"Agriculture" faces numerous challenges and impacts, from planting and harvesting to product pricing and natural disasters. To develop Thai farmers into "smart farmers," it is essential to promote innovations and new technologies through community networks, startups, platforms, and various necessary solutions. Data from The National Innovation Agency (Public Organization) or <\/strong>NIA<\/strong> highlights interesting innovations that will help Thai farmers grow in both production and sales, enhancing Thailand's agricultural competitiveness.

Small Strawberry Greenhouses for Communities: Alternative Agriculture During Rice Farming Off-Season

            This income-generating solution during the off-season from rice farming involves small strawberry greenhouses for communities, an idea from A&G Organic Co., Ltd., which produces and sells agricultural products. This innovation has been piloted with farmers in Phichit Province, who primarily grow rice. The innovation uses a technique to select only two sets of complete flower buds and stimulates the buds before entering the strawberry cultivation process within a small greenhouse suitable for smallholder farmers. The greenhouse includes systems to control temperature, humidity, and lighting to create optimal growing conditions year-round, enhancing strawberry quality and potentially doubling farmers' income.

Farmbook.co: Professional Crop Planning for Farmers

         Farmbook is an online platform for smallholder farmers, providing tools for production planning, yield forecasting, and analyzing agricultural activity data, including weather conditions, soil fertility, pest and disease management, and the application of geographic information systems, remote sensing, soil quality monitoring, and irrigation systems. Additionally, it fosters a community for sharing agricultural machinery, labor, and raw materials among smallholder farmers, helping to reduce production costs and optimize agricultural land use while enhancing marketing channels and monitoring the entire cultivation process.

GetzTrac: Technology for Booking Rice Harvesters, Solving Equipment Shortages During Harvest Season

      An application for hiring rice harvesters and agricultural equipment has emerged to help farmers access efficient agricultural tools while also providing income opportunities for agricultural equipment service providers through a Machine Matching network.

       The services available for booking through the application include three options: 1. Booking rice harvesters, with over 400 harvesters available nationwide; 2. Booking drones for spraying herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizing; and 3. Booking tractors for soil preparation before farming or for straw compaction after harvesting. Bookings can be made up to one month in advance and only in nearby areas, with service fees based on the size of the rice field and the type of rice to be harvested. For example, the cost for jasmine rice is 450 baht per rai, sticky rice is 500 baht per rai, and fragrant rice is 600 baht per rai. Drone services cost 120 baht per rai, while tractor services for soil preparation are priced at 500 baht per rai, and straw compaction is 15 baht per block. In the future, GetzTrac will also develop an application feature to alert farmers about ongoing pest outbreaks affecting crops, allowing them to prepare and implement preventive measures effectively.

Subsurface Irrigation System Using Porous Ceramics for Off-Season Durian Production: A New Dimension for Durian Farmers

Growing durians out of season is an interesting option for farmers. The key technique for managing off-season durians involves controlling the production system, particularly the irrigation system. Therefore, collaboration with researchers has led to the development of a Subsoil Irrigation System (SIS) that controls the release of water, fertilizers, minerals, and nutrients slowly into the soil, providing a year-round water source beneath the surface. This system treats raw water before entering the system, addressing root rot and shell rot issues, and serves as a root feeding method applicable to durians of all ages, with potential adaptations for other crops.

Paratphumi Farm: IoT Chicken Egg Farm

      "Smart Egg Chicken Farm" utilizes IoT technology for monitoring humidity levels, temperature, light intensity, and other factors affecting chicken growth. Data is transmitted from the farmer's greenhouse directly to an analysis center staffed by veterinary experts who provide consulting services. A monitoring team oversees the operational status of greenhouse equipment 24/7.

Farmers can use a mobile application to control humidity, temperature, and other factors within the greenhouse, enabling business owners to make informed investment decisions and prevent undesirable incidents such as fires, power outages, or equipment failures. This represents a precise and effective risk management strategy that modern farmers should adopt, and this system can also be applied to other types of farms.

Data from The National Innovation Agency (Public Organization)<\/strong><\/span>