Cassava Prices Today.09/12/08

[Lickey]

Part of our first cassava planting was done in the Tamarind orchard in early April this year, Bit of an over-sight on our part as the first picking of Tamarind will be in two weeks time, so the cassava had to come out 2 months earlier than planned,

I was helping out this afternoon, my job was to chop the tubers off the stick, then load them into baskets ready for tipping into the truck, I cant do much more than this because of back probs,For lifting the tubers, a bamboo pole is threaded through an iron ring with a V shaped steel claw, this is pulled over the cut stick and the root is lifted out, these are heaped up then cut off the stick, This is to avoid filling the basket with dirt and possibly getting the load rejected,,

So, onto todays prices, taking into account the chipping place is only 3 ks away.

Truck weighed in and out, Payload 3.603 kilos @1.20bht = 4.323 bht

Deduct labour and truck, 6 labour,1 truck and food, 1800bht,

So our profit was 2.523bht, for approx 1 rai, then there is the intial outlay to consider into the factor as well, We have a sale for some sticks and wont have to buy anymore for a while.

Quick question for the experts, a neighbour has planted the cassava 1 mtr apart and the rows 1mtr apart, mrs reckons its for bigger tubers, will they have to stay in the ground a long while and does it give the tubers more space to grow bigger?? thanks.

Just a few pics of todays harvest, the best tuber was 21 inches long, and the cluster group is unfortunately not the norm but looks good!!

Cheers, Lickey.

[catwho]

only 1.2 baht a kilo, has it gone down that much thats nealy 50%,, i thought it was 1.5 a kilo.or more,maybe depends on area

with the extras for planting you would be lucky to get square,plus have any money for next crop,the pics look like a nice crop though.

cat

[somo]

1.20 Baht/kilo is really low. I will need about that to break even or maybe even lose a bit.

I thought the Gov guarranteed the price at 1.30/kilo?

[Sirachai05]

Hi, my first post here...but enjoyed reading all the info on TV for sometime now.

Udon Thani...1.40baht/kg (been that price for about last 3 weeks now)

FYI - Heard the Govt guaranteed 1.85baht/kg about 6weeks ago, but only for first 50,000tonnes-so not going to apply to most of us!

[Lickey]

Agree with the above posts, i thought it would be more [hoping] but its dropped again today, 1.15bht kilo, we live 100ks NW of Udon Thani, it seems very popular for cassava, there is at least 15 big truck and trailer loads go past mrs salon every day, plus pick-ups,other small trucks,iron buffalo with trailer, so i suppose the market is in glut at the moment.

We have 1 more rai to clear tomorow, after that, the remaining 5 rai can wait, my idea is to go to the weighbridge and find out what the next days prices are, if its favourable, harvest next day.

I learnt today of another way which will give you 1.80bht kilo, the tubers must be very clean and trimmed,ie,remove all shoots,and dont use water to clean off dirt, seems this could take an extra days labour to do this, so we wont bother.

Will keep you all posted of tomorows prices, Cheers, Lickey.

[gobs]

Interesting Lickey... And nice cassava...

Please, as said catwho, how much for the extras for planting 1 rai?

Cheers,

Gobs

[Lickey]

Welcome to the forum Sirachai, usual tactics to get the processors working i suppose,

Gobs, our initial idea was to use some land on the 40 rai fruit farm to try to make a profit and put the land to good use, 9rai was prepared and planted,i done all as Khowans pinned cassava thread suggested, sometimes in a different way regarding fertilizer/weedkillers ect,

To get us started, land prep,buying the sticks,labour,fert,weedkiller,ect was 33.000bht, in that price is a motorised back-pack and chemicals to control a mealy bug infestation,in the young cassava, mealy bugs really stunted or killed the stick.

It works out at 3.600bht per rai, which in our 1st year is a break-even price, or near,,, next time we plant, we will save money on sticks and/or will sell sticks to make a bit of money.

Cheers, Lickey..

[keg]

Just got back from the wifes village in Loei and the price quoted at the local buyer was 1baht per kilo. They have a 16 rai field ready to start harvesting, but at that price they will leave the cassava in the ground for now.

