Author(s): Ferdoushi Ahmed, M. S. Mia, Paratta Prommee & Onanong Longphichai
Agriculture is considered as one of the important economic sectors in Thailand. The present study focuses on the current scenario of agriculture in Thailand. The study also highlights the role of Thai agriculture in rural poverty reduction. This study extracted secondary data from various sources including the Department of Statistics, Thailand, Ministry of Agriculture, Thailand, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), FAOSTAT, National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), and National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). The findings revealed that agricultural production in Thailand has improved considerably over the past 40 years. Rapid transformation and modernization in the agriculture sector in the last three decades were considered as the most important reason. Consequently, the contribution of agriculture to national GDP has increased gradually during the past few years. It was also found that Thai agriculture played an important role in reducing rural poverty in the country. The findings of the present study provides an insight about current scenario of Thai agriculture that might be useful for the policy makers to redesign the agricultural policies and plans so that agriculture sector can play a more significant role in reducing rural poverty in the country.