Impacts and Sustainable Development Guidelines of Large-Scale Agricultural Systems on Community Economic Development: a Case Study of Longan Large-Scale Farming in Mae Tha District, Lamphun Province

บทคัดย่อ

This study aimed to: 1) examine the impacts of the large-scale longan farming system on community economic development across the economic, social, and sustainability dimensions in Mae Tha District, Lamphun Province; and 2) propose development guidelines for enhancing the sustainability of the large-scale longan farming system in order to strengthen economic capacity and community resilience. A mixed-methods research design was employed by integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches. The population consisted of 627 longan farmers participating in the large-scale farming system. Using Taro Yamane’s formula at a 95% confidence level, a sample of 154 farmers was selected through simple random sampling. In addition, 15 key informants, including farm managers, farmer leaders, and government officials, were purposively selected. The research instruments comprised a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire, an in-depth interview guide, and a focus group discussion guide. The instruments were examined for content validity by experts, and the questionnaire yielded a reliability coefficient greater than 0.80. Quantitative data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression analysis, while qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis and triangulation.

The findings revealed that: 1) the large-scale longan farming system had positive effects on the community economy. Average household income increased by 45%, while production costs decreased by 20% as a result of shared resource utilization. The social dimension received the highest rating (M=4.05, S.D.=0.48), reflecting greater cooperation, trust, and participation among members. The sustainability dimension was also rated at a high level (=3.80, S.D.=0.54). The adoption of drip irrigation, bio-fertilizers, and Smart Farming technologies helped reduce environmental risks; however, limitations remained in terms of access to finance and knowledge. The most influential factors affecting system efficiency were marketing (β=0.352), production technology (β=0.295), and leadership (β=0.215); and 2) sustainable development guidelines should be implemented at three levels: the policy level, through the establishment of permanent markets, digital marketing, low-interest credit, and technology transfer; the operational level, through joint marketing, leadership development, and production technology enhancement; and the community level, through participatory management, farmer-to-farmer learning, and the strengthening of trust-based networks. The new knowledge generated from this study indicates that the sustainability of large-scale farming systems depends on the balanced integration of economic efficiency, social capital, participatory governance, technology, and environmental management.