Abstract:
The research attempts to estimate and compare the heath cost from chemical pesticide use of the burley tobacco and rice production. Additionally, it analyzes the factors affecting the health risks from pesticide use to cultivate the burley tobacco. A sample of 80 tobacco growers and 50 farmers are randomly selected from the population of Tubpeung and Banrai Subdistrict, Srisumrong district, Sukhothai province according to a research methodology. As a main result, the insecticide is in the type of highly hazardous regarding the criteria of WHO, the approximately 58.75% of total tobacco grower use. Unsurprisingly, due to the high utilization rate of insecticide, pesticide and herbicide in the tobacco production, the estimated health cost of is about 369.19 Baht per Rai. With respect to a statistically significance difference, it is less than the health cost from pesticide use of the rice production. On the other hand, the estimated logit model implies a year increase in the pesticide use increases the probability of illness of the unhealthy user approximately 0.88 per cent, given that spraying of pesticide to a period of 20 years. The policy recommendations are as follows: (i) in each year Thailand Tobacco Monopoly should officially publish the toxicity of chemicals and pesticides for making decisions of the tobacco grower. (ii) To increase productivity, not only to total revenue increase. It comes with a hidden cost of health from the chemical pesticide use increased. (iii) Bio pesticide should be applied to the tobacco farming. (iv) The rice is one of the options for alternative crops in the district. Nonetheless, the volatility of the price of rice continues to be a major factor in the reduction of tobacco planted area in the long run.
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