Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice

Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong Basin River (SRI - LMB)

Participatory Rural Appraisal for

System of Rice Intensification

in Thailand

This project is funded by A project implemented by the the European Union Asian Institute of Technology

DISCLAIMER:

This report was prepared as a result of work subcontracted by Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand to Ubonratchathani Rajabhat University, Thailand with funding support from the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Implementing Partner and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Contents Acronyms ...... 5 Executive Summary ...... 6 1. Introduction ...... 11 1.1 Background ...... 11 1.2 Objectives ...... 11 1.3 Scope of the Work ...... 12 2. Methodology ...... 12 2.1 Data Collection ...... 12 2.2 Data Analysis ...... 13 2.3 Conceptual Framework for this Study ...... 13 3. Baseline scenario from PRA conducted in Uttaradit Province ...... 14 3.1 General Situation in Uttaradit Province ...... 14 3.2 Situation Analysis of the Target Area ...... 15 3.3 Socioeconomic Status of the Farmers in the Target Area ...... 17 3.4 Agricultural Production System...... 18 3.5 Rice Production System and Management ...... 20 3.6 Challenges for Rice Farming in the Target Area ...... 22 3.7 Landholding and Gender Roles ...... 26 3.8 Organizations and Groups in the Communities ...... 27 4. Baseline scenario from PRA conducted in Surin Province ...... 28 4.1 Situation Analysis of the Target Area ...... 29 4.2 Land Holding and Gender Roles ...... 31 4.3 Community Organizations ...... 32 4.4 Support and Relationship with Government Institutions, Organizations or Agencies . 32 4.5 Agricultural Production ...... 33 4.6 Rice Cultivation ...... 34 4.7 Rice Yield and Marketing ...... 37 4.8 Rice Farm Input Costs ...... 37 4.9 Rice Farming Challenges Faced by the Farmers ...... 37 5. Household Level Information: Questionnaire Data Analysis ...... 39 5.1 General Background of the Respondents ...... 39 5.2 Economic Information of the Households ...... 40 5.3 Farmer Household’s Sources of Agricultural Knowledge ...... 42

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

5.4 Rice Farming Conditions ...... 42 5.5 Gender Roles ...... 45 5.6 Opinions on System of Rice Intensification ...... 46 5.7 Comparison of Socioeconomic Characteristics of Farmers with Different Landholdings ...... 49 6. Government Policies, their Impact and Rice Farm Management at Field level ...... 51 6.1 Government’s Development Policies and their Implications on Agriculture ...... 51 6.2 Impact from Government Policies on the Farmers in the Target Area ...... 54 6.3 Impact from Rice Farm Management of the Farmers in the Target Area ...... 56 7. Guidelines for Developing the Target Area ...... 59 7.1 Development Approach to Rice Production in the Target Area ...... 59 7.2 Development Approach Regarding Small Landholder and Landless Farmers ...... 60 7.3 Gender Considerations to Development Approach in the Target Area ...... 61

List of Tables

Table 1: Physical characteristics of the target area ...... 16 Table 2: Agricultural production in the target area ...... 19 Table 3: Seasonal calendar of the target area ...... 19 Table 4: Rice production characteristics in the target area ...... 24 Table 5: Input cost for rice farming in the target area...... 25 Table 6: Rice farming challenges ...... 26 Table 7: Agricultural production in the target communities ...... 33 Table 8: Seasonal calendar of the target area ...... 33 Table 9: Rice cultivation activities in the target area ...... 36 Table 10: Input cost ...... 38 Table 11: Rice farming challenges ...... 39 Table 12: General background of the respondents ...... 40 Table 13: Household income and debt 1/ ...... 41 Table 14: Sources of agricultural knowledge for farmer households ...... 42 Table 15: Problems in rice farming for the farmer households1/ ...... 44 Table 16: Decision making roles of men and women in the household ...... 45 Table 17: Gender roles in the household’s rice production activities ...... 46 Table 18: Opinion of farmers on System of Rice Intensification, which is rice production by transplanting one rice seedling per hole ...... 47 Table 19: Importance of factors in decision making to adopt System of Rice Intensification .... 48 Table 20: Importance of factors in decision making to not adopt System of Rice Intensification ...... 49 Table 21: Comparison of the mean of some socioeconomic characteristics of farmers grouped by different levels of landholding in Surin Province ...... 50

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 22: Comparison of the mean of some socioeconomic characteristics of farmers grouped by different level of landholding in Uttaradit Province ...... 50 Table 23: Overall comparison of the mean of some socioeconomic characteristics of farmers grouped by different level of landholding in both Provinces ...... 51

List of Figures

Figure 1: Conceptual framework for this study ...... 13 Figure 2: Map of target sub-districts and districts in Uttaradit ...... 16 Figure 3: Rice cultivation process done by farmers in the target areas in Pichai and Tron districts ...... 23 Figure 4: Map of target sub-districts and districts in Surin ...... 31 Figure 5: Farmers’ perspective on the effects of drought on rice cultivation ...... 36 Figure 6: Government policies of both central and local levels that affect farmers ...... 57 Figure 7: Cause and effect diagram on rice production management of farmers in the target area ...... 58

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Acronyms

ACISAI Asian Centre of Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Intensification AIT Asian Institute of Technology CSA Community Supported Agriculture CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DSR Dry Season Rice EU European Union FFS Farmers' Field School FGD focus group discussion GAP Good Agricultural Practice ha hectare HH Household KII Key Informant Interview OTOP One Tumbol One Product PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal SRI System of Rice Intensification

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Executive Summary

Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is implementing an EU funded project entitled “Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Lower Mekong River Basin.” The goal of the project is to promote sustainable rice production system to smallholder farmers in rain-fed areas in the Lower Mekong Basin. In Thailand the target sites are in Surin and Uttaradit Provinces. Before implementation can take place, a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was conducted to attain necessary data. The objective and scope of work of the PRA is to understand the local socioeconomic conditions and agricultural production practices in the target area. Information and baseline data required include farm management, socioeconomic status of smallholder and landless farmers, gender roles and policies affecting smallholder farmers. The study was conducted at community and household levels. At the community level, data collection was mainly qualitative. The methods include secondary data analysis, semi- structured interview with key informants, focus group discussion (FGD) and participatory workshops. Analysis was done through content analysis. At the household level, quantitative data was compiled with a sample group from the communities. This complemented community level data through the use of questionnaire survey, interviewing men and women farmers as well as farmers who are small, medium and large landholders1. The desired information was on socioeconomic condition, agricultural practice especially for rice, problems in current farming practice, along with the decision making roles of men and women on farming by the household. The following are the results:

A. Results from Uttaradit Province: The target areas cover three districts, including Ban Khok, Pichai and Tron. In Ban Khok, the sub-districts include Muang Jed ton, Ban Khok and Bor Bia. In Pichai District, this includes Rai Oi, Kor Room and Ban Mor Sub-districts. At Tron, the target area includes Nam Ang, Ban Kaeng, Had Song Kwae and Wang Daeng sub-districts. The topography in the target site at Ban Khok District is largely mountainous (80 percent of the area) while in Pichai and Tron Districts, most of the area is lowland with small upland areas. Ban Khok District shares a border with Laos. Pichai district is adjacent to Tron District. The distance between Ban Khok, Pichai and Tron districts to Uttaradit city is around 180, 38 and 22 kilometers respectively. The water source for agriculture is rain at Ban Khok District. The Nan River, which flows through Pichai and Tron districts, is an important water source for farming. There is an irrigation system utilizing electric pumps that facilitates the use of water from Nan River for farming. Apart from the river, Tron district also features Tron Canal, another important source of water for agriculture. The socioeconomic conditions in the project area of Ban Khok district, Uttaradit province can be classified as a rural society. The main occupation there is farming and most of the farmers are poor. 50 percent has income per household less than 60,000 baht per year. On the other hand, Pichai and Tron districts can be categorized as semi-urban even though the main occupation is also farming. The majority (50 percent) of the population has middle to

1 Smallholder farmers include those with small landholding, defined as less than 5 rai, medium landholding (between 5-20 rai) and relatively large landholding (more than 20 rai)

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand good level of income. The average income per household is more than 100,000 baht annually. The major source of fund in all three target districts in Uttaradit is the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. In Pichai and Tron, another important source of fund is from local agricultural cooperatives. There is only a small amount (less than 10 percent) of labor migration in the three target districts in Uttaradit. The reason for this is because in Ban Khok District, labor migration affects negatively to the households’ rights to utilize the land. In Tron and Pichai Districts there is farming work all year round because two crops of rice can be grown per year. Landholding of small landholder farmers in Pichai, Tron and Ban Khok Districts is categorized into four groups, which comprise small landholders (less than 5 rai of land), medium landholders (between 5-20 rai), large landholders (more than 20 rai) and landless. The most populous group is medium landholders (60-70 percent). The large landholders make up 20-25 percent and small landholders 5-10 percent. 5 percent of the farming households are landless. Farmers who are smallholders or landless in Pichai and Tron districts rent land to farm rice. The rent rate is between 1,500 to 3,000 baht per rai per crop season. Most (60-70 percent) of the farm land in Ban Khok District is without land titles because they are situated in national forest and national park areas. Therefore the majority of farmers here only have the right to use the land to support livelihoods (farming). In regarding gender roles, Ban Khok and Tron Districts are similar in the way that decision making role on household spending for family care and farming mostly belong to the women. Men’s role is to carry out the farming (as the household’s main labor). Seeking knowledge on farming practices is mostly done by the men but women also take on this role recently to a limited degree. The agricultural system in Ban Khok district’s target area involves mostly farm crops and fruit orchards. The main crops are maize for animal feed, black mung beans, black beans, and sweet corn. Sweet tamarind is the main fruit crop. Livestock husbandry, particularly cattle and water buffaloes, is also common. In Pichai and Tron districts, the agricultural systems are similar because they are adjacent areas with the same type of ecosystem. Because most of the land here is lowland with only a small amount of highlands with irrigation available for all year round agriculture, the farming system is not complex. The main crop is rice, which is farmed twice per year. On some highland areas, the farmers prepare the land to grow rice. Also, they farm sugarcane, yellow bean, corn or tapioca but these are in small proportion compared to rice. Not many households are engaged in Livestock husbandry because most of the land is devoted to intensive rice farming. There is little space left to raise animals, particularly cattle and water buffaloes. Rice farming in Pichai and Tron districts is mainly commercial. The farmers in this area farm two crops of rice per year (in-season and off- season). Most households farm 15-25 rai. The rice variety is non photosensitive, non-glutinous and can be grown all year round. On planting techniques, the majority (80 percent) of farmers use pre-germinated seed broadcasting technique. The seeding rate is at 20-30 kilogram per rai. The production process from planting to harvesting is mainly done by machines and utilizing the irrigation system through electric pumps to access Nan River’s water. The yield in Pichai and Tron Districts is usually between 800 to 1,100 kilograms per rai. Investment cost is between 3,530 and 6,535 baht per rai (excluding land rent). If the price to rent land is included, the total cost is 5,030-9,535 per rai. In Ban Khok District, rice is farmed mainly for consumption by the household. Usually, rice is farm on 2-4 rai per household and only one crop (in-season) is farmed per year. The variety grown is glutinous rice (because the households usually consume this variety). The preferred planting technique is transplanting. The seeding rate is between 10 and 15 kilogram per rai. Rain water and human labor are mainly relied upon. The yield at Ban Khok is between 360 and 500 kilogram per rai. Investment usually falls between

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

3,180 and 4,725 baht per rai. The top five severest problem related to rice farming in the target area of Uttaradit province is drought, high production cost, low price of produce, high farm input cost, and disease and insect epidemic respectively.

B. Results from Surin Province: The target sites are in Tha Tum, Chumphon Buri and Srikhoraphum districts. Tha Tum and Chumphon Buri are located north of Surin City at distances of 52 and 94 kilometers respectively. Srikhoraphum District is situated 34 kilometers east of Surin City. In regarding socioeconomic conditions of the target area in the three provinces, almost all of the area can be considered as rural society except for Ban Tub Kai, Chumphon Buri district, which is semi- urban. This is because Ban Tub Kai is only two kilometers from the District center. The main occupation of the population is farming. The people from these communities are ethnic Khmer and Lao. Landholding can be classified into four groups. These are 1) landless, which make up a small proportion in each village (less than 5 percent of the total households in the communities) 2) small landholders (less than 5 rai per household) amounting to 20-25 percent of the households in the communities 3) medium landholders (between 5-20 rai per household), which is the largest group of 40-50 percent of all households and 4) large landholders (more than 20 rai per household), which make up 15-20 percent of the households in the communities. So the majority of the household have 10-15 rai of land. Some landless farmers borrow land for farming from those with large area of land by sharing the harvest as payment or lending money to landowners for the right to temporarily use the land. Most of the landless farmers work as laborers in the agricultural sector. After the production season, there is high level of labor migration. At least one person in each household migrates to work elsewhere (outside the province). Landless people are also engaged in traveling and selling household items. Those with small landholding normally only farm rice for sustenance. Their main income is from general labor in the cities inside or outside the province. On gender roles, in a typical family where all the members are present, decision making and work on farming is undertaken by men. Women’s main role is to make decisions on family care, including cooking and controlling family expenses. In a household where the man is working outside the area (province), decision making role on farming belongs to the woman, as well as family care (particularly caring for children and elderly), cooking and controlling the household finance. In this case, the man’s role is to send money earned outside the agricultural sector to the woman (wife) who is staying in the village. This is to fund farming investments and pay for family expenses. In all three districts, there are community based organizations established. Many of them are financial organizations, including village fund, saving group for production and farmers’ group. Most of the villages studied have established community rice centers to produce rice seeds for farming by community members. Moreover other groups include cattle and water buffalo raising, weaving and silk production groups. The agricultural production systems in all three districts involve rice farming, livestock (cattle and water buffaloes) husbandry and farming mulberry tree and silkworms. An exception to this is in Tub Kai Village, Chumphon Buri district where the agricultural system is more complex than all the other target areas. The households in this village farm numerous crops and animals (vegetables, flowers, fruits and raising aquatic animals). This is possibly due to the village being situated within the municipality close to the market. Rice planting by most farmers (more than 95 percent) in all three districts is in the form of dry-seeding (broadcasting). Only one crop is farmed per year and the main source of water for farming is rain. On average, each household has 15 rai of land to farm on. Two varieties are grown including Gor Kor 15

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

(RD.15) and Jasmine 105. Machineries are used to prepare land and for harvesting. The production process involves heavy use of chemicals. The yield is between 350 and 600 kilogram per rai. Farm investment is between 2,920 and 5,100 baht per rai. The highest ranked problem in the target areas of Surin Province are drought, lack of water source for farming, soil with low fertility, high production cost, and low price of rice in that order.

