Start a mixed farm in Isaan

[owl sees all]

Has anyone out there had experience of growing sugar from buds in a nursery? Any conversation would be good.

[Mr Kie]

On 5/4/2561 at 6:45 PM, kickstart said:

If you want to make good compost the raw ingredients have to be of some quality, if you put in poor raw ingredients, you will get a poor compost I think I have said before, making compost you will lose nutrients in the composting process and the heat produced will destroy some of the nutrients.

Something I learned a long time ago weeds in a compost heap, take a lot of breaking down, and if any that have any seeds on them, depending on the weed the seeds, they will remain dormant, until put back on the land and they will grow again giving more problems, 

I still say cattle manure is better than compost on a nutrient basis, but if the compost has a lot of long fiber in it that will do the land some good,help aerate the land, encouraging the microbes to work and get some life back into the land.and improve the quality of the land, but on an NPK base cattle manure would be better. 

 please look at this video, you will see it is possible. 

 

[ourmanflint]

Super thread. Thanks to all who contributed especially Mr Kie. You have given me plenty to think about for the future

[Mr Kie]

next project.... 6 solar panels with on grid system, each panel generates 300 watt enough to run the air con, water pump, ventilation. 

total cost will be around 87,000THB

[Issangeorge]

฿87,000 I figure amortized over 7 years you will be paying the same as your electric bill, so no extra cost for the solar. Then you have free electric until the inverter needs replacing, maybe ten to twelve years. Then you will have to replace the inverter, but buy then they should be quite cheap. I have been pricing them, they seem to drop in price almost daily. Please keep us posted on your solar project. I am very interested in solar, ithink I'm a bit old for it, but I'm always interested in real costs and returns to convince other younger folks to go that way.

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[CLW]

next project.... 6 solar panels with on grid system, each panel generates 300 watt enough to run the air con, water pump, ventilation. 
total cost will be around 87,000THB

Could you please give more details about the setup, for example the brand and how to get the contract with PEA for the grid connection. Thank you

[Goinghomesoon]

On 4/5/2018 at 11:52 AM, CLW said:

Another example, basic soil tests are free for farmers. But hardly anyone uses this service. Instead they apply fertiliser like they always did or even more stupid, the salesman tells them.
What a waste of money, resources etc...

Hi CLW could you expand on the soil testing? When my hubby went to pay our land tax a few weeks ago he was asked to account for usage of a government-funded dam in our land. At the same time he was listing how the resource is used, he asked at the office about any classes or help available to farmers on land quality. His sister and husband recently moved onto land next door and have trouble establishing anything more than a kitchen garden.  Hubs was told there is nothing available in our area. So I’m hopeful there might be another office, maybe he asked in the wrong place. If it’s relevant, when in-country we are Isaan-based between Nong Khai and Bueng Kan.

[Goinghomesoon]

On 5/6/2018 at 3:49 PM, Mr Kie said:

next project.... 6 solar panels with on grid system, each panel generates 300 watt enough to run the air con, water pump, ventilation. 

total cost will be around 87,000THB

We have a small home-rigged setup (panel/inverter/storage battery) but no connection to grid since Govt power has not made it to our land yet. We get enough to charge phones and run fans overnight in 2 houses. Has been a game changer for my brother and sister in law who live in a sweat box. 

 

Look forward to reading your updates. 

[CLW]

Hi CLW could you expand on the soil testing? When my hubby went to pay our land tax a few weeks ago he was asked to account for usage of a government-funded dam in our land. At the same time he was listing how the resource is used, he asked at the office about any classes or help available to farmers on land quality. His sister and husband recently moved onto land next door and have trouble establishing anything more than a kitchen garden.  Hubs was told there is nothing available in our area. So I’m hopeful there might be another office, maybe he asked in the wrong place. If it’s relevant, when in-country we are Isaan-based between Nong Khai and Bueng Kan.

Sorry for the late reply.
I'm going to university on Monday.
I can post some shots of the soil testing brochure.
However, the free soil test is nothing very useful.
It's just a quick test to tell you the amounts of nutrients with poor, moderate or high levels.
I suggest you invest a few baht in a laboratory test.

