Farmers’ Awareness of Land Use Problems for Cultivation in Highland Areas, Mae Chaem District, Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the fundamental economic and social factors of farmers 2) to study the level of farmers’ awareness of land use problems for cultivation in highland areas 3) to study the factors related to farmers’ awareness of land use problems for cultivation in highland areas. The sample were 191 farmers registered with the Mae Chaem District Agriculture Office. The interview form was created to collect data between December 2020 to July 2021. Data were analyzedby descriptive statistics including Percentage, Mean and Standard Deviation. The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. It was showed that the majority of farmers are male, the average age of the farmers was 44.26 years old, graduated from Grade 8 and experience in farming was 21.05 year. Farmers had an average household income of 75,607.85 baht per year and an average outstanding debt of 70,088.48 baht. However, farmers received information about land use problems for cultivation in highland areas 2.40 times per month, they had contacted agricultural officers 1.32 times per year and received training 0.67 times per year. In addition, farmers had knowledge about land use problems for cultivation in highland areas on a high level, with an average score of 16.95. The farmers’ awareness of land use problems for cultivation in highland areas, the overall on an indifference level. Factors related to the awareness of land use problems for cultivation in highland areas including gender and age were statistical significance at 0.05, received information were statistical

significance at 0.01, respectively.