What crops should i grow in Khon Kaen Region for best return

[CGW]

8 minutes ago, MJKT2014 said:

Two pages of answers already for a first time post to this?

[Max69xl]

Your neighbours or farmers nearby, what do they grow? That might give you a hint. 

[IvorBiggun2]

45 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Your neighbours or farmers nearby, what do they grow? That might give you a hint. 

Exactly. Same if you own a shop. Find out what everyone else is selling and you sell the same. It's the Thai way.

 

 

[Tagged]

If I was younger and needed an future income here in Thailand, I would make connections in a neighbouring district, grow what goes good in your soil, and something they do not have in their district. Make a network of farmers growing for you, and sell in the neighbour district. If your soil can grow good tamarind, you might be able to deliver in Kalasin since I hear they do not grow especially good there? We already have family there who is willing to pay higher price than we get at the marked here. So again connections will make it work. 

 

[stouricks]

15 hours ago, IsaanAussie said:

Not for or against, have no idea.

Rather a pointless answer.   LOL

[wolf81]

57 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Exactly. Same if you own a shop. Find out what everyone else is selling and you sell the same. It's the Thai way.

 

 

Indeed. In my village everyone grows longan. It's easy to grow (needs little water). Probably very few pests. But I'm sure if too many people start growing this, it'll all be worth close to zero.

 

I think it's best to make a mix of many different things, stuff to eat for your own family as well. Then if the market for some fruit or vegetable is <deleted>ty, at least you can eat it yourself.

My gf is having a decent business growing some Thai long beans, but it's not going to make us rich. Seems these grow all year around, so can sell some beans to local people / market every few days. But we are also growing other veggies, bananas, longan, coconuts, a bit of rice, etc... From what I hear it might be possible to sell long beans with decent profit in Bangkok, if transport is cheap enough.

[IsaanAussie]

Just now, wolf81 said:

I think it's best to make a mix of many different things, stuff to eat for your own family as well. Then if the market for some fruit or vegetable is <deleted>ty, at least you can eat it yourself.

This is close to me thoughts. I grow what we like to eat and sell any surplus to locals. If the sales cover the cost of production then good. I think of it as lowering our cost of living, not increasing our income.

[Postmaster]

Lemons (yellow ones of course)  They are really expensive in Thailand.  I think most are imported but not sure about that.  Maybe they need special soil or a lot of attention hence the reason why you never see them growing here.

[Tagged]

5 minutes ago, Postmaster said:

Lemons (yellow ones of course)  They are really expensive in Thailand.  I think most are imported but not sure about that.  Maybe they need special soil or a lot of attention hence the reason why you never see them growing here.

There also have to be a marked for it. If nobody in your neighbourhood growing it, then you have to do all the transport and delivery your self to the closest wholesaler, and I doubt yellow lemon in Thailand is a hit in the villages or cities in Thailand if you are speaking of volume. 

[memooz]

I believe you are about 60 yrs old. You must enjoy the rest of your life no stress. Agriculture is difficult and never profitable unless  Government subsidize. I did try cattle at age of 27. It was difficult (never cow/ milk) you need a big land and must not pay a penny for animal food. Forget fruit trees in this area/ country. Climate is very difficult lots of   Diseases. You may try CORN  Cassava. And listen Isaan Aussie advice, thats total true. Good luck 

[IsaanAussie]

1 hour ago, Postmaster said:

Lemons (yellow ones of course)  They are really expensive in Thailand.  I think most are imported but not sure about that.  Maybe they need special soil or a lot of attention hence the reason why you never see them growing here.

I recently bought lemon and orange trees from TV member Grafting Ken to try growing them here. I also bought three different species of finger lime trees from him as well. A total of sixteen trees. They are all doing well in baskets. Plan is to plant them next wet season. 

There was a topic on this page started by GF if you are interested. Good guy to deal with and good stock.

[Grumpy John]

It would have been better to ask what not to invest in!   Factor in your age, experience (if any) and most importantly how willing your partner is to get behind you with whatever you decide.....together.

 

Farming in Thailand is not the best way to make your fortune....  Remember the old quote "If you want to make a small fortune in LOS....you start off with a big fortune first."

 

That being said, the way to making money is vertical factory farming.  Cannot afford doing it myself but anyone with money and the will could make a decent living if they choose the right location and the right products.  The reason I like it is you have total control over the growing environment.  The quality of the air, water and growing matter, the temperature and light.  Reduced or eliminated insect pests is a big plus.

 

 

[kickstart]

6 hours ago, Postmaster said:

Lemons (yellow ones of course)  They are really expensive in Thailand.  I think most are imported but not sure about that.  Maybe they need special soil or a lot of attention hence the reason why you never see them growing here.

