Gender role allocation in selected mango postharvest activities in Bataan and Bulacan [Philippines]

More than three fourth (88 percent) of the mango wholesale-traders and mango producer respondents (69 percent) were males. The male mango producers were relatively older (57.36 percent) than the male wholesale-traders (47.43). The male respondents had attained higher education than their female counterparts. These respondents had a small household size. More males were members of social or farm organizations holding key positions than their female counterparts. Majority of the wholesale-traders (70 percent) were sole proprietors of the mango business with a mean capital of P207,500 a year. The males had more access to and control over productive resources such as land, credit, technology and training. They had larger scale of mango fruit bearing trees (66) than the females. They had a relatively longer year exposure in mango production. Mango business is the major income source of the respondents. The mean income of the male wholesale-trader was P301,900 a year while the male producers had an average income of P54,597.05 a year. A great majority of the postharvest activities was assigned to males. Allocation of postharvest activities were based on the following factors: physical strength and muscles, difficulty of tasks, expertise in performing the work. The women were mostly busy in child care and housekeeping. Decisions in the carrying out of postharvest activities were done singly by males or jointly by males and females since males played the manager's role. Majority of the farm labor patterns used by the respondents were hired workers. Problems encountered in performing mango postharvest activities were: occurrence of bad weather condition (20 percent); too high and big mango trees (16 percent) and difficulty in hiring laborers during peak season; lack of storage facilities; weight loss; technical-know how in mango processing, low and fluctuating price