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Labor Underutilization in the Philippines: A Broader View and Determinants
No full textThis study used the October 2021 Labor Force Survey to identify the factors affecting labor underutilization in the Philippines, using both narrow and broad measures of labor underutilization. Specifically, it presented a profile of labor underutilization (narrow and broad measures) in the Philippines and did a multivariate analysis on the determinants of labor underutilization in the Philippines.
The present study used alternative measures of labor underutilization specified by the International Labor Organization (ILO): LU1 (unemployment rate); LU2 (combined rate of time-related underemployment and unemployment); LU3 (combined rate of unemployment and potential labor force; and LU4 (a composite measure of labor underutilization). The LU1 is the narrowest measurement, while the LU4 is the broadest measure. The study also used time-related underemployment as a sole measure.
The study finds that rates of labor underutilization are much higher when LU2 and LU4 are used as measures of labor underutilization. In all measures of underutilization (LU1- LU4), higher educated workers are more likely to be underutilized than workers with no education. But if time-related underemployment is used as a sole measure, higher educated workers are less likely to be underutilized than workers with no education. In all measures of underutilization, including time-related underemployment as a sole measure, females are less likely to be underutilized than males. No definite pattern emerged on the effect of marital status and region on labor underutilization
Analysis of Variations in Prices of Cabbage of Carrots, Philippines, 1990-2021
No full textThe study analyzed the prices of cabbage and carrot in the Philippines covering the period from 1990 to 2021. Specifically, it: determined the trend in cabbage and carrot production and prices in the Philippines for the 1990-2021; identified the price components of cabbage and carrot; identified the factors influencing the fluctuations in cabbage and carrot prices; and came up with recommendations to stabilize the prices. The study utilized secondary data from PSA, UNComtrade, FAOSTAT, and BSP. The multiplicative model of price decomposition and the ratio-to-moving average method were used to decompose the prices. Further, trend analysis, residual method, regression analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis were performed.
Trend analysis revealed that from 1990 to 2021, cabbage production increased, and from 2000 to 2021, carrot production rose due to favorable weather conditions and crop shifting. Additionally, nominal farmgate and retail prices of cabbage and carrot showed upward trends, while their real prices declined over time.
Cabbage was expensive during the planting season and holidays, and cheaper during the harvest period. Carrot\u27s seasonality was demand and supply driven, with high seasonal indices during holidays. Smuggled carrots had no impact on seasonality. Rainfall significantly affected price seasonality by improving crop quality and increasing prices with sufficient rainfall, while excessive rainfall reduced supply which leads to increased prices.
For the trend component, the respective farmgate and retail prices of both commodities showed increasing patterns which could be attributed to the faster increase in demand than supply. The double log model indicated that technology positively influenced the secular price variations for cabbage and carrots. Since this is a contradiction to theory, the necessity of ground verification is seen.
The two commodities showed cyclical variations, with intervals of 1 to 4 years. Cabbage cycles were influenced by industry changes and natural disasters while for carrot it was due to delays in farmers\u27 and retailers\u27 responses to price changes. The double-log model revealed that producers\u27 expected prices positively affected farmgate prices for both commodities. Although producers who are anticipating higher prices are encouraged to produce more, the supply still fell short of demand. Irregular variations impacted cabbage prices through smuggling, while carrots did not. This is likely because although carrots experience significant smuggling, the overall supply remains insufficient to meet the growing demand.
The factors affecting the prices of cabbage and carrots varied foremost of which are related to demand and supply. To address rising prices, there is a need to have a more efficient production through high-yielding varieties, production programming along with the use of protected cultivation technologies (e.g. greenhouses), and strengthen the enforcement of the Anti-Smuggling Act 2016. For future researchers, further research using primary data is recommended to verify existing technologies for cabbage and carrots that could improve supply especially during off-season
Demand Elasticities for Rice in the Philippines and Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textStudies on demand elasticities and consumption patterns have been extensively discussed in the existing literature. However, more research needs to be done on the Philippines\u27 specific context. There is also a pressing need for an updated study, considering that the Philippine Statistics Authority has already conducted multiple surveys regarding family income and expenditure. Incorporating these newer surveys would enable a more comprehensive estimation of the evolution of the food demand system and the changing food consumption patterns among Filipinos over time.
