Comparative analysis between the production cost and return on rice production of farmer group in Kanchanaburi province

Abstract

This research aims to study the process of cultivation and compare costs and benefits derived from rice cultivation with the use of chemical substance, biological substance and mixture between biological and chemical substances by groups of farmers in Kanchanaburi. The data collection method is questionnaires by interviewing 410 people with application of the survey research technic. The results showed that the cultivation of rice farmers in Kanchanaburi starting from preparing soil, sowing the seeds, tending the rice fields, harvesting, processing until selling to the market. For the costs and returns per acre, it can be categorized as following: 1. Rice cultivation involving chemical usage. Production costs were 3,337.82 Baht; total revenue was 5851.15 Baht; net profit was 2513.33 Baht; crop yield was 803.73 kg; selling price was 7.28 Baht; Return on net profit was 42.95%; ROA was 5.88% and ROI was 5.46%. The breakeven yield was 108.93 kg and the selling price was 4.15 Baht. 2. Rice cultivation involving biological substance usage. Production costs were 2,120.11 Baht; total revenue was 8,699.53 Baht; net profit was 6,579.42 Baht; crop yield was 746.10 kg; selling price was 11.66 Baht; Return on net profit was 75.63%; ROA was 32.72% and ROI was 29.60%. The breakeven yield was 20.87 kg and the selling price was 2.84 Baht. 3. Rice cultivation involving mixture between chemical and biological substance usage. Production costs were 3,367.58 Baht; total revenues was 10,648.92 Baht; net profit of 7,281.34 Baht; crop yield was 918.01 kg; selling price was 11.60 Baht; Return on net profit was 68.38%; ROA was 11.71% and ROI was 11.11%. The breakeven yield was 83.50 kg and the selling price was 3.67 Baht. The research found that rice cultivation using mixture between chemical and biological substances has a highest return due to it generates higher crop yield per acre and lower production cost comparing with net revenue. For problems and obstacles for farmers, there are high costs for chemical fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide and plant hormones and extreme and uncertain price fluctuation in the market respectively.