Rubber Trees

[XDotNet]

Thanks for the reply...are you in south or north thailand?

I think the only way to get extra money out of your rubber land is to find a second crop/product that you can do under the tree canopy. I see people with ducks and geese, some guy does coffee not far from us, maybe there is some other crop that would like the shade. I have thought about doing mushrooms under the canopy but am not sure if having mushroom spoors in the air would be the best for the trees. If you look around my guess is that there is some native crop that evolved on the jungle floor that you can likely grow under the canopy.

Before the canopy closes over you can inter-crop as well. There are pusses and minuses to doing so but I figure with the rubber price so low that delaying maturity of the trees a bit by inter-cropping isn't really that big of a deal.

If the price comes up somewhat I hope to set up a little processing plant to do rubber sheets for us and the family, not sure about smoking though. As it is now, as Thaiguzzi said, there isn't enough money in it to bother.

We're selling the whole lot. 134 rai. We're done. More $$$ in the land than crops.... go figure. (the price of oil/bbl is very cheap - synthetics are leading now.).

[Mosha]

We're selling the whole lot. 134 rai. We're done. More $$$ in the land than crops.... go figure. (the price of oil/bbl is very cheap - synthetics are leading now.).

I can definitely understand your sentiment. It does my head in to see the few people who are still planting new trees. They gotta be nuts. By my calculations there is much better money in cassava or sugar or pretty much anything other than rice. one of the reasons why we are hanging on to the 25 rai we have is that I would likely end up supporting some of the inlaws anyhow, better to give them a job!

I think it's a case of it's all they know, and too lazy to look at alternatives.

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[cobbler]

Watever u grow between th trees os going to need a decent amount of water in the dry time. Heres the issue. How much u willing to spend pumping water. I know from practice ,things grow,. EG. Pakwan,prik hom. Coffee will grow but time will come we hen roots from both yang and coffee get too many,neither will do well when that day comes. Defeating the purpose.Bananas grow but need to plant bananas at same time as yang.chooks and geese r good if u can keep dogs,hawkes and in some areas thieves out. Ive seen mushrooms do well. Talk to kings project or government office about this. Prik thai is a good 1 but again you are going to need a lot of water in dry time.

Cheers Cobblrt

[thoongfoned]

I think the only way to get extra money out of your rubber land is to find a second crop/product that you can do under the tree canopy. I see people with ducks and geese, some guy does coffee not far from us, maybe there is some other crop that would like the shade. I have thought about doing mushrooms under the canopy but am not sure if having mushroom spoors in the air would be the best for the trees. If you look around my guess is that there is some native crop that evolved on the jungle floor that you can likely grow under the canopy.

Before the canopy closes over you can inter-crop as well. There are pusses and minuses to doing so but I figure with the rubber price so low that delaying maturity of the trees a bit by inter-cropping isn't really that big of a deal.

If the price comes up somewhat I hope to set up a little processing plant to do rubber sheets for us and the family, not sure about smoking though. As it is now, as Thaiguzzi said, there isn't enough money in it to bother.

We're selling the whole lot. 134 rai. We're done. More $$$ in the land than crops.... go figure. (the price of oil/bbl is very cheap - synthetics are leading now.).

re selling up: the wife has been approached about selling the rubber tree land. she has is about 55 rai ish, only 10 or 12 rai of rubber left. land is in three different parcels ie. 3 different land papers all chanote ect. first guy that was interested in land, in the end bought else where because its 1km to drag the electric. have another family interested now....... both parties do not care about the trees only interested in buying land as an investment.... land is "not for sale"but I think the "boss" will sell if the price is right.

I have always said that there is money about these villages, plenty of locals buying up land at ok money. first guy that looked at the land seemed in a hurry to buy, he ended up buying just up the road at 3 plus million for about 27 rai of paddy. busy road frontage and electric on tap straight away.

re selling land, the tax. this has gone up a lot of the years. wife has just this year bought a new parcel of land 16 ish rai chanote. the land office now has "proper" land status in our area. ie defining the land and its use, good to farm crops or not, ie heavy stone in land ect. good access to water ect.... she ended up paying 60,000 baht (tax)plus change for this and that. the tax was based on the land offices value of said land at just under 700,000 baht. this is not road frontage land... she paid a little more than this...

almost all the land around the wifes village has been measured and surveyed in the last few years. before when she has bought and sold land the buyer and seller always deflated the land selling rate to pay small tax, it looks like this is not an option in our area now. unless you buy some very cheap land that is.........

having said all that our bank (high street bank) says land in our area is very cheap, going on the official land office valuations...........

