Organic Fertilizer Use in Northeastern Thailand: An Analysis of Some Factors Affecting Farmers' Attitudes

The transition to environmentally friendly farming practices and products has recently become popular among farmers and consumers throughout the world. Organic farming using natural fertilizers has gained acceptance albeit slowly in many developing countries due to some socio-economic constraints. This study therefore investigated the opinions and attitudes of jasmine rice farmers in Surin province, northeastern Thailand towards the use of organic fertilizers in their farms. Information was collected from 100 rice farmers whose socio-economic profiles and attitudes were determined through interviews and the use of the Likert's scale, respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) statistics was employed to correlate the two variables. Among the variables measured, age of farmers, educational attainment, and degree of extension worker contact were found to be strongly correlated with positive attitudes towards the use of organic fertilizers at the 5% level. It can be concluded that adoption of organic farming practices among the respondents is closely associated with the availability and access to information about organic fertilizers as well as farmers' perceived maturity with age. For the promotion of organic fertilizer use, there must be a more intensive information campaign using all available possible means.