C. Impact of government policies on the local farmers in Uttaradit and Surin Provinces: The rapid policies implemented by the Yingluck Shinawatra administration affecting rice farming and the small landholder and landless farmers are the 300 Baht Wage policy and the Rice Insurance Scheme. The 300 Baht Wage Policy increased the minimum wage to 300 baht per day for the whole country. So the labor cost in the agriculture sector is increased, resulting in adaptation by agricultural producers by introducing machines to take place of human labor and increased production cost. At the same time, small landholder farmers or landless farmers who used to receive main income from general labor or working in the agricultural sector are losing their jobs. This is because work in the agricultural sector is reduced from conversion to machines in place of human labor. Due to this, some low income farmers or landless farmers in the target area have migrated to work elsewhere and become laborer outside the agricultural sector (general labor). The Rice Insurance Scheme buys rice from farmers at a higher than market price and store it for selling later. Because through this scheme, the price of rice is 30-50 percent higher than the market price, so there has been an expansion of rice farming area. Due to this, demand for farm input increased, leading to higher prices for fertilizer, pesticides and land rent. Before this policy, government officials or investors who own land in the target area did not farm rice, but would lend the land to small landholder or landless farmers in the target area for rice cultivation. However, since the price of rice is high, together with the reduction of complication and time required in rice farming due to mechanization, most of the landowners have switch to farming rice on their own land instead of lending the land to small landholder or landless farmers. Apart from the above rapid policies that have been implemented and impacted the farmers in the target area, there are government policies being implemented through relevant government agencies, particularly through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. These policies have been implemented through the strategy to build capacity on production, product management and food security to improve production standard. The policies are implemented through the agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives at the provincial level to promote and support group formation and development to prepare for environmentally-friendly production of safe produce; establishing community rice centers, rice production that meet Good Agricultural Practice (GAP); creating and developing small water sources for agriculture. Provincial level offices under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives provide knowledge and production input for these measures, including pond digging (in rain-fed areas). The result of these policy implementations has created a standard on producing food that is safe from harmful chemicals. Farmers who are part of this project reduced chemical use and are able to become self-reliant by using bio-products instead of chemicals, hence reducing the production cost. Farmers who were without a water source for agriculture are able to farm with the support to dig ponds as water sources for agriculture. The farmers have increased income from farming and at the same time increased their capacity to compete. Nevertheless, although the mentioned policy support has resulted in positive impact on farming and farmers, implementation is still limited or specific to certain areas. It lacks continuity so dissemination of technology or scaling up to other community members or to other communities is slow and

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand ineffective. Aside from central government policies, there is also local support through provincial development strategies and local authorities (Tambon [sub-district] Administrative Organization and Provincial Administrative Organizations). In Surin support through provincial development strategies includes continual support for organic agriculture. Uttaradit Province promotes production of safe food, adding value to rice and other crops. This support is carried out through community organizations. Strong communities and community organizations are supported for development and up-scaling by provision of production input and marketing of produce as well as basic infrastructure that facilitates production, such as small scale fertilizer factory for producing organic fertilizer, community center for selling agricultural products and drying area and mill for processing rice. The impact from this support has increased income and reduced expenses, promoting self-reliance and development of strong communities. Nonetheless, the support still lacks continuity, particularly on consistent following up and monitoring after the support. In many areas the supported operations stopped or failed after the support is finished, leaving only the physical structures (fertilizer factory, mill, community shop). From studying the target areas in Uttaradit, it was found that mills and drying areas that were supported through the provincial development strategies were not in use even though the facilities were in order. There are many factors contributing to this problem but the main one being the weakness in management of community groups or organizations that were supported. Local authorities are responsible for establishing and supporting farmers’ group and support funding for the operation of the farmers’ group that are created. At the moment, these local authorities have given priority to this work and support the establishment of farmers’ group on organic fertilizer, fermented biological extracts and bio-products. If each area receives continual and strong support, it would lead to the production of safe crops with low input cost, creating self-reliance in regarding farm inputs. This would increase income for the farmers

D. Impact from Rice farm management practiced by the farmers in the target area: It was found that the current practice leads to high production cost, low yield and low return for the produce. The high production cost is the result of high seeding rate (high quantity), which comes from the belief that “many seeds lead to many plants and high yield.” In rain-fed areas such as Surin Province, farmers would broadcast a lot of seeds (Surin Province) because they fear that long periods between rain or a drought may stop some of the seeds from germinating. Broadcasting high amount of seeds resulted in dense paddy fields. The rice plants are not healthy while there are chances of insect epidemics. So chemicals are used intensively, resulting in high input cost. Seeding rate that is too high and paddy fields that are too dense, together with insect epidemic result in low yield. Low soil fertility also contributes to the problem of low yield. Most farmers do not use or use very little organic fertilizer and do not use fertilizer that is suitable to the soil. This is because the soil quality was not analyzed, also leading to low yield. Apart from this, the farmers use seeds that are impure or mixed with other varieties. Together with using harvesters increases the chance of the rice being contaminated with other varieties. When the rice is sold, it fetches a price lower than it should.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

1. Introduction

1.1 Background Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) an international institute established in 1959 promotes technological change and sustainable development in the Asian-pacific region through higher education, research and outreach. AIT is actively working with public and private sector partners throughout the region and with some of the top universities in the world. The institute, which has commitment to research and outreach in the convergent subject area that link food security, climate change and sustainable development, has taken a new initiative on sustainable development in the context of climate change. It has recognized System of Rice Intensification (SRI) as one of the options for promoting sustainable agricultural development. In order to provide strategic direction and to institutionalize the broader concept of intensification, recently the institute has launched the Asian Centre of Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (ACISAI). The ACISAI acts as a regional innovation platform for linking local practitioners to global actors and institutions to meet the goals of food security and environmental sustainability. As a part of sustainable agriculture initiative, the ACISAI/AIT has begun a European Union-financed project entitled: “Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong River Basin”. The project overall objective is to contribute to enhance resilience of rainfed farmers of Lower Mekong River Basin countries confronting climate change. The project idea seeks to stimulate local innovation using SRI and Farmers’ Field School (FFS) approaches involving smallholder farmers in rainfed areas of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand in order to sustainably improve agricultural productivity and food security in context of climate change adaptation, and to enhance research capacities to continue to support this development. It is against this background that AIT proposes to sub-contact part of the project activity to support the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) work with Faculty of Science, Ubonratchathani Rajabhat University. The objective of the participatory rural appraisal work is to identify and analyse key constraints of rainfed rice production system in identified provinces of Thailand in particular. In Thailand, the target areas are located in Surin and Uttaradit provinces, each of which includes three districts. In Surin the target area are located in Srikhoraphum, Tha Tum and Chumphon Buri districts. In Uttaradit, the target areas are in Tron, Pichai and Ban Khok Districts. In order to identify pre-project baseline scenario on socioeconomic conditions and agricultural practices of the farmers, particularly on rice growing and farm management, this study has been conducted to provide an overall picture of the targeted provinces.

1.2 Objectives

• To study the general and socioeconomic conditions of the farmers in the target area • To study the existing farm management and rice cultivation practices in the target area • To study government policies that support or affect the farmers in the target area • To study the way of life of landless or small landholders farmers in the target area, including government policies that support or affect these groups. • To study gender roles in the target area • To conceptualize an approach for supporting or empowering landless and small landholder farmers, including women in the target area

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

1.3 Scope of the Work The implementation of Participatory Rural Appraisal in the two provinces (Surin and Uttaradit) has the following scope. • Create information on the relationships among farm management, productivity in rain- fed farming areas and socioeconomic impact on smallholder farmers in the target area of Surin and Uttaradit Provinces • Create information and baseline data on farm management practices, socioeconomic status of smallholder and landless farmers, gender roles and government policies affecting smallholder farmers in the target area in Surin and Uttaradit Provinces. • Create information on opportunities and approaches to develop farming of rice and other crops by landless and smallholder farmers as well as gender roles in Surin and Uttaradit Provinces

2. Methodology

The Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was conducted in the target areas of the two provinces (Surin and Uttaradit Provinces) to gather basic information on socio-economic status, agricultural production, and the impact of local and national policies on the farmers in the target area. The following methods were used.

2.1 Data Collection a) Secondary data review: The data was reviewed on the general situation of the target area in Surin and Uttaradit provinces. b) Semi-structured interviews (SSI): the main topics and sub-topics were predetermined for interviewing key informants (KI) in regarding agriculture, livelihoods, area condition, socio- economic status and government policies at national and local levels that supported or affected the farmers. The key informants for the in-depth interview consisted of: • Farmers in the target area, which included men, women, community leaders (both formal and traditional) demonstrative farmers, small landholders and landless farmers. • Agricultural extension officers, staff of district agricultural office, agricultural cooperative office, Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Sub-district (Tambon) Administrative Organization relevant to agricultural support or community development. c) Focus group discussion (FGD) and participatory workshops were held with representative farmers in the target area. Workshop or discussion topics were designed to reveal an overall picture on agricultural production in the target area, way of life, relationships between farm management and yields and how production affects the local socio-economic conditions, as well as gender roles, livelihoods of small landholders and landless farmers, support from various implementation level organizations and the impact of government policies on agriculture production and farmers. The instruments for data collection on these topics were in the form of visual sharing, including charts, maps and diagrams as well as writing on flip charts to summarize the content for checking and reflection.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand d) A household survey was conducted with household representatives to check and fill in data from the in-depth interviews, focus group discussion and participatory workshops under the principle of triangulation. Questionnaires were used as data collection tool for interviewing male and female farmers; small, medium and large landholders2 to capture the details of socio-economic conditions, specific agricultural production, rice growing, challenges of farming, along with gendered roles and household decision making and farming practices.

2.2 Data Analysis Data collected through reviewing secondary data, focus group discussion and participatory workshops were analyzed by content analysis and concluded under the defined topics. In regarding data from the household survey, statistical analysis was applied by using SPSS for Windows version 16.

2.3 Conceptual Framework for this Study This study was conducted at two levels including community and household levels. At the community level, Participatory Rural Appraisal was performed while at the household level, survey research was conducted. The following outlines the framework for this study show in figure 1. Figure 1: Conceptual framework for this study

Community level Target areas in Surin and Household level study/ study/ qualitative Uttaradit Provinces quantitative

Participatory rural Survey research appraisal technique Review and complete technique

Secondary review data Household survey • Socioeconomic condition of farmers

Semi-structure interviews • Existing farm management and rice Interviewing

with key informant (KI) cultivation practice by

• Government policies that support or Focus group discussion impact agricultural production by Data analysis by Participatory workshops farmers • Way of life of landless or small SPSS for windows landholder farmers in the target Data analysis by area content analysis • Gender roles

Development approach

2 Small landholder farmers refer to those with less than 5 rai of agricultural land; medium landholder farmers are those who hold between 5 to 20 rai of agricultural land; and large landholder farmers are those with more than 20 rai of agricultural land.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

3. Baseline scenario from PRA conducted in Uttaradit Province

3.1 General Situation in Uttaradit Province Uttaradit Province is located in lower Northern Thailand, 491 kilometers from Bangkok. The province encompasses 7,838.592 square kilometers or 4,899,120 rai or 4.62 percent of Northern Thailand. Uttaradit shares the following borders with other provinces: to the north with Prae and Nan Provinces, the south Pitsanulok Province, to the east with Pitsanulok, Loei and 135 km is shared with Lao People's Democratic Republic, and the west with Sukothai Province. Uttaradit comprises nine districts, which are Muang Uttaradit, Tron, Pichai, Tongsaenkun, Lublae, Nampad, Faktah and Ban Khok. Uttaradit’s geography can be classified into three zones as following: a) Lower plains along the Nan River, which is 50-100 meters above sea level, is located in Tron and Pichai Districts and forms parts of Muang Uttaradit, Tongsaenkun and Lublae Districts. b) Valleys and undulate areas, which are adjacent to the lower plains to the north and east of the province. These areas are around 100-400 meters above sea level and characterized by narrow plains between mountains, tracing the Tron Canal, Pad River and various streams, mixed with mountainous geography in Maung Uttaradit, Lublae, Nampad, Faktah and Ban Khok. c) Mountains and highland areas comprise roughly half of the province with an altitude of 400-1,000 meters above sea level. This zone is in the north and northeast of the province.

The climate type of Uttaradit is tropical savannah with pronounced difference between wet and dry seasons. Because much of the terrain is highlands and mountains, the temperature is extremely hot in summer and cold in winter. The summer begins in March and ends in May with an average temperature of 35 degree Celsius. The wet season is between June and October with an average annual rainfall of 1,243 millimeters. Winter is between November and February with an average temperature of 15-17 degree Celsius. A survey by the Land Development Department found that the province is made up mostly of slope complex, which is 63.31 percent of the province’s land. This type of land is not suitable for agriculture. By looking at the land classification, it shows that there is a low proportion of land that is suitable for agriculture. Arable land is found in the lowlands, valleys or undulate areas. These comprise 32.56 percent of the province. 5,537.76 square kilometers or 70.65 percent of Uttaradit is natural forest, including mixed forest, rainforest and deciduous forest areas. These forests are found on mountainous, highland and undulating areas in Ban Khok, Nampad, Faktah, Tahpla, Lublae, Tongsaenkun and part of Muang Uttaradit Districts. The second most prominent is agricultural lands with 1,651.59 square kilometer or 21.07 percent of the province. These lands are located on lower plains and valleys. The main commercial crop is rice, which takes up around half of the agricultural land at 961.80 square kilometers along Nan River in Muang Uttaradit, Tron, Pichai and Lublae Districcts. Other popular commercial crops are sugarcane, maize, beans, and highland rice. Fruits are cultivated only in Lublae and Muang Uttaradit districts and some at the foot of the mountains at Ban Khok District.

Uttaradit Province’s water sources are classified into three types, which are: 1) Surface water sources: the main river running through Uttaradit Province is Nan River and Nampadnok River. Tributaries to these two rivers mostly flow north to south. Some examples are Tron canal, Nam Soom, Huey Saikao, Huey Luk, Huey Moon, Nam Rid and Mae Prong Canal. Nan River is the most important surface water source for agriculture and consumption. It has a constant flow all year round because the Sirikit Dam is controlling the flow rate. Nan River runs through Tah Plah District, between the valleys in Fakfah and Nampad Districts but in the dry season the water level is lower. This is due to the destruction of

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand forests in watershed areas. Other rivers and canals are only filled with water during rainy season. Apart from the rivers and streams that have been mentioned, Uttaradit also possess roughly 10 large (more than 100 rai) natural ponds and marshes, which are used for consumption and fishing. These are Tung Kaloe, Mai, Lom, Saw, Bueg, Sagad, Yao, Pad, Tub Kradan Ponds and Pralae Marsh. 2) Underground water sources: In the south of the province there is a large amount of underground water (20-80 cubic meters per hour). The water’s quality is good and can be treated to make clean water, piped to the villages for drinking and other uses. They are located in Muang Uttaradit, Lub Lae, Pichai, Tron and Tongsaenkun District. In the north and northeastern area of the province in Tahpla, Nampad, Fagtah and Ban Khok districts, underground water is very deep from the surface and low in quantity during the dry season. 3) Irrigated water sources: In Uttaradit there is a large irrigation system, which is Sirikit Dam. The Dam in Tahplah district. It is multi-purpose for supporting agriculture, electricity generation and ameliorating drought that occur in the plains of lower Northern and Central Thailand. The dam has a capacity of 10,550 million cubic meter and channels water to agricultural lands in the south of Uttaradit Province. Medium and small irrigation systems also exist in the form of small reservoirs and irrigation that were built by the Office of Rapid Rural Development, Royal Irrigation Department as well as electric water pump stations belonging to the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency along the Nan River and Tron Canal in Muang Uttaradit, Tron and Pichai Districts.

3.2 Situation Analysis of the Target Area The project’s target areas are located in three districts of Uttaradit province. These are Ban Khok, Pichai and Tron districts. In Ban Khok, the target sub-districts includes Muang, Jed Ton, Ban Khok and Borbia. Pichai district’s target areas are Ri Oi, Korroom and Ban Mor sub- districts. In Tron district, Nam Ang, Ban Kaeng, Had Song Kwae and Wangdaeng are included. A map of the target area in Uttaradit is shown in figure 3.1. The geography of the target area in Ban Khok District is mostly highlands and mountainous (80 percent of the area) and 20 percent are valleys. Most of the lands are forests and national parks. Agricultural land makes up 11.29 percent of the district’s area. Ban Khok is 180 kilometers from the provincial center. It also shares a border with Laos. Agriculture in Ban Khok is mostly rain-fed. In contrast, almost all of the land in Pichai District is lowland plains along the Nan River with small proportion of highland area. Most of the land is used for agriculture, making up 80.61 percent of all the area in the district. The most important source of water for agriculture in Pichai District is Nan River, with an irrigation system involving electric pumps that transfer the water from the Nan River for agriculture. Tron District, which shares a border with Pichai and Muang District, is 22 kilometers from Uttaradit provincial center. Most of Tron District’s land is lower plains similar to Pichai District with a small highland area. 92.24 percent of the area in Tron is devoted to agriculture. The district has many important sources of water for agriculture. These are Nan River, Tron Canal as well as an irrigation system with electric pumps, which transfer the water from Nan River for agricultural use. More than 80 percent of agricultural lands in Tron and Pichai Districts benefits from electric pump irrigation. Details of physical characteristics of the target area are shown in Table 1. In regarding biological resources, it was found that Tron and Pichai Districts have less biological resources than in Ban Khok District. This is because most of the land in Ban Khok is forests, compared to Pichai and Tron Provinces where most of the area is utilized for agriculture. This is in exception to aquatic biological resources, including fish and other aquatic animals, which are more abundant in Pichai and Tron Districts compared to Ban Khok District due to the natural water sources, particularly Nan River that is important for Tron and Pichai Districts.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 1: Physical characteristics of the target area

Physical Characteristics Ban Kok District Pichai District Tron District Distance from the provincial center 180 38 22 (kilometer) Area (rai) 659,944 475,320 191,568 Agricultural area (rai) 74,503 368,657 176,712 Number of sub-districts 4 11 5 Geography 80 percent 95 percent 95 percent lowland plains; highlands and lowland plains; 5 percent highlands mountains; 5 percent 20 percent valley highlands plains Water source for Rain-fed Nan River; Nan River; agriculture Irrigation Tron Canal; Tub Kradan system with Pond Sagad Pond, Pad Pond; electric pumps Irrigation system with electric pumps

