‘Smart farmers’ face learning curve

[webfact]

‘Smart farmers’ face learning curve

By CHULARAT SAENGPASSA 
THE NATION

 

 

Agriculture ministry’s plan to boost annual income to bt390,000 hit by inefficient practices.

 

SEVERAL CHALLENGES have emerged during the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry’s ongoing efforts to produce “smart farmers” for Thailand. 

 

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya recently said even though up to 12.4 million had registered themselves as smart farmers, there was still a long way to go. 

 

For example, farmers in general still use inappropriate materials for farm production. Many have apparently overused fertilisers and chemicals and, as a result, their costs have soared unnecessarily – meaning problems when crop prices are low.

 

 

According to the Office of Agricultural Economics, rice farmers, for example, spent Bt9,713 to produce a tonne of rice in 2015 – a 6.89 per cent increase from Bt9,087 in 2011. However, the yield per rai increased only 1.36 per cent during the period.

 

Some farmers are still unaware of environmental impacts their farming activities have caused. Few really know about weather updates and other information. 

 

“We will need to educate farmers,” Chatchai emphasised. 

 

His ministry aims to develop 182,077 farmers under the Smart Farming policy. This group will cover three categories – developing smart farmers, smart farmers, and model smart farmers – in the coming year, with a budget of Bt103 million. Activities, including training and educational trips within Thailand and beyond, have been planned to groom these farmers. 

 

Chatchai has hopes that the smart-farming trend will catch on after farmers see the transformation in other farmers who have adopted the practice. 

 

“If our smart farming policy achieves its goal, we should be able to help farmers out of the middle-income trap within the next two decades,” he said. 

 

In other words, the goal is to ensure farmers earn Bt390,000 a year each by 2036.

 

Kanaporn Thanuthamacharoen, who has registered himself as a young smart farmer, said that to be “smart” in the agricultural sector, you should fully understand crops, prepare comprehensive farming systems and supervise the whole production process. 

 

“Apart from this, smart farmers should be good at marketing. They should learn to promote their products and related services,” he said. 

 

He added that smart farming was not just about lowering production costs or leveraging technologies for higher productivity. 

“There are things that are much, much more [important] than that,” Kanaporn said. 

 

This 36-year-old farmer has been educated in the law both during his undergraduate and master-degree years. Following his graduation, he worked as a research assistant at the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Programme as well as at Chiang Mai University. 

 

In early 2016, he left desk jobs behind to return to his hometown and start farming. 

 

“My family owns about 17 rai [2.7 hectares] of land,” Kanaporn said from his home in Chiang Mai province. 

 

He said his mother had grown various types of plants, including lychee, bamboo and mango. After studying these plant types, Kanaporn looked around and found that there were plenty of lychees and mangoes in the market. 

 

“There are so many competitors in those fields,” he pointed out. 

 

He researched further and concluded that there were just a handful of black-pepper farmers in Thailand. So, Kanaporn acted on his idea to tap into the less competitive field of farming. While he obtained a good species from the Huai Hong Khrai Royal Development Study Centre, his fresh black pepper did not fetch a good price. 

 

“So, I started experimenting with how to process my crop. I searched for tips on the Internet, checking both Thai and foreign sources. Now, my dried black pepper has become a famous OTOP (One Tambon One Product) product,” Kanaporn said proudly. 

 

OTOP is an initiative that encourages the development of local products for widespread distribution. Black pepper from Kanaporn’s farmland is sold in nice packages under his “Aum-Hum” brand. 

 

Buoyed by his success, Kanaporn has now taken a step further in experimenting with coffee, corn and also home-stay services. 

“I have lately registered my participation in the Young Smart Farmer project in the hope of getting mentors and advisors. Under this project, I will receive training in the coming January,” he said. 

 

Kanaporn welcomed the project because it opened channels for farmers to exchange information and share experiences. 

