Transformation Processes in the Agri-Food Sector – the Case of Thailand
A study tour to Thailand from February 28th to March 15th 2013
Report
Thailand 2013 Interdisciplinary Study Tour Organised by: Table of Contents German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture – DITSL GmbH Witzenhausen Group Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics of the Universities Kassel and Inhalt Göttingen Preface...... 4 Centre for International Rural Development, University of Kassel / Witzenhausen Introduction and Programme...... 6 Thaksin University, Thailand, Karnchanawanit Road, Khaorupchang, Muang District Talaad Thai wholesale market...... 12 Songkhla 90000,Thailand Reporting during the Excursion...... 12 Charoen Pokphand Food (CPF) Co. Ltd. chicken processing plant...... 15 Thai Orchids Co. Ltd...... 17 From egg to belt – Crocodile production in Chon Buri...... 20 The financial support of the following organisations and institutions is thankfully National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) acknowledged: in the Thailand Science Park...... 24 DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) via the PROMOS programmes at the Pathum Thani Rice Research Center...... 26 Universities of Kassel and Göttingen, Charoen Pokphan Co. Ltd. Rice Mill...... 28 DITSL GmbH Witzenhausen (German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture), Sugar cane growing and sugar production „Wangkanai – Group”...... 30 University of Kassel - Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, Floating Market Dumnernsadeuk, Ratchaburi...... 32 University of Göttingen - Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Fruit and vegetable production in a drainage system...... 34 University of Göttingen - Faculty of Economic Sciences, Pineapple production and processing (Dole Thailand Ltd.)...... 36 University of Göttingen - Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Kui Buri National Park – Human and wild elephant conflict...... 40 Foundation fiat panis Ulm Shrimp Farming...... 44 Freundeskreis Wilhelmshof e.V. in Witzenhausen Queen Sirikit Sericulture Center...... 48 Hochschulverband Witzenhausen e.V. Crab Bank in Pathiu, Chumphon ...... 50
Small-scale banana processing women cooperative ...... 52 Khao-Thalu Chumporn Coffee...... 55 Rubber-Based Agroforestry System...... 58 Univanich Palm Oil Public Company Limited...... 61 Masthead according to §6 Press Law of the Federal State of Hesse (HPresseG): Phatthalung Dairy Cooperative Limited in Phatthalung...... 64 DITSL GmbH, Witzenhausen Thailand 2013 – Interdisciplinary Study Tour: Ban Khaow Klang Community Enterprise...... 68 Report of a student excursion to Thailand, February 28th – March 15th 2013 Thale Noi Waterfowl National Park and buffalo husbandry Publisher: DITSL GmbH, Witzenhausen in natural wetlands...... 72 Editor: Dr. Christian Hülsebusch (Managing Director) Rice farming with integrated duck-egg production ...... 75 DITSL GmbH, Witzenhausen Palm Sugar Production in Songhkla...... 77 Steinstrasse 19 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany List of Participants...... 79 Phone: +49 (0)5542 607 29 – Fax: +49 (0)5542 607 39 Pictures of Participants...... 80 email: [email protected] Partners and major visited Institutions and Organisations...... 83 Internet: www.ditsl.org Printed by: DITSL GmbH, Witzenhausen
3 Agricultural Sciences, the Faculty of Preface Economic Sciences, and the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, the Foundation fiat panis Ulm, the Hochschulverband The University of Kassel in Witzenhausen to Thailand was benefitted from these Witzenhausen e.V., the Freundeskreis and the University of Göttingen offer study institutional linkages. Wilhelmshof e.V. Witzenhausen, and programmes in the field of agriculture, Particularly through its varied ecological the German Institute for Tropical and resource management, environment, zones and topography and diverse Subtropical Agriculture. forestry, fisheries, food, nutrition and agricultural and forest landscapes, Thailand From February 28 to March 15, 2013, we related sciences in the context of rural offers a wide variety of very interesting followed through a very interesting and development, sustainable resource use and examples for small to large scale tropical physically taxing schedule. Every aspect poverty alleviation with a regional focus agriculture and land use. It shows the of the programme moved exceptionally on developing countries particularly in the different development pathways – all smooth, which was facilitated through tropics and subtropics. towards marked-oriented production and the excellent support received from our Both universities build on a wealth of processing of agricultural and forestry partners, to whom we express our sincere expertise on tropical land use systems and products – which different parts of the gratitude. the sustainable management of natural sector have taken recently within the overall resources. Many of the students interested very rapid development of the national We are very much indebted to Dr. Apron herein will eventually conduct research in economy. These developments also offer Songsang and Mrs. Thaniya Siriraks for her subtropical and tropical countries – often insights into better and not so good land continued support and charming company in the frame of their M.Sc. or Ph.D. theses. use practices, processing and marketing throughout the trip! We would also like to Their academic curriculum must prepare approaches at a regional, national and thank our colleagues from Witzenhausen them for this task. It is obvious that even global scale, and illustrate the overall and Göttingen for their great support in the best lecture at the university in a so- effects of globalisation on land use and the preparing this trip. Finally, all participating called „developed“ and temperate region agricultural sector in a prominent and very students deserve a big “Thank You”. They cannot substitute the experience that is dynamic South-East Asian country. worked hard to achieve the predetermined goals of this endeavour. But besides dealing gained while visiting s tropical country. The excursion was preceded by a phase of with hard-core science we also had a lot of Therefore, field trips to tropical countries intensive preparation. A seminar of two fun together. We really enjoyed this very are a most desirable part of any such contact hours per week was held during memorable trip with all of you! curriculum. winter semester 2012/13, where students Scientists of the German Institute for presented different topics related to the Eva Schlecht Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (DITSL) forth-coming excursion. Andreas Bürkert Christian Hülsebusch and the agricultural and forestry faculties Funds were acquired, logistics were Achim Dohrenbusch of the universities in Witzenhausen and organised and in March 2013, 23 students Grete Thinggaard Göttingen maintain mutual research and and 5 faculty members set out for Thailand. academic training and networking activities Acquiring funds for such a trip is difficult and projects with Thailand universities and we are grateful for generous financial and research institutes. Among these are support by the German Academic Exchange Thaksin University, the National Science and Service DAAD through the PROMOS Technology Development Agency (NSTD), program at Kassel and Göttingen University, the Pathum Thani Rice Research Center, the University of Kassel through the and the Coastal Fisheries and Development Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences Center. in Witzenhausen and the International The 2013 study excursion of students and Academic Exchange Office, the University lecturers from Witzenhausen and Göttingen of Göttingen through the Faculty of
4 5 Introduction and Programme Day Time Activity Location Accomodat. Saturday 09.00- Visit Charoen Pokphand Food (CPF) Bangkok 02.03. 12.00 Co., Ltd.: Chicken Processing From the Malaysian Peninsula in the conservation and economic develop- summary Julian Plagemann South to the foothills of the Himalayan ment. The 2013 excursion to Thailand fo- mountains in the North and from the cuses on such transformation processes. Lunch Khorat Plateau in the East to the bor- Upon request of the organizers, the 13.00 Departure for Thai Orchids Co., Ltd der with Myanmar in the West, Thailand colleagues at Thaksin University in the hosts a variety of different ecological South of Thailand, particularly Dr. Aporn 14.00- Visit Thai Orchids Co., Ltd. Bangkok zones and agricultural and forest lands- Songsang, have developed a two week 17.00 (laboratory and packing) capes. The country’s agricultural sector is excursion programme including visits to summary Katharina Zipp still dominated by smallholder farmers, a variety of producers, processors and 19.00- River Cruise Dinner on Chaophraya but this rapidly transforming towards projects, thus demonstrating the diversi- 22.00 River being market- and export orientated. ty from large to small scale, from inten- The forestry sector has become more re- sive to extensive, and from private coo- Sunday 06.30 Breakfast Karnmanee sponsive to environmental concerns and porative to public collective as per the 03.03. hotel since the logging ban in 1989, Thai fo- itinerary below. rest institutions have developed a policy 07.00 Departure for Crocodile Farm framework linking forests, communities, 09.00- Visit Crocodile Farm Sriracha / 12.00 summary Katharina Stanzel Chonburi Day Time Activity Location Accomodat. Lunch Friday 07.00- Transfer from airport to hotel Bangkok 01.03. 08.00 13.00 Departure for Bangkok
08.00 Check in at Karnmanee Palace Karnmanee 14.30 Leisure time / Visit Weekend Hotel hotel market (Jatuchak market) 09.45 Departure for Thai Agro Exchange Monday 07.00 Breakfast Co., Ltd. 04.03. 10.30- Visit Thai Agro Exchange Co., Ltd. Phathum 07.45 Departure for National Science and 13.00 (Large wholesale market) thani Technology Development Agency Central Market of Thailand, for Agricultural (NSTD) Goods and Integrated Agro Industries of Thai- land summary Dominik Berger 09.00- Visit National Science and Pathum 12.00 Technology Development Agency Thani Lunch summary Weilong Li
14.00- Visit the Royal Grand Palace Bangkok Lunch 16.00 13.30- Pathum Thani Rice Research Center Pathum Saturday 07.00 Breakfast Karnmanee 16.30 summary Francisco Mourino Thani 02.03. hotel 08.00 Departure for Charoen Pokphand 16.30 Departure for Dermbangnang- Suphanburi Food (CPF) Co., Ltd. buach / Suphanburi 18.00 Check in at Planta Avenue Planta Av.
6 Introduction and Programme Introduction and Programme 7 Day Time Activity Location Accomodat. Day Time Activity Location Accomodat.
Tuesday 07.00 Breakfast Thursday 08.30- Visit Siam Agro-Food Industry Co., Pranburi / 05.03. 07.03. 12.00 Ltd.: Pineapple production and Prachuab 08.00 Departure for Charoen Pokphan processing summary Isabel Pleisnitzer Khiri Khan Co., Ltd. Lunch 08.30- Visit Charoen Pokphan Co., Ltd.: Dermbang- 12.00 Rice grain processing, packing and nangbuach / 12.45 Departure for Kui Buri National quality control Suphanburi Park summary Oda Reese 14.30 Visit Kui Buri National Park (Hu- Kui Buri / Lunch man and Wild Elephant conflict) Prachuab summary Andrea Bähringer Khiri Kahn 14.00- Visit Wangkanai group: Sugar cane Au-thong / 17.00 plantation and sugar production Suphanburi 18.00 Check in at Kui Buri National Park Kui Buri summary Frauke Ahlers guest house National Park guest 17.00 Departure for Dumnernsadeuk / Dumnernsa- house Ratchaburi deuk / Ratchaburi Friday 07.00 Breakfast 08.03. 18.30 Check in at Maikeaw Dumnern Maikeaw 07.30 Departure for Coastal Fisheries and Pranburi / Resort Dumnern Development Center Prachuab Resort Khiri Kahn Wed- 07.00 Breakfast 08.30- Visit Prachuap Khiri Khan Coastal Mueng / nesday 12.00 Fisheries and Development Center Prachuab 06.03. and Small scale shrimp production Khiri Kahn 07.30- Visit indigenous marketing system Dumnernsa- farmer (Shrimp farm Cooperative) 08.30 (Floating market) deuk / summary William Nelson summary Kristin Hentschel Ratchaburi Lunch 09.00- Visit Vegetable production farmer, Dumnernsa- 15.00 visit fruit production (Grape pro- deuk / 12.30 Departure for Queen Sirikit duction / canal irrigation) farmer Ratchaburi Sericulture Center summary Clessio Gomez da Silva 14.00- Visit for Queen Sirikit Sericulture Thasae / 15.30- Visit Thai Orchids Co., Ltd.: Orchid Dumnernsa- 16.30 Center summary Jonas Ehls Chumporn 17.00 farm deuk / summary Katharina Zipp Ratchaburi 17.00 Check in at Chumporn Cabana Pateiw / Resort Chumporn 17.00 Departure for Hua Hin / Prachuab Khiri Khan 19.00- Informal discussion with Chumporn 20.00 Cabana Resort representative: How 18.30 Check in at Borfai Air Force guest Borfai Air to run tourism under the sufficient house Force guest economy perspective house Saturday 07.00 Breakfast Thursday 07.00 Breakfast 09.03. 07.03. 07.30 Departure for Crab Bank 08.00 Departure for Siam Agro-Food Industry Co. Ltd.
8 Introduction and Programme Introduction and Programme 9 Day Time Activity Location Accomodat. Day Time Activity Location Accomodat.
Saturday 08.00- Visit Crab Bank Pateiw / Monday 18.00 Check in at Thale Noi Non hunting Phatthalung Thale Noi 09.03. 09.30 summary Kristin Hentschel Chumporn 11.03. area / Thale Noi wildlife Conserva- Station tion Development and Extension 10.00- Visit small scale banana processing Thasae / Station 11.30 group and roadside marketing Chumporn summary Manuel Toledo Tuesday 06.30 Breakfast 12.03. Lunch 07.00 Departure for Dairy Cooperative Phatthalung
12.00 Departure for coffee production 07.45- Visit Dairy Cooperative /small scale and processing farmer group (SME) 12.00 dairy farmer summary Dirk Landmann 13.30- Visit Khao Thalu Coffee production Sawee / Lunch 17.00 farmer group: Coffee production Chumporn and processing summary Mareike Decker 13.00- Visit Goat production integrated Phatthalung 14.30 with tree cropping 18.00 Check in at Chaiya Resort Chaiya / Chaiya 15.00- Visit indigenous rice production Thale Noi Surat Thani Resort 17.00 and processing farmer group Station Sunday 07.00 Breakfast summary Lea Strub 10.03. 07.30 Departure for Agro forestry / Wednes- 06.00- Visit water fowl national park and Phatthalung rubber production day 08.00 Buffalo production in natural wet 13.03. lands summary Dominik Ganser 08.00- Visit agro forestry (rubber with Thachang / 11.00 other crops) farmer Surat Thani 08.00- Breakfast summary Valerie Kersting 09.00 Lunch 09.00- Visit Home gardening Integrated Phatthalung 17.00 production system Small scale 14.00 Check in at P.N Mountain resort Ao-Luek / P.N Moun- farmer: Rice farming/duck egg Krabi tain resort production in rice field / Organic Monday 07.00 Breakfast rice production and processing 11.03. summary Kristina Grotelüschen 07.30 Departure for Univanich Co., Ltd. Thursday 07.00- Visit Palm sugar production group Songkhla 14.03. 11.00 summary Alli Kamalanathan 08.30- Visit Univanich Co. Ltd.: Oil palm Praipraya / 12.00 plantation / Palm oil production Krabi 20.15 Departure from Hadyai Airport to Songkhla summary Thomas Eickel BKK Lunch Friday 23.40 Departure from BKK to Germany 15.03. 13.00 Departure for Thaksin University
15.00- Visit Thaksin University / University Phatthalung 16.30 farm
10 Introduction and Programme Introduction and Programme 11 nating from all regions in Thailand and Orange market Reporting during the Excursion around 40% being imported. Fruits are The orange market got its name as it was mainly imported from China and Aust- solely used for the marketing of oranges. ralia, depending on the season. At the Talaad Thai wholesale market Nowadays bananas dominate the area, time of our visit most imported fruits, laid out on the floor in shrubs. Oranges Dominic Berger such as strawberries, came from Austra- are not traded anymore because most lia. Around 60% of the imported fruits farmers changed their production from The Thaalad Thai is a wholesale market Financing and methods of payment come by boat from China, 30% over the oranges to bananas or other crops to Mekong River and the other 30% over located outside of Bangkok and admi- Thai Agro Exchange Co. Ltd. creates its cope with deteriorated soil conditions the ocean. Some varieties, such as Papa- nistered by Thai Agro Exchange Co. Ltd.. income by offering different services. On and increased soil pollution caused by ya, are not domestic in Thailand but are The Talaad Thai wholesale market is the the one hand, some areas are rented to the monoculture management of oran- commonly available and increasingly cul- main channel for agricultural goods and companies, which provide services, such ge plantations. This production system tivated due to shifting demand patterns commodities to Bangkok and for inter- as packaging of commodities for export led to a decrease of quality and yields. in Thailand. The local and imported fruits national imports and exports for regional which require special packaging. On the On the orange market there is a special are distinguishable by packaging and of- and national products both domestically other hand, sellers pay rent for their per- area for high-quality products, mainly fered in separated areas. produced and imported. It is located less manent stand on the market via invoices targeting special customer groups, such than 50 km outside of Bangkok and can and monthly bank transfer. Moreover, The peak time of market activities is in as hotels and restaurants, which require be reached via the ring road of Bangkok, the company provides services for unloa- the afternoon and evening from around a special quality for their services. enabling suppliers and customers to avo- ding of trucks and distribution of goods 4 pm to 9 pm, when the majority of buy- The contact between buyer and seller is id the crowded roads of Bangkok when to the individual stands against a fee. ers come from Bangkok to get their stocks direct and prices are negotiated on the travelling to the market.It is the biggest for the next day. During nighttime, mor- spot. There was an attempt to introdu- of six major agricultural wholesale mar- The sellers are producers, representatives ning and midday, sellers distribute their ce an auction system in which goods are kets around Bangkok. The area of the of cooperatives or collectors, who buy goods and prepare them for marketing auctioned over half a day. The attempt market covers 80 ha and is opened 24 the products from small farms and act as and further transport. The stores are failed as sellers did not accept the requi- hours every day of the year. Beside the intermediaries. mainly staffed by women, whereas the red waiting times, because they aim at major agricultural products and deep- Small-scale farmers sell their products on transportation of goods by carts is done selling their goods as fast as possible in frozen foods, also non-food commo- three commercial grounds directly from by men. order to return to their farms or resume dities such as cars and bikes are traded their trucks. They do not have to pay re- Thai Agro Exchange Co. Ltd. controls business. Most sellers operate fully com- here. The market consists of 20 different gular rent but a fee when entering the product standards and quality by using petitive; prices are not set by the buying zones, which are mainly named after the market. Incoming trucks have to pay a different methods. There is a laboratory companies but individually bargained commodities that are traded. The whole fee, which is set by the number of tires the run by Thai Agro Exchange Co. Ltd. for between seller and buyer. private section is owned by the Thai Agro vehicle has, e.g. 200 Baht for 4 wheelers post-harvest control and daily random Exchange Co. Ltd.. The company does and 250 Baht for 6 wheelers, regardless Many exporters change from buying the quality checks are carried out. Further- not trade itself but provides the land, in- what is transported on the truck. This is products on the market to directly con- more, the company controls the growing frastructure, and facilities necessary for only relevant for vehicles bringing goods tracting farmers in order to get the pro- conditions of the products throughout its the functioning of the market. to the market, as buyers generally do not ducts delivered to their compound. But grower network and certifies the quality have to pay anything for using the infra- in case of supply deficits, exporters still Upon arrival we were welcomed in the with their own label, assuring the fulfill- structure. Buyers that use the market are use the market to complete their contin- bus by the representative of the com- ment of good agricultural practices. The exporters, restaurants, households, resel- gents. pany, Setthapas Choobut, who introdu- participation in the grower network is lers, and shops. ced himself as Ken. Due to the big size beneficial for farmers, because the num- Although Thai Agro Exchange Co. Ltd. provides storing space for rental, most of the market area and the limited time Mixed fruit ber of intermediates is reduced and pro- of our stay, we visited only 5 of the 20 ducts are directly sold by farmers on the products are not stocked but sold and The mixed fruit section covers 1.3 ha. Pro- zones. The visited sections were mixed market. collected the same day of delivery to the fruit, orange market, vegetables, cold- ducts are sold by 1,600 permanent stands. market. weather vegetables and fish. All kinds of fruits are offered, 60% origi-
12 Talaad Thai wholesale market Talaad Thai wholesale market 13 Charoen Pokphand Food (CPF) Co. Ltd. chicken processing plant Julian Plagemann
