Modern methods join the ‘green’ revolution
It is said that organic produce which heightens food safety is farmed at the mercy of Mother Nature, since chemicals and pesticides are excluded from the equation.
To heal nature, bruised and battered from the overuse of chemicals, a band of new generation farmers has set out with a vision to adopt new technology to help reduce gas emissions that are causing global climate change.
Award-winning sugarcane farmer Dilok Pinyosee, 38, is among the ranks of young farmers who have set a clear vision to reduce factors that perpetuate climate change.
The former engineer believes f armers can arm themselves with the technology to cut down on gas emissions.
After harvest season, haze blankets many parts of the country as farmers, particularly in the North and Northeast, burn their fields to kill weeds in preparation for the next crop and in the hope of collecting wild food sprouting up from the burned ground.
The haze knows no bounds. It hovers over Mr Dilok’s northeastern hometown province of Chaiyaphum, choking the fresh, healthy air and making people ill.
Prior to sugarcane farming, Mr Dilok studied metallurgy and holds a master’s degree in information technology. After three years of city life in the ratrace working environment, the former computer programmer was called back by his father, who is blind, to help take over the sugarcane farm.
His family’s sugarcane farm had expanded significantly while Mr Dilok was away in the city. The young man returned to the farm, and brought with him his passion for technology which he planned to put to use in the fields.
By talking with others and researching on his own, little by little Mr Dilok accumulated the knowledge he needed to start working on the farm.
One of the first ideas was to invest in a harvester that cut, ground and cleared the fields. It solved his father’s labour shortage and left the leaves for mulching – completely eliminating the practice of burning fields.
Then he installed solar-powered generators to pump water for irrigation, employed drip irrigation systems, reduced chemical pesticides and fertilisers, and began using GPS to track his shipments to millers and processors.
At the end of the experiment, he found crop yields were up by over 50% while farming costs were down by 25%. Mr Dilok believes technology can help other farmers, and so he met with them to demonstrate his methods of productive farming.
His efforts paid off. Mr Dilok was judged national outstanding farmer of the year and received the award from HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn during World Food Day 2016 at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
“It’s through an inner drive that I want to learn more to reorganise my farm and closely follow the late King’s sufficiency economy to make my farm sustainable and benefit the environment,” he said.