ARDA uses tailor-made fertilizer to upgrade Thai coffee

Post Today•Economy•3d ago

Reader Briefing

ARDA implements precision agriculture and tailor-made fertilizers to increase Arabica coffee yields and reduce costs for farmers in Chiang Rai.

•ARDA supports research for the 'Arabica Coffee Management Development Project with Tailor-made Fertilizer and Precision Agriculture Technology'.
•The project targets coffee plantations in Doi Chang and Doi Mae Salong in Chiang Rai province.
•The innovation reduces fertilizer costs by more than 30% and increases the proportion of Grade A beans to over 70%.
•The project introduces the Agricultural Service Provider (ASP) business model to provide comprehensive farm management.

•Thailand has an annual coffee bean consumption demand of 70,000-90,000 tons, while domestic production is only 10,000-20,000 tons.
•Farmers in Doi Chang and Doi Mae Salong previously used generic chemical fertilizers without soil analysis, leading to acidic soil and potassium deficiency.
•ARDA provided research funding to develop a project based on the concept of Fonthip Sriwaranyoo, the winner of Agrithon by ARDA Season 1.
•The project utilizes Handheld Soil Analyzers, IoT, LoRaWAN, and AI to design plot-specific fertilizer formulas verified by ISO/IEC 17025 laboratories.
•Precision fertilization reduced fertilizer costs by more than 30% and improved coffee tree resistance to leaf rust disease.
•Coffee yields from the project achieved a Grade A bean proportion exceeding 70% and reached Premium Commercial Grade, approaching Specialty Coffee status.
•ARDA is pushing the research into commercial innovations, including four tailor-made fertilizer formulas and an AI soil analysis platform.
•The Agricultural Service Provider (ASP) model will act as a farm doctor providing end-to-end services from soil sampling to production monitoring.

Full article content is available on the original source.

Agricultural Research Development Agency(สำนักงานพัฒนาการวิจัยการเกษตร (องค์การมหาชน))

A public organization (ARDA) that provides research funding to develop precision agriculture for Thai coffee farmers.

ARDA

An organization that supports research funding and pushes agricultural innovations into commercial use.

Doi Chang(ดอยช้าง)

An Arabica coffee planting area in Chiang Rai province.

Doi Mae Salong(ดอยแม่สลอง)ℹ️

An Arabica coffee planting area in Chiang Rai province.

Chiang Rai Province(จังหวัดเชียงราย)ℹ️

The province where Doi Chang and Doi Mae Salong coffee plantations are located.

Fonthip Sriwaranyoo(ฝนธิป ศรีวรัญญู)

The winner of Agrithon by ARDA Season 1 whose concept led to the tailor-made fertilizer project.