitate the adoption of larger-scale technical assistance in the fabrication of mechanization rather than fitting the machine prototypes. mechanization technologies to small farms. Extension agents should have ample time The DA-Region 2 initiated the clustering to learn a technology before they can projects for corn, a step toward full-scale land effectively teach others. If this is not realized, consolidation under the Philippine setting. extension work would be like “the blind leading Clustering involves the removal of fences and a blind.” Extension personnel may need more other obstructions along farm property training than our farmers to garner credibility. boundaries to form a contiguous land area that will increase the efficiency of operation of large Model Farmers, Model Farms machines to synchronize land preparation, planting, and harvesting; minimize turns at Farmer leaders are often emulated by their co- headlands and other interruptions; and reduce farmers. Farmers have a way of convincing energy inputs. Land consolidation, on the other other farmers to adopt a technology that they hand, improves land clustering by refining the have successfully and profitably utilized. This layout of the fields in the clustered area is the basis for the model farmer, model farm without regard to property boundaries (Lantin strategy. However, this is double-edged; a bad 2003). experience by a farmer regarding a certain technology could spread like wildfire and could Focused R&D Activities create reluctance rather than acceptance. However, a sustainable working system being Due to increasing cost of fossil fuel, priority used by a farmer cooperator would enhance should be given to develop technologies to receptivity to the mechanization technology. harness nonconventional sources of energy. More energy-efficient machines such as Revitalizing Government Policies cultivating machines to incorporate plant residues into the soil to increase fertility, Reviewing the policies on tax regarding the seeders and planters for optimum planting importation of agricultural machinery and parts uniformity, crop protection for rationalized use (engines, pumps, sprayers, etc.), manufacturing of chemicals, and harvest and post-harvest machines (lathes, milling machines, TIG/MIG

6 welding machines), and all other materials and hiring. Operations such as land preparation, equipment for the manufacture of agricultural harvesting, drying, and milling are mostly the machinery would have a large effect on operations available to such services. Payment mechanization. At the same time, the can be in the form of cash or certain government should try to make arrangements percentage of the harvest. This is currently a for companies to manufacture the agricultural viable mechanization relationship between machines and parts locally. This in effect farmers and contractors. would also bring down the cost of machinery The custom service operation appears to in the market. be a workable strategy for promoting Promoting and requiring all agencies in mechanization because it is based on a direct the development and utilization of agricultural client-provider relationship governed by normal machinery to adopt policies on intellectual market forces. The farmer has power over the property and the Philippine Standards for provider and can demand quality and value, Agricultural Engineering. Intellectual property otherwise the next provider gets the contract. laws are created to protect and encourage the Here, the limited-resource farmer is in control development of novel equipment and over the essential services provided. machinery. Lack of understanding of these laws can be a hindrance to the collaborative efforts A Second Look at Draft Animals between technology-developing institutions and individuals. Legal impediments and protection In past years, animal power has been a inhibit researchers and scientists to reveal the neglected option, but government planners, exact nature and feature of mature agencies, and the private sector are now taking technologies. Adoption of standards, on the it more seriously. Animal power should become other hand, would benefit farmers in terms of an integral part of national development safety and reliability of their machinery. Plow strategies, including those relating to food bottom, hitching, and most consumable spare security, resource conservation, rural transport, parts should be standardized to make it easier employment, and women in development. With to operate and maintain a machinery. a favorable policy environment and The government should try to control and developmental support, the private sector can make policies on the influx of imported, sustain and develop animal power technologies, second-hand machinery in the market. This will benefiting rural communities and economies. protect not only the farmers but also the local Animal power issues need to be adequately manufacturers. covered in education and training programs and in modern media. Animal power needs to Monitoring and Evaluation be seen as a valuable and appropriate technology relevant to modern development There is no sense in developing machines that aspirations (FAO n.d.) nobody is using. Technology verification and assessment would permit evaluation for Value Added on Organic Farming developing, modifying, or entirely stopping the development of a technology. For instance, A disadvantage, into an advantage. Our technology adoption assessment was farmers don’t have the means to include conducted for the UPLB hand tractor. The pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers in study established the potential of the their farm budget. However, there is a growing technology and revealed possible modifications market for organically grown crops. Helping to further enhance its performance and farmers tap this market could, in the end, lead acceptability. It also revealed that locally to more income, more resources, and maybe, trained manufacturers lacked some knowledge mechanization. This is value added on products in marketing strategies (Paras et al. 2004). without adding much on input.

