Abstract
<p>One of the pillars of Thai Studies is to examine Thai rural society and culture, especially that of small-scale farmers who comprise the majority of rural agriculturalists in Thailand. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the characteristics and challenges of contemporary Thai rural society through elucidating the pursuit and struggles of small-scale family farms toward ‘sustainable agriculture’ in the context of deepening social and environmental challenges associated with modern industrial agriculture. For this objective, an overview is presented with regard to the characteristics of small-scale family agriculture in Thailand, followed by accounts of the contemporary circumstances of integrated farming, organic farming, and public good agricultural practices in which small-scale family farms have been involved.</p>
Highlights
Maruyama (1996) argued that the substratum of Thai culture in the rapidly transforming Thai society lies in rural culture
This paper aims to highlight the characteristics and challenges of contemporary Thai rural society through elucidating quests and struggles of small-scale family farms who intend to find a way out to sustainable agriculture
The rest of the paper is devoted to an overview of small-scale family agriculture in Thailand, quests and struggles of small-scale family farms toward sustainable agriculture as it relates to integrated farming, organic farming and good agricultural practices, closed with conclusions
Summary
Maruyama (1996) argued that the substratum of Thai culture in the rapidly transforming Thai society lies in rural culture. In the context of deepening social and environmental problems associated with modern industrial agriculture, small-scale farmers began to adopt alternative agriculture from the early 1980s, supported by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), consumers, and environmentalists for its diffusion in rural areas and the establishment of specialty markets in urban areas (Kan’no, 2008). With this development of agroecological movement and the rise of a notion of agriculture called “New Theory” proposed by the highly respected King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) in 1993 (Suksuri et al, 2008), the government began to actively promote policies for ‘sustainable agriculture’ from the late 1990s (Amekawa, 2010). The rest of the paper is devoted to an overview of small-scale family agriculture in Thailand, quests and struggles of small-scale family farms toward sustainable agriculture as it relates to integrated farming, organic farming and good agricultural practices, closed with conclusions
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