Thailands smart agriculture and its impacts on Thai farmers a case study of smart agriculture in Ayutthaya Province

Abstract

Smart agriculture driven by technologies is one of the agriculture strategies under the 20-year Thailand’s national strategy, laid out in 2018, on competitive enhancement strategy which has been developed to achieve value-added agriculture and improve Thai agriculture to meet the global demand and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). This study examines Thai agricultural sector’s problems by using agriculture sector in Ayutthaya Province as a case study. The study also examines the implementation of the smart agriculture in Ayutthaya Province by focusing on its advantages and disadvantages and offers appropriate solutions for greater development. The data were collected using semistructure interviews with 18 key informants who have relevant experience in the area of agriculture and smart agriculture technologies. The results of the interviews illustrated the current situation of the agricultural sector such as the problems of irrigation system management, high production cost, and a decline in the agricultural commodity prices. The results also indicated advantages and disadvantages of the smart agriculture used to develop Thai agricultural sector. The smart agriculture can help reduce the production costs, increase productivity in terms of quantity and quality, and help reduce the use of labor. However, some groups of farmers, especially the elderly, deny using the smart agriculture as it is costly, and they do not have sufficient background knowledge about technologies. The research also gives proper recommendations for improving the agricultural sector such as promoting and providing knowledge and training skills about smart agriculture to both farmers and the officers, preparing better access to loans for farmers and group of service providers, and adjusting government’s annual budget ceiling