After a short introduction by the pro- improvements and other support. The duction manager of the processing plant agricultural production includes fruits, and two representatives, we saw an ad- vegetables, rubber, oil palm, and rice. A vertisement video about the structure few days later we visited the Royal Um- and activities of the CPF conglomerate. brella Rice-Mill, which also belongs to CP. CPF is an agro-industrial company that They do their own breeding and deve- belongs to the multinational CP Group. lop their own processing and production It was founded in 1921 by Chinese immi- technology. grants, employs 280,000 people, invests After the introductory video, we had a in 15 countries and generates 33 billion Bananas of different colours. Market hall. short guided tour through one visitor $US annually with an uprising trend. The corridor. After the tour we came back to Vegetable market Cold weather vegetables CP Group is a private company owned by the conference room, where we could the Chearavanont family and operates ask questions and discuss. The vegetable market is not only a who- Cold weather vegetables can only be in the following branches: automotive, lesale market but also a retail market, grown in the north of Thailand due to crop integration, feed ingredient tra- On the tour we saw several production where goods can be bought in small the colder weather conditions; therefore ding, international trading, information stages of the slaughterhouse through quantities directly from the producers around 50% of the offered commodities technology, pharmaceutical, pet food, glass windows. We got insights of the (this is called garage sale). are imported, especially from China. The plastics, property development, retail, crumbing, cocking, cooling and packing Beside vegetables known in Europe, such local demand exceeds the local supply by seeds, fertilizer, plant protection, tele- process of chicken. The production plant as asparagus, there is also a wide varie- far. communication, and financing. is divided into three security levels and ty of vegetables offered, which are not has eight parallel production lines. Two Fish market The company is private, the Chairman is of them are producing halal meat using commonly used in the European kitchen Dhanin Chearavanont, who is considered On the fish market different animals electroshocks for paralyzing the animals. (e.g. banana flower). Asparagus is not a to be the richest Thai. CPF is the biggest are traded, many of them are sold ali- The meat is still being exported to Euro- domestic vegetable but increasingly cul- company on the Thai food market, hol- ve, offering an uncommon sight for Eu- pe, where a discussion is ongoing, if this tivated due to increasing domestic and ding a share of 60% of the whole market ropean visitors. Beside different types practice can be considered as halal. international demand. One part of the value. Its structure is characterized by an of fish, snails, frogs, and eels are sold vegetable market is called the chili and intensive vertical integration of the va- The high risk zone was located behind and killed here for further sale to res- spice zone, where many varieties of spi- lue chain, starting with the agro-industry the cooker. On the production lines chi- taurants, households, and shops. Many ces, such as ginger and pepper, are sold. over food processing to retail-business cken wings and crossies are produced of the smaller animals are not used for In this area also exotic things, such as in- and redistribution. More than 6,800 by roasting, steaming or frying. Some food preparation but are being released sects, can be found. They are caught in 7-Eleven shops throughout the country are sorted by color and size. The inside into nature according to traditional and nature or grown on farms and consumed were introduced by them. The compa- temperature of the production facili- spiritual beliefs to relief the person, who fried and lightly salted as a snack. ny runs an “all in one hand” policy to ties have to be below 12°C. Depending sets the animal free from stress, mental control and standardize all production on the product, the processed parts stay In general, many vegetables are impor- illness or other problems. Frogs are used steps. Mayor objectives seem to be food about 30 min. in a freezer (-45°C) to ted from China to close the gap between for food purposes as they are common quality and food security, guaranteed by freeze them to -18°C. Then they get va- a decrease in local supply and a constant in the Thai cuisine, especially in papaya newest technology, industrial produc- cuum packed and stored at -20°C. Up to demand. Local supply decreases as vege- salad or fried. They are raised in special tion and high integration. They provide 2,000 t of chicken and 50 t of duck can table production requires a higher labor frog farms. input than fruit or other crop production the contracted farmers with personal be processed per month; the capacity and therefore many farmers shift their training, farm infrastructure like stab- is used with about 1,500 t per day. The production to less labor intensive produ- les, feedstock, production facilities, and factory relies on 20 farms, where any of ces. technical assistance, as well as livelihood them contributes with 10,000 chickens
14 Talaad Thai wholesale market Charoen Pokphand Food (CPF) Co. Ltd. chicken processing plant 15 per day. The breeding length is 45 days. 9001/14001, Animal Welfare Pact and Thai Orchids Co. Ltd. About 200,000 birds are slaughtered OHSAS 8001, in order to fulfill import re- Katharina Zipp per week. The work is organized in two quirements, for instance of the EU mar- shifts of 8 hours, six days a week. After ket. In the next months they will install Breeding laboratory and packing cies with different varieties. They tried each shift, there is a four hours cleaning new technological equipment. Within also to produce in China, but were not break. Workers can change shifts and get three years they want to come up with First some general items on orchids: As satisfied with the size of the plants and trained by CPF. They receive three-year new products and during the next five Mr. Dohrenbusch told us, orchids are the number of flowers per plant. contracts and the official minimum wage years they want to develop functional second biggest family in flowers (the big- of 300 Baht per day and 14 days of vaca- food (health food). gest is asteraceae). The number of species Reproduction and breeding process is discussed (15 to 30,000) because there tion. They get hired on the labor market Japan and UK are the main markets and are many varieties and subspecies. The Twenty people work in the laboratory via employer groups. 50% of the workers 40% of the products are exported to the name orchideae reminds to the Greek of Thai Orchid Co. reproducing about are female. Unfortunately, they did not EU. 90% of the processed ducks is expor- word for testis because the root tuber three million plants per year. The plants want to give any information about the ted to Germany, where they hold a share looks like a testis and there is no prima- are sexually multiplied without use of UV contract bindings between CPF and the of 50% of the market, having four com- ry root system. Orchids can grow on the light or radioactive substances. No hor- farmers. 1,500 people are employed in petitors. The intensified production struc- ground or in stony areas, but most are lo- mones are used to avoid mutations. By the factory we visited. There are other ture and the impact of the company´s cated on trees. This is advantageous for using tissue culture, orchids can also be bigger factories around, one with about policy on development aspects had a the flower because they get more sun- reproduced vegetative. The excise and 5,000 and another with 2,500 employees. continuing effect on our group and was light, but water is rare. lateral bud of a young shoot of a selec- The production is following internatio- further discussed during the bus ride and ted plant is cut and cultivated for two to nal standards of GMP, HMCCP, BRC, ISO in a discussion one day later. The general manager of the Thai Orchids three months in liquid media, which con- Cooperation, Mr. Sittichai Boonchujarad, tains extracts of banana, coconut, and offered us a warm welcome and show- potatoe. In this time every two weeks a ed us around. The private company is subculture is taken. After that protocorm the number five of orchid producers in proliferate from the bud. The number Thailand and this country is the biggest of protocorms multiplies during two to producer of orchids worldwide. The wife three months in liquid media induced by of the company owner grew up on a shaking. The liquid media is exchanged farm, where oranges and orchids were every two weeks. After that time proto- produced and after the marriage they corms are transferred to solid medium specialized on orchids and started bree- in glass bottles, where they grow in two ding. There are two farms with about 6.4 months to small plants and after additi- ha in total, which deliver orchids to the onal two months to larger plants, which CP Chicken farm. company and they contract some other are ready to go to the nursery. Out of ornamental plants like bamboo, Ziniber- one bud 5,000 to 10,000 plants can be zerumber, Habana cigar and Euphorbia gained. The most important step in this lacteal. Production is only for export, process is the selection of the plant whe- and the different regions require diffe- re the bud comes from. Selection criteria rent products: 45% to USA (dark colors are size of the flowery stem, number of and purple), 35% to EU (pink and white) flowers at the stem, health, and general and 20% to Asia (pink). Also a small appearance. amount goes to the Middle East (white). Mainly cut flowers are sold, for example Generative reproduction in nature is very to hotels. But also plants in pots are ex- poor because only 0.0001% of seeds ger- ported and small orchids in glass bottles minate. For breeding also liquid media is with media are delivered to the airport used to increase germination to nearly Production-unit for chicken wings & nuggets. as souvenirs. There are three orchid spe- 100%.
16 Charoen Pokphand Food (CPF) Co. Ltd. chicken processing plant Thai Orchids Co. Ltd. 17 Blue orchids are no product of breeding time span from cutting of the flower un- but of coloring. When white cut flowers til it is in a shop in the USA or EU is about absorb blue colored water the blossoms two days. The production is ISO certified. turn to blue. Orchid farm Potted orchids, which can be bought in shops in Germany, are about six years Duangporn, who studied horticulture old. Because of this long time span from and now is supervisor of one of the ten selection until the product reaches the zones of the orchid farm, showed us how consumer, the breeder cannot react flexi- orchid production works. Every zone has ble to changing consumer demands. But its supervisor and about 130 people work this seems not to be a big problem, be- in the production. Mainly women apply cause there is a general stable demand for work but there is no special prefe- in classic fashions and new creations only rence for female workers. They earn 300 increase export. The breeder is the trend- Baht per day. The farm area covers about Orchid farm worker. Orchid packing. Plant propagation. setter and in Thai Orchid Co. every month 50 ha where 80% dendrobium and 20% mokara orchids are grown. The fields are a new variety is created. But not all of year. Flowers are cut when at least five pied through tubes with connectors for covered with nets for 60% sun protec- them reach the market. Customer sur- blossoms of the flowery stem are open. sprinklers. There was a discussion about tion. Orchids for cutting and potting and veys are carried out frequently and every Every plant has one big stem with five to ground water contamination caused by sansevieria are produced. Cut flowers are year the orchid export association orga- ten flowery stems per year. If there is no the treatments, but this seems not to be more profitable than potted flowers. nizes a competition for orchid breeders, flowery stem any more developed, the a problem because the pesticides can be where consumer demands are reflected. The breeding and packaging is located big stem remains for photosynthesis. Af- applied precisely. The water, which runs in Bangkok because of better provision ter four years of cutting, plants are sold through the canals of the orchid farm, Orchid packaging of fertilizer and technical services. But in containers or exported to China, whe- goes into a fish pond. This was taken as 50 people, mainly women, with an ave- in two to three years, the breeding and re an extract is gained from orchids for an indicator that the content of pestici- rage age of 21 years work in the pa- packing section will move to the orchid traditional medicine. We observed some des in the water is not too high. ckaging. They earn 300 baht for an 8- farm Duangporn because there will be black dots on the leaves of orchids for Some vegetative reproduction is done hour shift. Cut flowers are delivered in a flyover constructed and the company cutting, which is a fungus. But this is not with shoots because it is faster than cooled trucks from the farms. The flow- wants to expand. a problem until the production does not using tissue culture. Breeding plants are ers are sorted by the appearance of the Plants for nursery are delivered by the decrease. Workers cut the flowery stems grown in a charcoal substrate in order to blossoms: symmetry, brown dots and da- breeding section. The about one year old when they have at least five open blos- prolong their live. Breeding plants are mages. Rejected flowers are sold in a lo- seedlings are transferred out of the glass soms, bind ten together, and put them in selected at an age of 4.5 years and then wer grade. Moreover, flowers are sorted bottles to coconut mesocarp, which is a box situated on the main walkway. Cut are kept as long they are useful. by size (S, M, L). Then lowers are put in used because it is cheap and has a good flowers must be packed dry, clean and As currently there is no demand for or- little vases filled with water and glucose, water holding capacity. Every morning firm in boxes for transport to prevent ganic orchids, the company has not im- bunches are made and packed in plastic plants are sprayed with water. After one them from being damaged. sheets. Several bunches are packed in plemented organic cultivation, although month liquid fertilizer is applied. Nurse- In general, fertilizer and pesticides are cardboard boxes, which are fumigated it would be possible in a closed system ry takes six to eight months. Then plants sprayed once a week. Fertilizer contains with methylbromide gas to prevent for (glass house). The farm also produces are transferred to bigger pots with more NPK, micronutrients and the plant hor- instance the delivering of insects in ho- the succulent species sansevieria which is coconut substrate. According to the va- mones auxin and cytocinine. Insect mo- tels of foreign countries. This gas is the mainly exported to the Netherlands. It is riety some plants for cutting are trans- nitoring is done by using yellow trapping only possible treatment for cut orchids grown in pots until a height of 30 to 50 ferred to quarter of whole coconut husk, cards. But at the time of our visit they because it is effective in a short time. The cm. Then it is cut and dipped in a hormo- some are in containers (five plants per were dry (meaning that they were old), bunches are then repacked to smaller ne which induces rooting. Six stems are container). Flowering starts after addi- an indicator that the monitoring was boxes which are delivered with a cooled planted together in coconut mesocarp tional 8 to 12 months and lasts for four not carried out in that moment. Fungi- truck (15 - 20°C) to the whole seller. The and braided. years with a peak in the second and third cides, insecticides and fertilizer are ap-
18 Thai Orchids Co. Ltd. Thai Orchids Co. Ltd. 19 From egg to belt – Crocodile production in Chon Buri Srinnan and his colleagues were so suc- provide the female crocodiles with nes- cessful in breeding crocodiles that they ting material. Suwit Srinnan explained Katharina Stanzel needed more space for the crocodiles. that at the age of 6 his crocodiles can al- That was when he decided to practice ready be used for breeding, the so-called Worldwide there are 22 different cro- des breeding on farm. Products coming crocodile farming. By inviting neighbo- “young breeders”. To keep the aggressi- codile species existing and the two ma- from crocodiles are skin and meat which ring farmers to his production sites, he on during the mating period as low as jor groups of them are freshwater and basically is a by-product, but healthy for was able to minimize their initial safety possible and to prevent hurting, two ma- saltwater, i.e. brackish water crocodiles. human consumption because it is low in concerns. Starting on his own with some jor factors have to be considered. On the All of them are listed on the CITES ap- cholesterol. Crocodiles are fed with fresh young animals from the zoo, at the time one hand, the water has to be exchanged pendix I and II, i. e. they belong to the byproducts from the slaughter house or of our visit he was successfully running every three months, and on the other endangered species and thus trade regu- with fishery waste. It is necessary to feed the business for five years already, now hand, the optimal ratio of male to fema- lations are in power. Those trade regu- the animals with animal protein since es- with his own 2,000 breeding animals and le animals has to be at 1:3. Asking for his lations require the farmer to acquire an pecially alligators are not able to digest 60 employees. breeding strategy, the farmer answered export permit, a special certificate which plant protein and they have a daily de- that he was not practicing any pedigree also includes tagging the skins with in- mand of 40 to 50% of protein. Besides Production based breeding program. The stocking dividual numbers in order to trace the the fresh feeding, commercial farms in On his farm the crocodile rearing is divi- density he has in this area is 2 m2 per ani- skins back to the individual crocodile. Australia also use feed pellets. In captivi- ded into two major stages: breeding and mal. Every two days the breeding croco- On the first Sunday of our interdiscip- ty, the feed efficiency of 80%, which can fattening. The breeding stage is practi- diles are fed with 2 kg of chicken meat linary study tour we were fortunate to be reached in the wild, is normally not ced on around 2 to 3 ha on his main farm that is enriched with vitamins and which meet Prof. Aporn’s cousin and crocodile achieved. Regular feeding and a faster close to the Tiger Zoo. On this particular comes from two different slaughter hou- farmer Suwit Srinnan in Sriracha district digestion lead to a feed efficiency of 20 production site the breeding crocodiles ses. In the past he also tried to use pelle- in Chon Buri, which is located Southeast to 40% on farm, whereby the higher ef- mate, eggs are collected and hatch. Af- ted feed – without success. As a possib- from Bangkok. As most of the group ne- ficiencies are achieved by adding kaolin ter hatching the young animals are kept le reason he mentioned that he started ver had seen how crocodile production to the feed. When producing crocodile in basins until they are transferred to his feeding pellets to the animals at a too looks like and particularly because Suwit skin the housing has to be designed in second production site at the age of five late stage and thus the animals would Srinnan was extra-ordinarily eager to not a way that the skin quality will not be years. His larger second farm is the site not accept any other feed apart from the only familiarize us with the production affected negatively by the housing and where the crocodiles are fattened; first one which they were used to. Every day a but also later on to show the group his the stocking density needs to be adequa- in groups for about two more years and team of two people enters the breeding close-by crocodile belt manufacture, this te to avoid fighting. Other threats to skin finally for one more year in single bays. area and while one is taking care of the farm visit was, in terms of knowledge quality are fungal and bacterial diseases. adult crocodiles the other person collects gain and the farmer’s time spent for the The skin usually is traded internationally We were shown the breeding animals the eggs which are buried in the sandy group, more than we all expected. when of flawless quality. Best quali- first. They all were in the same age (i. e. soil beneath a straw cover. The upside of ty skins belong to category A, meaning 18 years) and kept in an enclosure which the egg has to be marked, if it is ferti- General facts on crocodile production without any disruptions in the four consisted of a pool where mating takes lized. If it was turned upside down later, Crocodiles have a natural life span from quarters of the central parts of the skin. place, a concrete area, where animals the small crocodile would die. Of all eggs 70 to 100 years, meaning that crocodi- While the soft belly parts are processed rest and an area where straw is spread to les reach maturity at a rather late age, to handbags and shoes, the back parts which is around 15 to 17 years depen- are used for belt production. ding on the body weight. Generally, it can be said that as soon as they reach Suwit Srinnan’s crocodile farm 3/4 of the adult body weight maturity is As one of the major attractions in the triggered. Two types of crocodile produc- region of Chon Buri, the “Sriracha Ti- tion are practiced; either it is ranching ger Zoo” is home to many different where eggs are collected in the wild and animal species and also responsible for after hatching the animals are raised on conservation programs of those being farm, or crocodile farming, which inclu- endangered. Working at this zoo, Suwit Egg collection. Egg cleaning and desinfection. Egg hatchery.
