Several farming techniques have been tried experimentally using different varieties of vegetables at the Doi Ang Khang Agricultural Research Station in northern Thailand. The aim is to improve the quality of life of farmers and at the same time maintain balance between nature and environment.

After enjoying breakthroughs in the fight against low farm productivity more than four decades ago, farm scientists from the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly in agreement with their worldwide peers that their work is no longer keeping pace with the rapidly changing farm environment.

Mapping out an appropriate direction for the future was the focus of the recent first Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD), where farm scientists led by the regional research umbrella, Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), met their counterparts from other region.

For more than four decades, the region, which houses nearly 2 billion farmers or 74% of the world’s farm population, has enjoyed breakthroughs in the name of the so-called Green Revolution, the work spearheaded by the global research umbrella, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The revolution has pushed the region forward with new farm knowledge and technology ranging from high-yield crop variety development, to modern irrigation, synthetic fertilisers and other innovations.

Read more… (Bangkok Post)