A video from SciDev.Net explores agriculture technologies at Kasetsart University in Thailand, aimed at the needs of smallholder farmers of horticultural crops.
The audio slideshow, “Simple agricultural innovation to empower farmers,” takes a closer look at several low-cost farming tools, including:
- a cold room with a CoolBot for cooling fruits and vegetables after harvest
- two solar dryers, including the UC Davis chimney dryer for drying produce
- a solar-powered pump with drip irrigation system
Reporter Giovanni Ortolani interviewed Poonpipope Kasemsap, professor at Kasetart University, whose comments provide narration for most of the video.
“A lot of things can be done with a small investment, with innovations, in order to help the farmers so that they can live better lives,” Kasemsap says in the video.
Kasemsap is also the director of the Horticulture Innovation Lab Regional Center at Kasetsart University, which promotes all of the technologies included in this video.
For the video, Ortolani also interviewed Pariyanuj Chulaka, lecturer at Kasetsart University, and Peeyush Soni, associate professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, for their expert opinions on these technologies and their practicality for farmers.
The reporting team of Ortolani and photographer Paola Di Bella also made a separate video about drying beads for SciDev.Net during their time in Thailand.
Read the whole article and watch the video: Simple agricultural innovation to empower farmers.
More information:
- CoolBot factsheet (PDF) and more about the CoolBot
- UC Davis chimney dryer factsheet (PDF)
- Solar-powered irrigation system factsheet (PDF)
- Horticulture Innovation Lab Regional Center at Kasetsart University