Nipon Poapongsakorn, Thailand Development Research Institute
Presented at the ReSAKSS-Asia conference “Agriculture and Rural Transformation in Asia: Past Experiences and Future Opportunities”. An international conference jointly organized by ReSAKSS-Asia, IFPRI, TDRI, and TVSEP project of Leibniz Universit Hannover with support from USAID and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand December 12–14, 2017.
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Transformation of the Thai agriculture in the last three decades
1. Transformation of the Thai agriculture in the
last three decades*
Nipon Poapongsakorn
Thailand Development Research Institute
“Agriculture and Rural Transformation in Asia : Past Experiences
and Future Opportunities” A regional conference organized by
RESAKSS-Asia, RESAKSS-Asia, IFPRI,TDRI and TVSEP Project of
Leibniz University Hannover, Bangkok.
12-14 December 2017
1
*Adapted from Ammar Siamwalla and Nipon Poapongsakorn,
“Transformation of the Thai rice economy in the last two decades”, the Thai
Studies International Conference. Chiangmai. 16 July 2017
2. Summary
The presentation describes the major structural
transformation of Thai agriculture, including an
emergence of modern food value chain in the last
three decades using the historical approach
• The transformation is induced by industrialization, export
market opportunities, import pressure for safe food,
increasing per capita income, government policies and
institutional change
The evaluation of long-term agricultural development
focuses on the sources of competitiveness of Thai
agriculture, using the trade theory of economies of
scale and clusters which is mostly neglected by
agricultural economists.
Both internal and external challenges facing Thai
agriculture are identified, with some policy
implications focusing on boosting agricultural
productivity for smallholders, accelerate agricultural
growth, and reducing income inequality.
2
3. Topic of discussion
1. Preliminaries
2. Narrative history I
3. Narrative history II
4. Evaluation of the long-term development
5. Challenges to the future of Thai agriculture
3
4. 1. Preliminaries
Some Historically Unique Features of Thailand (relative to other
countries of Monsoon Asia)
• Favorable man/land ratio due to remaining forest between 1960s and
early 1980s, yet most private lands did not have title deeds (see
Appendix 1)
• Population growth resulted in agricultural land expansion through forest
clearance in the 1960s-1970s;
• Relatively poor water resources; hence lower ratio of irrigated to total
land area;
• No policy urgency to provision the cities, except the rice premium
(export tax)
Hence not suited to ‘classical’ Green Revolution in the 1970s and 1980s,
also because that phase of Green Revolution did not pay attention to
rice quality which is a major concern for the Thai rice market
Unlike other Asian countries, Thai governments have always adopted
the laissez faire policy and invested heavily in rural infrastructure since
the late 1950s
• Rural road network, dams, rural electrification, rural schools and agricultural credit
bank, ports and logistics, etc.
Therefore Thailand became regular exporter, and eventually the
world major exporter of rice, rubber, cassava, shrimp, canned
pineapple, etc. (Fig. 1-a and 1-b)
5. 2. Narrative History I: 1986-1998
Agriculture as a sunset industry because of
several difficulties, particularly depressed world
rice price in the 1980s, and loss of traditional
comparative advantage (caused by Dutch
disease) in the 1990s
• The government was forced to cease its traditional
rice export taxing policy which had adverse impact on
rural-urban income disparity (Ammar and Suthad
1996).
• Since then, Thai trade policy has been neutral (Warr).
• Abolition of the fixed exchange rate in 1998 restored
agricultural competitiveness
6. 2. Narrative History I: 1986-1998 (cont.)
Structural Transformation: The industrial boom
in the late 198os caused an exodus of one
generation of young rural workers resulted in
labor scarcity.
• Fig. 3: Agricultural workers by age groups
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Millions
15-24 Years old 25-34 Years old 35-44 Years old
45-54 Years old >54 Years old
crisis >54
45-54
35-44
25-34
15-24
Source: LFS, NSO.
7. 2. Narrative History I (cont.)
Structural Transformation (con.)
• Emergence of labor scarcity leading
to early mechanization (in land
preparation); and later supplemented
by other labor-saving machineries
and agricultural practices (Fig. 3);
Mechanization is possible for small
farms, thanks to the active market for
hired farm machinery services
Fee for hiring combine harvester has
remained constant for 10 years.
