Abstract:
The Philippine economy is characterized as backward, semi-feudal, and agrarian
with no basic industries. Through the years, it became the responsibility of the
government to look for ways to improve the agricultural sector necessary to feed its
growing population. With the launching of the Green Revolution, the supply of rice,
Filipinos’ staple food, is said to increase through the introduction of high-yielding rice
varieties. The town of Victoria in the province of Laguna is an agricultural community not
far from the headquarters of the International Rice Research Institute, an institution
heavily financed by countries and firms that dominate the world’s agricultural markets. It
has made Philippine agriculture a capital-intensive one through promoting the use of high-yielding rice varieties with the accompaniment of using greater farm inputs such as
The Philippine economy is characterized as
fertilizers and pesticides. It gave agricorporations big business opportunities in our country. This study aims to discover and understand the reason why farmers of Victoria,
Laguna choose to plant traditional rice varieties, when they can seek a greater yield with
the use of high-yielding rice varieties. Findings of the study are significant in setting the
priorities of the government when it comes to agriculture. When the government realized
the genuine needs of the agricultural sector, it could improve the quality of life and work
of the peasants in the country. The researcher used a qualitative approach with a
historical materialist framework to analyze the data gathered. Analyses of the study were
based on interviews and surveys done with farmers and peasant leaders.
