Growing Cassava In Thailand

[loong]

Hi,

What hormone trade do you take ? and how many root do you have ?

Thanks

Who are you asking?

What is hormone trade?

How many root??

Do you mean how many plants per rai or what?

[fish58]

I look on few message, you use hormone when you plant manioc at beginning

I would like to know what is this hormone and with that how many root do you have whith one manioc ?

Sometime, I see 15 root or 20 root for 10- 15 kg each

Could you explain to me

Thanks

[BSJ]

I will have to read the entire thread I think to get a handle on it!

Now we are talking hormones! I imagine that would be some sort of gel root starter for use in the plant nursery???

[fish58]

Exactly, starter for to have more root

I read, it's possible to have 15 or 20 root

Could you confirm, what is the product?

Me, I use liquid algae, but no work very well

Thanks

[BSJ]

Exactly, starter for to have more root

I read, it's possible to have 15 or 20 root

Could you confirm, what is the product?

Me, I use liquid algae, but no work very well

Thanks

I am not farming yet. Try your local farm supply place.

[Canada]

Seems this thread has gone stagnant for quite a while now. I am curious about the mealy bug. I'v just finished reading most of the thread, but am unclear on whether or not the bug is gone or manageable now. I read the part about applying chemicals when planting and also the predator wasps...

What are prices like these days? Thanks.

[Skint]

Prices vary from 1800-2000 a ton your local village will have a middleman if not a neighboring one will they pop signs out off the roads with the price

[somo]

A few people have expressed an interest in cassava recently and as it is time to plant right now thought it may be helpful to detail what I do in a step by step format.
This is only meant as a guide but it works for me. At the end of the day you have to experiment a bit and see what works for you.
Talk to the locals but filter the info and make up your own mind. I find Thais tend to agree with anything you say so it can be a tricky process getting the right advice.
Firstly if you don't have buyers local to you then forget it. Tramsport costs would eat too much profit.

Also take the time to review this thread from the start. It won't be a waste of time as khonwan is very successful.

OK. Please note that costs below may vary year to year and area to area so are intended as a guide only.

I am assuming you have some clear land to start with.
First I spread the fertilizer I want.
Next Plough once then ridge
Plant with about 70cm spacing
Spray with sumisoya pre emergence herbicide.
Pray for rain.
Weed when necessary
Watch it grow
Decide when to harvest.

Simple really

Bit more detail.
Re fertilizer. I apply this before ploughing as I want it well mixed in. I have found that if you just throw it around 1/2 ends up in the gullies and the rest is washed there by heavy rain.
I use a mix of 50 kilo bag of 46-0-0 and 25kilo of 0-0-60 as it works out a lot cheaper than buying the ready mixed stuff. You end up paying about 760Baht at current prices for 50kg of 30-0-20 which is about 200 cheaper than 15-7-15 and stronger. You don't need to worry too much about phosphorus (P) as cassava consumes very little of it.
You can substitute the urea with a load of chicken shit if available as I am told it has other goodies in it but in fact is mostly nitrogen. It apparently is not so easily washed through by heavy rains.
I have used it before and intend to use it instead of urea once every 4 years as it seems to thin the soil out a bit as well.
I spend about 1200 Baht/rai on this round of fertilizing including labour to spread it.

Tractor work
I pay 300 Baht/rai so this adds 600B/rai
(RT of costs 1,800)

Planting.
I assume you have access to some stems if not you may have to buy some in the first time.
The Thais seem convinced that the more stems (also called setts) you can fit in one rai the better but just not true.
If you plant too closely you end up with tall thin plants fighting each other for sunlight and nutrients and small tubors.
You may have to have a few arguments before getting your way but nothing a beer after work doesn't smooth over.
Another thing to watch for is that the setts are healthy. If in any doubt soak them in anti bug chemis before planting.Your local shop will have them if you are in cassava country.
If you are using fresh ones from your own land then no need. Make sure that thin ones are discarded. Many villagers plant anything then wonder why the plants are week.