[scotbeve]

Watever u grow between th trees os going to need a decent amount of water in the dry time. Heres the issue. How much u willing to spend pumping water. I know from practice ,things grow,. EG. Pakwan,prik hom. Coffee will grow but time will come we hen roots from both yang and coffee get too many,neither will do well when that day comes. Defeating the purpose.Bananas grow but need to plant bananas at same time as yang.chooks and geese r good if u can keep dogs,hawkes and in some areas thieves out. Ive seen mushrooms do well. Talk to kings project or government office about this. Prik thai is a good 1 but again you are going to need a lot of water in dry time.

Cheers Cobblrt

Yes Cobbler, a proper drip system is anyone's best bet now. Hey, with the temperature being so harsh as it is at the moment, one has to grow something resilient - something or things that don't mind the dry fry season now. Ask about GMO agriculture first. There was talks about banning GMO agri-biz - what? - 5-10 years ago? Fortunately, in our area, the water can be drilled but that's costly now (kinda kick myself in the butt for not drilling deeper back then when we had a bore drilled) - got some hard strata at 30m. Selling land is the best bet now. If any of you have an interested party in "your" land, sell it. Chinese seem to be buying up a lot. Armageddon coming? Hmmmmm....

[Oue376]

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Thanks guys:

They are RIMM 600 varity trees,

SB you raise a good point about erosion and future tappers walking around. To date there is no noticable erosion, and we've been getting a lot of rain lately. It makes me think about leaving a little greenery on the next pieces to get sprayed.

I would wonder also if the trees accumulate the Glysopaphate, I would imagine they would have to absorb some but perhaps dissapte it because of their size. At 4 years of age when they were sprayed the surface roots aren't so noticable. I don't know about spraying trees that are older and have more roots spread out.

Personally I'm not a big fan of chemical control, the wife wanted to spray for weeds when the trees were 2 years old and I just don't think that's good for young trees that are still in rapid growth. I paid for cutters and did a lot of hand cutting myself untill it just got to be to much. There were some replants in amoungst the older trees and the spraying did kill some of them.

If you believed everything you read about Monsanto you would perhaps understand my trepidation.

I do understand your concern about Monsanto, I grew up on a Canadian grain farm and dealing with them is like selling your soul to the devil. Once you buy their seeds you're hooked into their very propritory system. But for Thailand I'll buy their chemicals and leave it at that.

Here's 2 of our plantations without any weed chemicals and using organic fertilizers. The trees are 5 yrs. old.

SANY0003.JPG

[cobbler]

Yes scot hindsight is my best asset too 555

[cobbler]

Chinese r buying up big pieces of australian farm land. Future world is going to need food. Youll always be able to make a living no matter wat if you have land. 1 of the big benefits in thai is watever you sell produce wise ,its all cash.Watever you farm is not as simple as plant and forget. Its a trade the same as any trade. Its a constant learning process. Just thought id state some really obvious shit. 555 cheers Cobbler

[Mosha]

Passed some guys yesterday, watering their palm oil trees from drums of water.

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[cobbler]

Passed some guys yesterday, watering their palm oil trees from drums of water.

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im surprised to hear that. I thought there was always a lot of rain in your area.

[Mosha]

Passed some guys yesterday, watering their palm oil trees from drums of water.

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im surprised to hear that. I thought there was always a lot of rain in your area.

Weather channel app says it's raining everyday. We've had 1 days rain this month. The other day we had 2 claps of thunder and 5 drops of rain. I'm watering the garden with water from the stream. Village water is off at night. Only flushing the toilet if it's a sit down job, or at bed time.

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[Gary A]

I have a very strong 6 inch bore hole. I use a 5,000 watt generator and a 1 HP submersible pump. It takes a lot of gasoline. Today I got a price for a solar system. Complete with a DC pump. The cost was 124,000 baht. That choked me up a bit. I can buy a lot of gasoline for that much money.

[Mosha]

It's raining,at least I'm excused watering the flowers.

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[Issangeorge]

I'm curious as to why you have a 5,000 watt generator to power a 1 HP motor, I would think a 1,000 to 2,000 generator would do the same, and would make your solar display fat cheaper.

