Guideline on promotion to product organic rices for stability in Pragnamdang Community, Amphawa Samut Songkhram

Abstract

The purposes of this research were 1) to study organic rice production of Praknamdaeng Community, Amphawa, Samutsongkhram, 2) to investigate explicit knowledge of organic rice plantation in Praknamdaeng Community, and 3) to discover guidelines on promotion to grow organic rice for food security of Praknamdaeng Community. The population groups were agricultural government officials and Praknamdaeng’s farmers. The research tool was interview, analyzed by content analysis. The results revealed as follows: 1) According to organic rice production of Praknamdaeng Community, there were 288 hectares (1,800 rais in Thai) rice-growing areas and 90 farmers’ families in villages 2, 3, 4 and 6. The land was full of clay, not flooded and in the downstream irrigation area. The weather was humid because it was near the sea. There were many different types of rice varieties grown in Praknamdaeng Community namely; Khao Leuang Patew Chumphon, Pathumthani fragrant rice, RD 31, Suphan Buri 1, RD 59, RD 47, Sangyod Maung Phatthalung rice, Aromatic Black (Hom–nin) rice and Riceberry rice. Rice farming process was mostly taught by villages’ ancestors or experts through learning by doing and working together. The problem of traditional rice growing was soil degradation. The organic rice cultivation in Praknamdaeng Community began in 2005. Khao Leuang Patew Chumphon, the loca rice was highly grown. Nowadays, 70 percentage of the land was full of GAP organic rice production. The biggest problem for the farmers in the community was drought. 2) As for the appropriate knowledge of organic rice production in Praknamdaeng Community, the rice farming processes between traditional and organic rice growing were not different. In the case of organic rice production, bio-chemicals were used as herbicides and pesticides but the amount of chemical substances was reduced and only used in a short period for safe. 3) Due to guidelines on promotion to grow organic rice for food security of Praknamdaeng Community, there were some guidelines for the 2 groups: farmers and community. The guidelines for the farmers were 1) the pursuit of knowledge or transfer of knowledge to the farmers 2) establishing the learning center of organic rice production in the community by chemical-free cultivation 3) providing organic rice paddy demonstration plot for learning 4) preparing the local people to understand and be volunteers for organic rice cultivation 5) developing farmer organization and 6) promoting comprehensive marketing. The guidelines for the community were 1) in the aspect of the quality of life, organic rice consumption has to be promoted for the local people and for food security in the future 2) in the aspect of promotion of farmer career, organic rice products can be more value-added, make pride and more money for the community 3) systematic community enterprise management 4) support for the networks of producers, food processing and distribution of organic rice among other communities and provinces. In the aspect of food security, the farmers firstly focus on farmer career stability because they consider it as one of the important careers to produce food to the society. Moreover, standard qualified products and suitable demand and supply are included.