JungleBiker

There are some green cardamom plantations around here in southern Laos about 100km from the Chongmek border of Ubon Ratchathani province. Set up with help from Indians. 

I can see now that the various plants represent chess pieces... (the Adenium and Bourgainvillea being the King and Queen) ...ready to commence battle!   ????

Thanks for the photo. I don't think you have anything to worry about. I am sure it will green up again soon. 

On 8/17/2019 at 1:12 PM, IsaanAussie said:

Hey guys, take another look at the "jungle" those men are standing in. Now please add some more of your experience and wisedom and suggest just how they could clear 10 or 20 Rai of farm land covered in that stuff to plant their crops.

Forget about chemicals, fire, chainsaws and hoes. 

Just use a Bron Mulcher...  

It would probably also work well in Bangkok traffic jams ????

Were the dead patches there before the 2 mowings or did they arise after the mowings? 

Michael Hare can tell you but I think the Thai variety of sunn hemp is NOT good for forage (may be toxic?) whereas some of the US varieties are. There is another TV member here who I think produces seed of both kinds for Michael Hare. 

A lot of the tilapia fry sold all over Thailand originate from Nam Sai Farms: https://web.facebook.com/namsaifarms/?_rdc=1&_rdr website http://www.tilapiathai.com 

Been going more than 25 years. 

Owned/run by a British aquaculture specialist.  

54 minutes ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

The farmers get about B 1,50 per kg hom mali
 

 

Really? Are you sure about that? 

On 7/10/2019 at 8:41 AM, notrub said:

 I pay about 12,000 baht total to plough the fields (2x)   

Google Conservation Agriculture and zero tillage (or no tillage). 

Eliminate the ploughing cost and save water. 

Use a zero till seed drill. 

Also add in Controlled Traffic Farming. 

Look at permanent raised beds.

Reduce costs, raise yields, increase profit.  

On 6/28/2019 at 10:39 PM, kickstart said:

Where I am last year it was  still 600 baht/rie for combing a crop, the combine is either an imported wheeled combine ,or a Thai track one .

I think the price have  been stable for a while because fuel prices have not gone up much.

As for drilling corn a small tractor and a 2row drill .drilling in to cultivated land 150 baht/rie.,last year a lot of the second crop maize was direct drilled ,not certain on the priced will find out .I think it is about the same price.   

Thank you KS ????

7 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Hi JB,

I did end up with the corn kit from Kubota,does a reasonable job once i modified the fingers to face more upwards.

It didn't like a field with lots of green growing up through it (nothing to do with the corn kit)as it would build up on the belt driven sizing screen causing belt slippage and internal blockages.Slow and steady wins.

I'm still a no till believer. at this stage i'm  not looking to plant a crop(sunn hemp) on that land till mid october this year. 

3 neighbours had a contractor in to plant corn,tyne machine,cultivated land 300/rai.

 

  

 

 

Thank you FJ.

Good to hear you're still going with the no till.  

I hope Wayned may chip in with a more up to date price for combining corn. 

Hi All,

This thread seems quiet these days. ????

1. The other day, I read the old thread up to about page 35 and then gave up! It started in 2015 when FJ was experimenting with zero tillage corn. I think it takes 2 or 3 years for the impact of zero-tillage on soil fertility to kick in, so now, 4 years later, how is it going?  

2. My main reason for writing: Can anyone give me a more recent contractor price for corn harvesting than the 600 baht/rai that I found mentioned by Wayned in 2015?

3. FJ mentioned that a Kubota DC70 combine was dropping a lot of corn on the floor, FJ said he would like to get a corn header. Is that the same thing as the "corn kit" mentioned at Siam Kubota's website, priced 39,900 baht? http://www.siamkubota.co.th/agriculture/product/55

4. Does anyone know a contractor price for corn drilling, either direct into rice stubble or into cultivated soil? 

Thanks.

JB.  

14 hours ago, attrayant said:

 

The quoted statement says that diabetes and heart disease are now the top cause of death among Thais.  Whether or not cancer is communicable is beside the point.

 

[edit] and now that I re-read, they used "cause" in the singular, so maybe they're lumping the stats for diabetes and heart disease together to get their "top cause".

 

 

I am sorry to say but apparently reading comprehension is not one of your strong points. If you read it correctly, the article says non-communicable diseases are the top cause of death among Thais.

Non-communicable diseases include cancer, as well as diabetes, heart disease and many others. 

6 hours ago, geoffbezoz said:

"Thailand is facing a double burden of poor nutrition and obesity, leading to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and heart disease, which are now the top cause of death among Thais."

 

As I said in another thread that is simply untrue. The highest cause of deaths in Thailand is cancer.

 

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/leading-causes-of-death-in-thailand.html

Erm... cancer is a NCD! 

6 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

Regarding my use of T; firstly I am not a professional cyclist, just to set the record straight. 

 

The doping rules apply to amateurs and professionals.

6 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

 

No offense, but you seem to be ignorant of the fact that testosterone is not simply a performance enhancing drug but is also prescribed to treat certain medical conditions.

 

No, I am not ignorant of that fact.  

6 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

 

My use of injectable testosterone is to treat a such a condition and is done under the supervision of a physician.  

 

That is irrelavent unless you have a "Theraputic Use Exemption" (TUE).

Do you have a TUE? 

6 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

 

The amount that is injected is not within the range that would be considered to be "performance enhancing"...not even close!

 

Obviously the amount you inject has a positive effect on your body otherwise why would you be injecting it? 

Are you willing to tell us how much you inject and what is considered to be the "range that would be considered to be "performance enhancing"". That is something I am ignorant about. I did not know there were levels of injected exogenous T that do not enhance performance. 

6 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

 

Furthermore, If I were to compete in a sanctioned event where I needed to be blood tested I would be allowed to do so.  All that is required is getting a "Therapeutic Use Exemption" from WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency).  https://www.wada-ama.org/en/what-we-do/science-medical/therapeutic-use-exemptions

 

 

Yes, I am well aware of TUEs, and I know that in the case of T, they are not easy to get. My guess is that you would not qualify for a TUE and therefore you would be guilty of cheating. 

And even if an event is not subjected to blood testing, it would still be cheating.  

6 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

 

Instead of making an unfounded and prejudiced comment as you have done, you should have considered that my use of T might have been medically justified instead of simply assuming I am, in your words, "a cheat" !  You owe me an apology.

 

It is not a question of whether your use of T is medically justified, it is a question of whether you qualify for a TUE for your use of T when racing competitively. If not, then you should not be racing. 

I don't care if you inject T but I do care that if by doing so you might have an unfair advantage over me in a competitive cycling race, regardless of whether it is a sanctioned race or not. 

If you can get a TUE then I will apologise. 

On 5/12/2019 at 2:19 AM, WaveHunter said:

Hi JB,

I think the real key to a strong nutritional strategy is NOT to follow any prescribed mainstream diet to the letter, and instead customize a diet that is right specifically for you.  Everybody is unique and "one size does not fit all". 

 

Above all, no one should do weight loss diets.  If a person feels the need to "diet to lose weight", there is a bigger underlying problem that needs to be addressed and that is poor metabolic health.  A short term weight loss diet is like putting a band-aid on an infected would!  If you have a healthy long-term nutritional strategy, there should never be a need to "go on a weight-loss diet"    

 

Your concerns about lack of protein on a plant-based diet are unfounded; you need to do more research.  Getting enough protein as a Vegan is actually quite easy and there is no need for supplementation at all.  Of all the nutritional strategies I've tried, plant-based seemed the most complete.  The only thing that's lacking in a Vegan diet is really just Vitamin B-12.  Most serious Vegans I know (and I know a lot of them from living in Chinag Mai for a year LOL) simply get B-12 by self-injection.  It's cheap and not as scary as it sounds. 

 

Eating a plant-based diet is IMO an excellent way to eat.  My only issue with Vegan was it just felt too restrictive to me, and I felt I was missing something by not having animal product in my diet (plus, I LOVE steak LOL).  So, I incorporated some Paleo.  Now I think of myself as "Pagan".

