Utilization of the recommended fishpond culture technology among the Bureau of fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Farmer-Cooperators in Nueva Ecija
Date
1991
Authors
Aurora V. Ocampo
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Abstract
The study attempted to determine the socio-economic and psychological characteristics of fishfarmers; their level of technology utilization; the relationships between socio-economic and level of technology utilization the relationships between psychological variables and level of technology utilization; and the problems encountered by the farmers in utilizing fishpond culture technology and their suggested solutions to the identified problems. The data were gathered using a structured interview schedule.
Findings showed that the average age of fishfarmer in Nueva Ecija was 54 years old, whose educational attainment was college level and whose family was composed of six members. His farming experience was 7.5 years and a fishfarm size of 3.17 hectares. The family's annual net income which derived from farm and non-farm sources was P218,973.14. For most of the resources needed in the operation such as fingerlings, fertilizers, equipment and technology, the respondents rated them as "always available.".
Contact between fishfarmers and extension agents was found to be limited and most of the respondents claimed they were "never" visited by BFAR extension agents but majority, however, "seldom" visited or contacted an extension agent. Although the result reflected the inefficiency in the delivery of services, the respondents still perceived that the extension agents were "moderately credible.".
As to the level of technology utilization, 50 percent of the respondents had high level of utilization and the other half had low level of utilization. The mean utilization was 67.12.
Among the socio-economic variables studied, only length of fish farming experience was significantly related to the level of technology utilization although the relationship was inverse. This suggests hat the longer the time that a fishfarmer has engaged in fishpond culture, the more difficult it is for the extension agents to sell the idea of modern fish farming and persuade the fishfarmers to follow the recommendations.
With regard to the psychological variables, eprceived credibility of extension agents revealed a positive and significant relationship with utilization. The extension agents were perceived to be "moderately credible".
Majority of the respondents (89%) encountered problems in following the recommended practices on fishpond culture. The most prevailing problem was the non-availability of good quality fingerlings. Solutions offered to solve this problem were as follows: The government should do something to increase fingerling production; Government agencies and fishfarmers should coordinate in seeking for good sources of fingerlings; BFAR should be careful and sure about the quality of fingerlings they are giving to fishpond operators; and fishfarmers should produce their own fingerlings. Other problems reported were the insufficiency of funds, insufficiency of knowledge on the technology, flood during rainy season and incompetency of some extension agents.