System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been introduced and practiced throughout Thailand. However, the conventional transplanting system is well-accepted among Thai farmers over the country. This paper quantifies and compares costs and benefits of SRI and the conventional system of rice cultivation in Thailand to find the best system for a farmer, the environment and a society. The scope of this paper includes a farmer’s profit, the environmental damages and a society’s net benefits categorized in clay soil and sandy loam conditions. The farmer’s profit consists of a production cost and income. The amount of fertilizer application, level of lethal dose and climate change cost are regarded as environmental damage components. The society has concerned over the farmer’s profit and the environmental cost in a decision. The study uses cost-benefit analysis to investigate mean and variation of profit and cost in monetary term. Monte Carlo simulation is utilized for quantifying risk in each scenario. The study finds that SRI saves the production input and increases yield gain significantly. The most impressive results are a reduction in water consumption and number of seeds. Also, the environmental damage caused by this system is lower due to less amount of chemical fertilizer and pesticide applications as well as a low rate of methane gas emission. Sensitivity analysis shows that SRI has better performance under best and worst case scenarios for both types of soil (clay soil and sandy loam). However, the system contains the highest risk of the farmer’s profit. In conclusion, SRI is more beneficial and efficient than conventional system. Still, risk aspects should be considered in decision making. This study can be employed as a framework for government or any parties, who are interested or have willingness to conduct a field study of SRI and the conventional rice cropping system or for the further study about the integrated system (a combination between SRI and conventional system).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-180974 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | ARAYAPHONG, SUPISRA |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Examensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 1650-6553 ; 79 |
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