Effect of new rice technology on family labor utilization in Laguna

The study showed a general change from labor-intensive to labor-saving practices (i.e., the use of chemicals and machinery) after 1975, as farmers adjusted to changing factor price ratio"s. Further, family labor declined steadily throughout the entire period of the study. To explain this decline, a Cobb-Douglas production function was used to test a hypothesis that MV"s increase the number of operations that require large amounts of hired help to meet set deadlines, e.g., weeding, thus making hired operations more important than family operations in increasing output. Regression analyses showed that a 1.0% increase in hired labor could increase output by 0.2% using MV"s, but would hardly affect output using older varieties; and that, conversely, a 1.0% increase in owner operator"s labor (the chief component of family labor) could increase output 0.12% using older varieties, but have no marked impact using MV"s. The study also revealed that total operator"s labor decreased nearly 1/3; that a significant portion of this time was spent growing watermelon, a lucrative crop; and that farmers spent much less time in non-farm activities and much more time in a wide range of farm manage- ment activities such as touring paddy fields and meeting with exten- sionists and rural bank personnel, with a significant (5%) increase in farm management production elasticity. The study also showed that the increased availability of non-farm work, mainly in factories, decreased on-farm family labor. As of 1978, 60% and 53%, respectively, of male and female children over 18 held such jobs. Finally, the study revealed that total farm income increased 53% in real terms, resulting in an increased capacity to hire manual laborers. Taken together, these changes in labor use are similar to those that occurred over a 40-year period in Japan and Taiwan. An appendix on regression tests and 9 references (1961-79) are included.