Embattled Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group will launch a social enterprise in Nan province to encourage farmers to grow cash crops other than maize, as a long-term solution to the problems created by deforestation which has resulted in khao hua lone, or bald mountains.
Suphachai Chearavanont, vice-chairman of CP Group, said the company would implement what he calls agricultural social enterprise in Pua district to steer villagers away from maize farming, which is mostly done in the northern hills.
He was speaking during a seminar on maize farming in Bangkok at the weekend.
[Editor's note: Because of a miscommunication, a previous version of this story was illustrated by photos unrelated directly to the reporting.]
Social enterprise is a business model that applies social responsibility in its mission.
Pictures of bald mountains in Nan caused by deforestation to make way for maize plantations have gone viral on social media.
CP Group, the country's largest agro-industrial and food conglomerate, has incurred criticism for the way it purchases maize yields for animal feed from farmers in Nan and other northern provinces.
They say it contributes to slash-and-burn farming, harming the environment.
Banthoon Lamsam, chairman and chief executive of Kasikornbank (KBank), who leads a campaign for forest preservation in Nan, urged CP Group to play a role in preserving the forests.
Maize-field burning, clear-cutting and land clearance have resulted in heavy fires in recent years, causing haze in Chiang Rai town. (Bangkok Post file photo)
Mr Suphachai said under its social enterprise plan, corn planters will be encouraged to grow other cash crops such as coffee, which requires less farmland and makes a higher profit than maize.
Not only will it address the bald-mountain problem, he said, but it will also help reduce the perennial haze in the North which is caused by slash-and-burn practices to prepare land for the next maize season.
Mr Suphachai said some crops like coffee will take about three-and-a-half years to show a yield, insisting he would stand by farmers and provide assistance in the meantime.
Training courses were also organised at the seminar to educate locals and community leaders in the the development of agricultural products as a means to self-reliance.
Employees from CP Group also have been sent to each province to build understanding about alternative crop farming and forest conservation among villagers.
The CP Group's vice-chairman also denied a claim by the People's Movement for a Just Society (P-Move) adviser, Prayong Doklamyai, that the company abandoned maize growers after it proclaimed last December it will not purchase maize yields from fields which do not have land title deeds.
He said the company must adjust its strategies for the sake of the country's sustainable development, which will centre on environmental conservation, particularly watersheds.
"We will purchase maize products from plantations which operate legally and do not cause deforestation," he said.
Mr Prayong, however, said the company's approach was not a long-term solution as despite the firm's refusal to buy maize products, farmers still sell them to other buyers.
He said there are about 800,000 corn plantations in Nan and farmers have not encroached on new forest areas but rather switched from growing other commodities to planting corn.
However, he asked for a deeper investigation into what the actual cause of the bald mountains is.
Mr Suphachai also urged the government to allocate land for agricultural purposes with title deeds to residents to solve the forest encroachment issue.
"I speak in the name of CP Group that we will make everything right. You will be able to track our products back to their original sources.
''The firm is willing to have its sources checked by any sector," he said.