9. 2. Narrative History I (cont.)
Other structural transformation
• Thai government began to do research and
release new rice varieties based on quality
This establishes Thailand as a quality rice producer
(Fig. 5 - Thai rice price is higher than Vietnam).
• The emergence of contract farming, started in
the mid 1970s by agribusiness firms in poultry,
tomato and sugar cane, thanks to the adoption
of contractual institutional arrangements for
poultry & tomato from the US companies
Number of contract farms quickly surged during the 1980s
and 1990s, thanks to the competition among contractors
and almost no government intervention
10. 3. Narrative History II: winds of
change between 2000-2016
Structural change stalled in the 2000s
due to slower economic growth (Fig. 7-a)
• After 1997, migration of workers to
industrial employment slowed down,
coinciding with a slowdown in labor supply
stemming from a decline in fertility starting
in 1975. (Fig 7-B).
• Migration slightly reversed in the early
2010s.
11. Figure 7-a: Stall structural
change after 2008
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Millions
15-24 Years old 25-34 Years old
35-44 Years old 45-54 Years old
>54 Years old
Source: LFS, NSO.
>54
45-54
35-44
25-34
15-24
crisis
Slow-down migrants
Fig. 7-B: Migration
12. 3. Narrative History II: winds of change
between 2000-2016
The economic stagnation following the 1997 crisis led to a
policy shift towards favoring high paddy prices for farmers,
culminating in the great paddy pledging fiasco of 2013-2015
(Fig. 5);
Such interventions are different from previous
interventions which are mostly at the border: governments
became active traders, holding and then releasing large
stocks of rice, and having impact on movements of
international rice price (Fig. 5).
Government trading means decline in rice quality and rice
export, huge fiscal loss (USD18.4 billion in 2.5 years) and
corruption (particularly in the government rice sale-
estimated at USD 3 billion) (Nipon and Kamphol 2016).
After the military coup in May 2014, the price mechanism
has returned to guide agricultural resource allocation.
14. 3. Narrative History II (cont.)
Yet the 2000-2016 period was also a period of
institutional transformation in food value
chain
• The demand for safe food imports by the EU and
USA put pressure on the Thai exporters and government
to jointly introduce new institution of safe food standards
and traceability
• Dietary change and demand for safe food as a result
of rising middle class
• The rise of foreign supermarket in the late 1990s and
the organic farmer groups
Supermarkets use the central procurement system to
impose food standards and stable supply price
Farmer groups producing organic products, thanks to
IFOAM, OXFAM’s fair trade practices and NGOs (Figure 9).
15. Fig. 7: A declining share of households’ food
expenditure
Source: NSO, SES.
1400
2782
6350
8502
726.7
1301.72
3041.12
3878.92
51.9%
46.8%
47.9%
45.6%
42%
43%
44%
45%
46%
47%
48%
49%
50%
51%
52%
53%
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
1990 2000 2011 2015
Household total and food
expenditures (Baht/m)
ค่าใช้จ่ายรวม ค่าใช้จ่ายด้านอาหาร สัดส่วนค่าอาหาร
Total expenses
Food expense
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Fig. 7-b: Dietary changes
in Thailand
meals
eaten away
from home
prepared
meals
taken
home
fruits and
vegtables
17. Figure 9-a: Certified organic farm areas
Source: Earth Net Foundation, Green Net 2015.
0.00%
0.20%
0.40%
0.60%
0.80%
1.00%
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
Ha
Organic area Share of rice planted area in major crop
18. 4. Evaluation of long-term development and
structural change
Competitiveness and revealed comparative
advantage
Sources of competitiveness and trade
theories
18
19. 4.1 Competitiveness and revealed
comparative advantage index
Thailand moved from 24th largest exporter of
agricultural and food products in the 1960’s to 15th
largest in the mid 2010s (Fig. 12)
Major exports : rice, rubber products, cassava
products and modified starch, canned pineapple,
sugar, breast chicken and further products,
shrimp, feeds, fruits, etc.
