25/04/2018

AGRICULTURAL
MECHANISATION IN 1. CONTEXT
THAILAND

Rob Cramb
University of Queensland

AGRICULTURAL LAND USE

MONSOONAL (Am)
Wet Season May-Oct
Dry Season Nov-Feb

NORTHEAST
Sandy soils
CENTRAL PLAIN
Fertile clay soils Mainly rainfed
Single cropping
30% irrigated
Farm size 3.2 ha
Double cropping
Farm size 3.7 ha
EQUATORIAL (Af)

AGRICULTURE IS DOMINATED
BY SMALL-MEDIUM HOLDINGS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN
THAILAND SINCE 1960s

Farm size (ha) No. of farms Area (ha)

Sector 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
< 0.3 331,743 34,828
GNI PER CAPITA (CURRENT USD x ‘000)
0.3-0.8 1,045,756 606,487
Economy 140 380 790 2,740 2,790 5,690
0.9-1.4 817,473 958,985 SHARE OF GDP (%)
1.6-3.0 1,606,257 3,467,294 Agriculture 32 26 18 10 9 10
1.6 - 6.2Mean
ha farm51%
size = 3.2 ha 51%
3.2-6.2 1,393,786 6,002,413 Industry 22 28 32 37 38 37

6.4-9.4 444,160 3,334,890 Services 46 46 50 53 53 53

SHARE OF EMPLOYMENT (%)
9.6-22.2 244,665 3,123,534
Agriculture 68 65 55 44 38
22.4-79.8 26,094 855,625
Industry 11 12 18 20 21
80 > 1,633 275,732 Services 21 23 27 36 41
Total 5,911,567 18,659,786

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CRUDE BIRTH AND DEATH RURAL AND URB AN

RATES, 1960-2014 POPULATION, 1950-2015

POPULATION
GROWTH RATE
IN 2014 = 0.4%

EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE WAGE TRENDS 1980-1995

1971-2014

USD 1.00 = THB 30

OVERVIEW

• Since 1960s, rapid and extensive mechanisation through

locally-adapted, locally-made, small-scale machinery

2. AGRICULTURAL • First wave – affordable, small-scale, power-intensive,

multipurpose machines, owned and operated by smallholders
MECHANISATION • Axial-flow low-lift pumps
• 2WT for paddy and dryland cultivation, transport, powering other
machines
• Second wave – larger-scale, control-intensive, specific-purpose
machines, owned and operated by large farmers/contractors
• Threshers
• Combine harvesters

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DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPLY OF

MACHINERY

• Many small-medium enterprises and a few large firms

• Small engineering workshops of 4-5 workers in 50 m2
• Freely copied and adapted imported machinery
• Close proximity to rice farmers in Central Plain
• Large firms with 100+ workers also sprang up in
industrial provinces north of Bangkok
• Close communication with public-sector engineers
(including IRRI) who shared designs
• Otherwise very little policy support

Rice field

Flexible plastic pipe

Powered by 12 hp
2WT

20 cm x 6 metre
axial flow pump

Irrigation canal

Photo: Scott Justice

RAPID INCREASE IN TWO-

WHEELED TRACTORS

• 90,000 in 1975 to 2.7 million in 2008

• Growth rate of 11%
• One 2WT per 7 ha in 2008

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DECLINE IN DRAUGHT ANIMAL

POWER OWNERSHIP AND USE OF
TRACTORS (2013)

• Buffaloes source of draught power in 2WT 4WT

rice farming before 2WTs No. of holdings using 2,438,848 2,427,001
• 6.4 million in 1982 (peak) % of all holdings 41.3 41.1
• 1.5 million in 2001 Owned by …
• Landholder 1,827,555 (75%) 366,735
• 1.0 million in 2014
• Farmer group 5,631 4,869
• Service provider 643,863 2,056,174 (85%)
• Government agency 1,884 2,966
• Other 14,359 6,361

• 75% of paddy area cultivated by 2WT and 5% by 4WT

• Dryland areas mostly cultivated by contractors with 4WT

MINI COMBINE HARVESTER

THRESHERS AND COMBINE
HARVESTERS

• Development of power threshers in late 1970s

• Blueprints released for commercial production (AED, IRRI)
• Self-propelled Thai thresher developed (2 t/hr), ideal for contractors
• By 2000, 88% of rice farmers used a power thresher
• Development of combine harvesters in late 1980s
• Local firms made small, track-type rice combine harvesters, 0.4-0.9 ha/hr
• By 2000, 35% of rice farms used combine harvesters
• By 2013, 28% of all farms and 54% of rice farms used combine harvesters,
97% through a contractor

COMBINE HARVESTER
MACHINERY USED FOR RICE
PRODUCTION (2000)

Machine Capacity Source Price Quantity

(THB)
4W tractor <45 hp Japan, Europe 800,000 150,383
>45 hp Europe 1,300,000 183,704
2W tractor 9-12 hp Thailand, Japan, China, Korea 50,000 1,753,639
Pump 5-8 hp Thailand, Japan, China 4,500 2,317,392
Thresher 1-2 t/hr Thailand 180,000 76,386
Combine
0.8 ha/hr Thailand 1,500,000 3,000
harvester

