Kong Srilalak, a farmer in Ubon Ratchathani, looks a decade younger than 63. That's because of his robust and muscular frame and tan skin he has acquired from decades of harvesting rice fields.
But his heart is weary about the future. Like many farmers his age, Kong wonders how long he can keep rice farming and what his children are going to do with the ancestral land.
"I need to force them to practice rice farming, but it is hard as the younger generation want to pursue a higher education and work in air-conditioned office buildings more than tiling earth under the sun like their parents."
Kong, who lives in tambon Bua Ngarm of Dej Udom, can be considered as "the last generation" of Thai farmers. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives in 2013, most farmers in Thailand are between the ages of 50 and 60, while most young labourers in the farms are hired labour, usually from neighbouring countries. Farmers are the most iconic traditional profession in Thailand, but their children now follow the pattern of urban migration.
One thing that keeps farmers like Kong hopeful about the future of their occupation is the use of new technology, and the support for modern farm machinery.
Kong and other farmers have joined a new project called the "Better Rice Initiative Asia", known as "Bria", a multi-stakeholder partnership to improve farmers' livelihoods.
Bria is a collaboration between the Department of Rice under Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, the German Corporation for International Co-operation (GIZ), and two German farm technology companies, Bayer and BASF. The project is being implemented in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to promote sustainable farming.
Rice plants being harvested.
According to Bria, Asia's growing population will lead to a 40% increase in rice consumption in 25 years. But climate change, which has induced drought and erratic rain patterns, the overuse of chemical pesticides and decreased farmland will lead to a supply constraint. The project aims to solve the problems and make cultivation more sustainable, both environmentally and socially.
In Thailand, the project kick-started last year with specific missions to increase yields, reduce the use of chemical pesticides, increase nutritious values in rice grains and encourage the younger generation to choose rice farming as an occupation. Bria works with farmers in Ayutthaya and Suphan Buri in the Central Region, and four provinces in the Northeast -- Ubon Ratchathani, Roi Et, Si Sa Ket and Surin.
Perhaps most relevant to ageing farmers, the project also provides appropriate machines to help the elderly continue working while luring the younger generation. Bria will also establish 200 Community Rice Centres (CRCs) to train small-scale farmers about managing plantation resources.
One of new things that Kong is learning is to drop seeds in slots, instead of indiscriminately sowing seeds in large amounts -- a practice commonly used by Thai farmers. The old practice uses more seeds and more labour. Another technique is using fertilisers and pesticides appropriately, in discrete amounts, instead of randomly dousing and spraying the liquid all over.
Kong has also tried the latest mechanical pushcart with special slots for rice seed dropping and found it to be light and easy to use.
"It saves a lot of time and seeds. No more back bending to drop seeds. This machine allows the elderly like us to save energy and I hope my kids will see this and try planting rice, too." Amid the various projects to help farmers and encourage sustainable farming, Bria is another effort to help one of Thailand's oldest professions be passed on to the next generation.
Kong Srilalak with his seed drill.
