COSTS, RETURNS, AND HOUSEHOLD COMMERCIALIZATION INDEX OF CERTIFIED ORGANIC RICE IN THAILAND

Abstract

The objectives of this survey research are to study costs, returns, and Household Commercialization Index (HCI) of organic rice in Thailand. Out of 1,210 farmers in organic agriculture households that were certified by Rice Inspection and Certification Division, Rice Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, a sample of 250 farmers was conducted under multi-stage stratified random sampling plan. It was found that the average cost of production of Thai organic rice farmer was 16,280.38 Baht per rai, which could be categorized to the average cash cost, which was 8,027.38 Baht per rai (49.31% of the total costs), and the average non-cash cost, which was 8,253.00 Baht per rai (50.69% of the total costs). For the production return, harvested paddy amount was 7,350.20 kg per year, average output was 517.62 kg per rai and the average amount of paddy for sale (after keeping for future cultivation and their own consumption) was
5,555.29 kg per year. For the total revenue from sales of organic rice, the average total revenue was 13,261.42 Baht per rai, the average net revenue over cash variable cost was 2.22 Baht per rai, the average net revenue over total variable cost was 1.23 Baht per rai. However, considering the net profit or net revenue, farmers encountered the loss (-3,021.91 Baht per rai in average) and low benefit-cost ratio (BCR 0.81). On the other hand, the HCI was 75.58%, which could be considered that organic rice trading in a household was high.
considered that organic rice trading in a household was high.