Somewhat related to the thread, and an interesting read. Pete
It's easy being green
A hardy band of city folk who chose to escape the big smoke and embrace organic agriculture hope to inspire a new generation of 'green' farmers
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investi ... eing-green (Photos)
Published: 12/08/2012 at 02:14 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum
Anurug Ruangrob, Somporn Panyasatienpong and Wiroj Suksasunee all share a passion _ they gave up the hectic, polluted city life to become farmers of organic crops.
Mr Anurug, 45, was once general manager of DST International (Thailand), a leading software and system solutions firm; Ms Somporn, 41, was a freelance reporter for foreign news agencies; Mr Wiroj, 31, is a senior programmer at Allianz Thailand.
The first two quit their jobs and live in Nong Ree district in Chon Buri province, an hour's drive from Bangkok, as farmers.
Mr Anurug bought the plot of land in Nong Ree six years ago as a place to live after his retirement. He stayed there while finishing his PhD dissertation and by the time he graduated he found a new way of life.
Two years ago, Mr Anurug started to develop his plot of land into a farm, mixing everything _ orchards, paddy fields and vegetables.
In October of last year, Ms Somporn fled the flooding in Bangkok to stay with Mr Anurug and she found life in Nong Ree was everything she dreamt it would be.
"In my Bangkok home, I started to cultivate vegetables for my own consumption because I was concerned about high chemical residues in vegetables from markets," she said. "When I arrived here, with vast land and bright sunlight, I knew my dream of growing green vegetables could materialise."
Ms Somporn stopped reporting for news agencies and now works full time at Mr Anurug's farm.
Recently, the two have been trying to share their knowledge of organic farming with villagers to get them to reduce their use of chemicals.
Meanwhile, in Sing Buri, two hours north of Bangkok, Mr Wiroj has begun propagating seedlings on his family land. It is his first crop so he was careful from the start.
"Thursday, Aug 9 is an auspicious day for planting; I consulted my astrology book and it says it has to be today or I have to wait until next month," Mr Wiroj said, smiling. He said he's trying to do things the same way his great-grandfather did long ago.
Mr Wiroj comes from an affluent family in Sing Buri which owns several plots of land and rents them to farmers. Mr Wiroj came to Bangkok to study when he was young in the hope that he could start a family, finish his studies and get a good job in the capital.
Mr Wiroj did start a family. However, his feelings toward the big city changed. "I am tired of city life," he said. "In the morning I have to rush out of the house and try to get on the underground train to reach the office on time. At lunch, I have to struggle to find a seat in a restaurant close to my office. Then in the evening, I have to go through heavy traffic on the commute home. I want an easier life."
He said he was looking for a way out and decided to return home and work on his family's vast plot of land. To learn how to grow rice, Mr Wiroj went to the Khao Khwan Foundation in Suphan Buri in May. After several months of helping friends in the rice field, Mr Wiroj gained the confidence to work on his own paddy field.
He started with two rai of land just across the street from his family home in Sing Buri. In the next 120 days, his first crop will be harvested.
"I don't have high hopes for this crop," he said. "I have many things to learn before I become a professional farmer. If it works, I plan to quit my job in the next three years."
Khao Khwan Foundation manager Anunya Hongsa said the trend of city dwellers becoming farmers has grown in recent years.
"The main reason is the rising concerns about food safety," Ms Anunya said. "Many reports have shown our food, especially vegetables and rice, contain high chemical residues. Therefore, the safest way is to grow your food at home."
The foundation is an NGO working against chemical usage in agriculture. Its training school teaching people about organic farming has operated for decades.
"Lately, many city dwellers call in and ask whether we can open the course to include them too," she said.
Ms Anunya said about 500 city folk had finished the training course and some of them bought plots of land and started their new lives as farmers.
Besides Khoa Khwan, schools and training centres introducing urban dwellers to agricultural life in rural areas have been opened to meet a growing demand for knowledge about farming.
Prajak Pornprasert-thavorn, a website designer, told Spectrum he has enrolled in several training courses, from growing organic vegetables, raising fish, to building an earthen house. He will take the Khoa Khwan course at the end of this month.
"Currently, I am making more money to buy a plot of land in the future," he said. "I feel that organic agriculture is the answer to what I have been looking for so long."
Ms Anunya said: "They choose organic because it is safer, costs less and there is less work in the rice field when compared to mainstream techniques. [Mainstream] farmers have to go to work every day and put all kinds of chemicals into their rice fields."
It seems that newcomers are rushing in to seek a happier and peaceful life. According to a 2010 Agriculture Ministry survey, there are 3.7 million rice farming families in Thailand, or 20% of the total population. That represents a massive drop compared with 60% 10 years ago. The average age of farmers is 42 compared with 31 in 1985.
Working in the field is considered by many to be back-breaking and unprofitable. A survey on Thai farmers' income and debt by the ministry showed that, in the 1985/1986 season, farmers earned 99,305 baht per family with 52,857 baht in debt. For the 2008/2009 growing season, they earned 132,184 baht per family and had 68,614 baht in debt.
Unpredictable weather and depressed rice prices on the world market have plunged large numbers of Thai farmers into poverty. The situation has led to many of them leaving the sector and many foresee the future of Thailand with much fewer farmers. Concerns over the nation's food security have been mounting.
Chaiyaporn Prompan, a well-known farmer who received an award as a distinguished farmer in 1995, expressed his worries: "Youth have left the rural area to work in factories because they see no glory in the farming business any more. In the future, Thailand might have a serious lack of farmers which will lead to us importing rice from other countries."
Moreover, the Asean Community, which will go into effect in 2015, might put Thai farmers into an even more difficult situation.
At that time, cheaper rice from neighbouring countries could enter the Thai market. Thai farmers have never seen such competition and many fear they are not prepared for it.
The survey by the Agriculture Ministry also showed that the production of Thai farmers in 2010 was 463kg per rai, while export rival Vietnam was producing 845kg per rai.
The Khoa Khwan Foundation said that to shore up the strength of local farmers, organic farming is the answer because it costs less and fetches better prices.
A recent survey by the foundation revealed the total cost of growing rice with chemicals was 6,085 baht per rai per crop, while growing rice using organic methods costs only 1780 baht per rai.
"This includes all types of expenses _ from seeds, labour, fertilisers, pest control, harvest and transportation," Ms Anunya said. "However, a large number of farmers hesitate to switch to organic techniques because in the first two to three crops they will see a lower amount of production and they don't want to take the risk."
Ms Anunya pointed out the newcomers are different from traditional farmers. She said they are ready to accept new ideas and they are not afraid of failure.
"They are driven by concerns of their health and I hope the success of the newcomers might attract more farmers to change their way of farming," she said.
Mr Anurug and Ms Somporn share the same hope.
With the help of Ms Somporn, Mr Anurug has founded a centre of organic agriculture aiming to assist farmers in Nong Ree to grow organic vegetables and sell them on the market.
"We are cooperating with several local government offices such as the district agriculture office and also a group of farmers who seriously have interests in the organic farming," Mr Anurug said.
Recently, the brands of Khao Hom Khun Yai (grandma's fragrance rice) and Green Heaven @ Nong Ree were launched in April.
Brown organic rice and five kinds of organic vegetables from the organic centre of Nong Ree can be found on the shelves of high-end supermarkets in Bangkok.
The rice is marketed on Facebook. If the scheme succeeds they plan to share their business model for free with agricultural communities to promote this new style of green farming.
"We call ourselves the new generation of farmers _ I-farmer for me and E-farmer for Somporn. We are armed with iPhones and Facebook and 3G bandwidth," Mr Anurug said with a laugh.
