Modern technology used to deter crop burning
Satellite imagery and data visualisation software have become important tools that enabled agricultural buyer Bangkok Produce Merchandising Plc (BKP) to buy produce from plantations that do not contribute to air pollution problems.
The company is a procurer of corn for animal feed from sustainable sources for Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), one of the world's largest producers of feed and shrimp, and is also a global-top-three producer of poultry and pork.
Worapoj Suratwisit, BKP’s deputy managing director, told The Nation that the company has been using its “Traceability Operations Room” to monitor the production process of each plantation before making a purchase.
This is to ensure that CPF’s policy of never buying corn from plantations that encroach on forest areas or burn their harvest leftovers is strictly followed, he said.
To save on labour and soil preparation costs, some farmers opted to burning crop stumps after harvest, a practice that has created smog in several parts of Thailand, Worapoj explained.
This smog contains PM2.5 – dust particles 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter – long-term exposure to which is linked with chronic diseases including lung and heart problems, he noted.
Worapoj said BKP’s Traceability Operations Room is linked to three satellites that take high-resolution images of plantations across Thailand. The images’ data then are processed in real time by Power BI, an interactive data visualisation software developed by Microsoft to provide business intelligence.
“With daily updates by the Traceability Operations Room, CPF can check the status of its supply chain in real time,” he said. “If a hotspot, a consequence of outdoor burning, is detected on the plantation, BKP would immediately contact the farmers to issue a warning, as well as to advise them of proper method to dispose of harvest stumps.”
Currently the company’s Traceability Operations Room is monitoring more than 2 million rai (320,000 hectares) of agricultural areas in Thailand, with more than 40,000 farmers registered in its database.
BKP will run the traceability operation during the growing period of corn for animal feed, running from February until June every year. Company staffers will also visit the farmers periodically to provide guidance on sustainable farming and how to reduce environmental impacts.
