EGAT launches humic product to boost agricultural productivity
15 August 2023EGAT has lunched humic product, a by-product from Mae Moh Mine’s operation, to promote the circular economy, make products for increasing productivity accessible to farmers, reduce costs, and create sustainability in the agricultural sector.
On August 10, 2023, Mr. Boonyanit Wongrukmit, Governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), and EGAT executives attended the ceremony for delivering a Mae Moh Mine’s by-product, namely humic acids, to buyers and provided comprehensive product information and benefits, aiming to make the humic product accessible to the community and farmers at a reasonable price, at EGAT Mae Moh, Lampang Province.
Mr. Boonyanit Wongrukmit revealed that in Mah Moh Mine mining, stripping process is required to remove the topsoil covering lignite. According to studies, the leonardite, an important organic matter, is found in the topsoil. It contains humic substances, i.e., humic acids, fulvic acids, and humin, which can be used for multiple agricultural purposes such as soil amendments. EGAT has studied to separate contaminants from the leonardite to make it eco-friendly and developed the humic acid by-product consisting of high organic matter, plant nutrients, and higher heavy metals than the standard to be used for soil amendment, water treatment, or related industrial applications.
EGAT started a first trial sale of the humic acids of 10,000 liters at a price of 25 Baht per liter. The response was positive, surpassing the offered quantity. For this initial sale, EGAT sold and delivered the product since August 9, 2023. In addition, EGAT Mae Moh has established a prototype factory for producing humic acids at a concentration of 3-5% of 32,000 liters per month. It plans to expand the production to over 100,000 liters per month.
EGAT Governor added that the humic production can maximize the benefit of the mining by-product by adding value in line with the Circular Economy. The product is inexpensive compared to the market price, and it can response to the increasing global humic demand of over 10% per year. As the humic utilization becomes more widespread in Thailand, it is considered a significant support to communities and farmers to access to the product for boosting productivity and decreasing expenses of farming.