Vegetable farming

[muratremix]

I see lots of topics about casava, rubber, pigs, fish, catfish but never encountered one big topic about vegetable farming.

I hope I get all the answers I need and perhaps help others seeking similar questions.

I plan to build a greenhouse to produce vegetables to sell, but before doing that I want to produce something on a plain land with well water/electricity and see how it goes before invest big money on greenhouse.

We have a house land of 2 rai with electricity. Cost of putting underground water + pump is around 14K baht. There is water underground next to our land so I'm pretty sure we'll also find it. However I really would like to know if it is a good idea to use water from underground. Considering drop watering system, it shall not use too much water, thus electric in process. Let me know if I'm wrong.

I have thai green beans (long ones) and cucumber in my mind. However I have no idea how many kilograms to yield per rai so I can't forecast estimated returns. My brother-in law's wife's mother is producing green beans without water (she produces in rainy season) and they claim to make pretty good money over this.

I would like to hear about your opinions and experiences in vegetable farming.

[David48]

I know next to nought about vegetable farming in Thailand, but I do have one question for you ...

Why the desire to build a greenhouse?

What's it's purpose?

.

[zeichen]

my thought exactly david.

Before spending one baht on any construction. Go find some local farmers, become friends, sit and eat with them (eat everything that they eat, drink everything that they drink) find out what they use, and how the build.

Leave your western ideals and aesthetics behind, If you build things using western styles of material, construction etc. you will not make profit. Learn to do things cheaply and efficiently. Local Thais that farm excel at doing things cheaply, you later can discover ways to make things more efficient, but start out as everyone else does.

before choosing mono crop, find out what is in demand, learn the harvest cycles. You don't want to be harvesting when the product receives less money. But you also don't want to grow so off season that your production rate is decreased.

personally, for a small plot of only 2 rai, I would just do 2 mixed vegetable patches, start one a month or 2 after the other so you get separate harvests.

Really on 2 rai of a mono crop you will be lucky to make more than 10-20k baht a year after calculating, water, fertilizer, (pesticides or management) and labor for harvest.

Mono cropping is for large scale farms and not as effective or financially viable for small scale.

Perhaps examine sufficiency economy and look at the King's New Theory on how suggests to utilize a small holding of land. Sustainable farming might be better suited.

[cooked]

I came to Thailand with many ideas on paper for farming here, I came up against resistance, 1/ from the family, 2/ from the soil and 3/ from the climate. As mentioned above, you really should look around for a year or so, visit the local market, establish what price you will get from the middle man.

My SIL tried with tobacco (amongst other things) and made a small profit despite pesticides being necessary. The following year everybody planted tobacco and the profit disappeared. So it's back to rice and Plaa nin, plus a small mixed vegetable plot. I proposed Prig Thai when I first got here, ฿350/Kg in the market. I started a small plot and couldn't make the bloody things grow for instance.

[Issangeorge]

If you just have two rai, maybe you should look at aquaponics. I have been reading about them and may start a small set up as a hobby. However I'm sure I will get no help from my wife so probably not.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[David48]

If you just have two rai, maybe you should look at aquaponics. I have been reading about them and may start a small set up as a hobby. However I'm sure I will get no help from my wife so probably not.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Here is the link to the current Aquaponics subject being discussed.

.

[loong]

I grow veggies on a very small plot near the house. If the plot was any further from the house, I would harvest nearly nothing.

It's regularly raided by thieves, but luckily just for what they can eat.

My bamboo is getting thinner and thinner. I tell the missus not to take all the shoots as I want the bamboo to grow. She may as well have taken them, because 2 days ago, they were all gone.

2 rai may no be a large size, but you can expect losses because of theft where the land is furthest from your house. If the land is remote from your house, losses may be higher than you can bear.

[Jotham79]

We have done most common vegetables and many fruits over the last 15 years and I can tell you that you will be hard pressed to show a profit if you don't do all you own work AND sell all of your produce retail. Even then cucumbers and long beans are not the best choices. I know Thais making a living (10,000) a month farming vegatables on 2 rai with a water source. They plant a single crop, harvest and plant another (usually different crop) and continue as fast as possible. Ocassionally they will plant tomatoes or peppers in the beds with coriander or greens to get 2 crops at once and they have a very good idea of what prices will be when they harvest. and they work there butts off. Some veggies are grown under shade cloth, but I wouldn't go anywhere near large investments in structure until you have some experience. For the next year visit a couple of the local markets and see what is cheap and what is not to learn the seasonal trends (ie everything is expensive at Songkran). Tomatoes are expensive during the rainy season, because they are extremely difficult to grow. Depending on your location and market and with only 2 rai of land I would look only at specialty items. If you just want to be self sufficient, then that is doable.