Decharut Sukkumnoed, a lecturer at the Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Economics, said he agreed with the launch of the smart farming policy.

 

“It is an appropriate solution. As soon as about 10 per cent of farmers become smart farmers, there are good hopes that they will drive the rest in the same direction,” he said. 

 

The lecturer urged farmers to actively embrace learning opportunities, access to information and marketing/sales support that the government now offers. 

 

Decharut said he believed that members of the younger generation people who did not like the city lifestyle could easily become smart farmers, as they were familiar with IT tools including social media. In his eyes, older farmers also have a good chance of transforming themselves into smart farmers, with support from the government. 

 

“Authorities can encourage them via tax incentives … and with farming applications,” he said. He suggested that weather apps, for example, should be improved to provide detailed updates at sub-district levels not just for provinces. 

 

“We need to spend money on the development of such apps so that farmers have solid information to plan with,” he said. 

 

Decharut said smart farming could provide hope for farmers that they will earn higher income. 

 

“When the country’s agricultural sector is strong, domestic consumption will be robust, sustaining the Thai economy,” he said. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30331443

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-11-13

[halloween]

I can suggest the method most likely to succeed in raising farmers income to Bt390,000 a year each by 2036. Massive inflation.

[ramrod711]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Buoyed by his success, Kanaporn has now taken a step further in experimenting with coffee, corn and also home-stay services. 

“I have lately registered my participation in the Young Smart Farmer project in the hope of getting mentors and advisors. Under this project, I will receive training in the coming January,” he said. 

Sounds like a good program, as in all walks of life, young people are the future. Anything that can be done to promote innovation, good practices and release from the attitude that because your family has "always done it this way" it must be the right way, is a step in the right direction.

[khwaibah]

 

The government need to get off its arse and help those farmers in isaan. The Young Smart Farmer project  has been tried all ready in this area. Just saying.

 

 

 

 

[Get Real]

I guess people must be willing to learn things too. Just not say: "I´ve been doing like this all my life"

[seajae]

hard to do when the majority simply refuse to accept what they do is not right, ingrained methods that are inefficient remain stuck with these farmers. If they actually tried to implement these ideas they would work but with their whinge of it being "too hard" and the old methods being much easier for them they refuse to accept it. Not being able to see the bigger picture as well as cant be bothered to do any research doesnt help, as we can see in the report when someone actually does these things it benefits them financially as we have seen from other active younger farmers that tried something new, much easier for them to blame the govt and expect it to continually bail them out than it is to do something  for themselves.

[yellowboat]

When producing something, banks would get involved with consultation.  30 years ago, was in China and our bank showed up.  They looked at our assembly line and asked, why it was moving so slow.  They did calculations showing how much we were losing.  Same needs to happen in farming.  It does not seem like anyone is serious about making money.  There is a world food shortage.  Now is the best time to be a farmer. 

[Enoon]

54 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

When producing something, banks would get involved with consultation.  30 years ago, was in China and our bank showed up.  They looked at our assembly line and asked, why it was moving so slow.  They did calculations showing how much we were losing.  Same needs to happen in farming.  It does not seem like anyone is serious about making money.  There is a world food shortage.  Now is the best time to be a farmer. 

 

Now is a good time to be a massive agribusiness.

 

It is not, and never has been, a good time to be what are little more than subsistence farmers.

 

The decision to keep so many people "in the fields" was a huge

mistake, condemning vast numbers of people to a life of near/actual poverty and blighting the countries economic, political and social development.

 

The worst, violent, consequences of that policy will reveal themselves in the coming years.

 

 

 

[halloween]

2 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

Now is a good time to be a massive agribusiness.

 

It is not, and never has been, a good time to be what are little more than subsistence farmers.

 

The decision to keep so many people "in the fields" was a massive mistake, condemning vast numbers of people to a life of near poverty and blighting the countries economic, political and social development.

 

The worst, violent, consequences of that policy will reveal themselves in the coming years.

