A Comparative analysis of the differences in production and income distribution among the various types of irrigation systems in Central Luzon, Philippines / Gilchor Permison Cubillo.

Thesis (M.S. - - Agricultural Economics) Kasetsart University, Thailand.

Includes bibliographical references.

Title : A Comparative Analysis of the Differences in Production and Income Distribution Among the Various Types of Irrigation Systems in Central Luzon, Philippines. By : Mr. Gilchor Permission Cubillo Degree : Master of Science in Agricultural Economics Major Field : Agricultural Economics (Dr. Sarun Wattanutcha October, 1988. Chairman, Thesis Advisor :

The study was conducted for the purpose of assessing the differences among three types of irrigation systems, i.e. the national, communal and pump systems, in terms of production, productivity and income distribution among factors of production and earners. The study period covered the 1987 wet season production and the 1988 dry cropping season.

Farm level information was gathered by interview. Central Luzon was selected as the study area with three provinces representing the three different types of irrigation systems. The sample has a total of 120 respondents with each system represented by 40 rice farms. Stratified simple random sampling was employed in selecting the respondents.

The study uses a comparative approach (Analysis of Variance) and a production function approach (Cobb-Douglas Model) to assess the differences in levels of input use, production and productivity, and average cost and income using the three types of irrigation systems. Accounting procedure was used to compare the manner by which output was distributed among the factors of production and earners in each system. Gini concentration ratios were computed and then compared in order to determine which of the systems resulted in the most egalitarian distribution of net farm income among rice farmers.

Labor use was highest in the pump system in both the wet and dry seasons. On the average, pump system farmers were also observed to use the greatest amount of fertilizer. This group also showed the highest average product of labor in both seasons. Average product of fertilizer was found to be highest in the communal system during the dry season, and highest in the national system in the wet cropping season.

The pump irrigation system exhibited the highest total output and the highest yield per hectare of the rice farms. It also appeared to be the most efficient system in terms of input utilization during the dry season. Labor input was observed to be most efficiently utilized in the pump system in wet and dry seasons while fertilizer use was most efficient in the national system in both cropping seasons.
Despite the notable performance of the pump system in terms of efficiency in production and input use and the very high gross income of farmers, average net farm income per hectare differed little across system types. This could be attributed to the higher average cost incurred by pump system farmers as against the lower average production costs in the other two systems. In terms of income distribution, the communal and national systems appeared to surpass the pump system in the manner by which total output was distributed among factors of production, earners, and income classes, as well as among the rice farmers themselves.

The study reveals that a more efficient system appeared to exhibit a lesser egalitarian income distribution. With this finding, it can be suggested that important traits of more efficient system such as optimum level of input use, the adoption of modern technologies, the use of high yielding varieties and better services from farmers' organization which provides cheap credit to member farmers, could be combined with the good characteristics of a system exhibiting equity in income distribution such as full ownership of farms by individual tillers and higher agricultural wage for landless workers, in order to probably come-up with a system which is efficient and at the same time would lead to the best egalitarian income distribution. The performances of the three systems understudied, however, do not differ much. It is therefore a question of "affordability" which confronts the government and policy makers in decisions concerning the establishment of new irrigation systems or the rehabilitation of existing ones since construction and maintenance costs of the three systems differ much. Other factors such as availability of funds from foreign sources, technologies and resource endowments of rice farms are also vital in the decision process.

Submitted to the University Library 11/07/1988 T-1101