RCA of 989 products (6 HS digits) (Fig. 13)
• 26 rising stars (RCA > 1 and increasing) : swine
breeders, honey, cereals, duck meal, apple juice, stc
• 156 hot list : rice, tuna, shrimp. Cassava flour, canned
pineapple, animal feed
• 56 drop out : sausage, fresh and chilled fish, melon
seeds
• 750 items with no/negligible trade
19
21. 4.2 Sources of competitiveness : trade theory
Heckscher-Ohlin : resource endowment
Adam Smith : “Specialization is governed by
the extent of market”
New trade theory: economies of scale –
external & internal
Michael Porter’s diamond model : clusters
generate agglomerations economies (part of
external deconomies).
21
22. A) Resource endowments
• Larger farm per worker than other Asian farmers (Fig. 14-a)
but scarce labor (used to have surplus labor until the mid
1990s) and low interest rate (due to financial liberalization)
Hence higher labor productivity and capital (than Vietnam) but
lower land productivity (Fig. 14-b and Fig. 15-c)
22
..
Land/worker
0
5
10
15
20
25
-
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
196119621963196419651966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008
Mil.Rai
Rai /
worker
Planted
Areas
Source: 1. Office of Agricultural Economic, 2. National Statistical Office Labor Force Survey
23. Fig. 14-b: Agricultural Productivity Change
in Southeast Asia, 1961-2010: land & labor
productivity and land/worker
23
Source: Courtesy of Professor Phil Pardey, University of Minnesota.
Cited by Peter Timmer
24. B) Specialization vs diversification
• At the household level: Farmers have become more
specialized in one single crop as the number of
crops grown by a farm household has declined
over time (Fig. 15)
Lower average and marginal cost of production
• At the national level, land use has become more
diversified (Fig. 17) as more farmers switch to
perennial crops, particularly fruit trees and rubber :
higher or stable income
24
25. Figure 15: Farm households have become
more specialized
25
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
197819931998200320082013
Share of farm
households
Cultivated single kind of crop
Cultivated more then one kind of
crop Source: NSO, Agr Census.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1978 1993 1998 2003 2008 2013
Share of crops
Multicrop w/o rice
Multicrop with rice
Pasture
(cultivated)
Para rubber
Permanent crop
Vegetables and
other
Field crops
Rice
26. Diversification at the national level
26
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
1961 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2011 2012 2013
Crop Diversification Index Modified Entropy Index*
Composite Entropy Index*
27. C) Internal economies of scale and farm size: no
clear trend
• A trend of declining farm size has stop mainly because
of the lower-than-replacement population growth since
1980s
• Evidence from casual observations : Increasing
number of large farms in the following production:
Rice farm in the Central Plains
sugar cane farms, orchard farms, and rubber farms
broiler farm and shrimp farm
• Yet the change is still so small that cannot yet be
captured by the national farm survey
• Therefore no clear trend of increasing farm size (see
David Dawe 2016) because
Legal constraints: tenant law and foreclosure law (high
interest rate on loan for land purchase)
Social factors: land inheritance
Water shortage and management
27
28. D) But food processing factories at the mid- and
downstream of the food supply chain have become
larger, thus enjoying larger internal scale economies
• Increasing capacity of rice mills and sugar factories (Fig. 19),
• Larger chicken slaughter and processing plants
• A few large rice exporters dominate the export business, the
top five largest capturing 55-60% of total export
• Small local traders have been replaced by larger suppliers
who have contractual arrangements with supermarkets and
exporters
• Three largest supermarkets dominating the retail business
• Vertical integration in poultry, dairy and seafood business
ensures that most agents – farms as well as input and output
suppliers – have to be larger
• Producers and distributers of farm inputs – machinery, seeds,
fertilizer and pesticides – are larger, thanks to the network of
efficient logistics, communication and digital technology
28
30. Fig 19-c: Only 1% of mills are large mills, but
their electricity use is 17%
< 1
Mill.Unit
/Month
100%
1-5
Mill.Unit
/Month
0%
> 6
Mill.Unit
/Month
0%
Num of rice mill
< 1
Mill.Unit
/Month
83%
1-5
Mill.Unit
/Month
8%
> 6
Mill.Unit/Month…
Electricity utilization of mills
Blue: >6 mil units/month=0.05%
Source: DIT, MEA, PEA
31. Fig. 19-d: Average daily production of sugar
mills (tons/day)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1990 2000 2010 2016
MillionstonofSugarcane/Day
Production of sugar per day:
average whole kingdom
Province Ton/Day
1Phetchabun 43,791
2Sa Kaeo 28,221
3Uttaradit 27,844
4Nong Bua Lamphu 26,305
5Khon Kaen 25,657
Source: OCSB.
