A subsequent and logical development, growing out of the highlands activities
of the Royal Projects, has been the establishment of pilot-scale food
processing plants in the late 1970's, close to the opium substitution program
at Fang (in Chiang Mai) and Mae Chan (in Chiang Rai), near the northern border
with Burma. Apart from processing temperate highlands fruits and
vegetables, industrial crop production by small independent farmers in the lowlands has
been actively pursued. The current underlying principle is to assist and
promote independent small farmers, working all year round on their own land,
for crop production for agro- and food processing. The results have seen an
improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the targeted villages and
mitigation of seasonal migration to the larger cities. Similar processing
plants were established in Sakon Nakorn and Buriram in the northeast in the early 1980's,
for strategic reasons during the period of communist insurgencies. Now these
four plants serve as models for how rural villages can be industrialized while
maintaining their social fabric. Today, more than 10,000 families are producing and selling crops under
agreement with the four factories.
Farmers receive technical support and credit facilities. Public and private
agencies assist in the R&D and transfer of crop production and processing
technologies. Contributions of the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) include variety
selection, mass propagation and variety improvement of cut-flowers by tissue
culture, development of virus-free potato tubers and strawberry runners,
heat-tolerant Chinese mushrooms and high-efficiency waste-water treatment for
the food factories.
Next Chapter: Open Society, Dynamic Economy: T H A I L A N D