Advice on what to grow on 8 rai of land in Buriram area

[joedee]

Hi,

I have read hundreds of posts here over the years and find them tremendously informative.

But mostly I read the difficulties of anything farming/growing related.. which would probably be the 

same the world over... Farming/growing is tough unless you get it just right (and the climate is with you)..

 

I tried cows a few years back and came out unscathed but was lucky... have left things dormant for past 2 years.

Will be back to Thailand in June and have the time and energy to try and get something new happening on 8 Rai.

 

Firstly, I have some local family help living on the 8 rai,,,, very supportive, but they do need guidance, motivation and supervision along 

with funds to commence... I have a bore well and solar pump for irrigation. I am prepared to add another if necessary.

 

For personal use they grow a variety items. Rice on 2 rai, plus a little chilli, bananas, guava, coconuts..

The guavas seem to do best and they have a few spare to sell at 20bht a kilo to locals.. but it is all very random .

 

I would like some experienced suggestions on what may be best to grow (rice excluded) on the 8 rai of land.

Preferably I would like them to grow for retail sale. Organic if possible. 

Fruit or vegetables seem to be the option, but I would also like to consider selling garden plants. Potted or otherwise.

Not looking to make a fortune, just hoping that their small family can use the land to live off.

 

I would love to grow berries of any description but I think it is just too hot and dry in Buriram area.

I was hoping Kiwis may work or possibly Avocado's but they sound difficult..

Whatever they can grow I will assist them with retail marketing. No middle man just direct to end user. Probably roadside or local market.

 

Any of your experienced suggestions would be most welcome.

 

Thank you

 

Joe

 

 

[rattlesnake]

Durian always sells well and is more profitable, the Thais can't resist it. That's what I would go for.

[FruitPudding]

31 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

Durian always sells well and is more profitable, the Thais can't resist it. That's what I would go for.

 

In Isaan? Never saw a single tree up there. Might be hard. Other places are known for durian. 

 

Cashew nut trees grow easy in Isaan. Good price for selling too. Mango, papaya, jack fruit, coconut, tamarind, mulberry. 

 

All these are low/no maintenance. Easy in Isaan. 

 

 

[proton]

Our friend grows organic dates up there, they sell for a good price

[rattlesnake]

19 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

 

In Isaan? Never saw a single tree up there. Might be hard. Other places are known for durian. 

 

Cashew nut trees grow easy in Isaan. Good price for selling too. Mango, papaya, jack fruit, coconut, tamarind, mulberry. 

 

All these are low/no maintenance. Easy in Isaan. 

 

 

 

That's why I would personally go down that avenue, even if harder in the beginning. Thai weather is Thai weather, it can't be that different from one province to another. How does one launch a successful business? Be sure people will buy the product and be sure nobody else is doing it in the vicinity.

[joedee]

12 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

Durian always sells well and is more profitable, the Thais can't resist it. That's what I would go for.

 

Yes, I would love to grow Durian but I understand it needs a very specific environment to grow in.

Unless you give it the specific environment it will 99.9% fail.. and Buriram isn't the climate or the soil to try.

Also it takes many many years to get a tree producing if you can get it right...

Profitability and demand is great but chances of success are very low in Buriram area.

 

Thank you for the suggestion anyway.

 

Joe

[joedee]

12 hours ago, FruitPudding said:

 

In Isaan? Never saw a single tree up there. Might be hard. Other places are known for durian. 

 

Cashew nut trees grow easy in Isaan. Good price for selling too. Mango, papaya, jack fruit, coconut, tamarind, mulberry. 

 

All these are low/no maintenance. Easy in Isaan. 

 

 

Thank you for the suggestions. I will certainly check out cashew nut trees.. 

 

Mango, Papaya, Coconut, are easy to grow but the selling price is very low.

I will probably have several of these trees but for personal use.

 

regards

 

Joe

[joedee]

12 hours ago, proton said:

Our friend grows organic dates up there, they sell for a good price

Thank you for the suggestion..

I will research this to understand better.

 

Regards

 

Joe

[No Forwarding Address]

12 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

 

That's why I would personally go down that avenue, even if harder in the beginning. Thai weather is Thai weather, it can't be that different from one province to another. How does one launch a successful business? Be sure people will buy the product and be sure nobody else is doing it in the vicinity.

It's the soil, a new Durian tree may not produce fruit for the first 3 years,maybe longer.  Have a look around and see if anyone is growing Cacao…..takes a couple years, but very profitable…and once growing, very low maintenance...…..it's all in the Soil Mate.

 

Durian trees are abound in the South of Thailand, and Malaysia……..

[FruitPudding]

12 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

 

That's why I would personally go down that avenue, even if harder in the beginning. Thai weather is Thai weather, it can't be that different from one province to another. How does one launch a successful business? Be sure people will buy the product and be sure nobody else is doing it in the vicinity.

