Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Intention and Behavior among the Indigenous Farming Community in Bun-ayan, Sabangan, Mountain Province, Philippines

With the shift of direction of the Philippine economy towards being an agribusiness-driven sector from agricultural farming, the indigenous peoples were encouraged to engage in entrepreneurship that would improve their socioeconomic status and bring development to their communities. The study assessed the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention and behavior among the indigenous farmers in Bun-ayan, Sabangan, Mountain Province, by means of analyzing the entrepreneurial indicators and predictors through correlation and multiple regression analysis among 74 indigenous farmers. Among all the entrepreneurship predictors in this research, age, educational attainment, years in farming, the occupation of the father and mother, entrepreneurial inclination, entrepreneurial role model, entrepreneurial education, personal attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were significantly related to entrepreneurial intention. Among the significant variables extracted from the correlation analysis, the factors affecting entrepreneurial intention and behavior are age, father’s occupation, and entrepreneurial inclination. Furthermore, this study conclude that sociodemographic factors and entrepreneurial inclination are enough to determine the intention of the indigenous farmers to engage themselves in entrepreneurial activities for the theory of planned behavior becomes insignificant when other predictors are incorporated with it. Thus, though there is evidence of a high level of entrepreneurial intentions among the indigenous farming community, challenges pertinent to culture preservation vis-à-vis its capacity to translate such intention into entrepreneurial behavior need to be addressed

Reducing vortex density in superconductors using the ratchet effect

A serious obstacle that impedes the application of low and high temperature superconductor (SC) devices is the presence of trapped flux. Flux lines or vortices are induced by fields as small as the Earth's magnetic field. Once present, vortices dissipate energy and generate internal noise, limiting the operation of numerous superconducting devices. Methods used to overcome this difficulty include the pinning of vortices by the incorporation of impurities and defects, the construction of flux dams, slots and holes and magnetic shields which block the penetration of new flux lines in the bulk of the SC or reduce the magnetic field in the immediate vicinity of the superconducting device. Naturally, the most desirable would be to remove the vortices from the bulk of the SC. There is no known phenomenon, however, that could form the basis for such a process. Here we show that the application of an ac current to a SC that is patterned with an asymmetric pinning potential can induce vortex motion whose direction is determined only by the asymmetry of the pattern. The mechanism responsible for this phenomenon is the so called ratchet effect, and its working principle applies to both low and high temperature SCs. As a first step here we demonstrate that with an appropriate choice of the pinning potential the ratchet effect can be used to remove vortices from low temperature SCs in the parameter range required for various applications.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Nature (in press

The Effects of Dry Spell on Eggplant Production in Batangas City, Philippines

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, there is an unclear understanding as to the extent to which natural disasters cause significant impacts to the agriculture sector, especially on its subsectors. Most studies holistically focus on the agriculture sector as a whole and fail to address sector-specific industries. This research was conducted to identify the nature and extent of effects of dry spell on a specific sector, eggplant production, in Batangas City in the Philippines. To determine the effects of the dry spell, 71 eggplant farmers situated in the barangays (villages) of Tabangao Dao, Pinamucan East, and Sto. Niño in Batangas City were interviewed. The data was analyzed using frequency and mean analysis as well as cost and return analysis. The respondents reported that the dry spell delayed their transplanting activity, which led to delays in fertilizer application. The dry spell also decreased the quality of the eggplants, as well as increased the number of twisted-shaped eggplants, fruits with brown streaks and lesions on the skin, and fruits which were stunted and thin. Consequently, there was a decrease of good-graded eggplants and the increase in semi-good and rejected eggplants. Lastly, on the average, there was a 105 kg per harvest per hectare decrease in eggplant production in Batangas City, which resulted to a PhP14,880.85 reduction in the expected income of the farmers. It is recommended that the government provide a communal water source, subsidize the costs of some production inputs, and link the farmers to technology developers and agriculture experts who can help develope appropriate coping mechanisms against dry spells. Further, the eggplant farmers must be encouraged to practice mulching, contour farming, and crop rotation to minimize possible production losses from dry spells

Revitalizing Peanut Farming in Enrile, Cagayan, Philippines

The sustainability of a peanut farming community hinges on understanding the key production players in the supply chain. This agend-asetting paper focused on presenting and analyzing the production and marketing experiences of 75 peanut farmers in Enrile, Cagayan, Philippines, using the case methodology through farmer surveys, key informant interviews, and secondary sources of information. This paper aims to present sustainability perspectives to revitalize peanut farming in the area and address the issues encountered in the production and marketing of peanuts. The results of this study showed that peanut farming in the community can be revitalized and sustained through instituting effective flood control measures, improving peanut farming practices, employing market-driven strategies supported by supply chain and quality management, nurturing the next generation of peanut farmers, and establishing better linkages with support institutions and industry

Cooperative Business Failures in Batangas Province, Philippines: A Postmortem Analysis

