Growing Cassava In Thailand

[Khonwan]

Hi Steve and Mikki

I haven’t been reading ThaiVisa in a while (kind of bored of it) but a friend just informed me of the new posts in this thread; not sure why I was not automatically emailed as used to happen.

Yes, I have followed (and still do) the practise of cutting trees (preferably no older than 12 months) for new setts whereby the tubers have been allowed to re-sprout prior to harvest at 18 months (or so). I haven’t noticed any appreciable difference. Any difference would be more than offset by the savings of not having to buy stems (in the case of own use), or the income from the sale of these stems (which now fetch 4-5,000 baht per rai). Yes, these trees are cut in the same way as is done when harvesting tubers.

I agree that leaving one uncut branch would hasten the recovery of the tree but it certainly is not necessary.

Cutting the trees does have one disadvantage: it removes the weed-preventing canopy. I now use the herbicide flumioxazin (Sumisoya) immediately after planting setts, and immediately after cutting trees where the tubers will be left for another 6 months. 100g of this powder costs around 110 baht and covers 5 rai. I mix 66g per 200 litres water and use 600 litres solution per 10-rai. This works very effectively (as long as it does not rain).

The problems of timing and storage you guys have referred to become non-issues if you plant only half your fields around June in one year with 2-year-cycle trees and the other half the following year. You will then not require the trees that are cut around December for tuber harvest. You will use the 12-mth-old trees to supply your sett requirements around June. If you have a market around December for the sale of these trees, sell them. If not, leave them on the land to be ploughed in (thereby returning a considerable amount of N-P-K).

Planting on 2-yr-cycle basis (whereby tubers are harvested at around 18 months) allows you to rotate crops since you can then plant a 3-month crop of mungbeans, or whatever, around March. This is beneficial to your land...and may even increase your profits.

To reiterate: there is no problem in cutting trees at 12 months and leaving the roots in-situ for another 6 months.

Rgds

Khonwan

PS I've just (re-)enabled email notification of replies.

[anthoma]

Very interesting about the herbicide you mentioned Khonwan. Will this herbicide only prevent new grass to come up or will it also kill grass that already came up so you can use this instead of glyphosphat? Sounds very much cheaper than glyphosphat if it can do the same work.

[catwho]

For those interested the price for cassava is now 2 bt a kilo at 30% in shkui,50ks before korat ,but a lot of competion here,no one has mentioed what price in other areas,

cat

[Khonwan]

Hi Anthoma

Correction: 100g costs around 550 baht, which works out as 110 baht per rai.

It is a pre-emergence herbicide so is not designed to kill existing weeds. You are, of course, unlikely to have weeds at the time of planting (after ploughing, harrowing and ridge-raising); nor should you have many weeds, if any, under the thick canopy of 12-month cassava.

You will still need to spray paraquat towards the end of the second month of cultivation (or even the third month) but the weeds will be much smaller (in height) than the cassava, hence much easier to spray without damaging the young cassava.

Spray within first 3 days of planting; I spray day after planting.

Catwho, current price for my area (in Nakhon Sawan) is 1,720 baht.

Rgds

Khonwan

[catwho]

khonwan,

I am out of the cassava bizz now .after breaking about square,this year,but i thought others may be interested,

we turned to parsley,and choi soi,i think is the name,used alot in pad se u.and the mrs has turned to buyingt from the farmers the vegies and running them to korat markets for a quick profit.plus we opened up a small shop to sell fertilizer and other products.doing OK ,but the mrs learning the hard way at times ,,cause as we know u carnt tell em.

cat

[Mikki]

Hi Khonwan and thanks for your reply.

very informative as always and much appreciated. I will harvest some rai in march so i will learn how its done from a to z .And save the rest to december to show the diffrence to the family.

They have done greate this far in taking care of the fields. I will go to Thailand in late jauary and stay till the end of march

im gone use the stems from one field to plant the new field as according to your op.

Mikki ps the price on cassava in Ban Sap Phang was 1800bht last week

[billd766]

The price of cassava where I live near Klong Lan in the central region is 1,550 baht this week.

6 km away in Klong Lan it is 1,600 baht.

[somo]

Thanks for the info Khonwan

Just one more question. Is it the branches that have been cut off that regrow or does the original sett sprout new ones?

Sorry another one - Do you have a pic of the herbicide flumioxazin (Sumisoya) box/can/whatever so I can show it to my local supplier as I find that a lot easier than trying to explain.