 

Even though I think of myself as a Pagan, I now also embrace the concept of being keto-adapted (yes, Paleo, Vegan and Keto can work together).  I think it is important (for me), not only for health reasons, but for cycling performance reasons as well. 

 

FYI, I am a VERY cautious person by nature.  If there was any reason that I felt keto was dangerous, I wouldn't be doing it.  I feel confident of that it is safe because I paid my dues and researched the subject well. 

 

You need to do the same thing because everybody is unique; what works for me, may not work for you.  What is right for me, may be wrong for you.  One size does not fit all, but I can say confidently that if you are in reasonably good health, a ketogenic diet is not unsafe.  My best advice is to find a doctor who is truly knowledgable about nutrition (which is no easy task these days), and seek his/her advice after having some blood tests done.   ????

 

I am not going to try and convince you that keto is a good thing, nor should you let others on this forum attempt to convince you that it is bad.  That's a choice you should make for yourself and it should be based on information you get from genuine science based sources like PubMed and scientific journals, not YouTube and health blogs that merely rehash third-party interpretations of original research, and more often than not result in mis-information and half-truths. 

 

Don't be afraid of reading scientific research reports or journals.  There's a lot that may go over your head, but if you use your brain, and have the patience to google for things you don't understand, sources like those can give you everything you need to make a well-educated decision, ands feel confident you have made the right choice.

Thanks WaveHunter for your reply and advice. 

I am not trying to lose any weight now but reduce some belly fat and increase some muscle (upper body and/or legs).

B12 I am already taking. 

Protein - well it depends on how much I require. Looking at the literature, it seems that being older (60) and athletic means I need more than a sedentary & younger person needs. Some sources suggest that I need to take in around 1.8 - 2.0g/kg body weight. So for me that means around 144 - 160g per day. Easily achieved if eating meat, fish, eggs, etc. But not so easy if following a vegan diet. I found myself feeling weak and not recovering well after exercise, so I went back to consuming whey protein isolate and found I felt better. Hence I now want to find a vegan protein supplement like the sacha inchi powder (60% protein). And it's cheaper but I guess the amino acid profile may not be as good as the isolate, though I get protein from other foods, so I don't see any need to get into too much detail on amino acids. 

I do do research (reading pubmed abstracts) but I find that many times the information varies considerably between sources, (and I know there is a lot of "bad science" around) so then you still have to make a personal decision about which research/advice you think is sound and trustworthy.

"Find a doctor who is truly knowledgable" - I trust the advice of the cycling doctor Dr Gabe Mirkin https://www.drmirkin.com because (a) he's a medical doctor, (b) he's a cyclist, (c) he's a lot older than I am and still cycling lots, (d) he is living proof that a plant-based diet works, (e) he bases his advice on scientific articles, (f) the advice he gives is free and he is not trying to sell anything. 

Returning to the topic of dietary fibre and the keto diet - perhaps not relevant for you but others - is this from the UK:

Dietary fibre is found in cereal foods, including bread, beans, lentils, fruit & vegetables
It cannot be broken down by human digestive enzymes
In the UK most people do not eat enough fibre (the average intake is 17.2/day for women and 20.1g/day for men). The recommended average intake for adults is 30g per day.
A low fibre intake is associated with constipation and some gut diseases such as bowel cancer
A high fibre diet can help reduce cholesterol, reduce the risk of diabetes and can help protect against overweight

https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritionscience/nutrients-food-and-ingredients/dietary-fibre.html 

And this from the USA:

The American Heart Association Eating Plan suggests eating a variety of food fiber sources. Total dietary fiber intake should be 25 to 30 grams a day from food, not supplements. Currently, dietary fiber intakes among adults in the United States average about 15 grams a day. That's about half the recommended amount.

https://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/increasing_fiber_intake/

The above numbers concern the "average person" not just people following a keto diet. And I reckon that if the typical keto diet is low in plant-based foods then it will be lower in fibre than the average person's non-keto diet. 

