Vegetable farming

[teletiger]

Almost 3 crops a year, is like being slightly pregnant. From my experience 2 crops on the whole is the median. Sure you'll get the odd 3 crop year balanced out by the 1 crop year.

You never mentioned where you were. Never expect too much from farming in Thailand 'and you won't be too disappointed.

It's the journey that's the rush.
I'm about to embark on another trek with a slight loss (anticipated) on it's conclusion. 'And I can't wait.

I anticipate a loss not through any sense of despair, but the knowledge that I can afford it and drugs are way more expensive. It's the journey that's the rush. Did I say that already?

Regards.

[Jotham79]

I'm in Petchabun and by 3 crops I mean that we plant year round. I don't plant the whole farm but stagger. To get 3 full crops it takes 13-14 months. Here is what it looks like

The corn in the background is almost ready to pick...it was planted in March when it was soo hot

.

This a corn planted a month or so ago

This corn......well it will be palnted as soon a possible.

We have 3 ponds and can hit every square cm with sprinklers, but we can't hit it all at once without labor. The BIL does it all. We calla guy and tell him what and how much seed and fertilizer we want and he calls back and tells us where nearby to pick it up. I have an old Kubota tractor and BIL does all the digging and planting. When it is time to pick, we call the seed guy and he comes and picks it up and pays deducting for supplies.

Corn is a pretty easy crop to plant and tend.

[Jotham79]

I'm in Petchabun and by 3 crops I mean that we plant year round. I don't plant the whole farm but stagger. To get 3 full crops it takes 13-14 months. Here is what it looks like

The corn in the background is almost ready to pick...it was planted in March when it was soo hot

.

This a corn planted a month or so ago

This corn......well it will be palnted as soon a possible.

We have 3 ponds and can hit every square cm with sprinklers, but we can't hit it all at once without labor. The BIL does it all. We calla guy and tell him what and how much seed and fertilizer we want and he calls back and tells us where nearby to pick it up. I have an old Kubota tractor and BIL does all the digging and planting. When it is time to pick, we call the seed guy and he comes and picks it up and pays deducting for supplies.

Corn is a pretty easy crop to plant and tend.

[David48]

That looks (from the photo) some nice soil.

Good clay content and looks like you are building up the organic matter?

.

[teletiger]

That looks (from the photo) some nice soil.

Good clay content and looks like you are building up the organic matter?

.

The 3rd crop pays for putting back the organic matter. At 1 ton per Rai harvest....that's 2.5 tons per Rai organic matter removed annually (14 months?) from the land. So, to improve the land 3 tons kee vuar/moo (or other organic material) per Rai are ploughed back in. 'And the cost is? 500 baht per ton bulk? Local conditions prevail here.

I agree with David. Nice looking soil. Look after it.

Regards.

[muratremix]

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.

Can you give more information on corn? Whats your yield per rai per cycle? How much middle man is giving to you per ton? It is very popular in the United States but I never encountered a corn farm here in Thailand. I guess they produce it in small scales to eat.

Edited July 4, 2013 by muratremix

[muratremix]

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

Well, I always thought of selling to middle man at large quantities so one time transport shouldn't eat too much profits. However it will be costly to transport only 100 kgs of vegetable to a far market.

By greenhouse, I meant protection against climate, sun and pests. From what I read on rice555's posts, some setups allow 2-3 degrees temperature drops inside greenhouse which allows producing strawberries and cherries in far north part of Thailand. All the greenhouse owners in my homecountry making good money so I thought why not here? It is something Thais will never invest on so there should be a chance for foreigners in this business, depending on what you produce of course.

I still want to setup a small shade house in my village house's backyard to produce some tomatoes and other seeds I brought them from homecountry. However I have no idea how to make a cheap shadehouse here in Ban Kruat (Can drive to Buriram aswell, but Korat is a bit far for my BIL to drive with pickup).

Btw I'm still looking for estimated yields for cucumber and thai green beans per rai.

[Bluetongue]

I grew cucumber on I suppose about 2 rai back in 2010. I also had the striped variety. As well I tried coriander and a white carrot thing which name I cant remember now. So I couldn't say exactly how much I had, maybe 3/4 of that in cucumber. The cucumber did well under daily irrigation. But the yield I have to say was disappointing. At the max I got about 50kilos a day for about 3 weeks or just under. I was able to sell it all locally and it had to be bagged sorted and washed. I started on a second crop which also went well until my BIL got jealous about the water and basically gazumped me. I got all sorts of strange shapes and sizes due to water deprivation. With all mine and wifes labour, plus having to give the sellers something, definitely not worth the effort, however with sole control over the water I would have persisted and I think improved my yield and technique but she wouldn't go into bat for me against the family so I didn't persist for long.

