Is This Right ?

[skitzo]

Hi all

I have the last 8 month reading in this forum about farming and trying to see whitch one i whod like to try on 5 rai.

I dont live in thailand now . butt it whod be some thing fore my GF mom to do and make some money .

Its 3 things that gott me interested is:

1. Dragonfruit if i gott it right its about 350 Bhat / post and 750 post fore 5 rai = 262,500 baht

1 year u gett around 10kg / post ( 750 post * 10 kg * 20 baht = 150,000 baht year

2 year u gett around 50-75kg/ post ( 750 post * 50 kg * 20 baht = 750,000 baht year

3 year u gett around 100kg / post ( 750 post * 100 kg * 20 baht = 1,500,000 baht year

and thay last fore 20 year

2. Makua and this is around 62,000 months from 5 rai , 744,000 baht / year

3. Hoom ( onion ) is 5 rai u nead 1000 kg hoom , thats 1000kg * 40bhat = 40,000 baht .

3 - 4 months to grow u gett 5000 kg - 1000 kg to re grow thats 4000 kg * 40 baht = 160,000 baht ( thats 480,000 - 640,000 baht / year )

Question: Dose this looks right ?

and ya

- worker

- water

- can u sell every thing

- mm

What i know about the hoom is that u gett 5 time what u putt inn , so fore 5 rai u nead 1000 kg and u gett 5000 kg after 3 - 4 months.

You nead to give it water 3 -4 times every weeak , and u gett around 35 - 45 bhat / kg.

Its my GF brother that told me this.

// Robert

[Khonwan]

Hi all

I have the last 8 month reading in this forum about farming and trying to see whitch one i whod like to try on 5 rai.

I dont live in thailand now . butt it whod be some thing fore my GF mom to do and make some money .

Its 3 things that gott me interested is:

1. Dragonfruit if i gott it right its about 350 Bhat / post and 750 post fore 5 rai = 262,500 baht

1 year u gett around 10kg / post ( 750 post * 10 kg * 20 baht = 150,000 baht year

2 year u gett around 50-75kg/ post ( 750 post * 50 kg * 20 baht = 750,000 baht year

3 year u gett around 100kg / post ( 750 post * 100 kg * 20 baht = 1,500,000 baht year

and thay last fore 20 year

2. Makua and this is around 62,000 months from 5 rai , 744,000 baht / year

3. Hoom ( onion ) is 5 rai u nead 1000 kg hoom , thats 1000kg * 40bhat = 40,000 baht .

3 - 4 months to grow u gett 5000 kg - 1000 kg to re grow thats 4000 kg * 40 baht = 160,000 baht ( thats 480,000 - 640,000 baht / year )

Question: Dose this looks right ?

and ya

- worker

- water

- can u sell every thing

- mm

What i know about the hoom is that u gett 5 time what u putt inn , so fore 5 rai u nead 1000 kg and u gett 5000 kg after 3 - 4 months.

You nead to give it water 3 -4 times every weeak , and u gett around 35 - 45 bhat / kg.

Its my GF brother that told me this.

// Robert

I have no knowledge of any of these but I am thinking of doing 1-4 rai of makua after reading Maizefarmer's excellent thread (thank you Maizefarmer). I think you should adjust your expectations downwards though. Maizefarmer states,"Bht 15 - 20 is a fairly average price". He again repeats, "Average would be Baht15 - 20". He also states,"This is a daily crop which will produce for you an average of around 15 kg's per rai per day". I'd work on the lower figure: 15kg per day per rai @ 15 baht per kg. 5 rai would therefore return 1,125 baht per day (410,625 baht per year). And that's not bad at all!

[RamdomChances]

I think you'llprobably find that those figures are possible under optimum conditions,wether you'd get them month in month out is anyone guess.

[Tim207]

I have no knowledge of any of these but I am thinking of doing 1-4 rai of makua after reading Maizefarmer's excellent thread (thank you Maizefarmer). I think you should adjust your expectations downwards though. Maizefarmer states,"Bht 15 - 20 is a fairly average price". He again repeats, "Average would be Baht15 - 20". He also states,"This is a daily crop which will produce for you an average of around 15 kg's per rai per day". I'd work on the lower figure: 15kg per day per rai @ 15 baht per kg. 5 rai would therefore return 1,125 baht per day (410,625 baht per year). And that's not bad at all!

In addition, I would take off 25% if you are going to sell wholesale (as per MF). I am still waiting for the figures MF stated to be reproduced by someone else here. Not that I doubt him, it is more a question of if his figures can be readily duplicated. MF is an experienced farmer so results for others with less experience may turn out to be lower. I hope you guys that started experimenting a few months ago will share your results. I expect I will be a future makhua farmer so I would love to hear your progress.

As for the dragon fruit, your numbers are obviously derived from the experience of a poster in a thread a few months back. The same thing goes for those numbers. It could be that it is easily reproduced but it is hard to say without someone following the directions and getting similar results.

I would say experiment with all 3 and see what works out best in your area.

