Thai Rice NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action)

CONTEXT

Rice is particularly important as it is cultivated on roughly half of all agricultural land in Thailand and accounts for nearly 55% of emissions from agriculture, making it the world’s fourth-largest emitter of rice-related greenhouse gas. In irrigated rice production, flooding of paddy fields leads to significant emissions of methane, which has a global warming potential 28 times higher than carbon dioxide. The lack of incentives available to farmers is also preventing a transition to low-emission rice production practices.

OBJECTIVE

To enable Thailand to effectively transform the Thai rice sector to low-emission rice production

APPROACHES

Intervention Strategy 1 – Low-Emission Rice Production Technology: The project will train farmers in how to implement mitigation technologies and sustainable best practices in rice production, as well as encourage them to switch practices based on the establishment of a Revolving Fund to cover start-up costs for mitigation service provision. This will generate more income by applying appropriate technologies and effective management for agricultural inputs (saving water used and energy for pumping water, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.), and facilitating sale of low-emission rice to the growing market for sustainable rice.

Intervention Strategy 2 – Mitigation Technology Services: Support business development by leveraging a national green credit programme for capital investment to provide mitigation technology services to farmers such as laser land levelling, alternate wetting and drying, site-specific nutrient management, and straw/stubble management.

Intervention Strategy 3 – Policy Formulation & Supporting Measures: Support project implementation, develop a model and expansion strategy, develop a Sustainable Rice Practice standard based on the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) Standard, and integrate the project into the Thai government’s workplan, projects and budget at all levels.

RESULTS SO FAR

• Developed implementation strategy and model for four basic mitigation technologies (Laser Land Levelling, Alternate Wetting and Drying, Site Specific Nutrient Management, Straw and Stubble Management) and Integrated Pest Management
• Organized capacity building activities on sustainable and low-carbon rice practice
• 4,600 SMART (lead) farmers trained in more than 2,500 villages
• 96,000 rice farming households trained and implementing basic low-emission practices on 320,000 ha
• Rice farmers have reduced GHG (CH₄) emissions with the equivalent of 915,000 tonCO₂ by the end of 2022
• Built capacity of local and central government staff related to MRV for GHG emissions in the rice sector
• Developed sustainable rice market strategy and market matching strategy
• Developed and adopted a Thai National Voluntary Standard for Sustainable Rice

FINANCED BY

Mitigation Action Facility

COUNTRY

Thailand

PROJECT PARTNERS

Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning

PROJECT DURATION

08/2018 – 07/2023

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PROJECT

1. ป.ปรับระดับพื้นที่นาด้วยระบบเลเซอร์ (Laser Land Levelling)
2. การทำนาแบบเปียกสลับแห้ง ลดต้นทุน ลดแมลง ลดโลกร้อน
3. การจัดการปุ๋ยด้วยการวิเคราะห์ดิน
4. การไถกลบตอซังและฟางข้าว
5. 4 เทคนิคปลูกข้าวให้ได้กำไร – Thai Rice NAMA (Eng Subtitle)
6. 4 low-carbon farming techniques bring happiness into your life
7. Thai farmer: ‘my action alone doesn’t bring success in slowing down climate change’

MORE INFORMATION

Thai Rice NAMA | Sustainable Agrifood System in ASEAN (asean-agrifood.org)