Figure 2: Map of target sub-districts and districts in Uttaradit

Borbia Sub-District

Muang Jed Ton Ban KhokDistrict Sub-District

Uttaradit Province

Ban Khok Sub-District

Wangdaeng

Tron District Sub-District Nam Ang

Sub-District Pichai District

Ri Oi Sub-District Had Song Kwae Ban Kaeng Sub-District Korroom Sub-District

Sub-District Ban Mor Sub-District

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3.3 Socioeconomic Status of the Farmers in the Target Area The people at Ban Khok District are ethnic Lao, along with many (around 20 percent) ethnic Lao people who have migrated from Lao PDR and have settled in the area. Some have married local Thai people in the district or have migrated to work. Ban Khok district is a rural society. The majority’s occupation is farming with main income from cultivating maize and sweet tamarind. The houses and communities in Ban Khok District have been established on plains, valleys or foothills. The primary social relationship is well-knitted networks and kinships. The population utilizes natural resources (community forest) as food sources (mushroom or bamboo shoots), income (forest products) and energy (firewood). Agricultural production still relies on labor more than machines. Landholding is without official title. The lands are under the authority of the Royal Forestry Department or the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Therefore the community members lack land security for livelihoods. There is very little group formation. The community groups that have been established came into existence as a result of government policies. Organizations that have the closest relationship with the communities are the military, Tambon (Sub-district) Administrative Organization (TAO), District Agricultural Office and District Health Office in order of closeness. Most of the local farmers are poor (50 percent) with income less than 60,000 baht per household per year. However it was found that there is little labor migration to Bangkok or cities in the province or nearby provinces. This is because emigration affects the right to use the land by the households. The farmers make use of the fund belonging to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) as the main source of capital for production. The challenges faced by Ban Khok people are having no reservoir for storing water for agriculture, roads to the fields are not convenient, having no rights to land for livelihoods, low quality soil, high input cost, having no central market for trading produce, farmers having low income, degenerating community forest, communication technology coverage is incomplete, lacking health and education facilities and personnel respectively. For Pichai and Tron Districts, the social setting is semi-urban. Even though the main occupation is farming, transportation and communication is convenient and the districts are close to the city. Tron and Pichai districts are considered important sources of rice and water for Uttaradit Province. The Province’s most important river, Nan River is the artery that feeds agricultural production of Pichai and Tron. Rice cultivation area in these districts is 66 percent of the total rice growing area in the province. So the economic base for Pichai and Tron Districts is rice farming. Almost all of the area in the two districts is used for growing rice, which is done twice per year. Farming is done more with machines than human labor. Migration of labor to Bangkok or nearby provinces is low at less than 10 percent of the households in the area. This is because there is agricultural work all year round. Income for the farmers depends on the price of rice, which has been recently high due to the government’s rice insurance scheme that affects not only income but the price of inputs and land rent as well.3 This is

3 The Rice Insurance Scheme is based on a policy to support the price of paddy so that it is consistent with the price of husked rice (1976 – 1980). In 1981, the government has adapted this policy into Paddy Insurance Scheme, which involves the Bank for Agriculture and Cooperatives insuring paddy from farmers at a low interest rate to provide incentives for rice farmers to reduce selling rice at the beginning of harvest season to reduce supply to the market. The farmers would have cash for expenses without having to actually sell the rice. When the price increased after the harvest season, the farmers would redeem their rice to sell to the market at a better price. The first form of rice insurance (in the beginning) was a small project to reduce the supply of paddy to the market during harvesting season and increase the supply after the harvesting season. This was to create a consistent supply without flooding the market at any given time which would reduce the price of rice. At the same time, the farmers would have cash for purchasing supplies or family expenses without having to sell the rice. The farmers who joined the scheme received a loan worth not above 80 percent of the market value of the paddy that is insured. A ceiling is also set at 100,000 baht per person. The Bank for Agriculture and Cooperatives charge an interest rate of 13 percent per annum.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand explored in detailed in the section on impact of government policies. The farmers have organized into groups under government policies such as financial organization group (Village Fund). Some households have formed rice farmers’ groups and cooperatives. Some farmers’ groups have received support from government agencies on farm inputs along with knowledge transfer on rice cultivation. Important sources of capital are agricultural cooperatives and the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. The majority of the farmers (70 percent) has medium to well off income levels with an average income per household of more than 100,000 baht per year.

3.4 Agricultural Production System At the target area in Ban Khok District, agricultural production complements the local conditions. The geography of Ban Khok District comprises highlands, mountains and valley plains, with the majority being the former two. Therefore the main crops of Ban Khok are maize for animal feed and mainly sweet tamarind in orchards. Rice is cultivated on valley plains and in the form of highland rice. Community members grow rice for subsistence. The variety cultivated is glutinous rice, which is the main type consumed by the people of Ban Khok District. Apart from maize as the main crop, some farmers also grow black mung beans and/or black beans between the maize seasons, which is grown only once per year. However, most farmers in the target area grow two crops of maize annually. Because rice cultivation is only done once per year due to the requirement of rain water, some farmers grow sweet corn after harvesting rice. Presently, rubber is also farmed and rubber plantation areas are increasing in Ban Khok District. On livestock, the farmers raise a lot of cattle and water buffaloes. In each village of the district, more than 30 percent of the households are engaged in cattle or buffalo husbandry. Usually each household has between 5-10 cows or water buffaloes.

Pichai and Tron Districts are similar to each other because they are connected and

The new (current policy of) Rice Insurance Scheme began during the Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration in 2011. The policy was presented at the parliament on the 23rd of August 2011. The policy was aimed at increasing the price of agricultural produce and farmers’ access to funds. This was to be accomplished through managing the market and futures trading mechanism so that farmers would be able to sell agricultural produce at a higher price in relation to their investment. An insurance system was utilized to create income security for the farmers. The scheme specified that non-glutinous and jasmine rice paddy, with less than 15 percent humidity would be insured at 15,000 and 20,000 baht per gwien (traditional unit equals to 16 picul). There was no limit to the amount of paddy insured for the entire scheme or the amount of paddy insured by each individual farmer (a letter of certification by the Department of Agricultural Extension is required with one of its officer and the local administration representative as signatories). The Rice Insurance Scheme was continued in 2012 and 2013. In 2012, three types of rice including non-glutinous, Patumthani 1 and glutinous rice paddy could be insured. However, there was a limit on the amount of rice that could be insured by each farmer as well as a budget ceiling to prevent corruption. The impact of the Rice Insurance Scheme under the Yingluck Shinawatra administration on the farmers can be grouped into two categories. 1) Direct impact: the farmers who were part of the scheme received increased income due to the difference between the insured price and the market price. Even the farmers who did not join the scheme were able to sell rice at a higher price because the paddy that were insured in government silos reduced supply to the market so the trading price had an increasing trend. However, the scheme resulted in 80,000-140,000 million baht public debt for the country. 2) Indirect impact: the intervention to the market mechanism resulted in market distortion. Businesses that support production such as producers of fertilizer and chemical pesticide and land owners who rent out their land all receive direct and indirect benefits. Direct benefits are from increased income from sales because higher return on rice for the farmers is an incentive to grow more rice, which in turn produce higher demand for fertilizers and pesticides. At the same time, competition to farm more rice resulted in increased price for land rent. Businesses have higher bargaining power than farmers so they set prices (of farm inputs) or land rent rates higher to benefit more from the Rice Insurance Scheme, which increased farm investment cost.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand have comparable lands and ecosystems. The area is low laying plains with small highland areas and has irrigation systems that provide water all year round. The production system is not complex. The main crop is rice and two crops are farmed per year. On highland areas, some farmers prepare the land for growing rice while others utilize it for crops such as sugarcane, soybean, maize and cassava. But this is a small proportion. Most of the land is used for rice cultivation. There is very little livestock rearing, particularly cattle and water buffaloes. This is because rice cultivation is intensive so it does not leave the necessary land or space between fields for livestock such as cattle and water buffaloes. Nevertheless, raising chicken, particularly commercial farming of egg-laying chicken is done to a limited extend. The details of agricultural production and seasonal calendar are shown in Table 2 and 3 respectively.

Table 2: Agricultural production in the target area

Agricultural Ban Khok District Pichai District Tron District production Rice Glutinous rice Rice Rice Other crops Maize for animal Sugarcane, maize, Sugarcane, maize , feed, sweet corn, soybean and soybean and black mung bean cassava cassava and black bean Standing trees Sweet tamarind and None None rubber Livestock Cattle and water Small amount of Small amount of buffaloes livestock husbandry livestock husbandry

Table 3: Seasonal calendar of the target area

Agricultural Month production 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Ban Khok Rice Maize for animal feed Maize 1 Maize 2 (highland) Sweet corn (after rice harvest) Sweet tamarind Rubber Black mung bean Black bean Livestock Pichai and Tron Districts Rice (in-season) Rice (off-season) Maize for animal feed (highland) Sugarcane (highland) Cassava (highland) Soybean (highland) Soybean 1 Soybean 2 Livestock

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

3.5 Rice Production System and Management As mentioned earlier, rice cultivation by farmers in Pichai and Tron Districts is done commercially (as main income) but in Ban Khok, it is carried out for subsistence. This is in accordance to the fact that the agricultural lands in Pichai and Tron Districts are irrigated, making it possible for farming two rice crops per year, while in Ban Khok District, rice farming is rain-fed and is only done once per year. Therefore rice production system and management in these areas are contrasting. The following are details of rice cultivation and management in these targeted areas.

3.5.1 Pichai and Tron District Rice cultivation in Pichai and Tron Districts is mainly done commercially. The farmers in the target area farm two crops of rice per year. Most households have between 15-20 rai (2.4- 3.2 ha) of land for rice farming. Land use grow rice can be categorized in three groups. First is farming only on land that is owned by the household. Second is farming on a combination of owned and rented land and third is farming solely on rented land. In the target area, much of the land is rented with a rate of 1,500-3,000 per season per rai 4. The Farming system in Pichai and Tron District involves mainly machines. More than 80 percent of rice farming practice is done by broadcasting pre-germinated seed. Because the rice paddy fields are situated in irrigated area with electric pumps, the farmers pay 250 baht per rai per season to use the water. For the fields that receive water directly, 100 baht per rai is spent on pumping the water. In areas where water cannot be directly received, the farmers may divert some water from those who receive water directly into their fields. Apart from broadcasting pre-germinated seed, other practices include direct-seeding, transplanting and parachuting. For Pichai and Tron Districts, there are two purposes for rice growing. • For selling as paddy grain for consumption. This accounts for more than 90 percent. • For selling as production seed (less than 10 percent). For this purpose the rice is grown by transplanting. On the details of transplanting, the spacing between seedlings is short and many seedlings are placed in one hole (8-12 seedlings). Similarly with direct seeding, the spacing between the seeds is small and many seeds are placed in one hole. For parachuting, the planting rate is also high so many seedlings are used. For pre germinated seed broadcasting, the rate is at 20-30 kilograms per rai. For direct-seeding, transplanting and parachuting, the rate is at 10-15 kilogram per rai. The kind of rice used is non-photosensitive and possible to grow anytime of the year. The most popular varieties are Phatumthani 1, Chainat 1, Phitsanulok 2, Suphanburi 2 and Suphanburi 90. The yield of Phatumthani 1 usually fetches the best price, which is around 20-30 percent more than the other varieties. The farmers use chemicals intensively, particularly herbicide and insecticide in that order. Some farmers spray pest control chemicals 12 times per crop (once per week), especially insecticide. In some area, bio-products are applied. These are Beauveria bassiana and Bacillus thuringiensis for insect pest control. Trichoderma spp. and Bacillus subtilis are used for controlling fungal plant diseases. Herb and bio-extract are used in rice production. However, only a small number (less than 5 percent) of farmers use these bio-products. The majority apply chemical fertilizers,

4 The land rent system for rice farming in Pichai and Tron districts involves investors or government officials who own land and do not practice farming themselves but offer their land for farmers to rent for rice farming. The time unit for land rent is at least one production season. Before the Rice Insurance Scheme by the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, the rate was 1,500 baht per rai for one crop season. In one year, two crop seasons are possible so the price was 3,000 baht per rai per year. After the Rice Insurance Scheme was implemented in 2011, the rate increased to 1,500 baht to 2,000 – 3,000 baht per rai per crop season (4,000-6,000 baht per year). Usually the land is rented continuously.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand usually at the rate of 50-75 kilograms per rai. Urea fertilizer (46-0-0) and 16-20-0 NPK formulas are used. Fertilizers are applied twice during tillering and before flowering. Harvesting is usually done by hiring a harvester and transportation to the market is done straight after. Rice yield is around 800-1,100 kilogram per rai (which is equivalent to 5,000-6,875 kg/ha). The details are shown in Table 4. Rice farm management in Pichai and Tron Districts involves outsourcing each step of the supply chain, from ploughing, broadcasting, transplanting, direct-seeding or parachuting (transplanting and direct-seeding is done with machines but broadcasting and parachuting is done by human labor) up until harvesting, as shown in Figure 3.2. It can be seen that 70 percent of the farming process is carried out by hiring specialists to work on the farmers’ fields. The farmers’ role is to communicate, coordinate and manage the rice paddies. The initial step is to prepare the land by hiring machines for ploughing and harrowing. Transplanting and broadcasting involve outsourcing these tasks to machine owners who also supply seedlings or pre-germinated seeds. The farmer needs to only communicate the rice variety that is desired and the quantity (number of rai). For direct-seeding, the farmers prepare the seeds for outsourced seeding machine owners to do their work. For parachuting, growing the seedlings and sowing is outsourced but the seeds are provided by the farmers. The hired labor would germinate the seeds and maintain the seedlings until the time is right parachuting. Broadcasting is done by hiring people who converted chemical sprayer for sowing the seeds. This is to regulate an even coverage. Crops are maintained by hiring weed, pest and disease control chemical sprayer. Harvesting and transporting are outsourced to harvesters and trucks to transport the produce for selling. Selling is done by fresh weight, which is straight after harvesting without drying. These steps are costly but they are timely for limited labor to grow two crops per year. This is the reason why the rice farms are managed in this manner. Input cost for rice production is calculated to be 3,530-6,535 baht per rai (excluding land rent) or if land rent is included, the cost is 5,030-9,535 per rai as shown in Table 3.5. 3.5.2 Ban Khok District Rice production at Ban Khok District is done for subsistence. The main commercial crops for income are maize and sweet tamarind. Rice is farmed for household consumption and only a surplus is sold. Hence, the kind of rice grown is glutinous rice because Ban Khok people mainly consume glutinous rice. The popular varieties of glutinous rice are RD.6 and RD.10. The farmers farm on valley plains. Some (very small number) cultivate highland rice. The varieties are Sanpatong and Siew Maechan. These are photo-sensitive varieties which require short light duration for reproduction (flowering and ripening). Rice growing in Ban Khok is a rain-fed system. Planting is done by transplanting. Recently, direct-seeding is also practiced. From the interviews, the key informants mentioned that direct-seeding is becoming more popular in the district. This is due to labor and input capital shortage as well as the fact that direct-seeding requires less time. Most households farm 2-4 rai (0.32-0.64 ha) of rice. The reason for the small quantity is the mountainous and highland geography with limited area of level plains. Rice cultivation in Ban Khok is mostly done by labor. There are two types of labor practice, which are 1) hiring labor and 2) shared labor. Hired laborers are mostly Lao people who have migrated to work. This is because Ban Khok borders Lao PDR. They are paid 200- 250 baht per day but to hire a Thai person, the wage is 300 baht per day. However the interviews revealed that wage for Lao laborers is on an upwards trend. This is because the wage for Thais has increased (to 300 baht per day). Farm management for farmers in Ban Khok starts with germination in May, land preparation and planting by transplanting (June). Land preparation usually involves hiring a plough (wheel plough) to prepare the land for planting. Farmers hire labor for transplanting at the rate of 200 baht per day (1 rai requires four people per day). Spacing between plants is long. After planting, the farmers maintain the crop by spraying weed control chemicals once or twice and insecticide once or twice. Fertilizer is applied twice after the rice plant is established with panicle initiation at the rate of 25-50 kilogram per rai. The fertilizers used are Urea (46-0-0) and formula 15-15-15. The farmers begin to harvest in mid-October up until mid-November. Harvesting is done by labor. Two

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand people per rai per day is the amount of labor required. The wage is the same as for transplanting. Milling (removing the husk) is done by renting a mill at the rate of 0.50 baht per kilogram. The yield is between 360-500 kilogram per rai. The input cost is calculated to be 3,180-4,723 baht per rai as shown in Table 4 and 5.

