Main photo: The 12-rai of the pilot project Suphanburi’s Song Phi Nong District.
Although Thailand is home to a growing number of AgTech startups that leverage deep technology to enhance the efficiency, profitability, and sustainability of agricultural practices, farmers are still hesitant about adopting technology.
The reasons are many and include education, age, lack of experience, limited access to credit, and inadequate extension services.
To overcome this problem, the National Innovation Agency (NIA) has created a new farming model that will enable farmers to get hands-on experience through a participatory approach.
Gifted with an open mind, Chuancheun Boondej is a pilot candidate for the NIA project, allowing her 12-rai rice farm in Suphanburi’s Song Phi Nong District to serve as an experimental model for sustainable rice farming practices.
She also is President of the Agricultural Group for Community Rice Seeds, Suphanburi Agricultural Settlement.
Chuancheun says that this project is offering her a new perspective and helping her move away from the traditional rice farming techniques she learned from her parents.
It doesn’t matter how long farmers have been growing rice, she adds, they now have to change their perception and be open-minded to ideas.
Modern technologies and innovations have not been widely adopted by most smallholders who worry about the investment, complicated use, and if they will earn their money back. .
"Awareness campaigns are not enough to persuade farmers to adopt new technologies. That's why we have to look for a method that allows farmers to engage and see the results firsthand,” says NIA's Executive Director Dr Krithpaka Boonfeung.
Photo: NIA's Executive Director Dr Krithpaka Boonfeung wants farmer to engage and see results of the sustainable farming.
With funding support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), NIA has partnered with five Thai AgTech startups, namely BIOM, ListenField, Easy Rice Digital Technology, Born Cooperation (Thailand)., and Warichfoods to introduce a sustainable rice farming model.
The pilot is part of the AgTech Connect series to promote the adoption of technologies and innovation from Thai AgTech startups and catalyze transformation to precision agriculture.
The 12-rai of the pilot project has been divided into 3 plots for different rice farming practices.
The first is being used for organic farming, the second uses chemical fertilizer adapted to the results of a soil nutrient test, and the third is the existing cultivation technique.
The experiment with growing the Pathum Thani 1 rice variety on the three plots started in August and the harvest is slated for December..
Dr Krithpaka explained that the model doesn’t merely offer farmers an opportunity to test technologies and innovations by themselves, but also leverages technologies from upstream to downstream in the farming practices.
ListenField provides the soil nutrition analysis using Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) that can help farmers understand soil conditions via the FarmAI dashboard for each field including soil texture, nutrients, soil chemistry, and water.
Photo: Soil nutrition analysis can help farmers understand soil conditions.
Farmers can then adjust fertilizer and make cropping decisions based on the results of soil analysis.
ListenField also uses satellite imagery analysis to determine crop health and growth performance every 5-10 days, which helps the farmers see whether crops have enough fertilizers at a particular location.
Fertilizers can then be added or reduced to optimize use. Finally, essential data for production traceability will be provided.
BIOM, a spin-off biotechnology research company from the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, provides microbial biostimulants to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Photo: Microbial biostimulants helps reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
After the harvest, EASYRICE will provide rice quality inspection for farmers before delivery to a rice mill. AI-based technology is used to reduce the likelihood of errors in visual inspection, as well as increase accuracy and reliability.
Warichfoods, meanwhile, will support farmers in developing rice processing products through research, as well as production and packaging design.
Finally, Born Cooperation (Thailand) will help farmers to promote rice products via the online market.
The aim is to produce a better quality of rice, labelling, packaging, and content to attract consumers.
Dr Krithpaka added that when the three rice fields are harvested in December, farmers will be able to see the difference. If this initiative is successful, ADB is likely to support NIA in expanding the project to other areas.
In the meantime, NIA will discuss with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives the best ways to accelerate the adoption of agricultural technology and innovation.
Today, drones are widely used for rice operations such as spraying pesticides or fertilizers on crops, and scattering seeds to lower labor costs associated with traditional crop production practices.
Precision agriculture is another essential innovation in sustainable agriculture, and requires the adoption of new technologies, like AI, machine learning, IoT, robotics, and satellite mapping, which is why helping farmers to understand then adopt technology is so important.
Photo courtesy of ListenField
