Commercialization Among Poor and Non-Poor Farmers: The Case of Lychee Farming in Luc Ngan District, BacGiang Province, Vietnam

The present study analyzes the extent of output commercialization among poor and non-poor lychee farmers in Luc Ngan District, BacGiang Province, Vietnam. The two groups of farmers are compared in terms of socio-economic characteristics and degree of participation in the lychee market. OLS regression analysis is used to analyze the factors affecting the degree of output commercialization. Results show that both poor and nonpoor farmers participated actively in the output market, although commercialization index was higher for the non-poor (89.2%) than the poor farmers (86.70%). Age, education, experience of household head, farm size, market information access, crop yield and price of lychee have positive influence on output commercialization. Household size and distance to output market have negative effect. The study recommends that poor farmers should be assisted in terms of enhanced bargaining power through collective marketing and exploration of new markets, support for processing and value-addition, and improvement of Luc Ngan’s market information and extension system