BANGKOK, 12 July 2019 (NNT) – Various agricultural alliances have combined forces to organize an Agri Forum 2019 on the concept of a ” World of Unburnt Farms” in keeping with the Zero Burn Project.
Mr. Prasong Praphaitrakul, Director-General of the Rice Department, said today the Rice Department, the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) and Siam Kubota Corporation Co., Ltd., have all got together to promote and develop Thai farming along with sustainable environmental conservation through the “Zero Burn Project”. They are holding the Agri Forum 2019 to encourage Thai farmers to pursue burn-free farming; it takes place on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, at Hall 5, Impact Muang Thong Thani. Thailand’s rice farming activities occupy about 70 million rai each year. An average of 27 million tons of straw is left in the rice fields each year. Of that, 18 million tons of rice stubble in the rice field is the cause of the burning problem affecting the environment. The Department of Rice, therefore, is cooperating with relevant agencies in both the public and private sectors to provide correct information and a better understanding of the management of waste materials in rice fields after the harvest. Farmers are being urged to limit or stop burning stubble and rice straw, much of which is in high areas.
Mr. Aphirom Sukprasert, BAAC Manager, said today that the BAAC is ready to cooperate with the network to transfer knowledge of burn-free farming to farmers through its 7,927 model sufficiency economy communities; increasing productivity for farmers and offering loans totaling over 20 billion baht for the restructure of agricultural production for sustainability. The loans that come with a special interest rate are for environmentally friendly production and farming with modern technology to strengthen the Thai agricultural sector and adjust the farmers’ attitude to farming, to become more environmentally friendly.