Cost 500B/rai includes cutting stems from 1 year old stock.

(RT 2,300)

sumisoya.
There may be others around but have found this one works well. It is very important to apply in a fine spray as soon as possible after ridging. It will save you money in the long run.
If you don't apply it you run the risk of weeds growing taller than the cassava in the early days which makes it impossible to clear easily.
It comes in satchets. 1 satchet to a 20 litre back pack so easy to use.Cost about 100B/rai+ 100 labour = 200
NOTE 100B/rai labour is very generous but this has become a perk for the gang leader and cannot change it now. You should be able to get this cost down to 50B/rai
Cost 200 (RT 2,500)

Rain.
This is normally free but the wife usually makes offerings to spirits that watch over the hills.Cheap though reckon about 5B/rai

Weeds
The sumisoya should protect you from weeds for about 6 - 8 weeks but once they do start to appear get on top of them or they will ruin your crop.
The first time we spray we use a mix of Paraquat and more sumisoya. Make sure the sprayers spray not just the weeds but all the land.This wastes some paraquat ut no point in mixing insumisoya if you don;t cover the ground.
Also be sure they do not use too fine a spray as this can drift in a breeze and kill some of your cassiva or make it very sickly.
The number of times you need to spray in a year will be 2 or 3. It costs me all in 600B/rai (labour + chemicals + transporting water) so allow 1,800B for the year.
Cost 1,800 (RT 4,300)

That's about it for the first year except for additional fertilizer for which I normall allow about 800B/rai. using a straight mix of equal quantities of the ones mentioned above about 3 months after planting.
However last year I left this out and instead sprayed the leaves with micronutrients + a little urea with good results. Doing this twice costs about 500B/rai.
(RT 4,800).

That's it for the year and if you wish you can harvest say around Songkran. You should safely produce around 4-5 tons/rai assuming there is nothing wrong with your soil and you have controlled the weeds.
Profit will all depend on the price. Dec /early Jan seem to consistently be good times to sell.
2.80-3.00/kg is normal around then.
Less 10% for earth content (all the buyers round here charge that)
Less 50 satang harvesting cost gives a net price of about 2.10/kg
The 50satang/kg covers everything from the tractor to unearth the tubors, workers and tuk tuk to transport to the buyer.
Your harvest will be worth between 8,400 and 10,500 with a profit of 4,000-6,000,rai
An extra ton is worth 2000 baht so don't skimp on the weeding and fertilizer.

One Problem.
If you harvest in say December you then have at least 4 months to wait before replanting.
The setts you have will not last that long so you may be faced with buying more in and they can some years be expensive.
I no longer have this problem because we have good relationships with others here and exchange setts for free.

The 2 year cycle.
If you have read previous post here this is not news but it works well.
Say you have planted 10 rai then harvest 5 rai when you want to take advantage of prices and cut setts from the remaining 5 in May to replant.
Leave this 5 rai in the land for another 6 or 7 months The plants soon recover from cropping) This 2nd year all you need do is a bit more weeding but not a lot as the plants are strong enough.
+ add some more fertilizer. This extra time will cost only a little extra but increase your crop to around 8 tons or more. You can also choose when you want to harvest and get the best price knowing that you will have setts available from your other 5 rai when you need them.
Using this method pretty much guarantees a healthy annual income and takes out a lot of the worries like lack of rain, price fluctuations, sett availability and even pests and deseases as you can just crop everything and wait for it to regrow.
Less worries and more money

NOTE. If you have irrigation available then no need for 2 years as watering in the dry months will double your crop at least. I have no idea of costs of irrigation but would like to here from anyone that does.It may well be economical to set it up.

If you are new to it then I stress that it is the first 3months that are vital. Get that right and things will take care of themselves for the next year or so.
It may also take a while to build relationships with people who work for you and do deals on costs etc. My costs have reduced a lot since I first started despite daily labour rates going up.
I think it a good idea to start small then you only have small problems and you can learn how to deal with them then expand.

