การศึกษาต้นทุนและอัตราผลตอบแทนจากการปลูกส้มเขียวหวานในเขตภาคกลางของประเทศไทย / รุ่งนภา ศุภดิลกลักษณ์ = A study on cost and return on investment in tangerine plantation in the central region of Thailand / Rungnapa Supadiloklug
At present, tangerine cultivation is a principal occupation of farmers in Thailand. Each year, a large amount of money is earned from selling tangerine in both the local market and the foreign market. The objective of this thesis is to study the return on investment and the cost of cultivation by interviewing the farmers in Prathumthani province which is the largest area for tangerine cultivation in the central region of Thailand. The purposive sampling of 50 farms, approximately 20-200 rai per farm, are distributed into 5 groups determined by different life periods of the tangerine plants. The results of the study show that the longest life period of the tangerine plant is approximately 12 years. Tangerine crop harvest begins from the third year after the planting of the crop. The average cost of cultivation is between Baht 9,046.62-14.296.16 per rai per year with an average income of between Baht 3,188.93-20,023.74 per rai per year. The highest profit attainable is Baht 5,727.58 per rai per year between the seventh and the ninth year of the planting. Within the yielding period of 12 years, the average total net profit per rai is about Baht 34,138.03 or approximately 20.95 per cent of the total income. The study also clearly show that the payback period of investment is six years and five months. With the minimum required investment return at 12 per cent per annum and 14 per cent per annum, both of the net present values are higher than zero (0), while the internal rate of return is 17.50 per cent per annum. In this analysis it can be concluded that the investment in tangerine cultivation will be most advantageous for the investors and they receive a large profit from their investment. Major problems concerning tangerine cultivation are the low selling prices, crop damages caused by pests and water pollution, the high cost of cultivation, the lack of capital for reinvestment, and problem related to export. These problems could be overcome through proper co-operation and co-ordination between the public and private sectors. The following guidelines are recommended. 1. To reduce the cost of cultivation, the farmers should use high technology methods in their farms, while certain fertilizers and insecticides should be used only after a careful study of each product specification had been made for correct application of the right amount of the said product. 2. To overcome cultivation problems, a proper location for the farm with access to convenient water supply throughout the crop season should be selected. Healthy seedlings, stock or cutting should be carefully acquired from trustworthy sellers. Apart from this, the farmers should study ways and means to eliminate various plant diseases and pests with the correct technological application. 3. To overcome marketing problems, the public and private sectors should co-operate in selling the products and expanding the market. 4. The government agencies concerned should launch a program to encourage technical transfers on the widest possible scale, and direct more of this joint effort to the ‘grass-roots’ of the agricultural community than at present, while at the same time exerting control on the prices and quality of all essential tools and cultivation materials on the market, including low cost financial sources, finding a way to prevent water pollution from nearby industries, promoting the processing industries of the tangerine, promoting export and expanding export market.
