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Sabanna: An Entrepreneurial Venture Report
No full textSabanna is a B2B-focused enterprise that focus on catering to the needs of the young and the young at heart which are mainly adolescents and middle-aged individuals, launched last January 2023 by Banana-District to disrupt the snacking industry by offering a product that solves the problem of having a limited food product uniqueness in the market, to have a different use to the Filipino staple food Saba, and to prove that Saba banana can also penetrate the savory snack market.
Consumers\u27 eating habits are being impacted by increasing urbanization and hectic lifestyles, which are leading them to gradually replace primary meals with more adaptable, light, and convenient snacking options. Consumers today demand indulgence, adventure, flavor, and added nutritious advantages, which creates new opportunities for manufacturers as snack trends change.
In a course of five months business operations, Sabanna has faced numerous struggles in managing its operation, marketing, human resources, and finances. The company has encountered difficulties in ensuring consistent production and maintaining a reliable supply chain, leading to occasional delays in product delivery and challenges in meeting customer demand. Limited resources and competitive market have made it challenging to build brand awareness and reach the target audience effectively, hindering growth opportunities. Managing human resources had been a struggle due to budget constraints, resulting in increased workloads and burnout. Additionally, financial constraints had limited the company\u27s ability to invest in crucial areas such as production equipment and marketing initiatives. Despite these challenges, Sabanna had sold a total of 1,083 packs accumulating a total revenue of Php65,641.00.
Sabanna remained determined to overcome its obstacles and was actively seeking solutions to streamline operations, strengthen marketing strategies, foster a positive work environment, and optimize financial resources for sustainable growth. With the aim to continue the startup enterprise, Sabanna has completely registered its business under the sole proprietorship to Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Local Government Unit of San Pablo City, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue last May 22, 2023
Analysis of Factors that Influence the Adoption of Drum Seeder of Rice Farmers in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija
No full textAgricultural Mechanization pertains to the utilization of various sources of power to sustain the productivity of farmlands by producing agricultural commodities and conserving resources. The government and research institutions are cooperating to boost the agriculture and fishery sectors of the country as it is still categorized under low mechanization level. In fact, the country is also engaged in importing the most essential staple food nationally, which is rice, as local supply is not enough. In terms of planting it, direct seeding is one of the methods that can be utilized, with the aid of drum seeder – a farm machinery that sows seeds at calculated row and hill spacing. Drum seeder is one of the equipment promoted by PhilRice which is beneficial in terms of minimizing the amount of seeds, time, and effort that can be incurred by a farmer however, only few were able to acquire and adopt it; specifically, in San Leonardo, which is one of the municipalities of Nueva Ecija, the leading rice producer across the country.
Thus, this study was conducted to analyze the factors that affect the adoption of Drum Seeder in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija. Specifically, it intended to (a) present the sociodemographic profile and farm characteristics of the respondents, (b) describe the conducted programs of the government regarding introduction of drum seeder and other farming technologies, (c) examine their perception in terms of ease of use and usefulness of the drum seeder, (d) discuss the influence of stakeholders, access to relevant resources, and attitude of the respondents towards the drum seeder, (e) assess their intention to adopt a drum seeder, (f) analyze the significant influence between the factors and the intention to adopt of drum seeder, and (g) integrate the farmers’ perspective towards the adoption of drum seeder to the programs set by the government.
Primary data were obtained through face-to-face survey from 115 rice farmers belonging to five Farmers’ Cooperative and Association in town namely Bukluran ng Makabagong Magsasaka ng San Anton, Gintong Butil Farmers Association, Nieves Castellano Irrigators Association, Samahan ng Magsasaka ng Mambangnan, and San Leonardo Tillers Cooperative, wherein it was found out that 31 of them have used the drum seeder before. Aside from the quantitative data, qualitative data were also gathered through focus group discussion to deeply understand the factors influencing their technology adoption which came from the selected 21 farmers who have used it.
Results showed that majority of the respondents were male, married, in their sixties, and all were able to attain at least elementary diploma. It was also discovered that 68.7% of them have been engaged in rice farming for at least 20 years and are mostly low- income earner. In terms of agricultural extensions, the Municipal Agriculture Office is partnering with various research institutions including PhilRice to promote farming technologies. They select Local Farming Technicians, and conduct field demonstrations, Farmers Field School, and seminars related to latest farming tools and practices.
