#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  What is Thailand's Most Profitable Type Of Farming

## Scottish Gary

Its aways interesting to see the different variations of farming that members on here indulge in. We've had rice,cassava, potatoes, pigs, fish, rubber, mushrooms, bananas and probably a few more that i cant remember. So what is the NO1. What one brings in the most bucks.

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## jojo333

Palm oil

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## Thetyim

> What one brings in the most bucks.


Prices vary, harvests vary, demand varies.
I very much doubt there is a best crop.
The best you can do is to grow 2 or 3 to help even it out and stop having any disaster years

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## hillbilly

I have looked and looked for such a product. Basically, I found out there is no such crop. But, I still have not given up yet.

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## tsicar

> Originally Posted by Scottish Gary
> 
> What one brings in the most bucks.
> 
> 
> Prices vary, harvests vary, demand varies.
> I very much doubt there is a best crop.
> The best you can do is to grow 2 or 3 to help even it out and stop having any disaster years


 
ask the thais:


they make their only profit when there is a disaster.
government loans, bailouts, etc.

all farming in thailand is very small profit stuff; enough to pay for some basic electricity and booze. for the rest of the year you do ok if you are prepared to eat lizards and rice and shit.
trick is to do it cleverer than the thais do. not difficult, and ok as a sideline, but it's probably not gonna support a farang lifestyle.
i saw some do ok on rubber, but you need vast tracts of land and lots of time. 
to get back your initial investment may never happen.

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## Attilla the Hen

Manow (Thai limes).
The price increases every year.

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## dirtydog

Dragon fruit, but you need to be in a high rainfall area, ie Chanthaburi, too much work if your in Isaan.

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## Perota

A neighbor just rented 100 rais to grow ... water melons.

If everything goes according to plan he expects to make a nice profit within a couple of month.

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## hillbilly

When I go upcountry to P-Lok we have a truck come by weekly loaded with watermelons. B5 per melon. I do not see much profit.

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## Nawty

Perota....why not start a thread and document it....get some ideas of what his costs are and what he is putting on it.

Would love to know how much poisons and what type they use in particular.

Take pics.

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## jandajoy

Pomello!

Harvest time here, pretty much.

Being sold for 10-15 baht ea.

retailing at 45 +

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## blauton

what`s with vanillabeans, or medical herbs for traditional chinese medicine....

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## aging one

Wifes family has always padded the farm with baby corn. Always turns a nice profit. Now we are hoping to clean the whole thing up for export.

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## Lum Khaan

Gecko farm…..

According to today’s Thai Raith Newspaper (original posting at http://www.thairath.co.th/content/region/94134') which tells the story of how a remote Issan village in Nakhon Phanom province is defying the drought problems and current economic downturn by exporting dried gecko, earthworms and leech’s. This business model currently has a turnover of more than 10 million baht per month.

China and Taiwan appear to be the primary customers where the ingredients are cooked up and made into a tonic.

Not many rai or heavy machinery  is needed to setup a gecko farm, you just need quick reactions and a long stick to keep whacking those gecko’s over the head.

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## Perota

> Perota....why not start a thread and document it....get some ideas of what his costs are and what he is putting on it.
> 
> Would love to know how much poisons and what type they use in particular.
> 
> Take pics.



Sorry I'm not there full time. Just what I now : specially selected seeds, seeds are first grown in nursery before being put in the soil. No weed killer, workers work every day with the iron buffalo to remove the weeds between the rows. 

I should go back in a week or so, I will take and post more pictures then

And the guy is a businessman, not a local farmer (land is rented),  he has all the right connection to sell his fruits.

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## nevets

The farms around us went over to long banana but i didn't want to , it seems it was a good idea as we are getting 20b a hand and it will go up my wife said.
Our small banana are bringing in a nice little income on the side which is nice. We have 15000 sqm.

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## sabang

Sugar cane is a star performer the last couple of years.

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## El Gibbon

> The farms around us went over to long banana but i didn't want to , it seems it was a good idea as we are getting 20b a hand and it will go up my wife said.
> Our small banana are bringing in a nice little income on the side which is nice. We have 15000 sqm.


Just curious. How many stalks of bananas from a single plant?  It was/is my understanding that you only got one fruiting per plant and then it was useless. It must be quite a process to continue removing non-productive plants so that the others on the rhizome can produce.