Edited December 22, 2006 by Tim207

[Gary A]

My wife has maybe a dozen dragon fruit posts growing. It may be our dirt is not good for them but they are growing VERY slowly and so far only one plant has produced. She has had them planted for over a year. Makua and papaya grow very well. Onions also grow very slowly.

[lannarebirth]

It has been my experience here, that when I'm being pitched business/farming proposals, that the expenses to be considered are usually much less than actual and returns to be made are much more than actual. Add 50% to expenses and cut 50% from returns and if it still seems like a good idea, it probably is.

[JungleBiker]

My wife has maybe a dozen dragon fruit posts growing. It may be our dirt is not good for them but they are growing VERY slowly and so far only one plant has produced. She has had them planted for over a year. Makua and papaya grow very well. Onions also grow very slowly.

Hi Gary,

It sounds to me like you are doing something not right (it could be related to soil, fertilizer, water, mulch, weeds...?). Assuming that (like me) you can't read the Thai books on how to grow dragon fruit you might like to refer to this web site from Florida on growing pitaya (dragon fruit)...

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS303

Wishing you good growing and a Merry Christmas,

Junglebiker.

[Gary A]

Hi Gary,

It sounds to me like you are doing something not right (it could be related to soil, fertilizer, water, mulch, weeds...?). Assuming that (like me) you can't read the Thai books on how to grow dragon fruit you might like to refer to this web site from Florida on growing pitaya (dragon fruit)...

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS303

Wishing you good growing and a Merry Christmas,

Junglebiker.

Thanks for the link. It appears that the major problem is that they are not old enough. My wife keeps them weed free and uses cow manure. The manure normally has a lot of weed seeds, but she takes her time and removes the weeds before they get too much of a start. The plant that did fruit is probably at least two years old.

[tato71]

My wife and i are considering buying 50 to 80 rai near Surin and

start growing oil palm trees

Reading your post it seems that the dragon fruit would be an easier farming

business compare to palm.

What is your operating costs for 5 rai with 700'000 baht per year

in gross revenue ??????

With regards

Tato

[teletiger]

What is your operating costs for 5 rai with 700'000 baht per year

in gross revenue ??????

With regards

Tato

Not quite sure what you're asking here. If it's purely operating costs, then the answer is fairly low. One full time staff. During the harvest (may-october) night security depending on your circumstance. 150 bales of straw for mulching.....4,500 Baht. 600 kilos 15-15-15 NPK fertiliser.....7,200 Baht. Electric? diesel? for irrigation......minimal Baht. Some ant powder where needed. Baskets for collecting fruit. Some sort of secure barn, for storage of fruit, tools and fertiliser.

Costs for operating 5 rai are very low. Dragonfruit are fairly insect proof, can suffer from a type of scaley rust, but it's really just a case of pulling weeds and tidying up.

Regards

[teletiger]

My wife has maybe a dozen dragon fruit posts growing. It may be our dirt is not good for them but they are growing VERY slowly and so far only one plant has produced. She has had them planted for over a year. Makua and papaya grow very well. Onions also grow very slowly.

Gary,

Dragonfruit normally grows very fast. Maybe 1.5/2 metres per year. Did your wife grow them from seed? Best planted as a cutting, 30 cm minimum. The roots will not grow downwards very far, but more outwards from the post and very shallow. The biggest danger to dragonfruit is over watering. Twice weekly in the dry season MAXIMUM, as needed in the wet season. They need to be well drained. Mulch them with compost or straw. If using straw, a monthly application of 15-15-15 NPK is needed.

These were planted in march 2005 as 30 cm cuttings.

Regards

[Gary A]

My wife has maybe a dozen dragon fruit posts growing. It may be our dirt is not good for them but they are growing VERY slowly and so far only one plant has produced. She has had them planted for over a year. Makua and papaya grow very well. Onions also grow very slowly.

Gary,

Dragonfruit normally grows very fast. Maybe 1.5/2 metres per year. Did your wife grow them from seed? Best planted as a cutting, 30 cm minimum. The roots will not grow downwards very far, but more outwards from the post and very shallow. The biggest danger to dragonfruit is over watering. Twice weekly in the dry season MAXIMUM, as needed in the wet season. They need to be well drained. Mulch them with compost or straw. If using straw, a monthly application of 15-15-15 NPK is needed.

These were planted in march 2005 as 30 cm cuttings.

Regards

Her biggest one (two years old) is no where near as big as yours. I think she needs commercial fertilizer. They are well drained and are watered several times a week. I showed her the picture and she felt bad because her plants are so puny. She did plant cuttings.

[guyshown]

Teletiger

Your plants look great! when do you excpect them to start producing fruit?

great job

[teletiger]

Guy,

Not my plants anymore. We sold the land to an investment group. Their agent runs it. The last time the plants were fertilised was Dec 2005 when we sold it.

They produced a couple of fruit per post in the first year. Last year (2006) they produced about 25 kilos per post of saleable fruit. There was a fair bit of blossom drop, due to the wet year we had.

regards