Cassava, Tiptoing Into Farming

[soidog2]

OK, 4500 is on the high side.

Tree height is not a root size indicator; the most miserable trees can have excellent size tubers.

With a light shovel; scrape the dirt around a couple of good looking trees and ugly ones.

You will soon feel the cassava, stop, dig with your fingers around the root but do not uncover it.

After examination, cover it back, it will be fine.

My advice would be to stop spending any more money on the plot; even if it gets covered with weeds, do not worry you will still have a good crop.

If, after above, it looks like your cassava is too small for its age, shoot for 14/15 month cycle to gain extra weight.

Over grown fields are common; people cut the trees when ready to harvest, spray paraquat on the sumps; weeds die, picking is easy.

Next year you will do better.

Just to give you encouragement; this year we had our best harvest yet.

We got 9.5 tons per rai with 29/32 % starch.

Grown about 15 month, average expense 4500 - 5000 per rai.

"Great Mangon" trees, (Rayong 11)

In addition, we double (cut once, sold them all; let them grow again, sold again) sold all the trees (except what we need for planting) for 1b per tree to 400b for one thousand for the second cutting.

Best

[somo]

Hey Soidog 9.5 tons is brilliant. What do you put it down to! Is it the type Rayong 11 or did you do anything special regarding fertilizer etc. Also which month did you plant.

Always hungry for info and trying to improve things

Next week we are harvesting about 15 rai of 18 month cassava but don't reckon we will get more than 6.5 - 7 tons/rai

Steve

[loong]

Not posted here for quite some time.

Seems that cassava is falling out of favour. I would estimate that 75% of the surrounding areas that harvested cassava have replanted with sugarcane instead. If this is happening everywhere, there could possibly be a glut of sugarcane next year.

Maybe it will at least help to support cassava prices locally.

I haven't been able to do much lately as I have had a really bad infection on my foot.

Haven't even visited the land for over a month.

I went to the land and was shocked.

We have had hardly any rain this year, I can't even remember the last time that it rained, I think that it was early September.

Now most of the cassava has dropped all of its leaves, there are just stalks sticking out of the soil and that does not present a pretty picture.

Being new to this, I have no idea whether this should be considered normal or not. Will the cassava survive if we have no rain until next April?

Earlier in the year, we had people here who were looking for oil. One time I found that they had ran electrical cable across the land. Obviously the cable was on drums and they wheeled these drums through our cassava with no regard for the damage that they were doing! I never saw who ran the cable, and the cable disappeared as suudenly as it appeared.

Now I see that somebody has run a tractor or something across the land. Also there have obviously been some large vehicles coming and going that have had too large a turning circle to stay on the tracks and have destroyed some of my better plants. What the hell is going on?

I now have some contact numbers for crews that I have seen do a better job than the local labour and intend to use these peop[le next year, if I continue with this.

I have to be honest though, this move into farming has been one big headache and a lot of hassle. I am 50/50 as to whether I will go into a 2nd year or not.

[somo]

You seem to have a real rough introduction but don't give up so easily.

Next year apply everything you have learnt and I am sure you will make a profit.

If your plants have no leaves at all then they will slowly die so you may as well harvest now.

The tubors certainly won't get any bigger and just dry out meaning they will be lighter and worth less.

Take a rest until the rains come and plan your next year down to the last detail. Your workers will need everything in place if you are going to stand a chance of getting them to do what you want.

[revar]

Sugarcane and corn are hot here as well. A lot of casave is being harvested now. My crop has been growing for 10 months now and I am not harvesting. Sugarcane and corn both need more rain and with the dry period ahead I figure I am better of with casave growing slowly larger during the dry periods. On the areas with access to water (iron.buffalo with pump) I am planting corn in januari. The rest I plan to leave until june/july depending on weather and prices.