Re above - meally bug has dissappeared so no problems there.

current price here is 2.25. Dec/Jan it hit 3.10 so having the flexibility to harvest when you want is vital to good profits.

[JungleBiker]

Thanks Somo for taking the time to share all that great down-to-earth info. I just posted asking for prices of contractors and noticed you mentioned 300 baht/rai for "tractor work"; is that hiring someone to do it for you and what do they actually do (plough or ... )?

Also, what is the name of the chemical or active ingredient in the sumisoya (that sounds like the trade name)?

I was going to ask what is RT but now I guess it means Running Total.

Thanks.

JB.

[Issangeorge]

Semo, have you ever tried planting in the troughs? I was taken out to a cassava farm by the assistant to the President at the university in Kalasin and he explained to me how to plant. He said you use 30cm stems with at least 20cm in the ground with at least 10 nodules in the ground. He said you space them 80cm apart and the rows 1metre apart. He said to plant between the rows (in the troughs) and spread a hand full or so of fertilizer around each stem. He said that this method will give around 10,000kg/rai and more if you have dry season water. The field he took me to, was not planted this way. It was planted with short stems, about 70cm spacing and on the crest of the trough, just the same as my wife plants and everybody else around me. He said it was wrong, and so easy to change, just have a longer stem, plant 10cm further apart and in the troughs. He said the water and all the good nutrients go to the troughs so put the stems there to take advantage. He said that the tubers come from the nodules so put more in the ground, and he said the same as you, don't crowd the plants. I have tried to get my wife to plant this way, but has he told me agra-culture has two words and it's the culture word that makes things hard. Everybody says but this is the way everybody else does it.

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[loong]

Semo, have you ever tried planting in the troughs? I was taken out to a cassava farm by the assistant to the President at the university in Kalasin and he explained to me how to plant. He said you use 30cm stems with at least 20cm in the ground with at least 10 nodules in the ground. He said you space them 80cm apart and the rows 1metre apart. He said to plant between the rows (in the troughs) and spread a hand full or so of fertilizer around each stem. He said that this method will give around 10,000kg/rai and more if you have dry season water. The field he took me to, was not planted this way. It was planted with short stems, about 70cm spacing and on the crest of the trough, just the same as my wife plants and everybody else around me. He said it was wrong, and so easy to change, just have a longer stem, plant 10cm further apart and in the troughs. He said the water and all the good nutrients go to the troughs so put the stems there to take advantage. He said that the tubers come from the nodules so put more in the ground, and he said the same as you, don't crowd the plants. I have tried to get my wife to plant this way, but has he told me agra-culture has two words and it's the culture word that makes things hard. Everybody says but this is the way everybody else does it.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Although that sort of makes sense, I imagine that there would be problems in extended wet periods with the tubers rotting. Also, it would make harvesting more difficult.

[somo]

Thanks Somo for taking the time to share all that great down-to-earth info. I just posted asking for prices of contractors and noticed you mentioned 300 baht/rai for "tractor work"; is that hiring someone to do it for you and what do they actually do (plough or ... )?

Also, what is the name of the chemical or active ingredient in the sumisoya (that sounds like the trade name)?

I was going to ask what is RT but now I guess it means Running Total.

Thanks.

JB.

Yeah, by tractor work I mean the total cost of ploughing/tilling whatever/rai. Includes the guy's wages to drive it and fuel etc but not the optional 1/2 bottle of lao khoa at the end of the day

It is why I have never considered buying a tractor.

Re sumisoya chemi is Flumioxazin

more info here http://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/english/newsreleases/docs/20110526e.pdf

The Japanese tend to produce good stuff. I try to buy only imported stuff (not Chinese) as I don't trust the localproduce as much. Same with fertilizer - the norwegian stuff has a good reputation.