E. G.

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## genghis61

> Originally Posted by Scottish Gary
> 
> What one brings in the most bucks.
> 
> 
> Prices vary, harvests vary, demand varies.
> I very much doubt there is a best crop.
> *The best you can do is to grow 2 or 3 to help even it out and stop having any disaster years*


the  family far I'm staying on is managed by gf's b-in-law, smart guy he also works for (sp) _or bor tor_ 3 days a weeks as some kind of farm advisor/inspector so well in touch with trends/prices.

Diverse. They have a mix of crops - some rice, but more sugar, cassava, eucalyptus at 5 and 7 years that they won't sell for another few years, a big new planting of euc last month. Also mushrooms and corn on land they lease out on 40/60 - or is it 60/40 profit share basis. 

But the best income of all has come from the big blue tractor - contracting work. Whenever the $ from a crop comes in it's spent on another gadget/attachment for the tractor - sugar payment a few months back bought some big rippers, and a new Honda for their daughter. Very fortunate that they're in no debt. It blows away the myth of subsistence farming there's no great extravagances but they're certainly not hard-up.

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## Bung

I read an article in the BP about these farmers growing earth worms around Phitsanolouk. Seems they started small and then couldn't keep up with demand selling them to the market gardeners. Easy to look after, may be worth looking into.

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## jamescollister

If you have the time, money and the will to keep going rubber is the way to go. We started tapping our first trees last year and opened another 1000 this year. We now make enough that I have given up work in OZ. Not making a fortune [yet], but will open more trees as the years go by. Just have to hope the price stays over 90 baht and life will be good. Jim

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## dirtydog

earth worms seem to be catching on big here in Pattaya, should be easy to breed as they are both sexes, or is that all 3?

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## Nawty

> If you have the time, money and the will to keep going rubber is the way to go. We started tapping our first trees last year and opened another 1000 this year. We now make enough that I have given up work in OZ. Not making a fortune [yet], but will open more trees as the years go by. Just have to hope the price stays over 90 baht and life will be good. Jim


Always wondered what rubber trees make....tell us per rai what you put in your pocket.

Also, best not to ever rely on a 'price' to stay the same to be profitable, it will tank one day for sure, has in the past, will again.

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## Loy Toy

Mushrooms, and the expensive Chinese type are becoming quite popular here and apparently get a good return at the markets.

My wife has been on to me about doing something and my partner in Bangkok has a farm growing them. Best I get off my mushroom arse and learn more about it.

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## Norton

Always thought Durian would be a good profitable crop.  Anyone know if it is?

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## superman

'Rats' has got to be a winner. Not that I farm. From all accounts Cambodia and Vietnam can't get enough. They must be easy to raise and I believe they breed like mice ?

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## hillbilly

I think you are talking about rice paddy rats. Not that easy to raise...

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## superman

^ Plan B then.

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## forreachingme

Own land and rent it out, seems to be quite a good deal (if the people that rent it are not ...)

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## hillbilly

We own land and rent it out. The problem is that the people wanting to rent it out want to pay less and less. Has nothing to do with being falang owned, the simple fact is that the farmers are not making enough money.

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## forreachingme

Doing some research actually about different crops.

Seen in the past few years 30 to 50% of rice fields turned from rice to Tapioca / cassava in Thailand's North east.

Some facts : rice will give 4 to 6 tonnes per Ha

Cassava give around 4 to 5 tonnes per Ha in the Phils, variety used is for cakes, cultivated in small batches.

Cassava in Thailand was planted for starch and ethanol, the kind they plant harvest 16 to 20 tonnes per Ha !

Philippines looks to have at least 10% of ethanol in the car gazoline and looks for correct crop for this supply.

SWEET SORGHUM gives up to 110 tonnes per HA, me think it is a crop sweet enough to have a good look ! ( i think this is considering 2 crops per year?)




Sweet Sorghum is an "admirable high energy crop." Among the reasons for  this characteristics are: 
- It has two times the photosynthetic efficiency in comparison with  sugar beet, soybean, wheat etc., (its photorespiration can almost not be  measured). 
- It can be grown in all locations going from tropical to very northern  regions (like Manchuria). 
- The quantity of water needed by Sweet sorghum is only 1/3 of that  needed by sugar cane (below 200 kg of water per kg of biomass). 
- Very resistant to droughts (is called also "camel crop" :Wink: , to  flooding, to salinity alkaline conditions. 
- Growth period of Sweet sorghum is short (4-5 months) in comparison  with sugar cane (8-24). 
- Sweet sorghum for its high yield in grain, sugar, lignocellulosic must  be considered perhaps the most promising "food - feed - energy" crop  for twenty-first century. 

