14 research outputs found
Risk analysis of smallholder farmers in central and north-east Thailand
No full textAgriculture contributes approximately nine per cent to both of Thailand’s GDP and exports. Thai farmers are basically smallholders and large numbers of them live in rural areas and below the poverty line. Pervasive and complicating risks cause a farmer’s income to fluctuate every year. The Thai government has tried to strengthen and enhance farmers’ ability to cope with risk and stabilize their farm income. These issues have been widely discussed in the 10th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2007-2011). The development of appropriate solutions to deal with risks has been impeded due to the lack of empirical studies on farmers’ responses to risk and the impacts of risk at the farm level in Thailand.
This study investigates the farmers’ perceptions of risk and risk management strategies and examines whether the farmers’ characteristics can be influenced by those perceptions. The farmers’ risk aversion is also elicited using the equally likely certainty equivalent approach and four different utility functions are employed to analyse their performances in terms of risk preference classification. Stochastic efficiency with respect to a function (SERF) is applied to determine the risk efficient farming systems for the farmers in central and north-east regions of Thailand. The data for this study were obtained from a face-to-face survey of central and north-east region farmers together with the historical data of prices and yields at the provincial level (1998-2008) from the Office of Agricultural Economics for each individual crop and livestock in the study areas.
The results indicate that marketing risks associated with the unexpected variability of input and product prices are considered as important sources of risk among the farmers in both regions. The production strategy related to the purchase of farm machinery to replace labour is perceived as an important strategy to manage risk by the central region farmers, whereas the north-east region farmers considered storing feed and/or seed reserves as an important strategy. The results also show that some farm and farmers’ characteristics (e.g. gender, education, off-farm work, farm size and farm location) significantly impact the risk perceptions of the farmers in both regions. The negative exponential utility function is performed to describe the farmers’ risk behaviour. This functional form classified all sampled farmers in both regions as risk averse.
The SERF results show that maize followed by sorghum (CRFP4) is the most risk efficient farming system for the extremely risk averse rain-fed farmers in the central region. Intensive planting of wet rice and dry rice cultivation (CIFP1) is preferred by the extremely risk averse central region irrigated farmers. In addition, wet rice and cassava with raising small herd of cattle (NRFP5) is the most economically viable farming system for the extremely risk averse rain-fed farmers in the north-east region, while two rice crops with raising cattle (NIFP3) is preferred by the extremely risk averse north-east irrigated farmers
Determinants of households’ membership in agricultural cooperatives in Bhutan
No full textThe Royal Government of Bhutan has been promoting agricultural cooperatives (ACs) in the country; however, the number of people joining ACs is small. This study was conducted to identify the factors influencing households' decision to join ACs in Central Bhutan. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect data from 384 households (192 AC members and 192 non-AC members). Trained enumerators collected data in June and July 2018 using structured questionnaires. The binary logistic regression showed that households with older heads of household, being literate, having more family labour, more land under cultivation, owning farm machinery, being further away from a market, and having access to credit increased the likelihood of households joining ACs. Conversely, households earning off-farm income and locating far from the Renewable Natural Resources Centres decreased the likelihood of becoming member of ACs. Additionally, the gender of the head of a household and the number of cattle owned by a household showed no significant influence. As this paper is the first to empirically investigate the determinants of households’ membership in ACs in Bhutan, the findings have some important policy implications. The government should continue to provide in-depth awareness to farmers on concepts and benefits of ACs in retaining existing members and recruiting new members
Farmer fertilization practices of mature rubber plantations in Northeast Thailand during a period of low rubber prices
