NSTDA and Thai energy company Global Power Synergy Public Company Limited (GPSC) recently announced a joint initiative to empower community sustainability with science, technology and innovation. The partnership aims to introduce NSTDA’s latest innovations to farmers under the “GPSC Smart Farming” campaign.

Over the years, NSTDA has employed its core expertise, i.e., ICT, biotechnology, materials science, nanotechnology and energy, to create numerous smart farming innovations that will not only improve energy efficiency and productivity, but also are eco-friendly. These innovations are, for instance, an IoT-based smart greenhouse, multifunctional greenhouse film MultiTech and MultiTech-Ultra, non-woven fruit-wrapping bag, quality seeds for crop rotation, nano-chelated fertilizer, mobile application for fruit ripeness determination and organic waste composter.

Pilot projects will be launched in two communities. In Ban Huai Khap Village of Nan Province, the project will install a smart greenhouse equipped with a renewable energy system, an LED lighting system, smart plant watering system and environmental monitoring system. Training and workshops on crop rotation will be organized for farmers. Two innovations – a fruit wrapping bag Magik Growth and a mobile app for fruit ripeness determination – will be introduced to durian growers in Ban Suan Tonmai Village of Rayong Province. Magik Growth is made from a nonwoven material designed to allow water and air to pass through and filter appropriate wavelength of the light for optimum plant growth, resulting in improved productivity and product quality and less pesticide usage. Field test results of Magik Growth showed that durians wrapped with Magik Growth have 30% thinner shell, firmer flesh with nice yellow color and are 10% heavier. The mobile application uses acoustic sound to enable growers to determine the ripeness level of durians via a smart phone.