Contribution of Sustainability Rice Cultivation Practice for Farmers according to SRP Standard: A Case Study of Ubon Ratchathani Province, THAILAND

Abstract

Sustainable rice cultivation is the goal of agricultural development in Thailand. With that in mind, the Thai rice department started the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) in Ubon Ratchathani Province, one of the most important jasmine rice production areas of Thailand. Previous studies have shown that most of the paddy fields were in the essential level or "working towards sustainable rice cultivation", the intermediate level of sustainability, while non-paddy fields achieved an overall Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) score that allowed them to claim to be sustainable rice farms. The purpose of this study was to identify the significant factors that affected sustainability in the group of practices called "SRP theme" and the constraints of rice cultivation development. The study was conducted on 85 farmers in Det Udom district, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand. Questionnaires and in-depth interviews were collected. The results showed that farm size had a significant effect on the Pre-planting theme (a group of pre-plating activities), water management and nutrient management for the SRP score; a larger farm can lead to higher scores. The integrated farming system had a significant effect on farm management, harvest and post- harvest theme. Paddy fields that used the integrated farming system accomplished higher scores. The certified rice program had a highly significant effect on farm management, pre- planting, harvest, and post-harvest theme, including the health and safety theme. Moreover, certified rice programs for farmers (Organic, Good Agricultural Practice - GAP and Sustainable Rice Platform- SRP farmers) enabled higher sustainability rice cultivation scores.