At least one of the dogs who was a puppy at the time now relishes a good cucumber. Now that I have sole control over two good sources of water I'm thinking of doing a drip fed patch but on a smaller scale just as a hobby really.

[Scoop1]

Hi all, wowww after reading this topic I am so glad that I can grow most things in Hydroponics, Muratemix I grew Thai snake beans and wing beans here in Australia through the summer months and it was very hot, 35/40 degrees for a fair period , and they were grown in a broccoli box and I ran them up against a cattle yard, they were unbelievably prolific and never had one problem with them, so do as most have advised and start off small, out in hard light, wind and rain and then you will get a gauge on what is needed .

Cheers

Scoop

[rice555]

Hello All, the other night the wife called me to come see a Thai

farming program on the boob tube, it comes on about 10PM and

show different crops growing all over LOS.

This show was about a rice farmer that gets 1-ton of rice per rai.

He grows cantaloupe in the off season and gets 5-tons per rai.

rice555

[IsaanAussie]

Hello All, the other night the wife called me to come see a Thai

farming program on the boob tube, it comes on about 10PM and

show different crops growing all over LOS.

This show was about a rice farmer that gets 1-ton of rice per rai.

He grows cantaloupe in the off season and gets 5-tons per rai.

rice555

Thats my target (perhaps I should say dream), 1 tonne per rai. Currently with the conventional methods used here in monocropped rain fed areas like Isaan, not possible, the soil is stuffed and water is a major issue in the dry season.

[Lickey]

There was a topic here a few years ago about a fella who had built a greenhouse, he was growing peppers, the whole lot got infested with aphids or something, it was down to inadquate ventilation, so really, i dont think greenhouses are the way to go, unless of course you fit in-out fans, which again will eat into any profits you might make, shade houses are better, they breathe,they break up the big rain drops,

On 2 rai, perhaps flowers, specially the ones Thais like to put on family spirit houses ect, Mrs pays 100bht a week for a small bunch,

And a little rant,, the farmers who destroy there fruit orchids ect to plant bio-fuel crops and rubber are pushing food prices up and starving millions of people, rant over...

[muratremix]

And a little rant,, the farmers who destroy there fruit orchids ect to plant bio-fuel crops and rubber are pushing food prices up and starving millions of people, rant over...

Thats why I'm interested in producing vegetables in the first place. Vegetable prices started to rise and prices will be increased even more in dry season. My wife has another idea. It seems price of peanut is increased from 100 baht to 300 baht per 15kg stack. Of course I have no idea expected yields per rai but again its better to have multiple options.

[tjbricker]

I have researched all types of farming product and if the thais are doing it dont plan on making any money or just so small it is a hobby.

[Morden]

Hydroponics is worth considering.

My wife is experimenting with various vegetable crops with increasing success,

Her bamboo is now cropping well. It needs water in the dry season. Udon Province has a variety that will crop all the year round.

Green beans should do well but use organic fertiliser. I'm told that produces a better tasting crop.

Tomatoes are worth considering too.

Get advice from your local farm office rather than only the locals.

If there is no local market and you have a surplus, set up a stall by your temple wall one morning and see what happens.

[deepcell]

 

 

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)

.

 

 

I plant avocados some year ago, I bought fruits and I used the core. It grew up easily and fast, but it does not bear any fruit! It has years and nothing.
 

[cobbler]

If u hav water .I can tell u from experience that dry season is the best tim to grow veggies. For obvious reasons , supply and demand

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[cobbler]

Zucchini , once they start theres no stopping them

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[Jotham79]

Right now the wife is getting 35 baht/kg for the small Thai tomatoes and 30 baht/kg for chillis and small eggplant (wholesale).  Pak Kwan Toon is getting 10 baht (which is just break even).  Different veggies are expensive at different times of the year.  Sweet corn seems pretty stable.

[cobbler]

[quote name="deepcell" post="8200351" timestamp="1407210845"][quote name="David48" post="6561404" timestamp="1372566994"] [quote name="bunnydrops" post="6561204" timestamp="1372563207"] [quote name="arby" post="6561179" timestamp="1372562608"]plant haas avocadoes[/quote]
I myself have thought about that, but doesn't that have to be grafted?
 [/quote]
 
Most fruit trees benefit from a good root stock.
 
Often done in Thailand (just from reading another's post here some time ago)
.
 [/quote]
 
I plant avocados some year ago, I bought fruits and I used the core. It grew up easily and fast, but it does not bear any fruit! It has years and nothing.
 [/quote]
If the trees are over 5 year old and
no fruit . Find a good fruiting tree , cut bits off put them in hormone powder or I think honey works well. Then graft them .
Pissing rain here

 

 

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)
.
 

 
I plant avocados some year ago, I bought fruits and I used the core. It grew up easily and fast, but it does not bear any fruit! It has years and nothing.
 

Sent from my SM-T315T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app