Thailand Agriculture (Rice) Thailand Agriculture

Thailand Agriculture (Rice)

Thailand agriculture -- Research proposal on the management of rice in Thailand

Thailand is the largest exporter of rice in the world and one of the top global producers. The rice crops in Thailand spread across surfaces larger than 10 million hectares and in all of the state's provinces (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2004). While it is globally recognized that Thailand is a strong international player on the rice market, there are still a multitude of complex issues which should be researched.

The future research endeavor strives to go beyond the commonly known fact that Thailand grows rice and to understand the complexities and the mechanisms of rice cultivation in the southeastern Asian country. In other words, it strives to asses the management of rice through various lenses, such as:

Irrigation of the rice crops

Cultivation of the rice by individual farmers and/or specialized large size farms

Environmental issues concerning rice cultivation

Regulations regarding crop cultivation

Marketing of the Thai rice within the international community

3. Literature review

After the research endeavor has introduced the reader to the general state of rice production in Thailand and has also stated the research scopes, it would move on to reviewing the most noteworthy sources within the literature. The sources would integrate a variety of works from books, journal articles, magazine articles or even internet articles.

R.E. Huke and E.H. Huke (1990) for instance offer a strong starting point in the understanding of the history of rice in Thailand. Apichai Puntasen and Paradorn Preedasak (1998) approach the entire Thai agriculture and argue that it is at a crossroads. Thamrong Mekhora and Laura M. J McCann (2003) look at rice cultivation from the standpoint of its perceived "war" with shrimp production. Lisa Kealhofer (2003) then details on the use of land and the origins of rice domestication in Thailand. K.L. Heong (2005) strives to explain the evolution and the future of rice cultivation in Thailand. Then, there are the editors at Krom Wichakan Kaset, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, International Rice Research Institute (1988) who discuss the epidemics which can impact the rice crops. Finally, Pascale M. Phelinas (2001) is concerned with the sustainability of rice cultivation in Thailand.

It is important to note that the above mentioned sources would only constitute the backbone of the research project and that, as the research project advances, new materials and information of interest could be identified and integrated.

4. Methodology

The research methodology would be a combination of qualitative and quantitative research. With the aid of qualitative research method, the situation of rice cultivation in Thailand would be assessed. The qualitative observation supposes the integration within the community and its observation with the scope of comprehending the mechanisms behind its functioning. The methodology has a limitation however, and this materializes in the inability to extrapolate the findings to the greater community.

Relative to the quantitative analysis, this is based on proven facts and numerically measured components of the industry. This research methodology implies more complex and tedious work, but it reveals the advantage of generalization (Walliman and Walliman, 2006). The combination of the two research methodologies supports the achievement of the pre-established goal.

5. Data

Throughout the data section, the results of the research process would be assessed and integrated within supported findings. Throughout this section, responses to the initially established objectives would be offered.

6. Concluding remarks

This final section would restate the most important findings of the research endeavor. Additionally, it would also offer several recommendations to the identified problems.

References:

Heong, K.L., 2005, Rice is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century, Int. Rice Res. Inst.