Sent from my GT-S6102 using Thaivisa Connect App

[ad sale]

dear all,

i m new to this trade and have rented 50 rai at khampeng phet to invest cassava. can anyone out there estimate how much need for capital and for 1 year how many ton per rai as i have heard that it can reach 6 to 8 tons per rai. pls help

[loong]

dear all,

i m new to this trade and have rented 50 rai at khampeng phet to invest cassava. can anyone out there estimate how much need for capital and for 1 year how many ton per rai as i have heard that it can reach 6 to 8 tons per rai. pls help

Look at Khonwan's thread about cassava in the pinned section.

There's a lot of info there including Khowan's Excel spreadsheet with all his costs.

Things such as labour and fertiliser may need to be updated, but you will certainly find the ballpark figures.

Yield per rai will depend on how good the soil is, how much fertiliser you will use, how much rainfall in the area, whether you have access to water for irrigation in dry spells. And lastly how good the labour force is that you will use. My biggest problem has been useless labour that cause more damage than the good that they do.

Labour rates are going up in most areas, many do not want to work for less than 300 Baht per day now.

[loong]

We finally had some rain on Monday after about 4 months of drought. Nice steady rain for about 5 hours.

Hopefully it will give the cassava a bit of a boost.

The Missus has been told that we should harvest now because the cassava will rot because of the rain.

That seems strange advice to me. It's not as if the land has flooded or anything.

[Khonwan]

I agree with you, Loong. There should be no threat of rot if drainage is okay; this does not always apply, however, in the event of non-stop rain lasting a few days like last year (my area – lots of rot!)

Rgds

Khonwan

PS Posting at 03.12 – don’t you sleep?

[loong]

Well. the good thing is that the rain last week has promoted new leaf growth.

I just hope that we don't have to wait until April before we see rain again.

I rarely sleep more than 4 or 5 hours Khonwan. I try to have a nap in the middle of the day as well.

[loong]

Found out on Sunday night that they were widening the track that runs alongside the field and thjat they were starting the next day! Not clear if they are going to make a concrete road or not.

Apparently this has been on the cards for a year, but nobody informed us. The land owner is not too pleased because they are taking some of her land and have not paid her any compensation. I don't pretend to have a clue what is going on.

Because of this we have had to harvest some 4 metres away from the existing track. The cassava has been dormant, but still growing with the small amount of rain that we have had this year.

Many of the plants have struggled in last year's dry conditions, especially because of the damage caused to the roots by the morons that were supposed to be weeding.

I had intended to leave them in place so that they could benefit from the rain April onwards and maybe harvest at 18 months.

The yield from the top of the field that was only touched by me and the Missus was pretty good considering the lack of rain. Some plants as much as 5Kg I would guess, but mostly around 2 Kg

The yield from the rows weeded by the workforce was pathetic, I think that it would have been better if left unweeded.

It's quite obvious that I am not going to get anywhere near covering costs.

The Tapioca website shows prices in Khon Kaen at 2.60 - 2.80 Bt per Kg. We are 25Kg North of Khon Kaen city. Near us. 1 place was not even buying and the other was only paying 2.10. Of course, they deduct 10% for soil, so less than 1.90. We had heavy rain Sunday night and have been told that they will be lowering the price further, because the tubers will have a higher moisture content. Seeing as so much of the cassava fields around here have converted to sugarcane, I am surprised at the low price.

The year rental period on the top 6 rai finishes at the beginning of May and I think that I will not be renewing. This venture into farming has been like bashing my head against a brick wall. I've learnt a lot, but you can't rely on the weather and you have to have a workforce that are capable of doing the job.

So the top 6 rai we will harvest at the end of the month.

The bottom 2 rai we have until the 18 June and will hope that we get enough rain to give the tubers a bit of a boost.

We may talk to the owner and if we can extend for an extra 3 months, I may not harvest at the end of this month. It will all depend if she has someone else lined up to take over.

[somo]

Hi Loong.

Sad to hear you are giving up after just one season.