32. E) Clusters and economies of scale : low
input prices & specialized labor
Thanks to the agronomic & specific conditions,
each geographical area (or cluster of
provinces) is specialized in specific kinds of
crops/products
Rice cluster in some provinces along the Chao
Phraya river and the Northeast
• Large rice mills (measured by electricity usage) are
heavily concentrated in 6 provinces in the mid-
Central Plains near Bangkok (Fig. 20-a)
• More than 50 private ports that handle small vessels
for export shipments are along the Chao Phraya
river and Pasak River where vessels can off-load
rice to larger ships in the deep seaport on Cholburi
province
32
33. Fig. 20-a: Rice cluster in some provinces in
the mid-Central, lower North and Northeast
Production No. Rice Mill Electric
consumptio
Mill Capacity
Source: Production from OAE, Rice mill data from DIT, Electric bill from PEA
34. Clusters of other major products
Sugar cane in the upland areas of the Lower North,
Western and Northeastern provinces (Fig. 20-b)
Rubber and factories are concentrated in the
Southern provinces (Fig. 20-c)
Chicken in the provinces near Bangkok (main
market) and the sea port in Cholburi. (Fig 20-d)
• The provinces must have adequate source of water and
main area of feed production.
• Lopburi becomes the largest production area
Shrimp farms are in the eastern seaboard and
provinces with large mangrove areas, while factories
concentrate in a few provinces near sea ports,
Samut Sakorn in the Central Plains and Songkla in
the South (Fig. 20-e)
Also clusters of suppliers of seeds, fertilizers and
insecticides in provinces with large agricultural
activities (Fig. 20-f)
34
35. Fig. 20-b: Sugar cluster
Planted Area Sugar Plant
Production
Production
Source: OCSB.
36. Fig. 20-c: Natural rubber cluster
Planted Area Rubber PlantProduction
Note: Exclude area that lower then 4,000 Ha
Source: Area and production from OAE, Rubber plant from DOA.
38. Fig. 20-f: Input cluster
Fertilizer shop Pesticide shop Rice seed shop
Note: Fertilizer and Pesticide license Zone 4 and 7 no data
Source: Fertilizer and Pesticide from DOA, Rice seed form RD.
39. Evidence of efficient value chain in Thai
agriculture
As a result of cluster of farm inputs, output
and food processing factories, farmers have
easy access to competitive supplies of
inputs and market alternatives to sell their
outputs.
Thus the input prices paid by Thai rice
farmers are lower than that in CLMV
Thai farmers can also obtain higher “net”
farm-gate price for their output since the
market is highly competitive
39
40. Table 1: Value chain: Input Supply Efficiency
Measure Indicator Cambodi
a
Laos Myanmar Thailand Vietnam
Access to
affordable
fertilizers
Urea price at farm
gate, $/ton
425 450 460 426 357
Urea price to
paddy price (in dry
equivalent)
1.8 1.6 2.3 1.1 1.6
Availability
of seeds
% of demand met
by supply of good
seeds
10 9 0.4 117 100
Depth of
seed
market
% of farmers using
purchased seeds
20-80 10 9 60 53
Depth of
fertilizer
market
% of rice farmers
using NPK
80 20 30 90 100
40
Source: Sergiy Zorya and David Dawe, 2015.
41. V. Future challenges
The transformation (specialization, clustering &
external economies of scale and structural
change) has enabled Thailand to remains
competitive until recently
Now the pressure is rising as agricultural
growth and TFP growth has declined, thanks to
• Stalled structural transformation
• The increasing cost of non-traded inputs, esp. labor
• The costs imposed by the policy responses to tackle
the problems of IUU and illegal migrants (which have
adverse impacts on the supplies of seafood, income of
small fishermen, and labor cost in the food processing
industries)
41
42. Growth of real GDP, agriculture & food
processing value added (1961-2016)
-15.00
-10.00
-5.00
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
%
GDP growth
GDP growth (annual %)
AgGDP growth (annual %)
Food processing GDP growth (annual %)
growth
Value
(Bill.USD)
1961-
2016
1961 2016
GDP 6.0% 16.48406.39
AgGDP 3.2% 6.66 37.26
Food processing GDP
(1980) 4.6% 0.03 17.81
Source: NESDB and The World Bank.
