Thai government promotes organic farming

CHACHOENGSAO, THAILAND, January 22 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Commerce, is carrying on promoting organic farming for food security, tourism development and sustainable income of farmers, as well as horticultural and environmental protection in the country. Telling journalists of the official move, Boonyarit Kalayanamit, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Internal Trade said to meet the policy, his ministry has worked out a plan under which eight selected Thai villages are being promoted as organic villages and new tourist destinations to attract international tourists who can buy local organic products and look on the ways of life of people in the areas. Boonyarit noted that each of the eight selected villages has its outstanding and unique products with high quality, several of which meet such international standards as the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and the Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS), as well as those developed by the European Union (EU), Canada and even Thailand with global recognition. Boonyarit revealed that his department plans to select four more villages to be developed as the organic villages by 2018, along with an organic valley and 19 organic farm outlets. The senior official explained that the organic villages are under the 2nd national strategy on the development of organic farming, under which organic farming areas in Thailand have been set to increase to 960 square kilometers, from 320 square kilometers currently. According to the senior official, the eight selected organic villages include those in Petchabun, Nakhon Pathom, Yasothon, Surin, Nakhon Phanom, Chaiyaphum, Lopburi and Chachoengsao Provinces. Meanwhile, the Department of Internal Trade held an activity, "Ride to Success", on January 20-21, during which Commerce Ministry executives joined actors, actresses and other artists, as well as members of the media and the general public in riding their bicycles to promote the Ban Yang Dang Organic Village, the eight selcted one, in Chachoengsao, where small-scaled organic farmers in the eastern Thai province and adjacent provinces have gathered to jointly develop organic farming and products on the sustainable basis in the form of agricultural cooperatives of different categories of farm products. (TNA)