In this "drought" the last thing I need is irrigation

[IsaanAussie]

As has been mentioned before, our rice crop is not good. Water stressed and full of weed. Several weeks ago I decided that since it was just at flowering we would fertilise to get what harvest we could. Now with seed fill underway the provincial water authority decided to flood the irrigation/drainage ditch which runs past our land and our paddies as well. The worst possible timing. If they had done it a month to six weeks ago whilst still tillering I could have used a selective herbicide to kill the competing weeds. There is government assistance for drought effected crops planned. Obviously the water guys can say that they supplied water in their own defence, but I doubt they will mention they were several months late to doing it. I even doubt anyone will mention the timing.

Anyway, I have gone from praying for a little rain to keep things going, to hoping the sun will shine through and evaporate the water. There are storms forecast and all I need is winds to lodge most of the crop. What a season!

[Time to grow]

Just my two cents: I see what looks like a trend of increasingly dryer seasons over the last few years. I can't prove it but I attribute the drought to climate change as the most logical and likely cause. Climate change is not going to get better. To the contrary, it's getting exponentially more severe. Does that mean the drought will get exponentially more severe, I don't know but all indications are pointing in that direction at this time. Some, in other provinces, report that they have observed no decrease in rain over the last few years but here in the Nakhon Sawan area, the change is profound.

 

I had a small rice paddy, about two rai with limited water availability such as you. Last year, I decided to mound up rows down the length of the field and plant several species of bamboo. I ran water irrigation hoses to the bamboo from our well. As mentioned in a previous thread, the well reached its lowest level in a least a generation this past dry season. Thankfully the bamboo is more established and drought resistant now but I wonder if there will even be enough water for bamboo this dry season. Time will tell...

[BritManToo]

24 minutes ago, Time to grow said:

Just my two cents: I see what looks like a trend of increasingly dryer seasons over the last few years. I can't prove it but I attribute the drought to climate change as the most logical and likely cause.

Up in Chiang Mai this year, the rain is way up, and the skies have been overcast far longer than normal.

My Solar panels production are 20% down on last year because of it. In August I put 3 more up in torrential rain.

It's been the wettest, darkest monsoon since I've been living here (2009).

[Time to grow]

33 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Up in Chiang Mai this year, the rain is way up

I guess this goes to show the apparent decrease / increase in rainfall is more localized than one might imagine. Others have also reported an increase in precipitation. Near my home, the other farmers are on a well digging frenzy.

[IsaanAussie]

Just now, Time to grow said:

other farmers are on a well digging frenzy

This is what I worry about most. The water table here is lowering. As it does the ground dries and more water percolates in. Combine that with estimated 1" per day of evaporation from ponds and surface water during the dry season will not last as long. It seems the water table decrease may well accelerate. 

Time to think again about harvesting and storage of rainwater.

[Brunolem]

Here in Sisaket-Ubon area we are now part of Vietnam when it comes to the climate.

 

We get our rain season from the typhoon season of the Pacific, and absolutely nothing from the monsoon.

 

Yet we have more than our fair share of water, making it very difficult to harvest the rice crop.

 

We have barely seen any sun for almost two months and there is no improvement in sight.

[Stevemercer]

I agree with other posters that, on average, seasons have been getting drier. Certainly, in central Isan where I live, the last three dry seasons have seen less than 75%average rainfall.

 

It has been overcast and drizzly for the last few weeks, but we haven't had the torrential rain we usually get at the end of the wet season. 

 

It's been a 'green' drought in that there has been enough rain to get the rice in, but not enough to fill the big dams. My ponds are about 70% full this year.

 

Of course, the overcast ad soggy conditions will delay the rice harvest. Soon the stiff northerlies will blow up and flatten the rice if it is not harvested.

 

I'd hate to be a farmer. I reckon dryland rice farming will be a thing of the past within about 5 years time.

[IsaanAussie]

1 hour ago, Stevemercer said:

I'd hate to be a farmer. I reckon dryland rice farming will be a thing of the past within about 5 years time

Interesting. Despite my grumbling I like the life here, pretty care free. As for rice farming stopping, I doubt it. It is the basis of the community and yields the fundamental diet. What has changed for us is twelve years ago our rice was in part a cash crop whereas now it is a near zero cost food source. 

The challenge has always been to use the land for other things during the dry with limited water. 

 

[rickudon]

In Udon Thani we have seen a later start to the wet season the last few years, but more rain in July - September. It used to be that the ponds were not full until September, last 2 years full by end of July. This year the wet has continued on to the end of October so far, but only light rains. Rice so far is good.