Keg

[Lickey]

Todays prices in Namsom remained at 1bht 15 satang per kilo, 15ks away it is 1b 10s, Keg reports 1bht in Loei,

Is it because the world oil prices are dropping and many people dont give a toss about global warming, or dont even know about bio-fuels?

[IsaanAussie]

Todays prices in Namsom remained at 1bht 15 satang per kilo, 15ks away it is 1b 10s, Keg reports 1bht in Loei,

Is it because the world oil prices are dropping and many people dont give a toss about global warming, or dont even know about bio-fuels?

At 20 baht a litre, retail fuel prices are now below the cost of manufacture of most bio fuels. Here that means B5 and E10 are costing more to produce than straight petroleum products and are therefore being subsidised. Little wonder ethanol plant developments have slowed and cassava prices are low. As for the public that generally wouldnt have a clue what their car emissions are, only care about the cost and for most, turning on a fan is their contribution to global cooling.

[Sirachai05]

Update - 1.36baht/kg - 40km W of Udon (guessing that's good compared to others here!)

However, not due to harvest until Mar/Apr09 (ie 1yr) - unsure whether it'd be better to sell now or wait? (as lack of rain will minimise additional growth anyway!)

[Khonwan]

Hi Lickey, et al

You guys in Isaan seem to be getting ripped off. You can check out the average prices paid as at 9th December 2008 for each part of Thailand here: http://www.thaitapiocastarch.org/market_detail.asp?id=204

The site indicates Nakhon Sawan processors were paying out 1.40-1.50 baht/kg; Our local processor was paying 1.45 baht/kg that day. We harvested a tiny area the following day (only an almost forgotten quarter rai of 20-month tubers) and sold them @1.40. The harvest amounted to 2,375kg, which wasn’t bad since this equates to around 9 tonnes per rai – this plot of land had received no fertiliser at all (but hadn’t been cultivated in years) and was also overgrown with weeds, which, as usual, led to significant rodent damage.

We used the tractor to plough up the roots first – even on this tiny piece of land. If you have a tractor (large, small, or even walk-behind), it is madness, IMO, to uproot the tubers by hand – far too labour intensive and, therefore, costly.

For crops planted March/April 2008, I would recommend harvest from February 2009 onwards. Compared to harvesting just now, you will achieve further tuber growth and the starch percentage will improve.

Rgds

Khonwan

[mgreek]

Hi Lickey, et al

You guys in Isaan seem to be getting ripped off. You can check out the average prices paid as at 9th December 2008 for each part of Thailand here: http://www.thaitapiocastarch.org/market_detail.asp?id=204

For crops planted March/April 2008, I would recommend harvest from February 2009 onwards. Compared to harvesting just now, you will achieve further tuber growth and the starch percentage will improve.

Rgds

Khonwan

thanks for the link!

I have planted on April 2008 and planning to harvest on April 2009...

[Lickey]

Hi Khonwan, yes, thanks for the link, Mrs read it and it all seems to be in middle southern Thailand, bit like buying a beer in Pattaya or Namsom i suppose,,,,

The reason cassava had to come up early was because of the tamarind harvest, access to the trees ect, last years 3 pickings of the special sweet tamarind netted us 46.000 bht from 60 trees, dont think it will be anywhere near that this year because of a big storm in May took of a lot of blossom, oh well, cant win them all.

The 1b15 satang kilo held today, Labour is 200b PP, truck is 365b a day, Not sure about lifting with a tractor, unless of course you have a huge amout to do,it seems the claw lift works well, if the labour see a big broken tuber, they will dig it out with a spade,

What do you think of our neighbours idea? plant cassava 1 mtr apart, do the weedkilling and fertiliser ect then forget it for 2 or so years, cassava is not therer main income, and its just a sideline for them,an experiment if you like,

Thanks for your comments, Cheers,Lickey.

[Khonwan]

Hi Lickey

That’s some labour cost! Bt150 per person per day is tops in my area.

Ask your wife to re-read the website. She is incorrect. My Thai reading skills are non existent when it comes to reading articles but almost adequate for this site – all areas, except the south (at least, I haven’t noticed any southern Thailand info on it) are listed. Alternatively, copy & paste sections of the site into www.thai2english.com for a very good word-by-word translation.