The first year is a learning period and you probably now have the knowledge to grow casava profitably.

If I can do it anyone can!

I am a little suprised how low your local price is. With us it is 2.60 less the 10% dirt fiddle/con trick.

[revar]

our year was bad as well. only 2.9 ton/rai in a year. But still a small profit at 2.8 thb/ kg (quota system). the corn is much worse and all died. reason: only 3 days of rain the whole year! the lake from which ou vilage water came is dry and so are all the basins. waiting for the first rain to start a new 6 rai casave field. can only improve on this year:-)

ps the non-quota prices fluctuated the last month between 2.1 and 2.8 bath. no soil deductions.

Sent from my GT-S6102 using Thaivisa Connect App

[loong]

Hi Loong.

Sad to hear you are giving up after just one season.

The first year is a learning period and you probably now have the knowledge to grow casava profitably.

If I can do it anyone can!

I am a little suprised how low your local price is. With us it is 2.60 less the 10% dirt fiddle/con trick.

I might well have persevered, but the Missus isn't keen. She put in a lot of work, as I did, all for nothing.

During the season, we've had people uproot our cassave, people hunting birds and trampling the soil, some sort of oil prospecting company tramping through and rolling drums of cable, as well as turning a large vehicle and destroying plants, somebody who drove a tractor right across the field, people spraying paraquet in the nearby sugarcane in windy conditions that weakened the plants on that side of the field. And the list goes on.

If I were to continue then I would not use the useless labour from this village and the Missus says that could lead to animosity. She says that the locals are already jealous and feel that they should have the right to do the work despite being totally incompetent.

I'm just not sure if it is worth all the hassle

[loong]

our year was bad as well. only 2.9 ton/rai in a year. But still a small profit at 2.8 thb/ kg (quota system). the corn is much worse and all died. reason: only 3 days of rain the whole year! the lake from which ou vilage water came is dry and so are all the basins. waiting for the first rain to start a new 6 rai casave field. can only improve on this year:-)

ps the non-quota prices fluctuated the last month between 2.1 and 2.8 bath. no soil deductions.

Sent from my GT-S6102 using Thaivisa Connect App

I would estimate that the small area that was only touched by myself and the missus yield the equivalent of 4 tons/per rai. The remainder less than 2 tons.

Costs including rent, but not harvesting, amount to about 4,500 Baht/rai

There may be some improvement in yield by the time that we complete the harvest, because we have had some rain, but receiving 1.3 or 1.4 Bt/Kg after harvesting costs is just not enough to make it worthwhile.

[somo]

Hi Loong.

Sad to hear you are giving up after just one season.

The first year is a learning period and you probably now have the knowledge to grow casava profitably.

If I can do it anyone can!

I am a little suprised how low your local price is. With us it is 2.60 less the 10% dirt fiddle/con trick.

I might well have persevered, but the Missus isn't keen. She put in a lot of work, as I did, all for nothing.

During the season, we've had people uproot our cassave, people hunting birds and trampling the soil, some sort of oil prospecting company tramping through and rolling drums of cable, as well as turning a large vehicle and destroying plants, somebody who drove a tractor right across the field, people spraying paraquet in the nearby sugarcane in windy conditions that weakened the plants on that side of the field. And the list goes on.

If I were to continue then I would not use the useless labour from this village and the Missus says that could lead to animosity. She says that the locals are already jealous and feel that they should have the right to do the work despite being totally incompetent.

I'm just not sure if it is worth all the hassle

You certainly have had a lot of unusual bad luck unrelated to farming. If you take all those things out of the equation you would have done a lot better. the thing is are they one offs or likely to occur again next year. No need to feel obligated to give the work to your imediate neighbours. In fact you are more likely to get a better deal/price for the job going outside your village. Sure there may be a few moans and groans but so what. You just let it be known that you were ripped off last year so had to go elsewhere for decent workers. Don't be intimidated by gossip as that is all it is.