20 From egg to belt – Crocodile production in Chon Buri From egg to belt – Crocodile production in Chon Buri 21 skins are tagged according to regulati- Future ons. Skins, which are not meeting inter- At the moment Suwit Srinnan is star- national quality standards anymore, e.g. ting to crossbreed salt- with freshwater due to disruptions, are still being used crocodiles to make use of specific traits. for the production of crocodile belts in Saltwater crocodiles show a higher feed Suwit Srinnan’s belt manufacture. Out intake and grow faster, and freshwater of one crocodile skin six belts are made. crocodiles are better adapted to Thai After the six strips have been cut out of conditions. Still it is not much known to the skin, each one is glued to an equally keeping saltwater crocodiles in Thailand sized strip of buffalo skin, which is provi- Crocodile skin storage. Skin with marked strips for Crocodile skin and he wants to find out more about ad- belt production. belts. ding the belt with a higher stability. Af- vantages and disadvantages especially of ter polishing and adding the belt buckle, the hybrid breed. collected 40% are fertilized, which is re- hierarchical origin. After two more years the final product is sold. cognized by a small white stripe shim- they are finally kept in single bays to mi- Marketing mering through the egg shell. The other nimize the skin damage. It is then when 60% is sold for consumption. After the he sprinkles the animals with water be- Product marketing is regulated by con- collection, the eggs are first cleaned, dis- fore feeding, because he found out that tracts. For meat he has a five years con- infected and numbered before bringing the humidification contributes to a less tract and for skins and leather a three ye- them to the hatchery. aggressive behavior of the crocodiles. ars contract. According to Suwit Srinnan the reason why he is not tanning the The temperature in the hatchery ranges Processing skins on his farm is that the technologies between 28 and 30°C, a temperature at in Thailand are much less competitive as which mainly female animals hatch. Su- Suwit Srinnan does not only breed, raise those used in Singapore. wit Srinnan prefers female animals for and fatten his crocodiles but he also has fattening as they are less aggressive than an own slaughter house, a storage faci- The skins are sold as a high value pro- male crocodiles. Asked for the mortality lity for the skins and a manufacture for duct to international markets, mainly to rates, he stated that the crucial age is one the production of crocodile leather belts. Singapore and Italy, at a price of 8,000 to two months and that the mortality du- Additionally to the processing of his own to 9,000 Baht per skin depending on the ring that phase is around 5%. Later on, animals, he has contracts with sever- quality. A crocodile belt is sold for 2,000 problems of diseases can be minimized al other crocodile farmers, who buy his Baht either to local people or to tourists, by optimal water management and feed small crocodiles and bring the fattened who then will still have to apply for an quality. Those two aspects are also che- animals back to his farm for processing. export certificate in order to take the cked regularly by the fishery depart- At the age of 8 to 10 years all the animals belt home legally. The byproducts meat, ment. 20% of all eggs collected finally which are not used for breeding, are eggs, blood and bones are being marke- hatch and the small animals are brought firstly immobilized by an electric shock ted as well. For one kilogram of meat he to small tanks. After one month they are and mouth binding. Within 10 - 15 minu- receives 1.50 Baht and 60 Baht per croco- moving to a bigger one until they are fi- tes the animals have to be transported to dile egg of which the majority is sold to nally put into a large compound with a the slaughter house where the blood is Chinese costumers. The blood and bones concrete area and a pool where they stay drawn out and the skin is separated from are sold as fish feed or for medical pur- for about three years. To show us whe- the meat. On average, 60 crocodiles are poses. re the older crocodiles are fattened later slaughtered per day. While the meat is on, he took us to his second production sold, the skin is put into a storage house site where the crocodiles first live again where it is covered with salt. in groups together, being differently This salt treatment lasts for at least seven sized. According to the farmer, reasons days in order to prevent post-slaughter for the different size are of genetic and microbial damage. Before shipment, the
22 From egg to belt – Crocodile production in Chon Buri From egg to belt – Crocodile production in Chon Buri 23 National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) and identification, and training (perso- on. By planting local tree species with in the Thailand Science Park nal or group training). Since the regulati- high salt tolerance and using agricultu- ons about intellectual property right for ral engineering technology, researchers Weilong Li microorganism have just been enforced solved the problem of soil salinization in Thailand since 2012, BCC is not experi- to some extent within four years. A rice Introduction of BIOTEC teachers in rural schools. By encouraging enced in dealing issues involving intellec- variety with relatively high salt tolerance students to do small scientific projects, tual property right. was later developed to further solve the BIOTEC, founded in 1983, is a member problem. of the National Science and Technology SiRS enhances learning capacity and mo- Agricultural Biotechnology Research Unit Development Agency (NSTDA), which is tivation for further education in science (ABRU): As a part of the Energy and Envi- Medical Molecular Biology Research Unit an autonomous government body under for rural students. ronment research program, which focu- (MMBRU): As a part of the Health and the umbrella of the Ministry of Science ses on the treatment and rehabilitation Medicine research program, which ad- Guided laboratory tour of to solve environmental problems, ABRU vances knowledge of neglected diseases and Technology. 70% of the 560 staff in four research units BIOTEC conduct research and 160 of them conducts research about plant and ani- such as malaria and tuberculosis, MMBRU possess PhD degrees. Mainly replying on Food Biotechnology Research Unit mal biotechnology to strengthen the ag- operates a malaria research program to funding from the government, BIOTEC (FBRU): As a part of the Agriculture and riculture industry in Thailand. The Plant develop antimalarial drugs to overcome usually gains its research agenda from the Food research program, which aims for Physiology & Biochemistry Laboratory, multi-drug resistant malaria. As a joint Ministry of Science and Technology. BIO- the improvement of yield and quality of one of ABRU’s laboratories, runs a project work of the tissue culture facility, prote- TEC consists of multiple functional units, agricultural product, FBRU conducts pro- addressing the problem of soil salinizati- in unit, and biochemistry laboratory, one such as research units, collaborative re- jects on food safety and quantitative risk on in northeastern Thailand, which is a antimalarial drug, named P218, has been search units, business development units, assessment, food chemistry and functio- good example for the work of ABRU. The developed for ten years and is now under administrative units and others. Empha- nal properties of food proteins, and star- fact that northeastern Thailand used to medical trial. Researchers expect P218 to sizing industrial applications of biotech- ter culture technology. The microbiology be part of the Pacific cean explains high be effective for ten to twenty years until nology, the business development units laboratory of FBRU focuses on protein, levels of salt in the ground water. Me- resistance occurs. MMBRU has coopera- of BIOTEC deal with issues concerning bacteria and fungus relevant to food anwhile, deforestation in northeastern ted with other research facilities and re- patenting, licensing and collaborative as production (e.g. Thai fermented food Thailand has led to movement of water ceived external funding from organiza- well as commissioned research with the production). With the help from public table. Both two factors stated above con- tions, such as the Bill Gates foundation. private sector. Meanwhile, the research extension agencies and private compa- tribute to the problem of soil salinizati- units of BIOTEC have four thematic re- nies, FBRU transfers relevant technology search programs: Agriculture and Food, for improving food production to small- Health and Medicine, Energy and Envi- scale producers. ronment, and Bio-resource Conservation BIOTEC Culture Collection (BCC): As a and Utilization. part of the Bioresource Conservation and Utilization research program, which Community development project: is about the management of microbial Science in Rural Schools (SiRS) resources, BCC collects microorganisms SiRS, conducted by BIOTEC, is one of the and other biomaterials and manages the community development projects aiming materials and related data. The collec- at the transfer of appropriate technolo- tion of BCC includes more than 43,000 gies to rural communities in Thailand. strains of microorganisms, of which 75% SiRS covers more than 100 schools in the are filamentous fungi (mostly insect pa- rural area, especially in the northern and thogenic fungi). The services provided northeastern parts of Thailand. A team by BCC consist of deposit of strains for of ten researchers from BIOTEC is respon- the private sector (using either freezing sible for facilitating students to conduct or drying method), strains for education Worker in laboratory. Group during presentation. small scientific projects and training the and research purpose, strain isolation
24 National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in the Thailand Science Park National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in the Thailand Science Park 25 Pathum Thani Rice Research Center Francisco Mouriño
On March 4 in the afternoon we visi- ment of technologies of production such ted the Pathum Thani Research Center as planting methods (e.g. broadcasting, located at Rangsit-Nakorn Nayok Road parachuting and transplanting), and the at Moo 1, Rangsit, Thanyaburi, Pathum provision of services (e.g. laboratory ana- Thani. Upon arrival Dr. Somong Cho- lysis of seeds and soils). techuen, a senior agricultural research officer, together with other staff of the Rice in Thailand station welcomed us. At first, Dr. Chote- Dr. Somong Chotechuen clearly stated the chuen presented the research center as relevance of rice for Thailand in terms of well as a general description of rice pro- economics, but also in culture and every- duction in Thailand. Later we visited the day life. More than 80% of the populati- facilities of the research station and were on consumes rice three times a day. Rice, introduced to the different activities car- with an approximate area of 10 million ried out there. hectares, covers roughly half of the ag- ricultural land of the country. The total The Pathum Thani Rice Research Center production of milled rice in Thailand is Rice hybridization demonstration at the Rice plant. The Pathum Thani Rice Research Center approximately 20 million tons, of which Pathum Thani Rice Research center. was established in 1916 as the first rice about the half is consumed within the experimental station of Thailand. The country. Most of the rice is produced in station has a rather conventional orga- lowlands, of which approximately 17% is therefore how costly it can be when ap- At last we visited the learning center, nization scheme, where actives are sub- irrigated. Thailand, for many years, has plied to reproduce seeds at a commercial which is used for extension. This center is divided in sections with specific goals been the most important rice exporter level. Some of the students were able to visited by more than 2,000 farmers every and responsibilities. The sections are as of the world, but this has changed: In apply the technique themselves. year. In the facilities information about follows: administration, plant sciences, 2012 Thailand ranked third in terms of Thereafter, we visited the germplasm modern as well as traditional ways of agronomy, plant protection, post-har- the quantity of rice exported after India bank. More than 20,000 rice cultivars, producing rice is displayed. The learning vest technology and seed technology. In and Vietnam. This situation is attributed including wild species, are kept. Many center plays a major role in transferring addition, the national rice seed storage to Thailand´s recently implemented poli- of the cultivars in this collection have the technical and scientific knowledge laboratory for genetic resources is admi- cy to support rice farmers, which lead to been identified and characterized using produced at the Pathum Thani research nistrated by the Pathum Thani Research higher national stocks and lower traded DNA techniques. Of the total collection center to farmers. Center. The main duty of the center is quantity. 10 to 15% is rejuvenated every year. The Final remark carrying out interdisciplinary research bank is of great importance for preser- Tour to the facilities and presentation that solves problems and improves rice ving genetic resources that can be used This visit was important for us to get a of the center´s main activities production. The Pathum Thani station for further improvement of rice varieties. better understanding of rice cultivation works together with two other satelli- During the tour in the research station Unfortunately, the bank is only partially in Thailand. Moreover, it allowed us to te stations and their activities reach 15 three main activities were presented. backed up outside of Thailand. Within learn about how a national research ins- provinces in the central and eastern part First, we visited the greenhouses for a de- the visit we were able to get a better un- titution can contribute to the productivi- of Thailand. Examples of the contributi- monstration of how rice hybrids are pro- derstanding of what is required to pre- ty of a crop and to support farmers to do on of the Pathum Thani Research Center duced. Technicians showed the process in serve such a valuable resource, the po- better cropping. to the quality and productivity of rice in which individual flowers are fecundated tential uses of the genes collections and Thailand are the development of new with the desired parental lines. This de- some of the difficulties for proper pre- rice varieties and hybrids, the provision monstration showed clearly how difficult servation and international cooperation of quality seeds to farmers, the improve- and time consuming the process is and when sharing genetic resources.
26 Pathum Thani Rice Research Center Pathum Thani Rice Research Center 27 Charoen Pokphan Co. Ltd. Rice Mill After drying, the rice gets de-husked. Rice is produced throughout the year, The husk is used to heat the dryers, and but 60 to 70% is harvested in December Oda Reese surpluses are sold. After de-husking the and January. rice is called brown rice. Upon arrival at the site of the Suphaburi These samples are then taken to the la- The following information was gathered Rice Mill, we were invited to the office boratories for tests. First at all the mois- Then the bran of the brown rice is re- by questions building where we were given a presen- ture content is analyzed with the Sing- moved and the rice ispolished. After this • The five plants of the group process tation about the enterprise by Mr. Sukrit le-Kernel-Moisture-Tester that takes the the rice is sorted by colour, length and 1.5 to 1.6 million t/a, yearly produc- Phatthanaphisedkul, the Assistant Vice exact moisture content of 100 grains and size. The whole grain is called Head Rice, tion of Thailand is 30 million t/a, 50% President. Later we were taken through then calculates the average, but also gi- grains with only small damage are called for domestic market, 50% for export the factory by Man Noonklang, the Pro- ves you information about standard de- Special Big Broken Rice, and the lefto- to Africa. duction Division Manager. There we viation, temperature and the distribution ver smaller pieces are Chips. The colour • The company buys the paddy rice learned that the Suphanburi Rice Mill of moisture contents in a histogram. Ave- sorting is done by light with pressured from farmers, traders and middlemen belongs to the Khao C.P. Co. Ltd., which rage should not be higher than 14% for air and also sorts out small stones. across the whole country, by this they again belongs to the C.P International good quality, for every 1% above 12% The polished rice is ready for packing. can work with bigger volumes. Business Trading Group and Crop Inte- there is a price reduction of 0.2 Baht per Usually only one production line is run- gration Business. This group runs three kg. After that there is de-husking and ning at the same time and the rice is • The capacity of the mill is 6,000 to rice mills in the 300 km vicinity of Bang- polishing of the sample to check on im- taken from storage by demand. Before 8,000 t/month, the actual used capaci- kok and two rice factories. At the site of purities and colour of grains or foreign packing the mixing of different grades ty is 4,000 to 5,000 t/month. Buri Ran the mill and factory are mainly matter. The paddy standards are: is done according to standards. The pa- • There is a minimum guaranteed price used to process and pack jasmine and sti- Moisture Content ≤ 14% cking machines are semi-automatic and for rice, for local paddy white rice cky rice. Even though the group does not Damaged Kernels ≤ 0.5% the packs consist of either 15 to 20 kg or 15,000 Baht/t, international price own the biggest rice mill in the world, Yellow Kernels ≤ 0.2% 2 to 5 kg. The finished bags are stored in (FOB) 650 to 700 Dollars. The guaran- it is the biggest rice processing plant in Foreign Matter ≤ 3% the warehouse. teed price is a big problem because the world. The company owns the brand Other Variety ≤ 5% Rice structure (in % of weight): it is not related to the world market “Royal Umbrella”, which is renowned for Paddy Rice 100% price, so it is hard to compete. its good quality worldwide. In the next step the rice goes through the drying process. First the rice is pre-clea- Brown Rice 75% The capacity of the mill is (July 2008): ned, then it goes to the wet bin (2 hrs), Husk 25% 1. Paddy Receiving Section 600 t/d next to the dryer (6 hrs), temperature bin Milled Rice 66% 2. Milling 400 t/d (6 hrs), again to a dryer (5 to 8 hrs accor- Bran 9% 3. Refining 200 t/d ding to moisture content) and last to the Head Rice 45% 4. Storage 15,000 t cooling bin (4 hrs). After that procedure Quality Control is done by controlling When the trucks arrive at the mill, from the moisture content is at 13.5%. With the length of grains and ratio complete/ 30% of the trucks samples are taken from that moisture content the paddy rice can broken grains. the front, middle and back of the trailer be stored without the danger of rotting. The mill is certified by HACCP and GMP with a semiautomatic sample taker. standards and also by ISO 9001:2008. For insect control inside the buildings there is fumigation according to standards. The employees are paid minimum wage, unskilled workers earn around 10 Dol- lars/day, skilled workers 15 Dollars/day. Skilled workers are hard to find, this is why the next factory that is planned will have more machines and less workers. Presentation of the company. Brown and polished Rice. Rice storage hall.
