Steps to strengthen Thailand's agricultural sector
By Jon Fernquest |
Improvements in vocational training for farmers as well as new agriculture research and development programmes are being planned by Thailand's new government.
A front page story in today's Bangkok Post describes the changes in Thailand's agricultural sector that are prompting these measures.
A net flow of workers out of agriculture into the industrial and service sectors of the economy has been a long-term trend.
An overall decline in agricultural land use due to urban expansion has also been a trend.
These changes might eventually have an impact on the nation's food producing capacity.
Beefing up the agricultural extension services offered by the government may help reinvigorate and add new life Thai agriculture.
Another way of looking at the problem, of course, is that a shrinking agricultural sector is natural as a country develops and that steps should be taken to train rural people for new roles outside of the shrinking agricultural sector.
Prioritizing rural education would also reduce the well-documented childbearing pressures that women in rural settings experience from a young age.
Here's the article in full:
AGRICULTURE
Sharp drop in farmers stirs concern over future crops
(Thursday March 13, 2008)A sharp decline in the number of farmers and the amount of agricultural land is causing increasing concern about the country's future crop production.
The Education and Agriculture ministries moved to halt the trend yesterday, signing an agreement intended to boost the number of people working the land.
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Somsak Prissananantakul said the joint scheme was part of an effort to keep the country's farming sector alive.
Statistics from the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) show the number of people involved in the agricultural industry has fallen significantly to about 25.2 million nationwide, or about 40% of the population.
Ten years ago it was 55-60%.
Mr Somsak said a lack of job security has prompted farmers to seek employment in the industrial and service sectors.
"If the trend continues, it is estimated that the number of people in the agriculture sector will further drop to 37% by the year 2013, which will threaten the country's food-producing capacity.
"This is worrisome and requires action to prevent any effects on the country's farming sector and the agriculture-based economy," he said.
The OAE statistics also indicate that the area of farmland in the country has continued to shrink.
An OAE source said the fall in agricultural land use was due mainly to urban expansion.
Although there has been no obvious impact on productivity due to the reduced area of land in use, a consequence of improved technology and better farm management, the situation is of concern.
Mr Somsak said the five-year joint scheme will be implemented at three vocational colleges - the Agriculture and Technology College, the Fisheries College and the Vocational Training College - all under the Office of the Vocational Education Commission.
The two ministries will work jointly to create education opportunities and provide incentives to attract potential students to further their studies at those colleges, he said.
They will develop the campus grounds to accommodate farm students and support research and development programmes.
The students will be provided with agricultural know-how and training in farming and developing business plans, including marketing, to ensure they could manage their farms professionally.
"This cooperation will mark the beginnings of a new generation of farmers who will use their know-how to develop promising careers," Mr Somsak said.
(Source: Bangkok Post, general news, page 1, 13-03-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
vocational - training and skills needed to do a job
research and development (R&D) - research within companies to find new products and improve existing products (See Wikipedia)
prompt X - cause or make someone do action X
prompting these measures - cause authorities to take these actions
net flow out of Y - more flowing out of Y than into Y
urban expansion - the increasing size of a city
production capacity - the greatest amount of product that can be produced with factories, machines, and resources that already exist
food producing capacity - the greatest amount of food that can be produced from existing farms and food processing facilities
beef up - increase, strengthen, improve
agricultural extension - the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education, or providing information to farmers on agricultural production technologies to increase production as well as protect natural resources (See Wikipedia)
reinvigorate Y - increase the strength and energy of Y
prioritize - decide which is most and least important (See glossary)
childbearing pressures - when people try to make or force a young woman to have children
stirs concern over Y - makes people start thinking about, talking about, and calling for action on issue Y
moved to halt the trend - took action to stop the trend
a joint scheme - a plan for two or more organisations to join in a project
fallen significantly - decreased by a noticeable and important amount
job security - a worker's protection from losing their job, often supported by laws
fisheries - places where fish or shellfish are caught or raised (See Wikipedia on fishery)
the grounds - an area of land used for a special purpose
campus grounds - the area of land occupied by a college or school
X to accommodate Y - X has enough facilities for the group of people Y to use (for example, I'm sorry our hotel can't accomodate such a large group)
know-how - knowing how to do something, practical knowledge, mastery of techniques and methods
manage professionally - manage with high standards from advanced training and know-how (See glossary)
promising - likely to be successful
a career - a job over a long period of a person's life
a promising career - likely to be successful in their job over a long period of time
