The department will also encourage farmers to raise their livestock away from widespread diseases. It targets 25.26 million animals to be bred in "standard system" farms.

Director-general Pirom Srichan yesterday said the plan was drawn up to transfer technology to farmers to achieve sustainable development under His Majesty the King's initiative.

The plan has a two-point strategy for pulling farmers out from poverty and motivating them to undertake more safe-food farming.

Farmers in the deep South are the major targeted area to promote the plan.

The strategy also focuses on developing marketing and logistic systems to facilitate transportation.

The safe-food farming strategy will support the government's policy of becoming a "Kitchen to the World". About 24,590 livestock operations and 1,330 food factories nationwide should be certified for standard farming and manufacturing practices this year, Pirom said.

"The department will seriously inspect local slaughterhouses to ensure that each province has at least one standard slaughterhouse," he said, adding that all slaughterhouses must posses an operating licence granted by the department by September.

Slaughterhouse operators are required to have cold-storage trucks to carry meat as well as a traceable system to ensure high quality.

The department will step up research and development to create hybrid animal breeds and reduce their import. Animal-feed production plants will also be developed.