KTIS, MAC & FTI Develop Pilot Model to Boost Cane Products and Quality

Mr. Parphan Siriviriyakul, the Executive Board Director of Kaset Thai International Sugar Corp. (Public Company Limited) (KTIS), the leading sugar and comprehensive continuous industry of Thailand, announced that the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MAC) and the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) already mobilized a plan entitled, “the pilot project for development of precisive agriculture towards 2-million-Rai land industrial business”. Accordingly, cane from factories is one of agricultural crop targets. As KTIS is also a top manufacturer in the cane and sugar industry, it was invited to take part in this project and use modern technologies, namely a drone to take photos of cane farms, spray and sow, to increase the number of products and boost quality of cane. In this regard, KTIS offered cane growers a training as well as providing them with agricultural machines and other crucial production factors. The company emphasizes mainly on cane for factories as the major agricultural crop. The total cane plantation area of 46,868 Rai land covers 12 provinces in Thailand: Kamphaeng Phet, Sukhothai, U-taradith, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Phetchabun, Nakhon Sawan, U-Thai Thani, Chainat, Singburi, Suphan Nuri and Lopburi. Out of the 1,493 cane growers, 1,420 of them are members who own a large cane farming of 27 plots of a total of 31,957 Rai land. The other 14,911 Rai land belongs to cane growers who are network members. There are also 73 cane growers owning a large cane farming who has not yet been officially registered. 

Mr. Parphan added that the above-mentioned project would promote cooperation of local cane growers in terms of knowledge sharing, technology and production innovations, starting from training and other support in several areas. Doing so will reduce production costs but increase products per a Rai land and boost quality of cane according to sweetness measurement. The aim of this project is to increase products per a Rai land to more than 10 tons of which sweetness will reach up to 12 CCS. Moreover, cane cutting necessarily yields crops without any contamination before sending them to a factory. KTIS supervised factories are planning to buy 730,000 tons, an equivalent to 730 million kilograms, of cane harvested under this project. Since modern technologies, namely a drone, are used in this project to take photos, spray and sow, local cane growers will have to attend a course of drone flying in a demonstration farm, as well.

Finally, areas of cane farming will be improved by checking, analysing and developing soil condition as well as research on fertilizers appropriate to soil. Moreover, procrement and improvement of water resources both inside and outside irrigation areas will be carried out. 3,216 reservoirs will be dug up. In areas where water passes, a pond, a dam or a brook will be made along with ditch stripping and use of solar cells to pump water for a farm under the project. As a result, a pilot model will exist as it includes soil improvement, pest prevention and crop harvest of which quality levels are necessarily typified and pre-harvest assessment conducted for the sake of increasing number of quality of cane per a Rai land.