Cooperatives all over the world are said to be imbued with inherent weaknesses and challenges, and therefore, steering these entities towards sustainability is seen as an uphill climb. This paper delves into the reasons why some cooperatives in the Philippines dissolve or stop operating. Specifically, the study aimed to review the literature on factors affecting cooperative business sustainability and failures, to present and analyze two cases of failed multipurpose cooperatives and offer recommendations on operating cooperatives for their continued sustainability. Data was gathered through key informant interviews and secondary sources, and analyzed using the case approach and descriptive analysis. Extant literature primarily pinpointed issues such as poor management, lack of capital, property rights, and portfolio problems as the culprits behind cooperative conversions, failures and restructurings. What made the two multipurpose cooperatives unsustainable were the insufficiency of funds needed to meet Cooperatives Development Authority (CDA) requirements, delinquency of members and their inactive participation in cooperative affairs, mismanagement of resources, absence of a viable marketing system and the lack of a capable financial manager. Cultivating managerial and leadership skills, improving governance, establishing private sector and government linkages and support, encouraging participatory membership, utilizing an effective marketing system, proper resource management and expanding financial knowhow are suggested to achieve cooperative sustainability

Developing Agri-based Technopreneurs in the Academe: The Case of Two DOST-Funded Projects in the University of the Philippines Los Baños

This paper assesses the outcome of two Department of Science and Technology (DOST)–funded projects geared towards promoting technopreneurship among students of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). It describes the various technopreneurial trainings and other inputs under the Agriculture, Foresty, and Natural Resources (AFNR) project. Then, using an action research design, it documents and examines the experiences of twenty-six (26) student-technopreneurs who conducted start-up businesses for five months using three UPLB-developed technologies, with supplementary funds coming from the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD-DOST). The study uses primary and secondary data from the student-technopreneurs, validated through key informant interviews, to gain insights into the process of running the start-ups, including the challenges encountered and lessons learned, and then evaluates their performance using three parameters, namely, financial performance, entrepreneurial competencies developed, and the number of businesses registered after the project. Results show that the student-technopreneurs under the high-end cheese and by-products track were the most financially successful, followed by those under the fruit juice and puree track. Those under the microbial rennet were the least successful. All of the participants reportedly gained personal entrepreneurial competencies, the most important of which being acquisition of technological know-how. On the overall, the two projects are assessed to be successful. Lastly, only seven registered their businesses as most perceived that their current production scale was too small to require business registration. The paper then provides future directions for research and recommendations on how to improve the conduct of similar projects based on the experiences of the participants and the insights from the project management team

Book Reviews

Book reviews of: Song of My Life: A Biography of Margaret Walker. By Carolyn J. Brown Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2014. Author’s note, afterword, acknowledgements, illustrations, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. Pp. xi, 147. $20.00 cloth. ISBN: 9781628461473. Searching for Freedom after the Civil War: Klansman, Carpetbagger, Scalawag, and Freedman. By G. Ward Hubbs. (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2015. List of illustrations, preface, prologue, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. Pp. ix, 223.$34.95 cloth, $34.95 ebook. ISBN: 978-0-8173-1860-4.) Choctaw Resurgence in Mississippi: Race, Class, and Nation Building in the Jim Crow South, 1830-1977. By Katherine M. B. Osburn. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2014. Acknowledgements, illustrations, maps, notes, index. Pp. 342.$65 Cloth, $25 Paper. ISBN: 0803240445.) Stennis: Plowing a Straight Furrow. By Don H. Thompson (Oxford: Triton Press, 2015. Acknowledgments, illustrations, notes. Pp. 176.$35 cloth. $14.95 paper. ISBN: 1936946467.) Corazón de Dixie: Mexicanos in the U. S. South since 1910. By Julie M. Weise. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015. Acknowledgments, appendix, notes, bibliography, index. Pp. 358.$32.50 paper, $29.99 e-book. ISBN: 9781469624969.) The Great Melding: War, the Dixiecrat Rebellion, and the Southern Model for America’s New Conservatism. By Glenn Feldman. (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2015. Acknowledgements, notes, index. Pp. x, 388.$59.95 cloth, $59.95 ebook. ISBN 978-0-8173-1866-6.) Baptists in America: A History. By Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Preface, acknowledgements, notes, index. pp. xii, 329.$29.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780199977536.) One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America. By Kevin M. Kruse. (New York: Basic Books, 2015. Acknowledgements, notes, index. Pp. xvi, 352. $29.99. ISBN: 9780465049493.) Confederate Generals in the Trans-Mississippi: Essays on America’s Civil War, Vol. 1, Edited by Lawrence Lee Hewitt with Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr., and Thomas E. Schott. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2013. Acknowledgments, illustrations, maps, notes, index. Pp. xxiii, 302.$54.95 cloth. ISBN: 9781572338661.) Agriculture and the Confederacy: Policy, Productivity, and Power in the Civil War South. By R. Douglas Hurt. (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2015. Acknowledgements, maps, tables, notes, index. Pp. xi, 349. $45 paper. ISBN: 1469620006.) Womanpower Unlimited and the Black Freedom Struggle in Mississippi. By Tiyi M. Morris. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2015. Acknowledgements, illustrations, notes index. Pp. xvi, 237.$69.95 cloth, $24.95 paper. ISBN: 0820347302.

Quantum tunneling across spin domains in a Bose-Einstein condensate

Quantum tunneling was observed in the decay of metastable spin domains in gaseous Bose-Einstein condensates. A mean-field description of the tunneling was developed and compared with measurement. The tunneling rates are a sensitive probe of the boundary between spin domains, and indicate a spin structure in the boundary between spin domains which is prohibited in the bulk fluid. These experiments were performed with optically trapped F=1 spinor Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure