Abstract
This research aimed to study the land structures in rubber areas, land evolution and future trends of land management, including understanding the limitations of land factors in the rubber production system. The study was conducted in 2000, in Na Thawi and Chana districts, in Songkhla province, using both secondary and primary data. The study found that after settlement the land use pattern had generally changed from forest area to shifting cultivation or fruit trees and finally to rubber. Most of the farmers indicated a preference for growing rubber trees to other crops in the future.
The study showed that eighty-five percent of family leaders were male and eighty-eight percent were married. Seventy-one percent had finished grade 4-7 primary school education and sixty-four percent were born in their village. The average family size was 4 with 2 agricultural laborers. Most had a small household with an average farm size of 3.2 hectares, divided into small dispersed plots. Agricultural land was usually acquired through the family, although recently more has been acquired through purchasing, with twenty-nine percent of current land having been purchased. Land tenure was in the form of ownership. The land ownership documents have been changed increasingly in the last period to the certificates of land utilization (N.S.3) and Title Deeds, however, very few farmers have land ownership security. There is still a large amount of agricultural land, about fifty-three percent of the total, for which there are no legal documents. This lack of land ownership security, the large amount of landlessness, and small size of farm households appear to be the major limitations of land factors in the rubber production system.
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