Project likewise looks to strengthen local income
Over the past few years, the majority of forest area in Nan territory has been turned into single-crop crops to support the lives of more than 150,000 nearby communities whose gardening activities involve burning and deforesting.
Nan occupants face cloud pollution caused by the annual using activities on these farms every month. The forest of the country’s rocky scenery also increases overflow risk, leading to a huge financial loss.
To help prevent further damage to the province’s ecological system, the KasikornThai Foundation recently joined hands with the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation ( GPO ) in a “pharma-agro” forest project, promoting agricultural practices that are friendly to the environment.
Through the task, farming of natural herbs has been introduced as an alternative to assist forest shaven mountains.
Anan Lapsuksatit, president of K Agro-Innovative Institute (KAI ) under the KasikornThai Foundation, explained that “pharma-agro” forest areas have recently become a global trend to support forest sustainability.
The strategy ensures that develop from the bush is harvested using great agricultural methods with no harm to the environment while answering to a growing need for plant-based concentrates in the attractiveness, health, and medical industries.
KAI aims to push extracts from organically-grown ingredients from Nan as a world-class goods, Mr Anan said.
The development of pharma-agro estates in Nan follows guidelines from scientists and researchers in agriculture and medicine to ensure the quality of the extracts is in line with international needs.
According to him, the natural estate has been introduced to 36 gardening homes in the forest area.
Each home has allocated a one-rai tale of their property to plant the plant in accordance with organic gardening practices.
Mr Anan said these flower growers are given salaries, and the prices of their produce are guaranteed, encouraging them to grow more and inspire others to visit the job.
” By allocating just one rai to grow forest herbs, the farmer can earn more annual income than from a single-crop plantation.
” It’s solid evidence that they could earn more money with farming that is friendly to the forest. We are expecting to have more than 500 households participate next year,” he said.
According to Mr Anan, participants must be registered under the government’s Agricultural Land Reform Act, which allows them to live and earn in the forest land.
The pilot project’s main production includes harvests of turmeric, fingerroot (krachai ) and butterfly peas, which are used by GPO as raw materials to produce medicines.
According to KasikornThai Foundation, Nan contributed over 40 % of the water volume to the country’s main Chao Phraya River. However, currently, over 28 % of 6. 4 million rai of the province’s forest have been completely deforested for single-crop plantations.
The pharma-agro forest is one part of the Nan Sandbox project initiated by the foundation to conserve local forests and enhance local income.
GPO Deputy Director Wiluck Wanganon said the organisation has put much effort into upgrading the quality of medicinal herbs grown in Thailand while sustainably boosting the country’s pharmaceutical security.
She sees strong potential in farming communities in all regions of Thailand to plant high-quality herbs that align with the GPO’s requirements.
Ms Wiluck cited the GPO’s new product, Klobinex, which was developed from curcumin concentrates in Nan. The medicine, which helps stabilise blood cells, can prolong the frequency of blood transfusion for patients suffering from thalassemia from once every three months to six months.
The new drug will undergo a clinical trial at the Siriraj Hospital in October and is expected to be later prescribed to most thalassemia patients.
” One of the GPO’s key policies is to increase the value of Thai medicinal herbs in plant-based medicine, supplementary food and cosmetics,” Ms Wiluck said.