Determinants of Profitability of Sweet Potato Production in Camarines Sur, Philippines

Abstract

Sweet potato has found its niche in the global market and is now outpacing other primary staple foods not only because of its desirability for human consumption but as an immediate source of income as well. A study was conducted to examine the factors affecting the profitability of sweet potato production in Camarines Sur, Philippines. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the 108 farmer-respondents. A structured questionnaire and focused group discussion were used as main tools for gathering data. Frequency counts, weighted means and percentages were used to describing and analyzing the socio-demographic data. Cost and return analysis and return on investment were used to determine the profitability of sweet potato production. The factors affecting the profitability of sweet potato production were also evaluated using multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that sweet potato production is generally profitable with the high financial return of 144% to farmers, or a net income of Php 48,400.00 pesos per hectare. There exist a positive relationship between income and farm size, labor input cost, cost of other inputs and access to buyers but inverse relationship exist between income and years of experience and tenurial status. Furthermore, farm size and cost of other inputs are significant variables that contribute to the increase in income. Recommendations include stabilizing the pricing system for sweet potato through the formation of production clusters to improve their market opportunities; provision of seminars and workshops on product development; provision of subsidies on agricultural inputs to reduce the cost of production; provision of basic and high-technology infrastructure; and establishment of an information network on the agricultural market.Keywords-sweet potato production; market channel; profitability; cost and return analysis; return on investment.

Review: Types of socioecological production landscapes of the Philippines based on dominant biodiversity: status, problems and future directions

“…In the uplands of Bicol peninsula, Mountain Province and Bataan, local communities are into sweet potato farming system (Guiriba 2019;Lirag 2019;Abas 2014). Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is cultivated in the rainfed terraced fields along mountain sides, riverbanks, mountain slopes of swidden farms as well as in home gardens (1000-1400m above sea level) in Mountain Province (Kwiatkowski 2013).…”

“…Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is cultivated in the rainfed terraced fields along mountain sides, riverbanks, mountain slopes of swidden farms as well as in home gardens (1000-1400m above sea level) in Mountain Province (Kwiatkowski 2013). In Bicol, it is also cultivated in satoyama landscapes (Guiriba 2019;Lirag 2019). Sweetpotato is recorded to be cultivated in the sloping uplands of Bataan (Balilla et al 2012).…”

Effects of enhancing sweet potatoes variety diversity in increasing yield and quality of tuber

“…It requires smaller quantity of inputs and less labor than other crops such as maize, and put up with marginal growing circumstances (e.g., dry spells, poor soil) (Oswald et al, 2009). Many farmers in the world are gradually seeing the importance of producing sweet potato As postulated by Lirag (2019) sweet potato is trading well in the worldwide market, doing better in terms of trade outperforming other main food crops because its desirable for consumption by man and it's also a fast source of earnings.…”

Determination of Effectiveness and Efficiency of Production Factors in Sweet Potato Farming in Lamongan, Indonesia

“…There is a positive correlation between labor costs, land area, access to buyers, and other input costs with farmers' income. There is a negative correlation between the length of the farmers' experience and the tenurial status with the farmer's income [16]. Most households in Ghana and developing countries adopt an easy way is substituting ingredients in a mixture of legume-cereal foods with orange sweet potatoes [17].…”