The study analyzed income changes, consumption patterns and estimated a system of household demand for nine commodities with an emphasis on rice in the Philippines using data from the 2018 and 2021 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES). The two data sets represent households\u27 pre- and post- COVID pandemic income and food spending. An Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model and the resulting uncompensated and compensated demand elasticities were estimated using the AIDSILLS (AIDS iterated linear least squares) command in Stata (Lecocg and Robin, 2015). The model includes nine commodities (rice, bread, pork, chicken, galunggong, milkfish, tilapia, banana, and eggplant) and demographic variables (household size, 16 regional dummies, rural-urban dummy, family size, and income). Pre- and post- COVID comparisons are as follows. Per capita income has increased by 6 percent nationally, but regionally, there were decreases in the more affluent regions (NCR, CALABARZON, and Central Visayas) and increases in the rest of the regions. The real prices of all commodities considered increased by more than 10 percent during the 2018-2021 period, except for rice which declined by 11 percent. Previous studies attribute such decline in rice prices to the Rice Tariffication Law (Tobias, 2021; Ocampo & Pobre, 2022). Food consumption patterns became more diversified, allocating a lower share of food expenditure to rice, especially in higher income brackets and urban areas. The national estimate for the compensated demand for rice is more inelastic in 2021 (-0.071) than in 2018 (-0.894). In 2021, bread, pork, galunggong, milkfish, and tilapia are found to be rice substitutes, while banana and eggplant are considered rice complements using the uncompensated cross-price elasticities. Meanwhile, all the commodities were found to be rice substitutes using the compensated cross-price elasticities. Therefore, if consumers are not income-constrained, they could be more willing to substitute more types of commodities for rice.
It was recommended, among other, that: the government should encourage regional decentralization to decrease the reliance on certain regions for economic activity and income; promoting entrepreneurship and self-employment to increase income; policymakers and relevant stakeholders continue ton support and strengthen the initiatives that have contributed to the decrease in rice prices; and investment in research and development, technology adoption, and infrastructure improvements in the agricultural sector to enhance productivity and increase domestic rice production. Recommendations specific to selected commodities were also forwarded
Knowledge, Awareness, and Perception of the Manila Bay Users on the Dolomite Project in Manila Bay, Philippines
No full textThis study analyzed the Manila Bay users\u27 knowledge, awareness, and perception (KAP) on the Manila Bay Dolomite San Beach Project, which was a project of the Philippine government that started in 2019 and continued even at the height if the pandemic. It aims to restore the beauty of Manila Bay like how it was before. The main subject of the study are the people who managed to visit and personally experience the Dolomite San Beach Project. The study determined the respondents\u27 socio-economic characteristics such as age, gender, highest educational attainment, monthly household income, and their employment status. The study made use of a questionnaire in order to obtain the information needed to classify the users with their level of knowledge, level of awareness, and their perception ratings regarding the Dolomite Project and its effects to ecology, humans, and the environment.
A total of 151 respondents were interviewed in an on-site interview on the location of the project. Random people or groups of people were asked to participate in the survey. The respondents were chosen conveniently at random and the criteria to be able to participate are to first, accept that they will be part of the survey and to be 18 years old or older. Firstly, the mean age of the respondents is 33, this means that the visitors of the project are mostly young adults and middle-aged people. The average income of the respondents is Php 22,682 which belongs to a lower middle-aged people. Lastly for three remaining socioeconomic characteristics, the majority are female for gender, college graduates for education and employed individuals for employment. For the users\u27 knowledge, about 37 percent of the respondents have a fair knowledge (3-4 points out of 10) on the project, about 24 percent have a good knowledge (5-6 points), 22 percent have very good knowledge (7-9 points), while 17 percent of the respondents have poor knowledge (0-2 points) and only 0.66 percent or only one respondent have an excellent knowledge (9-10) on the project. The only three variables that were tested to be correlated with knowledge are monthly household income and highest educational attainment, which both resulted in a direct correlation with knowledge. About 42 percent of the respondents are considered to be slightly aware about the project, which is in the middle of knowing the project fully and having no knowledge at all. About 34 percent of the respondents are slightly unaware about the project. These are respondents who achieved an average score of between of 2 and 2.9. And the remaining 23 percent were distributed to unaware and aware respondents with 9 and 14 percent, respectively, and 0.66 percent or only one of the total respondents were considered to have full awareness on the project. The two variables that were tested to be correlated with their awareness are age and monthly household income which both tested to have a direct correlation on their awareness. For the users\u27 perception, only 6.62 percent of the respondents rated the project as excellent, 23.18 percent rated it as fair, 26.49 percent as good, 13.91 percent as poor and the remaining 29.80 percent rated the project as very good. There were three socioeconomic characteristics that were found to be correlated with the user\u27s perception, these are: monthly household income, highest educational attainment, and employment, which all resulted in a negative correlation with the users\u27 perception
An Analysis of the Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Intentions towards Agriprenuership of Qatar-based Overseas Filipinp Workers (OFWS)
No full textThere are a number of stories about Overseas Filipino Workers, also known as OFWs, finding success in their engagement in entrepreneurship and agripreneurship due to their high interest towards it. The number of businesses in the present day owned by a former or a current OFW is growing with the help of the government institutions such as the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and with the extended knowledge of OFWs regarding the promising future in entrepreneurship and agripreneurship. OWWA partnered with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and introduced entrepreneurship training programs to OFWs. However, there is a lack of studies about OFW entrepreneurs and agripreneurs in the Philippines and what led them to the said ventures. Therefore, this study analyzed the intentions towards agripreneurship of Qatar-based Overseas Filipino Workers. The factors affecting the intentions towards agripreneurship of Qatar-based Overseas Filipino Workers were assessed in the study, their socio-demographic profile was described, the personal entrepreneurial competencies were determined, the degree of job satisfaction was ascertained, their organizational commitment was explained, insights were drawn on the entrepreneurial competencies relative to the entrepreneurial and agripreneurial intentions of Overseas Filipino Worker respondents, and recommendations from the researcher were also given in this study.
