Increasing concerns for improved food safety, quality, and appropriate environmental
practices of on-farm operations calls for setting standard practices to fulfill and steer
Thailand towards more competitive edge internationally. Voluntary and free of charge
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification specific for rice, implemented by the
government in Thailand aimed to mobilize farmers to improve on-farm operations using
appropriate amount of agrochemical applications and techniques while reducing cost of
production. The study is a 2-stage investigation into the factors and patterns of GAP rice
adoption and continued adoption using binary regression model and means comparison
analysis for 250 individual farmers from Ayutthaya Province, central region of Thailand.
Results showed education, knowledge of neighbors being involved in the program, nongovernmental
channel about the program, smaller size of farm size, government promotion,
expectations on cost reduction and expectation on price are among the factors explaining
initial adoption. On the other hand, factors contributing to continued adoption are access to
land ownership and realization of cost-reduction through the program.