Strong determination to learn bears fruit for a 15-year-old girl from Phatthalung as she earns the young farmer award this year on Royal Ploughing Day, which falls on Friday.
Rattanakarn Nualchan's work has made her outstanding among young farmers in the southern province. She took a leading role in agricultural projects from growing rice, gardening vegetables and feeding fish, all friendly to the environment, at Ban Teng School in her home district of Khuan Khanun.
At home, she grows chillies and other home-grown plants for household consumption and sells surplus at markets as extra income for her parents, who have been farmers for generations. She also goes out with them to help tap rubber trees to earn a living, a practice she has been involved since she was 11.
In her free time, she noticed many cows roaming in her neighbourhood. So, she came up with the idea of making worm fertiliser from them to use at home and shared that knowledge with her friends at school.
Her success has given her opportunities to share all farming knowledge from the young farmers' club set up at the school with other organisations in Phatthalung and even neighbouring provinces.
"The farming project at Ban Teng School is outstanding," Sansern Boonsanit, the chief of the district agriculture office in Khuan Khanun, said on YouTube. "It helps students admire farmers and appreciate the value of farming."
Rattanakarn was the youngest who received the award from Their Majesties the King and the Queen at Sanam Luang on Friday, along with 37 other farming individuals and organisations, as part of the activities of the Royal Ploughing Ceremony.
She will continue her education to study high school at Khuan Khanun School in the district this year.
The young farmer could not be reached for comment, but she once revealed her motto that drives her secret of success to the Agriculture News website.
"Don't ever stop practising because every knowledge comes from them," she said.
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Rattanakarn Nualchan, 15, has received the young farmer award on Royal Ploughing Day this year. (Photo: Department of Agricultural Extension)