The study was conducted using the quantitative approach and descriptive method, with the sampling method that of a non-probability quota sampling, focusing on OFWs based in Qatar. Data collection was conducted through an online self- administered questionnaire, using a Likert-scale for the three parts of the questionnaire, and single-answer (nominal scale) and open-ended questions were used in the two parts of the questionnaire. Frequency analysis and Cramer’s V Coefficient were used as data analysis tools.
The general population of the study was predominantly female (60.77%) with a greater number of respondents living in the municipality of Doha (72.31%) and originally from the National Capital Region in the Philippines (30%). Most of the population (82.31%) are in their prime working age, already married (55.38%), living with their family in Qatar (60%), and almost half of them are childless. A big percentage of the population graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree (67.69%) and is currently in a mid- level position in their organization (48.46%). Majority of the respondents have been an OFW for 16 up to 20 years (24.62%) and are still working abroad to provide for their family (43.08%). A greater portion of the population have been staying and working in Qatar for about 11 to 15 years now (28.46%), which is a reflection of the mass of the respondents not having any other work experience abroad other than in Qatar (77.69%). A greater number of the population has plans of going straight back home to the Philippines by the end of their contract (25.38%) and nearly half of them wanted to starting a business during their retirement (44.62%). As the majority of the population did not want to disclose their household income classification, those who only responded were part of the middle-class classification (23.08%), and relative to the annual remittance sent (by majority of those who disclosed the information) a total of less than Php 50,000 (23.08%) up to more than Php 100,000 (23.08%), with most of the population having their family as the remittance beneficiaries (32.31%).
Majority of the population showed great interest in starting their own business (78.46%), mostly in the food industry (37.69%), and more than half of the population wanted to engage into agripreneurship (67.69%), while a considerable number of respondents are already engaged in entrepreneurship (15.38%) and agripreneurship (5.38%). A big number of respondents wanted to start agribusiness, specifically in livestock such as poultry, swine, cattle, and fishery (33.85%), as well as fruits and vegetables (25.38%), while a few of them wanted agritourism (10%). Most of the respondents showed interest in buying instead of renting farm land (63.08%) for both personal and agripreneurship purposes (45.38%).
The study described the socio-demographic profile of Qatar-based OFW respondents. In this regard, the socio-demographic profile of OFWs such as the years of being an OFW and household income classifcation were the only variables that had an association with the intentions of OFW respondents towards agripreneurship. Under the Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies, the study was able to determined that characteristics such as opportunity seeking, demand for quality and efficiency, risk taking, goal setting, and information seeking are the only ones that showed a moderate and up to strong strength of association. Scales under job satisfaction such as pay, promotion, coworkers, and nature of work were the only facets that exhibited a moderate strength of association that highly affect the respondents’ intentions towards agripreneurship. The study examined the organizational commitment of Qatar-based OFW respondents, affective commitment and continuance commitment were the only dimensions that had moderate strength of association.
This study also showed some limitations which might be due to quota sampling. The limitations could lead to assumptions that not all respondents were highily exposed to entrepreneurial activity that would result to higher scores in PECs, an indicator of their entrepreneurial and agripreneurial intentions. Hence, the results cannot be generalized beyond the current scope.
Cramer’s V was used in the study in order to find the strength of the association of the independent variables to the dependent variable. However, the results gathered in this study proved that the degree of Cramer’s V showed in this study is not causal inferences but rather supports the strength of association of the presented variables.
It was recommended for OWWA to offer and highly publicize agripreneurship training programs and seminars where OFWs would be able to gain more knowledge and eventually manifest intentions towards it. Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program (KALAP), a mentorship program regarding agribusiness and agro-micro entrepreneurship, should also be offered and be accessible to OFWs. Private agribusiness companies can also partner with OWWA to be able to offer variations, given that KALAP partnered with agribusiness companies that focus on major crops in the Philippines, agribusiness companies which offer modern agro-services and cultivation of non-major yet in demand crops should join KALAP. Since Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines offer loan programs mainly for OFWs, it was recommended for these banks to provide a specific loan program for OFWs interested in engaging in agripreneurship.