[David48]

I grow veggies on a very small plot near the house. If the plot was any further from the house, I would harvest nearly nothing.

It's regularly raided by thieves, but luckily just for what they can eat.

Newbies probably underestimate the 'night-time harvest'

.

[rice555]

Hello All, net/greenhouses can cut down on use of cides over open field grown.

Most all the large hydro farms in LOS are net/greenhouses. I haven't seen him

post in a while, Silentnine was growing hydro lettuce, I believe in a net house.

Start small with a plan, just keep adding as needed.

rice555

[kickstart]

I do a lot of riding in this area ,I am all way's seeing the black plastic sheet being put down,ah another one trying cucumbers, normaly they do it once, make a loss then give up . My neighbour grows, them a bit more than a Rai ,the last lot he did, 2 monthes ago the weather was to hot, made next to nothing .Now trying again ,but our/his land is old rice paddeys, dose not drain.when the rains come they get waterloged, reduce's yeild, he has got us to haul the cucumbers to his with our tractor,to wet for his pick up, another cost for him.a pain for me as he whants the tractor when I am at work,no one else can drive it, esp back the trailer ,another headache for him to organize.

He like us has only 4 Rai of workable land,about 2 Rai can only use duing the hot season, when the rains come , the land sits in water, he did sell at 6 bart/kg fixed price not a bad idea you,know what you are getting can do some some form of a budget,

.

For water about drained 2 fish ponds dueing the hot season ,that not enough started to use his other neighbour's fish pond cucumbers need a lot of water, this year, he grow a bit maize as well , 2 rai, got 6 bart/kg ,good price but take off eletric for water pump ,seed,fert,ect .away did not make a lot .

Last year grew cucumbers and beans,in the hot season, then spent 4 monthes of the year working as fitter in Isan ,I supose to pay off his debt's and pay for his wifes pick up.

All this fits in with the above postings ,I could go on but it might give you a practical idea of what to expect on limited land

Yours Reg

KS

[IsaanAussie]

This page is interesting. There are a few of you that I have followed as my own farm plans have unfolded. Perhaps I should say unraveled. Despite the disappointments, if you want to farm here what are you going to do? Keep trying I suppose. I certainly have no intention of giving up but must admit it is harder than I thought it would be and many familiar things just wont grow well. Growing potatoes here for instance remains a complete mystery to me. However sweet potatoes, snap.

But one thing remains fixed in my mind and that is at small scale you can never concentrate on any one thing. Try to make a little bit of profit off as many things as possible. Mushrooms are new for us and going well but nowhere near what I hope they can be. Time will tell on both body and bank account.

[Farang Paul]

I have been farming here for 7 years now and have had varied levels of success.

If you want to make money (not just an existence), then rubber and palm oil is the way to go but you need 20 rai or more to make it truly viable.

Whilst waiting for my rubber to mature I tried growing cucumber, gourds, sweet corn and chillies.

Growing was not the problem - selling was. Cucumbers were a nightmare, Thai people are very fussy about the size and shape they will buy. You have to crop every day, then get the crop washed, sorted and bagged, then find someone willing to buy. Some days the price was good - some days I came home with half the crop.

I then put 15 rai to sweet corn and sold the crop on the stalk, i.e. the wholesaler cut and collected the crop. Apart from the mess they left behind and the carnage the caused to my access road, this was much the best way to go.

I then used the pond I had dug for supplying water to farm tilapia. Losses to herons and locals fishing made this not very rewarding until I netted the pond and got my brother-in-law to inform the local residents that I was now in possession of a gun which I was happy to lend him anytime.

Now my palm is bringing in a regular income (35k per month from 20 rai) and the rubber will start to cut next year I am giving up on cash crops and planting hardwood trees and expanding my fish pond which is currently 25 x 40 metres.

Finally, without the support of my extended family I could never have made a go of this enterprise. Local knowledge is invaluable, plus having family nearby to keep a watch on all that happens is important.

Good luck, hope you can make it work.

[soidog2]

Above post is on the money; in a nutshell, if you want to make money, stay away from vegetables; unless you are extremely experienced have fertile land and a dedicated family & crew.

[arby]

plant haas avocadoes

[bunnydrops]

I am still learning. The heat will kill almost anything even with good shading and water. 38C and higher--forget it. Somethings do seem to grow during everything, the sweet potatoes are one, I can't seem to kill them ( I'm still trying). Peanuts do well.

