Adoption and Economics of Tilapia Farming Technology in the Philippines

Abstract

This paper examines the circumstances under which farmers respond to the introduction of tilapia production technology, and analyzes the manner in which the benefits from such introduction are shared and distributed among recipients. The hypothesis that the inverse relationship between yields and operational land size widely observed in agriculture is tested whether it also applies in aquaculture. The highly differentiated agrarian structure of the Philippines influences to a high degree the process of freshwater aquaculture development. More specifically, farmers adopt tilapia farming because of financial and economic incentives because tilapia production is shown to be profitable. The results on the differences between farm size in tilapia hatchery operation strongly suggest that large farms are not as productive as small farms. However, the size-productivity relationship observed under grow-out operation illustrates a situation where the productivity of factors is determined by the relations of production. Tilapia culture, notably hatchery operation, results in increasing commoditization and there is growing market orientation of aquaculture production. As a consequence, the benefits from the technology depend upon access to and ownership of factors of production resulting in variations in the level of productivity and an unequal distribution of income.