Custom Hiring of Farming Operations Strengthening Institutional Linkages

Instead of buying their own machinery for their Because of the many institutions conducting field operations, some farmers resort to custom R&D and extension, there is a need to realign

7 our objectives and clearly identify each to the site are appropriate, operational, viable, institution’s role in the transfer of and acceptable not only to the farmers but mechanization technology – complementing, also to the environment where the technologies collaborating and sharing resources so as to are to be used. On the other hand, production limit duplication of efforts and minimizing process-dependent mechanization strategies losses to our meager R&D and extension pertain to the mechanization technologies, resources. which could be used by farmers to enable them to perform farming operations efficiently. Mechanization Project The implementation process that our institution is using with collaborative A more comprehensive approach in increasing mechanization projects can be seen in Fig. 3. the transfer of mechanization technologies to The premise in this process is that AMDP small farms is through the mechanization has the set of appropriate mechanization project. Our institution focuses its efforts on technologies or can develop or adapt the promoting agricultural mechanization for small technology to suit the location-specific and medium farms, where it adheres to the condition and production process. Minimum guiding principle of a “location-specific and baseline understanding can be obtained production process-dependent mechanization through several channels, depending on strategies” (Capareda et al. 2002). Location- specific situations and orientation. Probably the specific in the sense that technologies brought most important methodological guideline that

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

Assessment of the Mechanization Needs

! Recommendation of Appropriate Mechanization Package

! Field Tests and Demonstrations

! Establishment of Pilot Farms

! Documentation of Pilot Sites

! Establish Expansion Plan with LGU

! Conduct Training !

! Monitoring and Evaluation

! ! ! Emergence of New Implementation in Other Areas Policy Advocacy Mechanization Needs

Fig. 3. Mechanization project implementing process.

8 can be offered is this: the more contact there CONCLUSION is among the farmer, the farm, and the scientist, the better is the chance that the After uncovering the barriers surrounding the scientist will work from a vision of limited- transfer of small farm mechanization technology resource farmers beyond stereotypes and and citing possible strategies to break down statistics. This contact can be obtained these barriers, what is needed now is the through participant observation, process implementation of the strategies that were documentation, rapid rural appraisal, group suggested. meetings in the field, or the like. In these Discovering a path for developing cases, it is important to get away from the countries regarding the transfer of road, to talk to more than the male household mechanization technology to our small farms head, to actually stand in farm fields, and to would likewise be difficult because of added go beyond the obligatory ceremonial events variability of sociocultural, economic, and and visits by research station scientists environmental conditions among countries. (Koppel 1994). Nevertheless, our small farmers are in need of our help. By sharing and learning from each Adopt or adapt? other’s problems, we may find other alternative solutions while we try to mimic the success of The most important part of a project is its others in extending mechanization technologies initial stage. It is where a complete assessment to our small farms. of the needs is gathered through surveys and The commitment of all the stakeholders to interviews. This information would be analyzed uplift the conditions in our small farms through to become the basis for recommending a appropriate mechanization schemes can be our mechanization package. In the event that there starting point. This will definitely be a long are no available machines for the specific ride but from here on, we will only progress mechanization need, a short-term R&D and realize our goal if we will all cooperate subproject will be done to come up with a and accept responsibilities and be accountable more appropriate machine. Available machinery to the farmers who need our help. could be subjected to some changes to suit the conditions. REFERENCES The rest of the stages are typical extension strategies. However, there will be Agricultural Mechanization Development instances when new mechanization needs are Program (AMDP). 2002. AMDP brochure. identified. It is at this time that our institution Institute of Agricultural Engineering, College becomes more involved, taking advantage of of Engineering and Agro-Industrial the trilogy of functions that we are mandated Technology, University of the Philippines to perform. In effect, the implementation Los Baños. strategy described is an extension-cum-research Amongo, R. M. C.2001. Country report for the approach for extension. Philippines on the status of mechanization. For instance, observations raised by Presented in Group Training Course on AMDP engineers when they used the UPLB Farm Mechanization; Japan International hand tractor for tillage in the upland area of Cooperation Agency; Tsukuba International Argao, Cebu, was that the operator had Center, Tsukuba-Shi, Ibaraki, Japan. difficulty controlling it due to the uneven Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. 2004. Selected depth of the plowed and unplowed part of the statistics on agriculture. Farm size and soil and terrain. Difficulty with turning at classification. Retrieved 29 April 2005 from headlands was also observed. They then http://www.bas.gov.ph identified the need to add steering clutch Capareda, S.C.; J.D. de Ramos; A.C. del mechanisms to solve the problem. Our institute Rosario; S.G. Castro. 2002. Mechanization of then made efforts to develop two different small to medium scale corn production prototypes of an upland hand tractor to areas in the Philippines. In: Implementation address the need. strategy manual. Agricultural Mechanization

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