[kickstart]

On 10/28/2020 at 10:45 AM, Brunolem said:

Here in Sisaket-Ubon area we are now part of Vietnam when it comes to the climate.

 

We get our rain season from the typhoon season of the Pacific, and absolutely nothing from the monsoon.

 

Yet we have more than our fair share of water, making it very difficult to harvest the rice crop.

 

We have barely seen any sun for almost two months and there is no improvement in sight.

You are in Issan ,I am in Lopburi ,this year we are the same, the past 2 months , when normaly  we have the most of our rain, we have had 404 mm of rain ,190 mm of that has come from named storms /typhoons ,very little from the rainy season ,today's storm has so far given us 62 mm of rain, last time we had that amount of rain that was not a storm/typhoon  was back in March 71 mm .

This is the second year with very little monsoon rain ,this area is mainly a corn sugar cane, cassava ,not a lot of rice is grown ,with very little   rain  and the Fall Army Worm, no corn farmer has made any money.

Maybe a bold statement .but somehow farming in Thailand will/has to change less rain reliant  crops, like Sesame seed, Mung beans ,Millet?, more Mung beans have been grown  in this area than before.

I do not now see Thailand at the top of the list of main rice exporting counties , not been they for a few years now, it is now second in exporting cassava, used to be the main exporter ,second in exporting sugar, these crops need a lot of water.

For Thailand the GDP of agriculture is only 8% ,world average is 10%,will any Thai  governments invest in agriculture with a low GDP?, or just let the farmers struggle from one year to another getting more in debt. 

[Brunolem]

12 hours ago, kickstart said:

You are in Issan ,I am in Lopburi ,this year we are the same, the past 2 months , when normaly  we have the most of our rain, we have had 404 mm of rain ,190 mm of that has come from named storms /typhoons ,very little from the rainy season ,today's storm has so far given us 62 mm of rain, last time we had that amount of rain that was not a storm/typhoon  was back in March 71 mm .

This is the second year with very little monsoon rain ,this area is mainly a corn sugar cane, cassava ,not a lot of rice is grown ,with very little   rain  and the Fall Army Worm, no corn farmer has made any money.

Maybe a bold statement .but somehow farming in Thailand will/has to change less rain reliant  crops, like Sesame seed, Mung beans ,Millet?, more Mung beans have been grown  in this area than before.

I do not now see Thailand at the top of the list of main rice exporting counties , not been they for a few years now, it is now second in exporting cassava, used to be the main exporter ,second in exporting sugar, these crops need a lot of water.

For Thailand the GDP of agriculture is only 8% ,world average is 10%,will any Thai  governments invest in agriculture with a low GDP?, or just let the farmers struggle from one year to another getting more in debt. 

Agree...the (big) problem is that it is very difficult to move from rice to another crop because of the damn paddies (= swimming pools).

 

Before moving to another crop, the farmers have to fill up their paddies, which is a double challenge because it is very expensive and there is no available arable soil.

 

Usually when they fill up a paddy, they use the sand-like soil from another paddy.

 

That is to say the Isaan farmer are going to suffer a lot from climate change, and a rural exodus is probably to be forecasted.

[IsaanAussie]

13 hours ago, kickstart said:

For Thailand the GDP of agriculture is only 8% ,world average is 10%,will any Thai  governments invest in agriculture with a low GDP?, or just let the farmers struggle from one year to another getting more in debt.

 

31 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

That is to say the Isaan farmer are going to suffer a lot from climate change, and a rural exodus is probably to be forecasted.

Over the last 20 years in Isaan the farming demographics and technology has changed enormously. The two quotes above should be viewed from this perspective.

Back then over 70% of the Thailand population were involved in farming that almost entirely did not contribute to the "formal economy". Very few paid income tax or contributed to social security. Whilst agricultural domestic trade and exports where included, the money moving inside the community did not. GDP figures were at best estimates and surely understated.

Even 15 years ago as the country industrialised, when it came time to either plant or harvest the rice, relocated farmers, now factory labour just went home to help. I remember going to work at a factory I was running one morning and over 80% of the staff had gone home.

Now with mechanisation, those people stay at work to pay for the tractors and harvesters and the remaining elderly family members still in the village, "supervise" the contractors. In short the exodus has happened. The village is becoming a day care centre for the younger generation's kids. 