The locals that seem to make a "living" rotate between the usual basic crops. They seem to know when to plant, but at selling time the market is over loaded with that crop.

So far, its just a hobby, sill looking for that "something different" that will sell.

Not sure why but we don't have much stealing here. Maybe because they are all farmers in the same boat. We have a Mango tree that produces this small sized Mango the everyone loves here. No one will take from the tree but if it is on the ground it can be taken. I think because if someone does'nt eat it the cows will. We have to get up early in the morning if we want to get the full crop.

[bunnydrops]

plant haas avocadoes

I myself have thought about that, but doesn't that have to be grafted?

[David48]

plant haas avocadoes

I myself have thought about that, but doesn't that have to be grafted?

Most fruit trees benefit from a good root stock.

Often done in Thailand (just from reading another's post here some time ago)

.

[muratremix]

Well,

The reason I wanted to do vegetable farming over Rubber (Palm won't work on Isaan) is that rubber price is constantly going down (Perhaps due to excessive amount of rubber available in Market thanks to the people planting rubber everywhere they can find, including self-claimed land (no-mans-land) with no paper) and it won't make good money unless you have more than 15-20 rai good sized rubber trees.

To be honest, I have no experience in Farming, I just know how things work in my Homecountry. Vegetable seems to be more expensive here in Thailand than in my homecountry and I don't see big farms / greenhouses that produces vegetables in mass scale. Again in Homecountry, we have tons of Greenhouses to produce vegetables 12 months a year. I read somewhere that greenhouses is too new into Thailand and there are around 680 rai land of Greenhouses available which seemed pretty low.

I'm trying to create a self sufficiency to my wife's family and perhaps us by farming. I have some money that I'm unwilling to spend for no-chanote-rubber land because of low returns. I figured out since Thai people produce vegetables only when there is rain / water and stop producing them in Dry season, with my eager to spend money on watering systems, perhaps I can produce vegetables all around the year and make profit.

We live in a bad location (Ban Kruat, Buriram) near Cambodia border with not much markets available nearby (no market in South, which is Cambodia, only 1 in west, 2 in north, 1 in east but its far). Of course I can always try to carry goods to Buriram city center to sell for good price, either wholesale or retail but still number of markets are limited.

Producing tomatoes in small / medium sized Greenhouse also bad idea for local market as people are not interested in tomatoes other than putting them into Som Tam. That would be a great idea if our land was close to Bangkok or Pattaya.

Is there any place where I can learn expected yields for Greenbeans and cucumbers per rai? Perhaps local agriculture office?

When I travel to another village here, I noticed a 3 rai cucumber plantation with watering system a few months ago. Now owner is removed everything after selling the crop (I assume they sold to middle man). I heard from their neighbours they made 70,000 baht net after cutting every expensive in 3 months. No idea if these figures are real or just made up to save face. However I can tell it was a good solid work and using watering system plus some nylon cover on top to prevent water loss, keep them always wet.

[Farang Paul]

Muratremix - I don't know where you get the idea that rubber is always going down. It does vary from week to week but if you check there has been a steady increase from 32 Baht/kilo in 2007 to 82 Baht yesterday.

Yes it did reach 120 briefly last year and has fallen since, but the overall trend is upwards. Costs (fertiliser and labour) have not increased anything close to this in the same time period.

My net return on 36 rai is 120k to 150k / month. On an initial investment of 3.1m that is by any investment criteria a good return. However, if you don't have a connected family in this line of farming and you can't put in the time and hard work don't contemplate it.

Cucumbers are hell! - Red spider mites, aphids and other bugs, leaf moulds etc. Plus picking every day. You need to start small as you have no experience (e.g. keep cucumbers always wet as per your statement above and you lose the crop!)

Why would you want a greenhouse in this climate? Please do what the locals do - they have been here for hundreds of years and know how and what to grow in this environment. Thinking that techniques and crops that are successful in another country will work here is a sure fire way to lose money.

Talk to local farmers, copy what they do - then gradually introduce new ideas. Make sure you have a market for your crop BEFORE you grow it. I grew 10 metric tons of the best and sweetest F1 hybrid sweet corn you have ever tasted (seed imported from the USA) and couldn't sell it because the leaves at the top end of the cob were open. Thai housewives consider the cob to be old and stale if the top is open, no wholesaler would touch it and I had to take a loss.

Good luck

[Jotham79]

If you could find the right location, you could put up a market (afternoon or morning) and have it run a couple of days a week at first and charge no rent for the first year. As you improve it with roof and power start charging rent. IF there is a a reasonable number of people inside of a couple of Km, a market is doable. IF the land is in a good location it will give you (after the first couple of years) a steady income while appreciating. Short of that a shop house store with some sort of food (noodles? somtam) can work.

