In this study, the objects of the study were to know the rice production guidelines in line with the farmers' production trajectory in the Upper Northern Thailand, and to know the efficiency of farmers' rice production under the production guidelines that are consistent with the production trajectory in the Upper Northern Thailand, by using Focus Group method and analyzing the production efficiency with the Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model in the production efficiency analysis with 1 yield factor and 8 inputs, the efficiency level was divided into 5 levels (least - most) and budget analysis was used to analyze farmers' cost and yields to find the cost-effectiveness of production. From farmers who planted rice in the large plots of 1,200 people using a unique method. For the study found that the method for producing rice that is consistent with the farmers' production trajectory is to use the Deep Cultivation method, which makes it easier to care for weeds and pests of farmland than those of paddy-sown field. All farmers agree that farming in seeding rice is transplanted produces better yields, but they choose to use sown as the labor cost of the field where seeding rice is transplanted is higher than that of the farm. In addition, seeding rice is transplanted cultivation is also environmentally friendly. However, a field where seeding rice is transplanted was able to handle the production process through the use of barter labor, and had by-products as well.
For the analysis of production efficiency, it was found that Farmers in large plots of rice had higher production efficiency compared to the previous production before farmers adjusted the field method, most of which had the highest efficiency. There are only four maximum input slack factors, and most should be mitigated by a few factors, especially production workers and chemical fertilizers, while the overall economy of scale is in the effect of scale (IRS) range.
For the cost and return analysis, it was found that farmers in large plots received the highest average return of 5,121.83 Baht per Rai, which is higher than the previous model with an average net return of 4,382.41 Baht per Rai due to lower production costs combined with higher productivity. By adjusting the model of the Deep Cultivation method, the yield was higher and no farmer suffered a loss when the input slack was lowered, the average net return was slightly higher. While farmers with moderate production efficiency did not change in costs, they did not change their yields. Therefore, farmers should raise awareness of the excessive use of inputs forfarmers in order to generate higher net returns without relying on the price level or the quantity of unqualified produce.