Rice Farmers’ Need for Crop Insurance in Nakaosia Subdistrict in Southern Thailand’s Trang Province

Abstract

This research studied (1) the need for rice crop insurance and (2) the independence of farmers’ general information and the need for rice crop insurance in Nakaosia Subdistrict, the primary rice cultivation hub in Trang Province in Southern Thailand. It used a survey questionnaire on the need for rice crop insurance and involved a sample group of 210 farmers growing rice in Nakaosia Subdistrict and holding a farmer’s registration certificate. The crucial results of this study, which applies descriptive and inferential statistics, show that most farmers were women and aged 51+. They mostly cultivated the rice variety ‘Leb Nok’, and their main purpose in growing rice was for it to be consumed by their family, while also selling some, and they had joined government support programmes. Weeds and floods were the main problems they faced. Farmers needed a rice insurance policy with preferably a premium of 20-50 baht per rai because in this way they could share costs of losses, benefit from policy coverage and be protected from unexpected natural events. Moreover, they required a quick service from the relevant organisations. Furthermore, given the relationships between factors, it appears that the general information on farmers could serve as a significant indicator of the need for a rice insurance policy. In summary, the results act as a pointer to how such a policy-backed by both the public authorities and the private sector-could be optimised in future.

Keywords

• farmers
• rice
• crop insurance
• trang
• thailand