Ms Nittayakorn Todtong, the Kranuan District Community Development Officer,
explains the techniques of growing peanuts.

A five-day Structured Learning Visit (SLV) on Farming Systems in Thailand was organized for 20 staff members of the Northern Uplands Rice-Based Farming Systems Research Project (NURiFaR), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Lao PDR, last January 24-28, 2012.

In the welcome speech of Dr.  Suchat Katima, Director of the Mekong Institute, he mentioned that 30 years ago, Thailand has not produced enough rice for domestic consumption, but now it is the biggest rice exporter and the second-biggest rubber producer in the world. He hoped that from this Structured Learning Visit, the participants will be able to learn both the success and failures from Thai experiences and apply some of the knowledge gained from the program when they return to their respective organizations.

Mr Thongsavanh Keonakhone, (left) Deputy Director of NURiFaR Project, introduced all the participants to the staff of Mekong Institute. The participants comprised of senior to middle-level government officials of central and provincial government agencies including Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang and Oudomxay provinces who are involved in promoting agriculture farming systems. They attended the SLV to learn the best practices and techniques of various farming systems in Thailand, focusing on rice, maize and peanut farming.

To enhance the knowledge of the participants, several visits have been organised covering the following sites: a Sufficiency Economy Village, Khon Kaen Rice Seed Center, a Community Rice Seed Promotion and Production Center, the Khon Kaen Agricultural Central Market, a private rice mill, a maize seed company and a peanut producer group.

This structured learning visit was sponsored by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Participants were interviewing Dr.Taweesak Pulam during the visit to the company’s farm.	Dr.Taweesak Pulam explained the process of corn breeder selection for producing hybrid seed.
Mr.Peerapong Sirikul (center), Director of Khon Kaen Rice Seed Center, posed with participants in front of his main office.