Acceptability Assessment of a Locally Developed Onion Harvester Hand Tractor in La Union, Philippines

Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, La Union, Philippines

^* Corresponding Author: rabad@dmmmsu.ed.ph

Abstract

Onion farmers’ attitude toward a locally developed onion harvester in the Philippines has been unstudied due to the unavailability of the machine. Based on a respondent of 26 onion farmers, an acceptability assessment of the onion harvester was implemented. Data were gathered using questionnaires at two activities of actual hands-on operation and lectures and analyzed using fisher’s exact test. The ease of operation, cleaning and maintenance, safety of operation, ease of transport, technical field performance, adaptability, and investment viability were relevant attributes used in the acceptability of the onion harvester. The majority of the respondents positively accept the onion harvester. The user operation, cleaning and maintenance, ease of transport, adaptability, and investment viability are correlated positively to the willingness to buy or rent the machine. Conversely, user safety, technical performance, and aesthetics are not correlated with adoption. Since 38.5% of the farmers have no hand tractor, the preferred acquisition is renting the onion harvester.