[thoongfoned]

I have a very strong 6 inch bore hole. I use a 5,000 watt generator and a 1 HP submersible pump. It takes a lot of gasoline. Today I got a price for a solar system. Complete with a DC pump. The cost was 124,000 baht. That choked me up a bit. I can buy a lot of gasoline for that much money.

this is one thing that has always "done my head in" the cost of setting up any solar system here. i had a quote years ago when we built the first house, it came in at..... million baht, then i could only run this and that............. electric is cheap here, easy more just to run some cable and some new posts if needed, even if you get the pea to do it it will not break the bank compared to a solar set up that will produce the same amps............ i have been looking for a decent back up geni for a while now, just gotta get the wife to put her hand in her pocket..........

bone dry here up near udon thani, have a couple of bores that produce good water so are very lucky.

[thoongfoned]

we have a 1.5hp. submersible water pump, the start amps are 20, runnin 10. you would need 4kva just to start it........

[Gary A]

I'm curious as to why you have a 5,000 watt generator to power a 1 HP motor, I would think a 1,000 to 2,000 generator would do the same, and would make your solar display fat cheaper.

That farm is off grid so there is not much choice to power a submersible water pump. My first generator was 2,500 watt. It's the start surge that makes the problem. The 2,500 watt generator easily runs the pump but it had problems getting it started. My wife's uncle is a good electrician. He told me that I would soon kill the generator. The 5,000 watt was the next size that the dealer had.

ADDED - The 5,000 watt does not even cough when starting the pump. Maybe the best part is that it is electric start. My wife is the main one who uses it. She had a difficult time getting the pull rope 2,500 started. Actually the fuel consumption between the two is not that much different. The 2,500 had to work a bit and the 5,000 just loafs. It wasn't a total loss. I use the 2,500 watt at home for long power outages. I'm a big fan of solar. I have a small system at that farm and another at the house. The one at the farm runs a small household water pump when needed, lights, a TV, satellite dish and a couple fans. The one at the house runs my computer room. A desktop computer, printer, lights and a fan. That room is totally off the grid. No power surges, spikes or outages. I do miss the air-con when the main power is off bur having the computer, lights and a fan beats sitting in a hot dark room.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Gary A

[cobbler]

Hmmm as long as the set up,maintenance and running costs are able to be recuperated . That would all make a big difference to extra income. If not ,dont start.

[Gary A]

Hmmm as long as the set up,maintenance and running costs are able to be recuperated . That would all make a big difference to extra income. If not ,dont start.

I think anyone involved in farming knows very well that they are certainly not going to get rich. If you don't enjoy doing it, you will be disappointed because the money is very little if any.

[geuda]

We have a few rubber trees in Loei, RIMM 600 and 251 varieties. Price is now around 25THB for cup rubber... I told my wife to leave the trees for a rest when the price was below or around 20 THB...

When they opened this thread they were talking about 80 THB /Kg for cup rubber... (May/June 2011)

We’ve just reopened last week, we got rain but not enough.

I skimmed this thread and saw posts about growing coffee, prik Thai, under the canopy, does it work, what about cocoa trees?

[cobbler]

We have a few rubber trees in Loei, RIMM 600 and 251 varieties. Price is now around 25THB for cup rubber... I told my wife to leave the trees for a rest when the price was below or around 20 THB...

When they opened this thread they were talking about 80 THB /Kg for cup rubber... (May/June 2011)

We’ve just reopened last week, we got rain but not enough.

I skimmed this thread and saw posts about growing coffee, prik Thai, under the canopy, does it work, what about cocoa trees?

Geuda .things can grow beneath rubber trees. Expect to be putting a good amount of water on it during dry time. I wouldnt do coffee although ive seen it done. When the coffee trees get big the roots will be a big issue. Prik thai is a fairly small plant in comparison as is pakwan prik hom aka prik ki gnoo 8s also good. If yoy do put a watering system in . Rubber tree roots are surface roots mainly so a fine misty spray is good. Try not to saturate your tree ,this will give you problems if you like to tap. Talk to kings project or gov office. Be careful gov office dont try to convince you of something they are acting as a middle man. I would trust the kings project.

Cheers Cobbler

[scotbeve]

I have a very strong 6 inch bore hole. I use a 5,000 watt generator and a 1 HP submersible pump. It takes a lot of gasoline. Today I got a price for a solar system. Complete with a DC pump. The cost was 124,000 baht. That choked me up a bit. I can buy a lot of gasoline for that much money.

this is one thing that has always "done my head in" the cost of setting up any solar system here. i had a quote years ago when we built the first house, it came in at..... million baht, then i could only run this and that............. electric is cheap here, easy more just to run some cable and some new posts if needed, even if you get the pea to do it it will not break the bank compared to a solar set up that will produce the same amps............ i have been looking for a decent back up geni for a while now, just gotta get the wife to put her hand in her pocket..........

bone dry here up near udon thani, have a couple of bores that produce good water so are very lucky.

