Thesis (BS Agribusiness Economics) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, May 2018

Decision-making of the farmers is influenced by many different factors. In adopting organic farming, one of the major factors that influence the decisions of the rice farmers is their perception of the technology. However, another factor which was not considered by some researchers but has a significant effect on decision-making of the farmers is social capital. This study aimed to assess the social capital of the rice farmers in the municipality of Magsaysay and measure its effects to the decisions of the farmers to adopt organic farming. The social capital elements trust, belongingness, and connectedness were used as indicators to examine if social capital has a significant effect to the decision-making of the farmers to adopt organic farming. To measure the effects of social capital, binary probit regression was employed, and the data were analyzed using GRETL. The results show that the organic farmers consider the positive characteristics of organic farming whereas majority of the conventional farmers, although have knowledge about organic agriculture, consider more of the negative side and do not realize the long-term effects of organic farming. The results also show that the social capital of the organic farmers is higher than the conventional farmers. Also, among the three elements, there is a significant difference between the belongingness of the organic and conventional farmers. The result also reveal that all the three social capital elements are highly significant and has positive effects on the decision to adopt organic farming. Hence, to increase the frequency of organic adopters, information dissemination must be improved. Also, the policies to be implemented should be able to develop a mutually beneficial collective action, and the programs to be conducted should be able to cater social interactions among the farmers.