Yokohama Rubber and RAOT held a seminar to help Thai rubber farmers improve crop quality, productivity, and sustainability.
Participants Found Yokohama Rubber’s Seminar Helpful
The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (Yokohama Rubber), in collaboration with the Surat Thani branch of the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT), held a seminar in December 2025 to help Thai natural rubber farmers improve the quality and productivity of their crops.
The seminar has been held ten times since the first one in 2020, and, in the latest edition, fifty farm households in the Surat Thani region took part. During the seminar, lectures were given on nutrients in soil and plants, the proper use of fertilisers, and the importance of preventing contamination by foreign matter in natural rubber.
Representatives of local government agencies, the police department, and a local hospital were also invited as guest speakers to talk about the importance of respecting the human rights of foreigners and ethnic minorities working on farms, coexistence with local community, transport safety, and occupational health and safety.
The seminar received positive feedback from the participants, with one participant notably writing, “Although I have been working on a rubber farm for some time, this was the first time I was told how to apply fertiliser systematically” in the questionnaire after the seminar concluded.
Yokohama Rubber said the seminar attendees were “greatly interested” in occupational health and safety. They specifically found the local hospital director’s speech about preventing back pain during tree tapping and dealing with poisonous insects helpful.
“I was nervous at first, but the speakers and event organisers kept us fully engaged, and the event was entertaining and enjoyable. I would like to introduce it to my friends and relatives,” said one participant.
After the seminar ended, Yokohama Rubber provided fertiliser developed using RAOT’s expertise to the participants free of charge.
The seminar is part of the implementation of an MoU signed by Yokohama Rubber and RAOT in January 2020 to provide economic support for Thai natural rubber farmers and to improve traceability to ensure transparency of the natural rubber supply chain. It reflects the principle of “Support for suppliers, including small-scale farmers, and other parties involved in the supply chain” under Yokohama Rubber‘s Procurement Policy.
“Yokohama Rubber will continue to implement and announce initiatives in line with the action guidelines stipulated in this policy. Yokohama Rubber is also endeavouring to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations. As part of these efforts, the Yokohama Rubber Group is promoting the procurement of sustainable raw materials, including natural rubber,” the company stated.
