In the coming year, the department hopes to bring about 850,000 farmers across the country into its organic-agriculture promotion project, which provides training and support for chemical-free farms, deputy director-general Bandith Tansiri said yesterday.

The department will focus on encouraging farmers who are willing to switch to organic farming to form cooperatives, which will improve their chances of making a go of the new venture.

To reach the target of 68,000 groups next year, training in organic agriculture will be conducted nationwide throughout the year.

Farmers joining the project next year can also learn to grow herbs for use in the production of herbal insecticides and pesticides as well as learn to produce natural fertilisers for the project. That will help them supplement their income from organic farming. The department will also push for the establishment of a seed bank to distribute cheaper seeds to the cooperatives.

Over the past year of the organic-agriculture campaign, department figures show that the use of chemicals in agriculture have dropped by 15 per cent. And in the coming year the department expects to see at least half of the 850,000 targeted farmers adopting organic farming for good.