3.6 Challenges for Rice Farming in the Target Area Challenges on farming rice and other crops that are experienced by the farmers in the target area of Ban Khok, Pichai and Tron Districts are similar or different depending on the context of each area. These challenges can be classified into three groups as following: a) Problems that are caused by the environment and physical characteristics of the land such as drought, flood, low fertility soil, lack of water and water sources for agriculture. b) Problems that are caused by production techniques, which are intensive use of chemicals, high seed rate, seeds are mixed with other varieties unintended for use, resulting in lower price for the produce, lack of knowledge on correct application of fertilizers and chemical pest control, epidemics of plant diseases and insects and high production cost, and c) Problems that were brought about by government policies and market mechanism, which are high labor price, lack of labor, lack of market with fair pricing, low price of produce and high input costs (chemical fertilizer and pest control). Details of the challenges in each area and an overall ranking of these problems for the three target districts are shown in Table 6.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Figure 3: Rice cultivation process done by farmers in the target areas in Pichai and Tron districts

Pumping water into paddy fields

and water management

Maintenance Planting 1. Spraying (broadcasting, Maintenance Land preparation: herbicide transplanting, 3. Apply plough and harrow 2. Spraying direct-seeding or fertilizer insecticide and parachuting) disease control

Transportation to Harvesting the market

Notes: = More than 90 percent is outsourced = Carried out by the farmers

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 4: Rice production characteristics in the target area

Rice production Ban Khok District Pichai District Tron District factors Rice cultivation land Estimated at 20 More than 90 percent More than 90 percent percent of agricultural of agricultural land in of agricultural land in land in the district the district the district Objective of rice Consumption Consumption and sale Consumption and sale farming Rice farming as main No Main commercial crop Main commercial crop income source/ and main income of the and main income of the commercial farming district’s population district’s population Rice varieties Glutinous rice: RD. 6, Rice: Phatumthani 1, Rice: Phatumthani 1, RD. 10, Sanpahtong, Chainat 1, Phisanulok Chainat 1, Phisanulok Siw Maechan highland 2, Supanburi 1, 2, Supanburi 1, rice Supanburi 90 Supanburi 90 Farming practice Transplanting on Broadcasting ≥ 80 Broadcasting ≥ 80 valley plain paddies percent percent between mountains; Transplanting 10 Transplanting 10 Highland rice in percent percent highland areas direct seeding 5 direct seeding 5 percent percent Parachuting 5 percent Parachuting 5 percent Labor in Rice farming Mainly human Mainly machine Mainly machine Seed rate (kg per rai) 10-15 kg per rai 20-30 kg per rai for 20-30 kg per rai for broadcasting broadcasting pre-germinated seeds pre-germinated seeds 10-15 kg per rai for 10-15 kg per rai for transplanting, transplanting, direct-seeding and direct-seeding and parachuting parachuting Fertilizer application Chemical fertilizer Chemical fertilizer Chemical fertilizer formula 46-0-0 and 15- formula 46-0-0 and 16- formula 46-0-0 and 16- 15-15 at 25-50 kg 20 -0 at 50-75 kg 20-0 at 50-75 kg per rai per rai per rai Pest control and Chemical pest control; Chemical pest control; Chemical pest control; eradication weeds, insects and weeds, insects and weeds, insects and diseases diseases diseases Number of crops per Once (in-season) Twice Twice year Water sources for Rain Irrigation (electric water Irrigation (electric water rice farming pump) pump) Yield (kg per rai) 360-500 800-1,100 800-1,100

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 5: Input cost for rice farming in the target area

Ban Khok Pichai and Tron District District Input Note Amount Amount (baht/rai) (baht/rai) 1. Land rent - 1,500-3,000 Depending on price of rice 2. Land 600 750 Includes all land preparation: plough and harrow preparation 3. Seeds 250-375 500-750 (broadcasting 20-30 kilogram for broadcasting and 10-15 only( kilogram for transplanting, direct-seeding and 250-375 (direct seeding parachuting. and parachuting only( The price for seed in the target area is 25 baht per kilogram 4. Planting 800-1200 60 (broadcasting( • Broadcasting at 60 baht per rai 150-170 )direct- • Direct-seeding machine at 150-170 baht seeding( per rai 1,300-1,500 • Transplanting machine together with seedlings (transplanting; no need (1,300-1,500 baht per rai) to calculate seed cost • Parachuting cost 12 baht per tray including because it is already labor (130-150 trays per rai) included ( • Ban Khok District: 4 laborers per rai per day 15,60-1,800 (wage is 200-250 baht for Laotian and 300 (parachuting( baht for Thai labor) 5. Chemical 350-800 700-1,200 700-800 baht per bag (50 kilogram) fertilizer Pichai and Tron Districts at 50-75 kilogram per rai Ban Khok District at 25-30 kilogram per rai 6. Chemicals for 150-300 300-450 Chemical and spraying cost is 150 baht per time. controlling and In Pichai and Tron Districts, spraying is done 2-3 eradicating weed times. In Ban Khok District, spraying is done 1-2 times 7. Insecticide 150-300 450-750 Chemical and spraying cost is 150 baht per time. In Pichai and Tron Districts, spraying is done 3-5 times. In Ban Khok District, spraying is done 1-2 times 8. Water (irrigation - 100-250 Water cost 250 baht per rai per crop season. In with electric areas that directly receives water or pump from pump) another household’s field, the cost is 100 baht. 9. Harvesting 580-850 500 • Harvester cost 500 baht per rai • In Ban Khok District, labor is used (2 people per rai per day; wage is 200-250 baht for Laotian and 300 baht for Thai labor). Milling (removing husk) cost 0.50 baht per kilogram 10. Transportation - 120-160 Transportation cost 120-160 per rai 11. Other 300 300 Fuel, water and snack for laborers and other costs not mentioned above 1/ P P This input cost figure does not include land rent, 1/ Total 3,180-4,725 3,530-6,535 P which if included the cost would be 5,030-9,535 baht

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 6: Rice farming challenges

Ban Khok Pichai Tron 1/ Challenges in rice farming Ranking District District District Drought or long period    1 between rain High production cost    2 Low price of produce    3 High input cost (chemical    4 fertilizer and pesticide) Disease and insect epidemic    5 Intensive chemical use    6 High seed rate    7 Soil with low fertility    8 High labor cost    9 No market with fair price    10 Lack of knowledge on correct use of chemical fertilizer and    11 pesticide Lack of labor O   12 Seed is mixed with other, unintended variety, resulting X   13 low price of produce Flood X   14 Lack of water or water source  X X 15 for agriculture

Note: = Prevalent challenge; O = Challenge but not yet prevalent; X= Not a challenge P 1/ P P ranking as an overall rating for all three districts

3.7 Landholding and Gender Roles Landholding of smallholder farmers in Pichai, Tron and Ban Khok Districts can be categorized into four groups, which are: a) small landholding (less than 5 rai), b) medium landholding (between 5-20 rai), c) large landholding (more than 20 rai), and d) 4,landless (having neither rights to own nor use the land) The majority, around 60-70 percent, of farmers are medium landholders. Large landholders with more than 20 rai of land make up 20-25 percent. Small landholders comprise 5-10 percent and landless farmers make up 5 percent. The small landholder and landless farmers in Pichai and Tron rent land for agriculture, particularly for rice farming, at the rate of 1,500-3,000 baht per rai per season. For that in Pichai and Tron District, there is little labor migration to work outside the area for small landholder and landless farmers.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

In Ban Khok District, most of the land is without land title (60-70 percent of all land) because the area is within official forest or national parks. A proportion of land of 30-40 percent is land under Agricultural Land Reform with Sor Por Gor 4-01 certificates released by the Office of Agricultural Land Reform. Therefore most of the farmers in the target area only have the right to hold the land for livelihoods (agriculture). There are two groups of landless farmers in Ban Khok District, which are: a) Laotian people who have migrated and settled in Ban Khok District, and b) Thais who emigrated outside of the area and have not been farming on the land and so have lost their right to it. This situation has resulted in very little migration to work elsewhere (Bangkok or nearby provinces) due to the fact that migration could result in forfeiting the right to hold the land for farming5. Therefore the most challenging problem in Ban Khok District is the lack of land rights so the first need of the farmers in Ban Khok is to attain their right to the land. For those who do not have land or those with small landholding, members of the household migrate to work as general laborers within the district or to Bangkok or other provinces. In regarding gender roles in Ban Khok, Pichai and Tron districts, the roles are similar. Decisions on family expense, caring for the family and farming are made by women while the role of men is operating or implementing the farms (main labor for the household). Seeking knowledge on agriculture is mostly the men’s role but recently, women have also taken on this role but they are a minority.

3.8 Organizations and Groups in the Communities The population in the target area of Ban Khok, Pichai and Tron are supported by the government and has established groups under government policies such as community financial groups, including Village Funds, savings groups for production and occupation groups, including community enterprises and One Tumbol One Product (OTOP) groups. In Pichai and Tron, the farmers came together to form rice farmers’ groups, water user groups (to receive the benefit of electric pumps), safe-from-chemical agriculture group and community rice seeds producer group. The majority of the established groups are registered as farmers’ groups or community enterprises (so they would receive support from the government on technical issues, access to fund and in some cases equipment). Also compared to the past, the registration processes are now straightforward and government officers are supportive, particularly for community enterprise registration. Only a few groups have been established and not having been registered yet. Apart from this, important agricultural institutions are agricultural cooperatives, which provide capital, distribute farm inputs by credit and buys farm produce. It was found that agricultural cooperatives in Pichai and Tron Districts are quite strong. In Ban Khok District, there is hardly any group formation. It is possible that groups are only formed to take advantage of certain government policies. This may be due to the lack of real support to establish groups to solve problems related to agricultural production and market faced by the farmers in the target area.

5 The landholding here refers to the right to use the land for farming (livelihoods) not land ownership. In the past, there were families who migrated to work elsewhere and lost their right to use the land for farming. Therefore at present there is very little labor migration.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

4. Baseline scenario from PRA conducted in Surin Province

Surin Province is located in the lower Northeastern Region of Thailand. Its altitude is 115-483 meters above sea level. The province is 457 kilometer from Bangkok by land transportation. It has an area of 8,124,056 square kilometer or 5,007,535 rai. The administrative zone is divided into 13 districts. Surin is a border province which is adjacent to Cambodia. Panomdongrak Mountain Range acts as a natural border between the two countries. Surin’s borders are as following: the north is connected to Roi Et and Mahasarakam provinces, the southern border is shared with Cambodia, the east is Srisaket Province and Bureerum to the west. Surin Province is situated on the southern part of the Northeastern Plateau. The northern part of the province, in Chumphon Buri and Ratanaburi Districts, is connected to Roi Et and Mahasarakam Provinces. The geography is low plains with Moon and Chee Rivers flowing through. The land is almost level to undulating and slopes down to the Moon River and Plubplah Brook, which is located in Tung Kula Rong Hai Plateau. This area is a mosaic of forest and rice fields. Most of the forest is dry dipterocarp forest. Next in the central area of the province, the land is undulating mixed with flat. Most are low plains and so characterized by forests mixed with paddy fields. The south of the province is highland areas of Panomdongrak Mountain Range, which borders Cambodia. Here in Karbcheung and Buachade Districts, is thick forest and complex mountains. Mixed deciduous forest and mountain range are found here. The climate is tropical wet and dry or tropical savanna climate. In each year, there is a clear distinction between the wet and dry season. The province is under the influence of South Western Monsoon, which makes three seasons. These are summer from March to April, rainy from May to October and winter starts in November and ends in February. In terms of temperature range, Surin province is cool during the beginning of the year with extremely hot days during March and April. The highest temperature is during March then April. After that the temperature drops slightly in rainy season up until July. Then it keeps decreasing while coming into winter. The lowest temperature is at the end of the year in December. In regarding rain, Surin Province begins to rain in April and the amount of rainfall increases during May until the highest level during August and September. After that rainfalls decrease quickly in October with the end of the rainy season in November. Surin Province has an area of 5,077,535 rai. The soil is mostly loamy sand. The land with suitable soil for rice cultivation has an area of 690,612 rai or 13.60 percent of all the land in the province. There are areas with low fertility, dense, or sandy soil which do not hold water or soil with salt on the surface. These make up around 2,166,544 rai or 42.66 percent of all the area. Surin has eight important natural waterways including Moon River, Cheenoi river, Aree Brook, Plubplah Brook, Rawee Brook, Tubtan Brook, Samran Brook and Kaew Brook. These water sources can be utilized for agriculture. Apart from these, there are other water sources in various districts including those that are not so beneficial because they do not hold water in dry season. Furthermore there are water sources from irrigation, which are Sanaeng and Ampuen Reservoirs which are in Muang District. These two reservoirs have the capacity to channel water for farming to 55,000 rai of land. Important commercial crops in Surin Province are rice, cassava, kenaf 6, mango and rubber. Rice is the most important crop for the Province. The target area for implementing system of rice intensification covers three districts, which are Srikhoraphum, Tha Tum and Chumphon Buri Districts. The following are the description of the target area.

6 Hibiscus spp. is a crop farmed for fiber from its bark. It used to be a popular crop in Northeastern Thailand. However, at present its production is reduced and there are not many areas left for farming it.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

4.1 Situation Analysis of the Target Area 4.1.1 Tha Tum District Tha Tum District is located in northern Surin, 52 kilometers from the provincial center. The population is 96,738. The district has an area of 714 kilometer square. Its northern boundary is shared with Kasate Pisai and Suwanaphum Districts, Roi Et Province. The south borders Jompra, the east Ratanaburi and Sanom District and the west Chomponburi and Satuk District, Bureerum Province. The population’s main occupation is farming. The target area is Promtape Sub-District, which is part of Tung Kula Rong Hai Plateau and is 13 and 65 kilometers from Tha Tum District center and Surin Provincial center respectively. The administrative zone is divided into 22 villages. The majority of the population (more than 90 percent) engages in farming. Baan Somon, Ban Khok Poon, Baan None Muang, Baan Yang Krajub and Baan Pone Bu villages are the target villages. These five villages are connected as a cluster. The north is a flat plain located within Tung Kula Rong Hai and slopes down to a lowland area in the south next to Moon River. The area next to the river is a flood plain that is filled with water during the flood season (October-November) in some years. The soil is sandy loam that is low fertility. The land is used for rice cultivation and after harvesting, for raising livestock until next year’s planting season. The main agricultural activities here are rice and mulberry trees/silkworm farming and livestock husbandry. Agriculture in the area is mostly rain-fed. Nonetheless there are natural water sources that can be used for farming. These are in the form of small ponds in Baan Yang Krajub, Baan Pone Bu, Baan Chai Tung and Baan None Muang. At Koke Poon, there is no natural pond. Apart from those, there is a brook called Huay Tah Oon, which is located close to the target villages. There is no community forest or protected area for biodiversity, limiting natural biological resource and its diversity. On the social and economic characteristics, the population comprises Khmer and Lao ethnic groups. The main income earning is from agriculture (rice cultivation), with secondary sources of animal husbandry, farming mulberry trees/silkworm and general labor. Regarding migration for off-farm employment, 70 percent of the households have at least one member working outside the area. There are two forms of movement, which are 1) short term, which includes moving for work within and outside the province. Jobs include construction, mechanical or general labor and 2) all year migration, the destination for which is usually outside the province and work includes factory work, labor on fishing boats and general labor. Most people relocate to Eastern Thailand (Chonburi or Rayong Province), Central Region (Ayuttaya), Bangkok and Southern provinces. Moreover a small number work abroad. 4.1.2 Chumphon Buri District Chumphon Buri District is in the north of Surin Province, 94 kilometers from the provincial center. The population is 71,240 with an area of 683 square kilometer. The district borders Payakphoompisai, Mahasarakam Province to the north, Tha Tum District and Satuk District, Bureerum Province in the south, Tha Tum District to the east and in the west, Phuttaisong and Khoo Muang District, Bureerum Province. The main occupation here is farming. In the district, the target area includes three villages including 1) Baan Krabueng Village, Na Nhong Pai Sub-District 2) Baan Tub Kai, Chumphon Buri Sub-district and 3) Baan Sard, Muang Bua Sub-district. In these three target villages, Baan Tub Kai is the closest to the district center, with a distance of roughly two kilometers. Baan Krabueng and Baan Sard Villages are seven and 30 kilometers from the district center respectively. The population at Krabueng Village consists of ethnic Lao and Khmer while Baan Tub Kai and Sard are Lao. In these three target villages the main occupation is farming. In Krabuengb and Sard Villages rice cultivation is the main occupation. More than 90 percent of the household in these communities farm rice. Secondary occupation for 40-60 percent of the household is livestock husbandry. At Baan Tub Kai, 50 percent grow rice and the rest farm fruit trees in the form of integrated agriculture, grow vegetable and raise aquatic animals. Agricultural activity in Baan Tub Kai is more diversified than Baan Krabueng and Baan Sard, both of which only farm rice and raise livestock. In regarding geography, Moon River flows through all three villages. There are many natural water sources (brooks and ponds). The area is a highland that slopes down to the river in the

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand north of Baan Krabueng Village. There is irrigation (canals that channel water to the rice paddies) in Baan Tub Kai. Agricultural land (rice cultivation area) of the three villages are divided into three large zones, which are highland rice fields, lowland rice fields and flooded rice fields. The latter is close to the Moon River and is flooded every year. Most of the agricultural land is rain-fed. The soil in all three villages is loamy sand in the highland and lowland rice field zones. For the flooded rice field, the soil is clay loam, which has higher fertility than highland and lowland rice field zones but face the problem of flood during harvest season (normally flooded during October). In four out of the past five years, all three villages were affected by flood. In three years of the recent five, there was drought. Baan Tub Kai and Baan Sard have community forests, which is their source of food. Also the community members fish in Moon River, another natural source of food. At Baan Tub Kai Village, 30 percent of the households catch fish from Moon River to sell. Comparing all three villages, Baan Tub Kai has a higher level of natural biodiversity and biodiversity in the farm land than Baan Sard and Baan Krabueng Villages respectively. This condition reflects better food security at Baan Tub Kai Village, which is superior to Baan Sard and Baan Krabueng Village respectively. On labor mobility, the population at Baan Tub Kai has a very low rate of movement (less than five percent). At Baan Sard and Baan Krabueng Villages, there is labor mobility of more than 70 percent of the households, which has at least one member migrated to work within or outside the province. The work includes general labor in nearby provinces, Bangkok and provinces in Eastern Thailand. Moreover some members of Baan Sard Community are paid to carry salt in Samutsongkram Province. For Baan Krabueng Village, apart from migrating to work, 30 percent of the households travel to different provinces to sell food, other consumer items and furniture after the rice farming season is over. For those households without land, travel and selling food, consumer items and furniture is the main occupation. So at Krabueng village, only women, the elderly and children are in the village after harvesting season.