Furthermore, one of the main consequences of inadequate dietary fibre can be colorectal cancer and this kind of cancer is a major cause of death in many countries. And my understanding is that cancers in general can take many years to develop. So it seems plausible to me that many people following a keto diet may be at higher risk of getting colorectal cancer but may not see the cancer until some years down the road. 

You mentioned blood tests, so I am curious to know if any of these blood tests provide early warning signs of colorectal cancer? Just because your blood pressure, lipid levels, sugar/insulin levels, etc, look good, does not mean you don't have cancer growing in your gut, does it? 

Finally, since I last posted, I have come to learn that although you say you are a competitive cyclist, you are doping on T. That's against the rules of competitive sports. It's cheating! Shame on you. 

JB

Hi WaveHunter,

I started Intermittent Fasting (16:8) in December 2018, to lose weight, and within about 2 months I had lost about 5kg that I had been struggling to lose for a long time. I don't feel I need to lose more weight, but I wouldn't mind exchanging a couple of inches from around my waist for some muscle elsewhere. I'm 188cm tall and currently weigh 80kg.  

Like you, I am a competitive road cyclist but only an amateur one (unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to race for more than a year now!).  

I did think about adopting the ketogenic diet because a lot of people rave about it, and I do believe it is very effective in helping people lose weight. But after trying to find scientific information about any health risks, it seems that there are some possible negative long term effects that have not yet been properly researched. I don't want to be a guinea pig. If you know of any research papers that show no ill effects of a long term keto diet, I will be interested to see them. 

BTW, I have observed that a lot of research is funded by organizations that have a vested interest in pitching a particular outcome. For example, I think the livestock/dairy industries are very much in favour of the keto diet. 

Instead of a keto diet, for about 2 months now, in addition to the 16:8 IF (which BTW I don't follow too strictly), I have been trying to follow a plant-based diet but currently finding it a challenge to get enough protein. I want to get hold of some vegan protein supplements, such as sacha inchi protein powder. I will do that in the near future. 

One thing that I have learned from reading about the topic of health and nutrition, is the importance of the microbiome in our guts. It seems that a healthy gut is important for a wide range of health issues and that a healthy gut depends on eating lots of fibre because that is the food of choice for the good microbes. I think the keto diet does not provide much fibre? Fibre comes from eating plants. 

Regards,

JB. 

15 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

This adds to the field burning carried out by some farmers and corporations to clear stubble and prepare sugarcane for harvesting, and the slash and burning of the jungle to clear it for agriculture.

 

i still wonder why the government do not encourage alternatives to burning such as large scale mulching and composting which retains the nutrients of the vegetation and prevents atmospheric pollution. Providing the necessary processing plant would be the greatest service the government could do and may even pay for itself.

Mulching rather than burning is a great idea and there are mulching machines made by companies such as Bron that are used for this purpose: 

 but they aren't cheap! 

4 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

Can one make a profit quoting brides and roads in China, and how does one quote a road?

They probably won't tell me for fear of competition...

You don't have much imagination if you can't think of more than one way to spell construction! ????

Besides insurance, some "preventative maintenance" would have been a good idea; and still would be. Stuff like regular exercise, Intermittent Fasting (IF), a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet, etc. These things don't cost anything and they can even help reverse many chronic diseases. It's not rocket science. You only live once. 

Good luck to you Ken. Wishing you a speedy recovery.  

https://www.eastwestseed.com/crops/solanum-lycopersicum-l

I recently bought a 150W panel from DoHome for 3,200 baht and a 12V 100AH deep cycle lead acid battery for something over 5,000 baht.

I bought the 20A charge controller and 1,500W inverter, plus some thick cable and connectors, and an AC circuit breaker (all for less than $100), here in Laos.

The system is now powering a TV, a few LED lights, some sockets for charging phones, and a socket for a portable LED lamp, for the workers living on a farm that is off the grid.

I still need to find some fuses to add into the DC charging system, and install an earth to the panel, inverter, etc.