Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 24 ISSUE 1
Written by Leomarich F. CASINILLO, Karen Luz P. YAP

This article elucidated the level of abaca production in Eastern Visayas, Philippines, and developed a statistical model that determined its significant governing factors. A cross-sectional survey and primary data collection were done to gather sufficient information through a face-to-face interview with a random sample of 349 abaca farmers. The study used standard statistical metrics to describe the data and presented it in a tabular form. In addition, ordinal regression was employed to model the factors governing the level of abaca production in the Region and tested its significance at standard level. Results portrayed that, on average, the production of the abaca industry in Eastern Visayas is considered at a moderate level. This implies that the abaca production in the region has still room for improvement. It is found that abaca farmers in the region only interact with the traders and have no engagement with other players such as enablers (PhilFIDA, SUCs, and LGU) due to some constraints. The results of the first ordinal regression revealed that the factors affecting the level of abaca production are the age of farmers (𝜌₁=0.027, p-value=0.003) and the size of the farm (𝜌₆=-0.564, p-value<0.001). This implies that older farmers are more knowledgeable in applying innovative techniques that enhance production activities. Moreover, the smaller size of the abaca farm is easy to manage and apply technologies to improve production levels as opposed to bigger farms. The second ordinal regression showed that farming experience (𝜆₄=0.015, p-value=0.038) is a significant predictor of abaca production level which indicates that experienced farmers are more productive and competitive.

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