VARUNA collaborates with deep tech startup "Easy Rice" to advance Thailand's rice industry, setting new standards for integrated agriculture and increasing the country's global competitiveness

VARUNA, a subsidiary of AI and Robotics Ventures Company Limited (ARV), a leader in the use of smart technology to drive maximum benefits to Thailand's agricultural sector, strives to continuously upgrade the Thai agricultural industry. It has recently partnered with Easy Rice to leverage smart technology to promote the Thai rice industry so that it can meet internationally recognized standards, generate income for the entire sector by developing and creating new innovations for the Thai rice industry, and make Thai agriculture strong and sustainable from upstream to downstream.

This collaboration aligns with the two companies' agri-tech ambitions, which will help drive Thailand's agricultural sector to peak efficiency and compete in the global market. Both also share the goal of becoming Thailand's leader in agricultural technology development.

"VARUNA's goal is to improve the quality of Thai farmers. To that end, we have been working with agricultural business partners in recent years to create sustainability for the Thai agricultural industry,” said Panunya Charoensawadpong, Head of Business Development and co-founder of Varuna (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

    

"We are in an advantageous state to develop a strong Thai rice industry. We recently moved forward with an alliance called Easy Rice, which has ideas and determination to improve Thailand's rice industry that supplies staple food to the world's population. VARUNA and Easy Rice are now collaborating to develop and create new innovations that are in line with the agri-tech approach by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and collecting data on the production process from producers to consumers on digital platforms. This could contribute to the development of a sustainable Thai agricultural industry and add value to the agricultural industry's supply chain."

In this regard, VARUNA participates in the use of technology to manage the agricultural sector from the ground up in terms of end-to-end smart farm management. This entails comprehensive agricultural planning and cultivation, covering every step from initial analysis to plantation planning and crop field management using satellite technology and multispectral drones that can analyze agricultural plots quickly and precisely.

The VARUNA Analytics platform analyzes agricultural data using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. It aids in the monitoring of rice crop health, growth stage monitoring, and yield prediction to ensure that it meets required standards for a specific time period.

Furthermore, an agricultural drone (sprayer drone) known as "AIANG" is used to make spraying fertilizer and agricultural products more convenient. It can easily and quickly access large rice fields, ensuring the efficiency and precision of fertilizer spraying on the plot. This reduces agricultural product waste, reduces working time, and eliminates the need for farmers to contact with chemicals. Easy Rice will contribute to the development of a machine for post-harvest rice quality inspection as part of this collaboration. Furthermore, the two companies' collaboration will help complement each other's technological strengths, complete Thailand’s agro-industry value chain, and perfectly push Thai rice farmers to become smart farmers.

Easy Rice is a technology firm that offers artificial intelligence (AI) programming to rice industry players such as rice mills and rice exporters. It is the first and only one that has received widespread recognition for using artificial intelligence (AI) in rice quality and breed inspection processes. More than 100 large industrial users have used the technology to date. More than 28% of Thailand's total rice exports have been inspected. Over 700,000 inspections of rice have been completed.

"In this partnership, Easy Rice sees opportunities to increase the potential and further advancement in technology to expand its target market," said Phuvin Kongsawat, CEO and co-founder of Easy Rice Digital Technology Company Limited. “Using data from the source of VARUNA's agricultural technology, this can lead to the creation of added value for rice products. We see it as a good opportunity to collaborate on developing technology that meets market demand while also allowing for transparency, environmental care in farming, fair trade that benefits farmers, consumer health, and other services to be available. In terms of sustainability, it also benefits important target groups such as stakeholders in the rice supply chain.”

Easy Rice also employs tools to expand audit options, ranging from technology that only examines the physical elements to a more advanced examination of the deeper nutrients within the produce. The company is developing an online platform to make it easier for entrepreneurs to track and record data, which will lead to a traceability system to meet the needs of the consumer health food trend. It also contributes to the establishment of a trading standard that acts as a guideline for rice sellers and rice buyers to reach an agreement that is satisfactory and fair for both parties, with scientific standards to back it up.

Deep-tech technology and the collaboration of both VARUNA and Easy Rice will benefit the agricultural sector. It will assist rice mills in improving their performance in rice quality inspection, thereby influencing the quality of rice prepared for export. Importing countries can gain confidence by using measurable tools and technologies, as well as data collected from the traceable upstream process. All parties involved can be confident that the production route is both safe and sustainable. Furthermore, it can assist farmers by inspecting rice varieties prior to planting in order to reduce seed costs. It also aids in group or community management because the entire process will lead to the digital transformation of the industry and support future competition.

At the same time, the ability to export high-quality Thai rice would raise rice prices. This, in turn, will benefit Thai farmers by increasing their earnings and may result in changes in cultivation methods, resulting in highly efficient crop production capable of competing in the global market. It also unlocks future opportunities for research and development of new rice varieties.

"At VARUNA and Easy Rice, our goal is to boost agricultural productivity, particularly in Thailand's rice production sector. We are attempting to find solutions to farmers' chronic problems by utilizing technology to help Thai farmers solve poverty. To help achieve better overall productivity and truly increase productivity per plot of land, we are introducing standardized guidelines for each type of rice cultivation and the improvement of new rice varieties. To avoid affecting rice exports, we are attempting to open the door to new opportunities for Thai rice exports through the use of data and traceability systems. This is to increase efficiency and comply with various countries' import measures, and it may also prevent future trade protectionism policies," Panunya concluded.