Overseas Filipino Workers are then recommended to venture into entrepreneurship and agripreneurship even if they are still abroad as financial partners and angel investors. OFWs should also consider incubator programs like DOST’s iFWD PH to help them establish their business and agribusinesses, since iFWD PH also allows family members of OFWs to join.
Future researchers are highly encouraged to explore similar studies on most OFWs’ countries of destination, namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The future studies regarding OFWs are now feasible with the help of the internet in terms of conducting online surveys to gather data. Future researchers can also study about the entrepreneurial behaviors of the Overseas Contract Workers (OCWs). The behavior of OCWs may be related to OFWs who only work for a short time abroad and go back home immediately when they have enough money for business capital or savings
An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Agripreneurial Perceptions and Intention of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship Students in the University of the Philippines Los Baños
No full textOver the years, the agriculture sector has been disadvantaged and underappreciated by the majority, not only in the Philippines but in all parts of the world. ‘Farming is a poor man’s sector’ and ‘farming is inefficient and outdated’ are only among the stereotypes that are continuously reinforced to individuals due to their limited and negative understanding of agriculture. As a result, recent studies have concluded that the increasing average age of farmers and declining farmer population in the Philippines is mainly because of the decreasing youth participation and discouragement of older generations. This predicament has caused a threat of farmer shortage and food insecurity in the agriculture sector, all the more in the wake of the recent pandemic. However, there are present studies concluding the unique characteristics of Gen Z, expecting them to become the new driving force of food and agriculture. The problem is that much of the recent studies focused on the aspirations of either older generations entrenched with their negative experience in agriculture or younger generations with background only in agriculture which is deemed insufficient since becoming a successful agripreneur requires extensive agricultural background and a substantial amount of entrepreneurial competencies.
Hence, this study probed on the factors at individual, socio-economic, institutional levels as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of the individuals to determine their significant influence on the perception and intention of students towards agripreneurship. Particularly, it identified the factors affecting their agripreneurial intentions, analyzed the mediating effect of perceived feasibility and perceived desirability as well as the direct effect of all factors on agripreneurial intention and suggested strategies on how to better design and deliver agrirpeneurship among univervisities, government units and other related institutions. A survey using stratified random sampling was conducted on 118 ABME students in UPLB through the utilization of Google Forms to determine their general insights and perceptions on agripreneurial ventures. Further, a descriptive and correlational research design was adapted and the information gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Sobel test and simple linear regression. The results of the study were able to present that majority of the students come from Laguna (40.81%) and Metro Manila (21.43%). About 72.03% of the respondents were female. Additionally, around 64.41% have 4-6 household members and 57.14% of the respondents were unemployed which resulted in 59.32% of the respondents having no contribution to household expenses. Moreover, it was determined that none of the socio-demographic variables had a significant effect on the agripreneurial intention of the students. Approximately, 64.41% have seriously considered becoming an agripreneur. Of these, majority expressed their desire to participate in animal (53.97%) and crop production (46.03%). Their motivation is their family, the passion and compassion they have for agriculture and farmers and their urge to find solutions for the ongoing challenges faced by the agriculture. Additionally, sophomore students had the highest percentage of students (71.88%) who have seriously considered becoming an agripreneur, followed by senior (69.70%), freshman (57.58%) and junior (55%).
Furthermore, considering the findings and analysis, it can be concluded that the two propositions presented in this paper which indicated that: (1) “Factors at the individual level, institutional level and socio-economic level significantly influence agripreneurial intention”; and (2) “Perceived desirability and perceived feasibility indirectly influence agripreneurial intention” were not at all true neither were these all false. To be more specific, results showed that perceived feasibility has no mediating effect between the institutional and socio-economic factors and agripreneurial intention. The same results were found on the analysis per strata (student classification). One explanation for this is that students perceived that they are still in the middle of knowing everything and nothing in starting a business, especially coming out of the pandemic where they had limited exposure and experience, thus making it difficult to determine their capacity in starting a business. Meanwhile, perceived desirability has a mediating effect between the individual and institutional factors and their agripreneurial intention. Among all the factors, perceived university support is the highest predictor which lends support to the role of the university on the desire and positive perception towards agripreneurship. With regard to the analysis per strata (student classification), perceived desirability has no mediating effect among freshmen while it has a mediating effect on university support among sophomores, agripreneurial self-efficiacy among juniors and agripreneurial self-efficiacy and perceived behavioral control among seniors. One implication of these varying results is that the preference of students changes over time because as they accumulate more experiences in the university, they get to discover more about themselves, and therefore, they get to develop diverse attitudes and perceptions towards their chosen career.
