A Rice Village Saga : Three Decades of Green Revolution in the Philippines

The rice belt of Laguna Province, Philippines (popularly known as the heartland of the Green Revolution, for its early adoption of modern rice varieties), has experienced dramatic economic and social changes during the last three decades. Besides the major advances in new rice technology, four major forces have prompted change: increasing population pressure on limited land, implementation of land reform programmes, developments in infrastructure such as irrigation and roads, and penetration of urban economic activities. A unique data set generated from eleven surveys during 1966-97 in a typical village in Laguna, as put together in this book, illustrates a pattern of socio-economic change shared by many irrigated rice areas in the Philippines as well as in other Asian economies. Contents......Page 6 List of Tables......Page 9 List of Figures......Page 13 List of Abbreviations......Page 15 Preface......Page 16 Prologue: The Village Found......Page 18 1 Approach to a Village......Page 20 Village Profile......Page 22 Modernizing Forces......Page 32 Approach and Data......Page 34 Plan of the Book......Page 38 2 Chronology of the Village......Page 41 Initial Settlement and Land Opening (1880s to Mid-1950s)......Page 42 Transition to Intensive Production (Late 1950s to Mid-1960s)......Page 46 Green Revolution and Land Reform (Late 1960s to Late 1970s)......Page 50 The Lost Decade (1980s)......Page 56 Away from the Agrarian Community (1990s)......Page 59 Population Statistics......Page 64 Dynamics of Population Growth......Page 66 Population Pressure and Landlessness......Page 71 Occupation, Education and Migration......Page 77 Anecdotes of Four Social Classes......Page 86 Evolution of Agrarian Systems in the Philippine Rice Bowl......Page 91 Reforms of Land Tenure Relations......Page 101 Emergence of Alternative Markets......Page 108 Changes in the Distribution of Operational Landholdings......Page 115 Equity and Efficiency in Land Reform......Page 118 Laguna in the Green Revolution......Page 122 Diffusion of Modern Varieties......Page 125 Rice Yield Trends......Page 128 Purchased Inputs for Rice Production......Page 132 Labour Use in Rice Production......Page 140 Factor Inputs and Factor Shares......Page 143 Rates of Technological Progress......Page 145 Green Revolution on Irrigation......Page 147 The National Irrigation System Servicing East Laguna Village......Page 148 Deterioration in the Service of Irrigation......Page 153 Irrigators' Associations and the NIA......Page 159 Costs and Benefits of the System's Management......Page 167 Institutional Development versus White Elephant......Page 171 Voice and Exit......Page 178 Community Versus Market: A Review of Controversies......Page 181 Work and Income Sharing......Page 185 From Hunusan to Gama......Page 189 Digging Out of Tradition......Page 192 Peasants and Estates in Multiple Equilibria......Page 195 From Gama to New Hunusan......Page 198 Efficient Peasants......Page 201 Approach......Page 203 Sales of Rice from Farmers......Page 205 Organization of Marketing......Page 209 Prices and Marketing Margins......Page 215 Income and Profit......Page 218 The Evolution of the Rice Market......Page 223 The Nature of New Village Industries......Page 226 Cottage Workshops and Rural Factories......Page 228 Production Structure of the Metalwork Industry......Page 233 The Activities of Export Contractors......Page 238 Prospects for Rural Entrepreneurs......Page 241 A Recapitulation......Page 245 Growth of Aggregate Income......Page 247 Income Growth by Household Type and Income Source......Page 251 Changes in Income Distribution and Poverty Incidence......Page 258 Epilogue: Will the Village Remain a Village?......Page 263 Appendix A......Page 264 Appendix B......Page 267 Notes and References......Page 269 Bibliography......Page 274 Glossary......Page 282 Name Index......Page 285 Subject Index......Page 287 This detailed case study explores the dramatic economic and social changes that the rice belt of Laguna Province has experienced in the last quarter-century. Besides major advances in rice technology, increasing population pressure, land reform programs, growing infrastructure, and urban economic activities have accelerated the pace of change. Utilizing a unique data set built from numerous surveys from 1966 to 1997 in a typical Laguna village, the authors illustrate a pattern of socioeconomic development shared by irrigated rice areas throughout Asia. Waves of modernizing forces, such as the commercialisation of new technology, have been pressing major change upon rural communities in the Third World. But has modernization created greater poverty and inequality? A unique data set generated from eleven surveys during 1966-87 in a typical rice village in the Philippines, illustrates a pattern of socio-economic change shared by many lowland rice areas in the Philippines as well as in other Asian economies. The authors present the lessons drawn from thirty years of detailed empirical research. "The rice belt of Laguna Province, Philippines (popularly known as the heartland of the Green Revolution, for its early adoption of modern rice varieties), has experienced dramatic economic and social changes in the last quarter of the twentieth century." "A unique data set generated from many surveys during the period 1966-97 in a typical village in Laguna, as put together in this book, illustrates a pattern of socio-economic change shared by many irrigated rice areas in the Philippines as well as in other Asian economies."--Jacket