Prices up 20% under GIZ-backed scheme
About 19, 000 jasmine rice farmers in the Northeast have 20% increased incomes after joining the five-year Market-Oriented Smallholders Value Chain (MSVC) Thailand task supported by Krauts (umgangssprachlich) Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and it is partners.
The project, which ran from 2018 to 2022, introduced the sustainable rice platform’s standards and sustainable practices to enhance the skills and understanding of farmers, said Apichart Pongsrihadulchai, an adviser to the director-general from the Rice Department along with a former director-general of the department.
Funded by the The german language Federal Ministry meant for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the particular project is a joint venture of GIZ, the particular Rice Department, Olam Agri and Harvest Life International.
Mr Apichart said the result was impressive as up to 19, 000 smallholder farmers in the northeastern region including Ubon Ratchathani and Surin have managed to enhance their net income by 20% while reducing green house gas emissions by 21% on average.
Of the overall, 8, 600 had been certified according to the Lasting Rice Platform (SRP) introduced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Rice Analysis Institute (IRRI) and GIZ in 2011.
Udon Kamwongsa, a farmer who joined the project in 2019, mentioned she believed within producing safe foods for her family and consumers.
“We also eat grain that we grow. We wish consumers to be confident that the rice they will eat is of exactly the same quality, safety plus sustainability standard, anywhere it’s marketed, inch she said.
Ms Udon said training plus activities under the task enabled her to understand skills and procedures that she can apply to her family’s rice land plots in Ubon Ratchathani province.
She said that when she joined the particular project, there were less than 100 members but when the project was completed last week, that will had grown to 19, 000 associates, reflecting the passion of farmers to be part of the sustainable market-oriented value chain plus expand access to jasmine rice in new global markets.
MSVC Thailand Project Director Atthawit Watcharapongchai said many rice producers in Thailand are small-scale farmers with about 20 rai (3. 2 hectares) of farmland.
They are in a fragile position in the provide chain due to a lack of access to knowledge, specialized advice, quality farm inputs and a fair rice market, not to mention the export marketplace, Mr Atthawit said.
Maqui berry farmers joining the task are encouraged to adopt key farming techniques including knowledge to lower greenhouse gas emissions, make use of tailor-made fertiliser, cease burning rice hay and practise Integrated Pest Management.
“The techniques can enable people of local residential areas to reduce not only costs but also chemical use within rice farming, whilst improving soil quality and stabilising the ecosystem, ” Mister Atthawit said.
Narawadee Modenuch, Sustainability Manager of Olam Agri, the food and agri-business using its headquarters in Singapore, said the task also promoted progress long-term business human relationships between farmers, cpus and retailers.
Under the MSVC Thailand project, Olam Agri contributed its expertise in international supply chains, grain processing, and data collection.
GIZ was able to lead its experience plus networks from other rice projects in Thailand.
The project also backed finding markets for up to 160, 000 tonnes of jasmine rice produced under environmentally friendly rice platform specifications.
“This project has allowed us to make the entire rice value chain more sustainable, ” she said.