Detecting Trajectories in Rubber Farms in Southern Thailand
Chaiya Kongmanee1, Ferdoushi Ahmed2
1Chaiya Kongmanee, Faculty of Economics, Prince of Songkla University PSU, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand.
2Ferdoushi Ahmed, Faculty of Economics, Prince of Songkla University PSU, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand.
Manuscript received on 29 June 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 11 July 2019 | Manuscript Published on 17 July 2019 | PP: 633-642 | Volume-8 Issue-2S July 2019 | Retrieval Number: B10950782S19/2019©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: For the past 30 years, Thailand experienced important changes in the agricultural sector. This study aims to identify rubber farm trajectories and analyze consequences of the trajectories in southern Thailand. A household survey was carried out in four representative villages in Southern Thailand to collect the data for the period of 1990 to 2010. Purposive sampling method was employed to select the samples. The core sample size for the study was 220 rubber farmers. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) were carried out to analyze the data. The findings revealed six significant farm trajectories. Two farm trajectories showed a decline in landholding or hired labor, namely farms with high structural change ๖(10.5%) and declining very size small farms (25%). In contrast, three farm trajectories showed expansion, which included growing medium family farm enterprise (14.5%), growing large family farm enterprise (4.1%) and towards patronal enterprise (7.7%). One trajectory showed a stability with no change in farm size and labor structure (38.2%). However, these are small farms and provide a notion of risk to follow the trajectories of farm decline. The study findings might be helpful for policy and decision makers to reconsider the current policies and design policies with a wider approach for small farms and family farms.
Keywords: Trajectory, Rubber Farm, Farm Size, Principal Component Analysis, Agricultural Sector, Thailand.
Scope of the Article: Social Sciences