Farming in Chiang Rai

[My Thai Life]

Just reading though the CR farming posts in the last few months, it seems that none of the posters have any knowledge of farming here, or of economics in general. 

[AlexRich]

I wouldn't have thought there were many Chiang Rai expats with much interest in farming ... a lot of hard work for little reward. Aren't most of them retired, focused on rest and relaxation? 

[kevvy]

Chiang Rai is the place to truly relax..... This is the place to be ...

[KKr]

There are some people growing their own veg etc. 
one large flower nursery that I know of.

for commercial farming a problem in CR is that there are not enough people in the area to create an up-market produce.

If we can take Makro as a proxy for the market, Aquaponic is priced at about 10 percent over regular veg; Hydroponic, I guess would be about the same. Organic, I think will wholesale not get a much higher premium either.

So I think that if one wants to make money from farming, you need to have a large "regular" farm and create economies of scale; or if you want to go niche control the whole supply chain.

Similar what the "Organic" OKJ guys in Chiangmai have done on the ring road and now also near airport.
Took over five years to build that business, but it has created its niche.
However, CM has a larger population, seems wealthier, and has I believe seven higher Education institutions what creates a market for their Organic concept.

So, that may explain why there is not a lot of discussion on the topic.