4.1.3 Srikhoraphum District Srikhoraphum District is located in the north of Surin Province, 34 kilometers from the provincial center. The district’s population is 130,622 with an area of 562 square kilometer. The district’s boundary to the north is connected to Jomphra and Sanom Districts, to the south Srinarong and Lamduan Districts, to the east Samrongtab and Prangoo Districts, Srisaket Province, and to the west Muang and Khwaosinarin Districts. In this district the target area is at Tlae Sub-District, which is 13 kilometers from the district center and 48 kilometers from the provincial center. Tlae consists of 22 villages. The target villages in this project are Baan Nonejarn, Baan Awut, Nhong Pukboong and Noneton Villages. The distance between these villages to Srikhoraphum District is around 10, 10, 8 and 10 kilometers respectively. Baan Awut and Baan Nonejarn Villages are next to each other and separated by Jomphra-Srikhonphoom Road. Baan Awut and Baan Nonejarn are 3 kilometers from Baan Nong Pukboong village, which is 2 kilometers from Baan Noneton Village. The geography is flat plain. All of the farm land is solely for rice cultivation. Nothing else is farmed after the rice season is over. Similar to Tha Tum District, Baan Krabueng and Baan Sard Villages in Chumponburi, the soil is sandy loam with low fertility. The target area in these villages is rain-fed without water source for agriculture. The main occupation in all five villages is rice farming. Secondary occupation is livestock husbandry and mulberry tree/silkworm farming. In the target villages there is no community forest as a source of food except at Baan Noneton Village. Labor mobility of the households is within and outside the province. At least one person in each household is engaged in general labor. In some households, members migrate after the rice growing season to the north to work on harvesting sugar cane. Examples of these Northern provinces are Uttaradit and Kampaengpet. The people are in a debt contract by getting paid for expenditure first before paying back their labor to the sugar cane farm owner. Migration is usually for the whole household except the elderly and children who still reside in the community after the rice farming season. A map of the target area in all three districts is shown in figure 4.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Figure 4: Map of target sub-districts and districts in Surin

Muang Bua Chumphon Buri Na Nhong Pai Sub-District Sub-District Sub-District

Promtape

Sub-District

Chumphon Buri Tha Tum District District

Srikhoraphum District

Figure 4.1 Map of the target sub-districts and districts in Surin ProvinceTlae Surin Province Sub-District 4.2 Land Holding and Gender Roles

Land holding by the households in the three target districts is categorized into four groups. These are: a) Landless: a small portion of households in each village (less than 5 percent of all households in the community), b) small landholder (less than 5 rai per household): around 20-25 percent of the population belong to this group, c) medium landholder (between 5-20 rai per household): the biggest proportion of community members, which is around 40-50 percent, and d) Landholder of more than 20 rai: roughly 15-20 percent of all households. Most of the farmers have between 10 to 15 rai of land (approx. 2 ha), some landless farmer families request to use the land of those in the community who own a large area of land or do not wish to farm on a certain portion of their land for that year. Usually, the land is loaned to grow rice and the yield would be shared with the landowner. The majority of the landless farmers are laborers in the agricultural sector but after the farming season, they would take up general labor jobs in the village, the district and provincial centers or some migrate to outside the area to another province. Apart from this, people without land for farming travel and sell goods in various places, such as those landless households in Baan Krabueng Village, Nhong

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Pai Sub-District, Chumphonburi District which was mentioned in the previous section. For the small landholder group (less than 5 rai), agricultural production (rice cultivation) is done for self- consumption. In other words, farming is only done for food security. Main income for livelihoods is from general labor or having at least one member of the household working in a city and sending remittance to sustain the family’s livelihoods. Regarding gender roles, in households where all of the members are present, agricultural work and decision-making is men’s role7 while women make decision on caring for the family, cooking and managing the family finance. For those households that the male migrate to work elsewhere (outside the province), decision making role on agricultural production belongs to the woman as well as on caring for the family (children, elderly), cooking, controlling household expenses and engaging in traditional activities together with the community. The man has a responsibility to send back remittance from work outside the agricultural sector to the woman (wife) in the community for investing in farming and paying family expenses.

4.3 Community Organizations In all three districts, community-based organizations have been established particularly financial institutions such as village funds and saving groups for production. Furthermore, occupation groups are setup in the form of community enterprises, women farmers’ groups or farmers’ groups. Almost all of the villages have established community rice centers, which produce rice seeds for cultivation. Apart from that, buffaloes/cattle husbandry groups, handicraft and weaving groups and silk weaving groups have also been established. Most of the villages farm mulberry trees and raise silkworm for processing into silk products or selling silk threads.

4.4 Support and Relationship with Government Institutions, Organizations or Agencies Organizations that are supporting the target communities provide four kinds of assistance as following: a) Coordinating with and supporting the communities on specific government policies. This kind of support is usually for a specific purpose in line with a certain government policy; b) Providing technical assistance to solve various problems in the community with individual households and groups; c) Providing financial support in the form of grants or lending to individual households and community groups for community development, and d) Providing financial together with technical assistance. Organizations which are supporting the communities are for example Tambon (Sub- District) Administrative Organization (TAO) or Municipality, Bank for Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Community Development Office, District Office, District Agricultural Office, District Health Office, District Cooperative Office, District Livestock Office, District Non-Formal Education Office and Fisheries Office. The organization that has the closest relationship with the community is the Tambon (Sub-District) Administrative Organization or Municipality, which support the communities in regarding agriculture through training and financial support to community organizations on farming. The second closet relationship is with the District Public Health office and the Bank for Agriculture and Cooperatives, which provide health and credit

7 In Surin the men have a main role in farming (labor) and decision making on agricultural production because farming is mainly labor intensive. Men are physically stronger to be the main labor in the household so decision making on production is up to the men. In Uttaradit, rice farming involves hiring agricultural machinery. Human labor is less important. Hiring farming machines is related to household expense, which is under the decision making power of the women. So decision making role on farming is with the women. Moreover the source of income also affects decision making roles. Women manage household finance. In Uttaradit, the main income is on-farm while in Surin the main income is from off-farm sources.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand for agricultural production.

4.5 Agricultural Production Agricultural production in all three target districts comprises mainly rice cultivation, which is complemented by livestock husbandry (cattle and buffaloes) and farming mulberry tree and silkworm. However, at Baan Tub Kai in Chumponburi District the production system is more complex than all the other villages. Members of this community farm a number of crops. This is possibly due to the location of the village, which is inside the municipal area and close to the market (the distance between the village and town is around two kilometers). The farmers here are engaged in diverse crop production, which is brought to be sold at the market. Strong support from various government agencies and readily available water for agriculture enables rice cultivation on 50 percent of arable land. The other half of the area is dedicated to fruit orchards in the form of integrated agriculture (practiced by 50 percent of the farmers in the community). At the same time, in the residential area (more than 90 percent), vegetables are grown all year round. A number of community members (5-10 percent), from most to least frequent, raise fish or frogs, grow flowers (marigold) and/or raise cattle or buffaloes. Details are in Table 7 and 8.

Table 7: Agricultural production in the target communities

Agricultural production (percentage of households) Livestoc k (cattle Mulberry Aquacultur Target area Fruit Vegetabl Rice and tree/ flower e (fish/ orchard e garden Buffaloes silkworm frogs) ) Promtape Sub- district, ≥ 90 50-70 ≥40 - - - - Tha Tum District Chumponburi District excluding ≥ 85 70 ≤ 40 - - - - Baan Tub Kai Village Chumponburi District, Baan 50 5-10 10 50 ≥ 90 15-20 30-40 Tub Kai Village Srikhoraphum ≥ 90 70 ≥ 60 - - - - District

Table 8: Seasonal calendar of the target area

Agricultural production in target Month area 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Tha Tum District Rice Mulberry tree/silkworm Cattle or buffaloes Chumponburi District Rice Cattle or buffaloes Fruit * Vegetable * Flower * Fish/frogs * Srikhoraphum District

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Rice Mulberry tree/silkworm Cattle or buffaloes * Only at Baan Tub Kai Village, Chumponburi District

4.6 Rice Cultivation Rice cultivation by farmers in all three target districts is done by dry-seeding. There are only 2-3 farmers who dedicate some land for transplanting. One farmer from the interviewed group at Baan Sard, Nhong Bua Sub-district, and Chumponburi District uses System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Another at Baan Pone Bu, Chumponburi District and Baan Noneton, Srikhoraphum District devotes around 3 rai of land for transplanting to produce seeds for own use and sell to other community members. Farmers in the target area have switched from transplanting to dry-seeding (broadcasting) in the last 10 to 15 years. The reason for almost all of the farmers (more than 99 percent) now practice dry-seeding is climate change. Rain has become irregular or far between. Also the lack of labor and other difficulties has influenced this conversion. Moreover, the farmers justified their choice of dry-seeding by saying that it is faster than transplanting, without the need to prepare seedlings and requires less investment in every step of production. The process of rice cultivation by dry-seeding involves land preparation (first, intermediate and last working), planting (dry-seeding/broadcasting), crop management, harvesting and ploughing over rice stubble. These steps are detailed below. 4.6.1 Land preparation: Farmers in the area starts preparing land for planting rice after the rain begins so the soil is moist. Tillage work is done two to three times before broadcasting the seeds. Most of the farmers (more than 80 percent) work the field twice: first and last tillage workings. On the other hand some farmers (less than 20 percent) work three times by adding an intermediate working between the first and the last. This operation is around one to two weeks before the last working. The decision to undertake the additional step depends on the farmers’ capital as well as their attention to detail and finesse. Land preparation starts during March-April (first working/ploughing). Then, intermediate and/or last working is done between April (after Songkran – Thai New Year) and May depending on the rainfall in each year. After the last working, the farmers plant rice by broadcasting the seeds. 4.6.2 Planting: Farmers plants rice by broadcasting (after last tillage working) and harrowing during April to May. There are two main varieties being cultivated. These are Gor Kor 15 (RD.15) and Jasmine 105. Gor Kor 15 is an early variety, which ripen faster than Jasmine 105. Nevertheless, Jasmine 105 is being cultivated more than Gor Kor 15. In regarding planting rate, it was found that in Tha Tum District, the farmers sow 30-60 kilogram per rai. In Chumponburi, the farmers sow 30-45 kilogram per rai. Farmers in Srikhoraphum practice the lowest planting rate of 20-30 kilogram per rai. 60-80 percent of farmers apply organic fertilizer before sowing the seeds. The organic fertilizer used comes in two forms, pellets and compost. Those who raise livestock use compost at the rate of 600 – 1,000 kilogram per rai while those who use pellets use 50-100 kilogram per rai. The decision to use organic fertilizer is determined by whether or not the farmers are engaged in animal husbandry or if they have enough capital.

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4.6.3 Crop management: After establishing the plant and before harvesting between May and October, the farmers manage the crop in the following ways: a) Weed prevention:

The farmers manage weed by two main methods, which are 1) use of chemical weed control, and 2) weed control without chemicals. The majority (more than 90 percent) use chemicals to control weed. Two kinds are used, which are powder and liquid form. The rate of use is one bottle or one bag per 4-5 rai 8. Spraying chemicals to control or eradicate weed is done after seeding, or 2 weeks after germination. The farmers usually hire labor to spray the chemical, costing between 70-100 baht per rai. Those who make a living from spraying weed control chemicals also advise on the type of chemical needed, whether powder or liquid. Spraying of weed control chemical is done only once. The farmers who do not use chemicals manually cut the weed when it is competing with the rice. Weed cutting is done only once when the rice is growing (4-8 weeks after germination). Shoulder mounted grass cutter is used to cut the weed and rice. After that, the rice would grow and cover the weed (rice grows faster than weed) so weed can be controlled in that manner. b) Fertilizer use: Farmers in the target area apply fertilizer twice during the period after plant establishment up until flowering. The first time, fertilizer is applied during vegetative stage and the second time before flowering. The first application is to support growth. The mix combines formula 46-0-0 (urea fertilizer) with NPK formula 15-15-15 or 16-16-8. The second fertilizer application is for enriching the plant for tillering and panicle initiation. The farmers use formula 15-15-15 or 16- 16-8 or 18-4-5. For the second application, fertilizer is used at the rate of 25 kilograms per rai per time. After reproductive stage has begun, no more fertilizer is used. However some farmers also apply hormone9 is the form of bio-fertilizer once or twice.

c) Pest and disease control: Farmers in the target area do not have a method to control disease and pests but they apply pesticide after an outbreak of insects. During disease epidemics, nothing is done to alleviate the situation because the farmers believe that they cannot be controlled. The farmers voiced that droughts encourage outbreaks of pests and diseases, as shown in Figure 5.

8 One bottle of chemical pesticide is 1,000 ml. The farmers mix pesticide at the rate of 50-100 ml. per 20 liters (one container for spraying) of water. The concentration level of the chemical and water mixture depends on the amount of weed. So one bottle of pesticide can be mixed with water for spraying 10-20 containers for spraying (one container is around 20 liters). Usage rate is roughly two containers per rai. In regarding power pesticide, the farmers mix 3 tablespoon with 20 liters (one container) of water. Powder pesticides bags come in two sizes, small and big. One small bag can be mixed with one container of water while one big bag can be used for an area of around 4-5 rai. 9 Hormone that farmers use to spray rice during flowering stage is in the form of bio-extract or bio-fertilizer. There are several formulas including egg hormone made from chicken eggs, fermented with yeast, yogurt and molasses or hormone from ripe fruit, which is made by mixing ripe fruit with molasses and concentrated microorganism mixture, or hormone from fish head and bones, made from fermenting fish head and bones with molasses and concentrated microorganism mixture.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Figure 5: Farmers’ perspective on the effects of drought on rice cultivation

Drought

Weed Outbreak Pest insect outbreak Disease epidemic

Lower growth Damaged rice rate of rice Reduced production

Loss of rice crop

d) Harvesting:

The harvest season is between middle of October (after the 15th of October) and end of November. Gor Kor 15 is an early variety so it is harvested before jasmine 105. All of the farmers in the target area use or hire a combine harvester, costing between 500-650 baht per rai. In Tha Tum and Chumponburi Districts, the cost for harvesting is at the rate of 500 baht per rai. In Srikhoraphum District, it costs 600-650 baht to harvest one rai.

After harvesting, less than ten percent of the farmers plough over rice stubble. This is done between January and February. The majority of farmers burn the stubble. This is because ploughing stiff stubble is difficult and the plough tractor owners do not want to risk their machines if the stubble is not burnt. In some instances the hired plough owner would burn the stubble to make it easier to plough by the machine. Rice cultivation activities are shown in Table 9.

Table 9: Rice cultivation activities in the target area

Month Rice cultivation activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Land preparation Seeding (broadcasting) Crop management Weeding st 1P P application of fertilizer nd 2P P application of fertilizer Harvesting Ploughing rice stubble

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4.7 Rice Yield and Marketing Rice yield rate in the target area is at 350-600 kilogram per rai (equivalent to 56-96 kg/ha), depending on the land condition, drought situation and effectiveness of farm management. The zone with enough water is lower paddy fields which yield more rice than upper fields. The land in Srikhoraphum gives a higher yield than Chumponburi and Tha Tum respectively. All of the farmers sell their rice to the government’s rice insurance scheme10. Apart from this, some farmers also sell their rice directly to local millers (without joining the scheme). Others sell to agricultural cooperatives. The farmers usually exchange information on market and price among themselves in the community more than receiving information from government agencies or other external sources. The farmers receive around 13-18 baht per kilogram depending on the level of moisture and quality of the rice. Therefore they generally earn 4,550- 10,800 baht per rai.

4.8 Rice Farm Input Costs Input costs for rice farming is at 2,870-5,100 baht per rai, depending on the level of management. The cost is broken down in Table 4.4.

4.9 Rice Farming Challenges Faced by the Farmers The challenges to farming rice and other crops in the target area of Srikhoraphum, Tha Tum and Chumphon Buri Districts are similar or different depending on the context. The challenges can be categorized into three groups as following: a) Problems that are caused by the environment and physical characteristics of the land such as drought and long periods between rain, flood, low fertility soil, lack of water and water sources for agriculture, b) Problems that are caused by production techniques, which are intensive use of chemicals, high seed rate, seeds are mixed with other unintended varieties, resulting in lower price for the produce, lack of knowledge on correct application of fertilizers and chemical pest control, epidemics of plant diseases and insects and high production cost, lack of knowledge on suitable rice farming practice to reduce production cost, produce loss due to harvesting by harvesters or contamination of other rice varieties from using harvesters, c) Problems that were brought about by government policies and market mechanism, which are high labor price, lack of labor, lack of a good and secure market, low price of produce and high input costs (chemical fertilizer and pest control). The details of the challenges in each area and an overall ranking of these problems for the three target districts are shown in Table 11.

