Artificial Irrigation In Issan

[MrWiggle]

I shall be attempting a 2.5m tank soon. Found the builder of the tanks, so can get the nam ya added, hopefully.

Interested to hear the rest of the tower building info.

[Maizefarmer]

I shall be attempting a 2.5m tank soon. Found the builder of the tanks, so can get the nam ya added, hopefully.

Interested to hear the rest of the tower building info.

........ what have I left out?

[Mali1964]

I've had the fantastic opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Issan, on a rice farm( my girlfriend's parents) and I have to say that very rarely in my life I'd met oustanding people like I did in this part of thailand. I've noticed that the climatic conditions are very harsh on the soil and in many cases farmers don't get the chance to have more than 1 harvest per year because of this reason. I will get back there very soon and, as in my not near future I would like to establish myself there for good, I will appreciate anybody's feedback on artificial irrigation in order to maximize rice production(let's say 10 rai). How much would be an approximate investment in order to make this happen?

What would be the biggest challenge?How difficult is to find some rice land for sale?

Thank you all in advance,

Yes issarn people are great people i've spent some quality time even sleeping rough out on the land with them eating from the land etc its the best adventure in my life & have made a lot of freinds there.

If you was to buy land for at least 2 harvest per year then take a look at Kalisin province they have Government built irrigation canals & is one of the best out of season harvest in issarn.

Even my misses as an eye on relocating there at some point in the future & i'm fully behind her on this, you still have beautiful Roi Et city on the door step.

Land prices are higher for land in & around the canal system.

Edited April 22, 2009 by Mali1964

[richardb]

Hey Guys,

I tired some new fertilizer found that is organic, this stuff is great, about half the cost of UREA and yeilds were unbelievable. I cant wait for the next rice season to check the results again. On the rice I got almost double the yields. I did 10 rai with UREA and 10 ria with this stuff. I gave some to my wifes uncle and he used it on it chili, he got 4 times the yield he usually gets. I still cant believe it. I just submitted some to a university with a professor and he is going to do certified results for me.

Hi Eric , OK I got the land you have the seeds and will buy the crop. So what about the fertilzer. What is it where do we get it?

Richard

[Maizefarmer]

I've had the fantastic opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Issan, on a rice farm( my girlfriend's parents) and I have to say that very rarely in my life I'd met oustanding people like I did in this part of thailand. I've noticed that the climatic conditions are very harsh on the soil and in many cases farmers don't get the chance to have more than 1 harvest per year because of this reason. I will get back there very soon and, as in my not near future I would like to establish myself there for good, I will appreciate anybody's feedback on artificial irrigation in order to maximize rice production(let's say 10 rai). How much would be an approximate investment in order to make this happen?

What would be the biggest challenge?How difficult is to find some rice land for sale?

Thank you all in advance,

Yes issarn people are great people i've spent some quality time even sleeping rough out on the land with them eating from the land etc its the best adventure in my life & have made a lot of freinds there.

If you was to buy land for at least 2 harvest per year then take a look at Kalisin province they have Government built irrigation canals & is one of the best out of season harvest in issarn.

Even my misses as an eye on relocating there at some point in the future & i'm fully behind her on this, you still have beautiful Roi Et city on the door step.

Land prices are higher for land in & around the canal system.

I second that: anyone looking for land up North East area - the government constructed canal infrastructure in Kalasin province is probably the best in the country: its all relatively new - they are big, wide and deep. Still, although they can and often do run dry in the dry season, they are the last of the North East's canals to run dry.

Isaanaussie - they use it for bedding (?) - see, learn something new everyday. Another small piece of potentialy useful info.

Thanx

[Bpraim1]

Why not use a solarcell water pump? They are used widely in Australia rural areas to lift water.

That would be a one off investment and no power needs. They are also portable!

[Gary A]

Solar system for irrigation? The cost of a system to pump that much water would be absolutely staggering. It would take at least 12 years for any payback and I doubt that system would last 12 years.

[Bpraim1]

Slow down Gary. They are not as bad as you think, and all pack a warranty long then recoup time.

