Adoption and extent of organic vegetable farming in Mahasarakham province, Thailand

Consistent with the national policy of sustainable agriculture promotion, the Government of Thailand has implemented organic vegetable farming (OVF) pilot projects in several provinces. This study analyzed the level of adoption and extent of OVF at farm household level in Mahasarakham Province based on information collected from 172 sample vegetable farmers. The results have indicated that slightly more than half of the sample farmers were growing organic vegetables, although the extent of the area under organic vegetables varied from one farm household to another. The result of the Logistic Regression analysis performed to find out the factors that determine the adoption of OVF, found significant influence of several factors including women’s leading role in OVF, motivation by GOs and NGOs, motivation by community members and farmers’ groups, attendance in training, satisfaction with the price of organic vegetables, and the intensity of pest hazard. Moreover, the Linear Regression analysis carried out to explore the determinants of the extent of OVF at farm household level revealed three significantly influencing factors, namely: the amount of organic fertilizers such as farm yard manure and compost produced by farmers themselves, perception of the harmful effect of inorganic pesticides and the length of experience in growing vegetables. Explanations are provided for the role of these factors in the level of adoption and extent of OVF, and broad policy instruments conducive to the promotion of OVF in an effective way, are suggested.