Prices seem to vary hugely aroung the country. In my area they hit 2.20/kilo last week! The crazy thing is that a lot of villagers are harvesting 5/6 month old crops because of the price!

They can't replant now (although some do) and get a decent crop next year. I guess this is yet another exammple of Thai short term thinking combined with the pressure the poorer farmers are under to get some cash.

Unfortunately I don't have any to harvest right now

Steve

[Khonwan]

Hi Steve

The first picture is a scan of a box of Sumayosa. The box contains twelve 5g sachets. Each sachet is sufficient for one knapsack sprayer. The box costs around 380-420 baht. I use the 100g large sachets at 550 baht.

The mature tree results from an offshoot (or re-sprout) from the original sett; the remainder of the sett beyond the point of re-sprout dies. This can be seen in the 2nd to 4th pics show here. In the 4th pic, I’m touching the dead remainder of the original sett, which just crumbles in my hand.

The 5th pic shows 19-month cassava (ready to harvest but I’m holding off for another week, or so, as the price rises) that was cut to supply setts (the portion of stem that is re-planted) seven months ago. You can see where the original sett has died & crumbled above the point of regrowth, and the same again where the tree was cut at 12 months and re-sprouted. These trees have grown back to 2.5 – 3 metres in height.

Rgds

Khonwan

[somo]

Thanks Khonwan.

Great pics and now have it clear in my head what happens.

Having said that I am still having to argue with the family about cutting all the branches off or leaving one on each plant. They argue that cutting all the branches off leads to a reduction in further growth of the tubors. It seems I have to argue every step of the way to try and get things done the way I want. Slowly getting there though

Leaving the crop for 18 months it seems to me better to space the setts at least 80cm apart to give the tubors a bit of space to grow into. Would you agree? The reason I ask is that this is another area I am having to fight. The locals are very reluctant to plant them much more than 40cm apart as they can't seem to get over thinking that the more plants the better.

Once you do harvest it would be great if you could let us all know roughly the tonnage/rai you got from your 19 month crop and perhaps give us all a bit of encouragement

Steve

[Khonwan]

Hi Steve

I think you’re best idea is to compromise on both issues: do half of your fields your way (fully cutting the trees and increasing spacing to 50cm) and the other half their way (leaving one branch uncut and spacing at 40cm). I don’t believe it’s going to make a great difference either way but will prove a useful experiment….and everyone saves face.

I now use my Ford 6600 with a large ridger rather than a small tractor with corresponding small ridger. The smaller implement raised ridges at 95cm apart but the larger does so at 150cm. Due to this extra width, I space the setts at approximately 50cm, which gives me approximately 2,133 trees (fairly similar to a spacing of 95cm x 80cm). Closer spacing results in lower yield per tree (but same yield per rai!), additional cost if you have to purchase your stems, and a much better canopy to prevent weeds. But yes, physical space for the extra size of “two year” roots should be accommodated – my 150cm ridges allows for this.

Yes, I’ll report my harvested tonnage per rai from this “two year” crop. My current price per tonne is 1,820 baht but my purchaser has requested I wait a further two weeks in order to allow him to clear his corn trading (despite what anyone says in this forum, this is the time that the majority of corn in my district is harvested – my wife just sold hers yesterday; weather patterns are not exactly the same throughout all parts of Thailand), and in expectation that the price may rise to as much as 2,000 baht. Note: he does not measure the starch percentage, so the extra time promotes further weight (more money!) whilst I need not concern myself with the fact that the starch percentage reduces after 18 months.

Rgds

Khonwan

[somo]

Hi Khonwan.

Thanks again for the advice. I am learning all the time.

I should have another 30 rai of rented land to plant next year and will insist on a decent spacing.

Interesting what you say about the ridge spacing. I think I will go with the larger tractor in the future.

I have used both large and small but did notice that with deaper ploughing the weeds seem to take longer to emerge.

In my area there is a healthy competition between cassava buyers resulting in a current price of between 2.10 and 2.20B/kg

I just hope it is around that this time next year.

I assume you use your tractor to unearth the cassava when harvesting. I would be interested to know that as the tubors are larger after 18 months and grow deaper do you find that

many are cut through by the tool (not sure of the name of it) leaving some of it in the ground.

