“Fusion Farm” aims to strengthen knowledge and develop the potential of a targeted 400 local farmers per year while maintaining product price stability and elevating quality standards via various projects such as the Royally-initiated Plant Genetic Conservation Project.
Jarasri Khamphirasingh, Phuket Provincial Agriculture Officer, explained that the project is listed as pillar 9 in the list of 10 economic pillars to help drive the profitability and sustainability of Phuket province as part of a development strategy to help maimise the agricultural sector.
Ms Jarasri visited the Nakaraj Farm Community Enterprise in Thalang on Friday (Apr 26) to see first hand how the methods were being successfully implemented.
Ms Saiwee Srisawang, president of Nakaraj Farm Community Enterprise, explained how she and her team have managed to successfully cultivate a mushroom production factory on site, in addition to extensive planting and harvest of vegetables using recylcing methods such as composting.
Such practices can be widely used to great effect by local farmers by using waste products from vegetables to recycle and create vermicompost, explained Kamphon Kingkaew, owner of the Organic Agriculture Learning Center. For example, using leftover germ cells from mushrooms harvested in a water filled pond creates excellent material to mix with vegetable seeds on farms to help them grow, Mr Kamphon explained. This product can also be sold by farmers who produce it to provide a decent income while boosting sustainability efforts, he added.
Fusion Farm also strives to encourage the development of smart farmers as entrepreneurs as well as the next generation of Young Smart Farmers by sharing agricultural knowledge specific to promoting sustainability, explained Ms Jarasri.
Furthermore, the project aims to develop agricultural tourism as per the Bio-Circular-Green Economic Model under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, she explained, to further create stability and sustainability for farmers.