Thailand - Achievements

Achievements

Key indicators and performance for 2007-08

Indicator: New collaborative project developed with an NGO to enhance adoption of results of earlier ACIAR-funded research

Performance: Project designed and implemented with World Vision in NE Thailand to enhance adoption of earlier ACIAR-funded rice production and livestock forages work.

Indicator: At least one new project developed on the basis of co-investment from Thai institutes and/or regional agricultural consortia

Performance: Significant co-investment from Thai partners in three projects.

Indicator: New linkages between Thai and Lao partners in two ACIAR projects

Performance: New linkages in two projects (animal vaccine manufacture, fish passage development) add to those established in 2007–08 in rice-based cropping systems and in culture fisheries.

Indicator: New collaborative biosecurity research program established in conjunction with relevant Thailand and Australian agencies

Performance: Biosecurity project (CP/2006/170) designed in 2007 and implemented in early 2008. Training workshop on molecular diagnostics for Thai scientists held in Australia.

Achievements from 2007-08 Annual Report

Activities in Thailand during 2007–08 centred round the development of new projects that advanced the uptake of research undertaken in earlier projects. Thailand is a regional leader in animal disease control and manufactures its own vaccines through a government Bureau of Veterinary Biologics. They approached ACIAR to assist with aspects of vaccine manufacture, particularly as it relates to foot-and-mouth disease vaccine and establishment of Good Manufacturing Practice that will meet international certification. ACIAR has already supported an evaluation of the vaccine supply and manufacture in Laos, and one of the outcomes of that review was to develop a work plan for its vaccine manufacturing centre that will lead to improved quality of the vaccines produced on site. This activity, involving liaison with consultants and scientists working on other ACIAR-funded projects in the region, will support the needs of the facilities in both Thailand and Laos.

In 2001 ACIAR and World Vision Thailand implemented a program of collaboration to foster greater application of the results of earlier ACIAR-funded research. Three programs—on fish-feed production, temperate fruit development and production of vegetables with reduced use of agrochemicals—helped World Vision to address specific technical challenges that communities had identified in different parts of the country. The projects were implemented in some of the poorest parts of Thailand and produced significant community impacts. A newly commissioned project follows this model. It focuses on improving the reliability of rice and livestock-based farming systems in Mahasarakham Province in north-east Thailand, one of the poorest parts of the country and which suffers from low soil fertility, salinity and acidity. The project also aims to further develop the paradigm of participatory research to assist World Vision agriculturalists working with farmer groups.

The Thai Department of Fisheries are providing assistance with the Lao Fish Passage Development Program supported through another ACIAR project. The original project helped the Thailand Department gain experience with fish passage technology through biological assessments and study of traps and transport ‘fishways’. This project is providing Thai fisheries researchers with the opportunity to value-add to the existing assessment of fish passage in Lao, through participation in the work. These collaborative efforts will help to consolidate existing work in the wider Mekong regions and to develop a plan to improve opportunities for fish passage in Thailand and Lao PDR.

Researchers examined the impact of sanitary and phytosanitary measures on the ability of (agricultural exporting) developing countries to achieve the full benefits of trade liberalisation through a comparative study of India and Thailand. Particular emphasis was placed on the role of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement and the related WTO dispute settlement procedure in cushioning exporters of agricultural and food products against trade-retarding effects of SPS measures. The work also emphasised related compliance issues and institutional constraints. In early 2008 a major research monograph was published, while a short policy manual targeting public-sector and private-sector organisations engaged in addressing food safety standards and export performance was published concurrently.