You say you can get 4 tons/rai if things are done correctly. That is certainly enough to make a profit.

Whatever you decide I wish you all the best.

[revar]

We only plant casave for some extra cash. You need a lot of rai to make a living from it. But it is not labour intensive after you planted. we only spray, weed and ferilise once. the rest of the year its no maintanance until you harvest. So if you don't have much time to spend on it its a nice way to get some 'beer-money'. other crops like pumpkin, corn, coriander, etc yield much more profit but you need to spend a lot of time on it.

Sent from my GT-S6102 using Thaivisa Connect App

[loong]

Re the track widening

The owner of the land actually managed to halt the work when it reached her land as she is demanding compensation.

It bugs me that we harvested the 4 metre strip alongside the track just as the rain came again. Now we know that there was no need to.

With the rain in April, there is a lot of new growth. The 2 metre high sticks are just dead, all the new growth has sprouted from ground level.

I have no idea if this is a good sign or not.

I know that I am going to lose on this crop, but seeing the way that the cassava has sprouted again with the rain, pessimism is starting to give way to optimism.

As Somo has pointed out, I have learnt a lot in my first year. I am going to stick with it, re-fertilise and harvest the remainder of the crop at 18 months.

When I start the next new crop, I will not take any shit from anyone and will use experienced labour from outside of this village. I have some contacts now.

[somo]

Good on yer.

Now is pretty much the best time to plant.

The plants that you plan to leave for an extra 6 months and are 2 metres tall but have growth at the base I would cut right back.

The new leaves will be healthier for it and help the growth of the whole plant. If you plan to harvest them around Christmas don't forget to make sure you have other plants you can cut to plant again this time next year.

Best of luck

[loong]

Well, 2 months after we were told that we had to harvest the 4 metre strip right now because of the track widening, it still hasn't happened.

Pisses me off because there has been some good growth since, as that time coincided with the rains coming at last.

Anyway, we had sorted out a sort of extension because we didn't take on the whole section of land at the same time. Although the rent isn't due until the end of this month on the lower section, rent is overdue on the higher section.

The owner showed up a few days ago and I was prepared to give her the rent money.

She then announced that she was putting up the rent.

That really pissed me off, because with the uncertainty re the 4 metre strip, it isn't worth paying out to replant it if they can't guarantee that they will not show up and get on with the widening.

Because of the smaller available land, the increase was effectively 50%.

She said that the price of cassava has gone up. Well that is news to me. Local price is 2,100 Bt per tonne minus 10%

What really pissed me off was that she announces this increase at the time it is due, no advance warning. I know TIT, but that is really out of order.

She told us that someone else wanted to rent the land and they were willing to pay more than she was asking of us, so she was giving us a discount! Thai logic at its best.

If I could see a possible profit or even break-even with last years planting and had been given advance notice of the increase, I may have considered it.

So my gut reaction was to tell her to forget it - rent it to the other people!

So we started harvesting today. Taking it to the buyer, I had a chance to see the root/tuber size of other farmer's yields. Amazingly, ours are much bigger. From what I am hearing generally yields are down by 50% or more in this area due to the extremely dry rainy season last year. It seems that no farmer has managed to make a profit and many who use hired labour have suffered quite large losses.

Bearing in mind that last year many farmers changed from Cassava to sugar cane, when you add to that lower cassava yields, you would think that the price would go up, but of course, it hasn't.

I can envisage more cassava farmers changing to sugarcane, creating a glut and driving the price down.

[NeverSure]

I use Sumisoya just after planting and it does seem to work well.

No real weeds after 6 weeks so far but i have had to get the guys to spray unwanted

cassava shoots from old stems that were buried.

Once the weeds do come we spray them with a mix of paraquat and and a pre emergence chemi called Dyuron I think. Pronounced 'dye your on' I realy don't know if it is any good but have always just gone along with the sprayers advice.

