Adoption and Performance of 'Clean and Safe' Vegetable Farming Systems in Northern Thailand

Abstract

Concerns about health and environmental hazards in food production have become an important issue for consumers, farmers and governments worldwide. In Thailand, vegetables are grown at various points along the 'clean' continuum based on four different production practices related to the use of synthetic chemicals. Organic farming is applied to technologies with no use of chemicals or synthetic fertilisers during production or processing. Pesticide-free and safe-use practices lie between organic and conventional practices, and are possible steps when converting conventional farms to organic farms. These four main vegetable farming systems have been developed and promoted by government and non-government organisations (NGO) to reduce agrochemical contamination in agricultural products for domestic and export markets. The main purpose of this study is to examine the adoption behaviour and performance of farmers operating under the four different vegetable farming practices. By using farm level data collected from 377 smallholder vegetable farmers in northern Thailand, econometric models were estimated to examine factors affecting the adoption of 'clean and safe' farming system and practices, and farm performance.