Factors influencing number of trees and farmers' conditions for trees' integration in the farming system: A case study of District of Kranuan, Khon Kaen, Northeast Thailand

Objectives of this study are to identify factors influencing number of trees on farms and farmers' criteria for integrating trees into farming system based on the different levels of availability of public forest to communities. Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) technique was employed to study three villages of District of Kranuan, Khon Kaen, which were located at 3 different distances (1.5, 5, and 9 km) from a public forest. Furthermore, in each village 3 categories of householes (farms) were selected based on number of trees on farms (high, medium, and low). Semi-structured interviews were conducted on the selected households along the line of the predesigned main topics. The results showed that the public forest situated outside the villages exerted influence on the number of trees on farms. The village located close to the forest had more trees on farms than those situated further from the forest. This is due to the higher availability of forest resources to the closer village which rendered less use of the trees on farms, while the distant villages had to rely more on their farm trees due to their lower availability of the forest resources. Size of cultivated land had significant positive correlation with number of trees and appeared to be the most significant factor influencing the number of tree on farms. Larger farms (areawise) usually had more trees on farms than smaller ones. Terrain where farms are situated also had influence on the number of farm trees. Farmers' criteria for integrating trees into farms included: 1. availability of tree seedlings, 2. size of cultivated land, 3. kinds of trees to be grown which primarily depended on their used made by farmers, 4. appropriate places where trees should be grown, 5. effects of trees on agricultural crops grown in association, and 6. effects of trees on the ecosystem. The degree which these criteria affect farmers' decision varies from farmers to farmers based on factors such as size of cultivated land, availability of public forest and farm terain.