The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) has initiated the One Tambon, One Digital (OTOD) Digital Durian project to boost the productivity of 8.8 million Thai durian farmers by integrating digital platforms and innovative technologies. This initiative aims at standardizing Thai durian production through the use of applications for enhanced recording, storage, and tracking of crop data.
Pantanu Wannagangsai, an advisor to the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry, outlined the project's objective to address the challenges faced by Thai durian farmers, including the need to bolster consumer trust and compete effectively on the international stage, especially against competitors from China and neighboring countries. The project seeks to promote high-value Thai products globally.
With 1.02 million rai dedicated to durian cultivation, Thailand produced 1.53 million tonnes of durian, making it a leading export with 69% of all fruit exports, totaling 991,557 tonnes last year, primarily to China. The OTOD Digital Durian initiative is set to involve over 6,100 durian farming households in adopting digital platforms for data management within two years, aiming to generate significant big data for Thai agriculture, particularly in the durian sector, as stated by Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, president of DEPA.
Additionally, the initiative plans to train approximately 12,200 farmers across 23 provinces in e-commerce applications and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification, contributing to the development of a national agriculture platform. Thailand's durian export market, the world's largest, is expected to value at 19.8 billion baht (US$569 million) in two years, with 152,500 tonnes meeting GAP standards. The project leverages a platform developed by a Thai digital startup, certified by dSURE for its quality and reliability.
Source: Thaiger