The complex makes use of several different technologies, for biomass  collection, treatment and conversion into energy and liquid biofuel. The  most important are: 
- Harvesting 
- Biomass Pre-treatment (grain separation, cane crushing, sugar juice  extraction, pelletisation) 
- Cogeneration (small scale) and, in case, carbonisation 
- Bio-ethanol production (fermentation and distillation)

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## jamescollister

> Originally Posted by jamescollister
> 
> If you have the time, money and the will to keep going rubber is the way to go. We started tapping our first trees last year and opened another 1000 this year. We now make enough that I have given up work in OZ. Not making a fortune [yet], but will open more trees as the years go by. Just have to hope the price stays over 90 baht and life will be good. Jim
> 
> 
> Always wondered what rubber trees make....tell us per rai what you put in your pocket.
> 
> Also, best not to ever rely on a 'price' to stay the same to be profitable, it will tank one day for sure, has in the past, will again.


Can't say how much per Rai, as we have only opened 2000 plus trees, 1000 this year and the others last year, but as I sit in the factory the tappers are making sheet rubber now. Looks to be about 75 kilos. So today I will make about 7500 baht minus the wages etc [ about half] Say 3500 baht in my pocket. Not rich, but will not starve.
We also have the factory and buy rubber off the locals, which adds a few baht more. Jim

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## Nawty

Interesting.....how many rai do you need for 2000 trees ? and is that amount, 75 kilos, about what you can expect every day all year round ? or does it have a season ?

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## jamescollister

> Interesting.....how many rai do you need for 2000 trees ? and is that amount, 75 kilos, about what you can expect every day all year round ? or does it have a season ?


The 2000 trees are spead out through 100 rai, they are the trees that are big enough to tap. The others are small so they are left until they get to size. Most of the 100 rai should be on line over the next 2 years.
80 trees to a rai is what I planted, but some trees die, fall over or are just no good.
The tapping cycle gets very complex, some trees I tap 2 days rest 1, others tap 1 rest 1 and still others tap one rest 2. So the amount of rubber will be different one day to the next, 80 kilos is a good day zero is a bad day.As all the trees are young the output will continue to grow.
There is a lot to the subject and my typing skills are not up to it, but if anyone is really interested please come over [bring some beer]and I will show them around. Jim

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## Nawty

I hope it is not down south...you know the rubber growers down there get decapitated regularly.

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## 9999

Missus' family in Lamphun aren't farmers but every year the women work for about a month preparing Lamyai for sale, I think they're exported. They get paid on a quota and every worker gets about 10-15K THB for the season if they work hard. Pretty good money for village housewives so there must be some cash in it. I've driven past a big Lamyai farm in Lamphun and judging by the surrounding houses, they're doing pretty well. The season is just starting now.

Also, a few months ago these small mushrooms, they call them 'het hop', were in season. The whole family go out and pick them and sell them at the market and to wholesalers if they have enough. Not sure what kind of money they made but the MIL had a new gold necklace.

I knew a woman in Surin with a rubber farm. Not sure how many Rai or trees, but she employed 2 people and worked herself. Hours are a bit stiff, 2AM til about lunch time working the trees. She told me she averages about 40K per month in the hand, but the trees are on land she inherited.

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## jeff2258

Rubber planting is a good investment. Future demand will boost the price and soon Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia will have an agreement to fix the price to USD4.50 per kgs. If this really works than the farmers will make good money from rubber. The biggest demand is from China and India in the near future. If you have enough rain and sun shine in your area, consider Oil Palm. The price of oil palm is going up and you can start harvesting from 4th year to 25 years. I have some good products that can increase  yield up to 200% and it also enhance the health of the trees. To find out more email me at jeffrey.mankf[at]gmail.com

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## Nawty

Wow....200% increase with your magic potion....you must be rich right ?

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## Scottish Gary

> We own land and rent it out. The problem is that the people wanting to rent it out want to pay less and less. Has nothing to do with being falang owned, the simple fact is that the farmers are not making enough money.


 Im in the same boat. The farmer i rent my land to has told my wife that he will struggle to pay us due to his low turnover. Not our fucking problem give me my cash im tempted to say to him but at the end of the day if the money is not there there is not much you can do about it.

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## Jeremia

My plan is to be self sufficient in LOS and am almost there:-

Mushrooms:- We have 6 huts; each with 6,000 "Bottles" in giving an average of 30,000 Baht a month which covers labour, electricity and food for the family of 5.( I was on Channel 7 last Sunday!!). We will build a couple more huts next month and eventually grow 2 types..This will give more profit with no increase in labour.