Yes, very high costs to go solar here. It blows my mind as well. BTW - there was one point during last year that Thailand was the leader in MW output from solar. The Thai govt (the junta)was toying with the idea of 15 & 20 rai solar farms out in the sticks in ALL provinces. This had to go through the district collective (Agri.) . We were approached by "an agent" for our land, completed the requirements (documentation-wise) - several times....- and were approved by the (private) solar company, the collective, and subsequently (hahahaha), the govt. We were paid a down payment of 20,000 B for the land lease of 2.0 MBaht with monthly profits at a certain percentage (others got a cut as well), and everybody was happy. Long lunch with a celebratory air. A few months later, the govt changed their minds as there was some paperwork from another province (mind you) that wasn't correct..... So.... all stop on that income generator.... Grrrrrrr PS - for those of you that still have water supplies, BUILD STORAGE!!!!!

[geuda]

Thanks cobbler.

We've never watered our trees, the soil is quite good at keeping water (clay?) We tap following the 2:1 system

I'm just looking for an additional activity. Rubber trees are on the hillside, below are some fruit trees and pineapple. At the bottom, rice paddies.

I'd like to give cocoa and coffee a try

[thaiguzzi]

We, like many others still have not sold yet, this season, but yesterday at auction, Udon province, cup was 33 baht per kg...

[geuda]

We, like many others still have not sold yet, this season, but yesterday at auction, Udon province, cup was 33 baht per kg...

Thanks for the info.

Most of the farmers simply sell their cups to a local dealer. I've asked my wife many times but she does not know more.

I wrote ประมูลยาง เลย (rubber auction Loei) in Google and got a webpage with all prices Udon, 35.09 Nongkhai 35.00- today 28.04

Can anyone sell their production there?

[thoongfoned]

We, like many others still have not sold yet, this season, but yesterday at auction, Udon province, cup was 33 baht per kg...

hope the price keeps going up for you guys, all that is needed now is some decent rain, then rain at the right times...... power cut last night 13 hours, not even a splash of rain., could hear the storm in the distance though...

the wifes trees will im sure not be touched till sept/oct time again....... i will not even broach the subject this year.

[geuda]

I have a very strong 6 inch bore hole. I use a 5,000 watt generator and a 1 HP submersible pump. It takes a lot of gasoline. Today I got a price for a solar system. Complete with a DC pump. The cost was 124,000 baht. That choked me up a bit. I can buy a lot of gasoline for that much money.

Hi Gary,

I don't knowm how deep is your well. I Googled this ระบบปั๊มน้ำพลังงานแสงอาทิตย์ rabob pam nam palang seng athit water pump system using solar energy

and got this: http://waterpumpsolarcell.lnwshop.com/

http://www.thaiwatersystem.com/contactus

I'm adding this one...:http://www.kasetporpeang.com/forums/index.php?topic=50176.0

This may also be interesting, a kind of hydrological data http://www.dgr.go.th/well_web/WellWEB/Well_web.html

Edited April 28, 2016 by geuda

[scotbeve]

Passed some guys yesterday, watering their palm oil trees from drums of water.

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im surprised to hear that. I thought there was always a lot of rain in your area.

Palm (oil) trees need the minimum of 1.2 m of rainfall a year. They also are not to planted above 150 m sea level.

[cobbler]

Geuda i think you r missing the point buddy. Or maybe im misunderstanding you. Just in case you r missing my point. Its like this. If more trees are planted within the rubber trees. Itll be like planting double the amount of rubber trees in the same area. There is a reason why roughly 60 rubber trees per rai are planted. Not 130 rubber trees. Im not trying to insult you but i feel sorry for you if you waste your money.

I know thai farmers who make serious amounts of money,but its with carefull planning and years of experience.

Cheers Cobbler

[geuda]

Geuda i think you r missing the point buddy. Or maybe im misunderstanding you. Just in case you r missing my point. Its like this. If more trees are planted within the rubber trees. Itll be like planting double the amount of rubber trees in the same area. There is a reason why roughly 60 rubber trees per rai are planted. Not 130 rubber trees. Im not trying to insult you but i feel sorry for you if you waste your money.

I know thai farmers who make serious amounts of money,but its with carefull planning and years of experience.

Cheers Cobbler

Hi Cobbler,

It was just a question, not a statement. By the way, my mother tongue is French and this may generate some misunderstanding due to my poor English. We haven't grown anything else so far in our rubber trees plantation. Thanks for replying, I appreciate. This forum is great and we do not have anything similar in French, thanks to all of you who contribute.