Exposure to Oras Ti Mannalon Radio Program and Farmer Listeners’ Knowledge, Attitude, And Adoption of Hybrid Rice

Abstract

MABALOT, CES MYRA PERALTA. University of the Philippines Open University, May 2003. Exposure to Oras ti Mannalon radio program and farmer listeners' knowledge, attitude, and adoption of hybrid rice. Special Problem Adviser: Dr. Melinda Lumanta The study sought to determine the relationship of the farmer listeners' exposure to the Oras ti Mannalon (OTM) radio program to the knowledge, attitude, and adoption of hybrid rice. Data from 100 farmer listeners in four major rice-producing municipalities in La Union namely Luna, Bangar, Agoo, and Naguilian, were gathered using questionnaires, Meanwhile, the OTM was chosen for the study because for 20 years, it has been used by the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Unit 1 to inform farmers of farming technologies that they can adopt such as hybrid rice. This study also tried to find out the relationship of farmer listeners' educational attainment, and social participation to their knowledge, attitude, and adoption of hybrid rice. Likewise, it sought to determine the relationship of farmer listeners' knowledge to their attitude, and their attitude to their adoption of hybrid rice. Data on the respondents' demographic characteristics, level of exposure to OTM, educational attainment, and level of social participation were gathered. Knowledge level was determined by categorizing the respondents' scores on a 10-pt. knowledge test. Meanwhile, attitude towards hybrid rice was determined using a five-point Likert Scale. While for adoption of hybrid rice, the frequency and percentage of responses were tabulated to determine the number of adoptors and non-adoptors of hybrid rice. Moreover, cross tabulation was used to determine relationships between exposure to OTM, educational attainment, and social participation to knowledge, attitude, and adoption. It was also used to determine relationships between knowledge and attitude, and between attitude and adoption. Inferences from the results were made, in relation to the respondents' reasons for adopting or not adopting hybrid rice. Results showed that there was no significant relationship between the said variables (farmer listeners' exposure to OTM, educational attainment, and social participation to their knowledge, attitude, and adoption of hybrid rice). Neither was there a significant relationship between farmer listeners' knowledge and attitude, and between attitude and adoption of hybrid rice. Nevertheless, it was observed that the non-adoptors' primary reasons for not using hybrid rice which are the unavailability of irrigation and the high cost of hybrid rice seeds, are probable factors to their attitude and adoption of hybrid rice. The said reasons might have served as impediments to their adoption of hybrid rice and might have affected their intention to adopt hybrid rice, leading to their non-adoption. It is recommended that these impediments should be addressed by the DA-RFU 1 by using the OTM as a venue to come up with solutions from both the farmers and the department (participatory approach through phone-in questions, panel discussions, etc.). This would facilitate the process of influencing farmers to form a favorable attitude towards hybrid rice and consequently, to adopt it. While for similar studies, it is recommended that an experimental design be used with a group of farmer listeners and a group of farmers who are not exposed to OTM to better determine the relationships between the variables.