b"University, Thailand) as this years APSAAssociate Professor Dr. Petcharat awardees. The two were formerly commendedThammabenjapone (Khon Kaen on Nov. 15 during the Inaugural Ceremony of the 2022 Asian Seed Congress in BangkokUniversity, Thailand)Thailand. APSA Awardee (Public sector)Every year the Asian Seed Congress National Organizing Committee (NOC) nominates twoDr. Petcharat has impacted the seed industry in recipientsone from the private sector, andThailand in many positive ways. As a professor at Khon another from the public sectorwho have madeKaen University, she has influenced many students to a significant impact on the seed industry in thefurther pursue the area of Plant Pathology. ASC host country. Many of her former students can be seen employed throughout the seed companies producing seed in Asian Seed sat down with the two awardeesThailand. She has also developed a training program for growers and seed companies called plant doctor and asked them about their experiences,focusing on seed production of vegetable crops especially inspirations, motivation and wisdom for theCucurbits and Solanaceous families in Thailand. One future.of the top priority activities work is with Bacterial Fruit Blotch (BFB) disease, the goal behind the program was to educate people to understand more about BFB symptoms achievement with Pacific Seeds Thailand. I have hadin melon and watermelon crop. Over the years, very few a fantastic journey in my career from the beginningBFB detects have been attributed to field detections in the as a corn breeder in 1983 to my last service in 2022crop, but it was being detected in seed by international as Regional Business Lead of Pacific Seeds/Advantacompanies.Thailand for Southeast and Northeast Asia Region.A training like this was to hopefully increase peoples Petcharat Thammabenjapone: I was a member ofawareness of the various kinds of symptoms as well as the epidemiology of bacterial fruit blotch in Thailand. The my university's horticulture club as an undergraduate,training has helped people learn to manage the risk of BFB which was supervised by Asst. Professor Thavornand secure production in trying to locate areas in Thailand Kovidyakorn. The professor was recognized as a masterfree from BFB disease or what factors can mitigate its of plant breeding in Thailand and had started his ownpresence. She has also supported the Thai NPPO by seed production company. A few other students from theinspecting seed production fields in Northeast Thailand. department of horticulture were also involved with theHer lab also supported plant diagnostics as well as company, so I was also able to get involved and becamedeveloping and or implementing familiar with producing hybrid seeds for export, as well asnewer methods of plant diseases and pests. After completing my bachelor'sdetection.degree, I worked as a research assistant at Khon KaenShe has been a great University, where I gained practical knowledge of plantresource of information breeding techniques. While studying for my Master'sregarding diseases in and Ph.D., I was inspired by my thesis advisors, Assoc.Thailand. Her efforts Prof. Dr. Wichai Kositratana and Prof. Dr. Supat Attham,are recognized in her Kasetsart University, and Prof. Masato Ikegami, Tokyowork to minimize the University of Agriculture, Japan. Inspiration for my workincidence and impact of also comes from His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadejbacterial fruit blotch over (Rama 9) and the teachings of the Buddha. I adhere tothe years, which remains the principles of doing one's duties to the best of one'sa critical pathogen abilities and performing good deeds for their own sake,impacting growers not praise. As an expert in plant pathology, my career hasglobally.focussed on educating farmers on disease management, researching plant disease diagnostic technologies and using biological methods to reduce the use of plant disease control chemicals to make farming easier, cheaper and safer for farmers as well as protecting the environment.APSA's website (www.apsaseed.org) DECEMBER 2022SEEDWORLD.COM /91"