Maize Farming In Thailand

[SamuiRes]

Came across this report - a couple of years old now, but some interesting facts.

http://www.cimmyt.org/english/docs/maize_p...ys/thailand.pdf

[Maizefarmer]

A couple years old ...... it's 20years old!

The figures in it have changed [substantialy] over those 20 years. Most significantly, the Thai maize market is no longer an export market but now a nett importer.

A rather good, and more up to date, 30 page summary titled " Maize in Thailand - Production, Constraints and Research Priorites" ISBN 970-648-121-4, can be found in most Thai Uni libraries - and I'm sure on the internet somewhere as well. The ISBN number I have is off a Thai language copy - I don;t know if the English language copy is the same, but anyway - it's a rather good summary of the main points, even if its mainly a stat type print.

I'm curious .... where does your interest in maize production (in Thailand specifically) stem from?

MF

[IsaanAussie]

I'm curious .... where does your interest in maize production (in Thailand specifically) stem from?

MF

MF,

Can I jump in here? My interest is in producing Pig feed. I would like advice on what I can expect from a crop in Sisaket after the rice harvest. Yes dry season maize. What cultivar, water requirements, fertiliser and soil prep. Appreciate any help.

Isaanaussie

[slapout]

Isaan; If you are wanting pig feed would a small grain crop ,(barley etc) be more drought resistence and still furnish good quality food for the porkers? I am not telling you how to run your business, just that I am looking for alternate feed crops which do not require irrigation, thus labor etc.

[IsaanAussie]

Isaan; If you are wanting pig feed would a small grain crop ,(barley etc) be more drought resistence and still furnish good quality food for the porkers? I am not telling you how to run your business, just that I am looking for alternate feed crops which do not require irrigation, thus labor etc.

Slapout,

I will look at anything. The issue is not only getting the dietary balance right, I am also looking at crops that have some local market potential and local experience. Soybean meal is the mainstay for protein normally but expensive to buy. Oil yield is useful.....my head hurts....

[Maizefarmer]

I'm curious .... where does your interest in maize production (in Thailand specifically) stem from?

MF

MF,

Can I jump in here? My interest is in producing Pig feed. I would like advice on what I can expect from a crop in Sisaket after the rice harvest. Yes dry season maize. What cultivar, water requirements, fertiliser and soil prep. Appreciate any help.

Isaanaussie

I would be more than happy to help - but if you wish to go into at that level of detail (and its a dam_n good idea you do if you want to get the best out of any crop), I need some info from you before I can comment accurately:

Essentially, what are your soil conditions - a soil test will go a long way to making an informed and "best culitvar" choice for a maize crop to be planted. Also important to know is, would you want to rely 100% on natrual precepitation, or would you be in a position to supplement natural water avalibility with irrigation? Then of course the question is: how water do you/can you supplement the crop with before the crop nutritional benefits are outweighed by the irrigation fuel costs.

.... so there are a whole bunch of factors that have to be very carefully considered in the equation if you want it to be worked out accurately. But it starts with a good understanding of the one "constant" in the equation - your soil condition e.g. type, drainage characteristic, ph and a number of other compund tests - a basic soil test is an essential part of the process. Come back to me with that info, and I'll be more than happy to comment on what i think is the best maize type, when to plant it, at what row/spacing density, what fertiliser, how much water blah blah, blah blah ......

[farmerjo]

M/F,

Does variety make a difference to protien levels in maize?

What would be an average protein level?

Thanks farmerjo

[IsaanAussie]

M/F,

Does variety make a difference to protien levels in maize?

What would be an average protein level?

Thanks farmerjo

MF,

Good question FJ, for me I need the highest level I can get. Reason being soybean meal is expensive and I intend to substitute other crops to supply the pig rations. So my explicit question is which particular "current" maize variety should I plant for feed use?

Subsidiary question, rats have had a large helping out of some sample crops recently, how do you control them?

Isaanaussie

PS. Biodigester site is still available for both consultant and builder FJ, got it organised yet?

[farmerjo]

My apoligies I/A,off to africa in 3 weeks to earn some real money.Been working for thai wages last year and half so time to go get ahead.Be back in about 3 months.There must be some farangs here with experience looking for a bit of work or thais becoming redundant in the manufacturing industry in bangkok.

Theoretically labour should be abundant for this years harvest keeping harvesting costs down although i wont hold my breath.

[IsaanAussie]

My apoligies I/A,off to africa in 3 weeks to earn some real money.Been working for thai wages last year and half so time to go get ahead.Be back in about 3 months.There must be some farangs here with experience looking for a bit of work or thais becoming redundant in the manufacturing industry in bangkok.

Theoretically labour should be abundant for this years harvest keeping harvesting costs down although i wont hold my breath.

