Water Engineering and Management (WEM) organized a field trip for eight of its students at Khao Hin Sorn Royal Development Study Centre on Friday, March 8, 2019. The trip was organized and supervised by Dr. M. E. Asadi who is the Principal Instructor of the curriculum Land and Water Conservation and Management (CE 74.16). The objective of the trip is to give students a grassroots exposure to local conservation and adaptation strategies. Khao Hin Sorn Royal Development Study Centre was founded on August 8, 1979 at Phanom Sarakham district and since inception it was focused on conducting study, research and experimentation on land development to ensure its fertility by means of land and water sources development, forest rehabilitation as well as promotion of agricultural knowledge on the planning of crop cultivation and animal husbandry among the farmers in an attempt to increase production . The center is the top attraction for many scientists, researcher, students , locals and foreign tourists across Thailand
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At Khao Hin Sorn Royal Development Study Centre Students familiarized with integrated farming techniques, low-cost indigenous technology, and sustainable land and water conservation solutions. The center was empowering local farmers by teaching them to raise their income at their village by growing frog in waste tiers as a part of the integrated farming system which helps to generate more income for small landholders from simple jobs. Students also witnessed Low- cost technology such as water “bicycle pump” which set to take water from a small reservoir and delivers to a small pressurized irrigation net. As a part of the sustainable land and water conservation solution, the center showcased various drip irrigation & cover crops techniques, which enriched students to understand the scopes and solution for soil erosion control and managing soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity, and wildlife in an agroecosystem. One of the top attraction of the center is there soil museum which displays examples of soil profiles (monoliths) representing major soil types of Thailand, from the acid soil and sodic soils, to the red, strongly weathered soils
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