28 Charoen Pokphan Co. Ltd. Rice Mill Charoen Pokphan Co. Ltd. Rice Mill 29 Sugar cane growing and sugar production „Wangkanai – Group” is planted from sticks of cane of approx. 15cm length. For the “100 tons per rai” Frauke Ahlers project, single knots are pre-planted in nurseries and transplanted after six Short facts limited to a low level. Timing and appli- weeks. The seedlings are planted in rows cation techniques are such that the ne- • Name: Wangkanai Group (density is 40 plants/m2) with irrigation gative side effects are reduced. Farmers facilities in between. • Founded: First Company of the group are supported by extension workers of 1975 Wangkanai by applying this way of gro- In addition, a high amount of fertilizer • Production units: six sugar production wing in their daily practice. and organic matter is applied directly to the planting rows. The high density factories in Thailand The “low chemical” sugar is used for ex- and the planting of seedlings reduce the Testing of sugar crystal content in • Factory‘s capacity: 100,000 t of sugar ample by Thai Airways in their airplane need of herbicide. concentrated sugar liquid. cane/day in all six factories together, catering. 18,000 t of sugar cane/day in the Organic sugar Sugar Processing visited U-Thong factory (= 1,800 t of The production of sugar consists of main- sugar/day) In this pilot project, Wangkanai Group selected 200 farmers to convert their su- ly three steps: the pressing of the liquid • Products: raw, white, refined, brown gar cane fields to organic farming, using out of the sugar cane, the evaporation of sugar, marketed domestically and production residues from the sugar plant the water to concentrate the sugar, and internationally as fertilizers, integrating livestock kee- the purification of the sugar crystals. • Business volume: approx. 8 million ping into the system and promoting root Bath (= ca. 180 million Euro) growth and plant health, using methods like EM (effective microorganism). Sugar Cane growing: Farmers are supported by extension ser- three alternative concepts vice and technical advice, and paid a Sugar is a world market commodity that slightly higher price for the raw sugar largely lacks regional or quality differen- cane. The company´s spokesperson clai- tiation. To gain a profit, producers have med that the farmers applying the or- to focus on mass production, using ad- ganic methods are having less problems vantages of economies of scale and ma- with fungal disease due to better plant king money by mass, or they have to go health and that the yield are at least for niche markets, producing sugar with comparable to the yields of the conventi- certain special properties. onal growers. The Wangkanai Group, although a big The “100 tons per rai” – project producers, experiments with different The aim of this project is to detect the concepts of special sugar products, all maximum possible sugar cane yield per starting with different ways of growing rai (Thai area measuring unit, 1 rai = 0,16 sugar cane. ha), at which the number of 100 tons is Sugar cane delivery trucks. Mountains of unpacked Mountains of packed sugar. Low Chemical Sugar more or less symbolical. In the literature, sugar. The sugar marketed as “low chemical su- maximum fresh sugar cane yield is indi- gar” is produced from sugar cane that is cated with about 280 t/ha (Bogden 1977: grown according to the regulations of Tropical Pasture and Fodder Plants). the GAP (Good Agricultural Practice). In To reach maximum yields, a special way these regulations, the use of chemical of planting is used. Normally, sugar cane pesticides, fungicides and herbicides is
30 Sugar cane growing and sugar production „Wangkanai – Group” Sugar cane growing and sugar production „Wangkanai – Group” 31 Floating Market Dumnernsadeuk, Ratchaburi Kristin Hentschel
Almost 105 km away from Bangkok, in Notes: A farmer, who owns some coco- Damnoen Saduak District, Ratchaburi nut palms, showed us how he produces Province, there is the indigenous Dam- sugar out of the sap of the palm. He cuts noen Saduak floating market. the stem of the palm and collects the lea- In 1866 King Rama IV gave the order to king sap in containers. The harvest of the dig a 32 km long channel in Damnoen juice happens during the whole year. The Saduak to link the Mae Kong River with sap can be collected three years after the the Tachine River. From the main chan- first flowering. nel, smaller channels branch off in order When enough sap is collected, it is filled to drain the surrounding fields. in a big pot and cooked on a fire until The soils next to the channel are highly the water is evaporated. Because of the fertile and have good properties to grow heat, the sugar in the sap caramelizes different types of fruits and vegetables. and turns into a viscous mass. Once the That is why a variety of crops, such as consistency is hard enough, the mass is Palm sugar cooking. grapes, coconut palms, roses, and apple dropped onto a straw mat in small cakes- are planted in this area. to cool down. The final product is a hard sugar cake, which is sold in small plastic bags for kitchen use. The floating market is an attractive place for tourists to observe the old and tra- ditional marketing of fruits, vegetables, cooked food, spices and many more. Be- cause it is an attractive place for tourists, one can also find clothes, souvenirs and almost everything else in all colors. Market activities can be observed from small boats and tourists have also the possibility to see Thai houses and a part Coconut sugar advertisement. of life of Thai people.
Driving the Professor up the ... palm. Palm sap harvesting.
32 Floating Market Dumnernsadeuk, Ratchaburi Floating Market Dumnernsadeuk, Ratchaburi 33 Fruit and vegetable production in a drainage system Harvesting is done in intervals. After the first harvest, they stop for one month and Clessio Gomez da Silva then keep on harvesting for another two months and so on. Up to three years the We visited a farmer’s cooperative, which Seedlings are grafted to increase the plantation keeps the yield, afterwards it is producing fruits, vegetables, and let- production and the resistance against decreases. The farmers use the plantati- tuces under very special conditions: pest and diseases and after transplan- on for five to six years on average. They are cropping land that used to be ting they are watered by hand every 15 a swamp and is still marked by an extra- days. One month after planting, the top For exportation, there is a grading sys- ordinary high groundwater table. So the of the plant is cut, to trigger the growth tem for asparagus: with 1 cm diameter, it farmers developed a way to anyhow use of branches. 10 months after planting costs 85.00 Baht/kg, with 8 mm diameter the land productively for cropping pur- pruning is done for the first time and 60.00 Baht/kg, and with 4 mm diameter, poses. Canals were dug out where the is then repeated 40 days after fruiting. it costs 35.00 Baht/kg. water can accumulate, the so gained soil Insecticides are sprayed after flowering. material was heaped up between the ca- Four months later the fruits are harves- nals. In this way they gained land is dry ted. Then the terrain is flooded for one enough to grow a variety of crops, ran- month and the plants are pruned once ging from fruit trees, coconut, and oil more. Twenty days before harvesting, palms over grapes, and vegetables like fertilizer is applied next to the plants asparagus, to lettuce. (about 500 g / plant of NPK). Harvesting is done twice a year. The grapes are sold Grape production as fresh fruits. The grapes are cultivated in alternating Asparagus grading. rows with coconut because they want to Asparagus production switch from grape to coconut plantation The cooperative produces a variety of ve- in six years time. Soil preparation is made getables, but only asparagus is exported. before the plantations are flooded. The In between the asparagus rows, oil palms practice of flooding is done in order to are planted. From planting to harvest the clean the soil from pests and insects. One asparagus shoots, it takes three months. month after flooding organic fertilizer is In case of high pest pressure, chemical Lettuce harvesting. applied and incorporated and then plan- pesticides are sprayed one month after tations are flooded again for 1 month. planting.
Grape field with drainage channels. Lettuce irrigation by boat. Self-made insect trap.
34 Fruit and vegetable production in a drainage system Fruit and vegetable production in a drainage system 35 Pineapple production and processing (Dole Thailand Ltd.) ronmental concerns, but mostly referring ger told us that sometimes they have to the process line. The manager explained reject 70% or even 100%. Isabel Pleisnitzer that they try to produce in the most ef- Currently, the company works with 50% ficient way to reduce waste and that they On the 7th of March we visited the pine- 70% are from Myanmar. This shows the farmers, who are free lancers, which me- use photovoltaic solutionsfor the boiling apple production in Phetchaburi. The good economic situation in Thailand or ans they come and try to sell their pro- process. first stop was the processing station, at least for this sector as foreigner come ducts at the gate. The other 50% are where we could gain an insight view of to work there. However, with regard to the primary contract farmers, who have a set of con- production it was mentioned that only ditions to meet and a certain quantity to the whole process from sorting out the Furthermore, the manager stated that in case of fungal diseases herbicides are deliver at a specific time. best pineapple to the last station of la- according to the law in Thailand the applied and that no insecticides are used. beling in the warehouse, where the cans workers have a workers´ council and As the demanded quantities are usually are stored before being exported. insurance. The working hours per day Furthermore, it was stated that they try very high the company works with large After having visited the process line, we are about 8 hours, 6 days a week. But to support their farmers by providing scale farmers, who possess about 100 rai moved to the pineapple field to get an if a worker would like to work more, it technical services and control visits to (16 ha). This way of management is usu- idea of field work. is possible to work up to 11 hours dai- ensure the quality of the pineapples in ally observed in the context of big com- ly. Thus, working conditions seemed to order to reduce the rejection rate at the panies because they try to reduce tran- Facts about the company be appropriate, which underlines also a gate. This is also part of the safety and saction costs with the side effect that According to the manager the company good management. quality management called GAP (Good small scale farmers are excluded from Agricultural Practice) engaging in the high value production chains. is one of the top exporters in Thailand, Standards are usually set by importer first production step. Therefore, both si- at least in processed pineapple, which is countries, for instance the EU has strict Another aspect of good management is des benefit: the farmers reduce the risk exported to Europe (at a price of 7 to 10 rules. Therefore, respecting this standard social responsibility, which implies the of taking back a high quantity of fruits, Baht per kg). is essential for entering the European support of school activities in rural areas, if they do not meet the quality require- The company´s biggest competitor seems market. Another favorable standard ma- or provision of funds for school equip- ments, and the company makes sure that to be Indonesia, but apart from Indone- nagement is the HACCP (Hazard Analy- ment. they get the demanded quantity on time. sia there are other strong competitors in sis and Critical Control Points), a typical The Process Line this sector. approach to ensure food safety in terms Nevertheless, one should take into ac- of avoiding allergenic, chemical and bio- count that the rejection rate always The company presents an integrated pro- Another aspect of market risk is the sub- logical hazards along the process line. depends on other circumstances, for in- duction line as the whole procedure from stitute fruit orange since the demand for This type of standard addresses the pro- stance on climate conditions. The mana- sorting the fruits till the labelling is made pineapple depends also on the harvest of cess and can be used in all production oranges. If there are a lot of oranges, the stages. HACCP is a voluntary standard demand declines and vice versa. That is for pineapple and its application shows an additional reason why the manager that the company matters about food sa- has to ensure high quality and a good fety. Another standard is the ISO 9000, position in the market. Because of the which is part of the processing standard mentioned high competition, he did not and refers to the quality management allow us to take photos as he explained system. These requirements are based on that his way of processing is special and health and safety standards regarding he wants to keep it secret. the product. Moreover, the company im- The company has two factories and pro- plemented the GMP (Good Manufactu- duces 200,000 tons per year, while pos- ring Practices), which includes hygienic sessing 8,000 rais (1,280 hectares) of land concerns inside the factory for instance, for renting it to farmers. wearing protecting clothes like boots, The company operates since 40 years and hairnet, mask and work coats. In addi- Pineapple tasting on the field. Growing pineapples on has a high number of workers of which tion, the company addresses some envi- the field.
36 Pineapple production and processing (Dole Thailand Ltd.) Pineapple production and processing (Dole Thailand Ltd.) 37 in this factory. Firstly, workers are at the the quality by testing on sweetness and crossing the field, but it happens mostly Referring to the field work, we obser- conveyor belt to sort out the pineapples color. Although the processing we saw in regions near national parks. ved some problems with fungal diseases, according to color and size. Therefore, seems to be very efficient, only 25% of which normally could be easily eradica- the first selection is based on physical the pineapple is good enough for the Conclusions ted by treating the propagation roots observation. Afterwards, the fruits enter can, about 50% will be used for animal To sum up, the company seems to be with fungicides. into a peeling machine inside the factory, feed for example the stalk and the rest well-organized, operating on high stan- Another problem was that some of the while the sorting process is made outside will be used for sweets, for example: dry dard levels to compete internationally by pineapple fruits did not grow properly, right after the delivery. According to the pineapple or just syrup. meeting the required food safety stan- which could be caused by inappropriate quality grade the pineapple go to diffe- dards which are necessary for high value Field work application of the stimulator. Concerning rent cutting machines. There are three products. these observations, some improvements quality grades (tested on color), which After visiting the factory, we moved to Concerning the processing in the factory, in the agricultural management could be decide the way of processing. The best the pineapple fields. The manager exp- improvements could be done to increase necessary in terms of offspring control or grade means that the pineapples are cut lained that the growing season of pine- efficiency by mechanization. Otherwise, farmer trainings to provide incentives for in round big circles, the second grade apple is from May to June and the har- this would mean more unemployment good working behavior. means that they are cut in smaller slices vesting from November to February. and less flexibility in the process line. and the last grade means that the fruits At the end of our visit the manager un- Normally the plant takes about 24 to 36 are crushed or used for syrup. That is why Additionally, they try to use the fruits in derlined that the production represents months to bear fruits and after flowe- we saw a lot of workers in the factory an efficient way in order to avoid waste organic farming and that the company ring it takes approximately six months supporting the mechanized process or and financial loss. Moreover, they produ- aims at meeting fair trade standards. until harvest. putting the slices in cans. The reason why ce their own cans in order to have a verti- Overall the company is a positive examp- the factory is not fully mechanized is due For maintaining soil quality it would be cally integrated production chain, which le of good quality management in a high to the cheap labor force and therefore favorable to make use of a crop rotation indicates good management practice. value market, except of some critical it is not necessary to buy other machines system, but unfortunately this was not Besides, the company seems to meet cru- points. (besides it is generating employment). the case. One advantage of pineapple cial hygienic standards to ensure food sa- production is the low water demand of After canning they proceed to a filling fety and good working condition. the plant, which allows rain-fed condi- station where a certain amount of boiled tions for cultivation. syrup is added and the cans are sealed. The syrup is squeezed from the fruits, Furthermore, after planting the seed- which are out-sorted at the beginning. lings survive without additional water till This indicates an efficient use of by- the rainy season starts. Nevertheless, the products to reduce costs and waste. The main disadvantage of vegetative propa- company produces its own cans, which gation using roots of old plants is that are made of rustproof corrugated metal the root material may be diseased. In the with a rubber lamination at the inside field we observed an area with plants for hygienic purpose. that suffered from a fungal disease. Af- ter individual plants are infected it is In the next step the cans proceed for pas- difficult to stop the dispersion of spores. teurizing, sterilization and cooling. Fi- Therefore it is important to dip the seed- nally, they are labelled and then stored in lings into a fungicide solution in order to the warehouse. Here, we could observe avoid infections. Herbicide applications that cans got different labels according are done by hand (only wearing gloves to different international customers, an and boots) and also growth stimulators indicator for the huge amount of buyers are used, but no insecticides. all over the world. Apart from environmental constrains, Before the contingents leave the fac- Pineapple planting by excursion Pineapple planting by a professional crop damage can be caused by elephants tory, a sample of cans is taken to check participants. worker.