[kickstart]

On 6/2/2018 at 3:17 PM, Goinghomesoon said:

Hi CLW could you expand on the soil testing? When my hubby went to pay our land tax a few weeks ago he was asked to account for usage of a government-funded dam in our land. At the same time he was listing how the resource is used, he asked at the office about any classes or help available to farmers on land quality. His sister and husband recently moved onto land next door and have trouble establishing anything more than a kitchen garden.  Hubs was told there is nothing available in our area. So I’m hopeful there might be another office, maybe he asked in the wrong place. If it’s relevant, when in-country we are Isaan-based between Nong Khai and Bueng Kan.

If you paid your land tax, like I do at your local, Or-Bor-Tor office, Organisation for Administering a Sub District, they deal in local government, and they office probably funded the dam on your land, hence the questions on the dam.

On the agricultural side ,when we got flooded out, and lost all fish in the fish pond ,and when we lost a crop of maize to a drought it was the Or Bor Tor that did all the paperwork, and sent it on to another government offices that deals with this problem  and we got some compensation back.( no such thing as a free lunch, wife had to register all we had and grew with the office  before we could get anything back, more paperwork, and they still come around every year asking what stock we have and what we grow.)

As for land quality, they are the wrong office,

Where to ask for help, your Or-Bor-Tor should be able to tell you where your local agriculture office is, or your local Aumpur and your agriculture college could help. 

[IsaanAussie]

Try your provincial Land Development department office for local soil information.

 

[JaseTheBass]

Could you please give more details about the setup, for example the brand and how to get the contract with PEA for the grid connection. Thank you

Seconded.

It seems much cheaper to buh direct from China, but you might fall foul of the thieves at customs. And, you'll need to find someone to instsll it, which could end in tears.

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[timberpond]

I heard that these solar panel required PEA in-house contractor to perform installation in order to qualify for feed-in tariff... the price seem to be a ripeoff... any experienced forumer could advise? 

[Mr Kie]

this farm is now 2 and half years old.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Mr Kie

[djlest]

On 6/3/2016 at 2:06 AM, Mr Kie said:

Thank you for all commend and valuable advice....i have to be optimistic about it, what i have seen in the past we could make only less than 40k Baht/year from rice alone, which mean we could make only less than 10k per rai...and have to work on something else for additional income. we found up to 50% of the income is spent on food.

Due to we have only 5 rai of land for farming which's too small to do like the commercial one so we have to make use of every square foot and turn it to a better payoff per rai. on the other hand i think instead of making money out of one thing and buy all the things isn't that better to grow all the thing you like have and buy few things that is necessary for life.

There are many of Thai farmers have been successfully with doing a mixed farm, able to generate up to 100k per rai. the key success is good soil and water.

in the attached is one type of bamboo for shoots, i just planted for about 5 weeks and already got the new shoot...pretty fast. this type of bamboo you can harvest it all year round and in summer time price is quite good 30-40 Baht/kg retail price at local market, and a lot of demand for that.

well done for following your instincts and taking a chance. we have also done something similar to you recently. for many years now we have grown rubber (but when prices dropped we gave up on harvesting the crop and just left it now) we also have palms (however getting workers to cut the palm nuts is very difficult in our area so we waiting out that one too. We have also grown rice for many years and Man sap farang.

Recently we also decided to change our strategy and just grow what we like to eat organically, and if we have excess we will sell it at the local markets instead. so basically that means cutting out the middleman and not selling at wholesale at large quantities. but growing and selling organic products gives a higher % ROI. Also we dont really mind so much what happens because at the end of the day, we will always have good fresh produce food for us and our family to enjoy. Lastly its actually a lot of fun learning to grow new and interesting vegetables and fruit trees, some will fail but at the end of the day, you will become a better and more educated farmer. You may find a specific crop that really does well and you can make money from and scale up that one in the future, for example Cacao and coffee may be Thailands next big thing if the new hybrids that have been trained to grow in lower regions, you can also plant these types under the canopy of larger trees as they like shade,
Goodluck!

[Hummin]

Very nice tread. Thank you, and good work and good luck with the future farming and other projects

[djayz]

Hello Mr Kie! I see you haven't posted anything recently. I hope you are OK and enjoying the current rains. Any updates? 

