To assist farmers in shifting from subsistence to commercial agriculture, the government of Laos has promoted farmer organizations throughout the country. The farmer production groups have gradually transformed and emerged into strong cooperatives or associations. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors affecting farmers’ participation in FPGs. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. A total of 140 respondents participated in a field survey in three kumb ban (village groups) in the Xepon District. Descriptive statistics and binary logistics regression models were used to analyze the data. The results show that the education level of household head, farmland size, access to credit, and perceived trust for farmer production group membership are significantly different from those who are non-members of the groups. However, non-members of FPGs face more constrain in accessing the market, as compared to the members of FPGs. The empirical results from the Binary Logit Model indicate that education level of headed household, farmland size, access to credit, perceived trust, and constraint to market are factors that significantly determine farmers’ participation in FPGs. This study contributes to the empirical literature by providing a better understanding of farmer participation in the groups. The government of Laos should consider and promote access to credit, farmer learning, and market integration to improve farmers' participation in FPGs.

ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
LITERATURE REVIEW
MATERIAL AND METHOD
    Brief description of the study area
    Sampling procedures and data collection
    Analytical Techniques
    Logistic regression model
RESULTS AND CONSIDERATION
    Characteristics of respondents and variables summary
    Comparison between membership and non-membershipcharacteristics
    Determinants of farmers’ decisions to participate inthe FPGs
CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
적 요
REFERENCES

• Phoudthavong Sengsouriya(강원대학교 농업자원경제학전공) | 푸다봉 센구리야
• Phonesavard Sibounnavong(라오스 사완나켓대학교 수확 후 기술 및 제품 홍보학과) | 퍼언사밧 시분아봉
• Jonghwa Kim(강원대학교 농업자원경제학전공) | 김종화 Corresponding author