Wise owner of an organic farm spills the beans on how to survive drought

As the drought situation this year is very serious, the Royal Irrigation Department has issued warnings against planting dry season rice crops to all farmers in the Chao Phraya River Basin because there is not enough water for agriculture.

While other farmers are suffering heavily from the severe drought, Chatchana revealed that even though his farm was affected by the water scarcity, it had not seriously affected him economically. His farm was still productive during the drought, despite the dramatic reduction in rice production.

“I mainly grow and sell organic rice, but I also keep honey bees, grow organic vegetables and raise pheasants and peacocks to sell as pets. These activities provide me additional sources of income when we cannot rely on rice production any more,” he said.

He stated that in this dry season he had to reduce rice cultivation to only 30 rai from overall land of 200 rai due to the water shortage. But in the time of drought, he could manage the small amount of water stock in the pond on his farm to grow vegetables that consume less water than rice. Furthermore, no water was needed for beekeeping.

“I have to do almost nothing to keep bees as they feed on the weed flower nectar that is plentiful on the organic farm. 

This is the strong point of organic farming. No chemicals used, so the bees are safe from pesticides and there are many weeds to provide them a source of nectar. Furthermore, it does not require water to feed them.” he said.

A survey of Ban Chatjane farm revealed well-managed land usage as the farm allocated some of its land as a pond to store water. There was a small corner for beehives and pheasant cages, and the land was spotted with vegetable plots and several types of weed.

By having the pond on his land, Chatchana said another key success to survive the drought was wise water management.

“I store the water within the pond and calculate the water level before planting anything. This way I can manage the water supply to suit the water usage within the farm,” he said.

He revealed that by opening the organic farm, he could reduce his budget significantly, as he revealed 

 that the budget for one rai of organic paddy field was only Bt3,000 – compared to the average budget for one rai of non-organic paddy field at around Bt10,000. He also revealed that the budget for organic vegetables was also lower than in non-organic farming as well.

“This is because we don’t have to pay for chemical fertiliser as we make our own natural fertiliser. 

We also don’t have to use pesticides and herbicides that are not only cheaper for us but safer to consumer health,” he said.

Ban Chatjane organic farm is the leader of the organic farmer network in Pichit, Kamphaeng Phet, Sukhothai and Phitsanulok. It has more than 100 farmers and has an online network over which to sell their products to consumers directly.