38 Pineapple production and processing (Dole Thailand Ltd.) Pineapple production and processing (Dole Thailand Ltd.) 39 Kui Buri National Park – Human and wild elephant conflict Andrea Bähringer
The Kui Buri National Park was introdu- for visitors. Rubber and oil palm planta- ced by Mrs. Tirati Mortip, PR agent, and tions come up to the border on the My- Mr. Thongsuk Daengchot, head of the anmar side, the National Park exists only park´s management department (con- on the Thai side of the border. Before af- tact: [email protected]). forestation and establishment of the Na- The National Park is located in Prachuab tional Park in 1998 the forest of Kui Buri Khiri Khan Province in Thailand, appro- was leased to farmers and companies. ximately 250 km southwest of Bangkok. The park consists of five areas; there is It covers an area of 969 km² (or 605.625 also a core zone that is open to tourists Rai) and shares a border with Myanmar (where we saw the elephants). The park in the West. The border area is restricted has small headquarters and is managed Asian elephant in the National Park. by rangers involving the local community. Commu- ximus), about 100 gaurs (Bos gaurus) and stroy entire harvests. The National Park nity people work as gui- three bantengs (Bos javanicus), which management started a project to solve des and provide their own are supposed to be the wild ancestor of and prevent conflicts between farmers pick-ups for guided tours the domesticated gayal or mithun (Bos and wild elephants. After discussing and for tourists. This inclusion frontalis) (Tanaka et al. 2011). creating a map about the borderline of leads to an increasing ac- the National Park together with the far- ceptance of the National Kui Buri National Park is also home of ten tigers (Panthera tigris), which mate on mers, the contact details of every affec- Park among the local po- ted party have been collected. A road pulation. both sides of the border. There are also monkeys, tapirs, makis, foxes, porcupines along the borderline was built to make it The National Park con- and pangolins (whose blood and skin is easy to scout at the border. tains varied types of fo- used in the traditional Chinese medici- When a farmer observes at least two rest, such as mixed deci- ne), as well as some non-indigenous spe- elephants outside the park, rangers and duous forest, also kinds cies and several jungle fowls, such as the other farmers are called for support in or- of secondary forest and red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), which is der to cast out the elephants. Though it bamboo. Occurring tree one of the ancestors of the domesticated is difficult to make farmers aware of the species are Casuarina and chicken (Eltanany & Distl 2010). problem, every observation of elephants Mansonia gagei (Sterculi- aside the border must be reported to the aceae), a coumarin contai- Tourists can go on study tours through the national park on three trails of dif- National Park department, even at night, ning plant, which is used including time and position. Due to the- in traditional medicine ferent length. They can watch elephants and birds or visit several waterfalls, even se observations, 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. were in Thailand for its heart figured out as the main feeding times of stimulating properties, though most of them are available only on foot. There are 14 hotspots to observe the elephants. At this time farmers and amongst others (Tiew et al. rangers are prepared in particular. 2002). elephants, but only four are within reach by car. At the moment there is no financial com- The occurrence of varied pensation for crop land that is destroyed animal species is monito- Serious problems occur in the National Park border area connected to farm- by elephants, but the observation reports red by camera traps. The are hoped to effect the establishment of park is habitat for 230 Asi- land: in need of food in the dry season Map of Kui Buri National Park (WWF Thailand). an appropriate fund. an elephants (Elephas ma- elephants search for pineapples and de-
40 Kui Buri National Park – Human and wild elephant conflict Kui Buri National Park – Human and wild elephant conflict 41 Over the last two years, electric fences between the fence’s electric impulses, pregnant elephant cows had abortions Instead of working in the forests they are run by solar cells have been installed in felling trees or kicking smaller elephants caused by lack of minerals. Nowadays, only kept for tourists and begging today. the fields of reporting farmers only to into the fence to destroy the cables. there is feed supplement, such as salt Usually only male elephants have tusks motivate non-participating farmers to Another attempt to protect pineapple and oyster shells, offered in 60 cm deep and only few have long ones that could join the reporting group. plantations is an intercropping of pine- holes in the ground. But still the draught be interesting for traders. So there are The electric fence proved to be not ef- apple with plants elephants do not feed is the most serious problem. more than 1,000 unemployed domestica- fective in the long run. The first time ele- on, for instance rubber trees. The number of elephants is monitored ted elephants, most of them live in pover- ty (Stiles 2009). But the consciousness for phants came in contact with it, it worked The end of the dry season (the time of twice a year. Kui Buri National Park pro- well. An alert was sent to the farmer and vides enough space for the current num- elephant welfare is growing, elephant our visit) is the time of the most inci- hospitals have been established and or- he was quickly on the spot. However, dents and the ranger reported of two in ber of elephants, but the limiting factor after some time the elephants had de- is the available water in the dry season. ganizations for elephant protection have a week, because of dried water ponds been founded. veloped strategies to outwit the fence, and lack of feed. A few years ago, many The current number of tigers is limited such as waiting for the short moments due to the size of their territories (about The ranger negated problems with ille- 100 km²). There are no problems with gal logging. He explained that forest and tigers at the moment, but there was an animal protection is a royal project and incident five years ago, when farmers in order to show loyalty to the king, peo- brought cattle into the park. ple respect the forest and its animals and would rather take part in its protection One section of the department is respon- than cause harm to it. sible for the monitoring of poaching ac- tivities. There are no incidents at the mo- ment, but four years ago rangers stopped poachers, who preyed on ivory.Poaching References is a general problem in Thailand’s Nati- Stiles, D. (2009): The elephant and ivory onal Parks. The trade of ivory of dome- trade in Thailand; TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, sticated elephants is permitted in Thai- Petaling Jaya, Sengalor, Malaysia; online at land, but due to insufficient controlling http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/Traf- ivory of wild elephants from all over the 107.pdf, last updated 29.07.2010, last view- world, especially Africa and Myanmar, is ed 08.04.2013. Bathing elephant. illegally traded in Thailand (Asian ele- Eltanay, M., Distl, O. (2010): Genetic diversi- phants are listed in Appendix I of CITES, ty and genealogical origins of domestic chi- which means that international trade is cken. In: Worlds Poult. Sci. J. 66 (04): 715–726. prohibited; African elephants are listed Tanaka, K., Takizawa, T., Dorji, T., Amano, in Appendix II of CITES and trade is per- T., Mannen, H., Maeda, Y. (2011): Polymor- mitted for a few African countries (Stiles phisms in the bovine hemoglobin-beta gene 2009)). provide evidence for gene-flow between The ranger also told us that ivory of dead wild species of Bos (Bibos) and domestic catt- wild elephants stays in museums in Thai- le in Southeast Asia. In: Animal Science Jour- land. Ivory is popular as talisman and is nal 82 (1): 36–45. used in the traditional Chinese medicine. Tiew, P., Puntumchai, A., Kokpol, U., Chava- The logging ban in 1989 left many wor- siri, W. (2002): Coumarins from the heart- woods of Mansonia gagei Drumm. In: Phyto- king elephants in Thailand unemployed. chemistry 60 (8):773–776.
Inspection of elephant traces. Excursion participants.
42 Kui Buri National Park – Human and wild elephant conflict Kui Buri National Park – Human and wild elephant conflict 43 Shrimp Farming this form of farming. As a service to its member fits the criteria. The decision is members, the cooperative offers food William Nelson then passed on to the cooperative’s com- and technical advise and has contact to mittee. many shrimp buying companies, inclu- Introduction visited the chairman in the cooperative’s In terms of financial gain, 1 kg of con- ding the major British retailer Marks and office and was then led to one of the ventional shrimp is said to earn 4.50 EUR On Thursday the 7th of March 2013 the ex- Spencer (M&S). The cooperative already production sites. (170 Thai Baht) gross, bio-shrimp fetches cursion group visited a small-scale shrimp supplies the M&S luxury food depart- around 5.00 EUR (190 Thai Baht) per kg. cooperative in Prachuab Khiri Kahn, one This report aims to document the infor- ment with shrimps and is beginning to Although this information is only availa- of Thailand’s central provinces. mation gathered during this part of the explore the possibilities of supplying or- ble with regards to bio-shrimp, 3.68 EUR excursion. ganic shrimp. Located in the northern part of the Malay (140 Thai Baht) per kg covers the pro- Peninsula, some 240 km south of Bang- Background Currently, the main type of shrimp that is duction costs, meaning 1.30 EUR (50 Thai kok, the Prachuab Khiri Kahn Province farmed and traded is white shrimp. This Baht) is profit. Of this profit 0.05 EUR The cooperative is six years old and today neighbours provinces Phetchaburi in the is due to prior disease problems with (2 Thai Baht) is re-invested into the co- consists of precisely 261 members. The North, and Chumphon in the South. black shrimp. The three key destinations operative and used to fund the manage- group is headed by a chairman, with 30 for Thai shrimp are the European Union ment operations. This visit aimed to expose the excursi- years of experience in the industry, and on group to the small-scale cooperative (EU), United States (US) and Japan. is based on members bringing together Production shrimp farming industry. The group firstly their shrimp in order to sell their catch Due to different taste preferences and The following will briefly describe the to targeted markets. The group is mainly food cultures, the EU tends to import production processes used for conventi- made-up of small-scale farmers (90%). more tiger shrimp, where as the US and Japan receive more white shrimp. onal shrimp production. In terms of the farming systems used, Pond Preparation: 60% of the cooperative’s members pro- There are reportedly 11 shrimp coopera- duce ‘bio-shrimp’, although this is not in tives operating in Thailand today. The vi- • Water is drained from shrimp ponds. sited coop began with only 52 members, line with European organic standards. • Wet mud mixture at the bottom of who had previously struggled to trade Moreover, the remaining 40% of produ- the pond is removed (this is not the as individuals due to competition from cers produce conventionally, i.e. adhe- case under organic production, where larger organisations. As a somewhat lar- ring to no additional regulations other mud is not removed from the bottom ger group of shrimp farmers, they have a than those of the national government. of the pond). The 60% of members that produce bio- great deal more power together, collec- • The pond is left to dry for around 15 shrimp make up around 50% of the to- tively producing around 2,800 t of fresh days. tal land area that is run by the coopera- shrimp annually. In order to stay well or- tive. Although there are some efforts to ganised, the coop committee meets once • The pond floor is then ploughed, produce shrimp in a globally recognised a month, with large gatherings including micro-organisms are added, and the organic way, the chairman reported that all member farmers biannually. floor ploughed again. this can be very difficult for some shrimp To be a member of the cooperative, each • Nutrients can now be added to the farmers, which is why the so called bio- farm must obtain a Good Agricultural soil, such as nitrogen, phosphorous, shrimp label is offered as a compromise. Practices (GAP) certificate - GAP repre- calcium, and magnesium. The pH may Although the details were not discussed, sents a collection of principles to apply be altered, if this is out of the range ‘bio-shrimp’ assumedly adheres to less for on-farm and post-production proces- required, which can differ depending stringent regulations in comparison to ses. This aims to produce safe and healthy on the species farmed, but usually ‘organic’ production in terms of environ- products, taking matters of economy, so- wavers around 7 - 7.5. mental sustainability and animal welfare. ciety, and the environment into account. • Water is then added and left to settle Members must also be outright owners The group’s aim is to maintain the prac- for three days, after which the salinity of their land. The chairman at the time is tise of shrimp production and therefore is checked. the first to check whether the potential Pool aeration the livelihoods of those that depend on
44 Shrimp Farming Shrimp Farming 45 Stocking the Pond: Evaporation causes around 3 cm of water • Rice bran is spread on the edge of the loss every couple of weeks, which is why pond; this attracts insects to lay their 3 cm of water is added to the ponds ap- eggs. proximately every 15 days. This is usually sourced from a local river. • Water and plankton quality of pond is checked. The harvesting of shrimp operates as fol- lows: • If the above is suitable for shrimp production, hormone and antibiotic- • Water is drained until it is at knee free Thai shrimp lava is added. height (of a fully-grown man). This ensures the shrimp do not drown, • Feeding begins after seven days. but at the same time can be seen and This is either done manually through therefore caught throwing feed, or mechanically using an automated feeding machine. The • Shrimps are then collected using nets. fodder consists of fish and food-crop For production in general, one man is meal. said to be able to manage a shrimp farm Production & Harvesting: of around 6 ha.
• Nets are sometimes used to cover Shrimp fodder. the ponds and protect shrimp from being attacked by birds. However, as Note: This level of technology is not com- long as the shrimp farm is run well mon on shrimp farms. The solar panels and its stock is ‘happy’, i.e. shrimp do featured on this farm were supplied by not need to surface the water to gain the cooperative’s Finnish sponsor (aera- access to oxygen, it is less likely that tion machines were put on during the birds will be attracted to the ponds. day for demonstration only). Depending • Solar panels are used to power aera- on the size of shrimp demanded by the tion machines, used to add oxygen to producer’s target market, the time peri- the water and therefore improve wa- od required for shrimp growth can differ, ter quality. As displayed in the image for example: at the top of this report. Machines • 90 days for 60 to 70 shrimps / kg are run for around 12 hours throug- • 110 days for 50 shrimps / kg hout the night.
Shrimps harvested for demonstation.
46 Shrimp Farming Shrimp Farming 47 Queen Sirikit Sericulture Center The silkworms from the unspun cocoons ket. The production of silk in Thailand can be sold as food. One rai of mulberry is mainly located in the North, though Jonas Ehls trees is needed to produce 300 to 400 kg climatic conditions are more favorable of leaves, which is sufficient for the feed in the South. Anyway, the climatic con- Universities of Kassel and Goettingen`s There are several varieties of the silk- of one unit of silkworm-eggs provided ditions of the South provide opportu- 4th Interdiciplinary Study Tour to Thai- worm. One native Thai variety is fairly by Queen Sirikit Sericulture Center. One nities for other cash-crops, too. In nort- land visited the Queen Sirikit Sericul- well adapted to the local climate but cardboard containing 1 g of eggs is sold hern Thailand‘s silk production there is a ture Center on March 8th 2013. The key produces yellowish fibres with an ave- for 30 Baht. It has a production potential break from January to May due to low objectives of the center are educational rage length of 500 m. However, there are of 4 kg of raw silk. Thailand‘s silk pro- leave production of the mulberry tree purposes, research in sericulture and egg used varieties producing white fibre with duction is aiming a special quality mar- during the dry season. production of silkworms to provide them an average length of 1,200 m. One objec- to farmers. The visit included video pre- tive of breeding activities in the center is sentations demonstrating silk produc- to crossbreed these genoms, to achieve tion, a detailed explanation of silk pro- a high quality and quantity fibre produ- cessing in the showroom and a discussion cing breeds adapted to the local condi- round. Mrs. Payoo Budwathit welcomed tions. the group. After spinning, the coarse fibre is Silk moth. Silk production bleached and colored for further proces- sing. The production of silk is based on the hatching of the silkworm (Bombyx mori). Silkworm-egg production Silk is the unspun fibre of the cocoon Farmers producing silk need a constant of the pupa-stage of the silkworm. One supply of silkworm-eggs, which are pro- major part of silk production is growing duced in Queen Sirikit Sericulture Cen- Silk worms. white mulberry (Morus alba) for the feed ter. For the egg production, adult mots of the silkworm, which it is specialized in. of the silkworm have to be risen. Seven To feed the different stages of the lar- days after eclosing from the cocoon, the vae, certain qualities of mulberry leaves less winged male mots are coupled with are harvested. The mulberry trees are female adults of the silkworm. One mot coppiced to easy access the leaves. The produces 300 to 500 eggs. On 20 x 30 cm Mulberry tree. Cocoons. whole hatching process of the silkworm glued cardboards 60 to 70 pregnant mots from eclosion to spinning the silk takes are placed to produce a total of 23,000 approximately one month. In the first eggs (~ 1 g). These cardboards contai- three growth stages, the young larvae of ning the silkworm-eggs are sent out to the silkworm have to be feed with only the farmers for hatching and rearing. young leaves of the mulberry tree. In the Approximately 200 farmers are receiving latter stages, the silkworm will be fed a total of 3,000 units of silkworm-eggs with the older, hence larger and coarser per anuum from the center. leaves. After another 18 days, larvae are mature and spin themselves into a co- Economics of small-scale silk production coon. This takes about five days. For the Silk production with prices around 1,200 silk spinning process, these pupeae are to 1,500 Baht / kg provides a quick and then poured into hot water. Depending good revenue for farmers. Furthermore, on the demanded strength of the silk the mulberry tree can be used for various produced, 20 to 150 double fibres of silk purposes: It grows delicious fruits and are spun. leaves can also be used to prepare a tea. Traditional silk production.
48 Queen Sirikit Sericulture Center Queen Sirikit Sericulture Center 49 Crab Bank in Pathiu, Chumphon cked each day. To conclude, we can remember that this cooperative is conscious of the need of Kristin Hentschel To attract the crabs to the nets and ca- ges, fodder (fish parts) is placed inside. sustainability to not overfish the sea and be aware of enough young crabs and Mr. Jang Fuengfung, the chairman of with eggs are kept in the hatchery. Af- The crabs enter the nets and don’t ma- eggs. Another point is the improvement one of the crab banks in the Gulf of Thai- ter the eggs are layed, the “old“ crabs nage to exit them anymore. Just smal- of the techniques, so they are using big- land, remembered when there was a cri- are sold and the “younger“ crabs go ler, younger crabs can swim both ways ger cages with a certain number of crabs sis with the reduced swimming crabs 12 back into the sea. One crab is able to lay through the net. inside. Furthermore, they have to deal years ago. Thus, he thought of different from 200,000 up to one million eggs, de- The cooperative has a contract with two with problems concerning the labour: ways of how to advance the crab bank pending on the size of the crab. After a private companies, where they are sel- the crab farmers are getting older and including the increasing population, re- week the new crabs hatch. Then the far- ling the crabs. The money used for the most of the young generation have no duce the time consuming labour, which mers feed them. The baby crabs can float development of the cooperative is lent interest in continuing the work of their is getting more and more expensive and through the net back into the free sea, from private companies for investment. parents. not a favourable job (the number of crab while the adult crabs are caught in the farmers decreased from 18 to 10). net and are sold. The hatching period He developed the idea of a floating net depends on the water quality (in regard in the sea as a hatchery. The female, egg- to the salinity). In close cooperation with bearing crabs are then marked with a the Thai Fishery Department, they ag- number and the date to guarantee that reed on the restriction that 3 km around they would not be caught again within the hatchery net no crab fishing is allo- 10 days after the laying of the eggs. This wed to assure that there will be enough idea was so good that the chairman went crabs in future. This area is a protected Excursion participants coming from the boat trip to the crab banks. to Japan to share his ideas of leading area. Further, strict regulations exist re- a crab bank, and in Thailand it spread garding the size of the nets, which are through the whole country, too. bigger now. The number and the date on the crabs The peak of the crab catching season is assure that there is no destructive exploi- between November and December until tation of the egg laying crabs. The crabs February. Every three days the nets are inspected, whereas the cages are che-
Mr. Jang Fuengfung during presentation Crab fisher on his boat.
