“We expect an increase of at least 20 per cent in the yield of rice farming from our integrated solution, which incorporates agricultural training, financial training, chemical solutions, and technological innovations,” Connie Kang, global smallholder farming manager for Southeast Asia under the crop science division of Bayer Thai Co., Ltd., said in an exclusive interview with The Nation.

The Northeast region has some 2.4 million smallholder farmers, making up as much as 65 per cent of the small-holder farmers in the country, and covering 2 million hectares. The average rice production in Thailand is at 2.8 tonnes per hectare, but the Northeast produces an average of only 2.2 tonnes, Kang said.

“We do not only want to provide one or two chemical solutions to the farmers without also offering additional training on how to efficiently manage their farms and how to best apply these chemical solutions,” she said.

“One unique challenge to Thai rice farming is the difficulty of applying chemical solutions to the tall khao hom mali plant. During the flowering stage, rice crops in the region often face a disease problem, which directly impacts the yield. Thai farmers then have difficulty spraying chemical solutions to the tall rice plants in order to cope with this disease.”

To help farmers counter the problem, Bayer Thai has introduced drone applications to small-holder farmers in the Northeast. The drones fly over rice crops and apply the chemicals to the crop, Kang said.

Another challenge facing small farmers in Thailand is the problem of “weedy rice”. This has re-emerged as the dominant weed species, presenting a major threat to rice production in the Asean region in the past 10 years. Weedy rice directly affects the yield of farmers and presents an emergent threat to the income of small-holder farmers in Thailand, Kang said.

“Our team has found that in recent years, the weedy rice issue has started to re-emerge in Thailand. It is an extremely competitive and difficult-to-control species of weed threatening the yield of small-holder farmers,” she said.

The integrated solution that Bayer provides to farmers is geared towards coping with weedy rice. Bayer has set up demonstration plots in Ubon Ratchathani and Sisaket, interacting with 1500 small farmers.

These plots are aimed at showing to farmers that they can increase their yield by following Bayer’s good agricultural practices, Kang said. This includes demonstrating how to apply weed controllers and providing knowledge about pest management.

“In 2017, we set up 50 demo plots in the region and saw a 17 per cent increase in yield in demo plots compared to regular farms as well as an increase in net income of 18 per cent,” Kang said. “This year, Bayer Thai has increased the number of demo plots in the Northeastern region to up to 200, aiming at an increase in productivity of at least 20 per cent.”

Yet another challenge that small-holder farmers face is the management of their land as well as their finances. This makes them more prone to the impacts of climate change events such as drought, Kang said.

Bayer recognises that this is a key problem and has been providing a training programme called “Farming as a business”, which provides financial and managerial guidance to farmers, encouraging them to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and look at their farms as a type of business, Kang said.

“Our integrated solution will allow small-holder farmers to supply high-quality hom mali rice so that they can sell their rice at premium prices,” she said.

Located in Bangkok on the shores of the Chao Phraya, it welcomes both locals and foreign visitors to experience the best of Apple in Thailand for the first time.

The store features Apple’s full line of products including iPhone XS, iPhone XR and Apple Watch Series 4, and will invite visitors to pursue their creative passions with free Today at Apple sessions.

More than 100 employees are ready to welcome customers on Saturday at 10 am. To sign up for Today at Apple sessions, visit apple.com/th/today.

 “This collaboration will provide faster and more convenient service to CAT customers with QR Code Cross Bank Bill Payment that allow them to pay their bills via mobile banking of any bank.

It helps improve cash management efficiency, reduce cash collection and the problem of missing cash , enable to review payment report via KTB Corporate Online.

Moreover, the bank also plans to provide other financial services to CAT customers, Payong said.

The technology company also plans to work with educational institutions to train workers for what it calls P-Collar jobs to meet the demands of the market.

Patama Chantaruck, vice president for Indochina expansion and managing director of IBM Thailand, said the company would pursue the goal of setting up Thailand as a hub for the Indochina market, spurred on by the potential for high growth.

“We are studying how to enter the Indochina market in various areas including as business partners, and under a business model with consideration to regulations and laws for investment,” said Patama, who joined IBM Thailand on October 2.

“The firm expects to enter Cambodia as the first country next year, followed by Laos. We will go to Indochina market with business partners. Meanwhile, Thailand still has high potential.”

She added that the firm plans to provides its solutions – including those based on artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, the Internet of things (IoT), hybrid cloud and security – to support the needs of the market.

The firm will provide solutions focussing on agriculture, banking and finance, government and energy, as well as in healthcare.

For AI offerings, the firm will use Watson, which is an IBM supercomputer that combines AI and analytical software for optimal performance as a “question answering” machine. iWatson is being applied across industries to tackle some serious challenges, Patama said. “It has been trained to work for more than 16,000 clients in more than 20 industries in 80 countries,” she said.

She said the firm will work with business partners including government and educational institutions to develop P-collar jobs for experts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The collaboration will develop six years of course material for student training.

Under the agreement, both organisations will apply all their strengths in providing comprehensive assistance and support to over 200,000 OSMEP-networked SMEs and SCB SME clients in a more efficient manner. In addition, they are ready to propel SMEs with growth potential to mobilise funds in the market for alternative investment (MAI) to ensure they have an alternative channel for obtaining capital to accommodate long-term business growth.

They target listing 30 OSMEP-networked SMEs on MAI by 2019 and plan to introduce special courses to broaden perspectives on various forms of SME fundraising.

Announcing the cooperation are OSMEP Director-General Suwanchai Lohawatanakul, SCB SME chief Pikun Srimahunt and SCB primary distribution chief Veena Lertnimitr.

“Call it an evolution of our onboard gourmet offerings as we strive to raise the bar of passenger experience,” said NokScoot CEO Yodchai Sudhidhanakul. “What we are doing is to bring the most authentic flavours of our destinations onboard.”

NokScoot and its catering partner, LSG Sky Chefs Thailand, part of LSG Group, have worked on the menu.

“Our role is to make sure that NokScoot passengers can enjoy safe, tasty and wholesome food on board,” said Luca Folin, general manager of LSG. “We believe that food is more than just a life necessity. With a little creativity, it can also be entertaining, surprising or comforting, and most importantly, it is a way to show you care,” he said.

NokScoot, a joint venture between Thailand’s Nok Air and Scoot of Singapore, is gearing up to spread its wings to South Korea and India from its base at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport. Those are in addition to China where NokScoot has an extensive network, Taiwan and Japan, where it flies to Osaka and Tokyo Narita.