Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University and the Plant Breeding and Multiplication Association of Thailand (PBMAT) organized the 8th National Conference on Leguminous Crops under the concept: “Research and innovation of leguminous crops of Thailand for food security”. The Conference was aimed at promoting the crops and the network for producing good seeds adequate for the food chain and sustainable food security.
Tuesday July 25, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. – The 8th National Conference on Leguminous Crops under the concept: “Research and innovation of leguminous crops of Thailand for food security” was organized at Room AG7011, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, by the Faculty of Agriculture and the Plant Breeding and Multiplication Association of Thailand (PBMAT). The opening ceremony was honored to have Assoc. Prof. Darunee Chotishyangkoon, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture presiding over. The ceremony began with Asst. Prof. Piya Kittipadakul, Ph.D., President of the Plant Breeding and Multiplication Association of Thailand (PBMAT) delivering the reporting speech and presenting honorary trophies to the 4 benefactors in the field of leguminous crops of Thailand, namely, 1) Mr. Somsak Itthipong, an official pensioner of the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives; 2) Mr. Somchai Pa-oplek, Director of the Agricultural Research and Development Center, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives; 3) Asst. Prof. Jirawat Sanitchon, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Administration, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University; and 4) Dr. Nisa Meesaeng, an expert in soil management with plant systems, Division of Research and Development of Land Management, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The next part featured 4 special talks on: “Research Innovations of Leguminous Crops: the Future Food Crops – Opportunities and Challenges for Thailand”; “Deployment of Soybean in Thailand in the Perspective of the Private Sector”; “Research Proposal Writing Technique for Scholarship Award”; and “New Technology for Inspecting Genetic Differences”. The next session was a forum on the topic of “Leguminous Crops – Chance of Survival for Thailand and Food Security”. The Conference also featured presentations of 55 research studies, divided into 14 oral presentations and 41 poster presentations. There were exhibitions at the event of research works and products from the governmental and private sectors. Attendants included 120 researchers, academics, lecturers, students, related and interested people from different departments under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, academic institutions, and private organizations.
Asst. Prof. Piya Kittipadakul, Ph.D., President of the Plant Breeding and Multiplication Association of Thailand (PBMAT) reported that the National Conference on Leguminous Crops is a stage that promotes and supports researchers, academicians, agricultural promotion offices and relevant personnel from different organizations to present their works and research and development progresses related to leguminous crops. Participants are able to exchange knowledge and experiences and obtain useful information for the planning of research and development of leguminous crops. Another objective is to encourage new researchers to see the importance of leguminous crops so that all will cooperate in developing research on leguminous crops towards food security of the country. The Conference has been organized continuously every two years since 2026. The latest was the 7th Conference in 2019 at Lanna Rajamangala University of Technology, Pitsanulok. The Conference was skipped in 2021 due to Covid pandemic. In Khon Kaen, the 3rd Conference was organized in 2011 and this is the second time it has been held in Khon Kaen, on July 25-26, 2023..
Assoc. Prof. Darunee Chotishyangkoon, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture said in her opening speech that leguminous crops have had their important role in Thai economy and society for a long time, for Thailand is both the producer and user of the crops. Each year, there is great circulation of money in this sector from the production, marketing, manufacturing into different products and utilization of the crops, both in the country and abroad, involving many thousands of million baht a year. However, productivity of soybean, mung bean, peanut, and other nuts in Thailand is still low until we need to import some products from foreign countries, especially soybean, which is imported at over 98% of the demand in the country. Thus, it is necessary to conduct research and development of leguminous crops regularly in order to increase the efficiency of production and productivity and to lessen the import. As a result, the research and development will lead to the national food security. This Conference is very useful for the national research and development work, for it is the stage for presentation of research outcomes and for exchanging experiences among researchers and relevant personnel from many sectors. It will increase the efficiency and potentialities in building bodies of knowledge that will lead to improvement of productivity and quality of the crops. The special lectures and forum by experts and the exhibitions would help extending the research works and build broader networks for academic collaboration, leading to food security and sustainability of farmers. The key foundation in this regard is the research and development to increase the competitive competency of the country.
News / Photos: Benjamaporn Mamook
