Suparatana Bencharongkul – Pioneering agritech in Thailand

Suparatana Bencharongkul

Agriculture is an essential aspect of Thailand. The country is a major producer of rice with about 60 percent of the 13 million Thai farmers growing it.

In 2018 alone, Thailand exported 22.7 percent of the total rice exports in the world, worth US$5.6 billion. Agriculture, in short, is one of the major strengths of Thailand and fueling this strength with more power, technology, and innovation is the young and passionate Suparatana Bencharongkul.

Popularly known as Nina, Bencharongkul is the daughter of Thailand’s billionaire telecom tycoon Boonchai Bencharongkul. She is the General Manager of Rakbankerd Co. Ltd. which is a subsidiary of the family-owned Benchachinda Group.

Bencharongkul’s love for agriculture budded when she was just a child. Her father would tell her that the farmer has the most crucial job in the world: feeding the world.

This thought and a passion for both agriculture and technology fired up her interest to bring in an agricultural revolution that combined with technology would make the sector an even more profitable one for both the nation and of course, the farmers.

Bencharongkul entwined the ideas of agriculture and technology to create initiatives such as the Farmer Info Application, Sabuymarket, Allbio, Farmmanyam, Rakbankerd Products and Fulfield.

Under her guidance and thought leadership the agriculture industry in Thailand saw rapid increase in adoption of technology as a way to increase productivity, reduce overheads, and farmers learn more about supply chain and the right prices to sell their produce for.

Bencharongkul aims to make agriculture profitable for farmers today, so that they continue to be in business in the future, too. 

Helping farmers stay profitable

In a world that is fast moving towards automating everything, the oldest and most traditional industry remains unexplored and untouched. Bencharongkul is working towards changing that and the situation of farmers.

Given her persistent dedication and passion for innovation, Thailand has seen a rapid shift in the way tech and agriculture were viewed together. Rakbankerd has launched some disruptive apps and services that help farmers optimize production, handle logistics better, and in the process create greater yields and thus, earn more money.

Bencharongkul is achieving this big feat by weaving in tech disruptions such as data collection, predictive analysis, alternative farming methods, and tech that support disease prevention. These help in improving the crop quality and quantity by increasing the amount of yield on the same piece of land.

Efficient use of resources such as water, fuel, chemicals and fertilizers, thereby reducing carbon footprint and mitigating risk are also things that Bencharongkul and her team at Rakbankerd are striving toward and realizing, as well.

A lifestyle icon, too, Bencharongkul uses technology extensively to spread awareness about the need for a tech disruption in the field of agriculture through social media.

This is a major step in disseminating the importance of agriculture and tech integration in it among future generations. Her passion for agriculture and tech surely is creating major ripples in Thailand’s agriculture industry.

Bright future of Thailand’s agriculture industry with a person as passionate about agritech like Bencharongkul and with the telecommunications platform at her disposal, there is no stopping the agricultural industry booming in Thailand.

Bencharongkul took her father’s words to heart when he told her that the farmers have the most important job in the world, that is, feeding the entire world.

Truly nothing can match this job. Without grain and food, the world wouldn’t be able to sustain itself. Hopefully, the ripples of Bencharongkul’s good work will spread to the rest of the world as well, and benefit it just as it is benefitting Thailand.