His Majesty Rama 9's 30:30:30:10 land usage theory I believe could have turned things around. Water:Rice:Other Crops:People and Animals were the proportions of the formula. The failing now is the availability of able-bodied labour to undertake the extra work with an aging population.

We grow Jasmine rice. It is a long season tall variety which will tolerate low water levels, but because of the length of the season is susceptible to lodging at this time of year when the winds pick up. It was developed some 40 years ago and has not been improved much since. Competing countries have newer strains with much better yields and recently have taken market share through both market taste preference and lower cost of production.

The future must be different in Isaan. 

 

[douglasspade]

On 10/28/2020 at 10:45 AM, Brunolem said:

and absolutely nothing from the monsoon.

Same here in lower Isaan, the rain was so localized that every 5km you will find a different situation. We will be timing our rice planting a month later next year.

 

We waited until a week after the initial typhoon in Sept before we had about an inch cover of water in our lowest paddies, so I risked herbicide and fertilizer. We blended fertilizer to higher phosphorus and potassium sacrificing rapid plant growth to gain faster seed production, not knowing if there would be more rain coming. Some of the paddies look good bearing rice already, some looks debatable.

Our  provincial water authority had so much land to flood via the irrigation channel they would have never even got to us in time.

 

I recon about 40% of arable rice land in my area will be bearing rice similar to last year, with the rest borderline and others poor. Some farmers just cut what is above the waterline for the cows.

 

My small bean crop was a total fail this year, it kept making bulbs but never got blooming. The sunn hemp went into blooming but they ended up thinned out and not bearing much seeds this year. I also feel it has something to do with the weather. I am busy reworking the land to plant pumpkin, sweet pea and corn before it gets too dry again.

 

[IsaanAussie]

I am really enjoying your responses to my post. Especially those in lower Isaan like me. Let me pose a question to all of you given these are the conditions we are in and the situation is likely to worsten. What are you going do on your farm, adapt, redevelop, what?

[473geo]

Near Surin we have had a dry grow season, almost drought, the storms have brought rain also wind which has now done the usual trick of of laying huge swathes of the rice flat, I expect harvest time is about 4 - 6 weeks away when the sun will no doubt return.

My wife has let me know that the crop will be light, and even if there is enough to sell, at the moment apparently the market is slow. We have a large family so will probably eat and give to relatives this year. At the very least store until next year.

We had for the first time ever to pump out flooded grass land but suspect infilling for a large plot next door where a house is now built has sent us the run off!!

 

Future plans, not sure, increasing the breeding cattle slowly, for now seems to successful need to build an additional straw barn as number increases. I don't see us moving away from rice just yet.

My wife has suggested we may possibly buy 'new rice' next year meaning 'seed' rice, so I would say she has something in mind. When she is loaded up with the knowledge, information, and costs I will be brought into the thought process for my opinion and to rubber stamp any outlay.

 

Just the usual to and fro of farming I guess, not panicking at the moment, thoughtful, yes.

[IsaanAussie]

Just now, 473geo said:

Future plans, not sure, increasing the breeding cattle slowly, for now seems to successful need to build an additional straw barn as number increases. I don't see us moving away from rice just yet.

My wife has suggested we may possibly buy 'new rice' next year meaning 'seed' rice

Oh, the newest new thing, beef cattle. I hope others better qualified to comment  join in. Straw is needed for roughage but for the beef cattle here, now, it is not the basis of their feed. Grow some fodder grass. 

Moving away from rice, as an Isaan farmer, impossible! 

[kickstart]

1 hour ago, IsaanAussie said:

I am really enjoying your responses to my post. Especially those in lower Isaan like me. Let me pose a question to all of you given these are the conditions we are in and the situation is likely to worsten. What are you going do on your farm, adapt, redevelop, what?

I like your redevelop, what would we do ?with only 6 rie not easy ,being a cattle farm change breeds to try and make more money ,like Charolais  or Beefmaster ,but the markets are so volatile it is a job to know what to do ,the wife has been making noises about rearing goats ,getting popular around here ,I am try to put her off ,not my thing not as easy as you think.

On the arable side ,it ,as has been said depends on rain fall ,I think douglasspade  has the idea ,try and get another crop in after the rain ,or before rice planting ,an area near us ,on Kee-Pet land very light ,has grown sesame seed ,then plant the rice crop afterwards ,with the rains coming late this year that would have worked well .

But the biggest problem especially in Issan,  is the soil fertility has to be increased  before any redeveloping is done mono cropping of rice has just worn out the soil ,growing another crop before or after rice harvest would help a lot .

