Thailand: Horti Asia campaign tours Kanchanaburi province
With exceptional insight and understanding of the problem, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has provided ‘the royal initiative for the New Agricultural Theory’ for small area farming to well-allocated-the use of land and to integrate the water reservoir within the land. This initiative is quite popular amongst Thai farmers because it will allow them to be able to earn enough income all year long through the conduct of the integrated farming system by maximizing material versatility and minimizing costs while getting higher overall production as a part of His Majesty’s initiative toward the sustainable agricultural development for Thai farmers.
The Late King Bhumibol once said that “…I can assure you that the Sufficiency Economy Initiative and the New Agricultural Theory will make Thailand prosper, but we need to be diligent and patient… (Bureau of the Royal Household, 1999)
VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific and Kehakaset Agricultural Magazine realize the importance of the Thai agricultural industry and His Majesty’s New Agricultural Theory; therefore, we would like to use this royal concept to further develop the capacity of Thai farmers through the organization of the ‘Horti ASIA on the move campaign’ where we will hold free agricultural seminars throughout Thailand to enhance farmers’ knowledge on agricultural business development and the Sufficiency Economy under His Majesty’s royal intention. The first pilot seminar was organized during October 13-14, 2016 in Kanchanaburi province.
On the first day, the Horti ASIA team led a group of local media to visit the Sufficiency Economy Village, the Learning Center on the New Agricultural Theory at Bannongsampran, Wang Dong, Kanchanaburi province. Mr. Pichet Charoenporn, a Village Chief who is in charge of this project, shared with us that the New Agricultural Theory is the step-by-step to develop the agriculture through the practical use of Sufficiency Economy idea in the applicable area where the land is divided into 4 parts at the proportion of 30:30:30:10. The first 30% is used to create a household water resource through the building of a reservoir or digging a pond to hold rain water in the rainy season while irrigate the crops during drought season as well as to do some fisheries for further income. The second 30% of the land is devoted to crop farming, including rice, sugar cane, Napier grass (a feeding grass for animal widely used for elephants). This will be another great source of income for farmers. The third 30% is divided to grow horticultural crops for household consumption and selling such as fruits, plants, vegetables, herbs etc. to generate more income. The last remaining 10 % of the land is used for building a house, transportation paths and other tenements for growing household vegetables and raising other livestock. The aquatic animals being raised in the pond is more than 2,500 fishes such as green catfish, redtail catfish, striped catfish, Mekong giant catfish, which are herbivores. In addition, there are 225 breeder chickens, 20 good quality of breeder hen with the egg incubators, 220 ducks, 20 pit pigs and they are building a frog farm for 500 frogs. The project has been launched since February 27, 2016 under the space of 20 acres which has already success for 75%. The New Agricultural Theory by King Bhumibol Adulyadej has helped Thai farmers to earn sufficient income to support their family; daily by selling poultry eggs, monthly by growing short-term crops such as tomatoes, vegetables, or yearly from selling livestock, fishes, and fruits.
On the second day of the program, the topic was ‘the agricultural opportunities of Thai farmers and the learning of Taiwan’s Agricultural Technology model to Thai farmers’, on the 5th floor of Kanchanaburi province town hall. The seminar was presided by Kanchanaburi Governor, Mr. Sak Somboonto giving a speech on the collaboration of this project and the report of Kanchanaburi Agricultural development by Mr. Montri Choejai, Head of production support and development on behalf of the Provincial Agricultural representative. Then Professor Prem Na Songkhla, Editor in Chief of Kehakaset Agricultural Magazine, and Mr. Chinakit Viphavakit, , Project manager of Horti ASIA 2017 from VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific, shared with the seminar how to adapt Taiwan’s Agricultural Technology model with Thai agriculture to reduce costs, increase production and gain more business opportunities. Last but not least, Mr. Porrameth Sompong, Marketing Manager of Netafim Thailand Co.Ltd. (Netafim is the world leading company in agricultural irrigation from Israel), suggested the micro irrigation solution for sustainable development in the future. This seminar were attended by a big number of farmers and local media in Kanchanaburi and from nearby provinces. For the next seminar, please visit www.horti-asia.com for more information.
Horti ASIA 2017 will be held during March 15-17, 2017 at BITEC, Thailand, you are most welcomed to participate in the event to learn new knowledge to further strengthening agricultural businesses.