From Maximization to Optimization: A Paradigm Shift in Rice Production in Thailand to Improve Overall Quality of Life of Stakeholders

Table 1

Differences in management practice between the current rice farming system introduced by the Weekend Holiday Farmers’ Network and the conventional system widely used by Thai farmers.

Practice/component	Rice farming systems
	Weekend Holiday Farmers’	Conventional
Period of drying paddy (Figure 2)	Tillering (and elongation/booting) and ripening stages	Elongation/booting stage or no distinctive drying and before the ripening stage in which the paddy is dried
Transplanting	Mechanical transplanting with 30 cm spacing	Direct seeding
Fertilizers	Organic > chemical	Chemical ⋙ organic
Pesticides
Insect and weed control	On demand, minimized, biopesticides (fungi etc.)	Scheduled and occasionally topped up
Snail control	Tea seed powder	Highly toxic pesticides or drainage at/after transplanting
Other biotechnologies
Ducks	Often introduced	Seldom introduced
Earthworms and Azolla	Active due to low toxicity	Extinct due to toxicity