Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

472 Les productions bananières / Bananas and food security – Session 2
Conclusion
Co-operation between the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and co-operatives, Bank of
Agriculture and co-operatives, private sectors and farmers had successful results on the
Kluai Khai export industry. However, the domestic market demand developed rapidly, so
that currently, the export price is only 1 Baht higher than the domestic price. Farmers
have therefore reverted to their traditional cultivation and management methods
because input costs are lower. Recently, the MOA has focused on production
improvement and management of small-scale farms with lower inputs and higher
productivity. The aim is to produce increased yields for consumption with a sustainable
farming system. MOA’s actions aimed at restructuring agricultural production and
prioritisation of productivity zoning using an agricultural information system have been
of crucial importance: see Figure 5 (Wattanachaiyingcharoen et al. 1997). The less
profitable crops such as low quality rice, cassava and other field crops will be replaced
by the higher potential crops in this region, such as Kluai Khai. A suitable growing area
for Kluai Khai is the lower northern region along the Ping and Yom rivers. Kluai Khai
production and planting areas could be expanded for many reasons as shown in Tables 1,
2 and 3. Technology transfer, adoption of technology, production and marketing
management are the important keys to success and the farmer has to be the centre of
activities.
References
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