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โครงการหนังสืออิเล็กทรอนิกส์ด้านการเกษตร เฉลิมพระเกียรติพระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว

that farmers can decide whether to participate. The farmers need to understand the benefits and
the risks related to participation, as farmers need to invest in standard barn building and rice
drying, which take many years to pay back. If there is no certainty in government policy, the
farmers would be reluctant to take risks associated with it.
1.2) Small-scale farmers, which are the majority of rice farmers, barely gain benefits
from the barn-pledging scheme, but their quality of Jasmine rice is higher than that of the large-
scale farmers. Organic rice production provides much more revenue than plain Jasmine rice, so
policy should focus on encouraging organic rice production in order to help farmer groups who
did not gain any benefits from the barn-pledging scheme and boosts the quality of Thai Jasmine
rice yields, as well.

1.3) Even with a higher rice sale price, the costs, expenses, and completed conditions,
including risks, may nonetheless lead farmers to decide not to participate in the project. The
government should take these issues into account; otherwise, this project will only attract a
small number of participating farmers.

1.4) The labor required influences decisions related to rice storage and the
participation in the barn-pledging scheme. This effect is due to the dehumidifying process and
rice storage logistics which require household labor. Hired laborers are rare and expensive, so the
development of demoisturization technology used in the rice-drying process would help small-
scale farmers maintain product quality.

1.5) The improvement of rice storage barns is important and relates to the barn-
pledging scheme. Therefore, the government should issue policies to support and improve
farmers’ barns. The barn improvements should prioritize barn types that conform to their specific
purpose in order to preserve rice quality.

1.6) Although the specific piling storage method was effective for evaluation and
examination of the rice in the project, this method is appropriate only for tin-barns in terms of
rice quality preservation. For wooden barns and house-kept storage, Jasmine rice stored in used
livestock feed sacks or used sugar sacks would preserve the quality of the fragrance as well as
contribute to improved milling. Piling storage also has higher incremental costs than other storage
methods. Therefore, rice storage specifications in the project should take the quality and
incremental cost factors into account as well.

2) Recommendations for rice quality management.
2.1) The quality of organic Jasmine rice, especially the fragrances and head rice
percentage, is much higher than conventional Jasmine rice. Thus, the organic Jasmine rice
production should be focused on maintaining access to the quality rice market. The revenue
from organic Jasmine rice is growing more than conventional Jasmine rice because of the higher
price. Therefore, growing organic rice is a promising option for smaller farmers who need to
increase their household income.

2.2) Although large-scale farmers are able to access sophisticated technology and
rice production machinery more than small-scale farmers, the quality of Jasmine rice yields from
their crops are lower than small-scale farmers. Therefore, the quality impacts of machinery
development replacing human labor in rice production should be a concern to policymakers.

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