Thailand to Educate Farmers on Environmentally Friendly Rice Farming Techniques

Rice Farming: A network of Thai rice farming stakeholders has agreed on a common vision to promote national policies and related activities for scaling up environmentally friendly rice farming techniques in order to conserve, restore, and improve biodiversity and ecosystems across a wide range of landscapes.

The most recent collaboration between government agencies, public, private, and non-governmental partners to improve the national rice sector and agricultural production landscapes was showcased recently at the Inclusive Sustainable Rice Landscapes in Thailand (ISRL) project’s inception workshop.

Chitnucha Buddhaboon, Deputy Director-General of the Rice Department, delivered the keynote speech at the ISRL inception workshop, saying, “We are aware of the challenges that rice farmers face.”

This is why Thailand’s conventional rice cultivation should be methodically modified. We prioritize policy implementation, research and development, and partnership to protect farmers’ livelihoods and resilience, as well as to lessen rice farming’s impact on the climate and environment.

New Varieties of Rice

Mr Chitnucha stated that his department recently introduced ten new rice varieties that are of higher quality, appropriate for cultivation in any section of the country, and resistant to droughts and floods while lowering fertilizer consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

“These rice varieties will improve farmer livelihoods and Thailand’s competitiveness in the international market,” he stated.

Thailand is the global leader in rice production and exports. Increased productivity in recent decades without sustainable landscape management has resulted in environmental deterioration, GHG emissions, and reductions in biodiversity and ecosystem services, he claims.

Nana Kuenkel, Project Director and Cluster Coordinator at GIZ, stated, “The Inclusive Sustainable Rice Landscapes in Thailand (ISRL) project will enable all stakeholders to transform rice and agricultural production landscapes by reconciling competing social, economic, and environmental interests.”

Rice Farming Training

Ms Kuenkel stated that the ISRL project aims to co-develop and demonstrate an integrated and multi-disciplinary landscape management approach to transition from traditional rice farming to inclusive, sustainable rice farming.

It seeks to develop policy, capacity, and money to implement and expand sustainable rice farming practices while preserving, restoring, and improving landscapes, ecosystems, and biodiversity.

She stated that by 2027, more than 45,000 Thai rice farmers in Chiang Rai and Ubon Ratchathani will have received training to better their management and production techniques.

Communities will learn how to make their own natural composts and biocontrol products, lowering farming expenses and potential hazards from conventional fertilizers and pesticides.

Crop diversification and agroforestry will also take place. An estimated one million rai of rice farms and forest (160,00 hectares) will adopt such farming methods, resulting in a reduction in GHG emissions and hazardous chemicals.

She also stated that the project will help enhance the management of high conservation value forests and restore forest areas in Chiang Rai and Ubon Ratchathani.

Source: Bangkok Post