When we harvested this August we found quite a lot of tubors were still in the ground or hidden until we did the ploughing for replanting turned them up. The ground was damp then so I worry a little that this may be more of a problem unearthing larger tubors from dry ground.

To give you an idea of the scale of lost tubors some villagers got up early to pinch the remnants unearthed and got about 5 tons (from the 15 rai we harvested) which at todays prices is about 10,000 Bahts worth!

Be interested to know if you do a second collection of the tubors after ploughing or just leave them there for the nutritional value to the land.

Steve

PS Sorry to keep asking stuff but am trying to learn the best way of doing things.

[Khonwan]

Hi Steve

Yes, I’ve always used a tractor to dislodge the tubers. Having used both large and small tractors to do this job, I can confirm that the larger the tractor the easier the job…especially for “two year” cassava. You should be able to harvest nearly all the “two year” tubers using the larger tractor, though some large/deep tubers will still need to be dug out.

The job will also be much easier if the same tractor (or a tractor of similar axel width) is used for both ridging and harvesting to ensure that the harvesting tractor’s tyres stay in the furrows; the ridge widths tend to be closer when raised by a small tractor. One of the main reasons I bother to raise ridges is to make the job of harvesting the tubers much easier.

My wife and I normally follow the labourers to pick-up/dig-out tubers left behind but there will always be tubers we miss. An old aunt always returns to the field the following day to scavenge and is happy with her pickings, though gets nowhere near the amount scavenged after your harvest.

With the high price being paid for tubers, I presume your area was badly hit with mealy bugs. My area was not badly hit – my own farm only had only 4 trees affected (the affected branches were placed in a plastic bag, removed from the field, and burned). A number of village friends had quite bad infestations but followed my advice to spray a solution of dishwashing liquid to the underside of leaves and beat the problem. Prices are reported to be expected to rise to as much as 2,500 baht per tonne in consequence of the mealy-bug damage.

Questions are good – the best way to learn is to teach…I continue to learn.

I attach a photo taken a few minutes ago of my Rayong 9 planted 9th May 2009; the concrete post in the foreground is 1.50 metres high. Lovely tall straight branches (and my 1.50m ridge spacing) facilitates much easier weeding, fertilizing, and tree cutting.

Rgds

Khonwan

[somo]

Hi Khonwan.

Your cassava sure looks good. Mine planted in jUne aren,t nearly as tall. Having said that very little Rayong 9 is grown in my area.

It is all CMR, Kassetsart, Huaybong or Rayong 72 No reason I know of. Most of mine is Rayong 72 and this year got about 6 tons/rai after 14 months which I figure is ok seeing as it was my first try. THis year ploughed in loads of chicken manure before planting and the result was quite dramatic as regards the initial speed of growth.

The unearthed cassava appeared during the first ploughing after the initail unearthing/harvesting and as I won't be doing that straight away during the dry season I need to get the max out of the ground first time around.

I don't think we had any mealy bugs last year but to be honest I am not sure what they look like. This year we had some plants attacked with some sort of flying insect that lays its eggs in the head of the plant causing it to shrivel up.

We sprayed everything with some stuff our local supplier gave us which did the trick.

The tractor we use tends to be whatever is available at the time not having our own. At the moment I can't justify the expense as it would take more than 10 years to get it to pay for itself. I will invest in a second hand Tuk Tuk (about 70K Baht) soon to transpart the tubors + other things as that will pay for itself in about 2 years. The current rental charge for transporting tubors to the mill is 120B/ton which soon adds up.

Good luck with the harvesting

Steve

[Issangeorge]

Just drove by the Cassava plant 26 kms east of Kalasin on Hwy. 12, the price 2.10 almost double the 1.10 I got last May, if that price holds I will make a profit. Issangeorge

[somo]

I think it may well hold for much of the dry season but the test will come when the rains come and more farmers are harvesting/planting. From what I have heard the gov price of 1.70 only lasts till March so it will be interesting to see if they still underpin the price when it is needed. I think this is another advantage of Khonwans 18 month cycle as you end up harvesting after the rains when the price tends to be better anyway.

Having said that although the price in my area is also about 2.10 the mills always deduct 10% for the dirt so the price of 2.10 is really 1.89 Just another rip off but what can you do?

Steve

[Mikki]

Hi all....ive seen a cassava planting machine in Brasil and it cuts and plants the stems flat just under the soil. Not vertical as performed in Thailand. It also did the ridging at the same time,not so high though.

