Eco-efficiency the key to environmentally friendly farming

She made the remarks during the opening ceremony of ”AgriConnect Conference & Exhibition” at True Digital Park in Bangkok on May 24.

She said climate change causes an impact on many regions around the world, especially in Southeast Asia. She added that unsustainable use of resources caused climate change impact to be more severe.

Hence, we should address this issue and find sustainable solutions together, she said.

She said practices, such as precision farming, conservation tillage and water management play a vital role in achieving eco-efficiency.

“It is crucial to acknowledge that limited knowledge of emerging technologies and restricted access to new techniques can hinder process, leading to poor yields and decreased revenue,” she added.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Vice Minister Narapat Kaeothong said eco-efficiency in agriculture is essential to protect the environment.

“It aims to achieve more agricultural output in terms of quantity and quality, for less input of land, water, nutrients, energy and labour,” he added.

Challenges to smart farming

Karsten Ziebell, team leader of German Thai Cooperation Project, said challenges in smart farming include drought, flooding, lack of financial access and education, over-indebtedness, ageing farmers, labour shortages, soil degradation, increasing costs and small and fragmented land area.

To unlock potential in smart farming, he said, cooperation between sectors is necessary, including the government, finance, research, industry, farmer, product and service provider.

Stakeholders are necessary for farmers on adopting smart farming, so they can cope with challenges and gain opportunities, he said.

Thailand's roadmap

Dares Kittiyopas, president of Thai Society of Agricultural Engineering, said Thailand has included a roadmap of smart farming research and development (R&D) in the 20-Year National Strategy.

"This roadmap aims to support climate change, balance between agriculture for food and energy and promote zero-waste agriculture," she said.

She said the roadmap also focuses on applying technology and innovation related to smart farming, such as automation and intelligent sensor, satellite data in agriculture, farm tracking system and farm management data.

"The level of technologies researched in Thailand is lower than internationally," she said.

She explained that the roadmap can be divided into four groups in terms of technologies:

• Enhancing technologies: R&D for more products or technologies that are bases for future development of smart agriculture
• Upgrading technologies for business: R&D should be supported to apply to business and industrial uses
• Exponential technologies: research into high challenges and high impacts
• Basic to moderate level technologies: mostly technology and machinery for local use

She added that Thailand has potential in four areas:

• Star sector: high growth rate and ratio in agriculture sector, such as cow, pig, chicken, duck, egg and milk
• Baby sector: high growth rate, but low ratio in agriculture sector, such as durian, longan, pineapple for industry, fisheries products, palm oil, garlic, sweet corn and shallot
• Cash cow sector: low growth rate, but high ratio in agriculture sector, such as rice, rubber, sugarcane, cassava and maize
• Dog sector: low growth rate and ratio in agriculture sector, such as orchid flower

Thai farmers' voice

Dilok Pinyosri, a smart (cluster) farmer in Chaiyaphum province, said smart farming technologies offer both challenges and opportunities for farmers.

Technologies can help farmers in agriculture, boost crop output and improve their quality of life, he said.

He said the main problem in sugarcane farming is labour shortage, as he had to harvest 20,000 tonnes of sugarcane within 100-120 days. He added that he had faced difficulties in using a sugarcane harvester over the past 12 years.

"I broke the first sugarcane harvester within a year," he said, adding that the harvester made in Thailand does not meet the standard and does not support his plantation areas.

He said he got the second-hand sugarcane harvester during the on-site visit in Australia but found the operation cost and maintenance a challenge.

"I harvested 8,000 tons of sugarcane from using the second harvester, he said, adding that the second-hand harvester should be able to harvest at least 15,000 tons of sugarcane.

In this regard, he came up with a plan to establish a group of cluster farmers to enable them to cope with labour shortage and gain maximum benefits from agriculture technologies.

He said farmers now act as agriculture technology service providers, adding that they can advise on using technology and chemicals.

"I believe that in the future, farmers must cooperate and seek experts in agriculture," he said, adding that farmers and experts should play an important role in preparing soil and water irrigation.

He also asked the government and agriculture-related agencies to promote the use of smart farming technologies, allowing farmers to take on-site visits at smart farms, create experts in smart farming technologies and enable farmers to access funds.

"If farmers can see the benefits of smart farming technologies, they will get an idea of how to adopt technology in their agriculture," he added.