BANGKOK, 17 July 2015 – TISTR has signed an agreement to transfer the ‘longan shelf life prolonging technology for export’ to the College of Agriculture and Technology in Chiang Mai and Lamphun.
The Vice Minister of Science and Technology Saowanee Musidang, the Governor of Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) Yongvun Saovapruk, and the Vice Governor of Chiang Mai Nawin Sinthusa-ard signed an agreement to pass on the longan shelf life prolonging technology.
The agreement focuses on the use of Sulfur dioxide gas to smoke longan produces after harvest to prolong its shelf life. This method is considered a form of knowledge that is suitable to be passed on to the farmers and communities.
The agreement will also seek to establish a learning center for this technology and will work as the coordination center of this program. The learning center’s construction is expected to be completed in October 2015.
TISTR’s Agricultural Technology Department Director Sayan Tanpanich has said that the longan shelf life prolonging technology learning center will feature Thailand’s first model smoke chamber. The chamber will employ efficient Sulfur dioxide control technology that helps control Sulfur dioxide residue in produces. At the center, emissions of Sulfur dioxide to the atmosphere will be reduced, to ensure zero impact to the surrounding community. The learning center will also promote an increased acceptance of the produce in the global market.
