Planting rice or not?

[somo]

Most of the major crop prices are down including rubber, cassava/tapioca/man sapalang, rice, etc. We only grow rice for the families consumption on a small bit of land that is no good for anything else. Most farmers here now try to do a rotation where they do a 5 month rice crop when rainy season starts and then 7 months of cassava on the same land in dry season. Yields are poor for both but it keeps the land busy year round and they do make about double what they would off only one crop.

We have rubber and cassava, if I didn't have people who needed work I would only do the cassava as it is about the same money with no 5-7 year waiting period. If I didn't already have the land I wouldn't even think of farming these days. If you factor in the price of the land you can't even meet inflation on farming returns these days.

Would you mind to elaborate a bit on that? If one has 20 rai of land and paid 1.6M baht for it and gets two crops of rice per year what kind of net return (percentage wise) is one likely to see? Net return assuming labor cost of 300 baht a day in planting, harvesting and take the rice to the local warehouse. Also to consider some rice to sow for the following year but not rice for family needed. Also can wait out and get better price after the rush sale.

Cheers

Anyone who pays 1.6m for 20 rai of paddy land is mad. 80k/rai! Be lucky to make any profit on rice anyway.

In my area of Chayaphum most folk only grow rice for their own consumption. Any excess may be sold locally to provide a bit of cash but in general it is not thought of as a business. For cash we grow cassava. We were lucky and bought some land cheap a while ago but also rent about 30 rai. I can earn about 4-5k/year/rai profit on average which gives me a return on my outlay ( the cost of planting etc etc) of about 80-100% a brilliant return. I only harvest half my land each year as the rest stays in for another rainy season and doubles the yield for very little extra outlay.

[khwaibah]

Most of the major crop prices are down including rubber, cassava/tapioca/man sapalang, rice, etc. We only grow rice for the families consumption on a small bit of land that is no good for anything else. Most farmers here now try to do a rotation where they do a 5 month rice crop when rainy season starts and then 7 months of cassava on the same land in dry season. Yields are poor for both but it keeps the land busy year round and they do make about double what they would off only one crop.

We have rubber and cassava, if I didn't have people who needed work I would only do the cassava as it is about the same money with no 5-7 year waiting period. If I didn't already have the land I wouldn't even think of farming these days. If you factor in the price of the land you can't even meet inflation on farming returns these days.

Would you mind to elaborate a bit on that? If one has 20 rai of land and paid 1.6M baht for it and gets two crops of rice per year what kind of net return (percentage wise) is one likely to see? Net return assuming labor cost of 300 baht a day in planting, harvesting and take the rice to the local warehouse. Also to consider some rice to sow for the following year but not rice for family needed. Also can wait out and get better price after the rush sale.

Cheers

Anyone who pays 1.6m for 20 rai of paddy land is mad. 80k/rai! Be lucky to make any profit on rice anyway.

In my area of Chayaphum most folk only grow rice for their own consumption. Any excess may be sold locally to provide a bit of cash but in general it is not thought of as a business. For cash we grow cassava. We were lucky and bought some land cheap a while ago but also rent about 30 rai. I can earn about 4-5k/year/rai profit on average which gives me a return on my outlay ( the cost of planting etc etc) of about 80-100% a brilliant return. I only harvest half my land each year as the rest stays in for another rainy season and doubles the yield for very little extra outlay.

Know personally of 8 rai that was sold for 1.6 million and that is Thai to Thai and yes it is only for rice 1 corp per year.

[Ace of Pop]

Those Rice buyers and Ferty / Chem merchants regret buyin all dem BMs now[emoji23]

[somo]

Most of the major crop prices are down including rubber, cassava/tapioca/man sapalang, rice, etc. We only grow rice for the families consumption on a small bit of land that is no good for anything else. Most farmers here now try to do a rotation where they do a 5 month rice crop when rainy season starts and then 7 months of cassava on the same land in dry season. Yields are poor for both but it keeps the land busy year round and they do make about double what they would off only one crop.

We have rubber and cassava, if I didn't have people who needed work I would only do the cassava as it is about the same money with no 5-7 year waiting period. If I didn't already have the land I wouldn't even think of farming these days. If you factor in the price of the land you can't even meet inflation on farming returns these days.

Would you mind to elaborate a bit on that? If one has 20 rai of land and paid 1.6M baht for it and gets two crops of rice per year what kind of net return (percentage wise) is one likely to see? Net return assuming labor cost of 300 baht a day in planting, harvesting and take the rice to the local warehouse. Also to consider some rice to sow for the following year but not rice for family needed. Also can wait out and get better price after the rush sale.

Cheers

Anyone who pays 1.6m for 20 rai of paddy land is mad. 80k/rai! Be lucky to make any profit on rice anyway.

In my area of Chayaphum most folk only grow rice for their own consumption. Any excess may be sold locally to provide a bit of cash but in general it is not thought of as a business. For cash we grow cassava. We were lucky and bought some land cheap a while ago but also rent about 30 rai. I can earn about 4-5k/year/rai profit on average which gives me a return on my outlay ( the cost of planting etc etc) of about 80-100% a brilliant return. I only harvest half my land each year as the rest stays in for another rainy season and doubles the yield for very little extra outlay.

Know personally of 8 rai that was sold for 1.6 million and that is Thai to Thai and yes it is only for rice 1 corp per year.

I know, there is a lot of madness around. It is a nonsensical thing to do for the purpose of growing rice but there is a lot of speculating on land prices which might rely on a change of use in the future. Land speculation is something else.

[Dakling]

^

I figure pretty impossible to turn a profit on rice if you are paying 80k per rai up front and then doing it all contract plowing, labour, harvesting, etc. Just because the Thai's are willing to pay that kind of money doesn't mean that they will make a good return on the money. Many Thais I know who have a bit of money don't have a clue what to do with it. They only consider buying rental properties, buying land, buying gold or putting it in the bank at very low interest rates (likely below inflation). They don't know about, understand or trust equity investing so they buy what they understand. If they don't buy something with the money then as soon as their friends and family hear about it they will be getting hit up for loans too. I know in my wife's family they love their parents, their kids and their land, everything else comes second, (though depending on the individual the order as I listed might be reversed).

Edited December 6, 2015 by Dakling

[chiang mai]

The farmer very close to me has just sowed seed rather than plant seedlings, looks like he's hedging his bets.