Innovative agriculture helps farmers with crop planning, cultivation and produce distribution on digital platform. Given the advanced agricultural technology brought into play, they are poised to have and sell their own brands on online market place.
Amarin Darunpob, a specialist on innovative agriculture and a committee of University Council at the Suranaree University of Technology, says from this time forth digital-platform technology will play pivotal roles in all stages of crop planning and cultivation from the upstream and midstream part of the production process to the downstream process.
For the upstream part, the satellite technologies and geo-informatics will be utilized to enhance the efficiency of soil management by monitoring soil minerals in farmland so that farmers can decide what types of plants should be grown. The technologies make it possible to monitor water sources in farming areas and identify whether they are natural sources of water, irrigation water or dam water and to see if there will be enough water for cultivation. The satellite data and geo-informatics will help monitor weather conditions and analyze data regarding weather, insect pests, temperature and humidity, soil and climate, flood forecasting, windstorm and drought. Farmers will then easily access to all this information through their mobile phones. As a result, they can develop cropping plans with efficiency and accuracy, says Amarin.
For instance, Lava durian and each durian varieties from the eastern and southern provinces all have distinguishing tastes due to different soil conditions and physical characteristics of the terrains. With the help of technology, durian growers in each regions will gain access to this empowering agricultural geographic information, being able to develop crop plans through GISTDA digital platform available on their mobile phones. The platform, developed by the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Public Organization) which is under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, will provide growers the accurate data and information such as soil conditions and minerals, humidity, pest insects and water sources.
As for the midstream stage of production process, technologies in crop production and protection will from now on get less expensive and be easily accessible to small-scale farmers, says the specialist. Some of them are agricultural drones for spraying pesticides and fertilizers as well as seed spreading drone. Harvesting machines will be greatly enhanced for their functions and features but available at a lower price, therefore farmers can considerably cut production costs while improving the quantity and quality of crop yields. Community-based enterprises, supported by the government agencies, will play a vital part in helping farmers purchase these technologies to decrease costs of production.
For the upstream stage, e-marketplace platform will gain an ever-increasing popularity among farmers who can directly sell their produce to consumers without any intervention of middlemen. The platform makes it possible for them to create their own brands to sell their products online. To build customer confidence, farmers should offer high quality products and services such as on – time delivery as well as transparent payment system and method, suggests the specialist.