In addition to these, all of the factors, except for socio-economic conditions and perceived availability and accessibility of government supports and program, had significant influence on agripreneurial intention. This could infer that although the youth acknowledge the programs and support provided by the government to the agriculture
sector, the impact these have had were perceived inadequate by the students. Such insight were supported by the report from OECD (2021) which stated that the budgetary support is clearly ineffective, such that it is inefficient at transferring income to farmers. Also, it is inequitable because it favors large producers and is environmentally harmful as these policies and support were mostly damaging to water quality and biodiversity. On the analysis per strata, results showed that all individual factors (e.g. personal attitude, self- efficacy and perceived behavioral control) significantly influence the agripreneurial intention of all students. However, additional factors were noted to have a significant effect on sophomore and senior students; particularly, factors such as subjective norms, socio-economic conditions, curriculum and content of agripreneurship, agripreneurship experiential learning and perceived university support were found to be significant predictors among sophomores while factors such as subjective norms and experiential learning were found to be significant among seniors
Moving forward, recommendations for different stakeholders were formulated in order to increase students’ positive perception and desire towards agripreneurship which includes increasing participation on agripreneur-related training and workshops among students; conducting more agripreneur-related activities and programs, strengthening the role of academic advisors and continuous research and review of the ABME curriculum by DAME; and increasing scholarship program awareness, raising support and program awareness and developing a more localized participation among the government and related institutions. Finally, further improvements can be made by future researchers by considering the PEC analysis, conducting the study using two or more universities and taking into account the effect of the recent pandemic
Status, Problems, and Prospects of Ornamental Plant Enterprises in Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines
No full textThe study Status, Problems, and Prospects of Ornamental Plant Enterprises in Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines, described the status of the industry in the city. Specifically, this study focused on providing contemporary insight and contextual industry data to one of the well-known areas of ornamental plant production and trade in the Bicol region that is Naga City; known as the “Little Baguio”. The overall framework used in this study is the Porter’s Five Forces framework which assessed the competition among growers and traders.
Generally, the study aimed to analyze the status, problems, and prospects of the ornamental plant industry in Naga City, Camarines Sur. Specifically, it aimed to present the profile, structure, and performance of industry players in the locale through a synthesis of field surveys and key informant interviews; assess its current problems and weaknesses through a SWOT analysis; identify the common key success factors in the industry; and came up with recommendations to maximize the opportunities which were seen in the PESTEL and in the Cost and Returns Analyses. Dominant Economic traits of the industry were also identified to assess the overall dynamics which shape the industry.
The literature showed an overview and potential of the whole ornamental plant industry on a local and globalized context. Global demand for ornamentals is growing and in the ASEAN Region, Thailand and Malaysia had grown their industries significantly in recent time while the Philippines continued to lag behind. This also served as a benchmark of the Philippines’ capacities. In the Bicol region, it was found that growing ornamentals has existed since the 1970s to 1980s and the region had contributed to the country’s ornamental production as seen by records in the late 2000s.
This study utilized the qualitative research approach with an emphasis on exploratory and descriptive research which provided a contemporary insight and contextual data on Naga City’s ornamental plant industry and related enterprises. This data is critical as the Philippine Government is set to boost the country’s ornamental production in the coming years.
Ornamental plant enterprises in Naga were all sole proprietorships who were retailers, wholesalers, or a mix of both. To enter the ornamental plant industry business is easy due to the low capital requirements, absence of regulatory barriers, and the highly profitable nature of the industry. This attracted players of all ages and experience to pursue an enterprise in ornamentals. Moreover, the study revealed that many of the current industry participants are second-generation business owners who decided to continue their business due to personal reasons.
Based on production and marketing practices, key players are able to sell plants within and outside of Naga City but traders often have a competitive advantage over the growers to reach their customers as their business locations are generally more strategic in nature. This is due to their ability to make regular contacts with their target markets. However, their grower counterparts are more efficient in production as they relied more on self-propagation rather than the procurement of plants from outside of Naga City which allowed them to incur savings. Growers also mentioned that they sold viable planting materials to other local government units who have started their local production of ornamentals. In terms of acquiring inputs, growers sourced fertilizers and pesticides which contributed to the bulk of their costs while traders’ costs were more on plant procurement, rent, and logistical costs.
The problems which were identified in the study include: low control on price and forecasting among key players; reliance on seasonal demand; slow growth of the industry due to poor support; absence or lack of recordkeeping, innovation and differentiation; and increasing cost of inputs.