USD 1.00 = THB 30

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PRODUCTION OF AGRICULTURAL
MACHINERY (2001)
MACHINERY BUSINESSES (2009)

Item Production Type of machinery No. of

(units/year) businesses
Two-wheeled tractors 80,000 Two-wheeled tractors 275
Large tillage implements 3,000 Tillage equipment 329
Small tillage implements 90,000
Planters 16
Theshing machines 2,000
Combine harvesters 600 Sprayers 447
Hand-operated sprayers 60,000 Harvesters 386
Irrigation pumps 55,000 Other machinery 164
Repairs and maintenance 1,192

EXPORTS OF AGRICULTURAL
MACHINERY

• Exports of agricultural machinery increased EXPLAINING PATTERN OF

more than five times from 2009 to 2014 to MECHANISATION
USD 0.79 billion
• Most important export – 2WT
• Major export destinations were Cambodia,
Myanmar, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia

DEMAND SIDE SUPPLY SIDE

• Agriculture dominated by small-medium landholdings (3 ha)
growing rice and field crops
• Axial-flow pumps saved labour and facilitated irrigation
• Expansion of irrigation and double-cropping of rice in Central
Plain created labour bottleneck in land preparation
• Production for domestic and export markets (elastic demand)
• Industrialisation led to rural-urban migration
• Rapid fertility decline added to rural labour shortage
• Mechanisation driven by farmer demand for small-
scale labour-saving technology for rice and field crops
• Capacity of small and medium engineering workshops to
develop, produce and repair suitable and affordable machines
for farmers (pumps, 2WT)
• Emergence of larger firms producing single-cylinder engines,
locally adapted threshers, harvesters, small 4WT, implements
• Informal interaction with farmers and agricultural engineers
• Policy environment supportive of smallholder agriculture and
agribusiness, including credit for farmers
• Mechanisation driven by small-scale domestic industry
able to freely adapt generic technology to meet
specific needs of farmers, e.g., 2WT to Thai ‘Iron Buffalo’

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PHASES OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

CONCLUSION EXTENSIVE GROWTH INTENSIVE GROWTH

• Mechanisation is widespread on both irrigated and

rainfed croplands, for rice and field crops (sugarcane,
cassava, maize), due to scarcity and cost of labour
• Domestic manufacturing started with local inventions and
adaptations in response to farmer demand
• Small machines (2WT, small harvesters) have spread even
though farm size is relatively large cf. other Asian countries
• Smallholders have benefited by owning multipurpose
machines or hiring machinery services
• Mechanisation largely driven by private sector, with
timely sharing of blueprints and prototypes by public sector

IMPORTS OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL

MACHINERY MACHINERY

• Imports of agricultural machinery tripled

• Agricultural machinery and parts accounted
between 2009 and 2014 to USD 1.11 billion for 7% of imports and 10% of exports of all
• Main sources were Japan, China, and Malaysia machinery and parts in 2014
• Largest imports by value were • Parts and accessories of tractors were the
most important single category of all
• water pumps machinery and parts imports and exports in
• tractor vehicles and parts 2014
• mechanical sprayers

AGRICULTURE IS DOMINATED
BY SMALL-MEDIUM HOLDINGS

Farm size (ha) No. of farms Area (ha)

< 0.3 331,743 34,828
• Early 2WTs had longer handles for turning and controlling tractor in paddy fields
• Initially engines from irrigation pumps, then Japanese firms set up diesel engine factories in
Thailand
0.10.3-0.8
- 1.5 ha 37%
1,045,756 9%
606,487
• Later, steering clutches were provided on many models 0.9-1.4 817,473 958,985
• Tractor gear box and chassis made by many local companies
1.6-3.0 1,606,257 3,467,294
• Factories copied from one another and competed for sales, hence chassis became inexpensive
1.6 - 6.2 ha 51% 51%
• Thai tractor eventually evolved into more standard models with gears and steering clutches 3.2-6.2 1,393,786 6,002,413
• Attachments - mouldboard and disc ploughs, spiked tooth harrows, rotary puddlers, various
types of leveller, and simple trailers.
6.4-9.4 444,160 3,334,890
• Now a power take-off that can drive a rotary tiller and other attachments
• Additionally many farmers use V-belts to connect the stationary tractor engine to power 9.6-22.2 244,665 3,123,534
centrifugal pumps and axial flow pumps, rice threshers, maize shellers etc.
6.322.4-79.8
- 80 ha 12%
26,094
41%
855,625
80 > 1,633 275,732
Total Mean farm size = 3.2 18,659,786
5,911,567 ha

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MECHANISATION OF LAND COMBINE HARVESTER

PREPARATION AND HARVESTING

1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Land preparation method (% of rice area)
Draught animal 60 42 20
Tractors 30 30 54 80
- 2WT 10 15 51 75
- 4WT 20 15 3 5
Land preparation by tractors (% of agricultural land)
Tractors 30 56
% of rice area harvested by combine harvesters
Combines > 35
% of farm holdings using combine harvesters
Combines 28