It was revealed that majority of the farmers have seen the drum seeder before but, only 31 were able to use it. Majority of respondents have positive perception in terms of usefulness and ease of use of the equipment. Furthermore, majority also have positive behavioral profile specifically, in terms of access to resources, influence of stakeholders, and attitude towards the adoption of drum seeder. But it is apparent that in terms of influence of stakeholders, small amount of results contributes to neutral responses. This is also the same with the measures used for attitude construct. In terms of Intention to Adopt, it was revealed that majority of the farmers are also positive in adopting the drum seeder. However, there are some farmers who would not use it provided that they had access to it which can be rooted to the topography of the land they cultivate.
Finally, relationship between factors were assessed through Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), wherein Attitude and Availability of Resources of the farmers towards the use of drum seeder was proven to be significantly correlated with their intention to adopt drum. Moreover, the Perceived Ease of Use showed significant positive effects towards both Attitude and Perceived Usefulness, which implies that there is a positive relationship between the mentioned variables. However, it was also revealed that farmers’ age, farming experience, and farm size did not prove as deterrent variable towards perceived usefulness of the drum seeder. Similarly, age, education, and farming experience did not prove to be significantly influencing their perceived ease of use of drum seeder. Finally, Influence of Stakeholders is also insignificant to the Intention to Adopt drum seeder. Hence, government programs and extension services promoting technology acceptance can apply across these variables to increase farmers acceptance to various technology aiming to boost farm productivity.
Qualitative data from the FGD revealed there are several factors that influence farmers’ technology adoption. Drum seeder is only suitable during the dry season since transplanting method is being used in wet season. It has its benefits such as (1) reducing cost on seeds and (2) man-day labor requirement, and (3) allows uniformity in spacing of the seeds which facilitates easier maintenance when applying farm inputs, and weeding. However, there were disadvantages in using it: (1) being tedious and (2) more time consuming to pull especially when the farm size is large, compared to conventional planting method. (3) It is also not suitable for deep muddy field, (4) seed preparation is crucial and challenging as pregerminated seeds must be planted immediately since when it exceeded, it will get stuck hence, will not function well.
With this, the Department of Agriculture in cooperation with PhilRice must strengthen their campaigns in organizing the farmers through associations. They must be diligent in monitoring, and may consider assigning official for each association, and must properly communicate to whom this equipment is suitable. They must also highlight field demonstrations to expose the farmers to new technologies, and consider emphasizing the variables proven significant towards intention to adopt. Specifically, they may customize their programs by enhancing availability of resources and improving attitude of the farmers towards technology adoption as this would positively influence the intention to adopt. Farmers must also organize themselves through associations to benefit from these various activities, and take their time to be part of farm lectures and field demonstrations.
For machine developers, they must consider the concerns raised by the farmers regarding drawbacks of drum seeder, and may improve it to work on different soil textures and improve the ground wheels. Furthermore, they may also focus on the perforations of the cylinders where seed preparation becomes crucial and challenging.
For further studies, other variables can be added and investigated to understand more the complexity of technology adoption process specifically, those categorized under technology push, as it may generate significant findings and discoveries
OE-NADA of the proposed ARCCESS sub-project: hybrid corn production and marketing Malawaan, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro (final report)
No full textThe Malawan Matabiaga Multipurpose Cooperative (MAMAMUCO) is located in the MAGSAMA ARC., Brgy. [village] Malawaan, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro. The 226 members of the cooperative are mostly rice and corn producers. The cooperative generates income through various business which include palay and corn marketing, piglet dispersal, thresher rental payment, solar dyer rental, truck rental, hand tractor rental, flatbed dryer rental and warehousing service fees. In 2014, the cooperative has been certified to participate in rice importing through the National Food Authority (NFA). Instability of market conditions particularly on the price of hybrid corn remains to be the biggest hurdle that MAMAMUCO members face. The cooperative therefore is keen on lowering the cost of production to provide enough buffer on the profit margin of farmers since the market price proves to be erratic. The lower production cost improve incomes, the cooperative hopes to acquire one big tractor, three corn shellers , three shallow tube wells with the engine/pump, extend the area being used as solar dryer (to accommodate additional 300 bags), and one combine-thresher. Overall, the cooperative has a good standing with the OMA. Level 5 rating, a current ratio of 1.2 in 2013. The cooperative has likewise been issued a certificate of good standing by the NFA for rice trading purposes, financial assistance, and BIR tax exemption purpose by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in 2014