Would I be right in saying most farms in Issan are family farms ?here in the central plains a lot of land is rented ,wife's son-in-law /daughter rent 24 rie at 1200 baht/rie, how they make any money on that I do not know ,they would be very reluctant to change to anything else,  afraid of losing money ,they tried sugar cane once  but that did not work out ,even though at the time the price was high .

[473geo]

1 hour ago, IsaanAussie said:

Oh, the newest new thing, beef cattle. I hope others better qualified to comment  join in. Straw is needed for roughage but for the beef cattle here, now, it is not the basis of their feed. Grow some fodder grass. 

Moving away from rice, as an Isaan farmer, impossible! 

 

Really you hope others 'better qualified to comment join in' - well we are progressing very nicely thank you and those that are joining the 'newest new thing' would find it quite expensive to catch up to our home reared breeding stock we built over the last 10 years from one 20,000 baht in calf cow.

 

Good luck I hope you get some 'new ideas'

[473geo]

Oh when i was a young man in the UK I put these bulls to Friesian x Ayrshire  cows - one of the first in my area most people were reluctant to try them ???? not sure if the semen is available in Thailand but will make enquiries when I arrive. I have quite a few ideas but need to scope things out when i actually arrive in Thailand. Maybe in 10 years i will just happen to be in right mode at the right time again ????

 

[IsaanAussie]

8 hours ago, 473geo said:

 

Really you hope others 'better qualified to comment join in' - well we are progressing very nicely thank you and those that are joining the 'newest new thing' would find it quite expensive to catch up to our home reared breeding stock we built over the last 10 years from one 20,000 baht in calf cow.

 

Good luck I hope you get some 'new ideas'

I think you may have understood me, let me rephrase that comment. "More qualified than me". No offence meant. 

My comment on new ideas comes from frustration I suppose. My wife's family have acquired some Charolais cross cattle but the marketing and financial planning leaves a lot to be desired. As Kickstart wrote, it ain't easy. 

I wish you well.

[farmerjo]

Hi All

Yes it's been a challenging year so far,not being able to get back home till start of september this year started the slide here.

We have 4 rai of rice which looks great although i'd say 10% lodged with the wind and rain of last storm through.Still it's the winner this year as no expense on irrigating costs,all rainfed.

On the other side i got 25 rai of sunn hemp in on the 18th september(4-5 weeks later than last year due to covid) and had poor germination in places that struggle with water logging.

The other 45 rai of that field which didn't get planted i took to with a 5 disc plough lightly last week to try and dry out and put in some sesame seed,sunn hemp in next 2-3 weeks.The Morooka(on tracks) did a good job in front of the plough as a normal wheeled tractor  would of made a mess.

That field has been in no-till farming for quite a few years which has worked great when the timing has been right and low rainfall for planting.But this year with nearly 60"s of rain to date i had to adopt a different practise or just leave it.

Another ongoing project is trying to level 15 rai,am going to have to call in the calvary and hire 3 tractors with rotovators as i can't keep up on my own with that size area.

Have been thinking a lot about going back to a variety of animals but get turned off knowing without employing some workers i would struggle with the 365 days a year being tied up.

 

[Brunolem]

14 hours ago, IsaanAussie said:

I am really enjoying your responses to my post. Especially those in lower Isaan like me. Let me pose a question to all of you given these are the conditions we are in and the situation is likely to worsten. What are you going do on your farm, adapt, redevelop, what?

I already spoke with the wife and suggested that from now on the rice should be planted later, say around mid to late July, so that the harvest would happen after the typhoon season, late November-early December.

 

Over the years we have reduced the rice crop, in order to have enough for the family, but not more.

 

Since the precipitated departure of Mrs Yingluck, the price of the rice has gone so low that it's not worth to bother growing it for selling.

 

Like many farmers around, we are getting involved in cattle breeding, which imply far more work than watching the rice growing, but is more stable and less dependent on the weather.

 

[Grumpy John]

11 hours ago, 473geo said:

Oh when i was a young man in the UK I put these bulls to Friesian x Ayrshire  cows - one of the first in my area most people were reluctant to try them ???? not sure if the semen is available in Thailand but will make enquiries when I arrive. I have quite a few ideas but need to scope things out when i actually arrive in Thailand. Maybe in 10 years i will just happen to be in right mode at the right time again ????

 

Beautiful animal the Basidaise.  Put it over a Friesian and they would make beautiful offspring.  

