The Faculty of Agriculture led the workshop in Kut Phia Khom, Chonnabot District, Khon Kaen, advancing the U2T Project and aiming to enable agriculturalists to produce household products from natural materials easily found in their local surroundings. The workshop focused on products that would be environmentally friendly and help to decrease household living expenses. Meanwhile, the knowledge taught in the workshop can be applied in the future toward creating a source of supplementary income in the community.
The workshop took place from 21-24 June and was led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kiriya Sungthongwises, the head of the project, and her working group. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kiriya demonstrated how to produce various innovative community-based products, including: 1) rice bran oil soap; 2) kaffir lime and tumeric liquid dish soap and kaffir lime and butterfly pea liquid dish soap; 3) butterfly pea conditioner and pandan leaf conditioner; and 4) kaffir lime and butterfly pea shampoo. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kiriya works under the Department of Agronomy of KKU’s Faculty of Agriculture.
The workshop was organized in response to survey findings by the subdistrict’s U2T working group. Their survey of the area revealed that the subdistrict’s economy is largely based on agriculture, including rice farming, silk handicrafts, small-scale fisheries, and cattle raising. Most of the area experiences drought and often faces a lack of water in its few natural water sources. Therefore, the agriculturalists in the area tend to depend on silk handicrafts and cattle raising as their main sources of income.
Additionally, some of the agriculturists are housewives, who may have some free time, or are unemployed. This factor, as well as the potential for decreasing household living expenses, led to community members’ interest in developing professional skills related to making innovative community-based products. It takes 75-100 baht to produce 3.5 liters of liquid dish soup, 120 baht for 2.5 liters of conditioner, and 105-135 baht for 4 liters of shampoo.
The workshop took place at the Kut Phia Khom Subdistrict Administrative Office. Public relations and coordination for the event were carried out in collaboration with community leaders, the Subdistrict Administrative Organization, the head of Kut Phia Khom Subdistrict, and village leaders.
Workshop attendees showed active participation, and the subdistrict’s working group organized a team that would be responsible for following up in the local area. The team will collect information on how knowledge from the workshop is applied, as well as the problems or obstacles faced along the way. This will help the project to plan for future support and development activities aimed at achieving U2T goals.
For more information, visit https://th.kku.ac.th/66930/
