ศักยภาพของพื้นที่สำหรับการปลูกข้าวและการปรับตัวของชาวนาจากปัญหาอุทกภัย ตำบลขนาบนาก อำเภอปากพนัง จังหวัดนครศรีธรรมราช

Abstract

Abstract

Floods cause a significant impact on agricultural development, especially rice planting, in Southern Thailand. This study aims to assess the potential areas for rice planting and to study farmer adaptation after flooding. The potential areas for paddy field were assessed by using PSA technique (potential surface analysis) in ArcGIS 9.2.  Physical factors such as soil drainage, nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium), pH, soil texture, soil depth, and slope and salt concentration in the soil were included in order to assess the potential areas. Moreover, flood risk areas and land use information were also applied to assess the suitable areas for rice planting. The results of study indicated that only 10.91 % of total area was suitable for rice (2,630.86 rai). Additionally, high, medium, and low potential areas were 3.27, 4.77, and 2.87 %, respectively. The most area (89.09 %) in this study area was identified as no potential for rice planting which was about 21,477.57 rai. The highest potential areas are in moo 3 (approximately 541.24 rai) and other suitable zone are in moo 1 and moo 4, whilst, no potential areas are in moo 2, moo 5, moo 6, moo 7, moo 8, moo9 and moo 10. Flooding problems strongly reduce suitable areas for rice planting. In this study, the opinion of a farmer in terms of adaptation after flooding was conducted using a questionnaire and group meeting methods. The results showed that 94.45 % of farmers in the Khanap Nak have no adapted strategies for rice planting. They still do rice farming with a same previous plan, i.e. waiting for rainwater before planting the rice. The most farmers (77.48 %) produce rice both for consuming and trading, whilst only 16.67 % use rice productions for consuming in their family. Interestingly, more than 90 % of total farmers in the study areas have no plan to manage their crops affected by flooding. This is possible because farmers are quite old. This group of farmer just waits for support from the government without their own plan. There are a few farmers (5.55 %) have changed the way to land use for other plants such Nypa palm and palm oil. The farmers have plans for managing flooding problems, both on individual and communal levels. For individual level, farmers planned to construct elevated ridges protecting paddy from flooding. They also planned to release water from the crop by connecting personal drainage with common water pools. For communal level, not only construct elevated ridges and manage the drainage system but also selecting the rice species that resist to climate change and grow better in areas, where are low water supplies. 

Keywords: paddy; geographic information system (GIS); farmer adaptation; flood