Anyone that maybe have tried this in Thailand?

Advantage= rapid planting and low on labour hours, saves one trip on the field

Disadvantage= Maybe the price on machine ???? Low ridging???? Growth percent of stems???? and more????

regards to you all Mikki

[sandyrow]

Price of Cassava in Ta Phraya is 2.17 at the moment, good price if it holds. Has anyone any experience of drying Cassava, you know chipping them and then spreading them on concrete. How much weight is lost in the process? and would it be economical to go down that root. Any advice much appreciated.

[Khonwan]

Hi sandyrow

Please read http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2641515

Since you are receiving a price of B2.17/kg fresh tubers, you would require a dried mansen price of B310/hap (1 hap = 60kg) to simply break even, without yet covering your additional fuel, labour and possible vehicle rental.

I am currently obtaining B2.05/kg for fresh tubers; dried mansen is being purchased for B282/hap. At this rate, uneducated farmers are (as usual) being taken advantage of by the processors and are actually losing money compared to what they would have obtained by simply selling the fresh tubers.

Just to make it crystal clear, 1,000 tonnes of tubers will provide around 420kg of mansen after 2-3 days of drying (involving additional labour, weather-related risk, tractor fuel, concrete-area rental [you’ll receive a lesser price if you dry on dirt!], and additional transportation). The indicated purchase price of dried mansen is per hap (60kg)…in my area anyway. I can sell 1,000kg of fresh tubers for B2,050 or 1 hap of dried mansen for B282. Since my original 1,000kg has dried out as 7 hap, I will now only get B1,974 (B282 x7hap) – obviously not a good deal for me since I’m losing B76 per every tonne of fresh tubers before I even try to account for my additional costs.

So, unless you are getting WAY more than 1/7th of the fresh tuber price for your 60kg of mansen, sell only fresh tubers.

This holds true too for livestock farmers who grow cassava for their bovines or swine. The photograph I posted in my O.P. showed me drying my cassava for feed to my cattle – that was the last time I did this: it became clear to me that I should sell my tubers and buy dried mansen from other farmers (at less than market price since I was transporting the mansen myself) – much cheaper. Perhaps Maizefarmer will tell us why he apparently still feeds his cattle with his own dried cassava.

Rgds

Khonwan

[Khonwan]

I’m currently harvesting 10.15 tonnes per rai from my 20-month Huay Bong 60 cassava; currently obtaining a price of B2,050 per tonne – no reduction for dirt as my soil percentage is deemed to be reasonable.

The attached photo shows a 15kg specimen leaning against the rear wheel of my tractor.

At a yield of 10 tonnes per rai, I’m making a profit of B15,774 per rai over the two-year cycle (sales of B20,500 less costs of B4,726), or B7,887 per rai per year (revised spreadsheet available upon request). Planting of mungbean three months before my next cassava planting cycle may raise my financial return to around B10,000 per rai per year.

Rgds

Khonwan

[sandyrow]

Hi Khonwan, Thanks for the quick response. I think you are right about the wisdom of drying. Looks to me that you will need about 2 and a half to 3 tons of fresh roots to get 1 tons of dried, with a price of 5.15 for dried chips at the moment drying would be a loss making enterprise. What I cannot figure out though is why so many small factories (middlemen) are drying cassava at the moment. Am I missing something? Surly they cannot have invested so much in plant and equipment if they could have made a better profit from selling the fresh root

[Khonwan]

Sandyrow, I don’t know what price these middlemen (the cassava driers) get when selling to the factories – there are no factories close enough to me for me to consider selling direct – but they obviously get a worthwhile return since I’ve yet to see a poor middleman.

Rgds

Khonwan

[thaidrav]

How many years can you grow Cassava in the same ground? Has anyone a rotation plan?

[Khonwan]

Hi thaidrav

For many years, I previously rotated cassava, mungbeans, and maize where cassava was grown for 11 months, followed immediately by mungbeans for 3 months, then maize. This rotation cycle is over two years. I now rotate only cassava and mungbeans – mungbeans for 3 months followed by cassava for approximately 18 months.