43. 4.1 Internal challenges facing
Thailand’s agriculture
More important, Thailand is facing several
challenges – internal as well as external ones.
• This time the challenges are much more complex, if
not more serious, and may be “different” from the past
malaises
Four internal problems affecting agriculture
• Too large a share of agricultural workers, causing
low per-capita farm income and large income
disparity
• Rapidly aging farmers
• Increasing costs of non-traded inputs
• Decline in public investment in agric R&D and
quality of research & extension services
43
44. Larger income gap between agricultural and non-agricultural
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
Millionsbaht
Real per capita
income
Agriculture Non-agricultural
44ที่มา: NESDB, LFS-NSO. และ World Bank, 2015.
Agri income equal to
11% of non-Agri
income
(2013)
14%
• High income disparity between agriculture and non-
agriculture…a political pressure for price subsidy
3. Thailand’s agricultural challenges : internal and external
46. 5 disruptive
forces
Impact
1.Rapid urbanization
emerging courtiers
• Middle class เพิ่ม
2. Aging society
• Ageing population
• Ageing farmers
3. Technological change
• Second green
revolution
5. Globalization : trade,
investment, politics,
social/environmental
concerns
• Demand for food : diet
change
• Meat & processed food
• Safe & healthy
• Better quality
• Supply of food
• Labor shortage
• Abundant land
• New varieties; tolerances to
drought, disease etc.
• Form management water
management etc.
• Market
• Foreign supermarkets:
vertical coordination
• NTBs
• Laws and labels: IUU
(human trafficking, over-
fishing), animal welfare,
carbon–water foot print 46
4. Climate change
• Higher temperature
• Extreme weather
4.2 External factors : 5 disruptive forces
Source :
extension of
McKinsey
Institute’s
concept
47. 4.3 Policy implications
Policy objective is “productivity
improvement”, particularly the adoption and
adaptation of modern farm technology (e.g.,
precision agriculture)
3 high priority policies
• 1) Proactive R&D&E policy
Adoption and adaptation of modern agricultural technology,
including precision agriculture for smallholders
Reforming its public research system
• 2) Facilitate agricultural transformation through the
following policies
• 3) Reforming the institution of agricultural policy
determination process and implementation, e.g.,
contracting out the extension services, etc.
47
55. Fig. 9-b: GAP certification for paddy farms
Certified farms
36,529 Farms
Certified area
51,401 Ha
Share of Rice area
0.5%
Source: RD 2014-2015.
56. Global Export Ranking of Food and agricultural products
increased from 19-23 in the 1960s to 12-15 in the 2010s.
But not so impressive as Germany, Spain, China
Source: FAO
1961 1967 1977 1987 1997 2007 2013
United States of
America 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Netherlands 3 3 2 3 3 2 2
Brazil 7 8 4 7 8 5 3
Germany 21 14 5 4 4 4 4
France 6 4 3 2 2 3 5
China, mainland 33 12 21 10 13 11 6
Spain 22 20 18 13 11 8 7
Canada 5 6 7 11 10 9 8
Belgium #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A 6 9
Italy 11 11 11 9 9 7 10
India 15 19 19 23 21 17 11
Argentina 9 7 9 19 12 10 12
Australia 2 2 6 8 7 13 13
Indonesia 16 35 22 21 20 16 14
Thailand 19 23 16 17 15 14 15
57. Fig. 12: Rank and share of Thai agricultural
exports in world agric exports
22 22
24
19
16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15
0.0%
0.5%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Rank of agriculture export Share of total agriculture export
Source: FAOSTAT.
1.17
Bil.$
99.3
Bil.$21.5
Bil.$
Growth 1961-2013 = 8.4% , 2000-2013 = 13.1%
58. Fig. 13-b: Relative Comparative Advantage
Rice
RCA 2012 2013 2014 2015
Cambo
dia 18.42 27.96 24.51 23.98
Thailan
d 15.46 14.34 17.32 15.49
Vietna
m 24.6 16.43 14.17 12.46
Myanm
ar
20.02 9.81 5.52 6.77
Lao
PDR.
