Middle size tractors and 2-wheel tractors utilization and services break-even point of the farmers in Kok-si Sub-district

Abstract

Since agriculture now relies on technology and agricultural machinery, patterns of agricultural practice have changed. Based on a preliminary field study, middle-size tractors with 34-50 horsepower were increasingly used; nevertheless, the middle-size tractors with 34 horsepower were used in Khok Si sub-district the most. Because of this, a question came up asking why farmers bought these expensive middle-size tractors for their farming. Throughout the interviews, it was revealed that credit loans from dealers or the Bank for Agriculture and Agriculture Cooperatives attracted them to purchase these tractors. Four reasons affected their buying decisions: demand for own use, service demand, access to credit, and down payment. Moreover, convenience (94.64%) was the most significant factor for a farm owner to decide to hire owners of middle-size tractors to do farming for him/her. A comparison of work efficiency and break-even point between middle-size tractors and two-wheel tractors showed that middle-size tractors could plough an area of 3.57 rai per hour while two-wheel tractors could do only 0.31 rai per hour. The middle-size tractors’ break-even point was 260 rai per year while the two-wheel tractors’ was 18.8. The two-wheel tractors’ break-even point average was lower than the middle size tractors’. However, when comparing the convenience and work efficiency of these two kinds of tractors, it was pointed out that middle-size tractors were more convenient than two-wheel tractors. Because the farmers were not serious about break-even point, middle-size tractors were used rather than two-wheel tractors.