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The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of rice supply chain in the context of the role of rice farmer organizations and cooperative networks in Thailand.

Primary data were solicited from the cooperatives and members of cooperatives for this study through questionnaire administration. The questionnaire containing a five-point Likert scale was posed to respondents to ascertain their problems before and after joining the network (for cooperative) and after joining the cooperative (for members). This study employed the independent two-sample student t-test (two-tailed) to test for significant difference in the means of scores regarding the problems of cooperatives before and after the cooperative network, and also to test for significant difference in the means of scores of the problems of members of the cooperatives before and after joining the cooperative.

The study revealed that key production and marketing problems such as increased transaction costs and market uncertainties confronting the cooperative organizations have been diminished as a result of the networks. Key problems of the members of the cooperatives such as exploitation and opportunistic behavior of traders to whom they sell their products have been reduced as a result of joining the cooperatives.

This paper is not without caveat. The governance structures in relation to leadership, financial arrangements and bargaining power balance have not been analyzed in this study and these are avenues for further research.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first that examined the combined roles of farmer organizations and cooperative networks in developing the rice supply chain in Thailand.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of farmers regarding the on-farm food safety measures in the commercial layer farms in Thailand prior the implementation of the mandatory Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standard.

The cross-sectional study was conducted through the face-to-face interview with a questionnaire in 143 GAP certified and 59 non-GAP certified farms. The levels of safety and quality measures implemented in farms were evaluated using a self-reported approach. Scoring system was applied to investigate the relationship between level of practices and its determining factors using the correlation test.

The layer hen farmers appeared to have an adequate level of knowledge on safety and quality measures; however, some misconception on recommended practices was still observed. The significant differences (p<0.001) in the regularity of practices adopted in farms were noticed between GAP and non-GAP groups. The GAP farmers have higher level of knowledge, and positive attitudes toward implementation. Only the weak positive relationships were found between all KAP variables which implied that there are other factors influencing the translation of knowledge and favorable attitudes into practices.

None of the on-farm food safety KAP report has been published in Thailand. This study highlights the gaps in the practices and issues needed to be focused by standard promoters for developing the knowledge translation programs aimed at enhancing the standard of layer farming.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing Indonesian farmers’ use of the warehouse receipt system (WRS) and their choice of private and public warehouses.

Primary data were collected through questionnaires administered to 500 farmers in two districts, Subang and Cianjur, in West Java Province in Indonesia. Binary logit regression was employed to examine the factors influencing farmers’ use of the WRS. Binary and bivariate probit regressions were employed to determine the factors influencing farmers’ choice of private and public warehouses.

The empirical results of the binary logit regression revealed that age, land ownership, selling price, the use of the warehouse receipt as collateral security and the availability of transportation facility positively influenced farmers’ use of the WRS, whereas education, income, farm profit and participation in farmers’ group negatively influenced farmers’ use of the WRS. The results of the binary probit regressions revealed that profit, availability of insurance and processing facility positively influenced the farmers’ decision to use the private WRS, whereas education, production, selling price and distance from the farm to the warehouse negatively influenced farmers’ decision to use the private WRS. Age, education, selling price and distance from the farm to the warehouse positively influenced the farmers’ decision to use the public WRS, whereas production and availability of processing facility negatively influenced the decision of farmers to use the public WRS.

This study highlights the importance of education and government assistance regarding the provision of facilities and price indemnified insurance for successful implementation of the WRS.

This study provides an empirical contribution to the existing literature on the development of WRS in Indonesia. In terms of methods of analysis, previous studies used purely qualitative and descriptive methods, whereas this study employed econometric techniques (i.e. binary logit, binary probit and bivariate probit regressions) to examine the WRS in Indonesia. In addition, whereas previous studies explored the WRS in general, this study investigated the farmers’ use of the public and private warehouses in addition to exploring the WRS in general. Finally, the finding that the average annual profit of non-users was significantly higher than that of the users of the WRS is striking, and this could be attributed to the current challenges of the implementation of the WRS, including high transportation and warehouse rental costs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of the revolving fund (RF) regarding the ability of smallholder debtors to retrieve land title deeds, and also to examine the factors influencing the outstanding debts and percentage of outstanding interest of the smallholders in the Central and Northeastern regions of Thailand.

Primary data were collected from 430 debtors in the Central and Northeastern regions of Thailand in order to compare the differences in livelihood assets as well as their opinions on benefits derived from the operation of the RF. Secondary data were also collected from the RF administration, in order to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the fund. Heteroskedasticity-corrected ordinary least squares and Tobit regression models were employed to examine the factors influencing the outstanding debts and percentage of outstanding interest of the smallholders, respectively. Furthermore, the student’s t-test was used to examine the differences in the livelihood assets among debtors in the two regions; and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine differences in livelihood indicator scores among the three types of debtors.

The empirical results revealed that the RF is effective as the fund could provide loan to smallholders to enable them redeem their land title deeds from their previous creditors. The t-test results reveal significant differences in the livelihood assets among debtors in the two regions. One-way ANOVA indicates differences in livelihood indicator scores among the three types of debtors. The results of the heteroskedasticity-corrected ordinary least squares regression revealed that being married, low frequency of floods and less influence of third parties significantly reduced the outstanding debts. The results of the censored Tobit regression revealed that increased frequency of meeting with the RF administration, less influence of third parties, high land potential and interaction of age and experience significantly decreased the percentage of outstanding interest.

It is imperative to intensify information and education regarding the regulations, payment terms and modalities to clients in order to facilitate repayments of the loans disbursed. The organization of the RF should pay particular attention to the role of the committees involved, information administration and loan repayment monitoring. The RF should increase the frequency of meetings with smallholders, minimize the influence of third parties and give priority to old and experienced smallholders who possess land with high potential for earning incomes to enable them repay the loans.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examined the effectiveness of the RF to enable smallholders retrieve their land title deeds.

Warehouse receipt system (WRS) schemes aim to revitalize the market of cash crops, particularly those of the smallholder farmers. However, the existing government schemes for the smallholder farmers have not been much successful on account of issues related with transparency and trust deficit, thereby limiting farmers' access to credit for their farming activities as channeled via the formal financial institutions. Conceding that blockchain is an emerging technology, this study aims to theoretically posit the potential to optimize WRS in real time to bolster farmers' trust and privacy.

The research bases itself on the design science research (DSR) approach. Using the DSR approach backed by the literature review and evolutionary prototyping, a blockchain-based WRS has been advanced in the study.

This study provides a design of a digital WRS, which serves as a proof of concept of blockchain technology (BCT) applications in improving transparency in the WRS in the agricultural sector. The findings from this study present the possibility of leveraging blockchain smart contracts to improve the linkages between the WRS stakeholders to promote trust and transparency that would eventually unlock the potentials of WRS schemes. Furthermore, the findings inform decision-makers and practitioners to prioritize the emerging technologies in revamping the classical WRS.

The study leaves research pointers for implementing BCT in agricultural supply chain and furthering the findings from the present study with an empirical agenda.

Whilst research on the BCT applications across myriad sectors abounds, research on the BCT applications to address societal needs is conspicuously limited. Furthermore, research on the practical implementation of the BCT in real-world scenarios is few and far between. The present study seeks to plug these gaps by underlining the application and utility of blockchain in WRS. The study makes a significant contribution to the theory and practice of the agrarian supply chain management, specifically the WRS, by invoking design knowledge obtained through an iterative design process besides serving as an edifice for the integration of emerging technologies, notably BCT in the agricultural sector.