Here is some info on these kinds of pumps

http://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-...r-power/pumping

http://www.four-winds-energy.com/solar-water-pumps.html

[teletiger]

A system for my bore well would be $AU 5000+. +import duty? +tea money? (C. 125000 baht) (80 mtr well + 7 mtr tank) I estimate my current water usage for house and irrigating 2 rai garden at about 250 baht per month electricity costs. So my clawback time would be 40+ years. But, I wouldn't be using the system to it's full capacity. If I had 50 rai+ mango/Euca/veg Etc, then the clawback time would be greatly reduced, if not cheaper.

Regards.

[Maizefarmer]

Solar systems for lifting water from boreholes - not cheap.

I see the fourwinds website reffered to by Bpraim1 above shows a range of Grundfoss submersible pumps that can be used - and the AC & DC voltages that those pumps run at, with delivery curves.

What it doesn't show you is the AMPERAGE required by the pumps - and more amerage means more panels - your big cost in Thailand has always being the duties placed on solar panel importation.

Putting aside the cost of boring the hole - and its going to need to be a 6" hole or wider diameter if its going to be deep and servicable (linining will also be needed), which are not cheap to sink properly - I don't belive the solar panel side of the equation is viable.

That part of the budget would be better spent on purchasing a small diesel engine (single piston "thumper" type) to drive a gennie for the electricty (at least this would be the case the depth mean't anything more than 2 or 3 x 200watt plus sized panels was going to be needed). That or you have to be willing to tolerate a trickle of water most of the time if you havent got the money for sufficent panels to generate to amperage/wattage rquired.

It looks a pretty good kit - accepting the solar panel side of it (for anything above about 2 panels).

[Mali1964]

Solar systems for lifting water from boreholes - not cheap.

I see the fourwinds website reffered to by Bpraim1 above shows a range of Grundfoss submersible pumps that can be used - and the AC & DC voltages that those pumps run at, with delivery curves.

What it doesn't show you is the AMPERAGE required by the pumps - and more amerage means more panels - your big cost in Thailand has always being the duties placed on solar panel importation.

Putting aside the cost of boring the hole - and its going to need to be a 6" hole or wider diameter if its going to be deep and servicable (linining will also be needed), which are not cheap to sink properly - I don't belive the solar panel side of the equation is viable.

That part of the budget would be better spent on purchasing a small diesel engine (single piston "thumper" type) to drive a gennie for the electricty (at least this would be the case the depth mean't anything more than 2 or 3 x 200watt plus sized panels was going to be needed). That or you have to be willing to tolerate a trickle of water most of the time if you havent got the money for sufficent panels to generate to amperage/wattage rquired.

It looks a pretty good kit - accepting the solar panel side of it (for anything above about 2 panels).

Strange that a Government that needs to be seen as green charges duties to prevent the use of this fantastic technology but in Diesels favour the price is low at less than 20 baht a ltr for Bio so until oil spikes again or the Goverment go green on this import tax then combustion power seems to be the way.

[Gary A]

For irrigating rice paddy, about 160 gallons (600 liters) per minute would be a minimum.

[Maizefarmer]

Solar systems for lifting water from boreholes - not cheap.

I see the fourwinds website reffered to by Bpraim1 above shows a range of Grundfoss submersible pumps that can be used - and the AC & DC voltages that those pumps run at, with delivery curves.

What it doesn't show you is the AMPERAGE required by the pumps - and more amerage means more panels - your big cost in Thailand has always being the duties placed on solar panel importation.

Putting aside the cost of boring the hole - and its going to need to be a 6" hole or wider diameter if its going to be deep and servicable (linining will also be needed), which are not cheap to sink properly - I don't belive the solar panel side of the equation is viable.

That part of the budget would be better spent on purchasing a small diesel engine (single piston "thumper" type) to drive a gennie for the electricty (at least this would be the case the depth mean't anything more than 2 or 3 x 200watt plus sized panels was going to be needed). That or you have to be willing to tolerate a trickle of water most of the time if you havent got the money for sufficent panels to generate to amperage/wattage rquired.

It looks a pretty good kit - accepting the solar panel side of it (for anything above about 2 panels).

