Analysis of marketing behaviour and the impact of marketing activities on small farmers' income: A case study of Khao Dok Mali rice growers

Most of interviewed farmers sold all of their rice immediately after harvesting due to the urgent need of money, with the local middlemen who came to buy rice in the area. Most of them sold the products without grading except some of contract farmers. Similarly, only some of soybean and garlic growing farmers who experienced in storing their products and waiting for higher price. The farmers in both study areas had equal opportunity to access to agricultural and marketing information, but few of them interested in and made use of these information. The first source of information was from neighborhood and the second was from merchants. The sampled farmers in both two districts revealed the equal need of information about production as well as marketing. They preferred obtaining information through village message speaker in San Kamphaeng, radio and television in Phrao respectively. The periods of nearly low and the lowest price index were December to January of which more than 50 percent of interviewed farmers sold their products. In overall, there were only 13.8 percent of interviewed farmers who sold rice products during the period that price index higher than average price, whereas the rest (86.2 percent) of them sold their products during the period that price index lower than average price. The analysis of price index revealed that storing rice product after harvesting in December to sell in July, farmer would get the highest average return per month of about 1.98 percent. In case of buying products to speculate the price, buying in January which was the lowest price index period and sold in July would yield the return of 2.34 percent per month. There were only 3 farmers who sold their products in July. Farmers in Phrao would obtain about -0.01 baht/kg or absolute deficit of 50 baht/household from selling products at trade site compared to farm gate price. While as the farmers in San Kamphaeng would gain about 0.17 baht/kg or about average of 109 baht/household. For storing product for higher price strategy, farmers in Phrao and San Kamphaeng had additional income about 1.29 and 1.42 baht/kg, respectively or average of 9,500 baht/household from 5 month product stocking (about 1,600 baht/month).