Coastal Management in Pak Phanang: a Historical Perspective of the Resources and Issues
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CHAPTER FIVE RICE: THE TRADITIONAL SOURCE OF PROSPERITYIN TROUBLE NOTE TO READER October 1, 2006 THIS IS A SEARCHABLE PDF DOCUMENT This document has been created in Adobe Acrobat Professional 6.0 by scanning the best available original paper copy. The page images may be cropped and blank numbered pages deleted in order to reduce file size, however the full text and graphics of the original are preserved. The resulting page images have been processed to recognize characters (optical character recognition, OCR) so that most of the text of the original, as well as some words and numbers on tables and graphics are searchable and selectable. To print the document with the margins as originally published, do not use page scaling in the printer set up. This document is posted to the web site of the Coastal Resources Center, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island 220 South Ferry Road Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA 02882 Telephone: 401.874.6224 http://www.crc.uri.edu Citation: Boromthanarat, S., Cobb, S., Lee, V. (1991). Coastal Management in Pak Phanang: A Historical Perspective of the Resources and Issues. Hat Yai, Thailand: Coastal Resources Institute, Prince of Songkla University This document is posted to the web in eleven segments to retain the highest possible quality. The complete set of files are: PakPhanang_Title.pdf PakPhanang_Chapter1.pdf Introduction PakPhanang_Chapter2.pdf Local Climate: Is It Changing? PakPhanang_Chapter3.pdf Fresh Water: A Prime Concern PakPhanang_Chapter4.pdf Sedimentation: The Bay Is Filling In PakPhanang_Chapter5.pdf Rice : The Traditional Source of Prosperity In Trouble PakPhanang_Chapter6.pdf Fisheries: Can They Survive? PakPhanang_Chapter7.pdf Boom and Bust: Cycle of Trade and Prosperity PakPhanang_Chapter8.pdf Conflicts of Good Intentions: A Perspective PakPhanang_Chapter9.pdf Putting the Pieces Together PakPhanang_Chapter10.pdf Appendices and References Rice seedlingsare transfe rred ,fbr transplantation. When King Rama V visited Pak Phanang RAIN FED RICE FARMING: in 1905,the region was well known as a BEFORE1940 good rice producing region, but even the King was surprised at its productivity. Then, and for years before, Pak Phanang The first rice fields dependedsolely upon was a center for export of rice to rain for water. In July, at the very Singapore,Malaysia and China. During beginning of the rainy season, farmers the following 40 years,tax recordsand the would till their fields and eradicate the developmentof at least eleven large rice weedsthat had grown during the dry time. mills attestto the importanceof both rice Either "wet" or "dry" rice seedwas used, and tradeto the economyof Pak Phanang. dependingupon the natureofthe rains that However, since about 1960, the year. The production of rice at the end of production and area of rice planted has this period, accordingto interviews ofrice declined. The CORIN team tried to farmers in the area was 500-1,000kg/rai determine what factors may have (3,125-6,250kg/ha). contributedto thisdecline in thetraditional sourceof prosperity for Pak Phanang. An Towards the end of the l9th century, the overviewofthe historyofrice production governmentstarted to aid rice farmers by is shown in the timeline developedfrom digging canals to provide better water interviewswith localresidents (Table 5. I ). drainage.This increasedthe areaavailable for rice farming by making available land Much of the lowland behind the coastal that previouslyhad been flooded the entire mangroveshas been used for rice farming year. The canals also provided better for generations. The land is flat, and the transportation to the farmers for getting soils are of mixed tenigenous and marine their rice to market. Khlong Sukhum, a origin with low organiccontent. Recently, waterway that remains important today, farming hasdiversified somewhatand fruit was dug in 1897 connecting the Pak and nut orchardsalso are important to the PhanangRiver with Khlong Bang Chak. agricultural economy of the region. The Khlong Sukhum not only provided average rainfall at the Pak Phanang transportationand drainage, but brought Irrigation District office over the 15 year fresh water to communities that suffered period of 1975-1989was 1,685 mm, from salt water intrusion at high tides approximately 800 mm less than the or in the dry season. At that time, average measured at Nakhon Si Khlong Sukhum was not used for Thammarat.iust 30 km away. irrieation. ' t- " . -. t t, I 1, | -,.f .Al l , -t Q, t, ll ll Iuf' ,i iJ \ Seedlingt ransplantation. Tabb5.1. Rice Tinnline. 1897 Expansionof ricelaims as a consequenceofthe construction of KhlongSukhum. 1907Ricetrade very significant. Large rice millsbuilt, international kade booms. 