Based on the author’s analyses, there are several key weaknesses in the ornamental plant industry of Naga City, Camarines Sur: lack of proper cold storage equipment and facilities; reliance on experience as a technical knowledge; seasonality of demand; inability to set & control prices; limited support from government agencies and the local government unit, and limited product offerings in the market. The cost and returns analysis also showed that growers can profit more consistently than traders. However, the profit margins of traders are higher than those of growers especially if they are able to generate sales greater than P25,000 per month.
Key players still see the industry as profitable and would continue to pursue such businesses. The City Agriculturist Office expressed a positive outlook for the industry as they believe it will continue to grow in the coming years although at a slow rate. Some of the key strengths of the industry players: the city’s reputation for growing ornamentals especially cut flowers; strategic location of key industry players; ease of entering the market; salability all-year round; high profit margins under right practices; accessible labor, and the existence of organizations among industry players.
General recommendations were presented by the author after the study. Some of these recommendations include: the introduction and practice of record-keeping; to exercise product differentiation, and business registration.
Specific recommendations were given to traders, growers, and the local government unit. Some of the recommendations for traders include local sourcing of ornamentals & training for the improvement of employees. Growers were also advised to: implement more promotional schemes, and explore new production techniques. Lastly, the LGU was recommended to: coordinate with local universities to extend technical assistance to growers, benchmark with other lowland ornamental plant=producing areas in the Philippines and ASEAN neigbors, and the extension of financial assistance to traders.
In summary, the local ornamental plant industry of Naga City is a healthy position for growth. Through the help and action of the government agencies like the Department of Agriculture and local government units, improvements across the industry will boost the growth of key players. That is why key industry players must work together with the support subsector, especially the LGU, to capitalize on the growing market for ornamentals not just in the local context but on a global level as well
Assessing the Food Safety Culture and Management of Longganisa Processors in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
No full textLongganisa production in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur plays a significant economic role in the province (Cervantes, 2021). It was recognized as the city’s “One Town, One Project” a project that promotes products and delicacies of various towns in the country. Despite the flourishing industry, it continues to face issues that hinder its growth and potential to reach wider markets. Among these issues are packaging, imitation of the product, lack of proper food safety policies, and the attitudes of the processors (Tee, n.d.). These problems have led the researcher to come up with the study that aims to assess the food safety culture and management of the longganisa processors in Vigan City. To be specific, the study aims to (1) present the profile of the longganisa enterprise, (2) describe the process flow and identify the critical control points of making longganisa, (3) assess the food safety culture existing among longganisa processors in Vigan City, (4) evaluate the degree of compliance done by the longganisa processors in Vigan City, and (5) provide recommendations to improve the existing food safety culture management.
This study interviewed all registered longganisa processors in Vigan City. The study involved surveying 60 participants, 30 of them are business owners and 30 of them are the employees. Data were collected using questionnaires, interviews, and ocular observation. The information gathered from the likert- scale questionnaire was used to assess the food safety culture of the longganisa processors. For the checklist of the food safety practices, it determines if the enterprise is compliant with the food safety standards regulated by the Food Safety Act of 2013.
In terms of the business profile of the longganisa enterprises, all the 30 examined businesses are micro enterprises and operate as sole proprietorships. Majority of these enterprises are located in Brgy. V with 26.7% of the respondents. In addition, the average business operation period of the longganisa enterprises is 14.9 years. This indicates that most of the businesses have been in operation for a fair amount of time. The enterprises under study have plants ranging from 4 to 100 square meters. The mean numbers of employees for production, sales, and administration are 3.3, 1.5, and 1.2 respectively. This denotes that production teams are moderately sized, whereas the sales and administration are relatively small. In terms of their market, 29 out of 30 surveyed enterprises mostly transact with retailers. This implies the popularity of the said delicacy among consumers markets in the province. Lastly, among the 30 longganisa enterprises, 21 (70%) of them are members of a Food Processing Organization which is a good indicator that the industry is leaning towards networking opportunities that would support their businesses.
The process flow of the Vigan longganisa processor is formulated based on the gathered data from the examined enterprises. The processing involves procurement of raw materials, cutting of the meat, mixing the ingredients, stuffing of the ingredients into the casing, tying of the longganisa, air drying, packaging, and distributing to the markets. Vigan longganisa are packed in dozens using polyethylene plastic or a Styrofoam with a cling wrap and it can last up to six to ten months. The pricing strategy used by the enterprises is cost- plus pricing as this covers all the expenses with a reasonable profit that is enough for micro enterprises. Business owners make use of hybrid distribution channels. The market of the longganisa are the end consumers, retailers, repackers, institutional buyer, wholesaler. They make use of various promotional activities such as sales promotion, advertising, and word of mouth to make their products known by consumers. The human resource is responsible for making sure that the requirements needed to operate the business are met. In addition, it is also responsible for processing the wages ang salaries of the employees. Designation of tasks are shared among the production, marketing, and selling. However, more people are assigned to the production since work is more intensive. The revenue of the business was not disclosed during the interview, but the owners said that they use it to ensure the continuous operation and improvement of the business and salary of the employees.
