Guidelines for Developing Farmers Leading to Organic Agriculture System of the Housewife Community Enterprise Group in Ban Kokko, Maekasa Sub-District, Mae Sot District, Tak Province

Abstract

            The recent trend in agriculture had been a rise in organic agriculture, leading the housewife group or community enterprise, in Ban Kokko, Maekasa sub-district,   Mae Sot District, Tak Province, to join the trend.This research had the objectives to study the condition of the organic farmers and farms and suggest how to prepare the farmers for organic agriculture. The study’s target group was 18 of the enterprise’s members which were 15 farm housewives and 3 representatives from relevant agencies. In this study, data were collected through questionnaires and focus groups discussion of the three representatives from agencies. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, and qualitative analysis.

            The research’s results showed that most members of the farm housewives group were rice farmers. They had expertise and experience with growing rice and were also trained in organic farming. Thus, these farm housewives were equipped with the knowledge of organic crop production. The problem was the lack of distribution channels for their organic crops. Their need was that they wanted to learn more techniques for growing plants and more agricultural product processing technologies. To prepare the farmers for organic agriculture, they needed direct support for education in organic farming, to meet the requirements of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), with the distribution channels, and for low-interest financing. They also needed indirect support which was coordination and integration among relevant agencies for their organic farming.