How labor organization affects technological adoption. The Case of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in durian, tangerine and longan production, Thailand

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a labor and skill intensive technology and adoption is likely to be affected by the organization and opportunity costs of labor. Labor organization and adoption of IPM techniques is to a certain extend crop specific but also driven by hired labor costs and the opportunity costs of family labor. Our current research on labor organization and IPM adoption among durian farmers in Chanterburi, Thailand, considers farmers well trained in IPM with a high degree of diversity in labor organization. One may argue that the results about labor organization and adoption of IPM are crop specific. The aim of the project continuation is to include additional crops as well as regional differences in labor costs in the theoretical and empirical model developed by the applicants. Tangerine and longan production in Chiang Mai, Thailand are suitable examples. Tangerine production in Chiang Mai is characterized by a relatively high amount of pest problems, while longan production shows a low amount of pest problems. Both production systems benefit from a high availability of casual labor, migrants from Myanmar, at low cost.