Good luck in Africa, guess I'll have to puddle on alone. Actually with current situation you may well be back before I get around to it.....

[Maizefarmer]

M/F,

Does variety make a difference to protien levels in maize?

What would be an average protein level?

Thanks farmerjo

MF,

Good question FJ, for me I need the highest level I can get. Reason being soybean meal is expensive and I intend to substitute other crops to supply the pig rations. So my explicit question is which particular "current" maize variety should I plant for feed use?

Subsidiary question, rats have had a large helping out of some sample crops recently, how do you control them?

Isaanaussie

PS. Biodigester site is still available for both consultant and builder FJ, got it organised yet?

The cultivar grown can have a significant effect on final protein - but it's not straightforward.

Cultivar A may have more the Cultivar B on a plant by plant basis, but it's production costs may be higher, and/or it's cultivation density may be lower - meaning: it may need more water or it may need to be planted at a greater spacing (between rows and plants) to get the sunlight it requires for photosynthesis to produce that higher amount of protein. It may also turn out to be that it requires an extra x number of days to grow. It could also be that the fertilser regime means more outlay ........ and I can think of at least 3 or 4 other contributing factors that need to be taken into consideration before an accurate evaluation can be made.

The point been: although Cultivar A may be able to produce more protein than Cultivar B, it's production cost over-rides the benefits of the extra protein.

Now if you're growing 10-20rai it's not such a big issue - but if you are growing hundreds of rai and are having to plan a feed program 6 months ahead for the dry season - it becomes a big issue.

What is an average protein level? ....... and this to is not as straightforward as it mean seem at first: from a livestock feed perspective the considerations are:

a) are you feeding fresh or are feeding ensiled?

is your feed program mass/weight based, or dry matter percentage based?

Typical fresh maize plant is around 8% - 9% protein - but in feeding cattle, the important criteria is Dry Matter. Just because a feed has a high protein content is not in its self a good thing. The digestive system of a cow for example is a complicated machine - you can give a cow a plant that has 50% protein, but without Dry Matter content the cow's digestive tract will not absorb the protein - it will simply pass through the animal. And to make matters worse it needs to be the right type of protein (High ByPass Protein).

As a rule, yes - cultivate for as high a protein content as is feasibly possible, but keep in mind the feed regime you have put in place, because that will ultimately determine the protein required from the maize plant.

Having said all that, it's somewhat of a mute issue unless you are paying the same attention to all the other points in your heard management program i.e. you can incurr considerable time and expense to little or no benefit if one is not monitoring all the other "inputs" connected with keeping cows, to the same degree. e.g. none of the above means a dam_n thing if the water been given to the cattle is not clean and cool. Water consumption plays a big role in digestion, and their is a close relationship between mass/weight/dry matter content eaten, and the volume & condition of the water consumed.

If the water is not right the above becomes a complete waste of time as little to no benefit will be derived.

read the following

Thread: Animal Feeds, Mixing your own And getting the best bang for your Baht (2006-10-31)

Post: 11 and onwards (11 deals specifically with the above points in greater detail)

Thread: Farming in Isaan (2006-08-01)

Post: 9 and onwards

[IsaanAussie]

MF,

I have a few "scrubby" beef cattle so the threads are of interest, but of course pigs are my main deal and I doubt they will tolerate those diets. As with most animal diets you get all the stats you want on CP, DM, etc .. % and Kg calculations of rations, and in the case of pigs, lysine.

I have 2 concerns, firstly, feed cost obviously crucial in pig farming, and secondly, FCR and DWG (feed conversion and daily gain) factors that affect the growing/finishing rates are vitally important to profitability.

Currently I am buying grower rations at 13 baht per kg and finishers at 10 baht. Whilst the cost of feed is now lower than a few months ago, I still need to reduce it further as the farm gate price for pork is coming down as well. Last check was 54 baht per kilogram and I anticipate that it will drop to the high/mid 40's within the next 12 months. If correct then there is not a lot left for vets, power etc.. if the feed conversion ratio is much over 3. Obviously protein plays a large part in the game.

In summary I am building to a high quality, 16 sow breeding herd, farrow to finish operation. The target being annual sales of 300 pigs. Hopefully a limited supply of smoked hams and bacons and gourmet sausages will eventuate as well as live pig sales.

Thanks for the response and the references on cattle, I have re-read them and will keep them for future reference.

Issanaussie

Edited November 2, 2008 by IsaanAussie

[Maizefarmer]

Regret - I am not the person to ask about feed regimes for pigs - I know nothing about commercial pig rearing, and other than for the 3 pigs and few wild boar I have (which are fed anything left behind), my knowledge of pigs is very limited indeed.

