Browsing by Author "Valo, Mirka"

Rice, cassava and eucalypts are important species for Thailand's economy and they are widely used in agroforestry systems in Thailand. In this research the studied agroforestry systems were boundary planting and alley cropping with rice, cassava and eucalypts, but there are also many other systems in use in Thailand. Rice is the most important crop in the world and also in Thailand and the demand of rice is increasing due to the population growth. Cassava has been an important plant in Thailand and also the demand of cassava is growing due the new potential industries. The amount of forests in Thailand has decreased from the 1960's while deforestation still continues due to that the planting of eucalypts is promoted for reforestation purposes. Also the demand of eucalypts is increasing because the consumption of paper is growing with the economic growth of Asian countries and due to the logging ban on natural forests in Thailand since 1989. Due to that contract farming of eucalypts is critical for pulp and paper industry and it has been increasing. The aim of this study was to find out the reasons why farmers have chosen agroforestry and what are the advantages and disadvantages of the used systems. The research was semi-structured interview and it was conducted with 25 farmers. Confirmative results on factors affecting farmer's adoption, continuation and experience on benefits of agroforestry did not emerge from the data. Farmers mentioned most often availability and suitability of the land, own experiences and knowledge as the reason for adoption. Farmers saw agroforestry as a way to increase their income, improve profitability and diversify their production. Most of the farmers were going to use agroforestry systems also in the future.