Navigating Ruling Relations: Institutional Dynamics and the Slow Adaptation of Technology in Philippine Rice Farming

This study examines the institutional factors influencing the slow adaptation of technology in rice cultivation in the Philippines, employing Institutional Ethnography (IE) to explore how the family, state, and civil society shape farmers' practices. Approaching the research from the farmers’ standpoint, it investigates how their everyday experiences are embedded within institutional power structures that govern technological adoption. While industrial-scale agriculture thrives in other countries, smallholding communities like Barangay Talangka in Sta. Maria, Laguna continue to rely on manual labor. By talking with the people—farmers, local officials, and community leaders—the study captures how technological transfer unfolds within the realities of rural life. Ruling relations, which connect farmers to state policies, market systems, and social expectations, play a key role in shaping these dynamics. Although the state’s push for food security aligns with national development goals, agrarian reform laws that limit landholdings and lending policies that restrict capital access complicate mechanization. Modernization policies promoting efficiency often conflict with the cultural and ecological realities of smallholders. In addition to fieldwork, the study reviews key texts such as agrarian reform laws, environmental regulations, trade policies, and agricultural subsidies to map the institutional landscape. Using IE, this research uncovers hidden connections between institutional policies and farmers' daily practices, revealing how seemingly neutral policies reinforce existing power structures. It highlights how IE’s method foregrounds marginalized perspectives and shows the interdependence between institutional actors and local practices, offering insights into sustainable farming arrangements that balance technological change with social and ecological realities.