A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Science

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1991

A cotton contract farming project in Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi Province , Thailand was studied to identify the attributes of farmers who can benefit from this arrangement. In order to pinpoint the farmers for whom contract farming scheme is suitable, this research classified farmers, not only by simple continuance and discontinuance categories, but also by a more detailed grouping based on farmers' reasons for such decisions. Multiple Discriminant Analysis has proved the classification to be valid. Positive continuers, who are considered to be most suitable for contract farming, were found to be the not-so-poor, not-so-rich farmers. At the same time, advice and services offered by the contract company were pointed out to be of importance. It was also discovered that not all the discontinuers are against the contract farming system, but that some are in favor of it. The concept of reluctant discontinuers was introduced to describe the people who are in an ambivalent situation between continuers and discontinuers. Analysis supported the existence of this type of farmer, and suggested that we cannot simply group farmers by their present membership status. Lastly, exploration into the cause of failure of contract farming in Sai Yok and discussions for improvement were conducted. Suggestions for a better conceptual model of a post-adoption process are made .