Thai rice farmers shun 'big agribusiness' and fight climate change

Battling drought, debt and ailments blamed on pesticides, rice farmers in northern Thailand have turned to eco-friendly growing methods despite powerful agribusiness interests in a country that is one of the top exporters of the grain in the world.

Walking through a sea of green waist-high stalks, farmer Sunnan Somjak said his fields were "exhausted" by chemicals, his family regularly felt ill, and his profits were too low to make ends meet.

But that changed when he joined a pilot agricultural project for the SRI method, which aims to boost yields while shunning pesticides and using less water. "Chemicals can destroy everything," the 58-year-old said, adding that the harvest in his village in Chiang Mai province has jumped 40 percent since employing the new method. There have been health benefits too.

"It's definitely better, we don't get sick any more," he added.

SRI was invented in the 1980s in Madagascar by a French Jesuit priest, and the technique has spread globally.

It works by planting crops wider apart - thus drawing in more nutrients and light - and limiting the amount of water that gets into fields, which helps micro-organisms flourish to act as natural fertilisers.

In a plus for debt-laden farmers, it also uses fewer seeds, and they are encouraged to use plants and ginger roots that naturally deter insects rather than chemical alternatives - meaning fewer expenses.

Traditional Thai rice farmers earn around 3,000 baht a month ($100) but Sunnan was able to increase his income by 20 percent after adopting the SRI method. "I've finally got rid of my debts," he told AFP.

Rice is a staple in the diet of around three billion people globally.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019