50 Crab Bank in Pathiu, Chumphon Crab Bank in Pathiu, Chumphon 51 Small-scale banana processing women cooperative bananas) which is labelled either with tercropped with trees such as mango, the name of the cooperative or an rubber, durian and long kong. Manuel Toledo Hernández individual householder label. Most households use a combination of the On the 9th of March 2013 at around 12:00 The cooperative functions as follows: own label and the cooperative one. we visited a small women cooperative of 1. Generally, the banana production 5. The packaged product “banana-box” banana processing located in the Tha Sae takes place at the household level. District of Chumphon, Thailand. The visit can be marketed either directly by began with a brief introduction of our ex- 2. Following the “Good Agricultural the cooperative or by the producer cursion group held by Prof. Buerkert and Practices” (GAP)* principles, the members. The banana-boxes are mar- a short presentation of the cooperative’s cooperative selects the households, keted across the whole country and initiation. Around 12 staff members of which are allowed to take part in the in some cases also exported abroad to the cooperative were present. banana processing. countries such as Canada. The oldest member of the group was in 3. The selected households bring their After the presentation, the audience was charge of explaining to us the idea of the production into the cooperative encouraged to ask open questions to the Banana plantation. cooperative. A group of women gained facilities in order to start the banana cooperative members. The members ex- awareness that in order to boost the sa- processing. It can be summarized in plained that currently there are 45 active les of bananas it was important to impro- four steps: 1) peeling off the banana, members participating in the organizati- ve the quality in the banana processing. 2) drying the peeled banana in the on, and they expected this number to in- She mentioned that the increment of green house or in conventional ovens, crease over the time. All members are fe- customers seeking for quality products is 3) addition of chocolate cover or male under 50 years old. The majority of rapidly increasing in Thailand as well as other ingredients (in some cases) and the members are housewives, and their the interest of the government in esta- 4) packaging in labelled boxes, called husbands usually work in other activities blishing social programs aiming to gua- banana-box. It is important to menti- not related to the banana production. rantee a self-sufficiency economy in Thai on that in some cases fresh bananas Moreover, the women told us that their rural areas. She also explained that as a are also directly marketed. decision to join the organization was in cooperative it is easier to obtain financial 4. The processing ends with the packa- order to increase their income opportu- nities for their households. In most of the support than when working individually. ging of the dried bananas (or fresh The green house facility with bananas cases the families are the owners of the drying on metal plates. land where they grow the bananas. In cases where the members don’t possess any land they might be allowed to use The organization members mentioned the land belonging to the cooperative. that every year they call for new mem- bers’ applications. The decision making The average size of banana plantations is in the cooperative is taken democrati- not precisely known by the cooperative cally. Basically, the members can finance members, but they assure to produce ap- the banana production and processing proximately 20 t of bananas per month thanks to the economical support given and the banana bunch weight in average by several instances such as the govern- is 15 kg. The members also mentioned ment and the NGOs. The government en- that the use of chemical fertilizers and courages the members to produce high pesticides is not allowed in the produc- quality products in order to be invited tion. Therefore, they use only the bana- to present their products on an impor- na peels as fertilizer. According to them tant national fair exhibition. Moreover, there are no current problems with pests they can receive financial support, if they or diseases. The bananas are usually in- Cooperative members presenting the banana-boxes, the final processed product. reach a good yield of around 30 t. The
52 Small-scale banana processing women cooperative Small-scale banana processing women cooperative 53 members mentioned that this year they up to 60 to 70°C. After two to three days Khao-Thalu Chumporn Coffee began receiving financial support from the peeled banana drying process is ac- Mareike Decker the Research Ministry as an acknowledg- complished. In order to avoid confusions ment of the cooperative to be a learning and misunderstanding, only bananas of The Khao-Thalu Chumporn Coffee Ag- sistant than the Arabica type. But even center of banana processing. Individual one owner are dried each time. If cli- riculturist Group is located in Thailand’s here, especially the flowers face fungal members may apply to receive labelling matic conditions do not allow using the Southern region, in Chumporn province. problems, which is why some of the fruits or funding opportunities. When they are greenhouse or high amounts of bananas Established 21 years ago, Khao Thalu are underdeveloped. granted help, they are encouraged to ex- have to be processed at the same time, Coffee has specialized in the production change information with others to ani- the conventional gas ovens are used. The climate for the coffee growth is tro- of instant coffee, or 3-in-1 coffee pro- pical-monsoon with heavy rainfalls from mate them to apply as well. One of the main constraints the mem- ducts. The group, also registered as an November to January, which is also the The last stop during our visit was the bers mentioned was that the small-scale OTOP community development project, season for the plant to receive its flow- processing area, where the members banana processing does not allow them is now consisting of roughly 500 farmers er. During December and February the showed and explained the drying pro- to reach the requirements to export and produces a niche market coffee pro- beans will be harvested. The amount of cess. The two main facilities are a green- their products. The cooperative experi- duct for the local market. harvest depends on the age of the tree, house and four conventional ovens. The enced this as being problematic, when but on average a 5-year-old-tree will green house has the capacity to dry 600 exporting their products to Canada, in Group organization have about 50 kg of beans. One time per kg of peeled bananas within three days. which case the contract was canceled. During the time of the group’s establish- harvest, chemical fertilizer is applied to This method uses solar light radiation to * Note: To consult the GAP principles, follow ment, the coffee price was at a histori- the coffee plant, among others (e.g. cof- produce a greenhouse-effect inside the the link http://www.fao.org/prods/gap/ cally low level, which was the reason why fee husk, rice bran, residuals from fish complex. Temperatures inside may reach approximately 15 farmers initiated the sauce production rock phosphate, urea). formation. Because of price fluctuations, the number of farmers in the group kept Generally, the red beans are collected changing. It has now come to a more by hand, but for other production steps, constant number of 500 farmers. About the farmers have the possibility to rent 80% of the members are small-scale far- machinery from the group for a certain mers, owning about 10 Rai (1 Rai = 1,600 amount of money. m2) for coffee production. Members for Residuals from the coffee production are the group are selected by a committee, again used as fertilizers and for compos- mainly consisting of the chairman and ting and are mostly sold to its member the vice-chairman. Incentives and reasons farmers. Usually, coffee plants are plan- Greetings for the German guests. for the farmers to join the group were ted next to other fruit trees (e.g. Duri- said to be as follows (among others): an, Mangosteen, Banana plants) to avoid • having a better negotiating power, monocultures and to have a larger pro- especially in times of low prices, duct variety in times of price fluctuations. • the possibility to process their own Coffee processing and production coffee beans at the factory and After harvesting the coffee beans, the • being able to offer an increased varie- beans will go to the husking machine, ty of products to the customers. where they are de-husked. The machine will also do the sorting and grading, as Coffee plants and harvest well as emit foreign material. The second The Robusta coffee plant is the major step is the roasting. For the Khao-Thalu coffee type in Chumporn province and 3-in-1 coffee products, the green beans amounts up to 60% of the total coffee are roasted several times at high tempe- Children demonstrating banana processing. plantation. It is said to be more fungi re- ratures (ca. 180°C), especially if the be-
54 Small-scale banana processing women cooperative Khao-Thalu Chumporn Coffee 55 ans are small and underdeveloped. Mo- Overall, Khao-Thalu coffee has several To maintain its market share and to be reover, the silver skin of the beans is not plants. One is mainly producing the 3-in- competitive on the market, the group of- polished off before further processing, as 1 coffee products and covers all proces- fers a highly value-added, community de- the strong roast makes up for this lower sing steps, from grinding to packaging. velopment product, which mostly serves quality criterion. Other coffee products Roasting and husking is done at another the local Thai market. It now offers four do not need to be roasted very strongly, plant. different types of coffee products. The as the bean’s quality is more sufficient. In order to have the final 3-in-1 product, group has also been certified by several After roasting, the beans will be grinded non-dairy creamer and sugar is added to agencies (e.g. Halaal certificate, Thai FDA in the grinding machine. Once roasted the spray dried coffee. After having done and OTOP certificate) and has won a pri- and ground, the coffee is dissolved in some market research, the group found ce for the best farmer group awarded by water. The machines at Khao-Thalu Cof- out that Thai people favor the flavor of the crown prince Vajiralongkorn. fee will boil the water and reduce the air non-dairy creamer, which is gained from About two years ago, the group received pressure (vacuum evaporation), by which palm oil. Moreover, it is more suitable some government funding at no interest the coffee solution is concentrated. This to follow the dietary habits of a larger rate, from which they bought machine- process is called “spray drying”. After group of the population, such as vegans. ry and trucks. The market for this type that the caffeine is added to the now Overall, Khao-Thalu coffee produces of instant coffee is expected to further soluble coffee. The spray drying can pro- about 10,000 containers of coffee pro- grow within the next years. cess up to 20 kg/h. ducts per year (7,000 kg of “3-in-1” per month).
Coffee plant with flowers Three different qualities of Final 3-in-1 coffee product. (partly infected by fungal coffee. diseases).
The company’s products as a gift for the Discussion during plantation visit. visitors.
56 Khao-Thalu Chumporn Coffee Khao-Thalu Chumporn Coffee 57 Rubber-Based Agroforestry System When Tuan Sovijang built up his edu- ected in cups and accumulated, so they cation center, he also bought 16 Rai of do not have to cut every tree every day. Valerie Kersting rubber wood from a traditional farmer They do not add value to their product and started to create a rubber agrofore- by cleaning, drying, or smoking it. The On Sunday, the 10th of March 2013, we way of letting the pigs graze in the fo- stry system due to planting other plants raw product is sold to the local market visited a rubber based agroforestry sys- rests they also pick up insects and worms like herbs, yams, pineapple, and bamboo or to the factory. The rubber price is fluc- tem near to Thachang. The Farmer Tuan as protein feed besides plants, because between the rows of rubber trees for a tuant, but currently at a level of 40 Baht Sovijang and his family built up an agri- they cannot synthesize essential amino natural regrowth of biodiversity in the (1.069 EUR) per kg raw material. This pri- cultural learning center 45 years ago on acids. To enhance their physical status secondary forest. Rubber agroforestry ce is still lower than the labor costs and their own farm and they teach regional the pigs should be fed with a good pro- systems are an agricultural practice for there is no price difference between the people, who are interested into small- tein source like concentrate feed, soybe- small-scale rubber farmers to enhance raw rubber from traditional or natural scale agriculture and exchanging ideas ans or legumes. It also would reduce the the ecological integrity and crop diversi- production. with the local community and do some actually very high mortality rate of 90% ty, meaning the production of trees and activities and projects together. Besides of the Asian pig breed. After using the trees, they are sold to a variety of crops or animals, which grow the education center, they cooperate local wood traders, which come to the together at the same time and on the with research stations, which take soil farm, give a price and cut the trees by same area. According to the philosophy samples for soil and diversity studies. themselves. From the rubber wood they of natural rubber production, the farmer mainly produce furniture. One worker is The farm is divided into three parts: their shares his products from the forest with required for tapping.The farmer himself garden, animal husbandry and rubber the community and has no economical goes cutting sometimes during the day. agroforestry. goals. If anyone needs wood for furnitu- To have the best yield, they start tap- In their garden they have a lot of diffe- re, herbs, fruits, or other plants, one can ping the trees at 2:00 am until 5:00 am, rent plants and herbs, which are used go into his forest and take it. equipped with a headlamp. During these for demonstration, animal feed or have The rubber trees grow in combinati- morning hours, when it is dark and cold healing properties, for example Thun- Local Asian pig breed. on with other trees and plants and are outside, the latex is more liquid and will bergia laurifolia, which has detoxifying left to grow uncontrolled without weed flow out of the bark more easily. No hor- and anti-allergic effects. control or enhancement of soil fertility. mones are used to make the latex flow For demonstration they also keep ani- There is no implementation of controlled easier, which is done in conventional mals like ducks, chicken, and pigs. On intercropping with food crops, timber tapping. Actually, they tap on a lower one side they rear the European pig trees or cover crops and trees. In terms intensity: 700 from 1,400 trees. A tree is type, which they feed with concentrate of weeding, plants are sometimes cut to tapped every third day and generates an feed in form of pellets and keep them on get access to the trees. The farmers do average yield of 2 kg rubber/tree/year. coconut bedding. The local Asian breed not apply any fertilizing management From March to May, when the leaves fall they keep on concrete floor so that they and they quit the use of chemical fertili- down, the farmers stop tapping the trees have nothing to play around with, but Rubber tree with cut bark and latex collec- zers. Irregularly, when they have enough and start again when the rainy season because they cannot sweat and the out- tion device. ferment, fuel, and plant extracts they begins. side temperature is much higher than the spread them in between the trees. The The rubber industry of Thailand is do- optimal temperature of 20°C, they use tapping of the trees starts, when they minated by small-scale farmers, which the cooler concrete floor to loose heat are seven years old. Tapping is first only have a lower productivity compared to through lying on it. They feed the Asi- done on one side on the top of the tree big plantations. Like the farm we visited, an type traditionally with banana stamps from the left to the right side and after most of the small-scale rubber plantations and kitchen residues, but do not let them another seven years they change the side are lacking management techniques and go out grazing in the forest so that the of the tree and start to cut another row technologies to improve production Asian breed look very skinny and not as down. Because they cut them very care- In the case of the natural produced la- well fed as the European breed, which fully, they can use those trees until they tex and rubber wood as well as in the pig is fed with pellets. In the old traditional are 40 years old. The liquid latex is coll- Collecting the liquid latex in cups.
58 Rubber-Based Agroforestry System Rubber-Based Agroforestry System 59 husbandry the farmer do not generate the Asian pig breed. However, they don’t Univanich Palm Oil Public Company Limited want to do active promotion and until extra money for his alternative way of Thomas Eickel production. Through an individual initi- now there is no special market for rub- ative of creating a local brand (e.g. for ber produced in a natural way or meat Univanich has been a pioneer of the oil tion of the oil palm seed occurs during their special pig meat) they could incre- from local breeds and traditional animal palm industry in Thailand since 1969. To- three months in wet plastic bags. 75% ase the household income and reserve husbandry. day Univanich is one of Thailand‘s leading of the plants are selected for cultivation. palm oil producers and the country‘s lar- The kernels are planted in a special soil, gest exporter of crude palm oils and high which contains 4/6 parts of top soil, 1/6 quality oil palm seeds. The three oil palm of shell, and 1/6 of palm oil mill effluent crushing mills of Univanich Siam Factory, (“PMOE”), so the plants are adapted to Lamthap Factory and Topi Factory are lo- the natural soil conditions and thus pro- cated in Krabi Province, in southern Thai- mote root development and overall plant land. Worldwide oil palm plantations are resistance. After 12 months, the plants generally located within the 10th degree reach a weight of 13 to 15 kg being rea- latitude. dy for plantation. Univanich sells the Univanich has 6,200 ha own oil palm plan- seedlings to collaboration farmers, so tations and purchase approximately 80% the company can guarantee that farmers of their palm fruit from approximately cultivate oil palm plants with an approp- 4,000 small-scale farmers with mostly less riate quality, selling the harvest later to than 8 ha. The farmers alltogether culti- Univanich factories. Univanich exports vate about 40,000 ha. Creation of surplus germinated Deli x Yangambi hybrids value is up to the farmers. Univanich is to growers in over 15 countries in Asia, operating principally on the processing Africa and South America. Explanation and demonstration of a usefull plant on the farm. work. The three mills produce more than Tissue culture 150,000 tonnes of palm oil annually. Oil palm tissue culture is the next inno- The company´s main operating branches vation in oil palm breeding and expected are oil palm plantation, crushing mills, to become more popular in the future. oil palm research, and seed production. For economical sustainability, Univanich The main products are Crude Palm Oil is developing a new generation of high (“CPO“), Palm Kernel Oil (“PKO“), Palm yielding oil palm clones. Kernel Cake (“PKC“), hybrid hil palm seeds, and seedlings. The wastewater of Oil palm plantation and research the factories is used for methane produc- Oil palm starts bearing bunches 2.5 to tion, adding value to the company. 3 years after planting. After 25 years, On the excursion, we visited Topi Fac- the plants have to be replanted for two tory with the crushing mill, biodigester, main reasons: First, the harvest is high- powerhouse, and Univanich nursery and est from 10 to 15 year old plants, decre- a typical oil palm plantation. Univanich asing with age, and second, the harvest plans to expand production in the future. at older palms, higher than 15 m, is too difficult to manage. Most of the harvest Nursery is done manually, cutting the fresh fruit Hybrid seeds express favorable traits bunches (“FFB”) with a sickle. Some ma- like fast plant growing, higher yield chinery, farm equipment, and trucks for and drought tolerance. The germina- FFB transportation are required.
