Management based on POLC framework to promote the adoption and use of beneficial bacterium Bacillus megaterium for growers in Thailand

Empowering the groups of people and organizations involves 1) planning, 2) organizing, 3) leading, and 4) controlling. This four-step process is called POLC framework which will be applied to manage the group of growers in Thailand. There are four main stakeholders, such as target growers, local agricultural staffs, sub-district headmen, and researchers. In this study, there are nine target growers, three local agricultural staffs, two sub-district headmen, and four researchers who have participated in the project to promote the adoption and use of beneficial bacterium Bacillus megaterium in horticultural crops, such as vegetables and fruits, based on POLC management framework in two provinces, Uttaradit and Phetchaburi. A purposive sampling technique was used to select these nine growers. The interview was conducted using in-depth interview and focus group from January to December 2019. The data from the in-depth interview and the focus group were used to score the relative role of each stakeholder in the project and describe the key activities in which each stakeholder must carry out under POLC framework accordingly. Based on the score of relative role of each stakeholder, the target growers played the most active leading role. The score also corresponded with the number of the key activities. The local agricultural officers are the “change agent”, while the researchers are the catalyst assisting the “change agent”. The sub-district headmen are the facilitator of the project. For a project to succeed, there must be a common understanding of the plan, stakeholder roles, and approach to management of the process.