CAT has been implementing its “CAT Digital Come Together” project to help upgrade productivity of Thai farmers by utilising modern technology and innovation. Over two years after this project has been launched, a large number of farmers have earned more income from selling better quality products and learned how to use Internet of Things (IoT) in their daily activities.
Dr. Dhanant Subhadrabandhu, Senior Executive Vice President (Marketing and Service) and founder of the CAT Digital Come Together project, talked about the project development stage.
“CAT started ‘CAT Digital Come Together’ project in 2017 with the aim to encourage Thai farmers to be able to produce high-quality products and to have supplementary careers, thereby increasing their earnings. We started the project because we believe that modern farming system utilising IoT is the only way to help farmers to compete in today’s highly competitive markets.”
“Since technology plays a crucial part in our daily lives and digital transformation is very important for organisations in the 4.0 era, CAT has developed technologies tailored to Thai agriculture that can build maximum potential for sustainable agriculture.”
The IoT technology for agriculture that CAT provides includes smart sprinkler systems controlled by smartphones.
“Normally, farmers have to watch their farms whole day and wait for specific times to water their plants. With IoT technology, farmers can control a smart sprinkler system remotely by their smartphones from any area. Sensors are installed at the farm area to measure the humidity level of the soil to determine the best time to water plants. When farmers receive an alert on their smartphones, they can order the sprinkler system to water their plants. By implementing this technique, farmers have more time to do other activities and at the same time productivity is increased.”
“Over the past two years, we have found that all farmers are interested in technology but most lack the necessary data link. Once they learn how to employ the IoT technology, farmers can earn additional income from other businesses and they can use the technology creatively in their daily lives. We are delighted to see what they have accomplished with it.”
The durable and efficient technology utilises LoRaWan systems featuring lower energy consumption and covering a wide radius. Sensors and other tools that utilise this system perform efficiently. If farmers use an application with unstable signals, lots of sensors and batteries installed in the field would deteriorate in a shorter period of time. As such, the LoRa system is highly suitable for Thai farmers.
“As a leading company bringing the LoRa technology to Thailand, CAT can also utilise it extensively to build the smart cities of the future.”
As for the next step, Dr. Dhanant revealed: “In the coming quarter, CAT will put more emphasis on students because all Thai students should learn about farming. We plan to provide them knowledge of digital farming so they will know about the technology that helps to generate careers and give them together with their communities a better quality of life going forward.”
