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LEVEL OF MECHANIZATION
Mechanizationinanyareaischaracterizedintothreelevels:low,fair,andhigh.Lowmechanizationlevelmeansthatmanualpowerusedexceeded33%.Fairmeans
thatanimalpowerutilizationrangesfrom34%to100%.Highmeansthatmechanicalpowerutilizationrangesfrom67%to100%(Rodulfo,et.al,1998).
Table1showsthelevelofmechanizationinriceandcornfarmingoperations,expressedinthreemainsourcesofpower,namely:manual,mananimaland
mechanical.Thedatashowsthathumanpowerdominatesfarmoperationsatanaverageof56.53%.Mechanicaloperationsareappliedmainlyinmilling,threshingor
shelling,landpreparation,andplanting.Animalscontinuetodominatelandpreparation.Sundryingisstillpreferredbyfarmers.Intermsofavailablepowerexpressed
ashorsepowerperhectare(hp/ha),thelevelofmechanizationstandsat1.68hp/ha(Table2).Thisisrelativelylowcomparedwithotherneighboringcountries.The
reasonforthisistheabundanceofmanuallabor,whichdominatestheuseofhumanpowerinriceandcorncultivationactivities.Thehighhp/haofpowertillersand
threshersindicatethattheuseofmechanicalpowerinlandpreparationandthreshingisincreasing.Irrigation,harvesting,anddryinghavelowhp/halevel.
ComparedwithotherAsiancountries,thePhilippinesranks9thintermsoflevelofmechanizationat0.52hp/hain1990(Table3).Thisagainisverylowcomparedwith
Japanat7.00hp/ha,RepublicofKoreaat4.11hp/ha,andPeoplesRepublicofChinaat3.88hp/ha(RNAM,1994)
Intermsofriceproduction,RNAMreportindicatesthatthePhilippinesrankseighthandsixthof11countriesintermsofmechanizationlevelandproductionperhectare.
KoreatopedthelistfollowedbyChinabothbasedontotalpowersource.ChinaandKorearankedfirstandsecond,respectivelyintermsofproductionperhectare
(Table4).
AMDP(1998)didacorrelationanalysestodeterminethepossiblerelationshipbetweenthetwovariables.Thecomputedlinearcoefficientof0.7645showsadegreeof
relationshipbetweenthelevelofmechanization(independentvariable)andtheproductionperhectare(dependentvariable).However,itdoesnotexplainhowthelevel
of mechanization affects the production per hectare since there are other factors that could affect production per unit hectare such as farm inputs application and
farmerscapabilitytoincreaseinputs.
Table1.Percentageofriceandcornfarmsvs.sourceofpower.
Operation

PowerSource
Manual

ManAnimal

Mechanical

Landpreparation

3.15

64.71

23.17

Planting

98.67

1.15

0.16

Weeding

85.20

14.80

Fertilizerapplication

98.69

1.65

100

Harvesting

98.79

Threshing/shelling

31.01

68.99

Drying(farmlevel)

100

100

Spraying

Milling

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LevelofMechanization

Average

56.53

19.25

21.70

Source:AgriculturalMechanizationDevelopmentProgram(AMDP),1997
Table2.LevelofMechanizationinRiceandCorn.
SourceofPower

Hp/ha

1.Humanlabor

0.24

2.Draftanimal

0.08

3.Fourwheeltractor

0.24

4.Engines

a.Powertiller

0.56

b.Thresher

0.34

c.Irrigationpump

0.07

d.Harvesting,dryingandshellingequipment)

0.15

Total

1.68

Source:AgriculturalMechanizationDevelopmentProgram(AMDP),1997
Table3.LevelofmechanizationamongselectedAsiancountries,hp/ha.
Country

1968

1990

Japan

3.00

7.00

RepublicofKorea

0.435

4.11

Notavailable

3.88

Pakistan

0.410

1.02

India

0.302

1.00

Thailand

0.348

0.79

Iran

0.239

0.70

SriLanka

0.378

0.58

Philippines

0.198

0.52

Indonesia

0.173

0.41

Notapplicable

0.40

0.733

0.30

PeoplesRepublicofchina

Bangladesh
Nepal
Source:RNAM,1994

Table4.ComparisonofpalayproductionandlevelofmechanizationamongAsiancountries.
PalayProduction(tons/ha)

Averagehp/ha

PeoplesRepublicofChina

5.36

3.88

RepublicofKorea

4.70

4.11

Indonesia

4.04

0.41

Country

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LevelofMechanization

SriLanka

3.42

0.58

IslamicRepublicofIran

2.81

0.70

Philippines

2.64

0.52

Pakistan

2.50

1.02

Nepal

2.26

0.30

Thailand

2.14

0.79

India

1.68

1.00

Bangladesh

1.49

0.40

Source:RNAM,1990

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