Farmers’ views about trees in farming systems in Khon Kaen, Northeast Thailand

Abstract

Trees are an important component of farming systems of Northeast Thailand. They play a significant role in a subsistence strategy of farmers and also provide critical ecological services including helping to check the degradation of soils that has been occurring due to agricultural land use. The objectives of this study were to analyze farmersû views on integrating more trees into farms to determine the potential of tree integration into farms. Rapid rural appraisal (RRA) technique was employed to gather information through semi-structured interviewing of farmers. Farmers were grouped into three categories according to size of land holdings, i.e., large (50-100 rai), medium (18-45 rai) and small (less than 10 rai). Each category had 4 households. The large land holders had more trees than the smaller land holders both in total number and in each category of trees, i.e., fruit, industrial, multipurpose, and forest trees. Their main reasons for keeping trees were to supply food followed by timber and firewood. Industrial trees, i.e. eucalyptus, were the most numerous type of tree in all farmer categories. They were also the trees that farmers most desired to plant whereas a study 10 years ago showed that Pradu (Pterocarpus macrocarpus) (a forest tree) was the favoured species. The small land holders did not express positive views related to effects of trees on soils, such as on soil fertility, and environment. In contrast, the large land holders expressed positive views on such matter and also indicated that trees contributed to soil conservation. Small land holders also expressed concern about not having sufficient land to plant trees, whereas medium and large land holders did not have reservations about planting trees on whole plots or on paddy bunds.