Land:- 30 Rai Rented out but giving very little return due to inconsistent harvest and poor prices but enough for beer and wine,, :Smile: 

Apartments in Naklua:- We have 2 new studios which we use occaissionally..not enough people renting at the moment but I am not really bothered to pursue things as we are happy to keep them "Just for ourselves"...Maybe in the future things may change..

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## jandajoy

> ( I was on Channel 7 last Sunday!!)



Why ?????

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## Jeremia

> Originally Posted by Jeremia
> 
> ( I was on Channel 7 last Sunday!!)
> 
> 
>  
> Why ?????


We had a visit from the Province Govenor due to a village competition..She was followed by CH7 and they wanted to interview me as part of the community mushroom farm project which we are also part of...

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## jandajoy

Cool. You got a work permit?

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## Jeremia

> Cool. You got a work permit?


No Mate. Our own farm is my wife's and the community farm belongs to the um...community..

I help out during the day ( i.e. doing the jobs that the children do at weekends)..but other than that my wife is the boss ( aren't they all?)..... :Smile:

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## genghis61

> Im in the same boat. The farmer i rent my land to has told my wife that he will struggle to pay us due to his low turnover. Not our fucking problem give me my cash im tempted to say to him but at the end of the day if the money is not there there is not much you can do about it.


in terms of above, the land-grabbing money-hungry family I've found myself attached to have been buying or leasing more land from properties adjoining theirs. 
Being fully mechanised with their own tractors etc the costs of maintaining more land are minimal. 
A consequence is less reliance on local labour - ie more local unemployment as the big blue tractor powers through the fields; they have four houses on the property with people who work 'as required'.  Just the way of the local world I guess - today there are Kampucheans and local schoolchildren picking mushrooms for 4 baht/kilo (cleaned), work local adults won't consider  - but likely take the earnings off their kids.

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## Nawty

> My plan is to be self sufficient in LOS and am almost there:- Mushrooms:- We have 6 huts; each with 6,000 "Bottles" in giving an average of 30,000 Baht a month which covers labour, electricity and food for the family of 5.( I was on Channel 7 last Sunday!!). We will build a couple more huts next month and eventually grow 2 types..This will give more profit with no increase in labour.


Good plan.

How big are these huts ? I have been interested in growing mushies for awhile now, just not sure worth it or not. Got any pics of these huts ?

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## good2bhappy

> Pomello!


7 years till they fruit
orchards are expensive to maintain
Sorry no way

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## superman

> Originally Posted by Jeremia
> 
> My plan is to be self sufficient in LOS and am almost there:- Mushrooms:- We have 6 huts; each with 6,000 "Bottles" in giving an average of 30,000 Baht a month which covers labour, electricity and food for the family of 5.( I was on Channel 7 last Sunday!!). We will build a couple more huts next month and eventually grow 2 types..This will give more profit with no increase in labour.
> 
> 
> Good plan.


Not necessarily. Someone starts something, professes how well they're doing, and everyone copies. This causes a glut and a lowering of prices and the market collapsing. Which is exactly what happened where I live with mushroom farming. 
The same goes for other crops. When the price is high everyone plants that particular crop, resulting in a glut on the next harvest and people getting their fingers burnt because they can't make a profit.

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## Nawty

So then the smart ones plan for that.....nyuk nyuk nyah....


by the way...I meant good pland re being self sufficient.....not necessarily by way of mushlooms.

We are currently self sufficient in rice.....got rice coming out of our fooking ears

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## 12Call

What rate of tax do farmers pay here in Thailand ?

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## Thai Pom

> What rate of tax do farmers pay here in Thailand


 :smiley laughing:

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## Jeremia

> Originally Posted by Nawty
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Jeremia
> ...


This is a very good point..one which I bring up consistently...but we are expanding into different types.. My advantage is that I have a .......... next door that ......... because I ........... him.............. :mid: 

The other thing in my original response was to have 3 ( or 4 if you count each apartment as a seperate income) totaly unrelated sources of income. If one fails, as the apartments have, then it is still self sufficient...if two  or all fail I have enough in the bank to keep me going untill I recieve a pension....albeit at a much lower standard of living... :Smile:

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## superman

My personal view is that there is no profit in farming, unless you inherited the land, free of charge. Thais can't seem to work out, labour, fertilizer, insectidide land cost etc, to overall expenditure. Even if they make a loss on a crop, they will still replant the same crop for the next year in the hope that things will change. They unfortunately don't get the 'Farmers Weekly' that explains this, and therefore are on a course to remaining static within their environment. Or going backwards as per usual. Thai farming is a bollox and the only people that gain are the merchants they sell to. In my opinion.

