Baby Prawns Part 2 - the MFG interviews and pond release ...

[David48]

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Baby Prawns Part 2 - the MFG interviews and pond release ...

Farm Father is driving Miss Daisy Farm Girl

Poor ole' MissFarmGirl ... trapped in the back of the Truck.

I couldn't miss this opportunity to do more interviews!

MissFarmGirl, how many Prawns in each bag?

2,000 Prawns per bag.

How many bags?

Mum, she got 100 bags. and my Dad, 100 Bags

And price per 100 bags?

Don't know ... ... actually she answers in the next clip ...

The other in this series are ...

Prawn Harvesting 01

Wholesale Prawn Market

The Prawn Interviews

Prawn Harvesting 02

Prawn Hatchery buying the baby prawns

[amja]

You´ve got a nice expert too!

[Dancealot]

Humble contribution,

[David48]

You´ve got a nice expert too!

Yes, MissFarmGirl is a piece of work.

It's actually her parents Farm.

If you need another dose, here is her topic ... the-prawn-interviews

But there is a whole series on Prawn Farming ...

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[David48]

Humble contribution,

Thailand20126751.jpg

^^ I should have known that you would have a food photo somewhere!

Below is the Farms Fresh produce ...

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This was the day after one of the harvests ... we kept the best for the Farm's kitchen ...

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[David48]

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Interview 2 ...

MissFarmGirl, price per bag or per hundred bags, how it work?

60 Baht for 1 bag.

1 bag is 2,000?

2,000 Prawns.

And she (Farm Mother) got 100 bags ... mean she she pay for 6,000 Baht

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[David48]

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Interview 3 ...

So MissFarmGirl, we have 200 bags* of Prawns ... where does the Farm (Hatchery) get it's Prawns from?

They got from South of Thailand, maybe Phuket, and they carry the egg, for come here (ch cha sow ... ??) for grow to be baby Prawns, about 20 days and then sell for us.

* Farm Father also bought 100 Bags.

[Dancealot]

That post made me hungry and made me think MFG.

I notice your flower has a lot of water in it in pic #2 on post #5.

When I fry shrimp I just put them in dry flower powder mixed with fish sauce and garlic.. And then put them in the hot oil. Apologies to be off topic, here David, but I am really interested in how she prepared this.

[David48]

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Interview 4 (and last) ...

What is the ... air or oxygen they put in the bag?

Oxygen.

And how you think the Baby Prawn will live in the bag?

About 3 or 4 hours. *

If far from here, maybe 5 or 6 hours for drive, they will put more oxygen (in each bag) for can take more time.

So it's the (lack of) oxygen that will kill them ... not the sunlight (implying a hot bag)?

No ... oxygen ...

When oxygen go away?

Yes, it will make them die ... or not strong.

OK ... but the Sun?

We put the water on the truck for the cover for save warm (keep cool) for them.

So, is it the temperature or the sunlight that is a problem for them?

Both.

Both.

Mai ow (enough ... it had been a long day!)

* Farm Father then says something in Thai ... I don't know if he was commenting on other Thai drivers ability or advising Mod. His English is about 1/2 of my Thai ... which is 1/2 of nothing.

Next post will be distributing the Prawn Fry into the Farm Pond
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[MissFarmGirl]

I like this last one, because it last time David make me talk English ... 555

[David48]

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Baby Prawns into the Pond ...

Farm Father and chief driver ... no-one else drives that truck!

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We counted thm into the back of the truck ... we count them out.

100 bags for Mum ... 100 for Dad.

I stopped in the 90's for counting as my Thai ... not so good!

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2,000* per bag ...

Somehow Farm Mother squeezes into the boat and off she paddles.

* even if it's only 200 per bag ... that's still more then 3 per Baht!

MissFarmGirl's English is actually quite good ... better then what you see through the interviews.

Maybe she is told 2,000 per bag

I'll follow that up at a later time.

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[David48]

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Farm Mother and a full boat ...

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From memory we got all 100 bags into that tiny plastic boat in one go.

Farm mother is probably closer to 60 then 50 ... but shows good agility and great balance in this manoeuvre.

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Slowly paddling around the Pond she distributes them.

This is where the Farmers differ.

Farm Mother is a non-scientific worker. No water testing, no special netting to separate them.

