Farmers' perception and assessment of soil fertility in rice growing areas in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand | |
| Author | Phantipa Plangklang |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.AS-17-07 |
| Subject(s) | Soil fertility--Thailand--Nakhon Ratchasima Rice--Soils--Thailand--Nakhon Ratchasima Rice--Planting--Thailand--Nakhon Ratchasima |
| Note | A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Agricultural Systems and Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Nakhon Ratchasima Province is the greatest expected area for growing rice in 2015/2016 cropping season of Thailand. The cultivated area is 572,752 ha which accounts for 6.53% of rice cultivation in the country (OAE, 2014). However, rice production is lower than the average of the country due to many constraints. One of the important constraints is soil problem. Soil in Nakhon Ratchasima was classified as sandy loam which has a low ability to retain moisture, and low soil fertility. This study aimed to assess farmers’ perception of soil fertility change and to evaluate farmers’ preference for soil fertility management planning in the rice field of Nakhon Ratchasima Province. This study, based on survey research design, two main sources of data including primary and secondary. Primary data were collected directly from some selected rice growers following personal interview method with the structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews with key informants and field observations. A total of 50 household farmers was selected from three difference suitable areas of three districts. Therefore, 150 household farmers were assessed in this study. Three districts, including Phi Mai district, Nonsung district and Huay Thaleang district, which belonged to high suitable area, medium suitable area and low suitable area for rice cultivation, respectively. Secondary data were collected from all relevant governmental offices and available publication resources. This study found that farmers used various indicators to assess soil fertility. There were no significant differences among three groups of farmers in the different suitable areas on the first three ranks of indicators that farmers used to indicate soil fertility change. First three indicators that farmers had high acceptance could be important indicators to assess their soil included decreasing incidence of earthworms, decreasing presence of weeds and increasing fertilizer requirement. Farmers in all three suitable areas had less aware of crop husbandry practicing, soil testing and soil amendment techniques. There were four techniques for soil fertility management that average score values were above the moderate level. The four techniques included chemical fertilizer, ploughing, availability of water and organic materials. Adopting soil fertility management planning might be dependent on the socioeconomic constraints. Farmers mentioned lack of knowledge, local culture and financial problem affect their decision on adopting any management techniques. Many technologies have been developed but not successful in reality situations to local farming. This study tries to analyze the farmers’ perception which is one way to understand the farmer’s situation to make the right policies and provide service to small scale farmers. |
| Year | 2017 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural Systems and Engineering (ASE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Datta, Avishek; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Loc, Thai Nguyen;Kuwornu, John K.M.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Thailand (HM Queen); |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2017 |