i want to plant rubber on 50 rai, 30 rai of it is quite low and floods during the rice season in surin. is there a way round this,any ideas ?. my wife suggested topping up the soil on it maybe about 2ft and then making raised ridges on top of that and plant on this.i think this would be just to much expense to justify the returns maybe.she has a fish pond 80ft by40ft which has natural rising spring water and she suggested opening a few more holes and use the soil to top up on the low ground,still i think it wouldnt cover to much.she also suggested running concrete pipes accross the ground to allow the heavy run of water to escape straight through to other peoples ground. any ideas welcome.

Dont know how your land lays but I converted rice land to lamyai about 10 year ago. The land (12) rai sloped in a general west to east drop. I used a backhole to dig a trench along the south and east side of the property so excess water was draind via trench to north east corner, where it is dumped into creek. Works good until creek floods (happened 3 times in 10 year) but never for more than 2 or 3 day. I agree fill would be very expensive for return of investment (this has been discussed on other topics). If flooding is caused by lack of drainage of land, no place for runoff water to go, or other reasons, you may have to used a combination of remedies to solve the water problem.

In the rainy season the land around here gets flooded regularly. Quite a bit of that land has rubber on, and I don't see evidence of extra drainage installed.

We bought 25 rai of rice paddies and after one season of share cropping, I decided the rice business was not very prifitable. So I hired a trac-hoe to build raised rows..They dug up 1 meter of dirt and put it in a row. So the result was a 2 meter difference from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the row...And it has worked great...This was done 3 years ago and the trees are really doing well...The fact that we turned the rice soil over seems to have brought a lot of the fertilizer that built up over the years to the top..

We collect the water during the rainy season in the ditches and they hold the water for a long time into the dry season giving the trees extra growth. This year the rainwater almost got to the top of the ditches..

Stoneman

stoneman u have the solution mate,thats the answer.cheers

Tapping is mainly done at night ,I can see them now, slipping down a two metre ditch into a pool of water every time they turn around.

Stoneman,

What did it cost for the backhoe work? How many linear metres of berm per rai does this come to?

Chownah

There are rubber trees especially for wet areas, ask around. There is a difference and if water puddles during the rainy season around the regular tree base there is a good chance of it failing. Rubber trees from seedlings to about 3 years old need TL.

Tapping is mainly done at night ,I can see them now, slipping down a two metre ditch into a pool of water every time they turn around.

The trees are now 2 1/2 years old and there is solid bermuda grass on all the berms...Not at all muddy, even in the rainy season...

Stoneman,

What did it cost for the backhoe work? How many linear metres of berm per rai does this come to?

Chownah

Chownah...

It took him 4 days and I paid 45,000 baht...Each "row" is approximately 140 meters long and there were 35 rows...

It has really worked well and we have had many locals stop by and look at it...It is a great way to convert rice paddies to rubber trees...

Stoneman

stoneman,

If I may ask, where did you get the bermuda grass? I will need to be seeding some banks next month.

stoneman,

If I may ask, where did you get the bermuda grass? I will need to be seeding some banks next month.

I really do not know where it came from...I am calling it bermuda grass because it looks exactly the same as the bermuda grass that we bale for cattle hay in Oklahoma...And it has spread all over the berms...It seems to spread faster when we keep it mowed down..And it keeps the weeds out

Stoneman

Hi,

Thanks, I have that same plant here, I was hoping to find a source for Bermuda, I have seen it in some golf course fairways here but can find a source.

stoneman how many trees did u get planted to the rai?

Stoneman,

What did it cost for the backhoe work? How many linear metres of berm per rai does this come to?

Chownah

It costs between 850 - 1000 baht per hour and yes, you have to supervise this work.

stoneman how many trees did u get planted to the rai?

It works out to 76 trees / ry planted at 7x4 mtr. apart

7x3 will be just fine.