It's sink, swim and survive for the fry.

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[David48]

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Last of Farm Mother ...

So tiny ...

Farm Mother just paddles round the pond releases at random

Her process took maybe 30 mins.

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[David48]

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Prawn Fry to the pond ... a different Farm ... a different method

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Smaller pond, hence a smaller purchase.

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Their fry seem to be larger thus possibly a little more mature then those the Farm bought in the earlier posts.

Apparently this Farmer had bought a small sample earlier and rather then test the water using a chemicial analysis, he grabbed some Pond water and made sure they survived overnight.

He lives quite close to the Hatchery, so an easy procedure for him.

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No idea what he's looking for!

So, a different release method, just at the ponds edge ... though it's a modest sized pond.

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[shaggy1969]

Hi David and Missfarmgirl

How many out of the 200,000 shrimp that were released into the big pond will survive and make it to the market?

[David48]

Hi David and Missfarmgirl

How many out of the 200,000 shrimp that were released into the big pond will survive and make it to the market?

Sadly there isn't any statistics kept of any sort ...

I reckon that the Farm Mother doesn't even do the most basic of Business modelling, that being ...

Farm Input costs less Gross Profit = Actual Profit

She buys the Prawn Fry, 3 months later sells the Prawns, buys more Prawn Fry, buys the Fish food, 9 - 12 months later sells the Fish. The Fish catch is the money earner. The Prawns simply are grown for cash flow.

Farm Mother then smiles as she collects the money from the Fish sales, pays back the money she owes to relatives, goes to the Pawn Shop (the other one) and buys back MissFarmGirls gold necklace she hocked, we all go out for a nice meal (1,200 Baht for 9 of us) and then hops on the round-a-bout again.

Sad but true.

That's where an enquiring mind with some basic accounting skills and some Farming knowledge can add to that gene pool.

So, in answer to your question .. no idea ... but thanks for asking ...

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Edited June 21, 2013 by David48

[shaggy1969]

Maybe you could coax them slowly but surely in the right direction.

[David48]

Maybe you could coax them slowly but surely in the right direction.

Maybe ...

But first they have to want to care,

then they have to want to change,

then they have to accept that a Farang could add anything positive to their Farming Practise ...

I wonder ... ... won't be a priority of mine ...

BTW ... a few posts up should read ...

Gross Profit costs less Farm Input costs = Actual Profit

Edited June 22, 2013 by David48

[shaggy1969]

Well David,Ma and pa aren't getting any younger......have you and MissFarmgirl got any plans to take over the fish farm when they get too old to do it themselves?

[David48]

Well David,Ma and pa aren't getting any younger......have you and MissFarmgirl got any plans to take over the fish farm when they get too old to do it themselves?

To be honest ... no.

We plan for a life in Australia.

Plus it's a little more complex because only one of the ponds are owned by the Family ... all the other ponds used on the Farm are rented from relatives of the Farm Father.

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Speaking of the Farm Father, doesn't drink, he smokes, but not much and has high cholesterol ... but fitness for Farm life, I reckon he'll still be plugging away in 10 or 15 years time.

[lxquick]

releasing like this is not the recommended way. temperature shock is your main enemy as is salinity change.

accepted method is to immerse the bags in the receiving water to adjust the temperature for a while. then slit open the bags to mix the waters and then let the contents swim out by their own accord when ready. this is what is done for fish any ways. looking at those bags out uncovered in the hot sun for an extended period cant be good.

but me i only on the theory side no hands on experience in mass culture.

[David48]

releasing like this is not the recommended way. temperature shock is your main enemy as is salinity change.

accepted method is to immerse the bags in the receiving water to adjust the temperature for a while. then slit open the bags to mix the waters and then let the contents swim out by their own accord when ready. ..

There is some merit in what you suggest.

Like most things in Thailand ... everyone different, everything different.

The Farm Mother releasing the Prawn Fry into the Pond

Temperature adjustment method as the Farm Father does it

Counting the bags out of the truck and into the pond.

Poor ole Farm Father ... we loaded some bags into the Mothers Pond first and just as he was about to drive off to his ponds, MissFarmGirl and her sister nicked a few more out of the back of his truck, so he ended up being 4 bags short.

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