10 The Rice Insurance Scheme under the Yingluck Shinawatra administration was implemented during 2011-2013. In the first phase, non-glutinous and jasmine rice paddy, with less than 15 percent humidity would be insured at 15,000 and 20,000 baht per gwien respectively. During the production seasons in 2012 and 2013three types of rice including non-glutinous, Patumthani 1 and glutinous rice paddy could be insured at a price higher than the market. The details on the context and impact of the Rice Insurance Scheme regarding the farmers who take part in the scheme is described in footnote 2.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 10: Input cost11

Rice farm input Amount Note (baht/rai) 1. Land 400-850 Most farmers practice first and last tillage workings. preparation However, some work three times by adding an intermediate working. Other famers work four times by adding a step of ploughing over the rice stubble after harvesting. 2. Seed 400-1,200 Seeds cost 19-23 baht or on average 20 baht per kilogram. Most collect their own seeds. Farmers use 20- 60 kilogram of seed per rai 3. Organic 350-1,000 In the case of pellet organic fertilizer, 50-100 kilogram is fertilizer used (350 baht per sack). For compost, 600-1,000 kilogram is used at 1 baht per kilogram. Farmers usually produce their own compost, particularly the ones who raise livestock 4. Chemical 900 50 kilogram (1 sack) per rai at an average of 900 baht fertilizer 5. Herbicide 50-100 Powder herbicide 250 baht per pack or Liquid herbicide 500 baht per bottle for 5 rai plantation 6. Labor 70-100 For cutting weed and spraying herbicide 7. Harvester 500-650 costing between 500-650 baht per rai. In Tha Tum and Chumponburi Districts, the cost for harvesting is at the rate of 500 baht per rai. In Srikhoraphum District, it costs 600-650 baht to harvest one rai 8. Other 200-300 Insecticide if there is an outbreak, fertilizer transportation, fuel for pumping water and rice transportation Varied according to land preparation intensity, seed Total 2,870-5,100 choice and fertilizer use

11 In Surin, renting land is not as necessary as Uttaradit because rice farming in Surin is aimed at achieving food security. Income (from commercial production) is a secondary purpose. Main income for farmers in Surin is mostly off-farm. For the small landholders (farmers with less than 5 rai or 0.80 hectare of land), rice is farmed on own land for household consumption. For the landless or those with very little land, rice farming could be done on another farmer’s land who may be large landholders or those who has land but do not wish to farm on it. Monetary payment is not made but the farmer of other’s land would pay with a portion of the rice yield. After harvesting, the rice is divided into three equal parts. Two parts for the grower and one part for the land owner. Another way to borrow land that was found by this study is if someone is wealthy and has cash (whether large or small landholders or landless), he or she may lend money to a landowner who might need fast cash for emergency such as health care expense or children’s education tuition fee, the landowner who borrows the money would allow the money lender to farm on his or her land instead of paying interest (no interest is paid) until the borrower pays back the loan, which is when the agreement to use the land ends. This second method is call “rice paddy field pawning.” These are the only two forms of land lending found during this study. Both methods does not involve long term continuous land renting and can only be engaged in certain years. Systematic land renting was not found in contrast to Uttaradit. Also only a few farmers are involved in borrowing other’s land for rice farming. There is no monetary payment so it has not been included in the production input.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 11: Rice farming challenges

Target District 1/ Challenges in rice farming Chumphon RankingP Srikhoraphum Tha Tum Buri Drought or long period between rain    1 Lack of water source for farming    2 Soil with low fertility    3 High production cost    4 Low price of rice    5 High input cost (chemical fertilizer    6 and pesticide) Mixed up rice varieties resulting in    7 lesser value Weed, disease and insect epidemic    8 Intensive chemical use    9 High seed rate    10 No stable and secure market    11 High labor cost    12 Lack of labor    13 Lack of knowledge on correct use of    14 chemical fertilizer and pesticide Loss of yield from harvesting by harvester and contamination of other  O O 15 rice varieties from using a harvester Lack of knowledge on farming techniques appropriate to local  O O 16 conditions and on how to reduce input cost Flood X   17

Note: = Prevalent challenge; O = Challenge but not yet prevalent; X= Not a challenge P 1/ P P ranking as an overall rating for all three districts

5. Household Level Information: Questionnaire Data Analysis This section presents the result of household level data analysis. Data were gathered using questionnaires on socioeconomic status, rice production, gender roles and opinions on System of Rice Intensification. The objective of analyzing household level data is to check, add to and verify the result of the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) conducted in the target area in the two provinces. The household questionnaire survey was conducted with a random sample. As already presented in section 2 (methodology), data was collected from farmers with small landholding (< 5 rai), medium landholding (5-20 rai) and large landholding (>20 rai). 36 households were surveyed in each province in the target areas (together making 72 questionnaires). The results from the analysis are as following.

5.1 General Background of the Respondents

5.1.1 Surin Province By analyzing the household data, it was found that most of the respondents (58.3 percent) were female. The average age is 48.97. The majority (66.7 percent) graduated from primary school. The average area of landholding is 16.11 rai. There are on average 4.67 members of

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand the household with 2.36 members as labor for farming (almost 50%). 69.44 percent of the household has a male as the main labor. The respondents have 15.42 rai (more than 90%) of land for rice farming on average. The majority (86.1 percent) is a member of a community organization. 38.89 percent attended a training session on agriculture within the past year. The majority (61.11 percent) did not meet any agricultural extension worker from government in the past year. The average number of trainings and meeting with extension worker in the past year is 0.64 times and 0.42 times respectively. (See table 12)

5.1.2 Uttaradit Province The analysis of household questionnaire responses has shown that the majority (72.2 percent) of the respondents is female with an average age of 49.92. Most (47.22 percent) of the respondents finished primary school while 38.89 percent graduated high school and 13.89 percent attained education level higher than high school. The respondents have landholding of 20.01 rai (3.2 ha) on average. In the household, there are 4.53 members on average with a labor force of 2.56 people (almost 50%). A male is the main labor for 77.78 percent of the household. The respondents have 19.27 rai (more than 90%) of land for rice framing on average. The majority (91.67 percent) is a member of a community organization. 38.89 percent has attended a training event on agriculture within the past year. Most (69.44 percent) did not meet any agricultural extension worker in the past year. The average number of trainings attended and meeting with extension worker in the past year is 0.69 and 0.53 times respectively. (See table 12)

Table 12: General background of the respondents

Bio-data of the farmers (mean) Item Surin Total Uttaradit (n=36) (n=36) (n=72) Age (year) 48.97 49.92 49.44 Land holding (rai) 16.11 20.01 18.06 Members of the household (number of 4.67 4.53 4.60 people) Household labor force (number of people) 2.36 2.56 2.46 Rice farming area (rai) 15.42 19.27 17.35 Attended training on agriculture in the 1/ 0.64 0.69 0.67 past year (times)P Met with an agricultural extension worker 1/ 0.42 0.53 0.47 in the past year (times)P

1/ P P Calculated from all sample households

5.2 Economic Information of the Households

5.2.1 Surin Province For the households in the target area at Surin Province, income from farming makes up 48.66 percent of the total income each year. The remainder is off-farm income, which is 51.34 percent of the total income each year. Income from rice farming is worth 81.16 percent of income from farming and 38.39 percent of the total income for the household. The details are

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand shown in Table 5.2. 91.67 percent of the farmers take a loan for farming. The main sources of credit are the Village Fund, Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives and family or relatives. The percentages for borrowing from these sources are 72.22, 55.56, 41.67 and 19.44 respectively. The purposes for taking loans are to buy fertilizer, prepare land, pay for labor, buy chemical pesticides and purchasing seeds. The percentages of response on these objectives are 80.56, 55.56, 47.22, 41.67 and 22.22 respectively. Overall, 91.67 percent of the farmers are in debt and the average debt is 81,277.78 baht per household.

5.2.2 Uttaradit Province For the households in the target area at Uttaradit Province, income from farming makes up 84.15 percent of the total income in each year. The remainder is off-farm income, which is 15.58 percent of the total income each year. Income from rice farming is worth 91.31 percent of income from farming and 76.84 percent of the total income for the household. The details are shown in Table 5.2. 94.44 percent of the farmers take a loan for farming. The main sources of credit are the Village Fund, Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives and agricultural cooperatives. The percentages for borrowing from these sources are 72.22, 63.89, and 50 respectively. The objectives for taking out loans are to buy fertilizer, prepare land, buy chemical pesticides, hire labor and purchasing seeds. The percentages of response on these objectives are 94.44, 52.78, 47.22, 41.67 and 19.44 respectively. Overall, 97.22 percent of the farmers are in debt and the average debt is 121,972.22 baht per household.

Table 13: Household income and debt 1/

Household Economy) Mean) Item Uttaradit Surin (n=36) Total (n=72) (n=36) Total household income (baht/year) 211,733.33 218,904.17 215,318.75 Total income from agriculture 103,026.39 184,206.94 143,616.67 (baht/year) Income from rice farming (baht/year) 83,611.11 168,206.22 125,891.67 Off-farm income (baht/year) 108,706.94 34,697.22 71,702.08 Debt (baht/household) 81,277.78 121,972.22 101,625.00

1/ Note: P CalculatedP from all sample households

From the figures in Table 13, it can be seen that the households in Surin Province receive more income off-farm than from farming. Although rice farming is the main income from farming, only one crop of rice (in-season) is farmed each year. After the harvest season, some members of the household migrate outside the area to work (as general labor). Some members of the community migrate to Bangkok, provinces around Bangkok and in the Eastern Region. For Uttaradit, the main household income in the target area is from farming, mainly rice. For the studied area in Uttaradit (the project’s target area), most household farm two crops of rice per year (Pichai and Tron District). Hence, farming is the main income for the households. Off-farm income makes up only 15.85 of the total household income (34,697 baht). This data fits with the fact that farming in the target area is an all year round occupation. The data is also in line with the PRA result at community level, which found that there is very little labor migration outside of the target area.

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5.3 Farmer Household’s Sources of Agricultural Knowledge On sources of agricultural knowledge for the households, it was found that in Surin, the most important sources of knowledge that is disseminated to the farmers are neighbors, television, radio and the sub-district agricultural extension officers. The percentages of households referring to these sources are 100, 97, 22, 83.33 and 75.00 respectively. In Uttaradit, important agricultural knowledge sources for the households are neighbors, radio, television, sub-district agricultural extension officer, newspaper and farming chemical shop. The percentages of reference to these sources are 94.44, 91.67, 88.89, 88.89, 80.56 and 72.22 respectively. Considering the overall picture, the most important sources of knowledge dissemination are neighbors, television, radio, sub-district agricultural extension officer, newspaper and agricultural chemical shops in that order as shown in Table 1412 Therefore, agricultural development, knowledge and technology transfer should be conducted in the form of facilitation. This would help disseminate knowledge and technology to the communities in the form of farmer to farmer technology transfer.

Table 14: Sources of agricultural knowledge for farmer households

Source of agricultural knowledge for the farmer Source of knowledge households )%) Surin (n=36) Uttaradit (n=36) Total (n=72) Neighbors 100 94.44 97.22 Sub-district agricultural 75.00 88.89 81.95 extension officer Agricultural chemical shops 69.44 72.22 70.83 Pamphlets 44.44 63.89 54.17 Magazines 52.78 66.67 59.73 Newspaper 63.89 80.56 72.23 Radio 83.33 91.67 87.50 Television 97.22 88.89 93.06

5.4 Rice Farming Conditions 5.4.1 Surin Province In the target area of Surin Province, 100 percent of the respondents from the target farmer households stated that rice is grown once per year (in-season rice) on 15.42 rai of rice field on

12 The question asked to the respondents on agricultural support was on whether or not they had met an agricultural extension officer in the past year. The majority of the responses in Surin and Uttaradit (61.11 and 69.44 respectively) had not met an agricultural extension worker in the past year. In contrast, the question asked to the respondents on agricultural knowledge source did not specify a time period and multiple answers were allowed (the respondents did not rank their answers). A number of respondents included extension officers as a source of knowledge, after neighbors, television and radio in that order but before shops selling agricultural supplies and other print media (see table 5.3). The result is logical. The answer reflect the immediate environment involving neighbors, television and radio being easily accessible in contrast to extension officers who provide direct knowledge transfer, agricultural supply shop or print media, all of which are harder to access and require reading or undergoing training. Therefore the findings on meeting with an extension officer and on agricultural knowledge source are not contradictory. In reality the sub-district agricultural extension officers change or rotate their posts (responsible sub-districts and villages also change). Some extension officers regularly visit farmers while others do not or only visit village or farmer leaders during their field work. From that reason only some farmers (30.89 and 30.56) or one third of farmers in the target area had met an extension officer in the past year. The sample group included not only large landholders but small, medium and large landholders. This could have affected the low rate (around one third) of farmers meeting extension officers.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand average. 66.67 percent of the households hire laborers to help with rice farming. The majority of the farmers (72.22 percent) collect seeds to make their own seed stock while 13.9, 11.1 and 2.8 percent purchase seeds from their neighbors, merchants and agricultural extension officers, respectively. 63.88 percent and 44.44 percent of the farmers apply fertilizer during vegetative and before flowering stage respectively. Chemical fertilizer is applied at the rate of 23.83 and 11.39 kilogram per rai for vegetative and flowering stage, respectively. 88.89 percent of the farmers use chemical farm inputs. 83.33, 69.44 and 27.78 apply chemicals to control weed, insects/pests and diseases in that order. The most frequent application of chemical inputs is during the vegetative stage (72.22 percent) and after seeding (22.22 percent). 69.44 percent of the farmers manage water by fully flooding the paddy area while 30.56 percent use the minimum amount of water to flood the fields. The farmers produce an average yield of 411.72 kilogram per rai. All of the respondents (100 percent) harvest their crop by using harvesters. The major problems associated with rice farming are high production cost, drought, high cost of farm inputs, weed epidemic, lower than standard price for the produce, high price for labor, lack of appropriate technology to reduce cost and increase yield, low yield per rai and pest epidemic in that order. Details are shown in Table 5.4. 5.4.2 Uttaradit Province In the target area of Uttaradit Province, most (88.89 percent) of the target farmer household respondents stated that rice is grown twice per year on 19.27 rai of rice field on average. 72.22 percent of the households hire laborers to help with rice farming. 77.78 percent of the farmers broadcast pre-germinated seeds and 16.67, 2.78 and 2.78 percent practice transplanting, direct-seeding and parachuting respectively. The seeding rate is 21.83 kilogram per rai on average. The majority of the farmers (80.56 percent) collect seeds to make their own seed stock while 11.11 and 8.33 percent purchase seeds from merchants and neighbors respectively. 100 percent and 38.89 percent of the farmers apply fertilizer during vegetative and flowering stage respectively. Chemical fertilizer is applied at the rate of 44.31 and 11.11 kilogram per rai for vegetative and flowering stage respectively. 94.44 percent of the farmers use pest control and eradication chemicals. 86.11, 69.44 and 58.33 percent apply chemicals to control weed, insects/pests and disease in that order. The most frequent application of chemical inputs is during vegetative stage (77.78 percent) and after seeding and early ripening stages (13.89 and 8.33 percent respectively). 58.33 percent of the farmers manage water by fully flooding the paddy area while 41.67 percent use minimal water to flood the fields. The farmers produce an average yield of 865.28 kilogram per rai. 94.44 of the farmers harvest the rice by using harvesters. This is in line with the PRA result at the community level which shows that in Pichai and Tron Districts, machines are used for agriculture including for harvesting, while in Ban Khok District, rice farming rely mostly on human labor, which is true for the task of harvesting. The major problems associated with rice farming are drought, high cost of farm inputs and government policies supporting rice farmers. These are the most prevalent problems. Also high production cost, lower than standard price for produce, weed epidemic, lack of appropriate rice production technology for reducing costs and increasing yield, pest epidemic, lacking knowledge on appropriate rice farming technique, disease epidemic, insects epidemic, high price for labor are significant problems in that order.13 The details are in Table 15.