Edited May 29, 2019 by djayz

[zhounan]

It's always a pleasure to read experience about people that understood the real sense of life and the right balance. Respect.

In such era the majority of the people go to metropolis to harm their lives, only a few people are smart enough to pursue the opposite direction.

[plfomylo]

So foreigners can work on their own farm without any problem ? Never seen any in the news !

 

And where is the closest Esarn province (with cheap land) from Pattaya or BKK ?

 

Thank you.

Edited July 3, 2019 by plfomylo

[Tagged]

20 minutes ago, plfomylo said:

So foreigners can work on their own farm without any problem ? Never seen any in the news !

 

And where is the closest Esarn province (with cheap land) from Pattaya or BKK ?

 

Thank you.

Well, I never say without a problem, keep low profile, and you know,,,,,, you never know before you know.

[plfomylo]

On 9/19/2016 at 4:00 PM, Mr Kie said:

this week, just wanna try out, got a hundred of mushroom bags from the neighbor and see how they are growing. my interest is to culture the mushroom and sell it. 

 

is it profitable ?

 

 

[djayz]

On 6/2/2016 at 8:10 PM, Dan747 said:

Wife and I have 8 Rai 10 kilometers north of Ubon grow three kinds of Rice (Wild/Jasmine/Sweet) with a sort of fruit trees, one fish pond with Tilapia and eight hens that provide fresh eggs for not only us but for our family. Next project this year is a couple of Bee Hives for honey and to help the pollination of agricultural crops in the local area. Thanks for your post since I am always looking for the next project-”Good Luck!”

Hi Dan. May I ask how did it go with the bee hives? I too am interested in getting one or two hives, for honey, pollination and to help "save the bees". If you did go through with the project, where did you get your hives? 

 

[Mr Kie]

On 7/4/2019 at 12:44 AM, plfomylo said:

 

is it profitable ?

 

 

do you mean selling mushroom bag or selling mushroom. base on 100 bags we got, we got about 0.5 kg of mushroom a day for total 3 months. we didn't sell mushroom just for our family and give it to neighbor. i think if you really do it for sale you will be profitable, pretty much depending on price at that time. 

[gunderhill]

On 6/3/2016 at 2:06 AM, Mr Kie said:

Thank you for all commend and valuable advice....i have to be optimistic about it, what i have seen in the past we could make only less than 40k Baht/year from rice alone, which mean we could make only less than 10k per rai...and have to work on something else for additional income. we found up to 50% of the income is spent on food.

Due to we have only 5 rai of land for farming which's too small to do like the commercial one so we have to make use of every square foot and turn it to a better payoff per rai. on the other hand i think instead of making money out of one thing and buy all the things isn't that better to grow all the thing you like have and buy few things that is necessary for life.

There are many of Thai farmers have been successfully with doing a mixed farm, able to generate up to 100k per rai. the key success is good soil and water.

in the attached is one type of bamboo for shoots, i just planted for about 5 weeks and already got the new shoot...pretty fast. this type of bamboo you can harvest it all year round and in summer time price is quite good 30-40 Baht/kg retail price at local market, and a lot of demand for that.

doesnt  bamboo require abundant water?

[Mr Kie]

9 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

doesnt  bamboo require abundant water?

to get the bamboo shoot we do need to water it especially in dry season but we don't have any problem with water in our land now. 

[Mr Kie]

thanks you guys for all the comments... after we started running this farm, we got a lot of food to feed family members and more for others, we know more people and more people know us. we got a place to sell our produces. more than that the trees we planted now growing bigger and bigger. at the same time i keep money and invest it in other asset. i pretty sure within 5 years from now, i will be wealthy retired without any problem and stay peacefully in our land. we will use only the interest and never use the principle. 

[Mr Kie]

On 5/29/2019 at 5:32 PM, djayz said:

Hello Mr Kie! I see you haven't posted anything recently. I hope you are OK and enjoying the current rains. Any updates? 

didn't update it here but i always update in my facebook page. yes i will update in this page too. 

[Mr Kie]

fruits and veggies in our land 

[Mr Kie]

before i had problem with uploading pictures, it seems okay now. 

[Mr Kie]

banana tree is now getting too old 3 and half year, will be replaced with the tree (Prayong)

new flock 

sticky rice