| Author | Phianphen Rattanarat |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Agribusiness Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The objective of this study was to investigate the current situation of hydroponic
agribusiness and develop a business concept for launching hydroponic farm in Thailand.
Twenty eight farms in three regions (Bangkok metropolitan, central and eastern region)
were selected as respondents. The combination of farm entrepreneurs’ interview, farm
observation and experts’ interview were used as data collection methods. The data was
analyzed by using Excel and SPSS Packages.
The results showed that the large numbers of farms are in Bangkok metropolitan. Almost
all entrepreneurs had their own land and investment capital. In addition, roughly 40% of
farms owner were new entrepreneur with less than 3 years experience. Three major
hydroponic systems employed by farm respondents were Nutrient Film Technique (NFT),
Deep Flow Technique (DFT) and Dynamic Root Floating Technique (DRFT). NFT was
the most popular with highest production (1,611 kg/rai/month). The total hydroponic area
was 108.6 rais and expanded area of 17.5 rais. The total vegetables production was
125,480 kg/month. Moreover, nearly half of farms were medium farm. Out of total
capacity, 76% was lettuces, 19% was Asian vegetables and the rest 5% was herbs. All of
NFT and DFT farms grew lettuces while all DRFT farms grew vegetables.
Dutch greenery was the most significant seed supplier, especially for lettuces while Jia Tai
and Peun Kaset were essential suppliers for Asian vegetables. For diseases and insects
control, mechanical method was mostly used, followed by biological method and chemical
method. Cold storage room was frequently used to preserve vegetables. There were 19 out
of 27 farms received GAP certification (Q mark).
Mostly vegetables were sold as fresh form while some lettuces and herbs were also sold as
mixed lettuces. Herbs obtained the most expensive price (250-350 Baht/kg) while Asian
vegetables were the cheapest (80-85 Baht/kg) and mixed lettuces (150-165 Baht/kg) were
more expensive than fresh lettuces (100-120 Baht/kg). Three most significant distribution
channels of small farms were retail at farm, middle man and wholesale market while
modern trade, middle man and farm site were three most essential channels for medium
and large farms. Modern trade offered the highest consumer prices while local market
provided lowest consumer prices.
For present investment, in 1 rai area, NFT and DRFT had total investment of up to 2
million Baht while DFT had lower investment cost at about 1 million Baht. The costs of
lettuces production were 33.84, 39.95 and 42.13 Baht/kg from NFT, DFT and DRFT,
respectively. The cost of Asian vegetables production under DRFT was 31.57 Baht/kg.
DFT had shortest payback period. However, NFT appeared to be the most desirable
projects and least sensitive project. DRFT for Asian vegetables seemed to be better option than used it for lettuces production. |
| Year | 2009 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agribusiness Management (AB) |
| Chairperson(s) | Salokhe, Vilas M. ; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Athapol Noomhorm;Soni, Peeyush ;Anal, Anil K. ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Fellowship; |