Maintenance and Repair Practices of Agricultural Engines by Local Agricultural Technicians a Course Focusing on the Use of Agricultural Machinery in Thailand

Abstract

This research aimed to study 1) personal and socioeconomic factors, 2) knowledge of agricultural engine operation principles of local agricultural technicians, 3) practices in maintaining and repairing agricultural engines of local agricultural technicians, and 4) relationship between personal, economic, and social background factors and maintenance and repair practices of agricultural machinery among local agricultural technicians under the specialized curriculum for agricultural machinery use in Thailand. The sample consisted of 146 people by questionnaire. The statistics used were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and chi-square statistics. The results found 1) farmers were male, with an average age of 38.45 years, more than half held a bachelor's degree or higher. Income from repairing agricultural machinery was 4,321.90 baht per year, expense from repairing agricultural machinery was 1,921.23 baht per year. Farmer had experience in repairing agricultural machinery was 0.62 years, number of workers was 1 person, 2) The knowledge of general working principles of agricultural engines was at a high level (  = 23.56) 3) The practice of maintaining and repairing agricultural engines was at a sometimes level (  = 2.29) and 4) The practice of maintenance and repair of agricultural engines by local agricultural technicians in a course focusing on the use of agricultural machinery was related to income from repairing agricultural machinery, experience in repairing agricultural machinery, and number of household laborers was significancely at the level of 0.05. Therefore, government should promote the development of local agricultural technicians to increase skills, potential in maintaining and repairing agricultural engines efficiently.