In relation to the food safety practices of the enterprises, it can be inferred that both the business owners and employees have established specific measures to ensure safety and quality of the product. However, low frequency scores of ‘Yes’ can be seen on areas management and personnel, and packaging practices. This suggests that improvement should be done in this area. With regards to the food safety culture of the enterprises, assessment shows that the culture is based on the perception of the employees and the business owners. It can be inferred that the results shown on tables 9 and 10 are not fully reliable for the reason that there is a gap with the results of the table and the ocular observation of the researcher.
Based on the results, there is a gap in the dimension of management commitment among Vigan longganisa enterprises. Hence, it is recommended for the government institutions to do necessary interventions to assist Vigan longganisa players such as government funding and cash assistance, standardized processing procedure and regular seminars that tackle food safety.
As for the enterprise, the manufacturers should manage the production diligently to safeguard the process from the procurement of the raw materials up to the end consumers. It is also recommended for the business owners and employees to attend seminars and training and be continuous with their compliance with food safety protocols. Lastly, owners are highly encouraged to work closely with the government in establishing an organization solely for the longganisa processors in their province.
For the future study, it is suggested to have an in- depth investigation on the process flow of the processors, higher sample size, and to determine the association between the food safety culture and the food safety practices of the longganisa enterprise
An Exploratory Market Study on Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus spp.) Wine in Selected Areas in Cebu, Philippines
No full textDue to its health and economic benefits, dragon fruit production is now experiencing an increase and fast acceptance on its demand and supply sides (Del Carmen et al., 2020). It continuously extends throughout the country, from selected provinces in Luzon, Visayas—Cebu, Bohol, Iloilo, and Negros—to Mindanao. The area, annual production, and yield per hectare of dragon fruit have all increased during the six previous years. From 2017 and 2022, the country\u27s total production area and annual product increased by 37.72% and 54.05%, respectively. Similarly, the yield per hectare of Dragon Fruit have also increased by 36% with minor fluctuations. Fresh dragon fruit is usually available from June to September, with August and September being the peak harvest season. There are several constraints that the commodity is facing, including the prevalence of insect pests and plant diseases, high investment costs, lack of technical knowledge and experience for farmers, and problems with marketing, among others. Due to these constraints, dragon fruit farmers endure oversupply during peak seasons, resulting in commodity wastage. Thus, new technologies and value-adding activities are required.
This study addressed the problem of dragon fruit\u27s postharvest losses by offering a wine fermented from a red dragon fruit. The Philippines might not be well-known as a wine region, but it is still home to a unique variety of wines cultivated from locally- grown crops and fruit. Additionally, the rising demand for alcoholic beverages from young Filipinos is seen. The aim of the study was to determine the market acceptability of Dragon Fruit wine and identify the best marketing mix strategies for introducing the product. This was achieved by identifying the wine attributes that respondents considered essential and desirable, as well as examining their purchasing and consumption patterns. Moreover, the Dragon Fruit wine was evaluated based on these identified attributes to assess its market potential.
The study was conducted in Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Mandaue City; thus, its results only apply to these areas. It utilized purposive and snowball sampling methods due to the lack of data on the total number of wine drinkers in the study area. A mixed-methods research strategy was also employed, combining various approaches to provide comprehensive insights. It included a Usage, Attitude, and Image (UAI) survey to assess respondents\u27 product knowledge and purchasing behavior. Along with a product test which includes Satisfiers-Dissatisfiers analysis, sensory tests to evaluate the product\u27s attributes, packaging testing, and price testing
This study examined respondents\u27 socio-demographic characteristics and descriptive analysis revealed that women constituted a larger proportion of the respondents, indicating a higher prevalence of wine consumption among women. The majority of respondents were between the ages of 21 and 30, with most being employed or students. The results also showed that wine was primarily consumed on special occasions and social gatherings, typically in small quantities of 1 to 2 glasses. In order to determine the relationship between different variables, a correlation analysis was done. It is found that there is a weak relationship between age and consumption frequency while gender and consumption volume positively correlated. However, both exhibit a low correlation coefficient which implies that the variables do not significantly affect each other. Moreover, purchasing behavior analysis revealed that most respondents purchased wine once a year, during the holiday season, and typically bought 1 to 2 bottles priced between PHP 300.00 and PHP 400.00. Supermarkets were the preferred purchase location, and the internet served as the primary source of wine information. The relationship between their socio-demographic characteristics and purchasing behavior was also analyzed using Pearson Correlation Coefficient. In this study, the age, gender, and monthly income of the respondents are found to have a weak relationship with their purchasing behavior and showed that their relationships are not statistically significant.
