Breaking language and cultural barriers on the first day of SATNET’s field visit in Thailand

The first SATNET intraregional visit for smallholder value chain actors commenced in Thailand on Monday, 21 July 2014. Over the next four days, 20 participants from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Indonesia and Myanmar comprising of lead farmers, grassroots civil society representatives, and government officials – many of whom are travelling outside their home countries for the first time – will get an opportunity to visit research centres and farmers' fields to observe best practices in crop production technologies, integrated pest management (IPM) and post-harvest and marketing. The objective is to enable them to support the dissemination and adoption of these practices in their own communities.

The first activity on the opening day was a visit to the Department of Agricultural Extension of Thailand’s Head Office in Bangkok, where the Director of the Biological Control Promotion Group welcomed the visitors, and presented the work of the Department. The most interesting part was the sharing of valuable knowledge and practical experience from Thailand in relation to good practices such as farmer field schools, lessons learned, and success factors in working with farmers. The participants asked lots of questions about specific pests and technologies to control them.

In the afternoon, the group visited the farm of Mr. Krow, a progressive farmer growing vegetables and lemons as per Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards in Sai-noi district of Nonthaburi province. His farming activities are well integrated with waste management – waste from one process serving as input into another. The products are of high quality and sold to chains such as Seven Eleven as well as exported to Singapore. The visitors got a hands-on opportunity to see innovative practices in organic vegetable production, lemon cultivation, vermicomposting and production of liquid bio-fertilizer. There was an air of excitement as participants saw new techniques and had in-depth discussions to compare them with what they do back home.

Although the participants came from diverse communities and contexts, it was heartening to see barriers of language and cultures crashing down with all of them interacting in an atmosphere of friendship and shared learning.  An enriching day for everyone!