Abstract:
Technology development in the agricultural sector is important in the development
of Thailand's economy. The purpose of this research was to study the approach of
guidelines for future agricultural technology development to increase productivity in
the agricultural sector in order to develop a structural equation model. The research
applied mixed-methodology. Qualitative research by in depth interview from 9 experts and focus group with 11 successful businesspersons for approve this model. The quantitative data gather from firm, in the 500 of agricultural sector by using questionnaire, using statistical tests of descriptive analysis, inferential analysis, and multivariate analysis. The research found guidelines for future agricultural technology development to increase productivity in the agricultural sector composed of 4 latents. The most important item of each latents were as following. 1) Agrobiology Technology (X̅ = 4.41), in important item as choose seeds that for disease resistance and tolerate the environment to suit the cultivation area, 2) Environmental Assessment (X̅ = 4.37), in important item as survey of cultivated areas according to topography with geographic information system, 3) Agricultural
Innovation (X̅ = 4.30), in important item as technology reduces operational procedures, reduce the workforce and can reduce operating costs, and 4) Modern Management Systems (X̅ = 4.13), in important item as grouping and manage as a cooperative to mega farms. In addition, the hypothesis test found that the difference in manufacturing firm sizes. Medium & Small size and Large size revealed overall aspects that were significantly different at the level of 0.05.
The analysis of the developed structural equation model found that there was
in accordance and fit with the empirical data and passed the evaluation criteria. Its
Chi-square probability level, relative Chi-square, the goodness of fit index, and root
mean square error of approximation were 0.062, 1.165, 0.961, and 0.018, respectively.