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## Jeremia

> My personal view is that there is no profit in farming, unless you inherited the land, free of charge. Thais can't seem to work out, labour, fertilizer, insectidide land cost etc, to overall expenditure. Even if they make a loss on a crop, they will still replant the same crop for the next year in the hope that things will change. They unfortunately don't get the 'Farmers Weekly' that explains this, and therefore are on a course to remaining static within their environment. Or going backwards as per usual. Thai farming is a bollox and the only people that gain are the merchants they sell to. In my opinion.


Or even better sell to them.......

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## cattracks

There is a lot to the subject and my typing skills are not up to it, but if anyone is really interested please come over [bring some beer]and I will show them around. Jim[/quote]

Do you really live in or around Boontharik (116 k from Ubon)?????????

If so I'll bring the beer!!!!!!!

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## mikem

There is a world wide shortage of goats. Closest big market is Malaysia. They can't get anything going there because goats like heat & dry feet. Perfect for Issarn.  No black goats.

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## Happy Dave

> Palm oil


Yes Palm Oil, my wifes father has 150 Rai in Suratthani province and he is making big money.

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## Happy Dave

> Originally Posted by nevets
> 
> 
> The farms around us went over to long banana but i didn't want to , it seems it was a good idea as we are getting 20b a hand and it will go up my wife said.
> Our small banana are bringing in a nice little income on the side which is nice. We have 15000 sqm.
> 
> 
> Just curious. How many stalks of bananas from a single plant? It was/is my understanding that you only got one fruiting per plant and then it was useless. It must be quite a process to continue removing non-productive plants so that the others on the rhizome can produce.
> 
> E. G.


No problem, just cut it off and another sucker follows to produce another bunch.

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## Happy Dave

> Originally Posted by Thetyim
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Scottish Gary
> ...


 
All farming in Thailand is very small profit !..........Completely wrong.
Maybe this does apply to Isaan, but in the south they are making big money from Palm Oil and Rubber..............just visit Tesco Lotus in Suratthani, everybody seems to be driving new cars and new housing is going up like mushrooms.
Talking of mushrooms, my wifes mother grows Shitaki mushrooms  and does very well as she has to pick every day over a period of 3 months before having to replant, its really worth a go, just have to build a shed and install water sprays.

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## Udonite

Bell Peppers are very expensive here in Thailand.

Anyone know why?

Are they hard to grow here?

I'm growing some in the garden, they seem to doing be OK.

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## jamescollister

> There is a lot to the subject and my typing skills are not up to it, but if anyone is really interested please come over [bring some beer]and I will show them around. Jim


Do you really live in or around Boontharik (116 k from Ubon)?????????

If so I'll bring the beer!!!!!!![/quote]
    Yes I my be mad but I live about 25 km south/east of Buntharik. The factory is about 7 km south of Buntharik..
PM or email me with a phone number and we can meet up for a beer. Bring a hammock not a good idea to be driving after dark around some parts. Jim

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## albarb

> Its aways interesting to see the different variations of farming that members on here indulge in. We've had rice,cassava, potatoes, pigs, fish, rubber, mushrooms, bananas and probably a few more that i cant remember. So what is the NO1. What one brings in the most bucks.


On a recent trip to Buriram I looked at many, many rice fields, but could not see any Ducks being hearded through these rice fields - like in Bali for instance?
When I asked in the Village I stayed in why they don't have Ducks...nobody came up with a good answer.
Would raising Ducks be a profitable option? Has anyone done this?

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## oldest swinger

We have 350 ducks but the wife has decided to get rid of them. They can't roam through the fields during the rice season and have to be confined to their own ponds. They eat every bit of vegetation and have to be fed. Not sure of the cost but my wife's always moaning about the high cost of the feed.

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## LoongUdom

Anyone tried cashews or aloe?  I know aloe needs to be process on site to keep from dehydrating or oxidating, but every new-age thing under the sun has it in it now.  Cashews are very productive but need to be sold to a processor.  Anyone tried 'um or know the market?

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## sabang

> Would raising Ducks be a profitable option?


Dunno, but if you're into sustainable agriculture a family near us has ducks & fish ponds in a little ecosystem- basically the duck cages are over the water, & the fish eat the duck shit. The rice straw they put down for nesting also makes tremendous fertilizer for their veggie garden. Killer weed too.

Then theres the pigs- not much goes to waste there.

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