[somo]

Semo, have you ever tried planting in the troughs? I was taken out to a cassava farm by the assistant to the President at the university in Kalasin and he explained to me how to plant. He said you use 30cm stems with at least 20cm in the ground with at least 10 nodules in the ground. He said you space them 80cm apart and the rows 1metre apart. He said to plant between the rows (in the troughs) and spread a hand full or so of fertilizer around each stem. He said that this method will give around 10,000kg/rai and more if you have dry season water. The field he took me to, was not planted this way. It was planted with short stems, about 70cm spacing and on the crest of the trough, just the same as my wife plants and everybody else around me. He said it was wrong, and so easy to change, just have a longer stem, plant 10cm further apart and in the troughs. He said the water and all the good nutrients go to the troughs so put the stems there to take advantage. He said that the tubers come from the nodules so put more in the ground, and he said the same as you, don't crowd the plants. I have tried to get my wife to plant this way, but has he told me agra-culture has two words and it's the culture word that makes things hard. Everybody says but this is the way everybody else does it.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Although that sort of makes sense, I imagine that there would be problems in extended wet periods with the tubers rotting. Also, it would make harvesting more difficult.

May be wrong but sounds like the guy is a bit eccentric to put it kindly. Part of the reason for ploughing is to loosen the earth but the gullies are hard ground and as loong says prone to flooding. Do agree re the nutrients which is why I apply them first. If you stand behind a tractor ridging you can see that it is effectively pilling all the available earth up with all the fertilizer in it. In between is earth it couldn't reach and compacted. I doubt you could easily push a sett 20cm into it anyway.

The tubors do not grow out of the nodules or eyes as the Thais call them. It doesn't seem to make too much difference how deeply the sets are planted except that giving them a bit of depth anchors them better against strong winds etc.

[Jotham79]

I have a few questions.

Is it better to lay your rows down the slope or across it? My gut says across, but drainage could be a problem in a few spots.

Different fertilizers have different solubility rates. If you are doing greens you want one fast to dissolve and corn you want it to dissolve slower. Is this a factor and if so is there a particular brand you use.

I can hit every square inch of my farm with sprinklers so would there be an ideal time to plant better that now?

[Issangeorge]

Semo, have you ever tried planting in the troughs? I was taken out to a cassava farm by the assistant to the President at the university in Kalasin and he explained to me how to plant. He said you use 30cm stems with at least 20cm in the ground with at least 10 nodules in the ground. He said you space them 80cm apart and the rows 1metre apart. He said to plant between the rows (in the troughs) and spread a hand full or so of fertilizer around each stem. He said that this method will give around 10,000kg/rai and more if you have dry season water. The field he took me to, was not planted this way. It was planted with short stems, about 70cm spacing and on the crest of the trough, just the same as my wife plants and everybody else around me. He said it was wrong, and so easy to change, just have a longer stem, plant 10cm further apart and in the troughs. He said the water and all the good nutrients go to the troughs so put the stems there to take advantage. He said that the tubers come from the nodules so put more in the ground, and he said the same as you, don't crowd the plants. I have tried to get my wife to plant this way, but has he told me agra-culture has two words and it's the culture word that makes things hard. Everybody says but this is the way everybody else does it.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Although that sort of makes sense, I imagine that there would be problems in extended wet periods with the tubers rotting. Also, it would make harvesting more difficult.

May be wrong but sounds like the guy is a bit eccentric to put it kindly. Part of the reason for ploughing is to loosen the earth but the gullies are hard ground and as loong says prone to flooding. Do agree re the nutrients which is why I apply them first. If you stand behind a tractor ridging you can see that it is effectively pilling all the available earth up with all the fertilizer in it. In between is earth it couldn't reach and compacted. I doubt you could easily push a sett 20cm into it anyway.

The tubors do not grow out of the nodules or eyes as the Thais call them. It doesn't seem to make too much difference how deeply the sets are planted except that giving them a bit of depth anchors them better against strong winds etc.