[Grumpy John]

Everything that can hold water is being used around here but still more rain coming.  Last 2 month rainfall has been OK. The dam is full and there is a dip at the Northend where the water can go in and out...and so can the fish so I have made a...barrier of sorts with a 5L plastic bottle and some netting to stop the fish going out but let the little ones in will sow some scrap steel to the bottom to stop them ducking under. 

 

The wife is still doing mangoes...not much choice really!  I think it will be another krap year.  Some local growers are selling Si Tong Gold mangoes, but it's 5 boxes here, 5 boxes there.  Down at Granny Block I put up a trellis to grow grapes as an experiment but we aren't getting enough sun for the vines at the mo.  Put on hold the greenhouse. 

 

It's a weird situation.  I moved all my money to a secondary bank account because ING was giving me some krap about where I live so it all went to Rabo Direct.  ING wanted this and that....and I told them to go take a hike!  But....and it's a BIG BUT....I didn't know they wouldn't transfer money from my account to my son...or anyone else. Only transfer to another account in my name!  What the ell!  My son normally does my transfers. So, I have been living off my money I have here.  I still have my 400.000 in the bank 12 month account and 80.000 for a medical emergency in another 6 month acc.  But my daily account was disappearing fast!  My Aussie government pension was first paid in to Australian account but as of 26th Oct now paid into Bangkok bank which is a help.  But that's not the end of it!  Rabo Direct are not going to co-operate at all in moving my money to me here in LOS, and despite the fact I told them I live here and cannot go home as I normally do they won't pay my money into my sons account at ING.  So it looks like we will be on a budget till the Financial Industry Ombudsman can deal with the matter.

 

For those who like to help. Food and money donations will greatfully be accepted.  If your sending wine in a food basket one red and one white please or just a bottle of muscat will suffice. No beer needed thanks.

[kickstart]

7 hours ago, 473geo said:

Oh when i was a young man in the UK I put these bulls to Friesian x Ayrshire  cows - one of the first in my area most people were reluctant to try them ???? not sure if the semen is available in Thailand but will make enquiries when I arrive. I have quite a few ideas but need to scope things out when i actually arrive in Thailand. Maybe in 10 years i will just happen to be in right mode at the right time again ????

 

A photo of a Belgium Blue bull  ,I have seen semen here and a picture of a BB X Brahman bull .in a Thai farming mag 

But if you use BB bulls here in Thailand you will have big problems ,the calves  are just too big for Thai cows , it is the hips ,that rump has what is known as double muscling that is like having  two  rumps  so more valuable cut of meat per animal, I used them in the UK 30  years ago on big Friesian  dairy cows good calves sold well but had a lot of calving problems ,maybe a  big Brahman X cow  that has had 4-5 calves may be able to calve  a BB calf 

But the main problem with BB's in Thailand would be feeding they are an intensive breed and need proper feeding before they will grow put weight on ,just feeding  road side grass and rice straw will not work .and I would say unless they are at least 40% Brahman they will suffer from heat stress ,and maybe problems with tics and of course you would lose the double muscling ,so losing selling value with the cross-breed  .  

Stick with Charolais, Angus or Beefmaster ,they are becoming popular ,easy to rear and have a good selling price  they is some Limousin semen about one TV member was looking in to using some ,should do well here 

[kickstart]

2 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

Beautiful animal the Basidaise.  Put it over a Friesian and they would make beautiful offspring.  

That bull is a Belgium Blue.

[473geo]

37 minutes ago, kickstart said:

A photo of a Belgium Blue bull  ,I have seen semen here and a picture of a BB X Brahman bull .in a Thai farming mag 

But if you use BB bulls here in Thailand you will have big problems ,the calves  are just too big for Thai cows , it is the hips ,that rump has what is known as double muscling that is like having  two  rumps  so more valuable cut of meat per animal, I used them in the UK 30  years ago on big Friesian  dairy cows good calves sold well but had a lot of calving problems ,maybe a  big Brahman X cow  that has had 4-5 calves may be able to calve  a BB calf 

But the main problem with BB's in Thailand would be feeding they are an intensive breed and need proper feeding before they will grow put weight on ,just feeding  road side grass and rice straw will not work .and I would say unless they are at least 40% Brahman they will suffer from heat stress ,and maybe problems with tics and of course you would lose the double muscling ,so losing selling value with the cross-breed  .  

