Page 27 - FoodFocusThailand No.167 February 2020

SPECIAL FOCUS

and environmental developments. Our our competitiveness and sustainability in every aspect of Thai sugar and sugarcane industry.
principle is to make the most out of As a government entity that regulates and advocates the sector’s development, we support
sugarcanes, sugar, and sugar manufacturing every research concerning manufacturing processes such as sugarcane cultivation, soil
wastes, especially through the process of preparation, harvesting, and loss reduction. The OCSB is pleased to see the private sector’s
biorefinery that can potentially produce goods commitment to developing sustainable precision agriculture for sugarcane farmers and a
of higher value such as food supplements variety of interesting innovations suitable for the needs and environmental contexts of Thai
and cosmetics. We have been collaborating industry. These efforts will serve as a guideline for OCSB to enhance our R&D center. We
with organizations, government entities, and hope to see more investment from both the government and private sectors in order to
leading research and technology institutions promote knowledge exchange, which will lead us to the sustainability of the sugar and
– both domestic and overseas – to conduct sugarcane industry”.
joint research and facilitate the discoveries Mitr Phol Group will constantly keep on advocating the R&D efforts through Mitr Phol
of new know-how as well as the exchange Innovation & Research Center with the objective of expanding the value horizon of Thai
thereof”. sugar and sugarcane industry and converting Thailand into a sustainable bio-industry country
Mitr Phol Innovation & Research Center, in response to the world’s goals toward sustainability.
Phu Khiao district, Chaiyapum, now has 70
research personnel in charge of various
research projects from upstream to
downstream. Receiving an annual
subsidization of more than THB 450 million,
the center has high-efficiency laboratories,
modern equipment, and comprehensive
facilities that can cater for innovative
development and research in four following
branches:
• Efficient Management of Crop
Production in Modern-day Sugarcane
Plantations: an emphasis is placed on the
development of strong, disease-immune, and
pest-resistant breeds of sugarcane as well
as disease or pest control methods,
geoinformatics, and AI for precision farming.
• Sugar Technology and Specialty: this
focuses on the refinement of sugar
manufacturing processes in order to ensure
high quality, reduce costs, boost efficiency,
and satisfy consumers’ changing lifestyles
and needs for alternative products such as
healthy sugar.
• Bio-based Chemicals and Energy: the
aim is to add value to sugar and sugarcanes.
Manufacturing byproducts can be converted
into other product variants which may
encourage Bio-Circular-Green Economy that
is hoped to help promote material circulation,
reduce losses, and encourage eco-friendly
production. An emphasis is placed on the
research projects aimed at increasing the
potential to shift from a lab-level center to a
model factory fully equipped with effective
tools and expert personnel.
• Global Sourcing for Innovation: the
data on research and technological
advancements is gathered in hope of creating
new research opportunities along with the
protection of intellectual property. In addition,
there are collaborative projects with academic
institutions, government entities, and national
and overseas industrial sectors with the
objective of expanding business opportunities.
Mrs.Warawan Chitaroon, Secretary-
General of the Cane and Sugar Board
(OCSB), comments “The decline and
instability of the global raw sugar prices reflect
our necessity for improvement to maintain

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