Thailand, Bali to learn from each other

DENPASAR, Bali: Bali and Thailand have pledged to learn farming techniques from each other.

Bali Governor Dewa Made Beratha said that the Balinese would learn how to boost the quality of the island's agricultural produce. For this purpose, he planned to send some Balinese farmers to Thailand to study its agricultural system.

Beratha explained that Thai agricultural products were famous in Indonesia. He said that "Bangkok Durian", and "Bangkok Pepaya" were two of Indonesia's favorite fruits.

He said after meeting with Thai ambassador Atchara Seriputra here on Monday that local farmers were already growing Thai fruits. The Balinese generally engage in irrigated rice and cash crop cultivation.

Atchara welcomed Beratha's proposal to send Balinese farmers to her country. She said that Thailand could benefit from studying Bali's irrigation cooperative system known as subak.

"The Thai government wishes to learn about and develop the subak system. Some parts of Thailand practice terraced rice cultivation in the same way as Bali does," she said after the meeting on Monday.

Atchara said that officials from Thailand's agriculture ministry would visit Bali for comparative study purposes. Neither Beratha nor Atchara mentioned a schedule during their informal meeting. -- JP