2012 Rice Yields - How Did You Go?

[Gary A]

To have seriously large rice paddies to suit large harvesters, the paddy has to be level if it is to be flooded. If it is not flooded, the weed problem will be ten times worse. Here they level it by eye so it is trial and error. A big farmer would require a laser grader. I have never seen a laser grader here in Thailand. We had rice paddies that were dry in some areas and had six or eight inches of water in other areas. Those rice paddies have now been converted to growing sugar cane so it no longer matters.

[tingtong]

To have seriously large rice paddies to suit large harvesters, the paddy has to be level if it is to be flooded. If it is not flooded, the weed problem will be ten times worse. Here they level it by eye so it is trial and error. A big farmer would require a laser grader. I have never seen a laser grader here in Thailand. We had rice paddies that were dry in some areas and had six or eight inches of water in other areas. Those rice paddies have now been converted to growing sugar cane so it no longer matters.

we dont have much, just about 7 rai with rice.

but the same problem what you mention with the levelling.

actually decided on the very same solution too...next season about 3-5 rai will be converted into sugar, the rest should be ok to grow enough rice for us to eat, and deal with the weeds.

[IsaanAussie]

I have had a few changes drawn to my attention this year. The harvester operators are demanding payment for damages to cutters. At 4000 baht per cutter rubbish will get cleared out of the paddy or the area marked. If in the slightest doubt the ground is too soft, the harvester avoids it. Because there are sizable low spots, that leaves big patches needing to be cut by hand.

Both seem to indicate that laser levelling may be a good business to get into. Another good one will be operating a planter. I have been looking at a tractor front mounted unit, just looking though...

[cooked]

Up to 15.5 this afternoon from 13.0 a week ago.

[aussieruss]

Hi all I no nothing about rice farming.I did think about lazer levering afew paddys and take the dividing earth walls out.to make larger paddys .(machine friendly) then set up a permanent sprinkler system.as Iam about to make my dam_pond_billabong_hole in the ground with water in it _lennarm? bigger so after the traditional rain if it drys up i can keep moist what do you boys think rgds Russell

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[Gary A]

I have had a few changes drawn to my attention this year. The harvester operators are demanding payment for damages to cutters. At 4000 baht per cutter rubbish will get cleared out of the paddy or the area marked. If in the slightest doubt the ground is too soft, the harvester avoids it. Because there are sizable low spots, that leaves big patches needing to be cut by hand.

Both seem to indicate that laser levelling may be a good business to get into. Another good one will be operating a planter. I have been looking at a tractor front mounted unit, just looking though...

About three years ago, one of the more adventurous progressive farmers tried planting with a machine with no pulling up and re-planting. It looked pretty good to start with but apparently the yield suffered too much. The past two years he has gone back to the old method. I was hoping that it would work out for him but no luck.

[IsaanAussie]

Apparently a lot of differences other than plastic fingers on the machine. I got as far as the need to have decent soil and the ability to control rain fed water levels. There has been a couple of the small self propelled machines for sale at the local tractor place, but I haven't seen one working. Still it has to come.

[Michael Hare]

I read this forum with interest. I have always calculated Isaan average rice yields at about 400 kg/rai. But then that is a yield across all the rice cultivars. There must be big differences in yields between cultivars and between sticky rice and ordinary rice, yet no one seems to state that "I got this yield with this cultivar" In my grass seed business we deal with many species and cultivars, and yields vary from 60 to 150 kg/rai. We try to maintain seed prices to the farmer to give them a nett income of 10,000 baht/rai.

[IsaanAussie]

HomMali-105 at 510kg/rai for me

[tomjerry]

I have a DC 68. We live half way between Udon and Nong Kai.Been in business 3 years. If I can help you with some reliable service Let me know.I know how frustrating waiting for a Thai style appointment can be.

Regards Keith

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[ubonrthai]

In-laws in Khu Khan, Sisaket got 510kg/rai and sold for 13.5b/kg. It was HomMali 105. They had too much rain this year and said they didn't get as good a price as they hoped. But yield was unexpectedly higher than what they thought they'd get considering conditions. Still slightly below average yield though. They barely got everything done before heavy rain came. A lot of rice still laying out was lost in the area. They only farm 2 rai and hand cut.

Edited November 30, 2012 by ubonrthai

[IsaanAussie]

In-laws in Khu Khan, Sisaket got 510kg/rai and sold for 13.5b/kg. It was HomMali 105. They had too much rain this year and said they didn't get as good a price as they hoped. But yield was unexpectedly higher than what they thought they'd get considering conditions. Still slightly below average yield though. They barely got everything done before heavy rain came. A lot of rice still laying out was lost in the area. They only farm 2 rai and hand cut.

