Assessment of the status of vermicomposting project and capability building needs of participants in LLanera, Nueva Ecija [manuscript]
Date
2017
Authors
Hniang Tial
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Abstract
This study covered 138 active participants of the local government sponsored vermicomposting project in Llanera, Nueva Ecija. The respondents were selected through Snowball sampling method. Guided vy Tyler's Gap Theory modified to suit the purpose of this research, quantitative and descriptive design was adopted. More than two third are female and their ages range from 24 to 80 years old, with mean of 41.07. Eight out of ten are married, and using number of years of formal education as a measure, the mean educational attainment is 7.7 years equivalent to 2nd year high school. The average household size is 4.55, same with the national average of 4.6 household members of the Filipino family (NSCB, 2010). They have been producingorganic fertilizer ranging from 1 to 6 years with a mean of 2.52. The total annual income derived from all sources excluding sales from vermicompost ranged from 20,000 to 210,000 peso with a mean of P26,660.50. Mean added income from vermicomposting was Php 5,542.75. They strongly agreed that the local government of Llanera maintained its uspport to the project beneficiaries. Number of participants and vermicompost production increased, but there was no increase in the price of vermicompost from the start of the project to the present. Information comes from interpersonal, institutional, broadcast, print media, and internet sources. Notably, Short Messaging System (text) is a significant main source of information. the respondents have positive attitude towards the project and they remain to be active participant in vermicomposting. They also high aspirations and expectations that sustained the viability of the project since its inception six years prior. The respondents described as @most Needed@ the list of vermicomposting tasks and subject content to be tackled on the conduct of capability building activities. Education, income and perceived status of the project are significantly related with the psychological attributes of attitude, aspirations and expectationa of the respondents while civil status, education and income are also related with the capability building needs. All psychological attributes are significantly related to the task analyses and subject content to be undertaken in the capability building activities for the participants. The identified problems relative to vermicomposting consisted of topics to be discussed, qualification of lecturers and venue of training. The suggested solutions concern mostly on the method of delivery of lectures, lectureres' qualifications and training venue. The study confirmed initial studies that the participants have no other trainings aside from vermicomposting. It was also found out that the project, being supported well by local government unit and having beneficiaries with positive psychological attributes, is feasible and sustainable.