[samuijimmy]

Hello All, net/greenhouses can cut down on use of cides over open field grown.

Most all the large hydro farms in LOS are net/greenhouses. I haven't seen him

post in a while, Silentnine was growing hydro lettuce, I believe in a net house.

Start small with a plan, just keep adding as needed.

rice555

On Samui we have at least six hydroponic farms, mostly growing lettuce, but also Italian Basil and a few other things, under plastic.... and shade clothe.

The plastic helps extend the season, plus also protects the plants from heavy rain...

This grower close to me, also has good luck with Oregano and spearmint, which he's growing in these raised beds.

Although I know of at least two occasions this year, he's lost the entire crop of lettuce, with fungus problems... (he does not use sprays)

Never easy growing crops... one always has to be vigilant and be prepared to see a crop go over night due to fungus or insects

Some of the many types of lettuce this one guy grows

[riceyummm]

plant haas avocadoes

I myself have thought about that, but doesn't that have to be grafted?

Most fruit trees benefit from a good root stock.

Often done in Thailand (just from reading another's post here some time ago)

.

Virtually all commercial fruit trees are grafted. Everywhere.

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uj255.pdf

[riceyummm]

I know next to nought about vegetable farming in Thailand, but I do have one question for you ...

Why the desire to build a greenhouse?

What's it's purpose?

.

So your crops aren't destroyed on all those icy mornings! Sorry, I'm a dick and I couldn't resist.

[David48]

I know next to nought about vegetable farming in Thailand, but I do have one question for you ...

Why the desire to build a greenhouse?

What's it's purpose?

.

So your crops aren't destroyed on all those icy mornings! Sorry, I'm a dick and I couldn't resist.

Well, we actually were saying the same thing ... just that I'd hope the OP would make this self-discovery.

The glass greenhouses are used primarily to increase the growing season by having a hot house in a cold climate back in the home countries.

I was hoping that the OP would 'think' about this.

As saumijimmy points out above ... plastic and shade-cloth is used more often here.

.

[bunnydrops]

I once saw a photos of grapes being grown in a very large greenhouse somewhere in Thailand. Much like the one shown in the Top Greenhouse ad I just saw above. I didn't think much about it at the time, but now I wonder what was the reason.

[zeichen]

I wouldn't consider a shade hut a greenhouse. Isn't a greenhouse purpose to increase and trap the greenhouse gases to increase productivity in cooler climates? The shade houses in the pictures are quite effective for plants that cannot handle direct sunlight or need stronger protection from the elements.

[David48]

I wouldn't consider a shade hut a greenhouse. Isn't a greenhouse purpose to increase and trap the greenhouse gases to increase productivity in cooler climates? The shade houses in the pictures are quite effective for plants that cannot handle direct sunlight or need stronger protection from the elements.

Not exactly ...

Completely different from a ...

'ShadeHouse' designed to reduce the amount of Sunlight and to keep the bugs out.

[soidog2]

Ban Kruat is out of the way, far from any decent market, the transport costs will eat your profits.

Buriram weather is not conducive to growing sensitive crops. (when in Rome do like the Romans do)

The Thai vegetable market is extremely competitive; sellers depend on middle man (pick up trucks) for wholesaling products. The further away from your target market you are; less buyers and bad prices.

If you insist, green houses are not necessary but you will need some kind of protection form the sun (green netting) David's picture above is excellent, bamboo posts with netting will also do.

Without netting, you will loose your entire vegetable crop in one day, this Feb/March, lunch time temperatures were routinely over 105F; with climate change, it is predicted to have longer hot spells.

The specialty growers (cantaloupes/honeydews/melons, ETC) do use greenhouses to control pests & weather.

All decent grapes are grown under canopies, can not deal with the very hot sun and the rainy season.

Best you start small with a large variety and see what works for you.

regards

Edited July 1, 2013 by soidog2

[Jotham79]

For the newbie or less experienced it is hard to beat corn. In the last 3 years I have never lost on corn. Corn is being bought up and converted to ethanol (or bio diesel?) so the price doesn't flucutate much. Even a couple of years ago when everyone in my area got money because of draught, I made money (I have plenty of water). You don't make a ton, but not losing money is half the game. When I get things better organized, I will be able to do alomost 3 crops a year. That will net me about 10,000 baht a ria less expences for BIL. If you don't have plenty of water, don't even think about veggies.