Technical Support Meeting at Khao Kwan Foundation, 17^th December 2015

After the initiative among TOA partners for working together under the technical support working group, on 17^th December 2015, the technical support meeting was organized at Khao Kwan Foundation, Supanburi, Thailand. The Seeds of Peace Project has become the first project under the objective to empower organic seed breeding networks in Mekong region and Bhutan.

The meeting started with a field visit to the Khao Kwan Foundation experimental rice plots with remarkable variety of rare rice species. Afterwards, Daycha Siripatra(Khao Kwan Foundation), Kaem Makarady (CEDAC), Sonam Tashi (College of Natural Resources (CNR), Phou Khounphia (CoDA), La Diep (SPERI) and TOA Coordination Team discussed the topic of organic seed collection and breeding for rice,vegetables, grains and herbs. They also agreed that an expert team meeting will be needed to work out a strategic plan for the Mekong region and Bhutan.

Furthermore,technical support for organic seed breeding, coordination with other working groups is needed, in order to develop a sustainable regional network of economic initiatives for the distribution of organic seeds among farmers,within existing and newly advocated regulations and support mechanisms.Therefore, the next meeting has been set for strategic design by TOA expert team in April 2016.