Ubon Bio Ethanol Public Company Limited (UBE), led by Ms. Sureeyot Khowsurat, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (center), Siam Kubota Corporation Co., Ltd. (Siam Kubota) by Mrs. Waraporn Osathaphan, Senior Executive Vice President (left), and Kaset Inno Co., Ltd. (Kaset Inno) by Ms. Nanthaphon Angsukulthorn. Managing Director (right) signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in developing and promoting the cassava cultivation system with modern agricultural systems. The signing ceremony was held on September 26, 2023 at the Bangkok office of UBE. There were also honors from Mr. Phadetsak Champa, Executive Vice President, Innovation, Research and Development Department of UBE, Mr. Ratchakrit Sanguanchiwin, Business Value Creation Division Manager of Siam Kubota, and Mr. Kwanchai Dechaup, Head of Business Partner of Kaset Inno to attend and witness the signing ceremony.

The act of signing represents a significant initial step in advancing technological innovation by endorsing the cultivation of cassava using modern agricultural management systems and machinery, while also facilitating the exchange and expansion of knowledge and information. This will result in the establishment of an efficient and effective cassava cultivation system, ultimately providing substantial benefits to the agricultural industry and fostering improved production quality for Thai farmers.ย

The operating model and goals for developing the cassava cultivation system using modern agricultural systems will be jointly determined by the three parties which includes cooperation in transferring knowledge and supporting agricultural technology and machinery, as well as providing related information. A pilot project has been implemented, such as the Subsoil Blasting Demonstration Project to increase the efficiency of organic cassava cultivation, along with machinery demonstration for cultivating waxy cassava, and the initiative to promote organic cassava production in collaboration with the Department of Agricultural Extension, Department of Agriculture, and NSTDA.

Ms. Sureeyot Khowsurat, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of UBE, a Thailand’s leading manufacturer and distributor of processed cassava products, stated that “UBE has a business concept that focuses on driving technological innovation in every dimension throughout the product life cycle. Starting from the upstream i.e., farmers, for the past 11 years, UBE has been implementing a project to encourage farmers to grow cassava together with the government sector under the Ubon Model Project. And this year, there will be an expansion of the Ubon Model Plus innovation by integrating additional cooperation with government and private agencies, an alliance that has the same ideology of focusing on continuous transfer of knowledge and agricultural technology innovations to farmers and interested parties. I would like to thank Siam Kubota and Kaset Inno for coming together to continue the intention of improving the cassava farming platform. Under this cooperation, I believe that with UBE's long-standing knowledge and experience in cassava farming, combined with modern agricultural machinery technology, highly efficient farm management system, and knowledge and technology on farm management systems of Siam Kubota. And Kaset Inno's cassava promotion information management system will be an important driving force in preparing our farmers to have access to modern agricultural knowledge, technology and science. This includes the use of a conversion management system to solve production and labor costs and will help to push and raise the level of cassava farming towards digital cassava farming, which is a modern farming system that is fast and sustainable, benefiting farmers and the entire agricultural industry sector of the country.”

Mrs. Waraporn Osathaphan, Senior Executive Vice President of Siam Kubota said, “Siam Kubota is very pleased to participate in helping to raise the level of cassava product development in order to push and drive Thailand's cassava strategy into concrete form, as well as to generate income for farmers and entrepreneurs. We will support agricultural solutions using technology and agricultural machinery to help in the cassava cultivation process to get the most benefit from the beginning to the end. Today is a good opportunity and starting point to jointly promote Thailand's processed cassava products to benefit the agricultural sector, especially Thai farmers.

Ms. Nanthaphon Angsukulthorn. Managing Director of Kaset Inno said, "We have introduced the K-iField farm management system to help manage information and promote agricultural raw materials to meet the needs of cassava cultivation using modern agricultural systems to create efficiency in each cultivation process. Through this cooperation, it will create a prototype for cassava cultivation using modern agricultural systems and further develop the cultivation system using modern agricultural systems and expand the results to create added value for the product. As a result, farmers will have income and lead to the development of a stable and sustainable quality of life".

Integrating important cooperation among all three agencies will be very beneficial for the development of cassava cultivation into the modern agricultural system, including developing the potential and preparing Thai farmers to be modern farmers, ready to deal with the trends of global climate change, and help strengthen the agricultural sector, which is an important foundation for driving Thailand's sustainable economy.