13 When considering the overall picture of both provinces, drought is the main challenge (average score of 4.21). Looking at each province in turn, in Uttaradit drought is the most prevalent problem with an average score of 4.31 but in Surin drought is

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 15: Problems in rice farming for the farmer households1/

Surin (n=36) Uttaradit (n=36) Total (n=72)

Problem Mean 2/ Mean Mean Severity P Severity Severity score score score High production cost 4.19 High 4.17 High 4.18 High High cost of farm inputs (fertilizer, seeds, pesticide 4.08 High 4.25 very high 4.17 High chemicals) Lack of labor 3.08 Moderate 2.75 Moderate 2.92 Moderate

High price for labor 3.78 High 3.61 High 3.69 High Drought 4.11 High 4.31 very high 4.21 very high Flood 3.06 Moderate 3.00 Moderate 3.03 Moderate Disease epidemic 3.33 Moderate 3.69 High 3.51 High Insect epidemic 3.33 Moderate 3.61 High 3.47 High Pest epidemic (shellfish, crab 3.53 High 3.78 High 3.65 High and/or rodent) Weed epidemic 3.89 High 3.94 High 3.91 High Low yield per rai 3.53 High 3.25 Moderate 3.38 Moderate Lower than standard price for the 3.83 High 4.00 High 3.91 High produce Support from government agencies in the area 3.25 Moderate 2.89 Moderate 3.06 Moderate

Government policies that support 3.25 Moderate 4.22 Very high 3.74 High rice farmers Lack of knowledge on appropriate rice farming 3.25 Moderate 3.72 High 3.49 High techniques Lack of appropriate technology to 3.78 High 3.81 High 3.79 High reduce cost and increase yield Health problems from using 3.19 Moderate 3.53 High 3.36 Moderate chemicals

1/ 2/ Note: P P Calculated from all sample households; P P Severity rating are: average score of 1.00-1.80 = least, 1.81-2-60 = low, 2.61-3.40 = moderate, 3.41-4.20 = high and 4.21-5.00 = very high

the second most significant problem after high production cost. The scores were close *4.19 and 4.11). This data was collected through the household survey, which is confirmed by the community level data (chapter three and four)

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

5.5 Gender Roles From studying the data on decision making by men and women in the sample households in the target areas of Surin and Uttaradit, it was found that the result confirms the findings at community level in section 3 and 4 in this report. Decision making regarding farming and adopting innovations in farming is the men’s role. Decision making on family finance, assets, along with purchasing consumer goods and family care is the women’s role. Details are shown in Table 16. Table 16: Decision making roles of men and women in the household

Main decision-making role) %) Uttaradit Surin (n=36) Total (n=72) Item (n=36) Fema Fema Fema Male Male Male le le le Decision on the household’s 66.67 33.33 63.89 31.11 65.28 32.22 agricultural production Decision on selecting the type and/or 63.89 36.11 69.44 30.56 66.67 33.34 form of agricultural production Decision to take out loans 41.67 58.33 36.11 63.89 38.89 61.11 Decision on changing the 63.89 36.11 61.11 38.89 62.50 37.50 household’s production system Decision on purchasing assets for the 33.33 66.67 25.00 75.00 29.17 70.84 household Decision on buying farm inputs 44.44 55.56 58.33 41.67 51.39 48.62 Decision on hiring labor for 41.67 58.33 36.11 63.89 38.89 61.11 agriculture Decision to sell produce 36.11 63.89 38.89 61.11 37.50 62.50 Decision to purchase consumer items 19.44 80.56 2.78 97.22 11.11 88.89 for the household Decision to send children for higher 27.78 72.22 27.78 72.22 27.78 72.22 education Decision on using chemical pesticide 61.11 38.89 63.89 36.11 62.50 37.50 Decision on fertilizer application 61.11 38.89 66.67 33.33 63.89 36.11 Decision to accept and adopt agricultural innovation for the 58.33 41.67 63.89 36.11 61.11 38.89 household Decision on mechanizing agricultural 69.44 30.56 75.00 25.00 72.22 27.78 production

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

In regarding gender roles in the household’s rice production, it was found that conducting farm related activities is the men’s role while purchasing farm inputs, selling the produce and facilitating the production activities are the women’s role. Details are shown in Table 17.

Table 17: Gender roles in the household’s rice production activities

Main role in conducting the activity) %) Uttaradit Surin (n=36) Total (n=72) Activity (n=36) Femal Femal Femal Male Male Male e e e Land preparation 80. 56 19.44 81.11 13.89 80.83 16.67 Acquiring seeds 69.44 30.56 66.67 33.33 68.06 31.94 Broadcasting seeds 77. 78 22.22 77.78 22.22 77.78 22.22 Seed preparation 72. 22 27.78 69.44 30.56 70.83 29.17 Transplanting 72. 22 27.78 61.11 38.89 66.67 33.33 Water management (water 77. 78 22. 22 86.11 13.89 81.94 18.06 control/flooding the field/pumping) Spraying chemical pesticide 75.00 25.00 75.00 25.00 75.00 25.00 Applying fertilizer 77. 78 22.22 83.33 16.67 80.55 19.45 Purchase or make available farm 47.22 52.78 47.22 52.78 47.22 52.78 inputs for the household Monitoring and maintaining the crop 63 89 36.11 77.78 22.22 70.83 29.17 Harvesting 66 67 33.33 72.22 27.78 69.44 30.56 Transportation from the field to the 72.22 27.78 72.22 27.78 72.22 27.78 household’s storage Selling the produce 44.44 55.56 33.33 66.67 38.89 61.11 Production of farm inputs (producing organic fertilizer, bio fermented liquid, 63.89 36.11 52.78 47.22 58.33 41.67 etc) Coordination on various production activities (e.g. contacting and hiring 52.78 47.22 55.56 44.44 54.17 45.83 laborers, coordinate for communal labor or hiring machines) Attending trainings on agriculture 55.56 44.44 41.67 58.33 48.61 51.39 Meeting with agricultural extension 55.56 44.44 41.67 58.33 48.61 51.39 officers Facilitating the household’s 38.89 61.11 33.33 66.67 36.11 63.89 agricultural production activities

5.6 Opinions on System of Rice Intensification From studying the sample farmer households in the target area of Surin and Uttaradit Provinces, it was found that the 27.78 and 50.00 percent of households are aware of System of Rice Intensification in Surin and Uttaradit Provinces respectively. 72.22 and 72.22 percent of the farmers in Surin and Uttaradit Provinces are interested to join a project that promotes System of Rice Intensification. In regarding opinions of the farmers towards System of Rice

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Intensification, it was found that in Surin Province, two issues out of ten were agreed by the farmers. These are System of Rice Intensification involves transplanting one rice seedling per hole and would result in regular spacing between plants and rows, facilitating easier management of the paddy. In Uttaradit Province, the farmer households agreed with six out of ten issues. The ones that were agreed with are System of Rice Intensification reduces the amount of seeds needed; System of Rice Intensification reduces water usage; System of Rice Intensification provides more yield per rai; rice plants grow more tillers with System of Rice Intensification; System of Rice Intensification reduces diseases and insects; and using System of Rice Intensification would result in regular spacing between plants and rows, facilitating easier management of the paddy. Details are shown in Table 18. Table 18: Opinion of farmers on System of Rice Intensification, which is rice production by transplanting one rice seedling per hole

Surin (n=36) Uttaradit (n=36) Total (n=72) Mea Level of Level of Level of Issue Mean Mean n agreement P agreemen agreemen score score scor 1/ t t e System of Rice Intensification 3.39 Not sure 3.42 Agree 3.40 Agree use less seeds System of Rice Intensification 3.22 Not sure 3.42 Agree 3.32 Not sure use less water System of Rice Intensification requires more labor, 3.11 Not sure 3.31 Not sure 3.21 Not sure especially for transplanting System of Rice Intensification 3.28 Not sure 3.44 Agree 3.36 Not sure results in increased yield System of Rice Intensification results in more drought 3.22 Not sure 3.33 Not sure 3.28 Not sure resistance crop System of Rice Intensification 3.39 Not sure 3.39 Not sure 3.39 Not sure results in stronger rice plants System of Rice Intensification results in more tillers of the 3.31 Not sure 3.58 Agree 3.44 Agree rice plants System of Rice Intensification reduces disease and insect 3.36 Not sure 3.42 Agree 3.39 Not sure epidemics System of Rice Intensification is rice cultivation by 3.42 Agree 3.36 Not sure 3.39 Not sure transplanting one seedling per hole System of Rice Intensification results in regular spacing between rows and rice plants, 3.44 Agree 3.42 Agree 3.43 Agree which makes paddy management easier

1/ Note: P levelP of agreement: average score of 1.00-1.80 = strongly disagree; 1.81-2.60 = disagree; 2.61 – 3.40 = not sure; 3.41-4.20 = agree; 4.21-5.00 = strongly agree

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

The most important factors that affect the farmer households’ interest in adopting System of Rice Intensification are high yield per rai and reduce water usage. Households in Uttaradit Province share the same opinion as those from Surin but in addition gave the reason of rice plants being able to better withstand diseases and insects. The details are in Table 19. Factors that contribute to households not being interested in adopting System of Rice Intensification are all at moderate level for Surin Province and Uttaradit except for complicated production management, which is the only issue the households in Surin Province rate as high. Details are shown in Table 20.

Table 19: Importance of factors in decision making to adopt System of Rice Intensification

Surin (n=36) Uttaradit (n=36) Total (n=72) Level of Level of Factor Mean Mean Level of Mean importanceP importan score score importance score 1/ ce Increase yield per rai 3.56 High 3.44 High 3.50 High Use less water 3.42 High 3.44 High 3.43 High Rice plants are more adaptive and resistant 3.36 Moderate 3.33 moderate 3.35 Moderate to drought Rice plants are 3.36 Moderate 3.36 moderate 3.36 Moderate stronger Rice plants are more resistant to disease 3.33 Moderate 3.42 High 3.37 Moderate and insects

1/ Note: P LevelP of importance: mean score of 1.00-1.80 = least; 1.81-2.60 = low; 2.61-3.40 = moderate; 3.41-4.20 = high and 4.21-5.00 = very high

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 20: Importance of factors in decision making to not adopt System of Rice Intensification

Surin (n=36) Uttaradit (n=36) Total (n=72) Level of Level of Level of Factor Mean Mean Mean importanceP importan importan score score score 1/ ce ce Not aware of System of 2.97 Moderate 3.00 Moderate 2.98 Moderate Rice Intensification Not confident in System 2.92 Moderate 3.03 Moderate 2.97 Moderate of Rice Intensification Water management 3.14 Moderate 3.11 Moderate 3.13 Moderate (water control) Using young seedlings 3.17 Moderate 2.92 Moderate 3.04 Moderate for transplanting Increase in labor 3.39 Moderate 3.33 Moderate 3.36 Moderate requirement Weed management (more 3.28 Moderate 2.89 Moderate 3.08 Moderate weed) Complicated 3.50 High 3.08 Moderate 3.29 Moderate management More risks involved compared to the existing 3.28 Moderate 3.08 Moderate 3.18 Moderate production system Risk of plants dying after 3.31 Moderate 3.17 Moderate 3.24 Moderate transplanting Problem of golden apple 2.28 Moderate 3.08 Moderate 3.18 Moderate snail

1/ Note: P LevelP of importance: mean score of 1.00-1.80 = least; 1.81-2.60 = low; 2.61-3.40 = moderate; 3.41-4.20 = high and 4.21-5.00 = very high

5.7 Comparison of Socioeconomic Characteristics of Farmers with Different Landholdings

By comparing some socioeconomic characteristics of farmers with different landholdings, it is shown that there is no statistical significance (P>0.05) among farmers with different landholdings in terms of number of household members, household labor force, the rate of seeding per rai and the amount of debt in Surin and Uttaradit Provinces. On the other hand income from farming rice and other crops and total income of the household are different with highly statistical significance (P<0.01). Farmer households with more land have more income than those with less land in Surin and Uttaradit Provinces and overall for both provinces. Off- farm income is also different with highly statistical significance (P<0.01) in Surin Province and for both provinces. Farmers with more landholding have more off-farm income than those with less landholding. However, in Uttaradit Province there was no difference that is statistically significant (P>0.05) on off-farm income among farmer with different landholdings. Details are in Table 21, 22 and 23.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 21: Comparison of the mean of some socioeconomic characteristics of farmers grouped by different levels of landholding in Surin Province

Landholding large Small medium F- Variable landholder landholder landholder value1/ >20 rai < 5 rai) n=12) 5-20 rai) n=12) )n=12) a b c ** Area of landholding (rai) 3.17P 12.08P 33.08P 78.02P a b c ** Area for rice farming (rai) 3.08P 12.08P 31.08P 44.05P

Number of household a a a ns 4.67P 4.33P 5.00P 0.462P members (people)

Household labor force a a a ns 2.58P 2.17P 2.33P 0.327P (people) a a a ns Seeding rate (kg./rai) 32.92P 27.50P 37.75P 2.86P

Income from rice farming a a b ** 17,083.33P 74,166.67P 159,583.33P 12.17P (baht/year)

Income from all agricultural a a b ** 32,916.67P 90,733.33P 185,429.17P 13.35P activities (baht/year) a a b ** Off farm income (baht/year) 43583.33P 94941.67P 187595.83P 11.07P

Total household income a a b ** 76,500P 185,675P 373,025P 12.21P (baht/year) a a a ns Household debt (baht) 93,833.33P 65,833.33P 84,166.33P 0.352P

1/ Note: P P Mean followed by the same letter in the same row were not significantly different, ns = non significant, ** = Significant at P<0.01

Table 22: Comparison of the mean of some socioeconomic characteristics of farmers grouped by different level of landholding in Uttaradit Province

Landholding Small medium large F- Variable landholder landholder landholder 1/ valueP < 5 rai 5-20 rai >20 rai )n=12) )n=12) )n=12) a b c ** Area of landholding (rai) 3.79P 17.25P 39.00P 121.00P a b c ** Area for rice farming (rai) 3.75P 16.33P 37.75P 94.59P Number of household members a a a ns 4.00P 4.17P 5.42P 3.92P (people) a a a ns Household labor force (people) 2.25P 2.67P 2.75P 0.765 P a a a ns Seeding rate (kg./rai) 18.92P 23.92P 22.67P 3.31P Income from rice farming a b c ** 30,350.00P 138,333.33P 335,833.33P 66.34P (baht/year) Income from all agricultural a b c ** 53,966.67P 156,016.66P 342,637.50P 52.55P activities (baht/year) a a a ns Off farm income (baht/year) 38,958.33P 31,583.33P 33,550.00P 0.093P Total household income a b c ** 92,925.00P 187,600.00P 376,187.50P 52.07P (baht/year) a a a ns Household debt (baht) 90,666.67P 110.416.67P 164,833.33P 1.02P 1/ Note: P P Mean followed by the same letter in the same row were not significantly different, ns = non- significant, ** = Significant at P<0.01

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Table 23: Overall comparison of the mean of some socioeconomic characteristics of farmers grouped by different level of landholding in both Provinces

Landholding Small medium large F- Variable landholder landholder landholder 1/ valueP < 5 rai 5-20 rai >20 rai )n=24) )n=24) )n=24) a b c ** Area of landholding (rai) 3.48P 14.67P 36.04P 174.14P a b c ** Area for rice farming (rai) 3.46P 14.16P 34.42P 118.82P Number of household a a a ns 4.33P 4.25P 5.21P 2.78P members (people) a a a ns Household labor force (people) 2.67P 2.21P 2.50P 0.976P a a a ns Seeding rate (kg./rai) 25.92P 25.71P 30.21P 1.51P Income from rice farming a b c ** 23,716.67P 106,250.00P 247,708.33P 40.65P (baht/year) Income from all agricultural a b c ** 43,441.67P 123,375.00P 264,033.33P 40.19P activities (baht/year) a ab b ** Off farm income (baht/year) 41,270.83P 63,262.50P 110,572.92P 4.95P Total household income a b c ** 84,712.50P 186,637.50P 374,606P 40.27P (baht/year) a a a ns Household debt (baht) 92,250P 88,125P 124,500P 0.771P 1/ Note: P P Mean followed by the same letter in the same row were not significantly different, ns = non- significant, ** = Significant at P<0.01

6. Government Policies, their Impact and Rice Farm Management at Field level

6.1 Government’s Development Policies and their Implications on Agriculture There are two levels of development policies and measures on farming. These are as following. 6.1.1 Central government policies. Policy framework and approach on agricultural development of the Yingluck Shinawatra that has been declared in the parliament cover two main policies, which are: A) Important policies for rapid implementation, including: • Support on integrated water management to reducing the impact of flood and drought; supporting appropriate crop farming and expansion of land reform. • Developing collaboration with neighboring countries to create trading linkages with various trading countries. • Delay debt repayment for low income farmer households. • Add value to agricultural products by promoting and developing suitable insurance against risks in farming, including both guaranteeing price risks and insuring produce from natural disasters. B) Agricultural economic restructuring on three issues, which are: • Development of farmers and agricultural institutions by creating the next generation of farmers, establishment and development of village agricultural volunteers, implementing

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electronic farmers’ household registration, providing insurance to farmers to create security through rice farmers’ benefits fund, development of farmers’ business institutions, occupational rehabilitation of farmers who are permitted to delay repayment of debt, supporting national agricultural council and television for disseminating agricultural knowledge.

• Production improvement: giving importance to environmentally-friendly production and reducing production cost; focusing on appropriate technology; highlighting standards for consumers’ safety for agricultural goods, including crop produce, livestock and fisheries; promoting production effectiveness and adjusting production system to be suitable with the context, focusing on food security by promoting appropriate proportion of food and fuel crops; promoting organic agriculture in line with environmentally-friendly production; promoting research and development of plant, livestock and fishery breeds and varieties; adapting production technology to prepare for change and adaption of production process for climate change; and developing agricultural industry.

• Infrastructure and facilitating factors development through integrated water management, expansion of irrigated area, provision of agricultural land to landless farmers; giving importance to warning systems for agriculture on flood, drought and pest epidemics; securing landholding for agriculture by expediting and supporting legislation in landholding security that is effective and suitable for agriculture as well as rehabilitating or conserving soil quality.