Understorey and ground-dwelling spider diversity of the Philippine forest ecosystems
No full textAn updated checklist of Philippine forest spiders is hereby presented and new species records of spiders are also reported
Field validation of fertilizer recommendation and correlation analysis of quantitative and qualitative results of analytical services laboratory and soil test kit: evaluation of varying levels of chemical fertilizers on the growth and yield of lowland rice under acidic and alkaline soils
No full textThe high demand of rice can be supplied by intensive cultivation of problematic rice production area including alkaline and acidic soils which requires the use of large quantities of chemical fertilizers to attain the full potential of high yielding rice variety. One of the alkaline soils in the Philippines is found in Rizal particularly in Binangonan and one of the acidic soils is identified in Cavinti, Laguna [Philippines]. The influence of fertilizer recommendations on the growth and yield of lowland rice (RC 214) was determined in Binangonan Series in Barangay [village] Darangan in Binangonan, Rizal [Philippines] as a representative for alkaline soils. A profile characterization was done to validate the actual condition of the area. Under the acidic condition, six treatments were used laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The recommended rate was 120-60-60. In all the parameters (plant height, tiller count and straw yield) measured at active tillering and at harvest, application of twice the recommended rate of inorganic fertilizer gave high results, but not significantly different from full recommended rate and one and one-half recommended rate inorganic fertilizer. Plots with no fertilizer and farmer\u27s practice consistently gave low results. Based on the correlation analysis, there was a positive correlation between the rate of fertilizer recommendation and grain yield (r sup 2=0.68). In alkaline soils, application of twice the recommended rate of chemical fertilizer showed significant affect on the growth of lowland rice in terms of plant height for both stages (active tillering and maximum tillering). The application of the full recommended rate chemical fertilizer increased the number of tiller following three split applications which produced more tillers that the farmer\u27s practice at active and maximum tillering stages. However, the treatments did not show any significant difference for straw yield. The application of twice the recommended rate of chemical fertilizer produced significantly heavier 1000 seeds, longer panicles and higher percent filled grain. Split application and all at once application (Farmer\u27s Practice) of the full recommended rate of chemical fertilizer showed no significant difference in terms of yield parameters (seed weight, panicle length and percent filled grain) although there was a tendency for split application to produce higher values compared with farmer\u27s practice. In terms of grain yield, application of twice recommended rate of chemical fertilizer produced the highest grain yield but treatments with full recommended rate and 1 1/2 recommendation rate were not significantly different. The correlation analysis showed that the growth and yield parameters of rice are positively correlated with the grain yield than the growth parameters. The grain yield and rate of inorganic fertilizer followed a linear relationship with an r sup 2 value of 0.8955. The equation that can be used to predict the amount of yield produced by a certain amount of fertilizer based on the results of the experiments is presented by Y=7.1802 + 1.6919X
Novel enzymes for pretreatment of macroalgal biomass
No full textMacroalgae are known to have many industrial applications, with current research efforts being placed on the potential of microalgal biomass as feedstock in production of biofuels. Marine algal biomass is rich in storage carbohydrates, alginate, laminarin and cellulose, which can be converted to fermentable sugars using appropriate enzymes, for fermentation to ethanol. In this study, bacterial isolates from the mangrove of Pagbilao, Quezon [Philippines] and water and algal samples from Burot, Calatagan, Batangas were screened for their ability to degrade alginate by alginate lyase. plate assay. Eight bacterial isolates were found to have alginate-degrading ability indicating the presence of the enzyme, alginate lyase. Optimum growth temperature, oxygen requirement, and ability to ferment sugars of the isolates were determined. All of the isolates were gram-negative and tested positive for catalase test with an optimum growth temperature of 30 deg C. Catalase test revealed that they were aerobic. Fermentation profiles were unidentical, suggesting that three of the isolates may belong to different bacterial strains. All three isolates were also capable of starch hydrolysis. Alginate lyases of the three isolates 16s, rRNA gene sequencing revealed that isolates 1b and 5 are Vibrio spp. Optimum pH, temperature and salt concentration of isolate 2p were pH 7.0, 7% NaCl and 37Cafter 36 h of incubation. Isolation and identification of laminarin-degrading microorganism and production of partially purified laminarinase of algal biomass saccharification was also done. Results showed that the partially purified laminarinase produced from Bacillus sp. was able to hydrolyze the laminarin present in the microalagae. Fermentation of the algal hydrolysate yielded only small amount of ethanol due to lack of other pre-treatment methods. However, it was observed that higher ethanol was produced in saccharification treatments using a combination of cellulase and laminarinase which implies a possible synergistic effect of the two enzymes with each other
