An Extension Guideline of Rice Production in Accordance with Good Agricultural Practice Standard for Farmers in Bang Rakam District of Phitsanulok Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study 1) personal and socio-economic situations of farmers, 2) rice farming situations and problems of farmers, 3) knowledge source and practice of rice production in accordance with Good Agricultural Practice Standard (GAP) by farmers, 4) farmers’ needs in an extension of rice production in accordance with GAP, and 5) an extension guideline of rice production in accordance with GAP.The research was done by survey method. The research population was 10,653 farmers in Bang Rakam District of Phitsanulok Province who registers with Department of Agricultural Extension in production year of 2023/2024. The samples were selected by simple random sampling and calculated by using Taro Yamane’s formula with an error level of 0.07 accounting for 200 farmers. The data were collected by a structural interview and analyzed to determine frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values. SWOT analysis was also applied.The research findings showed that 1) farmers had an average age of 48.96 years and finished primary education. Farmer and general labor were major and supplement occupations. They had average two farm labors to work in 29.03 rai of rice farming area. 2) Their rice farms were on lowland, using water from artesian wells, broadcasting rice planting method, chemical fertilizers, commercial seeds, and chemical pesticides. The rice production with an average of 754.60 kilograms per rai was sold via middleman. The rice production problems, in general, were stated at moderate level while some of them were indicated at high level such as water source and seeds. 3) As a whole, most of them had never received knowledge of GAP rice from any media, however, they performed in accordance with most aspects regularly, such as water source, planting area, using agricultural hazardous substance, quality production process management, harvest and postharvest methods, transportation, storage, and produce collection. 4) They indicated their needs at high level in the knowledge of water source, quality production process, planting area, and application of agricultural hazardous substance, while their needs in agricultural extension method were stated at moderate level. Furthermore 5) an extension guideline of GAP rice production included cost reduction by recording data of all stages, quality rice seeds production, alternate wetting and drying rice planting method, integrated pest management, and young farmer development.