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The National Cotton Development Program as an Approach to Rural Development
Thesis Abstract:
The study was conducted among 86 cotton and non-cotton growers in Bayambang, Pangasinan, Philippines to ascertain the effects of the National Cotton Development Program (NCDP) on individual living conditions. It also determined their perceptions of, attitude toward, and expectations from the program at the community level, as well as the relationship of some socio-psychological and farmer-related variables with the respondents' living condition. It also identified the causes of farmers' withdrawal from the program and determined non-cotton growers' prospects of joining the program.
Cotton growers were better off than non-cotton growers in terms of their living condition as indicated by their household income, expenditures, and possessions; non-household possessions; and housing condition. Moreover, cotton growers' present level of membership in community organizations as well as their aspirations were higher than those of non-cotton growers. Similarly, cotton growers' living condition after joining the program was relatively better than before they started planting cotton. Organizational affiliation, on the other hand, had likewise improved in manner as their aspirations were raised upon joining the program.
Both cotton and non-cotton growers had highly favorable attitude toward selected aspects of the NCDP such as the supervised credit, the Philcotton technician, some management policies, and selected cultural practices on the crop. They also showed a high perception level regrading basic concepts of the program. Their expectations from the program were generally economic in nature. Of the socio-psychological and farmer-related variables tested for relationship with the living condition of cotton and non-cotton growers, only membership in community organizations was found to be significantly related to their living condition. Some socioeconomic effects of the NCDP at the community level included increased job opportunities, greater prestige, and bigger income for the family. The majority of the cotton growers indicated their continued commitment to the program because of the economic incentive. Some of those who intended to withdraw from it gave personal reasons for deciding so. Non-cotton growers expressed their desire to join the program in the next cropping seasons because they were motivated by the increased benefits that cotton growers enjoyed.