Tamarind Profitability

[canopy]

There is 12 rai of land for sale for 1.4M baht in Phetchabun. It has chanote and is all mature tamarind trees. The Thai's tell me some years you make nothing, but other years you make 100K baht profit per rai. They say within 5 years it absolutely will pay for itself. Can anyone provide a bit of sanity or experience here? Being a complete newbie I really appreciate any input. And by the way I absolutely will consult a lawyer before purchase.

[Gerontion]

I don't know a thing about tamarind but buying land for (about) 115,000 baht per rai and getting a return of 100,000 baht per rai per year sounds like a lot. Still, this interested me so I had a look and found:

"Some tips on Tamarind cultivation:

The varieties can be planted during June-December either as isolated trees or in commercially viable groves in red and black soil. They are ideal for commercial plantations as these trees commence bearing fruits from the fifth year of planting.

Each plant produces about 250 kg of fruit every year from the ninth year, compared to 65 kg of fruits per tree by several traditional varieties.

About 70 kg of tamarind pulp can be extracted from 250 kg of fruits.

Pits with volume of one cubic metre are to be dug and filled with organic manure at the time of planting. In the initial stages of growth, the plants may need to be irrigated, especially during summer.

About 250 trees can be planted in one hectare. Tamarind trees have an extensive rooting system and once fully established in the soil, they will no longer need any irrigation."

(from http://www.agricultureinformation.com/foru...hines-reg.html)

So one rai will give you 40 trees, or 2800 kilos of pulp so to get to your 100,000 per rai, you'd need to sell at 35 baht/kilo. That is assuming that you've got high-yielding trees and these figures are correct.

[slapout]

canopy; When you mentioned the" Thai's told me " I kind of went into negative mode. There are a couple of people on this forum who can give you solid info on prices, yield etc. I have not found any normal farm crop which will make 100,000 baht profit/rai. Why would they sell land on a 5 year payout when a lot of other investment property is priced on 15 to 20 year payout?

[GungaDin]

This is a good one for Lickey, he's the Tamarind King .

Checkout some of Lickey's posts.

[Lickey]

Thanks Gunga Din, i will try to put things in perspective allthough im not much of a wordsmith,,

Planting, they should be at least 7mtrs apart, if as Canopy says, they are already establised, then no water is needed, only what the rain season gives, if you give water in the dry season, this confuses the tree and the pods wont ripen,

40 trees 1 rai? i wish, no, thats not possible for mature trees, our 60 trees are spread out over 15 rai and the branches touch.

Profitabillity, our best year was 2007, 3 pickings by gangs of 30 netted us 46.000bht, the tree got nothing in return.

Last May, a big storm took off all the flowers and buds, so this years pickings were done by me and sometimes labour, they were sold at the salon and so far we have grossed 31.500bht, and the season ends with the first big rain, so i think 100k per rai is a gross exageration,

By far the best variety is the straight pods as oppossed to the curled type, straight pods are sweeter and easier to peel, the way to tell the trees apart is now, if youve had some rain, the straight pod trees will be full of lush green leaves, curly pod trees will look like an autumn tree still, no new growth yet,

Non-Producing? well, yes, it seems some trees like a rest , i would say that 6 trees this year were resting, but never all 60 at once,unless of course a big storm and high winds takes off the bloom,

Organic. not wanting to take anything away from the new forum, but ive already started to feed our trees, 1 bag of chicken poo with 1 large banana culm finely chopped placed at the drip line of the tree, the sun and rain will create a "tea" and soak down to the feeder roots,

Just to add, if a tree appears to be resting, thens a good time to prune it, and Tamarind trees can fruit for 200 years, it has various other uses too, excellent charcoal, hardwood for funiture, new leaves Thais will eat in various dishes, or animal fodder,

I will try to post some pics tomorrow night of our trees, this will give you a better idea what to look for,

We sell large straight pods at 60bht kilo, small pods at 30bht, steamed pulp with seed, 90bht kilo,

Cheers, Lickey.

[Lickey]

Mrs just woke up, she was sleeping on sofa after 15 hours work in her beauty salon, i asked her what was the best ever price for tamarind, which was as i said in 15 years , 46,000bht, so are the thais pulling your leg? she said no, both legs!!Tread carefully Canopy, if tamarind made 100k per rai, Thailand would be covered in them, no more rubber or cassava, which of course are at the lowest prices ever,

[Gary A]

A friend of mine has about 60 rai of tamarind trees. He said that he has never cleared a single baht from them. They are now being cleared and the land is being planted to sugar cane.

Apparently they make very good charcoal.

[Lickey]

So there you have it Canopy, Gary A mate made nothing with 60 rai, i made 31,500 from 15 rai and 60 trees, to make 100k from 1 rai is an impossible dream, but as promised, here are some pics of our tamarind orchard, cheers, Lickey,,

Mrs tells me the trees were originally from Phitsnaluk {spelling?} area, not far from you i think,

[canopy]

Tamarinds are planted on every available inch of space in this area of Phetchabun so they must make money relative to other crops. But I suspect this is all land people bought for 10K/rai if even that. It was explained by more than one person that they raise asking prices for land every year just because they figure that's the way it works. If it was x last year, it must be worth x plus plus this year. I don't get the feeling there are buyers, just sellers. And in this case the seller is the naa yok who is short of money and needs to sell at a so called firesale price.

I count 240 trees on the 12 rai. Here is what they look like today and notice the ground is covered with plants from the rains we got in March. I have an idea to reconcile this. I will ask them to provide volunteers in advance to work the trees for 20K/rai per year for a 6 year lease and they can keep all proceeds. Since this is a guaranteed gold mine some years raking in 100K/rai the whole town should be lining up for it. But alas, there will be no takers will there? Will be interesting to see the himming and hawing that ensues.

[Maizefarmer]

Not chance - I have a neighbour who grows just under 3 rai of the stuff - he got the land from his father when he passed on, and in those 4 years he says he's never got anywhere near that figure.

He says, like rice, if there is nothing else to do with the land - then fine, hang on to them because as others have noted, once established they require no irrigation, but otherwise take them out and turn the timber into charcoal - there are better things that can be done with the land.

[BigSnake]

Don't know but if I had the land I would love to give it a WHACK!!

[Lickey]

Is that a green cover crop growing under the trees? if so, i would to know what it is,thanks,

Normally, as you can see by my pics, nothing much grows under a healthy tree, mrs suggests, and perhaps your fears confirmed of overuse of ferts, and they look like the curly pod type, our straight pod trees greened up a week after the first rain, also ask the seller how old are the trees, Mrs says they are too old, and have been pruned so much as to stunt there natural growth,and to fit 20 on 1 rai is too close.

To clear the ground would be several days work for a 360, plus carting the roots away or burning on site, personally i would avoid it the whole issue..