Organic Agriculture, Way to Sustainable Agricultural Society: Organic Rice Development Strategy

Abstract

          Organic farming is another alternative production system that takes into account of the environment and maintaining natural balance for production that does not use chemicals such as chemical fertilizer, pesticide and the method of trimming the karma and hormones are not used. It is a holistic production management which is considered as an alternative agricultural product management for reducing production costs. Organic farming is divided into two types which are self-reliant and organic agriculture that certifies standards from the International Organic Farming Federation. Today, consumers have a tendency to be aware of food safety significantly according to the safe food consumption trend of foreign countries. The organic products that are exported the most to the foreign markets are jasmine rice, accounting for 96.0%, followed by vegetables, fruits, including aquatic animals such as shrimp and fish, with the export value of around 13,000 baht or about a hundred or 0.15% of the world market. It is considered that Thailand exported least compared to the demand of the Americas and Europe. The opportunity of organic produce is still considered as an important opportunity for Thai farmers, who can sell organic products according to the needs of the world market around billions of baht per year. Major markets includes America, Japan and China that can support many more production. If Thai farmers focus on organic agriculture, it will be an opportunity to get income and wealthiness for sustainable agriculture.