3.36 2.64 2.15 5.54
Sugar
RCA 2012 2013 2014 2015
Thailan
d 9.18 7.33 8.39 9.08
Lao
PDR. 5.51 5.03 4.08 5.32
Cambo
dia 0.04 4.03 2.86 1.71
Malaysi
a
0.4 0.43 0.42 0.38
Philippi
nes
1.14 2.82 1.23 0.32
Durian Cooked chicken
Vegetable
Shrimp
Source: TDRI, UN comtrade
RCA 2012 2013 2014 2015
Myanm
ar 31.75 23.12 13.46 21.71
Lao
PDR. 3.02 2.45 2.52 4.11
Thailan
d 1.9 1.99 2.23 2.13
Vietna
m 1.93 1.15 1.87 0.88
Cambo
dia 0.44 0.56 0.97 0.65
RCA 2012 2013 2014 2015
Vietna
m 31.07 21.43 18.7 12.49
Indone
sia 11.4 9.21 9.84 9.25
Myanm
ar 23.02 13.47 6.18 7.62
Thailan
d 14.57 5.66 4.11 3.46
Malaysi
a 0 1.78 1.76 1.14
RCA 2012 2013 2014 2015
Thailan
d 46.73 48.29 49.32 40.33
Vietna
m 0.26 0.21 0.39 3.34
Malaysi
a 2.4 2.31 1.26 1.82
Lao
PDR.
0 0 0 0.44
Philippi
nes 0.01 0.04 0.08 0.03
RCA 2012 2013 2014 2015
Thailan
d 23.62 23.14 21.73 22.89
Philippi
nes 0.5 0.14 0.29 0.2
Malaysi
a 0.08 0.07 0.08 0.1
Singap
ore
0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01
Vietna
m 0.02 0.03 0.02 0.01
59. Fig. 14-c: Land productivity in Thailand is
lower than Vietnam (output in tons and value)
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
0
5
10
Thailand
Land productivity (Ton/Ha) Land productivity (USD@2010/Ha)
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
0
5
10
15
Vietnam
Land productivity (Ton/Ha) Land productivity (USD@2010/Ha)
Source: The World Bank and FAOSTAT.
61. 194,401.63
9,845.14
249,849.03
13,267.86
175,612.74
45,255.74
Per HH (Baht/Year) Per Unit of land (Baht/Year)
Rice Mono Crop Rice and other crops
Vegetables/Root Crops
Growing rice and other crops
give the highest payoff per
household per year whilst
growing growing vegetables and
root crops give the highest payoff
per unit of land per year.
Fig. 16: Farmers who diversify enjoy higher net
profit per unit of land
62. Fig. 18: Rice farm in the Central Plains
become marginally larger (Rai/ household)
62
24.1
21.7
23.4
23.8 24
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Central Plains
1993 1998 2003 2008 2013
ที่มา: สามะโนการเกษตร 2536-2556 และการสารวจการเปลี่ยนแปลงทางการเกษตร 2541-2556, สานักงานสถิติแห่งชาติ
63. Fig. 20-e: Shrimp cluster
Area Production Factory
Source: Production from OAE and Factory from DIW.
64. Sources of value added growth in agriculture: total factor
productivity growth is the second largest
6464
Labou
r
19%
Land
6%
Capita
l
55%
TFP
20%
Agricultural Labour
7%
Land
8%
Capital
64%
TFP
21%
Crop
Labour
77.77%
Land
-0.38%
Capita
l
4.50% TFP
17.36%
Livestock
Source: Waleerat, 2009.
Lab our Land Capital TFP
Agricultural 18.79 6.13 54.73 20.35
Crop 7.6 7.63 63.95 20.82
Livestock 78.35 -0.38 4.53 17.49
65. 65
(a) Thailand has an unusually large share of workers in
agriculture
(second highest share amongst middle income
countries, after Albania)
Source: World Bank, 2015
4.1 Internal challenges
66. 66
Source: World Bank, 2015
Decreasing additional earning outside
agricultural sector
Agricultural structure
not change
• Stalled structural change after 2004, which used to be a major source
of agriculture growth
– Very low growth of private investment in non-agricultural activities
67. Increase in Agriculture Employment since 2004
- What are the Factors behind?