Strange that a Government that needs to be seen as green charges duties to prevent the use of this fantastic technology but in Diesels favour the price is low at less than 20 baht a ltr for Bio so until oil spikes again or the Goverment go green on this import tax then combustion power seems to be the way.

You're absolutely right - its a huge contradiction: it's the import duties & taxes placed on pv panels that, when viewed against the expected lifespan of the panels, makes their purchase and use in Thailand un-economical.

No matter how I have tried to account for the capital outlay in the past, there is no way I could find to offset the outlay for the same Kw/hr over an equal time period of usage versus alternative power sources.

The figures I came up with (a few years back) worked out at something just over 40% more than mains/grid power, and somewhere between 10% - 20% more expensive than a diesel engine/gennie/diesel fuel combination for the same Kw/hr for the same life span.

The above calculation included the cost of storage batteries, and was against 2nd hand batteries - not new (we have a bunch of used submarine cells sourced from an Australian Navy auction - huge big things that need a fork lift to move around, which like panels also do not last forever, but with careful control over charging & discharge cycles, can last just as long as panels - so long as they are decent quality cells to start with), and also includes the cost of the inverter.

Control electronics - the bits & pieces associated with monitoring and controlling charging and discharge, and the inverter type (e.g. Class A or B, or indeed C, versus switch mode, and/or any of the other power generation/control modes) are all issues that you also need to factor in and think through carefully before throwing money - and like panels, also carry discouragingly large CIS taxes & duties imported into Thailand.

The reason why Thailand levies high CIS rates on PV products? - because for years it has been trying to encourage private enterprize to set up pv production and research in Thailand. There is now research been undertaken at various levels, and if I am not mistaken there is also limited cell and panel production - but its not "cutting edge" so to speak, and the materials (e.g. quartz sand and silicon) are all imported - so carry CIS costs (allbeit at a significantly lower rates than the finished product).

In terms of pv technology (which is moving forward now at a rapid rate - especially in places like Australia and the USA), the little production that does take place in Thailand is relatively old fashioned, and I would also question the quality (lifespan & relative effiency).

Until the government removes the CIS costs associated with the importation of pv power hardware, it will remain out of reach from most folk and not a cost effective solution - accept in the few cases where for some or other reason, there simply is no other alternative.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Maizefarmer

[Gary A]

As near as I can figure, it costs about 50 baht per rai to flood rice paddy. That is using an 11 HP Kubota diesel a centrifugal pump and pumping out of a pond. I estimate that is pumping about 900 - 1000 liters per minute.

[Mali1964]

As near as I can figure, it costs about 50 baht per rai to flood rice paddy. That is using an 11 HP Kubota diesel a centrifugal pump and pumping out of a pond. I estimate that is pumping about 900 - 1000 liters per minute.

Thanks Gary great info.

The family a few months cheated whilst fishing & pumped the pond out so they can get in there & catch most of the fish, but what i did notice was that the water did not flood across the hole 5 rai, they broke the dam after a couple of hours & let most of the water back in.

What i learnt from that though is if you wanted to flood the hole 5 rai its best to dig direction channels around the land first to get it into all areas.

[Gary A]

Most of our paddies are smaller than a rai. We use 4 inch PVC pipe to direct the water to wherever we want it.

[Bpraim1]

I just got home from a chat with a couple guys that are installing solarcell lift pumps at there farms. They purchased these setups in Chontaburi, Sakaow. They claim to be able to flood or keep flooded 10rai, at a cost of 5000bht per unit, panel, inverter, pump. bore and pipe extra.

I will be gonig to check this setup out and reprt back. seems to good to be true.

[karstenf]

Hello All

After last year's harvest in October, we tried a second round of rice on a small piece of land.

We irrigated from our lake, everything as good.

Since the rice seeds came some 1000 birds came to dinner party.

They were glad that we less happy.

We were the only ones who cultivated an extraordinary game of rice throughout the area. This means that it is in our birds eat.

Technically it could be done with an extra game of rice, but next year it is not us who should be feeding the birds.

Karsten

[pnustedt]

Since the rice seeds came some 1000 birds came to dinner party.

Aha - I was thinking that there must be some good reason not to do it! Now to figure out how to stop the birds.