60 Rubber-Based Agroforestry System Univanich Palm Oil Public Company Limited 61 Harvesting happens two to three times a Factories contains 60,000 cubic metres of waste sulphide content from 2,500 to 100 ppm. month. The plantation has normally 140 The largest proportion of oil is found in water, originating from PMOE. Bacteria The clean biogas (high methan concent- trees per hectare and 17 to 28 t FFB, or 4 the mesocarp extracted as CPO. It is dark within the digester ferment the organic ration) is able to fuel three gas engines to 6 t oil per year and hectare, or about red due to different carotenes contained. fraction of the factory wastewater, and in the powerhouse to generate up to 2.7 200 kg FFB per tree and year. Thai farmers CPO has to be sterilized and cold-pressed. emit gas, which is captured under a bal- megawatts. After transforming, the elec- earn 1,500 to 2,000 Bath (40 to 54 EUR) / t It is used as both cooking oil and bio- loon cover. The balloon cover is the che- tricity can be fed into the provincial elec- FFB. The price per ha of agricultural land diesel. The kernel oil PKO is principally apest technique to cover a big digester. tricity grid and be sold to the provincial in Krabi province rose up to 15,000 EUR used for margarine or soap and other The emitted gas contains methane, car- electricity authority. The digester is clea- because of high value change of oil palm cosmetics or industrial products. The oil bon dioxide and trace gases such as hy- ned out every year and the residues are plantation. extraction rate in CPO and PKO produc- drogen sulphide. Hydrogen sulphide can used as fertilizer for the plantations. By cause corrosion damage on the long run, capturing and utilizing the methane the The water requirement for the plantati- tion is between 18 and 20% of FFB. 2011 therefore the emitted gas is cleaned in a company manages to reduce greenhouse on is mostly met by rainwater, but from Univanich factories processed 908,000 bioscrubber, which reduces the hydrogen gas emissions. December to April there is a soil water t of fruit, producing 179,000 t of palm deficit from 50 to 350 mm in Krabi. In dry oil, 154,000 t of CPO and 22,000 t of seasons about 450 l of drip irrigation per PKO. This equals approximately 9% of day and palm are required. Univanich has Thailand´s CPO. installed storage lakes for this purpose. FFB processing capacity of Univanich fac- Irrigation and fertilizer application incre- tories is about 135 t/h. Topi factory has ase the yield by approximately 10 t FFB a capacity of 60 t/h. The utilization rate per ha, but not all farmers do irrigate. of Univanich factories in 2011 was about On some plantations empty fruit bun- 66% throughout the year, 24 hours dai- ches (“EFB”) are used as fertilizer, redu- ly. Worker‘s salary is, depending on skills, cing the need for chemical fertilizers, co- between 300 and 500 Baht (i.e. 8 to vering the soil, conserving moisture and 13.50 EUR) daily. reducing chemical weeding. The Legume Fiber residues are used as a fuel to gene- Pueraria is convenient as cover crop. rate electricity in the palm oil processing Seed propagation unit. Cernel oil. Univanich started the first replanting mill itself by being fermented in a biogas of oil palms in 1992 and has developed plant nearby. The electricity generated different replanting techniques. Under- in the factory is between 1.350 and 1.500 planting spreads the economic cost of kWh or about 100% of total electricity replanting, optimizes the use of biomass consumption, the rest is fed into the grid nutrients from the old stand of palm and or purchased from the grid, respectively. prevents a total break of farmer‘s in- PMOE is generated at various points du- come. It is done by cutting every second ring processing in the oil mill. These in- palm. clude sewage sludge, sterilization con- densates, fruit washing water, tank and The Univanich Research Department is decanter drain. employing 100 people and has more than 650 ha for field trials. Research are- Methane capturing and renewable as include oil palm breeding and seed energy from factory waste water Young plants in the field. Laboratory plant production, irrigation research, planting propagation testing. density trials, replanting trials, oil palm From 2007 to 2009 Univanich comple- tissue culture, DNA marker research ted the construction of three biogas di- (with Kasetart University), methane bio- gesters, one attached to each factory. gas capturing and others. The anaerobic digester of Topi factory
62 Univanich Palm Oil Public Company Limited Univanich Palm Oil Public Company Limited 63 Phatthalung Dairy Cooperative Limited in Phatthalung organic milk production, but at the mo- beginning. The difference between a far- ment the costs are too high and the ac- mers group and a farmers cooperative is Dirk Landmann ceptance of the consumers is too low. If that the cooperatives are supported by the the farmers sell the milk to the su- the government and that they even have The Phatthalung Dairy Cooperative Ltd. test for mastitis with 68% of alcohol. The permarkets they usually get a price of their own governmental department. in Phatthalung was founded in 1982, mastitis test is made directly for each pot 10 Baht (0.26 EUR) per 200 ml and the The cooperative is regulated by a law had the first dairy plant in 1984 and star- arriving at the cooperative and the other production costs are 5 Baht (0.13 EUR). and it has to be formed by more than se- ted with the production of UHT-milk in test is made from samples later on. The milk board, where the ministry of ven people. Another way to get support 2012. Nowadays, the cooperative has 294 The milk must be cooled down to 4°C agriculture has the majority sets the milk from the government is to get a loan of members (224 active and 70 passive), and in 24 hours. The minimum fat content is price. The decision of selling the milk to 1 million Baht (26,289 EUR) per year. For the members own 2,341 cattle (1,086 dai- 3.3%. The price depends on the amount the school project is made because of the this loan farmers have to form a group ry cows) in total. of milk, the fat content, the number of price guarantee, even though they could and plan a project in which more than 50 On the 12th of March 2013 we visited the somatic cell counts and the absence of earn more money by selling to supermar- people have to participate. Phattalung Dairy Cooperative, a universi- antibiotics. After calving it is not allowed kets. We also visited two farms. One was run ty dairy farm and a small-scale dairy far- to use the milk of the first six days. If a The conditions to be a member of the co- by the university and had the main goals mer. farmer is not obeying these rules, he gets operative are to own a farm and to pro- of research and teaching students. The less money for one month, which is a very In the Phattalung region, 13,000 cows duce milk. The cooperative is organized other farm was run by a private small- hard sentence for the farmers. If the milk are producing 13 l per day and cow on by a president and a board. The board scale farmer (see table below). plant discovers a health problem in one average. The income of the cooperative is elected by the members every two ye- of the herds and the farmer cannot sol- comes from dairy business, bank-busi- ars. The cooperative’s main idea is: “One ve the problem himself, the cooperative ness, selling animal feed and ice cream. farmer, one vote”. If a farmer wants For artificial insemination (AI) the semen sends a veterinarian to the farm to check The cooperative also offers several ser- to be a member, he has to pay 50 Baht used is produced in Thailand and the tar- each cow. vices for farmers like artificial insemina- (1.31 EUR) plus 5 Baht (0.13 EUR) per get is to have a milk yield of the Holstein tion, veterinary service and much more. The milk is prepared by two processes stock for entering the cooperative. The Friesian like in Denmark and Germany. The members own 30 animals and 8 Rais before sale. The first one is homogeniza- farmer has to buy at least 50 stocks at the On the university farm, the calf is wea- (1.3 ha) on average. The breed of the tion and the second one is pasteurization cows is a mixture of Holstein Friesian (heating it up to 80°C for 16 min.). The Comparison of the University farm and the private small scale farm. (75%) and the local Thai-Zebu cattle. cooperative produces plain milk (82 to These breeds are crossbred, because of 93% of the total milk) and milk with the Variable University farm Private farm the Holstein Friesian weaknesses like flavor of chocolate, pineapple, orange, Cattle / in dairy cows (n) 70 / 34 40 / 27 heat stress and skin, which is less sun-to- banana or coffee (7 to 18% of the total lerant. The main trait of Holstein Friesian milk). Total milk yield (kg/d) 360 380 cows is the amount of milk produced in Almost 40 tons of milk per day are produ- Milk yield per cow (kg/d) 11 14 one day. The milk processed comes from ced for schools. The school milk is passing Breed Holstein Friesian (87.5%) Holstein Friesian x Zebu two different areas. One area is around the UHT-process where it is heated for 3 x Zebu Phatthalung and the other one around to 4 sec. up to a temperature of 139°C. Pranburi. In total the cooperative gets 45 Feeds Grass, Rice straw, Grass The school milk project is run by the Concentrate tons of milk per day (15 tons from Phatt- government, which is offering the milk First calving age (months) 24 27 halung and 30 tons from Pranburi). In to schools for a lower price. Normally the the region of Phatthalung there are 100 supporting money is given to the local Calving interval (days) 385 farmers, each producing 150 kg of milk administration and later to the farmers. If AI Non return rate 3.5 on average per day. the farmers sell the milk to the school pro- Calf mortality (%) 2 The milk is tested in two ways after arri- ject, they get a guaranteed price of 7 Baht ving. One test analyses the pH-value of (0.18 EUR) for 200 ml. Lactations per cow (n) 7 - 8 8 Workers (n) 5 4 the milk and the other test is the acid The cooperative was also thinking about
64 Phatthalung Dairy Cooperative Limited in Phatthalung Phatthalung Dairy Cooperative Limited in Phatthalung 65 ned at an age of 3.5 months. With an age 25 to 50 kg UREA (46% N) per year. In crowns were swollen, which is a sign that low milk yield can be the overall health of 15 months the heifers get insemina- total the cows get 40 kg dry matter per the protein content in their feed is too condition of the cows, the feeding situa- ted and are having their calf at an age cow and day. The grass the farmer is high. Normally a cow needs a ratio of 13 tion, which could be optimized and the of 24 months. On this farm, the Dairy- feeding is paragras, a tropical grass that MJ ME (metabolizable energy) per g CP breed. It seems that they almost have Promotion organization chooses the bull does not need to be replanted. The farm (crude protein), but the private farmer, 100% Holstein Friesian, which are not for each cow and the farm follows their also has water sprinklers above the fee- for example, was feeding 15 MJ ME/ g CP. heat tolerant at all, they tolerate a tem- recommendation. The heat of the cow is ding troughs, which run when it is too Compared to Germany the milk yield is perature of 20 to 25°C. detected by the observation of the wor- hot for the cows, mostly two hours in the relatively low. Reasons for the relatively kers. The biggest problem of the univer- morning and two in the afternoon. sity farm is the prevelance of mastitis. On 70% of the calves are born in October the day of our visit, three cows got mas- even though it is not seasonally planned. titis treatments. After calving, the farmer is separating In total, there are five workers on the the cows right away and the calves get farm. The highest cost in the produc- 6 l first of colostrum and then of milk a tion is the concentrate. The universi- day. The calves are weaned at an age of ty farm is cutting the grass for fodder three months. After five days the calves every 40 days and the concentrate costs get dehorned with Sodiumhydroxid and 8.5 Baht/ kg (0.22 EUR). The employed Calciumhydroxide. The private farmer workers earned 135 Baht (3.55 EUR) per can sell the male calves for 700 to 1,000 day before the reform of the workers’ Baht (18.40 to 26.29 EUR) at an age of rights. Now, they are earning 300 Baht one week. The veterinarian is coming (7.89 EUR) per day. every week to generally exam the cows The small-scale private farm had four and cut clows, if necessary. workers in total, who are the farmer Both the university and the private farm Cows on private farm. Water sprinkler. Calf. couple and his parents. The private far- are selling the milk to the cooperative mer has 15 Rai (2.4 ha). He wants to ex- and getting a standard price of 18.5 Baht pand, and increase his dairy herd from 40 (0.49 EUR) with a minimum fat content animals to 100. The farmer is harvesting of 3.3%. The milk price is stable, moving 750 kg grass per day and cultivating 40 between 16 and 20 Baht (0.42 to 0.53 Rai (6.4 ha). He is cutting the same plot EUR). every 14 days. He can harvest five days On both farms almost every cow had from one Rai. For fertilization he is using problems with the claw edges. The claw
Arriving of milk cans at the cooperative. Dairy cows at university farm. Packing facility in the dairy cooperative.
66 Phatthalung Dairy Cooperative Limited in Phatthalung Phatthalung Dairy Cooperative Limited in Phatthalung 67 Ban Khaow Klang Community Enterprise Lea Strub
On Tuesday, 11th March 2013 we visited satisfaction of the consumers and pro- the Ban Khaow Klang Community Enter- ducers. The prices are to be fair for both prise in the Sangyod Rice Village. We and the quality of the products is very were welcomed by the chairman and by important and regularly checked. Assist. Prof. Dr. Amonrat Thanonkaew The enterprise is very much embedded from Thaksin University, who has been into the village. Drinking water is pro- doing her research in this community for duced and they possess a gas plant. The many years. community has one common harvester, In the community, the Sangyod Rice is especially for the older farmers. A lot of grown, processed and marketed. After a charity work is done and the money ear- short introduction of the enterprise, its ned is often used for the village. The com- form of organization and a presentation munity within the group is very strong Rice field with traditional rice variety. giving details on the different products and of major importance. The chairman produced, we had the chance to visit the of the farmer group is also the major of The big problem in the growth process is name of the Sangyod Muang Phattalung rice mill and a shop selling the products the village. A problem of the communi- that this is a low area and the fields are rice can only be used, if the rice is grown at the community center. ty is that many children are not staying almost constantly flooded. The harvest in the region and a certain quality pro- In the following, I will summarize the in- in the village but rather moving to the can only take place at the end of the dry duction is being applied. cities. formation given dividing it into details season. This is why there can only be one There have been cases of people using on the enterprise, the distinctive fea- Assist. Prof. Dr. Amonrat Thanonkaew vegetation period a year. Furthermore, the name illegally. The enterprise has tures of the Sangyod Rice and the special has been doing her research in this villa- the fertility of the soil is very low. The not undertaken any steps to pursue these way of processing and marketing of the ge and has been supporting the commu- yield per rai is approximately 500 kg, i.e. cases. Their response to this is that they enterprise. nity for many years. Especially in the case around three tons per hectare. The rice have their fixed customers and are ma- of filing proposals for government sup- was said to be very strong and well ad- Community Enterprise king sufficient profit. The higher profit is port, she has played an important role apted to the area so that there are not not important, if the people are happy in The community enterprise consists of and has influenced the development of many problems with pests even though the village. Therefore they don’t see the two different types of members: there the different products significantly. it is the main crop in the area. need to follow up on this. are permanent members, which invest The brown rice has a red color and the in the enterprise and can benefit from Sangyod Rice The rice is being sold all over Thailand. coarse rice is pink and white. The rice is Contracts exist with different supermar- revenues. The other members are only The Sangyod rice is native to Southern said to have a higher nutritional value cooperating and selling their products Thailand and was originally grown kets. The rice is especially being sold in with a higher iron, vitamin B and nia- health food stores and to people, who to the group. Currently there are 88 per- around Songkhla Lake and in the Phatt- cin content. It contains compounds that manent members and 250 farmers that halung Province. In 1987 the variety was have a special connection to the region. have an anti-inflammatory and anti-can- It used to be especially grown for certain cooperate with the enterprise. improved under the so called pure line cer effect. selection by the Phattahlung Rice Re- festivals. They are debating about ex- The central goal of the community is to porting the rice and the government has have an independent value chain from search Center and was then given back Specialty Market – GI and GAP to the farmers. been supporting this project, but until the primary production of the good to Since 2006 the rice has been protected now the quantity being produced is too the completely processed good in the The vegetation period is 130 days long. under the law of geographical indication little. Currently approximately 10,000 end. The community’s most important No chemicals are used in the process, (GI) under the name “Sangyod Muang tons are grown per year in the Phattha- goals are traditional and quality values. meaning no herbicides and no pesticides. Phattalung Rice”. This means that the lung province. Furthermore, the GI is only The enterprises’ philosophy does not rely Only mineral fertilizer is applied such as rice is traced and the original can only be registered in Thailand. To overcome this on profit maximization but more on the NPK with a concentration of 16/20/0. grown in the specified area. Officially the
68 Ban Khaow Klang Community Enterprise Ban Khaow Klang Community Enterprise 69 difficulty they are also certified by the which is done by another group. exists. The farmers bring their rice and it Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), which Several machines used were given to the is tested for the quality and the moisture are more recognized internationally. In community enterprise by a private com- (average moisture is at 22 to 24%). The order to become known better, in prepa- pany in the context of corporate social rice is dried and then the quality is cont- ration for export they have been partici- responsibility. rolled and farmers are paid accordingly. pating in exhibitions in other countries. The enterprise furthermore receives sup- The broken rice that is created in the pro- The price of the rice is significantly higher port from the government, for instance, cess is sold cheaper or used for further than that of standard rice. For the “San- a ten million Baht investment into ma- production of goods such as flour or gyod Muang Phattalung Rice” 17,000 chines. For the last three years the pro- sweets. The community produces special Baht per ton are paid compared to a duction has become larger through the- products from rice, such as flour, sweets, rough average of 10,000 Baht per ton for se interventions, and for one year the rice grain oil, shampoo and body lotion. rice varieties such as normal white rice. production site has been certified by Conclusions Special Products and Processing Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). The machines are still very new and not This point of the program was about un- The processing of the rice takes place at well known by the members. But they derstanding the value creation around the community rice mill. The process was also receive technical support from the an indigenous rice species sold to a very similar to the one seen at Charoen Pok- government that is training one worker specific market and adapted to certain phan Co. Ltd. Rice Mill. Starting out with and teaching him the necessary skills. growing conditions. There are two chal- the drying, then de-husking, sorting and lenges they have to face: the state of cleaning, continuing to the polishing and All farmers in the surrounding can use almost constantly flooded field and the then packing. Around 150 tons of rice are the rice mill since it is supported by the low fertility of the soil. The yields are processed within one year. Around 45 to government. They only charge the run- very low, but the community enterpri- ning costs. The farmers bring their rice 50% of the rice is lost in the process from se seen has used the particularities of Traditional rice harvesting by hand paddy to polished rice. The husk is used there individually and the marketing is the region as an opportunity to produ- then done by the group. No middle-man demonstrated by an older community for heating of the silo and to make oil, ce their special products. There are not member. many alternatives than rice production in the area. It was noted that the impor- tant aspects in this community enterprise was the strong cohesion within the villa- ge and the commitment of the professor of Thaksin University.
Further Literature Thanonkaewa, A., Wongyaib, S., Mcclementsc, D. J., Decker, E. A. (2012): Effect of stabilization of rice bran by domestic heating on mechanical extraction yield, quality, and antioxidant properties of cold-pressed rice bran oil (Oryza saltiva L.). LWT - Food Science and Technology. Volume 48 (2), pp 231–236.
Excursion participants inspecting the rice mill.
