<資料・研究ノート>稲作経営における農業の技術・経済的知識の普及 : メコン・デルタとチャオプラヤ河, ピン河流域における比較調査

Abstract

This is a report on the knowledge situation of rice-producing farmers. The study is a continuous pilot work related to my past research in Java which has been reported in South East Asian Studies, Vol.12, No.4, March, 1975. Pong-dinh Province in Mekong Delta, Ayutthaya in the Chao Phraya area, and Chiang Mai in the River Ping area were selected for the survey conducted in July and August, 1974. For each district, 30 to 40 farms in one or two villages (Tambon in Thailand) were sampled. Phong-dinh is located near Can-tho (120km southwest of Saigon) in the Mekong Delta, where rice is produced by the typical type of land use. Some farmers cultivate high-yielding varieties of rice twice in the rainy season. The village selected is situated on the Basac River. Ayutthaya is located 90km north of Bangkok. The village for the survey is situated along the river and the farms are scattered on the natural levee or on the banks of canals. This region is fairly fertile and the productivity of rice is high. Rice is the main crop and can be cultivated once a year. Cash crops such as corn, sweet corn, and bananas are produced to some extent. Chiang Mai is 750km north of Bangkok. Cash crops such as soybeans, tobacco, garlic, peanuts, and Chinese cabbages are cultivated after rice in the wet season. Diversification has been a principal concern for the farmers in the region. The objectives of the study were to review the major problems and necessary information in farm management. The main types and sources of information upon which farmers depend were examined. Farmers had strong demands for several types of information which, they believe, will solve their problems. The common problems which farmers pointed out in the three regions surveyed were irrigation, drainage, and natural disasters. Farmers were principally interested in controls of water and crop diseases. The most-sought information on farming techniques concerned methods of cultivation, fertilizer-use, chemical-use, weed control, etc. Sources of information relyed on were the neighbors (including relatives), past experience, and the observed experience of others. Information on natural disasters was also often available from neighbors. For economic information, the most important source was also neighbors. Merchants, dealers, salesmen and buyers were the next most important sources in Phong-dinh and Ayutthaya. For institutional information, local administrative organizations played important roles. In their attitudes to new varieties of rice, the farmers in Ayutthaya reacted most positively. Farmers in the other districts showed fairly conservative attitudes. The results of adoption of new varieties differed among the regions because of differences in the farming conditions. However, the farmers' opinions indicated the great possible contribution of the improved seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, and cultivation methods to high productivity. In Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai, improvements in water supply and farming conditions (irrigation, drainage, land consolidation and so forth) seemed to result in significantly higher productivity of rice.