Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Vol. 6(2), pp. 012-020, April 2017 ISSN 2327-3151 ©2017 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Factors Influencing Tea Farmers’ Decision to Adopt Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices in Northern Vietnam

HO Van Bac^1,2, Teruaki Nanseki³* and Yosuke Chomei³

¹Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan

²Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, Vietnam

³Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan

 *Correspondence author. E-mail: nanseki@agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp.

Accepted 6 March, 2017

Abstract

This study investigates the determinants affecting farmers’ adoption of Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP) for tea production that involves decisions to convert to new farming methods and allocate farmland. We employed a binary logit model and a tobit model to examine relevant factors influencing the decisions to convert and allocate farmland, respectively, for VietGAP tea production in Northern Vietnam. A total of 326 tea farmers, including 116 adopters and 210 non-adopters of the VietGAP method, were surveyed in the study area. Estimation results of the econometric models revealed significant and positive impacts of variables such as number of family laborers, tea farm size, tea price, access to irrigation systems, ratio of tea income, and attendance of VietGAP training on the above mentioned decisions. Although the variable of machinery status (mechanization) had a positive and significant effect on farmers’ decision to expand tea-producing farmland under VietGAP standards, other important variables such as farming experience and age of the tea farm negatively affected the conversion decision and farmland allocation. This study’s findings provide useful information for policy making regarding how VietGAP tea production should be implemented and disseminated in tea-producing areas where tea farming significantly contributes to households’ total income. Moreover, government intervention to overcome the negative effects of small farm size and investment in active irrigation systems is significant for converting and expanding VietGAP tea production in the long run. Lastly, providing suitable, labor saving mechanization options will be a good incentive for farmers to increase land allocation toward VietGAP production.

Keywords: VietGAP tea production, conversion decision, farmland allocation, logit and tobit models, Northern Vietnam