Farmer’s perception and preference on environmentally friendly harvesting practices of sugarcane at Phetchabun province

Abstract

Pre-harvest burning sugarcane has caused the direct impact to sugarcane quality and environmental pollution. The main objectives of this study were to analyze factors influencing environmentally-friendly harvesting method of sugarcane. In this study, questionnaires were used to collect information from 300 sugarcane farmers in Phetchabun province. Data were analyzed by choice modeling method. The results showed that varieties with less leaf and, strong sugarcane stem, harvested fresh cane by machine or labor and selling price were preferred by sugarcane farmers. Especially, the strong sugarcane stem variety was the most important characteristic that farmers preferred. Thus, Office of The Cane and Sugar Board and related government agencies should continuousely invest in sugarcane varietal research and should seriously enforce the law and regulation on prohibiting open-burning together with economic incentives. These can encourage farmer to change their behavior and abandoning pre-harvest burning sugarcane in the future.