67
Source: World Bank, 2015
• Distorted agricultural support policies may have stalled the structural
change and resulted in an increase in agricultural employment after 2004
68. Share of agricultural income is about 12% (18% in rural and 6% in urban) of total household income in 2013.
Declining trend of primary occupation in agriculture
68Source: World Bank, 2015
So farm income is very low, accounting for
only 12% of household income
• Smallholders’ farm income is not enough for farmers to
have a decent living, e.g., can’t afford sending children
to college.
• Household members have jobs outside agriculture
69. Larger income gap between agricultural and non-agricultural
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
Millionsbaht
Real per capita
income
Agriculture Non-agricultural
69ที่มา: NESDB, LFS-NSO. และ World Bank, 2015.
Agri income equal to
11% of non-Agri
income
(2013)
14%
• High income disparity between agriculture and non-
agriculture…a political pressure for price subsidy
3. Thailand’s agricultural challenges : internal and external
70. b) Aging farmers: Next 10 year there will be 5 million farmers
retiring. Will farming be a promising career for the young
generation?
7.2
6.5
2.3
1.1
4.2
7.6
2.7
1.81.9
6.9
2 2.11.8
6.7
2.5 2.5
0
2
4
6
8
15-29 30-49 50-59 60+
Millionfarmers
Thai farmers by age groups
1986 1996 2006 2009
70ที่มา: LFS-NSO และ World Bank.
4.1. Thailand’s agricultural challenges : internal and external
76. Gross income and cost of farmers with different
cropping patterns
319,016.06
15,668.52
124,401.63
6,183.38
396,763.33
20,864.09
146,914.31
7,596.23
262,100.88
68,079.30
86,488.15
22,823.55
Gross income
(Baht/HH/year)
Gross income per
unit of land (Baht
/Rai)
Total production
cost per HH
(Baht/Year)
Cost per unit of
land (Baht/ Rai)
Rice mono crop Rice and other crops Vegetables/ Roots crops
Income
Cost
77. Farmers shift towards high value rice (แปลอังกฤษ)
77
Cropping year 2007/08 Cropping year 2012/13
ข้าวเจ้าหอม
มะลิ
34%
ข้าวเจ้าอื่นๆ
34%
ข้าวเหนียว
32%
Rice planting area
ข้าวเจ้าหอม
มะลิ
41%
ข้าวเจ้าอื่นๆ
27%
ข้าวเหนียว
32%
Rice planting area
ข้าวเจ้าหอม
มะลิ
28%
ข้าวเจ้าอื่นๆ
45%
ข้าวเหนียว
27%
Output (tons)
ข้าวเจ้าหอม
มะลิ
34%
ข้าวเจ้าอื่นๆ
39%
ข้าวเหนียว
27%
Output (tons)
Source: OAE
79. Is there a future on the farm ?
Yes, Thai agriculture has some strength:
abundant land per worker
79
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
Farm land per worker (ha/worker)
Malaysia (right bar) Cambodia Indonesia
Lao PDR Myanmar Philippines
Thailand Vietnam
80. Transformation to cope with the 5 disruptive force
5 disruptive forces Impact Transformation
1.Rapid urbanization
emerging courtiers
• Middle class เพิ่ม
2. Aging society
• Ageing population
• Ageing farmers
3. Technological change
• Second green revolution
5. Globalization : trade,
investment, politics,
social/environmental
concerns
• Demand for food : diet
change
• Meat & processed food
• Safe & healthy
• Better quality
• Supply of food
• Labor shortage
• Abundant land
• New varieties;
tolerances to drought,
disease etc.
• Farm management
water management etc.
New production
process
New products
• Functional foods
• Large-scale farms
• Effective cooperatives &
producer association
• New organizations for small
holders in some product
e.g., non-market
coordination (contract
farming, partnership
between farmer group and
agri-business /supermarket
, CSO-led farmer groups)
• New private standards/
labels
• Cross-border investment
• Resource conservation
• Re-defining government
role
• New laws 80
4. Climate change
• Higher temperature
• Extreme weather • Market
• Foreign supermarkets:
vertical coordination
• NTBs
• Laws and labels: IUU
(human trafficking,
over-fishing), animal
welfare, carbon–water
foot print
81. Data collection Communication & Decision support
data processing system
Real time data for a site-specific farm
satellite image +
GPS…plot
boundary
Weather
forecast
DronLand leveling:
GPS/ laser
Farming4.0