Factors Influencing the Adoption of Good Agricultural Practices and Export Decision of Thailand’s Vegetable Farmers

Pheesphan Laosutsan,Ganesh P Shivakoti,Peeyush Soni

doi:10.5334/ijc.895

Abstract

This research identified and investigated the factors influencing the adoption of good agricultural practices (GAP) and the decision making of small-scale asparagus and sweet corn farmers in Thailand to produce for export. In the study, a total of 147 vegetable farming households (66 and 81 asparagus and sweet corn growers, respectively) were randomly selected from areas with intensive vegetable cultivation. The binary logistic regression was used to analyze the information collected from this survey. The results revealed that the income variable is the most influential factor in the GAP adoption by participating vegetable farmers and that the location factor exerts the most influence over the growers’ export decision. Also, it is felt that to effectively increase the GAP adoption rate among the Thai vegetable growers, the exporters and relevant government agencies could make GAP certification compulsory.

Highlights

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organization of 10 Southeast Asian countries
The sweet corn harvests undergo processing prior to export and no good agricultural practices (GAP) certification is required of the corn farmers
Amidst the free trade negotiations and agreements to lower tariffs and remove trade barriers, an increasing number of countries have resorted to non-tariff barriers (NTB) as the entry-barrier strategy to protect the domestic industry, e.g., import volume restriction, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements

Summary

Introduction

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organization of 10 Southeast Asian countries. Notwithstanding, one major obstacle to the success of vibrant intra-ASEAN agricultural trade is the imposition of non-tariff barriers (NTB) to protect their respective domestic industries, e.g., the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS), global good agricultural practices (GAP), corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures. In Thailand, the issue of food safety and quality has been better received and implemented in the food production and marketing sectors. This follows a series of news reports about contaminated food exports from Thailand; for instance, Thai chilli was banned by European countries due to pesticide contamination (Ariesen, 2011). Given the 1997 Asian economic crisis and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development’s Agenda 21, the Thai government has increasingly committed to sustainable agricultural development (Amekawa, 2013)

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Results

Conclusion