Thailand pledges to promote sustainable agriculture at global conference
Thailand lays emphasis on a 3-S policy -- safety, security and sustainability -- in the agricultural sector and food system, a senior official told the 13th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference on Friday through teleconference.
Rapibhat Chandarasrivong, assistant permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, told the meeting that Thailand has emphasised the 3-S policy by promoting food safety to attain international standards and nutritionally building food security, which can ensure the well-being of farmers.
The ministry is ready to support sustainable agriculture that is environmentally friendly, including prevention of plant and animal diseases and bringing technology and innovation to agriculture. The ministry also supports participation in the Global Soil Partnership (GSP), under the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and water resource preservation on the global stage.
He emphasised the support for sustainable soil and water resources management. Thailand is ready to participate in various commitments and would work with the FAO and related agencies to support the implementation of the global food system policy to push for practical results to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 (zero hunger), SDG 13 (climate change) and SDG 15 (life on land) goals, he said.
It is also important to store Big Data on soil, water, climate change, diseases of plants and animals, said Rapibhat, adding that would lead to accurate production planning.
The goal of the World Food Systems Leadership Summit (2021 UN Food Systems Summit), of which Thailand has been appointed a National Dialogues Convenor, is to collect information from all sectors involved in the food system and use it to prepare policies and activities to report to the leadership meeting at the end of this year.