Ever-reducing annual yields of cassava experienced by many Thai farmers are usually the result of insufficient fertiliser input. Unlike other major crops, unfertilised cassava will normally still produce good yields in the first 2-3 years, leading many uneducated farmers to conclude that fertiliser is not that necessary for cassava; continuation of this practice is certainly not sustainable. Cassava uptake of nutrition is actually less than other major crops such as maize but you do need to protect against soil erosion caused by rain damage on slopes (due to slow canopy growth); lack of sufficient fertilisation exacerbates this problem.

Rgds

Khonwan

[somo]

Hi Khonwan.

Congrats on your harvest - great news for all of us.

Just got back from Chayapoum and there the price is 2.30 less 10% for dirt so effectively about the same as you got.

The shocking thing though is that setts are now selling (for delivery around May with the first rains) for up to 8,000 Baht/rai!!!

This is because many farmers have harvested now to get the price but will have no fresh setts to plant once the rains come. It is yet another example of the viscous circle the poor farmers follow.

They need cash so harvest then have all future profits vastly reduced by the additional costs.

I did meet one very smart farmer who follows the same sort of 18-20 month plan you recomend and he gets 15-20 tons/rai!! I have had this confirmed from the village poo yai. He does however spend a lot on fertilizer applying it 5 times over the cycle as well as using chicken manure ploughed in before planting.

It was nice to find someone prepared to invest in their land and have the patience to wait for it to bear fruit. He plants as soon as the first rain starts so the crop has two full rainy seasons to benefit from.

On a different subject it appears the goverment is giving free money handouts to farmers. I've heard talk of this for a while but dismissed it but now it is actually happening. MIL has been attending a few meetings and now she has been told 12,000 baht will be landing in her farmers bank account on 16th Jan. All the other villagers have been allocated various amounts depending on the amount of land they are farming and everyone insists it is free money but I am still sceptical so will put it aside expecting to pay it back some time in the future.

Apparently it is something to do with the price guarantee scheme but don't have any idea of the details.

If anyone can shed any light that would be nice.

Steve

[JR Texas]

I need to know the normal price cycle for mansaparang in Chantaburi.

I would also like to know the current price per ton.

I think the price is usually highest around December and January, then goes down.

Not sure when the rains begin in January. Thanks in advance.

[pete_r]

Hi Khonwan, Thanks for the quick response. I think you are right about the wisdom of drying. Looks to me that you will need about 2 and a half to 3 tons of fresh roots to get 1 tons of dried, with a price of 5.15 for dried chips at the moment drying would be a loss making enterprise. What I cannot figure out though is why so many small factories (middlemen) are drying cassava at the moment. Am I missing something? Surly they cannot have invested so much in plant and equipment if they could have made a better profit from selling the fresh root

I can think of two possibilities, but wouldn't know if they are right or not: One could be to store the chips and sell them later when the supply of fresh roots is lower and prices higher. Another could be for export to China, where demand is high and prices for cassava chips may be higher than in Thailand.

[Tejas]

Some of us want to know about the price of mansaparang in Chantaburi province?

Is the high price normally in December, January, and Febrary?

After that, the rains come and the price falls?

Put differently, when it the best price to harvest? Now?

Thanks.

[somo]

Hi.

In Chayapoum province it is about 2.30/kilo at the moment.

Who knows if it is the best time to harvest but if you do so now then the stems you cut will die before the rains come so you must have an alternative supply then. Stems are costing a lot at the moment for delivery in May when the rain comes - up to 8000 Baht/rai uncut which would be enough to plant about 3 rai so half your profit for the next harvest would be gone before you start if you hsd to buy them in.

Steve

[Tejas]

Hi.

In Chayapoum province it is about 2.30/kilo at the moment.

Who knows if it is the best time to harvest but if you do so now then the stems you cut will die before the rains come so you must have an alternative supply then. Stems are costing a lot at the moment for delivery in May when the rain comes - up to 8000 Baht/rai uncut which would be enough to plant about 3 rai so half your profit for the next harvest would be gone before you start if you hsd to buy them in.

Steve

Thank you. I am getting this information for another person who does not live in Chantaburi Province, so that is why I am asking.

The price sounds good now. I think I need to think more about ton mai. I had no idea you might get 8000 baht per rai for the ton mai.

You are in Chayapun Province. You said the rains come in May.

I really would like to know when the rains come in Chantaburi Province. Same time?

This is critical, I think, because it is my understanding that after the rains come the price you get for mansaparang declines dramatically.

So, in many cases, the best option is to harvest before the rains come when the price is high.