| Sustainable agricultural production has been a major concern globally.In Thailand,self-sufficiency in rice production has been a key goal for the last decades.Nevertheless,high crop yields are often associated with conventional rice cropping system,but this system also may causes soil degradation,loss in biodiversity,environmental pollution,and chemical residues in foods.On the other hand,the organic food pursuing by consumer prompts local farmers to alter the conventional cropping system into a more sustainable way of organic farming.Rice production holds a significant position in the Thai economy.Although it is the world's largest rice exporter,Thailand's increase in rice production is the result of expansion in the cultivation area rather than an increase in yield per unit area.The cultivation of rice under organic farming in Thailand is facing certain biophysical,sociological,and economic challenges that hinder the efficiency of organic rice production.Therefore,the present study was designed to estimate the technical efficiency and its governing factors for certified organic rice-growing farms in Yasothon Province,Thailand.The specific objectives of this work were to:(1)measure the technical efficiency of farmers and to evaluate different factors affecting the performance of farmer groups with certified organic rice;(2)study the general conditions of farm operations of certified organic rice producers;(3)study about the supply chain of organic rice export market;(4)developing a model for export of organic rice farming.The Yasothon province was chosen as this area has been known for the largest organic rice production area in Thailand.To reach the goals of the study,a data envelopment model was employed to assess the technical efficiency of 328 farmer groups sampled from 7 districts of the Yasothon province.Results revealed that the average organic rice production was 2,011.98 kg/ha,the seed rate was 126.75 kg/ha,the amount of labor used was 24.62 h/ha,the quantity of organic fertilizer used was 380.74 kg/ha,and the average machine operation for organic rice cultivation was 25.74 h/ha.The data revealed that the average technical efficiency was 23% and 28% under constant returns to scale(CRS)and variable returns to scale(VRS)specifications,respectively.This finding further suggested that the farmers can reduce the use of machinery,fertilizer,seed,and labor as input factors by about 80.1%,25.62%,24.72%,and 19.15%,respectively,while still achieving the same level of output.Multiple regression analysis was applied to estimate factors that affect the pure technical efficiency score(PTES)in the test regions.Results show that household size,farm size,water source,market accessibility,health symptoms,income,and labor were highly related to the Technical Efficiency Score(TES)and the amount of organic rice production.The regression coefficients of the predictors show that the income was the best predictor of the PTES at a significance level of p < 0.05.In addition,policy measurements proposed by Thai government have positive effects on the expansion of organic rice planting area and the increase of organic rice production.Despite the significant attention given to the supply chain of organic rice in Thailand,there stillremain certain market opportunities to achieve,as the demand for organic rice would continue to grow.For this purpose,data were collected from a sample of groups of certified organic rice growers in Thailand,entrepreneur,and stakeholder.The research methodology used was a mixed method that covers the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the data.This included interviews with organic farming and key informants using questionnaires and the approach used was an in-depth interview,using an action research method that involves stakeholder analysis,focus group discussions,and seminar leading to the development of a model.When considering the organic rice supply chain that has been certified for export,it was found that the characteristics of organic rice supply chain in Yasothon are shorter than conventional rice.However,the obtained data revealed that the current situation of the supply chain in the focused area predicted the highest(70%)annual export of organic rice to the United States of America,Singapore,and European markets apart from the domestic market which constitutes 30% of the total produce.Moreover,the cost and benefit ratio analysis revealed that when considering the production cost and return of organic rice farmers in Yasothon province,it was found that farmers had a total cost average equal to 4,329.32 baht per ha of growing organic rice in 2017-2018.The average selling price was 14.77 baht per kilogram.Farmers had a total revenue of 29,716.94 baht per ha.Organic rice production had an average net profit of 25,387.62 baht per ha,with average net revenue of 26,929 baht per ha.Variable cash costs found that farmers who produce organic rice had net revenue above variable cash cost that was 643.81 baht per ha.In addition,the break-even point of organic rice farmers was with an average break-even yield of about293.12 kg per ha and break-even price of about 2.15 baht per kg.From the result of this research,it can be concluded that Thai's farmers have great potential to increase the yield of organic rice production,which can be reached to 72%-77% in maximum.The research is expected to receive benefits such as information on organic rice production and export market system,to present the government and private sectors engaged in promoting the farmers to increase their production capacity,and raises the standard of living of organic rice farmers.Furthermore,this study can provide critical information to farmers,agricultural planners,and the Thai government departments to determine strategies that are useful and practical in raising efficiency performance in each region and to help increase the trend of rice productivity index in some areas of Thailand.Besides,increasing rice yield per ha under the present technology could be achieved by improving the socio-economic characteristics and production management of farmers.In other words,the technical efficiency of rice production can be increased by improvements in farmer conditions and farm characteristics levels. |
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