The Relationship Between Innovativeness and Profitability of Yellow Corn Farmers in Davao Oriental

Agribusiness Management

Yellow corn farmers in Davao Oriental continue to face difficulties in sustaining stable farm income and overall farm performance despite the importance of yellow corn production to their livelihood. These difficulties are generally connected to the changing conditions of agricultural production, which may affect the farmers’ ability to maintain productive and profitable farming operations. This study aimed to examine the relationship between innovativeness and profitability of yellow corn farmers in Davao Oriental. The quantitative descriptive-correlational research design was employed in this study. A self constructed questionnaire was used to collect the data from 349 randomly yellow corn farmer-respondents through a face to face interview. The level of innovativeness was analyzed through descriptive numerical measures while financial ratio analysis was used to determine the profitability of corn farmers in terms of Net Profit Margin. Meanwhile, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship of these variables. The results indicated that the respondents' innovativeness was high with the mean score (m=3.59). Profitability analysis showed that the yellow corn farmers had an average net profit of Php 30,344.88 per hectare and a net profit margin of 37.12%. The Pearson correlation result, however, revealed very weak and non-significant relationship between innovativeness and profitability (r = 0.001, p = 0.992). The results indicate that the yellow corn producers were highly innovative and profitable, but innovativeness was not directly related to profitability. Thus, agricultural development programs should not only encourage the adoption of innovation, but also enhance the capacity of farmers to manage their farm business, plan their finances, manage their inputs and make decisions about their markets.

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