I have had the same problem re weeds amongst very young casssava and it is a real pain.

The hand pumped sprayers can be adjusted to spray a narrow spray but watching the sprayers they use their feet to push down the weeds first so they are lower than the cassava leaves. A light spray with paraquat should kill most leaves.

It does it's damage almost straight away but the weeds do take a while to die.

bottleymike.

With the amount of manure I estimate you have added your soil will probably good for another 5 growing seasons

Sumisoya, from what Khonwan says is a pre-emergence herbicide. I was told that they sprayed gramoxone, which, thanks to google, I have found is a brand name for paraquat. Maybe that is why I currently have a major weed problem.

Google tells me that paraquet only kills where it comes into contact, but glyphosate will kill the roots as well. I think that I will possibly go with glyphosate to get rid of the perennial weeds (I hope) for this application.

Has anybody seen any sort of roller applicator here? Would probably be ideal as no risk of spraying where you don't want it to go.

Do any of the home improvement stores in LOS carry the type of paint roller that has a perforated rolling pad, and a hollow handle that telescopes to force paint into the roller? I have one of those, and I put a simple rubber washer in the threaded joint to reduce the amount of product that flows to the roller pad. Then I fill it with mixed roundup and walk around rolling the noxious plants. Here is is especially wild blackberries that begin to pop up. It works wonders and requires no stooping. Again, I found I had to use a reducer washer because roundup is so much thinner than latex paint.

This is just one brand and type.

http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Power-Products-284041-Roller/dp/B0002YU18A

[loong]

I use Sumisoya just after planting and it does seem to work well.

No real weeds after 6 weeks so far but i have had to get the guys to spray unwanted

cassava shoots from old stems that were buried.

Once the weeds do come we spray them with a mix of paraquat and and a pre emergence chemi called Dyuron I think. Pronounced 'dye your on' I realy don't know if it is any good but have always just gone along with the sprayers advice.

I have had the same problem re weeds amongst very young casssava and it is a real pain.

The hand pumped sprayers can be adjusted to spray a narrow spray but watching the sprayers they use their feet to push down the weeds first so they are lower than the cassava leaves. A light spray with paraquat should kill most leaves.

It does it's damage almost straight away but the weeds do take a while to die.

bottleymike.

With the amount of manure I estimate you have added your soil will probably good for another 5 growing seasons

Sumisoya, from what Khonwan says is a pre-emergence herbicide. I was told that they sprayed gramoxone, which, thanks to google, I have found is a brand name for paraquat. Maybe that is why I currently have a major weed problem.

Google tells me that paraquet only kills where it comes into contact, but glyphosate will kill the roots as well. I think that I will possibly go with glyphosate to get rid of the perennial weeds (I hope) for this application.

Has anybody seen any sort of roller applicator here? Would probably be ideal as no risk of spraying where you don't want it to go.

Do any of the home improvement stores in LOS carry the type of paint roller that has a perforated rolling pad, and a hollow handle that telescopes to force paint into the roller? I have one of those, and I put a simple rubber washer in the threaded joint to reduce the amount of product that flows to the roller pad. Then I fill it with mixed roundup and walk around rolling the noxious plants. Here is is especially wild blackberries that begin to pop up. It works wonders and requires no stooping. Again, I found I had to use a reducer washer because roundup is so much thinner than latex paint.

This is just one brand and type.

http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Power-Products-284041-Roller/dp/B0002YU18A

I did an experiment on a small area using a dripper and a sponge. I found it very difficult to control the flow rate and so applied way too much or too little.

Results were that it weakened, but did not kill most of the weeds.

When reading up more on glyphosate, I found out that its effectiveness is drastically reduced if any soil gets into the mix. Even rain splashing soil onto the leaves can make glyphosate nearly useless.

I concluded that as a roller will tend to pick up soil as it goes, this was probably why my little experiment didn't work.

Theory is sound and I am sure that it could work well with other herbicides.