The Agricultural Development Plan under the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2012–2016) categorize agricultural development into two categories, with the following implementation approaches: Category 1: small farmers, classified into two sub-groups, which are • Group 1: Those with income lower than basic living standard (lower than poverty line); focusing on Sufficiency Economy to enable the farmers to maintain their livelihoods at a modest level and providing land, creating food and income security, providing access to capital and finding solution to debt problem. • Group 2: Those with income equal to or above basic living standard: focusing on capacity building and increasing competitiveness; improve effectiveness in agricultural goods production to meet standards; technology transfer; creating knowledge and develop production and marketing skills and providing access to capital Category 2: Large scale commercial farmers: focus on promoting access to information, facilitating production, marketing, investing in other countries and leveraging financial support on research that produces results that commercially applicable; promoting group formation with members who are large scale commercial farmers and small farmers for mutual transfer of technology, supporting development of production group and linking to industries, from headwater to estuary, to create sustainable development. There are three development strategies as following. Strategy 1: Improve farmers’ quality of life to enable farmers to be self-reliant, creating immunity against risks and diversifying risks in production and marketing; enhancing capacity on production and marketing in order to create Smart Farmers; together with

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand facilitating trade on agricultural goods for large scale commercial or industrial farmers to create competitiveness by developing insurance scheme for farming risks; create farmers’ registration, promote system of benefits to cover agricultural labor; improve landholding system, provide appropriate knowledge to farmers; support urban dwellers to engage in City Farms and recycling household or community wastes to produce biogas energy; create a new generation of famers for the agricultural sector; support agricultural organization and institutions for effective and sustainable operations; facilitate access to information and news on production, marketing and investing in other countries as well as improving rules and regulations to reduce barrier in agricultural trade.

Strategy 2: Increase production capacity, agricultural goods management and food security to create a strong agricultural production base; creating occupational security and income for farmers; improve the quality of agricultural goods and food to be competitive by improving production and adding value, focusing on reducing production cost, developing the quality and standard of agricultural goods; establish agricultural economic zones; improve and increase effectiveness of logistics in the agricultural sector; supporting green products, allocate both food and fuel crop production to meet the demand for food and alternative fuel; develop market system for agricultural goods and creating linkages with regional and international economy; support research and inventions on science, technology and innovation for up- scaling to develop the agricultural sector to respond to the need for the production sector.

Strategy 3: development of agricultural resources for effectiveness, balance and sustainability: to create and develop effective agricultural resource utilization and basic infrastructure; rehabilitate agricultural resource to be suitable for sustainable agricultural production by rapid rehabilitation and improving quality of degraded soil; establish system of soil use to be appropriate with the soil type; allocate private land for development and provision to landless farmers; increase effectiveness of water management for agriculture and fishery; promote and support famers to utilize appropriate production resources; support farmers to participate in agricultural resource management; prepare for the impacts of climate change and establish a system for prevention and reduction of problems from natural disasters; crate legislation relevant to agricultural resource management that is appropriate to the situation Even though small farmers have been placed in their own category with policy support and there are clear and continual policies to support them, these policies mostly deal with short term problems such as delaying debt repayment to government financial institution for three years. This merely reduces the debt burden. Also, there are supports on occupational development, which has not extended to real improvement of small farmers’ quality of life. In regarding landless farmers, the government’s approach is to work mostly through the Agricultural Land Reform Office on various issues such as allocating land for livelihoods and supporting occupational development through various projects. Apart from this, “community land title” has been promoted in some areas but progress has been slow due to inconsistency of policy application and change of government. 6.1.2 Development Policies and Strategies at Provincial Level A) Surin Province has a strategy on organic rice production for the past 10 years. Other strategies are also in place to promote agricultural development with the following important measures: capacity building for farmers, agricultural institutions, business owners and government personnel to enhance production capacity and competitiveness; together with

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand improving agricultural goods that meet international standards; developing water sources and integrated water management; and increasing agricultural production capacity to meet standards. B) Uttaradit Province has strategies for developing agriculture, agricultural industry and processing for quality and safety. These are 1) support to improve production in agriculture, agricultural industry and processing to increase value of products by aiming for quality and safety for consumer; 2) support crop selection that is suitable to the market by supporting the reduction of production cost to increase income for farmers; 3) build management capacity for farmers and business owners, together with strengthening business group, small and medium enterprises (SME); and 4) support research, innovation and management of markets for farming, agricultural industry and processing. Apart from this, the Uttaradit Provincial Agricultural Council, which is an organization of farmers, has developed strategies for agricultural development for the province for the year 2012-2015 as following: Strategy 1 improving farmers’ quality of life is composed of five sub-strategies, which are developing the network of the Uttaradit Provincial Agricultural Council at village, sub-district, district and provincial level; capacity development for farmers, network creation, development of learning centers for agricultural organization in the area; establishing funds for agriculture for farmers and business owners in the community; and creating occupational and income security for farmers together with developing insurance against production risks and promoting security for farmers. Strategy 2 build capacity in production, product management and food security comprises enhancing capacity on agricultural production to create agricultural industry; research, support and development to build capacity to produce competitive agricultural goods; promote the improvement of quality standard for agricultural goods; development of market system for agricultural goods; and development of information system for agriculture. Strategy 3 developing agricultural resources for effectiveness, balance and sustainability is made up of two sub-strategies which are developing water sources and expanding irrigation to increase coverage and capacity; and manage land allocation to create a balance between agricultural and forest resources.

6.2 Impact from Government Policies on the Farmers in the Target Area In regarding the implementation by government agencies of policies directly related to agriculture and other relevant policies that affect farming and farmers in the target area, the in-depth interviews of key informants reveal that the impact on rice farmers, small landholder farmers and landless farmers from the implementation of rapid policies are the 300 Baht Wage Policy and the Rice Insurance Scheme. The 300 Baht Wage Policy increased the minimum wage to 300 baht per day for the whole country. So the labor cost in the agriculture sector is increased, resulting in adaptation by agricultural producers by introducing machines to take place of human labor and increased production cost. At the same time, small landholder farmers or landless farmers who used to receive main income from general labor or working in the agricultural sector are losing their jobs. This is because work in the agricultural sector is reduced from conversion to machines in place of human labor. Due to this, some low income farmers or landless farmers in the target area have migrated to work elsewhere and become

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand laborer outside the agricultural sector (general labor). The Rice Insurance Scheme buys rice from farmers at a higher than market price and store it for selling later. Because through this scheme, the price of rice is 30-50 percent higher than the market price, so there has been an expansion of rice farming area. Before this policy, government officials or investors who own land in the target area did not farm rice, but would lend the land to small landholder or landless farmers in the target area for rice cultivation. However, since the price of rice is high, together with the reduction of complication and time required in rice farming due to mechanization, most of the landowners have switch to farming rice on their own land instead of lending the land to small landholder or landless farmers. This has impacted the small landholder and landless farmers who used to rent the land and farm rice as their main income or even for subsistence and food security for the household. Because there is a reduction in or lack of land available for rent while the demand remains the same or even increased due to the incentive from higher rice price from the government policy, the payment rate for land rent has increased from 1,500 baht to 3,000 baht per rai per season (in the case of Uttaradit Province). This resulted in higher production cost for farmers who rent land for farming or the land poor. Most farmers in this group are poor people. The Rice Insurance Scheme has then become problematic and is unable to continue, resulting in a sharp decrease of rice price from 11,000 – 15,000 baht to 5,000-7,000 baht per ton. This impacted the rice farmers and they have been operating at a loss as shown in Figure 6. Apart from the above rapid policies that have been implemented and impacted the farmers in the target area, there are government policies being implemented through relevant government agencies, particularly through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. These policies have been implemented through the strategy to build capacity on production, product management and food security to improve production standard. The policies are implemented through the agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives at the provincial level to promote and support group formation and development to prepare for environmentally-friendly production of safe produce; establishing community rice centers, rice production that meet Good Agricultural Practice (GAP); creating and developing small water sources for agriculture. Provincial level offices under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives provide knowledge and production input for these measures, including pond digging (in rain-fed areas). The result of these policy implementations has created a standard on producing food that is safe from harmful chemicals. Farmers who are part of this project reduced chemical use and are able to become self-reliant by using bio-products instead of chemicals, hence reducing the production cost. Farmers who were without a water source for agriculture are able to farm with the support to dig ponds as water sources for agriculture. The farmers have increased income from farming and at the same time increased their capacity to compete. Nevertheless, although the mentioned policy support has resulted in positive impact on farming and farmers, implementation is still limited or specific to certain areas. It lacks continuity so dissemination of technology or scaling up to other community members or to other communities is slow and ineffective. Apart from central government policies, there is also local support through provincial development strategies and local authorities (Tambon [sub-district] Administrative Organization and Provincial Administrative Organizations). Support through provincial development strategies includes continual support for organic agriculture. Uttaradit Province promotes production of safe food, adding value to rice and other crops. This support is carried out through community organizations. Strong communities and community organizations are supported for development and up-scaling by provision of production input and marketing of

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand produce as well as basic infrastructure that facilitates production, such as small scale fertilizer factory for producing organic fertilizer, community center for selling agricultural products and drying area and mill for processing rice. The impact from this support has increased income and reduced expenses, promoting self-reliance and development of strong communities. Nonetheless, the support still lacks continuity, particularly on consistent following up and monitoring after the support. In many areas the supported operations stopped or failed after the support is finished, leaving only the physical structures (fertilizer factory, mill, community shop). From studying the target areas in Uttaradit, it was found that mills and drying areas that were supported through the provincial development strategies were not in use even though the facilities were in order. There are many factors contributing to this problem but the main one being the weakness in management of community groups or organizations that were supported. Local authorities are responsible for establishing and supporting farmers’ group and support funding for the operation of the farmers’ group that are created. At the moment, these local authorities have given priority to this work and support the establishment of farmers’ group on organic fertilizer, fermented biological extracts and bio-products. If each area receives continual and strong support, it would lead to the production of safe crops with low input cost, creating self-reliance in regarding farm inputs. This would increase income for the farmers. The details of various policies from this study are shown in Figure 6.

6.3 Impact from Rice Farm Management of the Farmers in the Target Area By analyzing the basic data on rice farm management, it was found that the current practice leads to high production cost, low yield and low return for the produce. The high production cost is the result of high seeding rate (high quantity), which comes from the belief that “many seeds lead to many plants and high yield.” In rain-fed areas such as Surin Province, farmers would broadcast a lot of seeds (Surin Province) because they fear that long periods between rain or a drought may stop some of the seeds from germinating. Broadcasting high amount of seeds resulted in dense paddy fields. The rice plants are not healthy while there are chances of insect epidemics. So chemicals are used intensively, resulting in high input cost. Seeding rate that is too high and paddy fields that are too dense, together with insect epidemic result in low yield. Low soil fertility also contributes to the problem of low yield. Most farmers do not use or use very little organic fertilizer and do not use fertilizer that is suitable to the soil. This is because the soil quality was not analyzed, also leading to low yield. Apart from this, the farmers use seeds that are impure or mixed with other varieties. Together with using harvesters increases the chance of the rice being contaminated with other varieties. When the rice is sold, it fetches a price lower than it should. The cause and effect of rice farming management by the farmers that affect the yield, input cost and price are shown in Figure 7.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Figure 6: Government policies of both central and local levels that affect farmers

300 baht minimum High price for Mechanization High input cost wage policy labor

Rice price Low income Increase in Higher land Small landholder or insurance rice price rent price landless farmers scheme Poverty Expansion of rice fields

Problems

from rice Rice price drops insurance

Rice production meets Strategy on capacity building Good Agricultural Practice Meet safe food for production, agricultural Increase (GAP) standard production product management and income standard food security Strengthen famers group to prepare for technology on Improve production Reduce environmentally-friendly standard chemical use Reduce production of safe produce production cost Self-reliance Community center for rice seeds production

Creation and development Increase of water source competitiveness

Funding or budget support Local authorities Farm input / basic Increase income for groups or organizations infrastructure to Reduce expense support production • Fermented plant Self-reliance Establish famers’ group extract/ bio- products Provincial development Develop to Support strong • Small scale fertilizer strategies become model community groups factory or strong or organizations • Drying area/mill for communities rice processing etc.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

Figure 7: Cause and effect diagram on rice production management of farmers in the target area

High temperature Lack of water source Low fertility soil and drought for rice production

No soil quality Farmers’ analysis beliefs High seed rate Impure seeds

No or little use of Fertilizer not Use of machines Dense growth organic fertilizer suitable to soil in production

Intensive Disease and Contamination of chemical use insect epidemic other rice varieties

High production Low yield Low price for produce

Note: = only in Uttaradit = only in Surin Province and Ban Khok District, Uttaradit

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

7. Guidelines for Developing the Target Area

By studying the overall picture (districts and communities) and specific details (household level), the following recommendations were formulated for developing the target area:

7.1 Development Approach to Rice Production in the Target Area By analyzing the problems and challenges in rice production of the farmers in the target area, the following recommendations are made: a) Promote and support knowledge in rice production to adapt to climate change and drought. b) Support and promote knowledge to farmers on modifying their production system that would lead to reduction in production cost, especially using a lower seeding rate and decrease chemical use, both of which currently result in high cost of rice production in the target area. c) Provide knowledge, promote and support farmers to use bio-products to replace chemicals. d) Promote farmer leaders group establishment to transfer knowledge and upscale learning to other farmers in the target area on reducing production cost for rice farming and reducing chemical use. e) Provide knowledge to farmers on soil quality analysis, correct use of fertilizer that is appropriate to the stages of rice growth and suitable to soil quality in the target area. The farmers would be able to increase effectiveness in rice production. f) Promote production of green manure, compost, bio-fertilizer or other forms of organic fertilizer for use in rice production to increase organic matter in the soil to promote soil fertility and increase yield. g) Promote knowledge on rice variety selection that is suitable to the target area and eliminating rice variety contamination so that farmers can produce their own rice seeds and having seeds that are uncontaminated by other varieties. h) Create or find small water sources to act as reservoirs in the case that the annual rainfall is low or there are long periods between rains. For rain-fed areas, this would provide water for rice production and consumption by households. i) Support farmers’ group formation for producing quality rice to process rice using facilities that have already been built with funding from the provincial development strategy (drying area and mill, particularly in Uttaradit Province; in Surin Province, there has been support to farmers on organic rice cultivation in the whole province for more than 10 years. There is already knowledge and networks that facilitate up-scaling to farmers in other areas) j) Promote and support farmers network creation to seek certification on production standards and create quality rice markets at the local and provincial levels. k) The project should collaborate closely with government agencies and local authorities since inception through to implementation. The collaboration would pool resources, knowledge and influence continual support to farmers because these local organizations will continue to operate after the end of the project.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

7.2 Development Approach Regarding Small Landholder and Landless Farmers Development approach for small landholder and landless farmers are as following. a) For those with small landholding, promote and support land allocation to farm rice for household consumption, creating food security. Also support production of short season vegetables to create income for the families under King Bhumibol’s Sufficiency Economy principle. b) Transfer agricultural knowledge to small landholder farmers in the target area to practice precision farming in small plots to increase yield, promote food security and create income for the household. c) Support smallholder farmers group to farm together to create value by rotation or create volume to provide sufficient continual supply to the market. Production should be safe from chemicals or be organic. It should also involve communities (which may be in the district or provincial center) in the form of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). d) For landless farmers, support establishing landless farmers’ group and coordinate with relevant agencies to request permission to use public or abandoned land in the community, or land under the authority of the Sub-district (Tambon) Administrative Organizations or other agencies that are not being utilized. These lands are for agriculture by growing short season crops (vegetables or herbs). It can be done by establishing common fields organized into zones of responsibilities to create a group production system to feed into the market. This setup may also include small landholder farmers. The production system should involve rotation production or produce in volume so that the produce can be supplied to the market continually. Production should be safe from chemicals or be organic and involve communities (which may be in the district or provincial center) in the form of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). e) Support knowledge and training on processing produce by using raw materials found in the community or those that require small plots or no land to add value to the product. f) Support establishment of agricultural processing groups to add value to produce and increase income for farmers. Also expanding the agricultural production value chain of small landholder or landless farmers. g) Support small landholder and landless farmers to create networks and relationships with local agencies or organizations. The network and relationships could also extend to organizations outside the target area to mobilize collaboration and common value through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs of these agencies or organizations.

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Participatory Rural Appraisal for System of Rice Intensification in Thailand

7.3 Gender Considerations to Development Approach in the Target Area Gender considerations to development approach in the target area: a) Because women play an important role in decision making on agricultural production in the family, support should be provided specifically for women to attend training and receive knowledge on agriculture. A training course on suitable agricultural practices or rice farming system should be provided to reduce production cost and enables women to support family decision making that is also made by men who are the family leaders. b) The data collected at the household level for the target area in both provinces revealed that women usually have the role in saving income and making decisions on purchasing farm inputs for the household. So the women in the target area should be supported on bookkeeping for rice production, hence analysis and exchange can be carried out in the community. This would create an understanding on in-out cash flow of the households and finding solutions to reduce rice production costs. c) Support the establishment of women’s group for production and processing, particularly on silkworm farming and mulberry growing, as well as weaving silk, which is to a certain extend already a secondary occupation in Surin and Uttaradit. This may take the form of trainings and knowledge transfer for the women’s group on the use of natural color dye, pattern design, along with weaving and developing products from silk to create added value d) Establish women’s network on silk production to improve silk quality from better production to enable a constant supply to the market e) Find fair market or fair trade systems to distribute the network’s products produced by the women’s group. f) Building capacity and promote model women farmers or as resource person in the Learning Centers in each area. This is so they could transfer knowledge on increasing rice production effectiveness.

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