PARTICIPATORY MODELLING AND SIMULATION OF THE RICE SEED SYSTEM IN NORTHEAST THAILAND

The Thai rice seed system is undergoing an important reform. In this context, we organised a series of participatory modelling sessions with stakeholders to elicitate farmers' needs and decision making processes concerning rice varieties and seeds supply in Ubon Ratchathani province. A conceptual model in UML diagrams was produced and partly implemented as an ABM. The ABM models on a yearly time step the requirements and the allocation of seeds for the two main varieties between farmers and public or private institutions at village, district, and provincial levels. A prototype model was presented and discussed with representatives of the main institutions concerned by the current reform. After this validation by users, they proposed possible future scenarios to be simulated and assessed with them.