Factors determining farmers’ choice of oil palm production system in Aoluek district, Krabi province

Abstract

      Oil palm farming is an important agriculture in Ao-luek District, Krabi Province. This research was conducted to; 1) describe socio-economic characteristics of farmers and classify oil palm production systems, and 2) investigate factors determining farmers’ choice of oil palm production system in Aoluek district, Krabi province. Data were collected using structured interviews from 150 oil palm farmers. These samples were selected using simple random sampling technique. The data were analyzed using appropriate descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that 61.33% farmers were males with an average age 48.35 years. There are 7 oil palm systems; 1) oil palm-rubber, 2) oil palm, 3) oil palm-vegetables, 4) oil palm-fruits, 5) oil palm-rubbervegetables, 6) oil palm-rubber-fruits, and 7) oil palm-rubber- vegetablesfruits. Factors determining farmers’ choice of oil palm production system were ownership of land, household income, oil palm income, and frequency of trainings on oil palm cultivation.The results are useful to formulate appropriate development of oil palm production for farmers.