Small-scale Farmers’ Acceptance of Organic Rice Production System in Maha Sarakham Province

Abstract

This study analyzed the factors influencing the acceptance of organic rice cultivation by farmers in Maha Sarakham province and provided guidelines for the extension of organic rice production. Data were gathered via interviews, which were administered in 160 farmer households that cultivate organic (80 households) and conventional (80 households) rice in the province during the 2018/2019 crop year. Purposive and random sampling was used to recruit a sample group of farmers, and the data obtained were analyzed by a logistic regression model. The dependent variable was the acceptance of organic rice cultivation, and the independent variables were farm size, distance from farm to home, non-agricultural income, price attitude, age, education level, gender, number of household members, health attitude, membership in agricultural organizations, mobile phones applied, field trips attendance, and extension attitude. The analysis revealed that the following factors had a positive influence on the adoption of organic rice cultivation: health attitude, promotion attitude, education level, number of household members, agricultural organization membership and field trip attendance. Farmers who had a non-agricultural source of income were less likely to adopt organic approaches. To increase organic rice production, future policy recommendations included educating farmers about the use of chemicals that were dangerous to health, focusing on groups whose main source of income came from rice cultivation, and encouraging field trip activity.