Thailand's Dismal Rice Yield

[Mjkt]

I've known for a number of years that countries like Vietnam are poised to take over as leading rice exporters in SEA....

Thailand exports more than twice Vietnam's rice and is only second to India in the world order. You cannot compare Isaan rice to the main source of the Thai central plains which is fully industrialized, better irrigated and doing three crops per year.

[Sam1925]

To my surprise, my father in-law took our poop tank and had them take it to his rice farm and that was the last time I ate his rice.

[parrot]

I've known for a number of years that countries like Vietnam are poised to take over as leading rice exporters in SEA....

Thailand exports more than twice Vietnam's rice and is only second to India in the world order. You cannot compare Isaan rice to the main source of the Thai central plains which is fully industrialized, better irrigated and doing three crops per year.

I think those numbers have changed
https://www.statista.com/statistics/255 ... hat%20year.

[pipoz4444]

I've known for a number of years that countries like Vietnam are poised to take over as leading rice exporters in SEA....

Thailand exports more than twice Vietnam's rice and is only second to India in the world order. You cannot compare Isaan rice to the main source of the Thai central plains which is fully industrialized, better irrigated and doing three crops per year.

Have tried some (only some) of the Vietnam rice over the years, but I still think the Thai Jasmine rice is better. But that is just me.

pipoz4444

[glalt]

To my surprise, my father in-law took our poop tank and had them take it to his rice farm and that was the last time I ate his rice.

There is a pig farm close to one of my wife's farms. The pig farm has a pit for the manure and a tank truck to spray the manure. She used that on one large paddy. She wasn't at all impressed and that was the only time she tried it. She said it just wasn't worth the extra money.

[Mjkt]

I think those numbers have changed
https://www.statista.com/statistics/255 ... hat%20year.

Interesting thanks. It seems I was looking at exports by the dollar, https://www.worldstopexports.com/rice-exports-country/ whereas if you go by metric tonnes the tables turn.

[parrot]

My wife and I eat rice pretty much every day, me for every meal except breakfast, she all day. When we go out to eat, we can usually judge a restaurant by the quality of their rice......if the rice is good quality and cooked just right, more often than not, the food is equally good. When we visit Texas (last year for 13 months), we buy whatever whole grain jasmine rice is cheapest at the Asian markets......and for the past few years, Vietnamese jasmine is cheaper by several dollars/25pound. We can't taste the difference.
I know the government would like to think the quality of Thai jasmine is beyond compare.......I'd guess it's like coffee beans or wine.....the connoisseurs can distinguish hints of this or that.....but we generally judge rice more by the quality of the grain and how well it cooks.

[rick]

To my surprise, my father in-law took our poop tank and had them take it to his rice farm and that was the last time I ate his rice.

A lot of human waste is used as fertiliser in agriculture. You just don't know it when you buy from the market. I have no problems with use on rice - it is only the seeds you eat and they are milled and cooked. Now that salad you were eating raw..... what was that fertilised with?

[tamada]

To my surprise, my father in-law took our poop tank and had them take it to his rice farm and that was the last time I ate his rice.

A lot of human waste is used as fertiliser in agriculture. You just don't know it when you buy from the market. I have no problems with use on rice - it is only the seeds you eat and they are milled and cooked. Now that salad you were eating raw..... what was that fertilised with?

Yes, but it's not raw sewage they're using as fertilizer.

Unless you're in China of course. Out in the boonies, they use 'night soil' on everything. I worked a two year survey around the Yellow River in Hubei and we avoided the 'fresh' veggies. I caught amoebic dysentery three times during the project and the Singaporean engineer got it so bad, he needed to be medevaced out.

[JR]

Last year our paddies gave around 3,6 tons/hectare milled rice.

[Shado]

I remember a few years ago the Thai government was encouraging rice farmers to diversify by planting other crops. I don't know if this program had any effect on overall rice production. Probably not a significant impact and most likely adaptable only to certain regions of the Kingdom.

[parrot]

Interesting (to me) that Vietnam's milled rice yield (metric ton/hectare) has jumped from 4 in the late 1990's to 6 today......Thailand's been stuck at 3 during that same time.

[maaka]

Nice to read this thread as I have taken to rice farming papas land that he gave to the missus..been at it for five seasons now..tried different methods from just throwing it on the ground to rotary hoe into the ground, and yet each year has been harder, mainly due to the grass coming up and lack of water..but we get enough to feed ourselves and the entire family for the year, and it uses the land so other buggers dont snavel it..its cheaper to buy at the shop than grow it to eat, so looking at other grows now,,

[pipoz4444]

Nice to read this thread as I have taken to rice farming papas land that he gave to the missus..been at it for five seasons now..tried different methods from just throwing it on the ground to rotary hoe into the ground, and yet each year has been harder, mainly due to the grass coming up and lack of water..but we get enough to feed ourselves and the entire family for the year, and it uses the land so other buggers dont snavel it..its cheaper to buy at the shop than grow it to eat, so looking at other grows now,,

Do you have ground water not far below the surface and are you able to dig a pond

pipoz4444

[ajarnudon]

Our neighbour is going to have a bumper crop this year - no wonder given all the rain we have had. There are a few patches where the heavy overnight downpour we had a few days ago washed the rice over, but the grain is mature enough that it will still be good when hand harvested very soon.

[maaka]

Pipoz ..ground water is 60m down. I had a bore drilled, but are yet to get it into action..head home tomorrow and will slowly swing back into the run of things..the missus tells me she /we are paying the ladyboy in the family, to hand cut this years crop. Seems the missus in getting in before my wallet arrives...haha..

[glalt]

Bore holes vary on the required depth in different areas. We have bore holes on two farms. Both are 50 meters deep and are pretty strong. Both use solar and DC submersible pumps.

[Rayq81]

Interesting thread, I have 4 Rai of land near Nong Han and the wife's family sow the rice the old fashioned way by hand, looking at our rice compared to land either side of us I would say our rice looks much better and will yield more than the other plots

[pipoz4444]

Pipoz ..ground water is 60m down. I had a bore drilled, but are yet to get it into action..head home tomorrow and will slowly swing back into the run of things..the missus tells me she /we are paying the ladyboy in the family, to hand cut this years crop. Seems the missus in getting in before my wallet arrives...haha..

Good luck

My ground water level is about 2 meter below rice level, on the farm.

Plus there is a large lake, about 700 meter away, that they seem to have access to, sometimes? Using some shallow water canal, that seems to meander past the rear of the property.

Not sure how it actually works, if they need extra water from the lake via the canal. Must be a Thai system of some sorts. Probably pay some guy at the lake, a few Baht and the turns the tap on at night.

pipoz4444

[tamada]

Pipoz ..ground water is 60m down. I had a bore drilled, but are yet to get it into action..head home tomorrow and will slowly swing back into the run of things..the missus tells me she /we are paying the ladyboy in the family, to hand cut this years crop. Seems the missus in getting in before my wallet arrives...haha..

Is the family ladyboy cute?

Asking for a friend.

Ta
tam