Same location, same yield, same rice but I got 2 baht a kg more! Lucky me...

[TommoPhysicist]

260Kg per rai, over 5 rai, sold for 14bht per kg = 18K

Mothers farm in Petchabun, entirely worked by hand.

Edited December 2, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[Gary A]

A lot of laser leveling machines are HUGE with the smaller ones using a common road grader. Here is a site that you can get one that uses a standard tractor. This may be good for the small rice paddies in Issan. The next question is whether anyone would pay to have their rice paddies leveled.

www.level-best.com

[MrMr]

hi,

Suwannakuha area here. a very dry season with only 3 days of rain worth mentioning and all in the beginning of the season. yield down 40% compared to normal. no idea about prices though.

we only plant sticky rice for own consumption but the 57 bags are not going to be enough for the year.

Check out the System of Rice intensification. I dabbled a bit with it this year. it wasnt spectacular, but we made many mistakes and still had a better result than the paddies next to the test field.

Check out the videos on youtube.

[cooked]

I see that the local rice storage is now offering ฿16.0 /Kg, up from 13.0 a few weeks ago.

[ozzydom]

Mates wife got 20 baht less deduction for 16% moisture near Roiet. Evidentally she had to go to Thai Farmers Bank and register as a grower ,fill in a form with guesstimate of crop weight , this form is stamped and completed with nett weight upon receipt of rice by the processor , the form is returned to TFB and payment is made within 30 days.

[chrisrazz]

Poor harvest, due mainly to lazy family, turn up at 9.30 then eat breakfast, come back for lunch, sleep, go back for a couple of hours then home. Had bring in paid help to finish both planting and harvesting. 50% down on the average. We have prime rice land with controlled water. Going back to share farming next year, we'll get motivated farmers and we'll get the same amount of rice for very little of the hassle. And it'll be cheaper as we won't be feeding the lazy sods twice a day as per this year. I told my wife that if there wasn't a willing share farmer for next year, leave it, I don't eat sticky rice, she can hardly be described as a big consumer and it would teach the freeloading family a lesson. We have never sold rice, always given it away. I'm fed up with it.

[cooked]

Mates wife got 20 baht less deduction for 16% moisture near Roiet. Evidentally she had to go to Thai Farmers Bank and register as a grower ,fill in a form with guesstimate of crop weight , this form is stamped and completed with nett weight upon receipt of rice by the processor , the form is returned to TFB and payment is made within 30 days.

When did you do this? After harvest or what? Nobody does this in our village.

[ozzydom]

Mates wife got 20 baht less deduction for 16% moisture near Roiet. Evidentally she had to go to Thai Farmers Bank and register as a grower ,fill in a form with guesstimate of crop weight , this form is stamped and completed with nett weight upon receipt of rice by the processor , the form is returned to TFB and payment is made within 30 days.

When did you do this? After harvest or what? Nobody does this in our village.

After harvest,while they were sun drying rice.Maybe they dont know about it.

[cooked]

Right, off to the bank tomorrow, I'll let you know.

[khwaibah]

10 baht per kilo in Kap Choeng. 10 km up the 214 towards Prasat 14.50 baht per kilo.

[ozzydom]

Right, off to the bank tomorrow, I'll let you know.

Owing to your interest, I rang the mate to get a clear picture of what they did.

Evidentally some time ago a Govt representative visited the villages to explain the Rice Pledging Scheme, he left the registration forms with the village Puy Yai Baans for distribution.

But as is the way with these systems in LOS, whether for lack of interest or plain ignorance it seems that most villagers did not register,and the registration form is what is used to sell the rice and receive payment from Kasikorn (ex TFB )bank

It seems that the registration forms are good investment,I heard of one woman who paid 5k for a surplus one from a third party and sold her 9tonne of hom mali jasmine for 170,000 baht using it.

[cooked]

Thanks. My wife asked around this morning and basically, corruption and inefficiency seem to be behind the reluctance of villagers to participate. The 'big guy' in the village has about 100 tons pass through his hands every year and he finds the scheme unnecessary. (He used another word). By the time you get the stuff transported to the facility, get 15% deducted for moisture content as well as other fiddles, you get the same as you would on the free market. Last time I drove by (Lamplaimatt) ฿17.0 was being offered, we are able to wait until the price rises.

I admit I don't understand all that is involved with the rice pledging scheme but people around here (near Buriram) seem to be unanimous that it isn't worth the hassle. Maybe the difference in price between fragrant rice that most people cultivate here and the rubbish that they cultivate down south is part of the picture. I have seen rice on the market for sale at prices between ฿24 (our stuff) and ฿12 / Kilo.

