NEWS
2 Souls from the South: making oil palm plantations sustainable is the ‘only way forward’
Writer: Naylinya Chappanapong, Senior Communication Officer, GIZ Thailand’s Agriculture and Food Cluster Solos Dechmanee, a 61-year-old oil palm small-scale farmer and now role model for sustainable oil palm production. He is the owner of 44 rai of oil palm plantation in Surat Thani province in southern Thailand. He used to be a livestock farmer raising …
Governors ‘fully back’ sustainable practices in oil palm industry
Writer: Thitinai Pongpiriyakit, Field Manager, Sustainable and Climate-friendly Palm Oil Production and Procurement (SCPOPP) In response to growing demand for sustainable palm oil products, Thai authorities agreed to speed up efforts for sustainable practices that will better the livelihoods of oil palm farmers in southern Thailand. One of the governors is M.L. Kittibordee Prawit from …
Panel urges further action on sustainable palm oil
Writer: Prangthong Jitcharoenkul, Junior Communication Officer, GIZ Thailand’s Agriculture and Food Cluster Notwithstanding all challenges, relevant stakeholders stay committed to make palm oil supply chain in Thailand more sustainable. “Currently, Thailand’s sustainability standard for palm oil is being developed. The efforts will drum up support from the government to promote responsible practices among oil palm …
Senior official from German embassy makes visit to farmer field school in North Sumatra
Writer: Nurhayati Lubis, Junior Professional Officer for Public Relation, Monitoring and Evaluation, GIZ Indonesia Hendrik Barkeling, Deputy Head of Mission Director General for Economic Affairs and Global Issues at the German embassy in Jakarta last month visited Farmer Field School (FFS), an initiative developed by Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) Project that aims to promote …
Growing rice with fewer resources is possible
Writer: Rinda Keawkhonkaen, Field Officer, Sustainable Aromatic Rice Initiative (SARI) – Thailand For decades, Wanchai Masrakhu had often wondered what he could do more to earn enough money in time for the start of the next planting season. But the 54-year-old man from northeastern province of Roi Ei later realized that he did not have …
Young minds from NIST International School explore Thailand’s earth-friendly rice farming
Writer: Tobias Vomberg, Intern for the SRP Support Unit A group of active and young minds has explored how sustainability activities are put in place to bring a positive change to small holder rice farmers in central Thailand. Seven Grade 11 students from NIST International School in Bangkok spent a week with German International Cooperation …
Exclusive Interview: ASEAN is playing a game of hide-and-seek with pests
Writer: Prangthong Jitcharoenkul, Junior Communication Officer, GIZ Thailand’s Agriculture and Food Cluster A journey of fruits and vegetables that are free from invasive pests and diseases from one country to another isn’t that easy. Wichar Thitiprasert, Advisor of the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS) has spent more than ten years overseeing …
Agricultural extensionists drive positive change for small rice farmers in North Sumatra
Writer: Nurhayati Lubis, Junior Professional Officer for Public Relation, Monitoring and Evaluation, GIZ Indonesia In the northwest of the island of Sumatra, Mrs. Tiniar Saragih, now 50 years old, wakes up each morning to travel to see her family’s two-hectare rice field, the activity she has never foreseen until she got married with a rice …
Feathery companions make pest control easier
Writer: Nguyen Ngoc Son, Project Officer for Land and Agriculture, GIZ Vietnam For more than two decades, small-scale rice farmers in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces in southern Vietnam have found a way to reduce the investment costs in getting rid of pests and weeds with the help of their valuable feathery companions: wild …