PROMOTING FARMS HOUSEHOLD TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE OF LOWER CENTRAL PROVINCE THAILAND

Most Thai farmers cultivate monocultures with difficult to control quality, quantity, and price. Product prices are low with high production costs. This causes farmers to become indebted and poor. Sustainable agriculture is a concept that helps farmers to be self-reliant and reduce poverty. The objectives of this research are threefold: 1) to examine the current levels of government policy, farmer characteristics, financial support, water management, and sustainable agriculture; 2) to determine the causal influence of government policy, financial support, water management and farmer characteristics on sustainable agriculture; and 3) to propose guidelines for encouraging farm households to adopt sustainable agricultural practices. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in this study. In the quantitative study, the sample group comprised 300 members of rice-growing farm households. The instrument utilized was a survey questionnaire. The data was analyzed using a structural equation model. In the qualitative study, in-depth interviews were conducted with three key informant groups. There are a total of 18 individuals, including 6 government officials, 6 exceptional national farmers, and 6 rice farmers. The results indicate excellent water management, solid financial support, very helpful government policies, highly suited farmer characteristics, and high degree of sustainable agriculture. It is also found that water management, financial support, government policies, and farmer characteristics have direct effects on sustainable agriculture at 0.05 level of significance. These findings lead to the following recommendations for farm households to implement sustainable agriculture. Firstly, farmers should have access to an adequate agricultural water management system. Secondly, farmers should have easy access to financial resources. Thirdly, clear government policies should be established to encourage, assist, and support farmers in adopting sustainable agricultural methods. Lastly, farmers should receive ongoing education on sustainable farming practices. In order to make farmers change their attitudes to see the benefits of sustainable agriculture for themselves and their families, the government and related parties need to accelerate incentives for farmers to realize the benefits of transforming monoculture farming into more sustainable agriculture .