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Since 2000, farmers in Northeast Thailand have planted more than 5,000 sq km of rubber on land previously devoted to agriculture. The expansion of rubber led to a significant increase in tree cover in Northeast Thailand. Rubber prices peaked in 2011 and since then farmers have had to adjust to lower prices. Little research has documented how farmers responded to low rubber prices. This paper seeks to describe how small-scale rubber farmers use fertilizer in a region that did not historically grow rubber du ring a period of low rubber prices. We collected data from structured interviews with 29 farmers in Subsomboon village in Khon Kaen province, Northeast Thailand. Most farmers reported that they reduced fertilizer costs by reducing the number of times they applied fertilizer, as well as changing to cheaper brands and/or using organic fertilizer. The majority of farmers still used large amounts of chemical fertilizers, either alone or in combination with commercial organic fertilizers with unknown nutrient contents. The N and P20s contents of the chemical fertilizer alone were consistent with national recommendations (82.0-137.6 kg N/ha/y and 33.3-97.7 kg P20s/ha/y). Thai national recommendations for rubber, however, were developed for rubber plantations in traditional planting area where rubber has been grown for over a century, and are considered by many experts to be high. The study's findings indicated that small scale rubber farmers would benefit from recommendations for fertilizer applications that respond to variations in rubber prices, while taking into account the diversity of individual household characteristics and goals. To optimize recommendations that sustain the growth and yield of rubber, limit the effects of environmental externalities, and maintain rubber's profitability, policymakers require detailed information on the diverse situations in which rubber is grown. This requires experimental research that tests a variety of fertilization practices under different biological and physical conditions.

This research aim to study changes in rubber production and farmers' practices at Subsomboon village, Doonsard sub-district, Kranuan district, Khon Kaen province since the promotion of rubber plantation. Data were collected by using literature review, semi-structured interview (SSI) with Key-informants (KIs) using sub-topics and interviewing with a sample of 30 accessible rubber farmers using a closed ended questionnaire. It was found that rubber production in the area could be divided into 3 periods including the first period: Beginning of rubber cultivation (1992-2003) farmers started rubber plantation with government support for the production inputs and knowledge, the second period: Rubber booming (2004-2011) where the area of rubber dramatically increased mostly by farmer' s own investment and partly supported by the government and the third period: Declining of rubber (2012-present), when limited expansion of new rubber area was farmers own investment and no rubber replanting in some farms. Moreover, the study found that there are different practices among farmers at each period showing the adaptation of farmers in their plots according to the situation of family condition and rubber production in each period.