 

The south of Thailand has 2 seasons: hot and rainy.

 

The rest of Thailand has 3 seasons: hot, rainy, and cool. 

 

It can be very different. Isaan is very dry, quite cool a lot of the year compared to the south.

 

The soil is also like clay.

[rattlesnake]

2 hours ago, No Forwarding Address said:

It's the soil, a new Durian tree may not produce fruit for the first 3 years,maybe longer.  Have a look around and see if anyone is growing Cacao…..takes a couple years, but very profitable…and once growing, very low maintenance...…..it's all in the Soil Mate.

 

Durian trees are abound in the South of Thailand, and Malaysia……..

 

Thanks for the clarificaions.

[rattlesnake]

2 hours ago, FruitPudding said:

 

The south of Thailand has 2 seasons: hot and rainy.

 

The rest of Thailand has 3 seasons: hot, rainy, and cool. 

 

It can be very different. Isaan is very dry, quite cool a lot of the year compared to the south.

 

The soil is also like clay.

 

Got it, thanks for clarifying that.

[kickstart]

Cashew nuts it takes 3 years from planting to the first crop, but up to 8 years before they become an economical crop, then you have to find your market, it would have to be middleman, buying the whole crop, then you are at his mercy for prices, sell them from a back of a pickup somewhere would not work.

Most fruit trees take a few years to produce a crop, limes can be just a few years, but very often most farms/gardens have some lime trees for the they own use, we are hardly ever short of limes, look at growing them in concrete rings, that works, but again, is they a market where you can make some money.

Ok, my main field, go for cattle again, the market is low at the moment, cattle would be cheap,  buy some Thai Native X cattle, put an Angus or Beefmaster bull on them, sell the progeny, use you land to grow some grass, not Nappier 

[cooked]

So all the armchair farmers are out en masse. "Isaan" is a huge area, apart from that, even in our village, there are differences between one area and the next. This side of the road we can't grow sugarcane or members of the nightshade family (tomatoes, chili, etc), 10 minutes walk away you can. So no advice from me apart from the post above advising the poster to look around at what is actually growing locally.  I too was going to revolutionise farming when I arrived here and now realise why it is barely a subsistence occupation for most.

The only thing I managed to get done was with the cattle, making sure they were properly fed and immunised. (costs money!) Even then, foot and mouth, various other problems made it not very profitable. So Livestock? Not for us anyway, even though we do still have 6 cows + a magnificent bull.

 

 

[impulse]

Feral dogs must be profitable, because I see so many of them being raised all over LOS.

 

[novacova]

Put in some ponds and grow tilapia. Sell sun dried and/or sell fresh. 

[fondue zoo]

I like topics about growing food.

 

"Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years."

 

 

25 minutes ago, cooked said:

I too was going to revolutionise farming when I arrived here

 

Yeah, I had this view too when I first arrived, about too many thing in fact heh. Silly me.

 

[GreasyFingers]

19 hours ago, No Forwarding Address said:

It's the soil, a new Durian tree may not produce fruit for the first 3 years,maybe longer.  Have a look around and see if anyone is growing Cacao…..takes a couple years, but very profitable…and once growing, very low maintenance...…..it's all in the Soil Mate.

 

Durian trees are abound in the South of Thailand, and Malaysia……..

Also Uttaradit in the central north.

[JJ-Thailand]

All I know is that avocado oil is the healthiest oil for frying, but I don't know where to buy it.
 

[unblocktheplanet]

12 minutes ago, JJ-Thailand said:

All I know is that avocado oil is the healthiest oil for frying, but I don't know where to buy it.
 

Goes rancid really quickly. Suggest olive oil for longevity. Deep frying & bad oils (soy, palm) are really bad.

[kickstart]

8 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Goes rancid really quickly. Suggest olive oil for longevity. Deep frying & bad oils (soy, palm) are really bad.

For healthy cooking oils Rice Bran oil is good.

[Grafting Ken]

Durian in Kalasin.

Planted 1km from the side of the Lam Pau Dam. From the Dam to around 1.5 km away there’s a good soil. Over that range heavy clay. Plots are nice sloping and cheap as chips at the moment. We bought up 2 plots for the finger lime, looking at 2 more for other projects.

Durian Will certainly grow if you find the right plot. Anything that floods forget it.

 

[fondue zoo]

If you have the time, 5 years on average, will cacao trees grow here?

 

[CallumWK]

1 hour ago, fondue zoo said:

If you have the time, 5 years on average, will cacao trees grow here?

 

 

I know a foreigner in Buriram who has a cacao plantage, and sells his cacao to Europe

[Ben Zioner]

On 3/15/2025 at 12:25 AM, proton said:

Our friend grows organic dates up there, they sell for a good price

Yep, I have a friend who makes millions with "organic dates", in  Soi 24.