[Khonwan]

Hi Dom

Are you sure it is Kasikorn? I’ve no involvement with the rice pledging scheme but most such schemes, including that for cassava, involve only BAAC (Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Tor Kor Sor). I could easily imagine someone describing BAAC as “the Thai farmers bank”.

Rgds

Khonwan

[khwaibah]

Hi Dom

Are you sure it is Kasikorn? I’ve no involvement with the rice pledging scheme but most such schemes, including that for cassava, involve only BAAC (Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Tor Kor Sor). I could easily imagine someone describing BAAC as “the Thai farmers bank”.

Rgds

Khonwan

Your correct.. http://www.baac.or.th/baac_en/

This is the bank in the communities that most if not all local farmers go for financing This is also the bank that they have to go to cash their check on the 20 baht schema. Most of these farmers are in debt to this bank on back loans and can not pay so these farmers can not use this schema as a result they go for the cash price.

[Pormax]

Re selling rice to bank. This I got from my Mrs. Some of her family do this and she is going to do the same next year.

First she has to take her Chanod (somewhere) and register as a 'farmer'. She then gets a slip of paper confirming this. Next she has to inform the Puy Yai that she wishes to sell rice to the bank and register for the amount of tons of rice she wants to sell each year. Appaently can give less tonnage if yields low but cannot sell more than stated to the bank. I would suggest that this is to stop people buying rice at 13 to 15 B a kilo and then selling for 20B. Apparently there ae two companies that do this. With the one her family deals with, she has to be a former customer of the Farmers Bank (BAAC).

After harvesting has been completed (normally early in the new year, someone (presumably from the bank) visits to see how many tonnes you wish to declare. A week or so later you go to the bank and collect your money. Normally in April but could be a month or 2 later you get the call to bring in the rice. A fee is paidby the bank towards the cost of delivery (wife says last year was 200B per tonne).

If when you havbe to deliver the rice to the 'bank' you have under estimated what rice you have then it up to that person to purchase rice from, hopefully local villagers or nearby, to make up the deficit.

Now from what I can gather a lot of them in the scheme either have large bank loans which they use the sale of the rice to reduce or to repay others they have loans with.

It seems to me there is no big money to be made in rice. My wife has 40 Rai which she gets others to work, mainy family, on a 50/50 split. We pay for the fertilizer which this year was 30,000B, while they pay for getting the land ready, planting the rice, taking care during the growing process and cost of harvesting and bagging.

By the time we took out rice to eat, put some away for replanting next year we had only about 4 tonne so 80,000B.

[somo]

This thread makes me wonder why anyone bothers with rice.

Rice seems to have a mystical value for Thais that compels them to grow it and some farangs too.

There seems to be no profit in it other than you can eat it but logically it would be better to grow a more profitable crop and buy your rice from the local store. If half the rice farmers adopted this idea then the price would rise and make it viable to grow.

[cooked]

This thread makes me wonder why anyone bothers with rice.

Rice seems to have a mystical value for Thais that compels them to grow it and some farangs too.

There seems to be no profit in it other than you can eat it but logically it would be better to grow a more profitable crop and buy your rice from the local store. If half the rice farmers adopted this idea then the price would rise and make it viable to grow.

If you were to look at the quality and emplacement of much of the land here in Isaan you would wonder that anything can be cultivated at all. You can dig holes in it for fish or plant rice. I agree that rice cultivation is a bad deal but we have tried various crops and the expense involved in buying pesticides and fertilisers made any profit even lower than that to be gained with rice. Not many crops will grow when they are periodically immersed in water for days at a time. We planted out cabbages and stuff after the rice was harvested but we know that it won't make us more than a few thousand Baht.

[chrisrazz]

A lot of rice land in our area (na wang) has been turned to sugarcane. Not sure of tonnage per rai, always get a convoluted answer that requires more questions. This is a result of a sugar mill opening in the last 3 or 4 years. Nearby we a little engineering shop turning out weigh bridges for trucking and consolidation points, tractors are being converted into 'scorpions' as my wife calls them, to lift and load the cane into the trucks, so the mill has had quite an impact on the local economy. The transfer stations are buying for 1080 baht a ton right now, last year the price dropped as the season progressed. It is all hand cut around here and there are cutting crews for hire. A small cane harvester on contract would help get the crop into the mill quickly to take advantage of the better early season price. Trucks are rumbling through the night. The main problem seems to be the length of the queue at the mill, which creates havoc on the road, plus the inevitable overloaded trucks that roll over.

We tried to grow winter rice a couple of years ago, we have a creek that runs through our place, that providing it's not blocked upstream, we can divert easily. The local seed merchants don't seem to carry seed stock so we ended up with old seed that did grow but not with great results, enough to feed the animals. I would like to try again if I can get some quality seed.