1917Governmentprohibits private rice expon. 1940Roadto Nakhon SiThammarat slarted. Governmentcontrols rice export and buysrice from farmers at low prices. 'IOEA Governmenlcompletely monopolizes paddy ricetrade, bringing about the declining Rice field. profitlor the large rice mills. Slartof small-scale ricemills. 1962TyphoonHarriet. 1967Dredgingofcanals starts. 1972Beginningofgovernment promotion of ricefarming. End of large rice mills. Shiftof manpower tofishery. 1977 Doublecropping introduced. 1988Massiveflood causes widespread 0amage. Intensiveshrimp farming becomes imoortant. TRANSITIONS: 1940-1972 ln 1962, Typhoon "Harriet" hit the area and devastated the rice farming industry. Flooding of the paddy fields The rain fed rice system gave way to wiped out the year'splanting, and, since irrigation and mechanizationstarting in there was no rice to sell, the Chinese about 1940. Changesin governmentand merchants migrated away. For three in societyafter the SecondWorld War led years after the typhoon, rice farming to atterationsin agriculturalsector. More was impossible.causing a massive and more individual farmersowned their transfer of manpower from rice to own land, but powerful and influential small-scalefishing in the coastalareas. peoplewere able to acquirelarge tracts of Then the expansionof the commercial productiveland. fishing fleet into the Gulf of Thailand fishery, particularlyduring 1975-1978, The most important economic drew about 50Vo of the young people developmentduring this time was the from the rice farms to the fisheries sector, constructionof the road, in the early causing a further drop in the capacity 1940s,from Pak Phanangto Nakhon Si of the rice sector to be productive ThammaratCity, parallel to Khlong (seeChapter 6). Sukhum,followed by theconstruction of a water gate on Khlong Sukhum in 1950. Soil fertility droppedand the rains became The road facilitatedland transportto the less dependableafter typhoon Harriet detrimentof marineshipping, and greatly according to the rice farmers we influencedthe subsequentdevelopment, interviewed. In addition, the price of including rice farming, of the Cistrictof rice dropped (Figure 5.1) as a result Pak Phanang. of the government'spricing policy, particularly the premium imposed on In 1945,following World War II, the exported rice, as well as increased govemmenttook control of riceexports as internationalcompetition. The occupation a meansofrepaying war debts.The export of rice farming becamea marginal one, control, which was designedto keep the with farmers barely able to earn priceof rice high, had the oppositeeffect: a living from their land. The Royal becausehigh priced Thai rice coulcinot Thai Government promoted rice competein world marketsand the priceof production from about 1967 onward rice dropped drastically. Large scale by introducing new varieties of rice mechanizedrice mills, the first of which and the use of fertilizers. Some canals opened in 1905, disappearedby the were dredged to a deoth of three to mid-1950s,and were replacedby small four meters to increase water storage scalerice mills operatedby individualrice as well as to repairdamage from the 1962 An old rice miLI. farmers. tvphoon. Mechonization in ploughing. THE GREENREVOI,UTION to taking two crops from the land each IN PAK PHANANG: year. Total rice productionduring this 1977-1987 period is shown in figure 5.2, and the averageproduction was about200 kg/rai (1250 kg/ha) for single crops and 400 The "Green Revolution"in rice farming kg/rai for double crops. The switch to prompted the governmentto develop double cropping brought a much higher policy to increaserice production by demandfor freshwater.The government changingrice growing technologyin the tried to meet this increaseddemand region. Thoughthe useof improvedrice by continueddredging of the irrigation varieties,mechanized plowing, increased canals and installationof additional applicationsof fertilizer and pesticides water gates in the khlongs. Also, and double-croppingusing faster economic incentiveswere created,such growing strains,about 50tlc of the rice as the establishmentof the Bank for f'arrnsin the Pak Phanansarea switched Agricultureand Cooperatives. Rice Price ftahUton) I-igure 5.1. Rice valueat the.farm of Phattalung P rovince .from196l ro 1985.as comparedto the value in constant1,980 haht. Production (thousand tons) 17500 16500 15500 14500 13500 THE RICE CRISISNOW: 12500 1987-1991 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 Year Production (thousand tons) The recent years have been difficult for rice farmersin the Pak Phanang 1100 area. The flood of 1988was devastating for boththe uplands and the lowlands. Total rice production dropped sharply, as some farmerslost their entire crops, although the averageproduction remained about 207 kg/rai (1,813 kg/ha). The two years subsequentto the