 

 

 

The consequences have been felt for decades, with poor farmers willing to vote in whoever promises them the biggest handout, and corrupt governments unwilling to take measures that would destroy their voter base.

[Enoon]

12 minutes ago, halloween said:

The consequences have been felt for decades, with poor farmers willing to vote in whoever promises them the biggest handout, and corrupt governments unwilling to take measures that would destroy their voter base.

 

They would, no doubt, have been equally or more willing to vote for a government that provided them with a framework that allowed them to "advance" as did the people of Japan, Taiwan, Korea and, most dramatically of late, China.

 

But it was never the plan for them to advance.

 

The plan was to keep as many of them as possible in the fields.

 

Nobody wanted to change that, nobody wants to change it.

 

 

 

Out.

 

 

[Eric Loh]

15 minutes ago, halloween said:

The consequences have been felt for decades, with poor farmers willing to vote in whoever promises them the biggest handout, and corrupt governments unwilling to take measures that would destroy their voter base.

That accounts for the reasons why the rubber farmers in the south keep voting in the Dem Party.

[ratcatcher]

8 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

They would, no doubt, have been equally or more willing to vote for a government that provided them with a framework that allowed them to "advance" as did the people of Japan, Taiwan, Korea and, most dramatically of late, China.

But it was never the plan for them to advance.

The plan was to keep as many of them as possible in the fields.

Nobody wanted to change that, nobody wants to change it.

 

Out.

Sorry to say, but you are absolutely correct!

[sweatalot]

I guess the wide spread mindset in Thailand will be a big hindrance to this project. But there is hope - if some farmers get smart and learn and make considerable income, other famers will see that and copy them.

The greed for money  part of the Thai mindset will be helpful and make the project working in the end of the day.

[FritsSikkink]

3 hours ago, khwaibah said:

 

The government need to get off its arse and help those farmers in isaan. The Young Smart Farmer project  has been tried all ready in this area. Just saying.

 

 

 

 

Those farmers should go to school and learn something before they start doing the same like other before them for more than 100 years (which doesn't work anymore).

[yellowboat]

3 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

They would, no doubt, have been equally or more willing to vote for a government that provided them with a framework that allowed them to "advance" as did the people of Japan, Taiwan, Korea and, most dramatically of late, China.

 

But it was never the plan for them to advance.

 

The plan was to keep as many of them as possible in the fields.

 

Nobody wanted to change that, nobody wants to change it.

 

 

 

Out.

 

 

Don't go referencing other Asian countries now, as we all know Thailand's troubles are uniquely Thai and cannot accept outcomes from its neighbors.   I, on other hand, applaud your references.   

[marko kok prong]

have to focus on the younger geeneration,the old farmers,are set in their ways and largely uneduacated and will not change.

[mfd101]

People learn by example, particularly when the example is clearly prospering.

 

And the people who learn fastest can be surprising. In my family's case it was 1 of my BILs (age now 31) & my FIL (age now 71) who picked up my suggestions & moved forward enthusiastically, the path smoothed by my money. Meantime other BILs & SILs & their spouses (in their 30s) sat around wondering what was happening. All that over the last 4 years.

 

My basic suggestion was that, because they all live beside a large lake, they have an endless supply of water (even in the drought) & they should use it to produce things that other people in the village further away cannot ie fish, ducks, geese ... , and there's no point in slaving away on rice & cassava fields (even if only for their own consumption) when prices are & likely will remain so low. Good idea but of course it took my money (roughly 400,000฿) over time to produce the infrastructure required (earthworks for fishponds, pumps, etc). All fine now but still not self-sustaining though heading slowly in the right direction.

 

Now, as groups of dazed-looking middle-aged farmers, many female, are escorted around the tiny (c20H) farm by enthusiastic government officials, I suspect - but do not know - that the question of capital funding is not addressed. Yes, the most important capital is or should be inside their heads but they still need the basic logistic capability to get started.