Factors affecting the durian production of farmers in the eastern region of Thailand

Abstract

Thailand is the largest durian producer and exporter in the world market. In addition, durian is the most important fruit crop in Thailand because it can generate a higher income from exports with a value of approximately 45,349-million-baht, equivalent to an export quantity of 653,564 tons in 2019. The objective is to analyze the factors affecting the durian production of farmers in the eastern region of Thailand, namely Chanthaburi, Rayong, and Trad Provinces. The sample of 395 durian farmers underwent observation using simple random sampling via the questionnaire approach. The statistics consisted of mean, percentage, and multiple regression. The findings revealed that the positive factors affecting the durian production of farmers in the eastern region of Thailand are the experience of the farmers in growing durian, the size of the workforce, the planted area of durian, the number of durian trees, and the number of durian trees per planted area, while the negative factors affecting the durian production of farmers in the eastern region of Thailand are the age of the farmers and the cultivation of organic durian. The results will be beneficial to farmers, government, and related stakeholders, who can further apply these findings to enhance the efficiency of durian production to be the quality durian for domestic and foreign consumers