I know nothing about farming, that's why I went to see this guy. The University has an experimental farm and does lots of studies on proper growing techniques. I have never really seen water acclimating in the troughs, I will pay more attention this rainy season. As for the planting, it is hard to push 20cm into the trough, I would think the soil would have to be plowed deeper. As far as harvesting, I can't really see it would make much difference, other than you would be pulling out more tubers.

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[somo]

I think the answer to this seamingly crazy idea is that it is an "experimental farm"

Maybe they are thinking outside the box and trying things out but it not something I have ever come across.

Cassava is a very strong plant and will grow almost anywhere. Even if you just throw the setts around rather than plant them they will grow

on unploughed land it is just not ideal.

One thing for sure he wrong about is that the tubors grow out of the nodules which makes me think he doesn't know what he is talking about re where to plant.

[somo]

I have a few questions.

Is it better to lay your rows down the slope or across it? My gut says across, but drainage could be a problem in a few spots.

Different fertilizers have different solubility rates. If you are doing greens you want one fast to dissolve and corn you want it to dissolve slower. Is this a factor and if so is there a particular brand you use.

I can hit every square inch of my farm with sprinklers so would there be an ideal time to plant better that now?

If the slope is quite noticeable then heavy rain is going to find it's way down it no matter how you ridge it.

The ridges will suffer more damage if they go across rather than with the slope. I leave it up to my tractor man and he always goes with the slope or at an angle to it. Best is to take a walk around your area and see what others are doing.

As far as I know all the granular fertilizers have the same solubility so ahouldn't make any difference. The brand I use comes from Norway and has a logo of a viking ship on the front so we all call it "viking" but think the company name is Yara or something close.

Wit irrigation you are laughing. You can plant anytime you like. Not sure if you mean you can spray everywhere at the same time or you have to move the sprinklers around. If the latter then I would plant soon after the rains stop in say December or January and just spray until they start again in May. During this time the plants will be smaller so you can walk through them easily. After 6 months with water they can be 2-3 metres tall and impenetrable. It also means that you can do a 1 year cycle finishing in Dec/Jan when as I say prices tend to be higher.

I have no idea of the costs of irrigating but you should at least double your crop using it .

[loong]

I know nothing about farming, that's why I went to see this guy. The University has an experimental farm and does lots of studies on proper growing techniques. I have never really seen water acclimating in the troughs, I will pay more attention this rainy season. As for the planting, it is hard to push 20cm into the trough, I would think the soil would have to be plowed deeper. As far as harvesting, I can't really see it would make much difference, other than you would be pulling out more tubers.

The soil in the trough will naturally compact more than it does in the ridges and it will make harvesting more difficult.

Another point is, when spraying etc. Where will the workers walk? If they walk on the ridges, they will tend to flatten out.

I really don't see the point of this as they may as well just plough and plant with no ridging at all

[Issangeorge]

"One thing for sure he wrong about is that the tubors grow out of the nodules which makes me think he doesn't know what he is talking about re where to plant"

I must apologize, he never said that, I just assumed that was the reason he wanted 10 nodules in the ground. Since the method he suggested was getting 8,000 plus kilograms per rai, I feel there must be something to it. I do know that some farms in the Korat area are getting yields even better than that, but I don't know how they are planting.

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[somo]

The number of nodules in the ground is irrelevant to the crop so I still think he was perhaps not worth listening to. I can believe the 8 tons. I have got 3 tons from just 400 sq metres = 12tons/rai but that was in earth that had just been dug out of a hillside and used to raise the level of a building plot we have. I call it our cassava university. I feel that the way/style of planting is of less consequence than the soil. I have heard but not witnessed that throwing huge amounts of chicken manure around will produce great results. with that in mind I am going to experiment with a few rai this year by trebling the amount of granular fertilizer and see what happens. Mai rong mai roo or something like that

[Jotham79]

I irrigate corn with a sprinkler and in the dry season it costs about 300 baht per month per rai so if I had to water for 8 months it would be about 2400 baht per rai. This is based on using a kwai lek, but we just got power out there and have started using electric pumps. That should cut the cost in half or more. If I run my rows down hill could I just pump the water up and let it run down the rows? ( there is not a steep slope)

If I irrigate, what would be the longest I could wait to sell? When you say chicken manure do you mean the rice hulls and manure from broiler farms or straight manure?