What I can say though is that feeding whole maize plant (chopped and "cracked") to piglets is considered to be a good diet. The problem with it is that, viewed from a protein point of view it is not the cheapest protein form to rear piglets on - which is precisouly why pure maize plant (kernel, plant, stalk and all...) is not commercialy viable for pigs.

On a small scale though (growing and processing the whole plant yourself - as a fresh feed) it may well be justifiable (along of course with other things - you can;t of course just feed maize plant), but again, I have little knowlegde of the economics of it.

A big plus point of maize plant, is the relative ease with which it can be ensiled - and the quanlity of the silage that can be produced from maize plant - wild boar love it as they often tear into my silage clamps in the dry season!

[slapout]

Iassan; beef cattle , weaning calves (350 lbs.up) will do good on a mixture of corn ensilage, 5 parts, alfalfa hay (ground) 2 part, grain (oats, corn, maize, wheat, barley) 1 part. This along with dormant grass (dry season/winter) for ruffage will give a good gain for the price, compared to store bought feed. You use the grain which gives the best feed value for its cost. Mother beef cows need alfalfa or grain hay alog with protien cubes to add to the dormant grass (dry season/winter) to maintain themselves and the unborn calf they carry. Sorry, can not recommend a proven pig feeder diet, we used to use grain cleaning, soaked in water for a couple days, scraps from the school lunch program and spoiled veggies/fruit etc from grocery store. This worked and the 1st and 3rd source should be avaliable from sources here in Thailand, may be hard to cover 300 pigs/year but I see the Thais using this on a smaller scale.

[IsaanAussie]

Slapout,

Thanks for the thoughts, often wondered if anyone was growing alfalfa here.

Unfortunately the pigs are are bit more demanding then the school scraps could supply. Kids in the local school are reknown for licking the bowl clean.

I will be running some trials on sweet potato silage soon. With the right protein addition it should replace maize. For now the commercial feed is the go as I am herd building, not growing yet. Now is the time to decide what crops to plant when the rice is harvested.

Isaanaussie

[Maizefarmer]

Unless you are running a commercial ag venture with cattle which means needing to balance growth time versus cost (beef), and milk volume versus cost (dairy), the best way to keep cattle in Thailand is to give them 4 things in the following order:

1) as much cool clean water as the want

2) as much fresh green forage as they want (dont worry about type - just make sure it is freshly cut on a daily basis - and mix different types as much as possible)

3) dry, dust and mold free hay (of any sort)

4) sufficient shade to move out the mid-day sun.

See to these basics and you will be suprized just how well they grow and how healthy they will be. And I think much the same policy can be applied to just about any animal - keep it well feed, well watered and sheltered, and it will be a healthy happy animal.

Edited November 3, 2008 by Maizefarmer

[IsaanAussie]

OK guys,

So despite the differences in external appearance and internal organs, the feed staples are much the same.

To buy in bulk what are the current costs for cereal grains outside Bangkok?

Cost of soybean meal? This one is important.

Any ideas on premix mineral and vitaman supplements would help too?

Current purchases are running at about 1 tonne per month and with a life of three months on the premixed incredents, 1 tonne lots would be a maximum buy for me.

[JungleBiker]

Hi IsaanAussie,

Lao farmers have had good results feedings stylo to their pigs. Just put the following words into Google:

stylo pigs Lao PDR

You will also see that cassava leaves are high in protein.

For a source of stylo seed please see my other post today under the green manure thread.

Best regards,

JB.

[IsaanAussie]

Hi IsaanAussie,

Lao farmers have had good results feedings stylo to their pigs. Just put the following words into Google:

stylo pigs Lao PDR

You will also see that cassava leaves are high in protein.

For a source of stylo seed please see my other post today under the green manure thread.

Best regards,

JB.

Hi JB,

Thanks for that. Yes I have considered stylo and studied a number of reports that show reasonable results. In fact had another look this morning. I can get the same result with sweet potato vines for protein and the roots for energy. I could also use soy beans and cut it before it seeds, same protein as the soybeans I have read.

Why sweet potato? Well the sillage is good both roots and vines, and keeps well. Plenty of labour to do the cutting and room to store the bags. Some good FAO reports on the topic. I have three sample crops in at the moment and plan to start playing in a week or so.

But the best thing is the fact that you get reasonable results growing it with minimum fertiliser, water and weeding. The vines can be harvested and fed two to three times during root formation and I can (hope to be able to) dig the roots with a simple potato digger. Poor mans potato.... great stuff.

Cassava, as a buyer maybe at current prices, however the foliage around us is well and truely spoken for. Poo Yai has both cassava growing and pigs, no contest.... Cassava root also has dietary inhibitors that are nastier than sweet potato, both can be got rid on by slicing, sun drying and short term shortage prior to feeding or ensiling.

Enough prattle, again thanks for the information. If your looking for a ham for SongKran next year let me know.

Tony