Wilawan Padpai. The way of life of the water chesnut farmers in wangyang subdistrict, Sri Prachan district, Suphanburi province . Master's Degree(Rural Development Studies). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2004.
The way of life of the water chesnut farmers in wangyang subdistrict, Sri Prachan district, Suphanburi province
Abstract:
This research has 4 main objectives: 1) to study water chesnut farmers’ way
of life; 2) to study factors in water chesnut farmers’ way of life; 3) to study limitations
and opportunities in water chesnut farmer’s way of life; and 4) to study guidelines for
promoting and solving problems of water chesnut farmers. The study was conducted
by a form of qualitative research.
The study found four water chestnut farmers’ ways of life categories: 1)
ways of life that must be adjusted to the environment and in which learning to utilize
existing resources for economic value need to be learned; 2) ways of life in which the
water chestnut determines social and cultural behavior; 3) ways of life that depend on
the marketing system; and 4) ways of life in a technologically advanced agricultural
system.
Conditions and factors affecting ways of life of water chesnut farmers are:
farming land and environment, labor, technology, governmental policies, marketing
mechanics, and capital and farmers’ groups. Opportunities in the lives of water
chesnut farmers are: possessing farming areas that are suitable for growing the water
chestnuts; water chestnuts yielding high returns can be kept for price speculation for 1
year; most water chestnut farmers are ready to receive new innovations and they are
always supported by the government. Limitations in the lives of water chesnut farmers
are that resources and environment are deteriorating and as a result, farmers’
production costs climb higher so farmers face high risks of loss. The water chestnut is
also affected by consumers’ confidence that there are many chemical residues in water
chestnut bulbs. Directions of supporting and solving problems are: farmers’groups
should be encouraged; the government should permit water chestnut prices to be
guaranteed, giving opportunities for more water chestnut merchants; the government
should stipulate strict and careful measures to examine water chestnuts and punish
careless water chestnut producers; government should support water chestnut farmers
to become self sufficient farmers, and decrease chemical use so that farmers have
lower production costs.
Suggestions: ways of life of the water chestnut farmers in other aspects or
ways of life of laborers should be studied.