การศึกษาความเปราะบางของครัวเรือนเกษตรกรในระบบเกษตรบริเวณพื้นที่ต้นน้ำ อำเภอป่าบอน จังหวัดพัทลุง

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the agricultural area of the watershed in Pa Bon District, Phatthalung Province, 2) to analyze the vulnerability of farmer households in the watershed area, and 3) to compare vulnerability levels of agricultural systems in the watershed area, and suggest guidelines to decrease this vulnerability. Data was collected through structured interviews conducted with 282 farming households. Three indices from the vulnerability framework promoted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were applied to analyze the vulnerability value. Analysis of comparative differences of the levels of vulnerability of the agricultural systems was done by One-way ANOVA analysis. Results showed that 57.8% of farming households practiced mixed cropping farming, while 42.2% practiced mono cropping farming. 38.7% of the farming areas were rolling hills in highlands, 30.9% were depressions, and 30.5% were high plateaus. 47.5% of farmers held landholder's rights documentation for making a living, while 15.6% held no documentation. Analysis of the vulnerability of farming households revealed that 43.3% of farmers had a vulnerability level of 2.83, which is in the medium level. Farmer households had a medium vulnerability level with respect to sensitivity to hardships, exposure to hardships and capacity to deal with hardships, with values of 1.07, 1.04, and 0.72, respectively. Analysis of vulnerability of each agricultural system showed that mono cropping had a higher vulnerability value than mixed cropping (2.94 and 2.75, respectively). Both agricultural systems were assessed to be at a moderate level. Statistical analysis of the differences using the One-way ANOVA analysis showed that the sensitivity to hardships in the mono cropping and mixed cropping systems were statistically significantly different, at a level of 0.01. Analysis of vulnerability of each agricultural occupation showed vegetable farming at a high level (3.31), and rubber farming and fruit farming at a moderate level (2.79 and 2.73, respectively). By pair-wise (8) comparison using One-way ANOVA of these different farming occupations showed that vegetable farming, rubber farming, and fruit farming were statistically significantly different in terms of exposure and coping capacity, at a level of 0.01. The results may be used to encourage farming households in the watershed of Pa Bon District, Phatthalung Province to be aware of the extent of their vulnerability, thus find ways of reducing the vulnerability in their agricultural systems. This study suggested 2 main guidelines: 1) reduce the risk of exposure and sensitivity to hardships by adapting appropriate agricultural systems and production methods to make them suited to the watershed area. Possibilities include adopting agroforestry, mixed cropping, and natural agriculture, as well as planting cover crops and 2) to raise their ability to cope with hardships. Possibilities include finding ways to increase the value of their agricultural products, searching for income sources outside of agriculture, adapting traditional techniques and wisdom for use in their agricultural systems, and plan for agricultural production which avoids the impacts of water shortages