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We are working on cultivating Thai Jasmine rice in our school.
At our Primary School, about fifty Japanese children studying in Japanese started growing rice in buckets, using seeds that were given to us by a rice farmer in Roi Et, the northeastern part of Thailand.
The focus was on the children in the Japanese classes our Japanese teacher Ms Kiyomi teaches. Students have tried to take care of the rice plants as much as they could. They helped with watering and weeding during their class time. Students are learning about biodiversity by looking into the life cycle of different insects that feed from the juices of the leaves and stems of rice plants. Then look at the frogs that eat these insects and protect the rice plants. They all enjoy seeing their garden grow while also interacting with nature as local gardeners.
This also relates to "World Soil Day” coinciding with "World Soil Day" which is celebrated all around the world. Thailand’s “World Soil Day”, celebrated every 5th of December, was established in 2013 to commemorate the birthday of the late King Bhumibol who devoted himself to agriculture and land reform in Thailand. We hope that children studying in Thailand will also gain knowledge from Thai culture and the agriculture of the country by participating in some of these activities.
The northeastern region of Thailand (Isan) is one of the leading rice-producing areas in the country, mainly producing jasmine rice called "Khao Home Mali". Thailand is one of the world's leading rice exporters, our tropical climate is ideal for rice farming. At our school we have been working on cultivati since February 2022 and have successfully harvested the rice in November and April 2023. The unit price of agricultural products is low in Thailand, which is said to be a cause of poverty among farmers, by involving children in the process of cultivation, we would like them to have first hand experience and understanding UNICEF's Global SDGs - Goal 1 "No poverty" and Goal 2 "Zero hunger".
In addition, during our school's "Environment Week," we shared an initiative to have leftovers from school lunches used as feed for farmed fish. We are aware of the UNICEF Global SDG Goal 12 “Responsible consumption and production”. When it comes to food loss, people tend to focus on not leaving food behind. Our school would like to promote awareness that `leftover food doesn’t have to be thrown away as garbage' but can be used as food for fish and as a whole is useful for the economy of the local community. We hope that this will also promote an understanding of a circular economy, in which the fish raised using leftover food from our school can be sold as food to better the economy.
Translated by: Ms Kiyomi, Japanese Teacher
