Betagro in B26m deal to finance research projects

Betagro in B26m deal to finance research projects

In an effort to generate more research in the food and agriculture industries, Betagro Group has entered a deal with the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) on academic partnership.

Under the agreement, Betagro will give 26 million baht to finance doctoral students with five scholarships a year for five years beginning in 2013. The fund includes thesis grants of 200,000 baht per student.

Research projects eligible for funding must be related to food quality, food consumption and environmental management.

"The focus will be food quality and R&D for functional foods such as recipes for the elderly and patients," said Betagro chief executive Vanus Taepaisitphongse.

The partnership will not only support the country's exports of food and crops, but also ensure efficiency in supplying food amid declining global resources.

Demand for crops and meat will rise in tandem with the world population, which is expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050 _ up 34% from at present, says the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

"The questions are, how can the world produce sufficient food to feed this rising population, and how do we balance our declining resources," Mr Vanus said.

TRF director Sawat Tantrarat said Thai investment in research and development remains small at 0.2% of gross domestic product, compared with a global average of 1%.

The government announced last year a plan to increase the figure to 1% in five years and 2% in 10 years.

The ratio of researchers to total population in Thailand is relatively low at nine per 10,000 people, far lower than in South Korea and Singapore (400-500 researchers per 10,000 people).

To increase R&D, the cabinet on June 12 approved the Research and Researchers for Industry (RRI) scheme.

"The programme is designed to enable post-graduate and doctoral students to produce good quality research and adapt it for the benefit of the industrial sector," said Mr Sawat.

The first year of the programme has seen 190 scholarships for post-graduates and 90 for doctoral students. More funds will be set aside in the coming years, and the programme is expected to produce 11,400 post-graduate and 10,500 doctoral researchers in 15 years.

According to Mr Sawat, Betagro is among five private companies supporting the RRI programme.

To ensure success, the TRF and Betagro will each provide half the funding for each scholarship.

"When the research is completed and the copyrights registered, the company has priority to purchase the rights," said Mr Sawat.

Betagro Group, which generated more than 60 billion baht in sales last year with businesses ranging from animal feed to food products, has set aside up to 4 billion baht each year for business expansion and R&D.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT