Anna Mae F Teoxon | Edito B Sumile
One intervention for major concerns in the banana industry is the Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) – Led Community-based Banana Farming in the province of Davao Oriental. The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) funded this project to rehabilitate and rebuild the province’s banana production destroyed by typhoon Pablo last December 2012. This study was conducted to determine the impacts of the effectiveness in terms of physical, economic, and behavioral aspects. The study was a qualitative-quantitative research study which utilized questionnaires, key informant interview and focus group discussions (FGDs) in gathering data. Twenty-six farmer cooperators from the three municipalities namely Tarragona, Cateel, and Boston served as respondents. Results showed that the project has an impact on farmer cooperators in terms of physical, economic, and behavioral aspects as evidenced by the overall means of 4.14, 3.58, and 4.73, respectively. Physical impacts are evidenced by the changes in farms such as land preparation, farm management, and observance of good agricultural practices. Economic impacts are manifested on the farmers’ net profit per month. Behavioral impacts are assessed in terms of the change in the attitude of the farmer cooperators and on how the project had been beneficial to them. Also, results of the FGDs show that active monitoring and inspection cause changes in farmers’ behaviors leading to physical and economic changes in the farmers’ areas. Major problems encountered in the project implementation included the pests and disease infestation in farms, the weather condition in the area when the tissue-cultured banana seedlings were distributed, and the marketing of the harvested bananas. Lastly, in view of its positive impact, this kind of modality is recommended to be replicated in to other areas.
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