28 February 2025, Bangkok, Thailand – Rice represents the essence of Asia’s food system, and feeds over half of the global population. In Thailand, rice cultivation accounts for about half the agricultural landscape, employing 18 million smallholder farmers. Yet, as climate change intensifies, Thailand’s staple crop faces pressures from prolonged droughts, rising temperatures, flash floods, and extreme weather events in general, placing rice production at risk.
To combat these challenges, the Thai Rice: Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming project, funded by the Green Climate Fund GCF (Thai Rice GCF), was publicly launched on 26 February 2025. The Thai Rice GCF project builds upon the foundation laid by the Thai Rice NAMA project. The new initiative aims to drive a transformational shift towards climate-smart rice farming, equipping vulnerable farmers with the knowledge and tools needed to increase resilience and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
As an Executing Entity, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) takes a center stage in advancing climate-smart rice farming technologies in Thailand. The focus is on the verification of new agronomic technologies that could support climate-smart approaches in the Thai rice sector and adapting their application to the local context. This encompasses rigorous studies and testing of Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) in different local agro-environments, an advancement of drone technology for climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable rice residue management. IRRI will also support the National Determined Contributions (NDC) implementation and establish robust Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems for rice production.
In conjunction with the “National Inception Event for the Thai Rice: Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming Project” two days prior, IRRI hosted the workshop entitled “Collaborative Activities under the Thai Rice GCF Project” on 28 February 2025. This workshop also served as a follow-up on the policy workshop “From Policy to Actions – Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming”, held in May 2024. The workshop opened with welcome remarks by Mr. Sommai Lertna, Acting Expert in Rice Production Technology of the Rice Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and was followed up by Ms. Sarida Khananusit, Project Director at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) to provide an overview of the project. In total, the event convened 55 participants, comprised of scientists from Thailand’s Rice Department as well as researchers from other government agencies, academia, private sector representatives, and IRRI.
During the workshop, the participants presented on climate-smart technologies and their implementation strategies, discussed ongoing research and initiatives related to climate-resilient rice farming, identified potential project sites for collaboration, and ultimately conceptualized a work plan for technology rollout.
The successful implementation of climate-smart rice farming requires a multi-stakeholder approach, engaging policymakers, researchers, private sector actors, and most importantly, the farmers themselves. It is IRRI’s goal to advance MRV systems and climate-smart rice production in Thailand and beyond with tailor-made programs and practical solutions to greenhouse gas emissions from rice. Incentives, capacity-building programs, and strong government policies are indispensable to ensure the large-scale adoption of these practices.