Advancing Agriculture with Innovation conference held in Bangkok

BANGKOK, June 5 (TNA) -- Agriculture Academics and agricultural officials on Monday discuss how to driving agricultural development with innovations in an annual conference of Thailand’s Department of Agriculture. Over 800 researchers of the Department shared their experience and studies at the conference themed “Advancing Agriculture with Innovation.” Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry Lak Wajananawatch, in his opening speech, highlighted the importance of innovation to enhance value and competitiveness of Thai agricultural products. “It is a key for Thailand to become world’s leader on farming,” he said. From intensive labor, Thai farming must transform to address the problems stemming from global warming, labor shortage, eco-system degradation by relying on technologies and innovations, he said. Rice research and knowledge by government and related agencies must be accumulated to help farmers improve their crops and develop new products, the minister said. The topics of the conference include innovations for breeding development, harvest technology, value-added processing and marketing promotion, in line with the government’s policies to improve the quality of life of Thai rice farmers and ensure they earned a stable income. Dozens of farmers and researchers are presented with awards in recognition of their outstanding works in the field of agricultural development. Many researches show how to use innovation in growing and processing rice effectively. (TNA)