RamdomChances

What would a pack of British cigarettes go for in thailand, about 800 bhat ?

Well that would make it 4x800x50 (for the five of them) = 160,000, add duties and taxes and your not far off.....lucky they did'nt work it out on the British price of them

Mine are like Billd766's dogs. They just eat what they can find, my biggest dog tends to eat all the scraps the smaller ones eating whatever he leaves and then just whatever they can find around the farm. One has become pretty good at getting the odd mouce, lizard or frog. They tend to hang around the farm at milking time to get any leftover milk and cow food that fallen on the floor....they are'nt house dog's

I've moved this into the "Plant's and Pet's" forum for you as it seems like more of a gardening question. Mabye you'll get a bit better responce.

^ I had a feeling you might of heard of it before, I did read that the results were contrevercial. I did'nt go into too much depth on it as it's not really my field

does anyone out there personally have a plantation that is currently being tapped, so we can get to the bottom of this revenue business once and for all?

maize farmer which crops will produce a better yield than rubber and can be grown in isan??

The thing is mate, you will probaly never "get to the bottom" of it. Unless you have two identical farms in identical stuations. For instance the national ave milk probuction is about 10kg/cow/day, I get about 13 kg but from previous conversations I know MF gets more like 19 kg, so whats the correct figure ?

There is no hard and fast figures in farming, there are just too many variables. Looking at the gov fig's at 285 kg, I'd go with anything from 200-300kg, obviously it's best to base your figures at the low end then anything else is a bonus.

maize farmer which crops will produce a better yield than rubber and can be grown in isan??

Again Issan is a big place, you have to look at your particular needs and the type of land you have, going from MF's 1200 bhat/rai (which sounds perfectly reasonable to me) then yes there would probaly be few crops that would give you that sort of return. Then again what are the start up costs? Other crops you dont have to wait 5-7 years for a return on your investment, which for me would be the deciding factor.

Another factor is whats your long term stratergy, what is the life span of a rubber tree, I'm sure I've read a figure of something like 15 years productive life span. Now do you start again then or stagger the planting, if you dont stagger the planting it means every 15 years or so you have to wait another 7 years for your return, if you do stagger it then you wont be making money off your full 20 rai. Either way you can knock a third off your figures in the long term although this will be offset by the selling of the timber

For me personaly there are just too many variables in waiting 7 years to get a return on a crop ( not that I could afford to anyway ) Who knows what the state of the market will be when you actually come to sell it.

^ Just a word to everyone. I dont really want to see this thread degenerate into a "how much money do you need to live in Thailand" thread, theres loads of them already on the forum if you want to do asearch. I'll let chownah's stand and and a rebutal by MF if he feels like. Any others off topic I'll just delete...so don't moan if they are missing

RC

I came across this when looking through Wiki the other day and though it might be of intrest

SRI was first proposed in 1983 when a drought prevented farmers from flooding their paddy fields. De Laulanie noticed that the rice plants had increased growth. Further observation revealed that having seeds planted too close together decreases their growth. Further work developed the main practices of SRI, leading to its main theoretical ideas [1]:

* rice fields should be kept moist but not flooded

* rice plants should be spaced widely apart

* rice seedlings should be transplanted quickly when young

Further changes in management from "conventional" practice allow the increased yield, with decreased seed and water consumption. Furthermore SRI achieves this without the use of special seeds or other farming equipment such as chemical fertilisers.

System of Rice Intensification

http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040322/pf/428360a_pf.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4200688.stm

It claims :-

With SRI there can be water savings of around 50%.

additional labor input -- between 25 and 50%

But since yield increases are 50 to 100%, and possibly by two or three times present levels

I've seen a few about, both purpose built or just older converted one's. Are'nt the pick-up's here ton and a half's ? or have I just been overloading

RC, why don't you try installing blue netting around the pond andembedding it into the earth. See here:- Aqua's post

Yea I'd thought about that. I don't really do fish on a large scale and my cows like going for a swim in there sometimes so I'd have to do a fence to keep the fish in and then another to keep the cows out !!

The price sound ok, as has been said I'd have a look as some of the euca growing threads before you decide to go down that route.

Tim Check your ammount of "attatchments" used I think there is a 1000K limit, you might have to delete some you've already made. "my controls" then on the left hand side at the bottom under options "manage your attatchments" You should get a list come up to show how much you have used. Is it a pic ? If it's already on the net you can just link to it. Just go to the insert image icon at the top press it and paste the address in.

