Thailand launches ‘Smart Farm’ scheme

BANGKOK, January 13 (TNA) - The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) of Thailand has come up with its Smart Farm project to encourage farmers to adopt new farming technologies in order to increase their output. Chaiwat Pokpong, assistant manager of the bank, said that a number of sugarcane and cassava growers, among others, had earned more due to better prices for their produce. He said that the BAAC’s Smart Farm project would encourage farmers to make even more money by adopting new farming technologies to increase the yields of their produce. Many sugarcane growers had doubled their income to 5-10 million baht a year for growing in an area of 700-1,000 rai. The handsome income also drew their adult children back from the city, according to Chaiwat. He said some of those farmers’ children had earned up to 80,000 baht a month selling sugarcane, compared to 40,000-50,000 baht which they had obtained when working as an engineer in the city. (TNA)