InfoQuest, (April 1, 2019) -- At the 127 founding anniversary ceremony of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand's agricultural sector is undergoing rapid changes and remains extremely unstable. Therefore, the government makes the policy to upgrade Thai agriculture to Agriculture 4.0 to adapt to international environment. The policy, based on the 20-year strategic plan of Agriculture and Cooperatives, aims to improve living standards of farmers, promote sense of pride as farmers, increase farmers' incomes and reduce their debts as well as overcome middle-income trap, according to Krisada Boonrarat, minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
In the past, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives focused on reforming agriculture according to the principle of market-oriented production. It managed agricultural products by making production plans to keep the balance of supply and demand. It also encouraged cooperation between farmers and government and various agencies in private sectors, and promoted the implementation of innovative technologies as well. Relevant efforts include: developing mega farms in the form of farm enterprises; managing water resources; fostering smart farmers; developing farmers agencies through cooperatives; calling for the government to use rubber products to fuel the domestic natural rubber project; carrying out organic agriculture and new agricultural theories promotion projects; enhancing the quality of farm products to meet the criteria set by Good Agricultural Practice, and establishing Big Data on Agriculture to ensure agricultural management to enable more accurate, refined and efficient and lower production costs and keep agricultural products safe and high-quality to meet international criteria. By doing so, the ministry has helped boost the competitiveness of agricultural products in global market and aggregate farmers' incomes.
The important policy of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in 2019 is to implement Mega Farm Enterprise policy, in a bid to develop mega farm enterprises to increase farmers' incomes, which can be realized by utilizing resources in all sectors and through three significant cooperation mechanisms. According to the policy, relevant governmental departments will support, follow up and oversee the cooperation between farmers and private enterprises. For private emprises, they need assist farmers to seek channels of agricultural products purchases and investments, provide market information to farmers, organize modern agriculture training, create more valuable products and distribute profits equally in accordance with the law to promote and develop agriculture sector in 2017. As for farmers who own vast lands, they should integrate the lands for centralized management, and choose suitable cultivation by analyzing regional conditions through modern technology, which is on the basis of Agri Map and market demands. The important objective of the policy is to carry out the relevant tasks under the principle of "market-oriented production", making it accommodate and linked to the principles of "agricultural production plan making" and "mega farms". By giving more play to the government and private sectors to make them manage large farms with farmers, the policy hopes to improve income generated in agricultural sector and stimulate the development of Thailand's agriculture from the beginning to the stage when agricultural products enter into markets, helping Thailand's agriculture adapt to the ever-changing international environment and enhancing its competitiveness in overseas market.
"In order to successfully implement the policy, officials and staffs of Agriculture and Cooperatives must adjust their thoughts, concepts and ways of working in agriculture to keep in pace with the rapidly shifting international environment. Based on sense of responsibility, we should stick to working loyalty of Agriculture and Cooperatives and strive for the goal to create better living standards for Thai farmers and make them realize self-dependence as well as gain pride, finally facilitating a solid foundation for Thailand's agriculture to better prepare it for changes that are likely to take place in the future," Krisada said.
Source: InfoQuest, by Nisarat Wichiensri/ Rachada, translated by Xinhua Silk Road
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