Winged bean need not mimic soybean—it deserves a development path rooted in self-understanding. With high nutritional potential and edible versatility, its challenges invite innovation. By integrating genomics and low-energy processing, we can unlock its future as a sustainable protein source and cornerstone of tropical food security and agro-industrial transformation.

FoodInnovate’s BTLLAgroforestry transforms rice fields into climate-resilient agroforestry systems. Guided by King Rama IX’s sustainable agriculture principles, the initiative restores soil, water, and biodiversity while supporting farmer livelihoods. It demonstrates how regenerative land-use planning can yield food, income, and environmental benefits amid droughts, floods, and shifting food system demands.

World Soil Day 2022 highlights the vital role of soil in food systems and ecosystem health. At BTLLAgroforestry, we’ve restored degraded rice fields into resilient agroforestry landscapes, showcasing how soil regeneration, flood adaptation, and community engagement can drive sustainable agriculture and climate solutions in Thailand’s vulnerable wetland regions.

BTLLAgroforestry pioneers climate-adaptive organic farming in Thailand’s wetlands. Post-COVID, the project empowers farmer households through agroforestry, water management, and soil restoration. With support from EU-ASEAN initiatives, it fosters food-health-ecology-society integration, aiming for organic certification and resilient livelihoods amid flood-prone landscapes and shifting climate conditions. Trials continue, hope persists.

BTLLAgroforestry’s early syntropic agriculture phase in Ayutthaya marks a shift from monocrop rice to diverse agroforestry. Flora and fauna succession, soil restoration, and invasive species like sacred lotus reveal dynamic wetland ecology. Observations from 2016–2019 guide future regenerative practices rooted in local geology and ecological resilience.

Against all odds, fruit trees are flowering on excavated, acidic soil at BTLLAgroforestry. Through organic amendments, mulching, and careful pruning, mango and jackfruit trees have begun to thrive. Nitrogen-fixing Fabaceae species help stabilize the land, while improved water quality and rain-fed resilience support a promising future for chemical-free cultivation.

During the 2018 rainy season, BTLLAgroforestry expanded water circulation and planted edible ferns like Diplazium esculentum under shaded groves. These ferns, sensitive to agrochemicals, signal improved soil health. Indigenous water plants flourished, and red water spinach supported local incomes—marking progress in syntropic agriculture and sustainable wetland food systems.

BTLLAgroforestry cultivates carbon-capturing perennials like rain trees and Siamese cassia in Thailand’s lowland food forest. Through soil restoration, water management, and syntropic design, the project balances productivity with climate resilience—reviving degraded landscapes and offering sustainable alternatives to monocrop rice farming in the Chao Phraya River Basin.

BTLLAgroforestry developed water management strategies for banana and mahogany plantations in Ayutthaya’s flood-prone lowlands. Using ridge-furrow systems, organic amendments, and seasonal drainage planning, the site improved soil health and water quality. These practices enabled fruiting, supported income generation, and inspired future community-based agroecological enterprise development amid climate challenges.