ความรู้และการปฏิบัติของผู้ปลูกผักอินทรีย์ในการใช้สมุนไพรควบคุมแมลงศัตรูพืชในนครหลวงเวียงจันทน์ สาธารณรัฐประชาธิปไตยประชาชนลาว

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to explore the personal characteristics, economic factors, social factor and some organic vegetable growing condition factors of organic vegetable growers in Vientiane Capital, Lao People's Democratic Republic 2) to study the factors related to knowledge and practices of organic vegetable growers in uses of medicinal herb to control insect pest, in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. and 3) to study the problems, needs and recommendations for promoting the use of medicinal herbs for pest control of organic vegetable growers in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. The population used in this research was 201 organic vegetable growers in 6 districts in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. The sample size was calculated using Taro Yamane's computational formula at an error level of 0.05 and a sample size of 134 people was obtained. Data was collected by using an interview form with a confidence level of 0.74. The data was collected between October to December 2021. The statistics used to analyze the data consisted of the descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, maximum, minimum, and standard deviation. The reference statistics used, was the multiple regression analysis with stepwise method. The results showed that most of organic vegetable growers were males with an average age of 46.7 years old. Most of them graduated the High school level 3 (Mathayomsuksa 3), with average household members of 5.3 people, average household labor of 2.6 people, and average number of vegetables growing laborers of 1.63 people. In 2020, the organic vegetable growers had average expenses for growing organic vegetables at 41,864.82 Baht, and net income from growing organic vegetables averaged 114,771.73 Baht. All growers used their own financial capital to invest in growing organic vegetables. Most of them had no debt and had not contacted with the agricultural extension officials about the uses of medicinal herbs to control insect pest, but most of them had received information about the uses of medicinal herbs to control insect pest through the channels of farmer friends and the internet. In terms of growing organic vegetables, they had an average of 6.25 years of planting experience. In the first growing cycle (May to June), the first 5 organic vegetables grown were cantonese cabbage, coriander, chinese leaf, lettuce and spring onions, while the second growing cycle (July to August), the first 5 organic vegetables grown were coriander, morning glory, spring onions, lettuce and spinach. The third growing cycle (September to October), the first 5 organic vegetables grown were lettuce, coriander, kale, cantonese cabbage and spinach and in the fourth growing cycle (November to December), the first 5 vegetables grown were cabbage, cucumber, broccoli, cantonese cabbage and crown daisy. In 2020, the growers had an average area in growing organic vegetables of 4.23 rai and an average organic vegetable yield of 3,154.13 kg. Most of the growers had the moderate knowledge of using the medicinal herb to control insect pest and had the moderate level of practices in using the medicinal herb to control insect pest. The result of the hypothesis testing found that the gender of the growers statistically significant correlated at the 0.05 level, and the farmer's experience of growing organic vegetables statistically significant correlated at the 0.01 level with the knowledge of using the medicinal herb to control insect pest of organic vegetable growers in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. While the farmer's education level was statistically significant correlated at the 0.05 level and the experience of growing organic vegetables was statistically significant correlated at the 0.01 level with the practices of using the medicinal herbs to control insect pest of organic vegetable growers in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. The research also found that most of growers suffered from a problem of lacking knowledge in using medicinal herbs, a problem of lacking knowledge in extracting the herbs, a problem of scarcity in the cost of using herbs and a problem of shortage of herb sources, a problem about the original knowledge of herb using was inconsistent with the changing of eras and events, a problem of the shortage of knowledge distribution channels on the use of the medicinal herbs, and a problem of lacking the content, knowledge and practical methods of using herbs to control insect pests in organic vegetable cultivation which were easy to understand, respectively. However, most growers needed knowledge and technical techniques in using herbs for modern organic cultivation, quality vegetable seeds that were resistant to pests, a group or a network of cooperation in the field of herbs to prevent pests or to support the procurement of herbs and joining together to cooperate in the production and supply of herbs and to promote the distribution channels of organic vegetables to be more famous. The organic vegetable growers suggested to promote the use of medicinal herbs in organic vegetable growing by organizing trainings on the use of herbs and by encouraging organic vegetable growers to create media and clips on the use of herbs to share and disseminate their knowledge and good practices. They also suggested to promote the establishment of an organic farmer fund and the cooperation network on herbal pest control and to support the use of local herbs as much as possible. Therefore, the relevant agencies in the area should provide trainings on the knowledge and use of medicinal herbs, in terms of promoting knowledge and practices for organic vegetable growers, including new knowledge in the current era that corresponded to changes in plant diseases and pests. The agricultural extension officers should encourage organic vegetable growers to produce media and clips about the use of medicinal herbs to prevent pests in organic vegetable growing and should encourage growers to share and disseminate the knowledge clips on the social media. The officers should encourage organic vegetable growers to establish an organic farmer fund and a group or a network of collaboration about promoting cooperation and procurement of herbs. In addition, the relavant agencies should encourage organic vegetable growers to use the available local medicinal herbs to prevent pests as much as possible.