Global shocks – challenges to smallholder livelihood
Unprecedented global shocks and climate vulnerability have accelerated the need to transform the agricultural sector towards a safe, quality, traceable, and sustainable production system. Many smallholder farmers, especially those in remote areas, are ill-equipped to face these challenges. Not surprisingly, they are also extremely concerned about the daunting tasks that await them. Working with ADB and the consultant team, Dr. Rassarin Chinnachodteeranun is determined to improve their chances by empowering them with relevant and effective technology.
Looking at the big picture
Having worked with over 25,000 farmers, Dr. Rassarin says that one of the major impediments is the lack of supply chain visibility resulting from fragmented agricultural information. For example, in highland Nan (traditional thai herb growers), she believes that utilizing the right precision technologies will enable farmers to properly grow high value crops that meet the highest quality standards. Increasingly important, she points out, is the need to have supply chain transparency and traceability mechanisms in place to attract buyers who are willing to partner with them long-term.
Determined to uplift the livelihood of farmers and transform the agricultural sectors of Asia, Dr. Rassarin and Prof. Kiyoshi Honda co-founded ListenField in 2017. They strongly believe that ListenField’s innovative farm AI technologies will truly bring precision agriculture to the masses of smallholder farmers and integrate the farming industry.
“Farmers are the backbone of many economies, and yet they are still unequipped to face various uncertainties, making their lives difficult. We developed a platform that upgrades their decision-making, allowing better risk and variability management”, says Dr. Rassarin.
Integration and Traceability
ListenField provides innovative technologies that aim to integrate all farming activities and help production stakeholders understand how all variables interact with one another. Starting from soil analysis, ListenField’s real time multi-spectral vision AI model can monitor crop growth and provide actionable data to enhance yield, as well as predict optimal harvest dates. Furthermore, the platform integrates data from different levels to give stakeholders a better view for the entire production cycle, making the entire process transparent, traceable, and verifiable.
Dr Rassarin stressed the importance of soil analysis as the starting point of agricultural analysis: “The soil in which a particular food was grown varies highly from region to region. Making use of local soil information provides an opportunity for farmers to optimize fertilizer use, reducing costs. This also provides consumers with precise traceability information, building trust and confidence in farmer products. We are currently utilizing Near-infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) technologies to characterize soil properties in the fields, which is a rapid and accurate method of measuring soil characteristics, making it a cost-effective solution for smallholder communities”.
More information about NIRS can be found here.
Soil is a major nutrient source needed by plants to grow. Better soil health management is therefore the foundation of sustainable farming. By paying attention to soil conditions in the fields, our farmers can be more efficient in their fertilizer use, unlocking higher yields at reduced costs.
Establishing effective partnerships
Transforming smallholder agriculture requires public-private partnerships. ListenField has been working with organizations such as Raks Thai Foundation, the Asian Development Bank, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) to reach smallholder communities across Thailand. These initiatives are expected to help farmers gain access to the best farming technologies that ensure sustainability and traceability.
Workshops with farmers: An important activity to strengthen the adoption of new technologies
Bringing together production stakeholders
When the supply chain works as a cohesive whole, higher performance is achieved, such as enhanced food safety and traceability, at reduced costs. The end-result, Dr. Rassarin says, will be an integrated food production supply chain where no smallholder is left behind.