Thai Agri-Tech Seminar Showcases Value-Added Farming and Carbon Credits

As the agricultural world changes rapidly — with unpredictable climate, rising production costs, and intense market competition — successful farming now requires more than just planting or raising skills. Farmers must embrace technology, add value to their produce, seek business opportunities, and adapt to change.

"Technology for Villagers" hosted its annual seminar, "Technology for Villagers NEXT MOVE: Agriculture Redefined," on October 30, 2026, at the Khao Sod and Matichon Academy building in Bangkok's Chatuchak district. The event packed deeper and more intensive content than ever, featuring real farmers, academics, and entrepreneurs who have achieved tangible results. Over a hundred farmers, entrepreneurs, and next-generation participants shared experiences and left with knowledge and inspiration, seeing new opportunities to earn and generate future income.

The event was designed as more than a sit-and-listen seminar. In the morning session from 10:00 to 12:00, participants joined workshop activities across five career-building classrooms covering production, processing, and value-added agricultural products. Attendees could choose classrooms matching their interests and goals to harvest ideas for experimentation or career development:

Room 1: "Turning Leaves into Money — Herbal Trade" — exploring commercial opportunities from medicinal plants. Room 2: "Producing Biochar from Bamboo" — learning to convert waste into soil amendment. Room 3: "Decoding Cricket Farming — Insects for Profit" — learning to raise pollinator insects for honey and pollination services. Room 4: "Premium Vanilla Curing Techniques" — perspectives on adding value to niche-market crops. Room 5: "DIY Craft Soda — Cola Ma Piad" — creating beverages from local ingredients.

In the afternoon from 13:00 to 16:00, the focus shifted to Net Zero Agriculture — how farming must grow sustainably — linking technology, innovation, and resource management to agriculture's future. It opened with a keynote, "Thai Agriculture's New Era: Driven by Data, Grown by Technology," by Professor Dr. Yoschanan Wongsawat, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, who detailed precision technology as Thailand's turning point toward food security and sustainable quality of life.

Generating Income from Trees through Carbon Credits

At 13:30–14:30, a talk titled "Carbon Credits: New Opportunity for Smallholder Farmers" featured Dr. Amporn Phoyai, senior researcher and head of the Carbon Market Technology and Innovation Research Team (DIT), alongside Thanaphisit Jai-kwang, President of Ban Thali Community Enterprise in Khon Kaen, moderated by Lina Nakaviroj, influencer and owner of the TikTok channel "Southern Girl Grows Trees."

Dr. Amporn said farmers must adopt a new mindset: plant forests primarily for timber; carbon credits are just a bonus or interest. Thinking this way ensures no loss — only 100% profit. He also warned against binding contracts that prevent changing land use, and advised verifying transparency through Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO) project codes to prevent fraud.

Thanaphisit Jai-kwang shared on-the-ground experience: his community maintains trees in a "Tree Bank" that views trees as principal assets and collateral security.