Growing Fruit Trees In Ubon, Suphan, Chiang Mai

[troysantos]

HIYA!,

I'm considering a move to either Ubon Ratchathani or Suphan Buri. I'm a fruit fanatic and would want to grow a wide variety of fruits. At the moment, I would just want to grow them mostly for my own consumption and study, though someday I might want to sell fruits and / or trees.

So, aside from the usual papaya and banana, what do you grow in Ubon Ratchathani or Suphan Buri? Or, where can I get more information on what can grow?

I realize the government has dictated what fruits grow best in each region, based on soil and climate, and probably other factors, but of course, that's not all that will grow on any piece of land.

And, aside from these (fruits that are abundant in Thailand but maybe not so commonly grown in Ubon or Suphan), what do you grow that is not even well known in Thailand? Maybe something from other sub-tropical regions, or tropical regions?

Just in Thailand alone, I'm told, there are hundreds of varieties of plants in just the banana family. I keep thinking that it must be possible to sell enough of the the odd variety of banana (I mean the fruits, not the plants) to make a decent, though modest, income.

Along the same line of thought, I wonder about the possibility of making some cash from selling fruits from trees that are exotic for Thais. Say, if I were to plant a few "Chocolate Pudding Fruit" trees and sell the fruits, or some other "exotic" fruit ... I just wonder what the possibilities are. I am sure there are others who've tried, and mostly, I guess, failed. Tell me where I can look for info on these past attempts, please.

I also semi-consider (a new word?) moving to Chiang Mai, or even Chiang Rai. I realize that with the mountain climates in those provinces, the range of possibilities is much greater than in the lowland provinces.

So, that's it ... and maybe that was alot .... Thanks a ton, in advance, for responses.

all smiles ~~ no worries.

Edited September 11, 2011 by sbk
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[SantiSuk]

I live in Si Saket province but travel regularly throughout neighbouring Ubon.

I believe that Ubon province is like Si Saket and a number of Isaan provinces. The majority of land is low-lying paddy that is not well-suited for vegetables or fruit trees. There are however areas of higher fertile land raised from the paddy that are obvious when you travel around. The villages around where I live for instance are on a patch of ex-volcanic extrusion (some falang once told me) and on rich fertile land like this you will find more intensive farming of fruits and vegetables. The fruits that I observe being grown the most in this area are:

Rambutan

Tamarind

Papapya

Mangoes

Dragonfruit

Durian

Mangosteen

Bananas (not widely grown in commercial quantities, but small orchards for local consumption)

Coconuts, pineapples, longan, roseapple, watermelon, pomegranites ditto - they grow but mostly for local consumption I believe.

With the exception of the first few in the list above growth is mostly for local and regional consumption and there is not the same commercial scale to fruit growing that there is in say Chantaburi region, but this is guesswork on my part, based on being an interested observer of heavy haulage loads on the roads out of here!

The fruit around here certainly seem great quality and I eat many of them in copious quantities! My immediate Thai family and our house is typical. Has bananas, mangoes, tamarind , papaya and mangoes growing casually in the gardens and nobody seems to pay them much attention except to cut the fruit and eat it at the appropriate time. One of my brothers in law manages work in tamarind and rambutan orchards during the relevant seasons if you ever need advice on those.

Let's hope some fruit farmer who knows a lot more than a casual observer turns up on this thread for you.

[andycrosby]

Mangoes are always a winner there are new ones that fruit 3 times a year and they grow well just about anywhere. Blueberrys might be a great idea have you seen the price of them here ?