APPLICATION OF THE CRITERIA TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION
The preceding criteria were used to evaluate new technologies being Given the importance of rice In Philippine rural society, and
developed by the Cropping Systems Program at IRRI as well as those which assertions of Iloilo farmers regarding the desirability of increasing
arose as a product 'of the field research process, which examined the rice production on their farms, the technologies chosen for analysis
farming systems of a group of small farmers located In a rainfed lowland deal mainly with rice.. Two types of new technologies are examined:
area in Iloilo Province, the Philippines (Figure 1). existing and notional.
The predominant activity of the Iloilo farmers is rice production, Existing new technologies are those which have been developed, are
usual ly in combination with upland crops planted either before or after known to farmers, and are In some stage of the process of adoption (or
rice. Rice and upland crops are planted in distinct seasons, determined rejection). Notional technologies, on the other hand, are undeveloped
largely by the amount of water required for plant growth (Figure 2). or poorly developed, but have a recognized potential for adoption by
The rice-growing (drought-free) season usually lasts for 5-6 months, farmers in specific ecological and socioeconomic circumstances.
Upland crops can be grown during two periods Of the year; at the According to Anderson and Hardaker (1979):
beginning of the wet season, and in the transition period from a flooded
to a drought state. In other periods, upland crops would likely suffer
due to either drought stress (February -April) or the presence of Notional new technologies are, because of their hypothetical
excessive moisture and flooding (June -October). The "competitive" nature, cheap to invent and bounded only by the Imagination
period, when either rice or upland crops can be grown, normally has a of the inventor. Since more fully developed technologies
duration of Just over one month, have their genesis as notions, attention to generating
notional technologies should not be disregarded. Evaluation
Although there Is some year to year variation in the length of the of this category can range from intuition to analysis, but
growing seasons depicted, they can be considered safe in the sense that analytical appraisal is essentially confirmed to work on
in most years, the probability of significant yield reductions due models rather than on real systems.
either to-drought stress or excessive moisture Is low. However, crops
grown outside the designated safe periods are subjected to production
risk, with the level of risk increasing with the length of growth time A total of seven existing and notional new technologies will now be
outside the period. evaluated according to the aforementioned criteria in the context of
Iloilo socioeconomic and egroolimatic conditions. Before discussing and
Rice forms the basis of the typical diet in Iloilo, usually evaluating new rice technology, however, a description of traditional
supplemented by modest amounts of fish and vegetables. It is also the technology is necessary in order to facilitate comparison. Traditional
principal source of cash income, with production above consumption needs technologies evolving over time tend to adapt to environmental requirebeing readily sold either to the government or on local markets. Nest ments, bringing certain rigidities to agricultural production systems.
of the food consumed by rural families is produced by the family on An example of the phenomenon is the use by farmers of traditional rice
either owned, rented or sharecropped land. There is some division of varieties which mature only during certain times during a year when
labor allocated to crop production by age and sex, with adult males specific daylength requirements are met. In Iloilo, the most common
undertaking land preparation with draft animals and women and small traditional rice varieties mature io December when nearly all rains have
children participating in weeding and harvesting activities. Hired subsided. It is quite beneficial to be able to harvest rice at the
labor use Is concentrated during the harvest, with laborers receiving a beginning of the dry season, when plenty of sunshine Is available for
one-sixth share of the production for their efforts, solar drying. This minimizes losses due to grain rotting and
germination and facilitates the maintenance of acceptable standards of
Though Iloilo farmers have partially adopted improved rice vari- grain quality. Moreover, traditional varieties mature at the same time,
eties and modified planting techniques, the overall level of adoption of regardless of planting date, enabling farmers forced to plant late in
modern technology is low. This Is manifested in the limited use of years of late rainfall onset to catch up while sustaining relatively
technology-embedded inputs such as machinery and agrochemicals. This is minor losses. As shown in Figure 3, a traditional rice variety can be
due In some cases to a low preceived benefit-cost relationship of such planted in June and harvested in December. Two months would remain for
technologies, while in others It Is due to the fact that cash or credit possibly growing an upland crop after rice.
is unavailable for input purchase.
One disadvantage of the traditional varieties is the simultaneity
with which labor is demanded for specific crop activities, especially
transplanting and harvesting. It is possible to stagger land prepa606 607