Blockchain could be game-changer for Thai farmers: ministry
Thailand’s traditional farmers can break the cycle of low income and debt by harnessing the power of digital technology and big data, according to an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.
Prinn Panitchpakdi, the ministry’s president of agribusiness, recently told a Bangkok seminar that traditional agricultural practices could be upgraded with technology that links them with the market.
Prinn explained that traditional farmers produce products before finding markets to distribute them, so they always face financial problems of low income and debt.
However, new technology now gives farmers the power to collect data on market conditions, meaning they can adjust their crops to meet demand.
Prinn gave the example of blockchain technology in the government’s new TraceThai.com platform, which is used to trace the supply chain of agricultural products sold to the market.
The blockchain system of recording information makes it practically impossible to change, hack or cheat, he added.