You never sell lemons as Thai's do/will not eat them ,to say they are set in their ways is an understatement  or very conservative ,we have had some lemons in the garden  ,not yellow ones  ,they were OK ,the wife very reluctantly used them , only because she had run out of limes, and I thought it improved the flavour of the food ,she did not 

They was a guy on here who was trying to grow Kiwi fruit ,lived near Bangkok to ,thinking he could do well ,aiming for the top end market ,not heard from him in a long while, like a lot of Farang 's trying to grow diff tent fruit for the Thai market must have gone pear shaped ,(no pun intended).

[elliss]

 

   What is the average  PH  of  your soil .

[rickudon]

What you can grow depends on your soil type, drainage, rainfall, availability of water for irrigation, PH and salinity. That's just for starters ......

 

What do your neighbours grow? It might give some ideas, also some problems! For instance we have trouble with cows eating our trees and rice - have threatened to shoot them and not seen for a few days. The area was mainly rice land, with few fences, the question is - who pays for new ones?

I have tried to grow avocados, had 4 from seed, 2 died young, one i planted out but died due to the drought this year, even one day without water caused it to wilt.

Some of our soil is salty, and many plants grow poorly. 

 

After considering all these factors, DO NOT go all out for one thing - it may be a disastrous failure. Start with a small area, one rai or less - can try a number of different ideas and expand one which works.

 

What not to try - Cassava ex-farm is only about 2 baht a kilo, or less - incredibly hard to make a profit. Mangoes - pretty safe long term crop, but very seasonal - can be very hard to sell due to gluts.

 

My most successful crop is Okra - but Thais rarely will eat it, i just grow for myself. Ten years, and rarely grew enough of anything to sell, or if i did, only got back peanuts. Livestock - input costs were as high as output returns (I tried duck eggs). I was just working for free ......

 

Like Kwaibah, i have last year we dug a large pond out of an old moat and island rice field - now have a one rai pond (quite deep) and a one rai irrigated rice paddy - rice looking good and can pump water from the pond for the rice, so the drought not an issue (though the soil has some issues).  The pond had a few problems (including a wife who decided i had not put enough fish in, so put in thousands more when i wasn't there) so now have a pond full of stunted fish. Result was a 90% loss on feed costs/to fish harvested, though i might get some back eventually, as most fish to small to harvest. This year the fish are mainly feeding themselves.

[kingofthemountain]

Well, imagine a newbie chosing for his first post

a specific area, farming in Issan. with a subject open to discuss

asking for advice about what type of cultur growing for the best return on investment

then disapear forever...What could it be except a troll topic ?

Not even funny imo ''mister vaughan jeffares''

 

 

[elliss]

19 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

Well, imagine a newbie chosing for his first post

a specific area, farming in Issan. with a subject open to discuss

asking for advice about what type of cultur growing for the best return on investment

then disapear forever...What could it be except a troll topic ?

Not even funny imo ''mister vaughan jeffares''

 

 

 

        Correct , he is taking the <deleted>/ water out us on TVforum.

          Probably, posted this topic, for a jolly with , his mates .

           Topic should be closed . nuff is enough .

         We are not all ,stupid farlangs , Cheers...

 

 

 

[IsaanAussie]

Come on guys this is the farming forum and we all would love to find that wealth generating opportunity that doesn't get over subscribed in a year or two. Whether the OP is genuinely interested or not it has generated discussion amongst us which cannot hurt, has it not?

 

[Time to grow]

On 7/27/2020 at 8:50 PM, Grumpy John said:

the way to making money is vertical factory farming.

When you look at the gross revenue of produce in Thailand vs the cost of electricity, I am skeptical.

 

I run a small aquaponics farm inside a screen enclosed hoop house. The system is quite productive but barely covers the expenses. I am in the process of scaling up with a second larger system but I still expect the profits to be marginal. There must be a point where scale meets profitability but I imagine the size would be massive.

 

Growing vertically cuts down on the footprint but increases your electrical demand exponentially. That being said, I was never very good at "business".

[Grumpy John]

On 7/28/2020 at 9:00 PM, IsaanAussie said:

Come on guys this is the farming forum and we all would love to find that wealth generating opportunity that doesn't get over subscribed in a year or two. Whether the OP is genuinely interested or not it has generated discussion amongst us which cannot hurt, has it not?

 

Ah IA,  always the voice of reason!  ????

[samsensam]

 

another 'newbie' clickbait troll topic. they are getting more prevalent on this site. and more boring.

[Grumpy John]

On 7/29/2020 at 9:28 AM, Time to grow said:

When you look at the gross revenue of produce in Thailand vs the cost of electricity, I am skeptical.

 

I run a small aquaponics farm inside a screen enclosed hoop house. The system is quite productive but barely covers the expenses. I am in the process of scaling up with a second larger system but I still expect the profits to be marginal. There must be a point where scale meets profitability but I imagine the size would be massive.

