A delegation led by the Ambassador of Germany visited the pilot areas of the Thai Rice Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) project in Suphan Buri Province where innovative low-emission farming techniques have been introduced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from rice production while increasing production efficiency.
The delegation observed a demonstration of the Laser Land Leveling Technique, alternate wetting and drying, Site-Specific Nutrient Management, and straw and stubble management.
The objective of the project is to give Thai rice farmers in six provinces in Central Thailand access to farming technology to increase the efficiency of rice production and shift to low-emission rice production.
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More on Thai Rice NAMA:
Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action
Nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs), first mentioned in the Bali Action Plan 2007, are measures adopted by developing countries to mitigate climate change as part of a comprehensive process to effectively implement the UNFCCC. In 2009, member countries submitted their proposed NAMAs – in forms of policies, regulations, standards, and programs – to the UNFCCC at COP15. This event also secured developed countries’ promise to provide US$30 billion worth of funding for mitigation and adaptation actions in developing countries from 2010 to 2012 and mobilize additional USD 100 billion annually by 2020.
Although not stated explicitly in the Paris Agreement, NAMAs play a key role on achieving mitigation goals to hold the global temperature rise to below 2 °C of pre-industrial levels. NAMAs contribute to realizing Nationally Determined Contributions that countries submit to the UNFCCC as their committed efforts to address the global climate crisis.
Financing climate change mitigation in agriculture: assessment of investment cases
Low emission agriculture development will not be possible without significantly increasing the amount of investment in mitigation actions across the regions and agriculture sub-sectors but access to finance for climate action in agriculture is a major challenge. This paper evaluated innovative financial mechanisms and instruments that integrate climate finance, agriculture development budgets, and private sector investments to improve and increase farmers’ and other value chain actors’ access to finance while delivering environmental, economic, and social benefits.
Thai Rice NAMA to turn a crisis into an opportunity for environmental safeguards
Many measures to address these environmental impacts are being evaluated. Alternate wetting and drying, land leveling, smart crop nutrient management, and rice straw management are the
most feasible technologies discussed for implementation by the Thai Rice NAMA.
Selected technologies will be promoted to some 100,000 farmers in the six provinces of Chainat, Angthong, Patumthani, Singburi, Suphanburi, and Ayutthaya in the central plain of Thailand. By the end of the Thai Rice NAMA project in 2022, the project could potentially contribute to a reduction of GHG emissions of about 1.6 million tons of CO2eq. Moreover, the current situation of water pollution in the nearby watersheds, water scarcity for the downstream users, soil degradation, and human health effects from air pollution could be positively improved as co-benefits through the implementation of these selected technologies.
