Ms. Thanyathitha Boonyamanikul, Deputy Secretary-General of the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, revealed the progress of the Agricultural Product Standards Quality Upgrading Project for Fiscal Year 2025. This project, part of the Safe Agriculture Sub-Master Plan, aims to develop standards and certification systems for agricultural products, promote knowledge on agricultural product production standards, and inspect and certify agricultural products to ensure they meet standards. In Fiscal Year 2025, the goal is to certify farmers, entrepreneurs, and businesses in three product groups (crops, livestock, and fisheries). Seven agencies are involved, each divided according to their primary missions: (1) setting and improving agricultural product standards, led by the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards; (2) production promotion, led by the Department of Cooperative Promotion and the Rice Department, which provide farmers and entrepreneurs with knowledge and understanding of standardized production; and (3) agricultural product standard certification, which is being implemented. by the Agricultural Land Reform Office, the Rice Department, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Livestock Development, and the Department of Fisheries.

Monitoring and evaluation by the ONESQA found that the project has achieved 73 percent of its overall target. Results have been achieved in various dimensions, including: 8,290 farmers, entrepreneurs/businesses, and certifiers have received training in agricultural product standards (129.69 percent of the targeted 6,392). Furthermore, agricultural product standards have been certified for 21,827 farmers and entrepreneurs (41.98 percent of the targeted 52,000), covering 200,033 plots (131.60 percent of the targeted 152,000 plots) and 486 factories (81.00 percent of the targeted 600 factories).

In terms of economic value, the project has significantly increased the value of safe agricultural products. Prior to the project's participation, Farmers' production value for safe agricultural products averaged 1.70 million baht per year, increasing to an average of 2.04 million baht per year after participating in the project, representing a 19.97% increase. Breakdown by product group shows even more dramatic results. Crops (durian, mangosteen, mango, rice, corn, and vegetables) saw a 6.62% increase in production value, rising from 0.32 million baht per year to 0.35 million baht per year. Livestock (pigs) saw a 12.68% increase in production value, rising from 8.94 million baht per year to 10.07 million baht per year. Fishery (marine shrimp) saw a 37.49% increase in production value, rising from 9.52 million baht per year to 13.10 million baht per year.

However, monitoring revealed that 83.75% of farmers who applied for agricultural product certification received certification and were able to utilize the certificates for actual product sales, such as durian exports and contract farming. The remaining 9.38% are awaiting certification results. The remaining 6.87 percent of farmers did not apply for certification. This was due to various limitations, including high farm improvement costs, market perception of standards, and personal constraints such as title deeds or certification fees.

The ONESQA Deputy Secretary-General added that to fully achieve its objectives, relevant agencies should integrate cooperation with local certification agencies to facilitate farmers, as well as link with the private sector to support GAP-certified produce and raise consumer awareness of the value of GAP agricultural products. Furthermore, efforts should be made to assist farmers in obtaining certification, including providing knowledge on disease prevention and control, and jointly considering compensation measures for farmers. ONESQA will continue to monitor and evaluate the project's results to contribute to achieving its goals.

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