^ Well I did'nt think of that, I was trying to put some of the individualy pic's on here...good idea

Khao Yai. Half way between Pak Chong and Wang Nam Keow. Becoming very popular with Hi-so Bangkokians

Ha I was going to say that looks like Wang Nam Keow. My brother-in-law is either cheif of police or deputy chief there. I'll have to call in and see you next time we are down that way. Some really nice weekend get away places around there, my BiL said exactly the same thing about it getting populer with the BKK crowd.

We're new at this so maybe we're doing something we shouldn't be doing!

I have no idea mate. I have a about half a rai pond, but I just dabble with fish

A lot of the Thai farmers dig a pond and have no drainage system. When the fields flood they have no way of keeping the ponds from overflowing and the fish make a run for it.

Guilty, hopefully I'll have that solved by next year. I had no idea it would fill so quickly when we dug it, from empty it will fill on the first downpour of rainy season!! Thats about half a rai around 1-2 meters deep.

We are located in Kamphaengphet

Another central thai bloke I'm in Nakhon Sawan and so is Chris...sometimes

When we went there was, they put it in a lock-up, something like 100 bhat a night, not sure on the price though

My wife and I rebuilt a small fish farm last year and have about 230K catfish growing at one time. We've planted from 50 to 175 fish per square meter and we have never used aeration. There are both dirt and cement ponds.

Wow that sounds really high. It would work out at 80,000 to 280,000 for a one Rai pond, are they fully grown or just fingerling's, do you get any problems with then injuring themselves with that concentration (they have barbs just behind the head)

^ yep that looks about right, it's avalible all over the place. I'll try and find out a bit about priced. Not sure on the economic viablilty of it for a large pond

Not sure where the 770 kilos comes from,

I don't know where it came from either I think he was on about paying 770,000 bhat for the land. A "gweun" or as I'd say "geeun" (but is probably no more accurate) varies with the crop, peanuts its 15 of the big hessian bags (ga sop). It's different with maize as well I think but can't remember the number

I've got a mate who has a motorbike rental place up there, but bigger bikes. I think he dabbles a bit in the buying and selling as well. He's a bit flaky though. PM me if you want me to put you in touch

^ I did try to link some from my old blog, but it would'nt let me. I'll try and upload some, some time. Rainy season at the moment though so have to do it when there is a break in the clouds

^ whatever, we can use it for general "tractor, equipment" related stuff and I'll just split the links out later

^ yea it does melt, I have some for use as a natural doderent, you just rub it under your arms when having a shower, eventualy it just goes all smooth Takes ages to melt though, I mean like a fist size lump (and I've got little hands) would last you years

Anyone know what this San Som is ?

Its some sort of rock crystal used as a natural deoderant as well (you can buy big chunks of it). Yes apparently it is used for helping make water clear as I've only just found out.

One more point, if the land is adjacent to their existing land, they would probaly be prepared to put a premium on it. Do you know wether the exisitng owners were actualy trying to sell it, or were they asked if the would sell it....makes a difference in the price.

None of us here can tell you if it's expensive or not as land prices vary so much, for example some of our land is road frontage (moderatly busy road about 7km from a small Ampur) anyway someone just up from us has just sold 3 Rai next to ours for 160,000 a rai, 100 meters back it's only worth about 40-50,000/rai. The land behind us we could probaly get for 30,000 a rai, go 3 km into the sticks with dirt road access and it might be down to 20,000 a rai.

You need local knowlage when buying land, start at the "tee din" land office, go to the local banks and see what repo land they have for sale.

This from http://www.fao.org/ag/AGA/AGAP/FRG/AFRIS/Data/278.HTM

Pueraria lobata

Kudzu

Woody perennial vine with leaves resembling those of grapes. Grows vigorously, in one summer, producing shoots 10 m long. Mainly propagated from cuttings or rooted cuttings as the plant seldom gives any seeds. Cannot easily be cut and cured for hay because of its long stems. Newly established plants tolerate little trampling and must be grazed with care during the first two years. Adapted to subtropical and warm temperate climates and able to withstand winter frost. Grows in moderately humid climates on fertile well-drained soils, but can also withstand protracted drought. A good stand takes a long time to establish but is very long-lived. Highly palatable and can be used as a substitute for lucerne. Excellent for silage, especially if mixed with grass.

Seems to take a long time to get going. Not one I've ever heard of here. On the face of it, it looks like it could be used for good quality silage, the leaves being about 20% CP