Enhancement of palay production through farm mechanization Barangay [village] Perez, Calauan, Laguna [Philippines]
No full textThe proposed sub-project entitled \u27Enhancement of Palay Production Through Farm Mechanization\u27 aims to enhance rice production and increase income initially of 25 rice farmers in Sitio Balumbong Barangay [village] Perez, Calauan, Laguna [Philippines] and will cover 30 hectares of rice lands. There will be a package of production support such as provision of agri-technology, agri-extension services, farm inputs, capacity building of the Cooperative, and agricultural mechanization. The 25 initial beneficiaries are members of the Perez ARC Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Perez ARC MPC), the Cooperative who will manage the proposed project. The Perez ARC MPC is managing business enterprises, namely, consumer store, lending and microfinance. The Cooperative through its consumer store has agricultural inputs trading which is doing well. The farmers are able to buy fertilizers and other agricultural products at a reasonable price from the store. The lending and microfinance businesses are also doing well with no past due accounts of its borrowers. Its Policies, Systems and Procedures (PSPs) for the said businesses of their Cooperative. Given the active membership, committed BODs/officers, positive financial status, and the experience in managing the successful business enterprises, the good OMA ratings of the past years, Perez ARC MPC would be capable to operate and manage the proposed common service facilities (CSF) as an agri-business enterprise. The farm machineries being requested by the Perez ARC MPC once granted will definitely help the farmers within the organization as well as farmers within the community increase their rice production. The limited number of available machineries in the area for rent is the major cause of delay in the farming activities. The rental for the CSF will not only be of great help to its members and to the ARBs but will also be an additional income for the Cooperative. The machineries being requested are: a) 2 units of Hydrotiller (Pagong) with 9-10 HP, diesel; b) units of landmaster (small power tiller) 5HP; c)3 units weeder (manual); d)4 units knapsack sprayer; e)1 unit thresher; and f) farmers said that they can operate such farm machineries because of their familiarity and experience in using them, still there is a need to provide them training on the proper use of the proposed machineries specially the operators who will be hired. On the other hand, the farmers also need trainings on the latest technologies not only on rice production but also on other crops like pineapple, banana, coconut, rambutan, and other fruit bearing trees. The capability-building component is very important also to enhance the skills and improve the quality of human resources of the Perez ARC Multi-purpose Cooperative. This would ensure the sustainability of the agri-enterprise venture of the Cooperative. However, the following issues and concerns should be taken into considertaion by DAR: 1)the Cooperative has no available lot where the warehouse could be built for the proposed bulk marketing of palay and no budget for the construction of the warehouse, 2)where to market the palay who can offer them reasonable price, 3)the price of palay is dictated by the buyers/traders, and 4)the threat that the owner of the farm they are tilling might sell it once the road going to the proposed area has been improved
Stakeholders analysis of Saug Watershed
No full textStakeholder analysis (SA) is an approach and procedure for gaining an understanding of a system by means of identifying the key actors of stakeholders in the system, and assessing in their respective economic interests in that system. Stakeholder analysis is not intended to replace existing tools but rather to complement other methods in natural resource management. For the purpose of this project, stakeholder analysis was undertaken in order to capture the people who have interests and why they have these interests, which will be used for planning and decision making in the management of the Saug Watershed. The Stakeholder Analysis was done through FGD with key informants/leaders that were identified through the initial listing from the Tagum-Libuganon River Basin project and secondary informations. A total of 65 participants from different stakeholders joined the forum, representatives from: Department of Education (DepEd); Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), National Commission of Indigenous People (NCIP), Provincial Agriculture Office (PAGRO), Asuncion Water District, Local Government Unit of Tagum City and Campostela Valley Province, Provincial and Municipal ENRO [Environment and Natural Resources Office], from Academe: University of Southern Philippines (USEP) and from DENR-ERDS [Department of Environment and Natural Resources- Ecosystems Research and Development Service] Region 11. The forum was divided in four sub-workshops in order to identify and categorize the stakeholders. Participants were also classified to cover the bio-physical, socioeconomic and institutional aspects. In these workshops interests, conflicts and resolutions have been identified. Majority of the interest of the stakeholders lie in the maintenance of the ecological balance of the watershed more so its sustainable development for production and food security. With the impacts brought about by climate extremes and the current perceived state of Saug watershed, it is important that the stakeholders, regardless of their category, play important roles to pursue the integrity of the area. This will ensure the security and sustainability of both lives and properties co-existing within the watershed