I’ve just found your province on the site easily. I wrote Udon Thani in the above site; it returned อุดรธานี . I then opened the weekly cassava-price page, keyed Ctrl+F whilst pasting อุดรธานี which showed me that the average price for your province on 9th December was Bt1.50/kg (4th paragraph down the listings on that page).

Re. neighbour: 1-metre spacings are okay: fewer trees but better yield per tree. Total yield per rai tends to remain around the same as for tighter spacings. His yield will be reduced if he doesn’t keep the land free of weeds throughout the first 3-4 months. Plant, fertilise, herbicide in one month only then forget for 18 months or so (even 24 months if his local processor doesn’t penalize him) is certainly viable, though his yields will be improved should he be attentive during the first 3-4 months with regards to additional fertiliser application and continual weedkilling.

Cheers

Khonwan

[Lickey]

Ive no doubt that you are right Khonwan, about the price ect,but 1b 15s kilo is what it is here in Namsom, if i wanted to truck it further, to Udon,[100ks] that would take the price down even further i would think,

As for labour prices, poor buggers deserve what we pay for the stoop labour,they are all invited to Xmas dinner with us,[if they can straighten up] and to summarise its the world drop in oil prices that have led to a downturn in bio-fuels, Its a sad state of afairs when all the Thai farmers follow the belief that this and that crop will be good next year, so everybody grows the same, therefore a glut, but nobody forsaw the world crisis,

I wont be in a hurry to re-plant cassava,unless i have some spare/waste land,and oil prices double,

The sales of banana papaya weekly are 3000bht, outlay for cassava was 33,000 bht,ok,got half of that back, from 6rai,3 rai to go,this time next year will havest this, will it make the break-even point? very much doubt it!

Perhaps will plant dragon fruit cacti in the tamarind orchard,it seems to like climbing on existing trees and will fruit 5/6 times a year with help..

Lickey..

[Khonwan]

Hi Lickey

I have no doubt that your local processors are only paying you, and other farmers in your area, this pittance. I’m only saying that these small processors are ripping farmers off (unlike my local small processors) and that the website survey proves this. I do understand that it would not be possible for you to economically transport to a fairer processor and sympathise with you and others in the same position.

I’d love to pay my day-labourers 1,000 baht per day but the economics do not allow this; I pay the local rate (top end). A poor wage is better than no wage…which is what they’d get if farms were not viable. The consumer must be willing to pay more if farmers are to obtain a reasonable return that enables better wages.

I’m planning to plant another 100 rai of 18-month cassava June 2009.

Cheers

Khonwan

[idbemili]

Part of our first cassava planting was done in the Tamarind orchard in early April this year, Bit of an over-sight on our part as the first picking of Tamarind will be in two weeks time, so the cassava had to come out 2 months earlier than planned,

I was helping out this afternoon, my job was to chop the tubers off the stick, then load them into baskets ready for tipping into the truck, I cant do much more than this because of back probs,For lifting the tubers, a bamboo pole is threaded through an iron ring with a V shaped steel claw, this is pulled over the cut stick and the root is lifted out, these are heaped up then cut off the stick, This is to avoid filling the basket with dirt and possibly getting the load rejected,,

So, onto todays prices, taking into account the chipping place is only 3 ks away.

Truck weighed in and out, Payload 3.603 kilos @1.20bht = 4.323 bht

Deduct labour and truck, 6 labour,1 truck and food, 1800bht,

So our profit was 2.523bht, for approx 1 rai, then there is the intial outlay to consider into the factor as well, We have a sale for some sticks and wont have to buy anymore for a while.

Quick question for the experts, a neighbour has planted the cassava 1 mtr apart and the rows 1mtr apart, mrs reckons its for bigger tubers, will they have to stay in the ground a long while and does it give the tubers more space to grow bigger?? thanks.

Just a few pics of todays harvest, the best tuber was 21 inches long, and the cluster group is unfortunately not the norm but looks good!!

Cheers, Lickey.

These prices are for domestic prices right? Can you inform me the latest export price of native cassava chip (dried cassava), I need to know about it as soon as possible.

Thank you