The first is a sugarcane leaf remover, which facilitates manual sugarcane harvesting and reduces the need to burn sugarcane leaves, and the second is a sugarcane cut remover, which allows sugarcane farmers to finish harvesting in one go. The company said that these two implements will ensure that professional cane farmers have fresh sugarcane to deliver to sugar factories with higher incomes.

Somsak Mauthorn, Senior Executive Vice President of Siam Kubota, stated: “As a result of the government’s zoning policy that promotes the conversion of paddy fields in geographically unfavorable areas into plantations of economic crops, such as sugarcane, cassava, and maize. It has found that some farmers have turned to do sugarcane farming.

“Today, there are sugarcane farms in 47 provinces, totaling over 11 million rai, about five of which is in the Northeast. As much as 60 per cent of these sugarcane farmers rely on manual labor for harvesting.

“Many farm workers burn their sugarcane before cutting to make harvesting easier. However, this harvesting method leads to pollution creating as well as sweetness reducing the sugar. In addition, many areas confront labor shortages. Furthermore, the company has conducted research and developed products specifically for sugarcane harvesting to enhance productivity and quality as well as labor costs and time saving, to ultimately meet the demand of sugarcane farming today.”

The company has unveiled its two latest implements for sugarcane farming. The first is a sugarcane leaf remover (SLR110H), Tra Chang brand for 24-27 hp Kubota tractors, equipped with four sets of rollers that spin at over 900 rpm and enable the instrument to cleanly strip leaves from sugarcane stalks.

The rollers have also been designed to rotate upwards to reduce damage to the plants. With an operational radius of 2.1 meters and a leaf stripping radius of 2.3 meters, the machine will help planting more accessible for farmers and facilitate harvesting. The implement is also equipped with a protector that prevents bits of sugarcane leaves from collecting inside the machine and can operate continuously for a maximum of 15 rai per day.

The other implement is a sugarcane cut remover (SCR100), Tra Chang brand for the 95-hp Kubota tractor. The harvesting combines four systems that function all at once: the trimming system that cuts sugarcane tops at the height of 1.5-4 meters; the leaf stripping system with rollers that spin at over 900 rpm to yield cleanly-stripped cane stalk.The harvesting system that cuts flush with the ground; and the loading system that can carry a maximum 500 kg of sugarcane products and put freshly-cut sugarcane stalks into piles in preparation for loading onto trucks.

Designed for sugarcane plantations with furrows spaced one meter apart and over to reduce limitations of accessibility, the machine can harvest 40-80 tons of sugarcane per day.

“For over 40 years, the company has never stopped researching and developing innovative agricultural machinery to meet the needs of professional sugarcane farmers and optimise the entire sugarcane farming process, from soil preparation, planting, maintaining, and transportation. We have demonstrated our capacity to be the generator of agricultural innovation for the future,” added Somsak.

The new blending technology helps preserve three times the amount of vitamin C after eight hours compared to normal blending, the company said. You can taste the freshness and enjoy brighter smoothies with less separation, foam and bubbles.

According to the World Health Organisation, a healthy diet should consist of at least 400 grams or five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. What is more, eating the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables reduces the risk of lifestyle related diseases, and helps ensure an adequate daily intake of dietary fibre.

Siriwan Nitkitjatorn, Gerneral Manager Personal Health of Philips (Thailand), said: “According to the research, Thai consumers are getting more health conscious and fruits and vegetables have become preferred food choice. The love for smoothies have become more popular as well due to its convenience in preparation and its tastiness. Hence, the blender market segment is growing each year. Based on GFK survey, the segment values Bt1.5 billion in 2018, a YoY increase by 16 per cent.

“As the leader in health technology, Philips believes there is always a way to make life better, and understands how tricky it can be for people to fit the right amount of fruit and vegetables into their diet. Healthy smoothies are a simple and delicious way to do this, and with the Philips High Speed Vacuum Blender you can seal in the goodness of your smoothie and enjoy the freshness throughout the day.

“The StayFresh Vacuum technology reduces oxidation within the blender’s jar and keeps your smoothie fresher – preserving three times the amount of vitamin C after eight hours compared to normal blending,” said Siriwan.

Convenient and easy to use, this new blender has a 1.8 litre jar. It also features ProBlend 6 3D technology, which has blades that cover a wider blending area. The ‘High Speed Vacuum Blender’ comes with five functions.

For Broadcasting Network Operation Service, we gained a 6 per cent increase, at Bt109 million, compared to the same period of last year.