[somo]

J79

I know nothing about irrigation as I have none so cannot advise you on that. You probably only need to irrigate for 4-5 months and at 300 Baht I would say 1500B/rai would be plenty and for sure give you an extra 4 or 5 tons/year so well worthwhile. If you irrigate you could make a good profit on a 1 year cycle but easily keep for 18 months. Much longer than that and the tubors can start hardening up and the chipping buyers may give you trouble over that. Having water available when you need it gives you total flexibility so probably no reason to go much over a year. Just plant it ,water as need be and sell when the price is good.

As I said above just try this year with a few rai and experiment and slowly expand as you get more confidence in whatyou are doing. Even at this time of year irrigation can be useful imediately after planting if the rain is not imediately helpful just to give the setts a good start. Again it is the first 3 months that are the most important.

[Issangeorge]

Maybe one of you large scale cassava growers can answer this for me. How many tonnes of cassava does a ten wheel truck hold? Thanks.

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[Jotham79]

I have read about row spacing between 80 -100 cm and plant spacing from 70- 100 cm. I plan to irrigate and go for a full year or more so should get a fairly high tonnage. My gut says go for 1m x 1m spacing to give the roots more room. I am just wondering if there is a reason for a particular spacing of plants and rows.

[Issangeorge]

I have read about row spacing between 80 -100 cm and plant spacing from 70- 100 cm. I plan to irrigate and go for a full year or more so should get a fairly high tonnage. My gut says go for 1m x 1m spacing to give the roots more room. I am just wondering if there is a reason for a particular spacing of plants and rows.

The spacing is because of what your gut says to give the roots more space to grow. Everybody has their theory on spacing, but I think a good spacing is 1 metre between rows and 80 centimeters between plants.

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[somo]

There are arguments both ways. The smaller the spacing the faster leaf coverage is formed inhibiting weed growth. Don't crowd too much as then there is less room for root growth and the plants spend energy competing for sunlight. On balance I think 80x80 is fine. The locals tend to space them just 50cm if you leave them to it. Sometimes having more stems cam be advantageous as when there is a shortage you can sell them. This year I have had people driving from quite far away looking for stems to buy. Price went as high as 1 Baht/Stem a very nice additional profit.

[rice555]

Hello All, not my crop, but in the new(JulY) see pic 1, has some info on a stem planter,

there's a # on the bottom of the 4th pic.

rice555

[Jotham79]

What are the 2 or 3 best strains of cassava around. I have heard of Rayong and there are a few others. I'd like to get some on order for the fall when we will be ready to plant.

Thanks.

[somo]

Rayong 72 just known as "get song" has given me good results. Best is to ask around locally and see what others like.

They all tend to be mixes from just a few strains.

This may help

cassava_varieties_thailand.pdf

[somo]

Would like to add that if you are planting cassava for the first time and you have irrigation then Nov/Dec should be ideal (unless it is exceptionally cold in your area at that time). A few reasons for this.

1 Prices tend to be good then so no need to order stems as many people are harvesting and should get them for free or very cheap.

2 Take advantage of the heavier rains late in the year but push the setts well in so they are not dislodged. May need to make them a bit longer so that 3/4 "eyes" are above ground.

3 Irrigation will be easy while the plants are small but by the following April should be 1.5-2 metres tall and very dense

4 At that time of year/ May there may well be a market for your stems - excellent additional income as I recommend cutting them back anyway so you can do some weed spraying and apply more fertilizer. Pruning them back also seems to totally invigorate the plants. In addition 2 metre tall plants are vunerable to high winds.