 

Growing vertically cuts down on the footprint but increases your electrical demand exponentially. That being said, I was never very good at "business".

Your in the game man,  that's where you find out whether your going to be a winner...or not.   I would love to have a go at vertical factory farming but I realise the product and the market have to compliment one another.  And I seriously think you have to be no further than the outskirts of Bangkok.  Whether you sell local or airfreight OS you need a large population from which you can funnel customers.  Going for premium products at a premium price means you need premium customers with money to spend.  So that would knock out 20% to 40% of Bangkok's residents.  But...people are doing it in other countries, so why not here?  

[Time to grow]

1 hour ago, Grumpy John said:

you have to be no further than the outskirts of Bangkok. 

You may be correct. I am on the outskirts of Nakhon Sawan where I cant even get a premium for organically grown produce. That being said, my motivation isn't driven by profit. I grow what I want to eat and sell the excess.

[IsaanAussie]

Just now, Time to grow said:

I cant even get a premium for organically grown produce. That being said, my motivation isn't driven by profit. I grow what I want to eat and sell the excess.

 

1 hour ago, Grumpy John said:

Going for premium products at a premium price means you need premium customers with money to spend.

 

1 hour ago, Grumpy John said:

But...people are doing it in other countries, so why not here?

I defy anyone in this Thai market to define what is regarded as a premium product.

Leave the HiSo premium class customers out, their maids buy the food. The younger HiSo's will pay higher prices as long as they gain Face doing it. So the only ways to sell into the top end is to find the "connected middleman", or get lucky and sell direct to westerners, ie chefs etc.. Bottom line on the premium market is it is small and very selective. Everything has to be perfect. Your product must be good but it also needs to be unique.

The middle class buy from "trusted outlets" like Tescos, Big C etc.. yes they also shop sometimes in the wet markets, but these are the "bargain basement" outlets for the masses and then from the same vendors most of the time who offer the best quality. To serve the spread in this demographic one thing is important, you have to produce in volume daily.

For people that surround me in the village, they have 30 baht in their pocket to buy food. They spend it wisely.

Yes other countries are different.

 

 

 

 

 

[Time to grow]

20 minutes ago, IsaanAussie said:

I defy anyone in this Thai market to define what is regarded as a premium product.

I can't speak for Grumpy John but my reference to a "premium" is that which is observed at Tesco or Big C when comparing prices of organically grown vs pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide enriched produce.

[IsaanAussie]

Please understand I am only voicing my opinion in this social media enriched, minimum factual world we live in. To me, a premium product is one that is as good as it can be, the best of the best. I sold whole pigs to restaurants in Bangkok. They would advertise my pork as organic and I would object because we had no certification to claim that. They were fed commercial diets but their health issues were completely without drugs. I could have used Ivermetin to control internal and external parasites under organic rules, but it is completely synthetic, nothing natural. I used pre and probiotics, biology, completely natural organisms, but not organically certified. I use Roundup to kill weeds before we plant rice. The rice seed goes into the ground weeks later. Someone has to pay for the research we read on the web. Never the small holding farmer!

 

The point is, farming is a business. Morally I will not produce anything for human consumption that is a threat to health. My theory is, purchase prices are retail, sale prices are wholesale. Limit purchases!

[khwaibah]

Home grown mushrooms NOT the magic kind. ???? These are going to TOPS Surin. Grown on a dream in Kap Choeng Surin.

 

[Grumpy John]

On 8/2/2020 at 7:22 PM, IsaanAussie said:

 

 

I defy anyone in this Thai market to define what is regarded as a premium product.

Leave the HiSo premium class customers out, their maids buy the food. The younger HiSo's will pay higher prices as long as they gain Face doing it. So the only ways to sell into the top end is to find the "connected middleman", or get lucky and sell direct to westerners, ie chefs etc.. Bottom line on the premium market is it is small and very selective. Everything has to be perfect. Your product must be good but it also needs to be unique.

The middle class buy from "trusted outlets" like Tescos, Big C etc.. yes they also shop sometimes in the wet markets, but these are the "bargain basement" outlets for the masses and then from the same vendors most of the time who offer the best quality. To serve the spread in this demographic one thing is important, you have to produce in volume daily.

For people that surround me in the village, they have 30 baht in their pocket to buy food. They spend it wisely.

Yes other countries are different.

 

 

 

 

 

I may have been to eager to use the word "premium" to describe those I was thinking of.  I was thinking government service people on good salaries and SME business owners and people in corporations that enjoy a good income.  Not so much the high end chefs and, so called, Bangkok elite.  

[Tagged]

Just got 4 dade trees by post and will plant them tomorow. Thanks for the heads up. 

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, Tagged said:

Just got 4 dade trees by post and will plant them tomorow. Thanks for the heads up. 

i am sorry if i look stupid asking that

but what is a ''dade tree'' ?

Google translate can not help me on this one

thank you in advance