การยอมรับและการเปลี่ยนพฤติกรรมการใช้ปุ๋ยอินทรีย์ของเกษตรกรผู้ปลูกส้ม ตำบลแม่งอน อำเภอฝาง จังหวัดเชียงใหม่

Abstract

The purposes of this study on acceptance and behavioral changes for application of organic fertilizers among the orange growers in Mae Ngon Sub-district, Fang District, Chiang Mai Province were 1) to study the relationship between knowledge and understanding on organic fertilizers and acceptance of application of organic fertilizers among the orange growers in Mae Ngon Sub-district, and 2) to study personal factors affecting acceptance and behavioral changes of those orange growers. The sampling groups were orange growers in Mae Ngon Sub-district and relevant people in promoting application of organic fertilizers. In this study, data were collected by questionnaires, interviews, note-takings from non-participatory observation in collecting the data, and data records of local offices, including other printed documents. The statistics applied for analyzing general information of farmers were descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum. Hypothesis testing was conducted by correlation analysis and analysis of variance. The study revealed that orange growers possessed knowledge and understanding of organic fertilizers at a high level. However, their knowledge and understanding on the amount of organic fertilizer usage to comply with the soil fertility was at a low level. Hypothesis testing found that knowledge and understanding had no relationship with the amount of organic fertilizer application among the orange growers.

The study on personal factors affecting acceptance and behavioral changes for organic fertilizer application of orange growers in Mae Ngon Sub-district discovered that there was a relationship between personal factors such as age, education, revenue, and experience of organic fertilizer usage, including attitudes toward organic fertilizers, and the amount of organic fertilizer usage with a statistically significant result at 0.05. In this regard, old farmers used more organic fertilizers than young farmers and farmers with high revenues, high education, more experience of using organic fertilizers, and good attitudes toward organic fertilizers were more likely to use the organic fertilizers. Therefore, differences of personal factors affected acceptance and application of organic fertilizers among the farmers in a different way. With regard to attitudes toward the organic fertilizers, the benefit of organic fertilizers for improving physical properties of soil was rated the highest level whereas an increase of weeds as a result of organic fertilizer usage was at the lowest level. In terms of experience of using organic fertilizers, the factor affecting the decision to use organic fertilizers of farmers at the highest level was to minimize the production costs. Other factors which included materials for organic fertilizer production, policy and support of government, and market demands showed statistical significance of relationship at 0.05. For the materials for organic fertilizer production, it was found that preparation of materials for organic fertilizer production in several steps affected the decision at a high level whereas high cost of materials for organic fertilizer production was at the lowest level. With respect to the policy and support of government, the factor affecting the decision to use organic fertilizers of farmers at the highest level was the royal guidance on sufficiency economy in agriculture and the factor affecting the decision at a low level was farmer financing. Regarding the market demand, the factor affecting the decision to use the organic fertilizers of farmers at the highest level was a demand of consumers in favor of pesticide-free products and the factor at the lowest level was a demand of consumers in favor of pesticide-free products.