No full textSince 2000, farmers in Northeast Thailand have planted more than 5,000 sq km of rubber on land previously devoted to agriculture. The expansion of rubber led to a significant increase in tree cover in Northeast Thailand. Rubber prices peaked in 2011 and since then farmers have had to adjust to lower prices. Little research has documented how farmers responded to low rubber prices. This paper seeks to describe how small-scale rubber farmers use fertilizer in a region that did not historically grow rubber du ring a period of low rubber prices. We collected data from structured interviews with 29 farmers in Subsomboon village in Khon Kaen province, Northeast Thailand. Most farmers reported that they reduced fertilizer costs by reducing the number of times they applied fertilizer, as well as changing to cheaper brands and/or using organic fertilizer. The majority of farmers still used large amounts of chemical fertilizers, either alone or in combination with commercial organic fertilizers with unknown nutrient contents. The N and P20s contents of the chemical fertilizer alone were consistent with national recommendations (82.0-137.6 kg N/ha/y and 33.3-97.7 kg P20s/ha/y). Thai national recommendations for rubber, however, were developed for rubber plantations in traditional planting area where rubber has been grown for over a century, and are considered by many experts to be high. The study's findings indicated that small scale rubber farmers would benefit from recommendations for fertilizer applications that respond to variations in rubber prices, while taking into account the diversity of individual household characteristics and goals. To optimize recommendations that sustain the growth and yield of rubber, limit the effects of environmental externalities, and maintain rubber's profitability, policymakers require detailed information on the diverse situations in which rubber is grown. This requires experimental research that tests a variety of fertilization practices under different biological and physical conditions
Sources of Risk and Risk Management Strategies: The Case of Smallholder Farmers in a Developing Economy
No full textEconomic risk analysis of alternative farming systems for smallholder farmers in central and north-east Thailand
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Impact of Changing Swidden-Based Farming to Rubber-Based Farming on Food Security in Luang Namtha Province, Lao PDR
No full textAlthough swidden-based farming has traditionally been practiced by the people in Lao PDR, this system is considered to result in significant environmental degradation. Thus, rubber-based farming was introduced as an alternative to food crops grown under swidden farming, thereby affecting household food security. Thus, this study aimed to compare the impacts of traditional swidden-based farming (SBF), rubber-based farming (RBF), and swidden–rubber-based farming on food security in Luang Namtha province, Laos. Two villages were selected for a case study. A total sample of 195 households was selected using the stratified random sampling method. A face-to-face household (HH) questionnaire was used for interviews. The results showed that households practicing RBF alone showed the lowest level of food security and highest vulnerability in terms of food security. No households in this group reached the food security level. The SRBF group exhibited a greater level of food security than that of either SBF or RBF alone. Two dimensions of food security—food availability and food access—were used to investigate the household food security level associated with the three farming types in this paper
Dynamic of rubber production in Northeast Thailand: A case study at Subsomboon village, Doonsard sub-district, Kranuan district, Khon Kaen province
No full textThis research aim to study changes in rubber production and farmers' practices at Subsomboon village, Doonsard sub-district, Kranuan district, Khon Kaen province since the promotion of rubber plantation. Data were collected by using literature review, semi-structured interview (SSI) with Key-informants (KIs) using sub-topics and interviewing with a sample of 30 accessible rubber farmers using a closed ended questionnaire. It was found that rubber production in the area could be divided into 3 periods including the first period: Beginning of rubber cultivation (1992-2003) farmers started rubber plantation with government support for the production inputs and knowledge, the second period: Rubber booming (2004-2011) where the area of rubber dramatically increased mostly by farmer' s own investment and partly supported by the government and the third period: Declining of rubber (2012-present), when limited expansion of new rubber area was farmers own investment and no rubber replanting in some farms. Moreover, the study found that there are different practices among farmers at each period showing the adaptation of farmers in their plots according to the situation of family condition and rubber production in each period
Factors Influencing the Households’ Adaptation under Natural Disaster Risk in the Coastal Areas of Giao Thien, Giao Thuy, Nam Dinh, Vietnam
No full textThis research is to identify the impacts of natural disaster risk on households of local residents and to identify the adaptation of households with natural disaster risk in Giao Thien commune, Giao Thuy district, Nam Dinh province, Vietnam. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied in this study to assess the overall impact of disasters on the livelihood strategies of households in response to natural disaster. The findings show that the risks of natural disasters affecting the livelihood of the local population in the study area are typhoons, floods, coastal erosion/ sea level rise, and saltwater intrusion. Currently, people in the researching area are not merely affected by one disaster but usually 2-3 or even 4 types of disasters in a short period of time. Therefore, this leads to economic losses, in the form of assets of the households. There are 6 solutions to cope with disaster risks that people often used to reduce the damage include: (1) regularly monitor information; (2) Change season calendar; (3) Change crop varieties; (4) Buy insurance; (5) Save of fertilizer and pesticide inputs; (6) Save seed production
