DIFFUSION AS AN INNOVATION: PROMOTING EFFECTIVE MICROORGANISM TECHNOLOGY AMONG HOG PRODUCERS

Abstract

This novel study analyses the adoption by hog producers of the Effective Microorganism (EM) technology in the province of Batangas. It has been slow despite the growing evidence of its effectiveness and efficiency in the Philippines and in over 140 countries worldwide. However, there is no common result that can validate the effectiveness of this technology on matters of production output. The researcher focused on three objectives; (1) to identify factors affecting their interest in the diffusion of EM technology as an innovation; and (2) to determine whether significant relationships exist between (a) selected factors such as (i) motivation; (ii) knowledge; (iii) experience; (iv) familiarity and (v) other contextual variables such as demographic profile and farm characteristics and (3) interest to adopt such innovation. Its end objective is to come up with recommendations to expedite the interest to adoption of innovative hog production system highlighting the use of EM technology among backyard hog producers. The study randomly collected 400 backyard hog producers in the cities of Batangas. It was further stratified into 64 respondents in Tanauan, 304 respondents in Laurel and 32 respondents in Talisay through a survey questionnaire. Statistical methods such as frequency count, and correlation were used to evaluate the objectives and the hypothesis identified. The study showed that the hog producers moderately disagree to adopt EM technology. Findings showed that motivation was related to civil status and education. Experience and familiarity were related to gender and interest to adopt was related to married hog producers. Familiarity and experience were related to number of employees. Knowledge (hear and learn) was related to number of employees and farm area (ha).