The reason why the Thais really loved their King
Our attendance at the recent Sima-Asean Agribusiness trade show in Bangkok confirmed that the farmers really loved their late king – King Bhumibol Adulyadej now known as King Rama IX. At the exhibit booth of the farmers’ cooperative, the portrait of the late king was prominently displayed.
Of course it is easy to understand why. We personally know that King Rama IX in his long reign as monarch, had helped farmers cooperatives in a big way. For instance, the biggest dairy co-op in Thailand, the Nong Pho Dairy Cooperative, has been under Royal Patronage. The king himself had put up about half of the capitalization of the cooperative that had a revenue of 1.7 billion baht during our visit some five years ago. He received annual dividends but we were told that he gave that to the co-op for the scholarship of the farmers’ children as well as for research and development (R&D) and extension services.
For two times, we had visited the Chitralada project of the king in Bangkok within the 100-hectare palace grounds where a virtual agricultural research station was set up complete with a dairy operation that produces fresh and processed cow’s milk, rice byproducts research (briquettes out of rice husk, for instance), many varieties of mushroom, vetiver grass for erosion control, aquaculture and many more.
The co-ops at the trade show displayed various fruits that included mangoes, many varieties of banana, processed farm produce, horticultural crops and many others.
HANDTRACTOR SANS DRIVER – One exhibit at the trade show that fascinated visitors was the video of a handtractor puddling the field for planting rice without a driver. The machine is being operated by a guy sitting under a tree with the aid of a remote control gadget.
The technology was showcased by a farmers’ cooperative in Thailand. While the technology is not yer fully commercialized, it augurs well for other great ideas being developed for agriculture.