In order to determine which fruit wine attributes are seen as important, a satisfier-dissatisfier analysis and importance rating on a Likert scale were utilized. The satisfier-dissatisfier analysis identified flavor as the only dissatisfier attribute, while attributes such as aroma, color, aftertaste, smoothness, packaging, and price were deemed important satisfiers. This implies that the respondents are more likely to purchase a fruit wine with a satisfying aroma, good color, a pleasant aftertaste, smoothness, appealing packaging, and reasonable pricing. However, if the fruit wine does not taste good, the respondents are less likely to purchase the product. These results are consistent with the respondents\u27 assessments of each attribute, wherein flavor and nutritional value were seen as very important attributes. While aroma, color, aftertaste, and smoothness were considered important. On the other hand, the actual product test revealed that the Dragon Fruit wine\u27s attributes were rated as good overall. Similarly, the packaging of the wine was well-liked, although improvements in appearance and labeling were suggested. While according to the price test, respondents found the wine inexpensive at PHP 200.00 and costly at PHP 500.00, with a willingness to pay PHP 300.00 to PHP 500.00.
Comparison with respondents\u27 favorite grape wines showed that while satisfaction with the Dragon Fruit wine\u27s flavor and price was high, attributes such as aroma, color, flavor, packaging, and pricing were preferred in their favorite wines. However, the Dragon Fruit wine\u27s smoothness and aftertaste were favored over their favorite brands. In addition, the Mann-Whitney U-test highlighted significant gaps between the desired and actual attributes of color and flavor, indicating areas for improvement.
Since the study found that the Dragon Fruit wine was acceptable in the market, several recommendations were made to develop the product further. These recommendations include enhancing the fruit wine\u27s aroma, flavor, smoothness, and packaging. Techniques such as utilizing enzymes to extract natural fragrance compounds and back-sweetening methods to improve flavor were recommended. Color, packaging, and labeling improvements were also recommended to make the product more appealing. The Dragon Fruit wine target market was younger consumers, particularly young women, who are often inclined to favor fruit wines. In order to understand the features of the product, the researcher used a total product concept which showed the five product levels of the Dragon fruit wine. A combination of expected product attributes must be prioritized, such as smoothness, good aftertaste, aroma, flavor, affordability, and quality. Highlighting the health and nutritional benefits of the product was also suggested, as this may affect consumers\u27 consumption intention. Moreover, the product\u27s price must be set between PHP 350.00 to PHP 400.00.
Distribution strategies should align with promotional efforts. Given the current limitation on mass producing the Dragon Fruit wine, online orders, establishing a stall at the production site, and promoting it as a pasalubong (souvenir) item were recommended to be prioritized. Social media promotion, partnerships with local newspapers, and free samples to tourists were suggested to reach different target markets. It is also recommended to create a niche market for Dragon fruit wine and position it at high end grocers\u27 shops in the country once mass production is achieved.
As the study provided insights into the consumption patterns, purchasing preferences, and attribute evaluations of the Dragon Fruit wine, it helped address gaps in color and flavor, enhance the wine\u27s attributes, and consider consumer preferences to compete effectively in the market. Along with this, the acceptability of the Dragon Fruit wine not only addresses the oversupply of the fruit during peak seasons but will also contribute to the country\u27s economy. It opens local fruit and wine production opportunities, attracting potential investors and promoting Filipino produc
Performance evaluation of manually-operated gmelina fruit mechanical depulping machine
No full textGmelina tree has been used in revegetation program of the government and for production and utilization of quality wood, structural lumber, plywood, agricultural implements, furniture and even artificial limbs. The fastest way to grow seedlings is through the seeds that can be found in its fruits done by trampling with feet or setting the fruits on the concrete road, run over by vehicle tires. The purpose of these research was to evaluate the performance of the developed utility model for gmelina depulping for community utilization to maximize seeds retrieval, reduce time wastage and provide safety to children of farmers commonly assigned to gather and retrieve seeds in the roadside. Gmelina depulper with Utility Model IPOPhil registration no. 2-2016000797 was fabricated and utilized in the study. Fresh Gmelina fruits, soaked fruits for one, two, and three days in water were used as materials in the evaluation of the depulping machine. Test trials using 20 fruits/trial and average of 25 seconds test duration per trial revealed that the depulping machine input capacity was 43-50 fruits/minute and recovery rate of 87%. There was no significant difference on depulping capacity and recovery rate with fresh fruit and soaking it for 3 days before depulping. The production cost of one unit was Php. 9,275.00 which could be recovered using 1,855 seedlings sold at Php 5.00 each. It was recommended to depulped gmelina fruits without soaking, fabrication of unit with bigger hopper intended for large gmelina fruits size to increase recovery rate and reduce the percentage of damaged seeds