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UBE drives up cassava productivity

Farmers record the amount of cassava harvested from a pilot plantation in Ubon Ratchathani.
Farmers record the amount of cassava harvested from a pilot plantation in Ubon Ratchathani.

Ubon Bio Ethanol (UBE), a SET-listed ethanol producer, is increasing productivity at its cassava plantations in Ubon Ratchathani after harvests plunged, resulting in a loss of 96 million baht last year.

The company is applying research findings and advice from researchers and experts to increase crop yields, following a flood that inundated parts of the province in the final months of 2022, said managing director Sureeyot Khowsurat.

The problem, blamed for a shortage of cassava at UBE's factory, led the company to team up with state research houses early last year to jointly find ways to increase productivity and reduce costs at a pilot cassava plantation, covering 36 plots of land, in Ubon Ratchathani's Tan Sum district.

Participating researchers included the National Science and Technology Development Agency, the Thailand Research Fund and the Agricultural Research Development Agency.

Using techniques advised by experts, cassava harvests soared by 56% to 7.2 tonnes per rai, up from 4.6 tonnes per rai, according to the research findings.

Fresh starch content was 27% per tuber weight, above the average level of 26%.

The increase was attributed to improved soil quality and usage of organic fertiliser, suggested by the Agricultural Research Development Agency, said Ms Sureeyot.

She said waste from processing cassava at the factory was used to make bio-fertiliser, which was then used to improve soil quality.

Ms Sureeyot believes the cassava cultivation techniques will help UBE better deal with the impact of natural disasters, especially flooding.

UBE is planning to apply the techniques to 10,000 rai of plantations farmed by 800 households under contract farming this year, rising to 50,000 rai in 2025.

The company also continues to adopt the bio-, circular and green economic development model to its business by using solid waste and waste water from cassava processing to make biogas, which is used to generate electricity.

UBE's 7.5-megawatt biogas-fired power plant supplies electricity to the factory, with the excess power sold to the state grid.

Waste-derived bio-fertiliser is also used to grow napier grass to feed cows raised by villagers in nearby communities.


This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2759633/ube-drives-up-cassava-productivity


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