Communication patterns, resources, decision-making and participation of men and women in soybean production and processing in four villages in Isabela, Philippines

The study found significant relationship between personal-, household-, and farming characteristics, with organization membership, attendance in soybean trainings/seminars, knowledge of soybean POT, and length of participation in soybean production. High interrelationship was found among these dependent variables. Communication patterns, particularly radio, TV, and print media exposure, source of first information on, and of knowledge in soybean POT, and information needs were related with organization membership, attendance in trainings/seminars and length of participation in soybean production. Correlation results showed that several personal-, household-, and farming characteristics had significant and positive association with labor contribution in soybean operations. Other characteristics however had inverse relation. Educational and economic levels, and area of land cultivated and owned had negative correlation with input in production labor in both male and female respondents. Multiple regression analysis revealed that certain variable have varying effect on men and women, and within a particular gender. Household size had consistent positive influence on female respondent's attendance to trainings/ seminars, labor inputs in production-, and auxiliary activities, but had negative effect to male respondents' labor input in auxiliary activities. In men, educational level was positive to labor input in auxialiary activities but negative to input in production labor. Among women, education was positive for attendance in trainings/seminars but negative to input in production labor. The results of the discriminant analysis showed that attendance intrainings/seminars, organization membership, area of land owned, economic and educational levels distinguished the innovators-early adopters from the late adopters. The discriminant analysis correctly classified 80 percent of cooperators as members of the group to which they actually belonged