“In addition, New media revenue amounted to Bt24 million, a 17 per cent increase from the previous quarter and a 41 per cent increase from the same period of last year, due to increased revenue from broadcast of content on social media platforms.

“In 2019, MCOT will focus on managing our three properties to earn more income, especially the 50 rai near the Cultural Centre. We are consulting an investment adviser and plan to proceed with a public-private partnership venture on our properties.

“Furthermore, the new schedule and programmes of MCOT HD 30 will be announced on November 29. We cooperate with our partners, both domestic and international firms, to offer more quality content for our viewers. For MCOT Radio Business, we aim to provide more content on the digital platform to reach more listeners.”

On the back of this partnership, CIMB will join Ripple’s network to facilitate access to other RippleNet members and allow CIMB to grow its cross-border payments business.

Ripple’s blockchain-based solution has been deployed to enhance Speedsend, CIMB’s proprietary remittance product. This will expand CIMB’s Speedsend network and open new payment corridors to improve consumer access to cross-border remittances, both inbound to the Asean bloc and outbound to other countries.

The solution is now live on Speedsend, enabling remittances via corridors such as Australia (in partnership with InstaReM, also a member of RippleNet), the US, the UK and Hong Kong.

“We are delighted to be part of RippleNet and look forward to a fruitful partnership with Ripple by leveraging each other’s strengths and capabilities,” said Zafrul Aziz, chief executive of CIMB Group. “This innovative blockchain solution will revolutionise international cross-border remittances, and is a testament to CIMB’s ongoing efforts to enhance its digital banking proposition by providing speedy and cost-efficient solutions to our customers across Asean.”

As part of the overall partnership roadmap, CIMB intends to extend the solution to other use cases across the group. There is a growing demand for cross-border payment solutions, with the World Bank projecting that remittances to Southeast Asia will grow to US$120 billion (Bt3.95 trillion) by the end of 2018.

Meanwhile, Visa digital payments and watchmaker Garmin, in partnership with leading financial institutions, yesterday announced the launch of Garmin Pay, a new contactless payment feature on Garmin smartwatches.

Starting yesterday, customers of Kasikornbank, Krungthai Card and Siam Commercial Bank were able to add their Visa credit or debit card to their Garmin watches, while Bangkok Bank was in line to launch the same by first quarter 2019.

The feature offers a new cashless experience featuring seamless purchases through a growing number of merchants that accept the no-contact process. The emergence of this payment innovation and technology marks yet another milestone helping to transform Thailand into a less-cash society, said Suripong Tantiyanon, Visa country manager for Thailand.

Krairop Luang U-Thai, general manager of GIS, the authorised distributor of Garmin products in Thailand said Garmin Pay is the latest feature to be offered on their smartwatch.

The wearer can select the credit card they want to input to the watch and create a Garmin Pay Wallet by filling in the card information on the Garmin Connect application along with their passcode. Customers would then only have to place their wrist near a card reader that supports contactless payments in order to purchase goods and services.

Garmin Pay uses tokenisation offered by the global payment networks to secure users’ information. The tokenised data is saved in an isolated safety chip within the device so to keep sensitive data away from malware or viruses.

In addition to Thailand, Garmin Pay is also now available in 22 countries .

Sooksunt Jiumjaiswanglerg, Co-President at CP, said overseas operations in the first nine months this year accounted for 67 per cent of sales, an increase of 12 per cent year-on-year. Vietnam’s operation grew the fastest.

“The overseas investment is a part of the company’s sustainable growth strategy. CP Foods has invested in promising overseas markets for agriculture and food sectors, focusing on developing countries with a demand for high quality and modern farming,” he said, adding that CP currently operates in 17 countries.

It had reported a 9-month net profit of Bt13.855 billion, rising by 7 per cent due to pork prices recovering in Vietnam and Cambodia.

To cope with the global economic slowdown, the company placed an importance on reducing the cost of management and lower interest rates via debentures.

Two awards – female entrepreneur in Asean and Vietnam – were presented by Singapore President Halimah Yacob and chairman of Asean Business Advisory Council Robert Yap.

Vietjet, under the leadership of Thao, has expanded its flight network to103 routes. She is now the only female billionaire in Vietnam and was named among world’s 100 most powerful women by Forbes Magazine in 2016 and 2017.

The cooperation is expected to enhance the quality of sweet corn and maximise sustainable revenue for the farmers.

The photo showed Karn Thongyai (third from right), first executive vice president of Loxley and Ongart Kittikhunchai (fifth from right), chairman of executive committee of Sunsweet after signing the contract.

Sompop Chareonkul, vice chairman of the Executive Board of Loxley witnessed the signing.