Attitudes, Cost-Effectiveness, and Policy Recommendations for Agricultural Drone Adoption in Thailand
Main Article Content
Abstract
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have emerged as a key innovation in enhancing Thai agriculture amid challenges such as labor shortages, rising production costs, and health risks from agrochemical exposure. This review explores Thai farmers’ attitudes toward agricultural drones, assesses their cost-effectiveness, and proposes policy recommendations to facilitate efficient and sustainable adoption by compiling research results on farmers' acceptance attitudes and the outcomes of using drone technology for agriculture, which have been published in research databases. Results from previous survey studies have shown that farmers have positive attitudes towards drone use, with high levels of acceptance in attitudes towards perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of technology. However, concerns remain regarding high initial investment, operational complexity, and regulatory constraints. Cost-benefit analyses indicate that owning drones, especially when used for both personal and commercial purposes, can yield significant economic returns as they are smallholder farmers grouped together under a large-scale project. This article concludes with policy recommendations addressing financial support, farmer training, legal reform, and technology access to promote the broader adoption of precision agriculture in Thailand.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
King Mongkut's Agricultural Journal
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