70 Ban Khaow Klang Community Enterprise Ban Khaow Klang Community Enterprise 71 Thale Noi Waterfowl National Park and buffalo husbandry in natural wetlands Dominic Ganser
The Thale Noi Waterfowl National Park is The National Park has one headquarter located in the South of Thailand, spread for administration issues and visitors. Fur- over three provinces. The National Park thermore, there are several small centers covers an area of around 285,000 ha and spread over the park. Up to eight staff consists of peat swamp forest, grassland members are responsible for each area. and some rice fields. The department of They have to control water condition, National Park, Wildlife and Flora and the keep birds under review and prevent ille- Stable for water buffalos. Water lillies in the swamps. Ministry of National Resources and En- gal usage of the park. Many farmers still brought a long time ago by people and mals die at once because of heavy rain vironment declared it as a non-hunting use parts of the land for farming, but have a long tradition. Therefore the buf- falls (200 in the last rainy season). Due area in 1975. It is the first Ramsar Site human impact should be minimalized in falo production in the wetlands is still al- to the long tradition and experience, the in Thailand. Ramsar Sites are founded the park. The collected data about water lowed as well. There are eleven farmer farmers treat every illness of the animals for conservation and conservative use of condition and bird observation is saved groups taking care of the buffaloes. The themselves. Often they have no veteri- wetlands. The secondary forest accrued electronically and shared for scientific buffalo production there is strongly asso- narian in the area. The farmers use own- after primary forest was destroyed by purpose. There are several projects by ciated with the separate seasons: cut herbs as medicine. Moreover, there is fire and storms. Storms occur periodically the government and universities espe- no use of ear tags, because every farmer and destroy a huge number of trees. The cially about the development of the eco- During the dry season from February / knows each of his buffaloes. That points conditions for plants and animals are system. There is an increase of one cen- March until October, the animals graze out the close relationship between ani- very harsh. The reasons for that are high timeter of peat-land every year. To stop freely on the fields. The farmers just con- mals and humans. Because the hand water level and periodical flooding. All the growing of peat, they take it away trol the number of animals every month. ploughing machine took over the task of of the native species are therefore well yearly. In this period most farmers also have another job. Sheds, which are built 1.5 m buffaloes in agriculture, the use of buffa- adapted to the area. The Thale Noi Na- As it is a non-hunting area, it is not allo- above the ground, are visited by buffalo- loes as draught animals is not necessary tional Park hosts a big variety (180 spe- wed to hunt or to collect plants. Fishe- es just once a week. Buffaloes eat several anymore. The farmers today just use the cies) of waterfowls including migratory ry is a special case. Due to the fact that kinds of vegetation. They can also dive to meat of the animal. as well as indigenous species. Migratory many fishers in the area are heavily de- pick the grass under water. Therefore the There are two different kinds of markets species are mainly from Australia. Besi- pendent on the fishing grounds, fishing feeding is no problem. for buffalo meat. On the one hand, the- des the sound of these many different is allowed for registered fishermen. They re is a special market, where Thai people birds, the many different coloured wa- strictly have to follow the regulations of During the rainy season, when the wa- buy meat for ceremonies. For these cele- ter plants (e. g. water lilies, reed, bulrush the fishermen department. The swamp ter rises, the buffaloes leave the flooded brations, they traditionally need buffalo- and lotus) and the swamp buffaloes are buffaloes occurring in this area were area and go back into the sheds. The wa- the highlights of the park. ter can rise up to 2 m. Now every morning meat, which is from the described area. the farmers have to lead the animals to On the other hand, the farmers sell the the grazing areas and bring them back in meat at normal markets. the afternoon. These areas can be up to Buffalo production is not a very profi- 2 km away from the sheds. If there is too table business. But it is becoming more much water, the farmer has to cut extra and more popular. One reason for that grass and feed it to the buffaloes at the is the long tradition of swamp buffaloes shed. At this period the buffalo produc- in Thailand and another reason the alar- tion becomes a full time job and is dan- ming decline of buffaloes in the past ye- gerous for the animals. As a farmer you ars. have to look for the buffaloes frequent- Canal in the wetlands in morning light. Water buffalo calf. ly. It is not uncommon, that several ani-
72 Thale Noi Waterfowl National Park and buffalo husbandry in natural wetlands Thale Noi Waterfowl National Park and buffalo husbandry in natural wetlands 73 Rice farming with integrated duck-egg production Christina Grotelüschen
On Wednesday, the 13th of March 2013 reduced to 200 kg/Rai, implying 1 t/ha. we visited a farmer group with integra- In comparison, conventionally produced ted rice and duck-egg production near rice on average supplies 6 t/ha. Together Phatthalung, South Thailand. This far- this farmer group cultivates 40 Rai irriga- mer group was founded in 1999 and now ted rice, which represents about 6.4 ha, consists of 80 smallholder farmers from resulting roughly in 7 t of rice grain per the surrounding area producing organic cropping season. The organic rice is then rice, which is processed traditionally. sold for 50 Baht/kg. University members and excursion partitipants in boats.
Ducks on flodded rice field. Ducks on the way to the farm.
Formerly this area was characterized by The aims of this farmer group therefore low income, high economic vulnerabili- seem to be rather creating social benefits ty and high unemploymented rate. The than economic profits. Water buffalo calves. Skipper. farmer group therefore is a form of risk One member is keeping 2,000 ducks for management and besides is offering egg production additionally to his 10 Rai employment to people in the area, es- farmland. This member is cultivating his pecially for old, unemployed women. farmland independently, but the farmer The farmer group offers employments group bears liability for the credit to in- within the whole rice production line, in- vest in the purchase of the ducks. These cluding harvest, husking and milling, all ducks are kept on the flooded, harves- done with traditional equipment and wi- ted rice fields during the day from 8:00 thout machinery. Especially old women am till 16:00 pm and fed on remaining without a chance on the labour market rice grain, snails and eggs from various are employed. Further, the group offers insects. All ducks are kept in one group schooling in traditional rice farming. and are moved to another rice field eve- However, as the rice is produced quiet ry second day. As his own farmland is not extensively, with only a little adding of sufficient to provide enough feed for the compost from molasses, rice husk and ducks, he is allowed to use the neighbo- cow manure, and there are great prob- ring harvested rice fields as well, without lems with rats, the rice grain harvest is
74 Thale Noi Waterfowl National Park and buffalo husbandry in natural wetlands Rice farming with integrated duck-egg production 75 being asked for any payments. Overnight Duck-egg sale: Palm Sugar Production in Songhkla they are kept on a drained rice field in a • 432,000 eggs per year x 3 Baht sale Alli Kamalanathan corral 9 x 9 m in size. This means that one x 3 years of usage = 3,888,000 Baht duck can only claim 45 cm2. On the one revenue Sugar palms as well as coconut palms The palm sap can be tapped from both hand, corralling is done to keep the ani- and rubber trees are often grown by far- male and female Palmyra tree. However, mals together and protect them against Duck sale: mers as a form of insurance additionally it is preferred to have female rather than predators, in this area predominantly • 2,000 x 30 Baht at slaughtering = to vegetable and animal production. In male trees as female trees they have dogs, but also to more easily collect the 60,000 Baht revenue the case of the palm sugar production fruits. For 10 to 12 female trees only one eggs laid in the morning. Ducks lay the Therefore the farmer earns 3,948,000 in Songhkla, the owner had 45 Palmyra male tree is needed to pollinate them. eggs directly on the floor, so there is no Bath from egg-production and slaughte- trees mainly for the production of palm nest building and therefore no bedding ring during the entire usage of one duck sugar. Production of Palm sugar material necessary. During the cropping group. However, from that earnings the- Palm sap for sugar production cannot season of rice the ducks are kept in wet- The Palmyra Palm (Borassus flabellifer) is re still has to be subtracted the expenses only be obtained from Palmyra trees but land areas which are about 50 km away a sugar palm, which is used for various for purchase and interest rate and also also for instance, from coconut palms, from the rice fields. purposes. A great benefit of this palm is the expenses for the next duck group. that the entire palm tree can be utilised. date palms and other palms. The diffe- The ducks are bought by the age of one Therefore the overall revenue aggre- The range of usages of the Palmyra Tree rences can be tasted in the various types year for 85 Baht/duck and kept till the age gates to 3,591,000 Baht for the entire is wide. For instance, the leaves can be of sugar. of four to be then slaughtered and sold usage, which is a daily earning of 3,325 used for building fences or roofs of hou- The Palmyra tree can first be used for su- for 30 Baht/duck (1.00 Euro is about 37.9 Baht, about 87 EUR a day. But these cal- ses, the strong wood for building houses gar production, from the age of 20 years. Baht). The price reduction is due to de- culations do not include expenses for or manufacturing furniture, the fruits as Then it can be used for more than three creasing productivity of the ducks within vaccinations and supplementing feed if an additional source of income and the generations or more than 100 years. Af- these three years. The ducks get one vac- needed and also assume a 0% mortality palm sap to produce palm juice, sugar, ter the use the wood is used for building. cination at the age of 18 months. There rate, which is not realistic. Furthermore, vinegar and alcohol. However, it is difficult to determine the are normally no other expenses as there the time during moulting, where the egg age of a tree, as Palmyra trees do not is no supplementary feed given. Excep- production is significantly reduced, is not The Palmyra fruit, also called Nungu, have annual rings. tions are made in times of very high wa- considered. Anyways, the integration of yields high revenue. The Palmyra fruit ter levels. Shelter is just provided during ducks still seems to be economically ad- contains three pieces of translucent, The palm juice is obtained by collecting the rainy season to reduce the disease vantageous. To reduce investment costs, white and lychee-like pulp, which is co- the sap from the cut inflorescence. The pressure. On average the ducks lay 1,200 the ducks could be bred by the farmer vered in a yellowish skin. These jelly pie- container will be affixed to the inflore- eggs per day, which sum up to about himself. However, up to now this is not ces contain seeds, which can be used for scence to tap the juice. It will be chan- 432,000 eggs per year and 1,296,000 done due to missing raising facilities. seeding. ged once a day, which means that from eggs during the entire three years usage There are also some ecological advanta- of each duck group. These eggs are sold ges from this integration. As the ducks on the local market and price 3 Baht/ feed on snails and eggs from various in- egg. To be able to afford the purchase sects, the pest pressure is reduced for the of the 2,000 ducks, this farmer got help following rice season. The droppings of from the farmer group to borrow money the ducks provide nutrients for the fol- from a private loaner who charges 5% of lowing planting season; they are a form interest. These informations lead to the of organic fertilization. Anyways, the following assumptions: farmer stated that he is still using some Duck purchase: inorganic fertilizer in addition, in cont- rast to the farmers group. • 2,000 ducks x 85 Baht purchase costs x 5% of interest = 178,500 Baht expenses Sugar palm fruit. Climbing the sugar palm for Mixing of sugar liquid. sap collecting.
76 Rice farming with integrated duck-egg production Palm Sugar Production in Songhkla 77 6 am to 3 pm the first container will be does not have anti-fungal properties, affixed and from 3 pm onwards the se- which could stop yeast growth. The yeast List of Participants cond. Hence, the visited farmer has to do in the wooden container is necessary for about 90 climbs daily for collecting the the alcohol production. The fermented sap. sap will be washed with wood chips and Family Name Given Name e-mail Natio- Uni Study Programme / subsequently be collected in a big jug. nality Semester The sap can directly be sold as palm juice After adding vinegar, the sap has to sit Ahlers Frauke [email protected] DE WIZ/GOE MSc SIA 2 for drinking. For sugar processing, the another eight days to complete the pro- sap has to be boiled in a large pot on a Bähringer Andrea [email protected] DE GOE MSc MFSFE 2 duction of palm alcohol. The result of wood-burning stove for seven hours, so Berger Dominik [email protected] DE GOE MSc DevEcon 1 the sap fermentation is a low percentage that the water in the palm juice can eva- Decker Mareike [email protected] DE GOE MSc DevEcon 1 palm wine. porate. The result is concentrated palm Ehls Jonas [email protected] DE WIZ MSc OA 2 sap. Besides that, boiling the juice redu- This was the traditional way of produ- ces the occurrence and growth of bacte- cing palm sugar and other palm pro- Eickel Thomas [email protected] DE WIZ BSc OA 7 ria. The resulting palm sugar concentrate ducts. Here, intellectual property, as of- Ganser Dominik [email protected] DE GOE MSc ResMan 2 is too intense to be ingested as juice and ten experienced in Thailand, is not of Gomes da Silva Clessio [email protected] BR GOE MSc TIF 1 importance and hence, protecting this can only be further processed to sugar. Grotelüschen Kristina [email protected] DE WIZ/GOE MSc SIA 2 The syrup can be sold in liquid or in solid knowledge, e.g. through patents, is also goettingen.de form, both is used as sweetener. not important. Hentschel Kristin [email protected] DE WIZ/GOE MSc SIA 2 For solid sugar production, the concen- However, an issue of traditional produc- Kamalanathan Alli [email protected] DE GOE MSc DevEcon 1 trated sap will be further cooked on tion is the risk of low quality products. A Kersting Valerie [email protected] DE GOE MSc Agribusiness 1 wood fire for another 30 minutes. Under wide range of problems can occur such constant stirring with a spiral stirrer the as the impurity of the end products. The Landmann Dirk [email protected] DE GOE MSc Agribusiness 5 sap becomes a thick brown paste. This long cooking and boiling process to keep Mourino Francisco [email protected] AR WIZ/GOE MSc SIA 2 is a caramelization process. The brown bacteria growth and impurity to a mini- Nelson William [email protected] UK GOE PhD DITSL caramel paste will then be formed into mum is one method to counteract this Plagemann Julian [email protected] DE WIZ/GOE MSc SIA 1 small cakes and put on a leaves or bam- problem, but it cannot solve it comple- boo mats to cool down. It takes only 10 tely. Pleisnitzer Isabel [email protected] AT GOE MSc DevEcon 1 Reese Oda [email protected] DE WIZ BSc OA 7 minutes for the cakes to become solid. Another problem is the use of a zinc coa- The palm sugar is more profitable than ted pots for the caramelization process. Stanzel Katharina [email protected] DE WIZ/GOE MSc SIA 2 the commercial sugar. While the normal Zinc, a heavy metal, would not be allo- Strub Lea [email protected] DE GOE MSc DevEcon 1 sugar’s prices lies at 20 Baht (0.50 EUR), wed in the production process neither Toledo Manuel [email protected] MX WIZ/GOE MSc SIA 2 the palm sugar costs about 70 Baht (al- in German nor in the European market; Hernández goettingen.de most 2,00 EUR per kg). instead only iron or stainless steel. The Weilong Li [email protected] CN GOE MSc DevEcon 2 problem is that very small amounts of Zipp Katharina [email protected] DE WIZ PhD FB11 Production of Palm wine the heavy metal can get into the sugar. For the production of palm wine, a diffe- Then again, these very small amounts Accomanying Lectures rent container for sap collection is used. might not be harmful as sugar is not con- Buerkert Andreas [email protected] DE WIZ A wooden container will be affixed at sumed en masse. But it also contributes Schlecht Eva [email protected] DE WIZ/GOE the cut inflorescence and left for four to the lower quality of the sugar. Howe- Hülsebusch Christian [email protected] DE DITSL days for sap collection and sap fermen- ver, palm sugar is a very common ingre- tation. The wood contains tannins and dient in the Thai cuisine. ter Meulen Grete [email protected] DK GOE therefore enhances the alcohol produc- Dohrenbusch Achim [email protected] DE GOE tion. Its anti-bacterial character prevents Songsang Aporn [email protected] Thai Thaksin bacteria growth. However, the wood
78 Palm Sugar Production in Songhkla 79 Pictures of Participants
Kristin Hentschel Alli Kamalanathan Valerie Kersting
Frauke Ahlers Andrea Bähringer Dominik Berger
Dirk Landmann Francisco Mourino Nelson William
Mareike Decker Jonas Ehls Thomas Eickel
Julian Plagemann Isabel Pleisnitzer Oda Reese
Dominik Ganser Clessio Gomes da Silva Kristina Grotelüschen
Katharina Stanzel Lea Strub Manuel Toledo Hernández
80 81 Partners and major visited Institutions and Organisations
Thaksin University Univanich Palm Oil PCL Mueang Songkhla District 258 Aoluk-Laemsak Road Songkhla, Thailand P.O.BOX 8-9 Krabi 81110, Thailand Rice Research Center (Pathum Thani) 85 Moo 1 Khao-Thalu Chumporn Coffee T. Rangsit, A. Thanyaburi www.khaothaluchumporncoffee.com Pathum Thani 12110, Thailand Weilong Li Katharina Zipp Wang Kanai Sugar Group Co. Ltd. National Science and Technology Khwang Yannawa Khet Sathon Development Agency (NSTD) Bangkok 10120, Thailand 11 Thailand Science Park (TSP) Dole Thailand Ltd. Phahonyothin Road 127/11, Nonsee Rd. Khlong Nueng, Khlong Luang Chong Nonsi Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand Yannawa National Center for Genetic Engineering Bangkok 10120, Thailand and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) Phatthalung Dairy Cooperative Ltd. 11 Thailand Science Park (TSP) 35/1 Moo 1 Phahonyothin Road Phatthalung-Trang Road Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand Phatthalung 93000, Thailand Prof. Dr. Andreas Bürkert Prof. Dr. Eva Schlecht Dr. Christian Hülsebusch Prachuap Khiri Khan Coastal Fisheries Ban Khao Klang Research and Development Center Community Enterprise Klong Wan 7 Moo13 Muang Tambon Pantae Khuankhanun Prachuap Khiri Khan 77000, Thailand Phatthalung 93110, Thailand Charoen Pokphand Group C.P. Tower 12/F 313 Silom Road Bangrak Bangkok 10500, Thailand Thai Orchids Co., Ltd. 41/1 Soi Putthabucha 39 Yaek 1-1 Grete Thinggaard ter Meulen Achim Dohrenbusch Aporn Songsang Bangmod Thungkru Bangkok 10140, Thailand
82 83 Contact DITSL GmbH Steinstrasse 19 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany Phone: +49 5542 607 29, Fax: +49 5542 607 39 email: [email protected], Internet: www.ditsl.org