Government to focus on agricultural research for sustainable growth
The Agriculture Department plans to establish a research team on economic crop breeding and genomic technologies to ensure the sustainability of Thailand's agriculture.
The department would make this proposal during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) ministerial meeting on agriculture and food, director-general Rapeepat Chansriwong said on Thursday.
He added that many laboratories need to be improved to boost the country's agricultural potential.
"If we have plenty of research centres and laboratories, this business will become sustainable," he said.
Rapeepat said the export value of durians since last year was more than THB800 billion, adding that durian is considered Thailand's identity and soft power.
This year, Thailand would be able to harvest 1.2 million tons of durians, 270,000 tons of mangosteens, 1.5 million tons of longans and 280,000 tons of rambutans, he said.
He added that the country and farmers have many opportunities to generate revenue.
Rapeepat added that the Covid-19 pandemic, including China's Zero Covid policy, had severely impacted Thailand's logistics.
"In this regard, the department has cooperated with agriculture ambassadors worldwide, especially in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, on improving regulations to facilitate export," he said.
He added that the department is working closely with related agencies on agricultural promotion, especially in Chanthaburi, Chumphon, Rayong and Trat provinces where durians are grown in large quantities.
Provincial agencies have issued announcements to control the quality of durians, such as Covid-19 and unripe durian harvest prevention measures, he added.
