Adoption and continued participation in a public Good Agricultural Practices program: The case of rice farmers in the Central Plains of Thailand

Published Date
July 2015, Vol.96:242–253, doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2015.03.016

Title 
Adoption and continued participation in a public Good Agricultural Practices program: The case of rice farmers in the Central Plains of Thailand

• Author 

• Saengabha Srisopaporn ^a,
• Damien Jourdain ^a,b,,
• Sylvain R. Perret ^a,b,
• Ganesh Shivakoti ^a,

• aAsian Institute of Technology, SERD, P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani, 12120, Thailand
• bCentre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, UMR G-EAU, 73, rue J.-F. Breton, Montpellier 34398, France

Received 2 March 2014. Revised 18 February 2015. Accepted 23 March 2015. Available online 7 April 2015.

Highlights

• •
  We analysed Thai rice farmers adoption and continued adoption of a GAP program.
• •
  We compared agronomic practices between never, only-once, and continued adopters.
• •
  Labour constraints are likely preventing adoption; farmer to farmer diffusion is not taking place.
• •
  Land renters are less likely to continue adopting.
• •
  Adopters apply pesticides less often, and continue that practice even if disadopting.

Abstract

To address increasing concerns for improved food safety, quality, and appropriate environmental practices of on-farm operations, governments and private sector are increasingly promoting standards for good agricultural practices. In Thailand, voluntary and free of charge Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification program was implemented by the government. It aims at mobilising farmers to improve on-farm operations to produce safe products and preserve the environment while reducing the costs of production. This study is a three-stage investigation into the factors and patterns of GAP adoption and continued adoption by rice farmers using successively probit for first adoption patterns, probit with selection models for continued participation, and comparison of practices among non-adopters, one-time only adopters, and continued adopters. The analyses are based on a survey of 250 farmers from Ayutthaya Province in the Central Plains of Thailand. Results demonstrate that adoption and dis-adoption are highly related to household labour constraints, land ownership, and initial high expectations regarding the market opportunities of the GAP produced rice. We found several encouraging differences between non-adopters and first-time adopters, indicating better pest and nutrient management. Although we observed an important rate of dis-adoption, we also determined that farmers are maintaining those better practices even after abandoning the program.

Keywords

• Certification
• Public standard
• Rice
• Adoption
• Good agricultural practices
• Food safety
• ASEAN

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Vitae

Saengabha Srisopaporn

Ms. Saengabha Srisopaporn is currently working at the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI). She recently graduated with Master of Science in Natural Resources Management from Asian Institute of Technology.

Damien Jourdain

Dr. Damien Jourdain is a senior agricultural and natural resources economist at the French Center for International Cooperation in Research for Agricultural Development (CIRAD). He is currently seconded as a Visiting Assistant Professor to the Asian Institute of Technology.

Sylvain R. Perret

Dr Sylvain R. Perret, PhD, Habil. is a senior agronomist and agro-economist at the French Center for International Cooperation in Research for Agricultural Development (CIRAD), currently seconded at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok,

Ganesh P. Shivakoti

Ganesh P. Shivakoti is a Professor of agricultural and natural resources economics at the Asian Institute of Technology.

• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author at: Asian Institute of Technology, SERD, P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand. Tel.: + 66 8 02 65 70 14.

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http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004016251500075X