Stick with Charolais, Angus or Beefmaster ,they are becoming popular ,easy to rear and have a good selling price  they is some Limousin semen about one TV member was looking in to using some ,should do well here 

 

My thought was to try the Belgian blue on a 3/4 charolais, we have 3rd calver and I figured I should be in Thailand full time by the time it goes into calf for no 5

Calving trouble usually stemmed, in my opinion, from dairy cows been pushed for condition to milk well after calving, thus growing the calves big prior to calving. I will consider the risk of course but know my way around calving cows.

The best part of breeding, rather than buying to fatten, is that the calf is kept in condition by the mother for the first 7 months or so, by which time it is also moving well on hand feed.

Not quite sure why a Belgian Blue would heat stress any more than a Charolais or Hereford.

Limousin from a 'narrow' cow is not a good look to me.

 

[kickstart]

5 hours ago, 473geo said:

 

My thought was to try the Belgian blue on a 3/4 charolais, we have 3rd calver and I figured I should be in Thailand full time by the time it goes into calf for no 5

Calving trouble usually stemmed, in my opinion, from dairy cows been pushed for condition to milk well after calving, thus growing the calves big prior to calving. I will consider the risk of course but know my way around calving cows.

The best part of breeding, rather than buying to fatten, is that the calf is kept in condition by the mother for the first 7 months or so, by which time it is also moving well on hand feed.

Not quite sure why a Belgian Blue would heat stress any more than a Charolais or Hereford.

Limousin from a 'narrow' cow is not a good look to me.

 

Your Charolais is now 75% you put a Belgian Blue on her that calf will be 87.50% imported blood, to much it will suffer from heat stress ,

A look at Google ,and the breed is now worldwide USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa ,but have not found the breed in a tropical country ,they probably are ,but not prominent/popular ,heat? 

I have met a few breeders of Charolais here in Thailand all say 75 % Charolais  blood is the maximum ,to prevent heat  stress . 

You might know the Thai- French beef company ,based in Sakonakon they use a Thai breed Kampangsan ,which is about 60% Brahman and 40% Charolais ,a good breed no problem with heat stress ,and they will eat almost anything and still grow .

You have a point about steaming up cows before calving  ,something that use to be done in the UK ,but not so much now ,the use of continental  breeds  gave big calves and big problems .and the cost ,we use to just bring in freshly calved cows from a grass diet, or in the winter just silage ,beet pulp, brewers grains, and palm kernel meal  and they still milked well .

But here in Thailand it  is done all the time ,the problems that occur with stemmed up heifers ,high body condition and big calves in times past I have calved a good few over fit heifers, very often leading to a dead calf .

When you come over here bring a calving jack with you ,you might well need it.

 

[Grumpy John]

21 hours ago, kickstart said:

That bull is a Belgium Blue.

Sacre bleu!!!  You mean Pierre the bool iz lying to mi? ☹️

[douglasspade]

On 10/30/2020 at 7:55 PM, 473geo said:

At the very least store until next year

We did that for the past 2 years, a lot of extra work drying it out and bagging but we got 15.30 p/kg last year and 14.50 p/kg this year.

This years crop though will not be stored as I had to give up our lease agreement for the land where we stored our rice and kept our cows and chickens.

 

 

On 10/30/2020 at 7:55 PM, 473geo said:

we may possibly buy 'new rice' next year meaning 'seed' rice

We did 5 Rai of new seed rice(6 x 25kg bags) this year to provide us good seed for the next two years for all our land. Unfortunately that specific piece of paddy never flooded and I foresee a maximum of 200kg per Rai there. Ouch!

 

All I want this year is all our crop to yield enough to cover my cost. Also I will not do the cover-crop on our land and no the Ruzi grass as we have no cows anymore and that halted the buying our own tractor too.

For the immediate future we will be keeping our eyes on the weather not to plant too early. Some of our rice were in the ground for more than 2 months before it got enough water and we could fertilize. We will also be judging quantities and timing of herbicide and the best mixes of fertilizer.

 

I bought a seeder to fit my little tractor and will be testing it sowing corn soon. I am really interested in sowing our rice on 5 Rai next year with the seeder and following the "organic" method. Although there is nothing "organic" about it as I have learned from a man in our village that does use this method. His rice plants looks virtually perfect compared to the rest of the village, and his paddy was only flooded recently by the provincial water authority.  He claims 3.5 ton for the past 2 years he applied the method on his 5 Rai. Looking at his plants, I can believe it. PM me for a picture of that land take 2 weeks ago.

 

I feel this might be a way to go, work less land but do it methodically and correctly to achieve higher yields. Using the current method for a perfect monsoon season might be the traditional lazy way, but it is time for drastic change if we want to farm rice profitable.