Farmimg Life in Thailand

We often hear the sayings that farmers are backbone of the country and in the water there are plenty of fish while in the paddy fields there is an abundance of rice. These sayings are right as farmers grow rice to feed the entire nation. Rice is not only the staple food of the country, but now it is one of our main export products. Therefore, farmers are the most important work force of the country.

Farmers work from dawn to dusk the whole year-round as after the annual rice harvest, they will again cultivate the second-rice crop or other cash crops, raising cattle and other animals such as fish, ducks etc.

Usually fish lives by nature in the paddy fields. So, rice and fish will naturally grow up in the same place. At the end of the annual rice harvest, farmers will have both rice and fish to eat during the coming dry season. If we travel to the countryside, we will see farmers drying fish on the roof of their houses and along the roadside.

Thus, it has become a common greeting among Thai people when they meet, they will firstly ask each other "Where do you go?" then the following sentence is "Did you eat rice and fish ?". In fact, rice and fish have been the main food of Thai people for a very long time.

Rice is mostly grown in the central region which is sometimes called the "rice bowl" of Asia because of its vast fertile land and plenty of water for agriculture. Rice farming is an old occupation which has been passed down from generations. By and large farmers live a peaceful life in the countryside.

Unfortunately, this occupation is being threatened by various factors, for example, low paddy price, scarcity of water for the second-rice cultivation and the construction of housing estates or commercial complexes which frequently bring pollution to nearby areas. Moreover, the new generation tends to abandon this century-old occupation to work in factories in the city or other occupations that offers them better income.

Now it is time to help the backbone of our country to carry on their task, otherwise they cannot survive due to these various challenges. If ever our farmers are forced to give up their occupation we will definitely have to import rice to eat and if the situation turns to be like this, the occupation of our forefathers will cease to exist and Thailand will lose its name as the "rice bowl " of the world.

In Thailand and other countries:

Cattle are raised primarily for draught with meat production as a by-product. Most of farm family own a small herd, either water-buffalo or cattle, using low-cost production technology based on open access resources such as agricultural residues and farm labour. The major animal herding areas are in the Northeast. In recent years, there have been increasing imports of live cattle for breeding. Cattle product imports are also increased in response to an expansion of the leather industry.

 

Dairy Cow s
		Dairy Cows are mainly raised for milk production. The commercial production of dairy cow in Thailand began after the establishment of the dairy farm and herd training centre granted by the Danish Government in 1962. Dairy production was then developed through the subsequent establishment of the Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand, a state-own enterprise under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in 1971. The present major dairy cow raising areas are Saraburi, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Chiang Mai. About 49% of milk production is processed for ready-to-drink fresh milk, and the rest for recombined milk. Currently, milk production is insufficient to meet the rising demand generated by population growth and better standard of living. Dairy products, particularly in the form of milk powder, are thus imported. As for exports, Thailand exports only a small quantity of milk products to neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Laos, and Myanmar.

Swine
The largest swine production area is the Central Plain, accounting for about 36-40% of the total production. This area consists of provinces around Bangkok such as, Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi and Chachoengsao. This Northern ranks second, accounting for 20-30% of the total production. Commercial production of swine in Thailand has developed slowly due to the instability in the market price of pigs, feed costs and government regulations. Most production is consumed domestically through meat processing which consists of two types: (1) a varieties of traditional meat products such as Chinese sausages, roasted pork, etc. (2) continental meat products such as ham, bacon, and baloney. A small number of live pigs and frozen piglets are exported to Hong Kong and Singapore.

Poultry
		The poultry production consists of broiler, hen-layer and duck-layer. Among these, the broiler industry has experienced a rapid expansion through the increase in the number of commercial farms during the past decade. The major zone of broiler production is in the Central Plain where more than 35% of all broilers are raised. The largest chicken-raising provinces are Chacheongsao, Nakhon Pathom, and Chon Buri. Chicken farms canbe classified into three types: (a) chickens, (b) independent commercial farms of which growers employ modern farm management to grow their broilers and do their own marketing, (c) contract farms of various types such as price guarantee hire-to-grow (wage) contracts and open-account contracts. In addition to be domestically marketed, chicken meat in the forms of part and frozen one is also exported to Japan, which accounts for Thailand's largest market share. Native duck has long been raised in Thailand for meat and egg consumption. The major raising duck areas are located in Chacheongsao, Chon Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Suphan Buri and Ratchaburi of the central region. Due to growing domestic demand, the Department of Livestock Development has introduced, in particular, the breeds with high feed conversion from abroad emphasized on commercial duck farms. Since then export market opportunity has opened to Thai frozen duck meat and egg, although the value has considered relatively insignificant. The overseas markets include Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Germany.