Growing a Successful Rice Farm

Project description

Title: Regenerative Rice Farming in Thailand
Financier: Livelihoods Funds
Countries: Thailand
Partner: Mars Food, Herba Bangkok S.L (Ebro Foods S.A.)
Lead executing agency: Thai Rice Department
Overall term: 2018 to 2019

Context

Rice, a major crop for Thai household consumption and export purposes, is confronted with unoptimised yields while production costs and unpredictable weather conditions put farmers’ margins at risk. With the end of subsidised farm gate prices, conventional rice cultivation appears no longer profitable. High use of agrochemical input has resulted in soil degradation and lower yield.

Objective

A unique regenerative rice cultivation method for restoring long-term soil fertility with fewer inputs and water and providing cash crop diversification for rice smallholder farmers is piloted.

Approach

150 farmers in the provinces Angthong and Chainart in Thailand are recruited to be trained about the innovative rice cultivation technology such as soil nutrient and fertility management, crop diversification, integrated pest management, bio control, weed control, financial fertility etc., to grow better rice with the aim to improve their living income and also the soil fertility. Not only are these farmers trained, but also they receive starter packages to incentivise them to test new technology. In addition, the project partners guaranteed to buy all higher quality rice produced under this innovative cultivation technology. The success of this innovative rice cultivation technology will be measured among higher income farmers – higher yield and lower production cost and technology adoption rate of farmers. In the next phase, this innovative technology will be scaled up.