Diversification is not the answer for desperate Isaan farmers
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Government officials are extolling the idea of rice farmers diversifying and planting alternative crops. Good thinking, but alas, this doesn’t tell the whole story - at least not for many farmers in Isaan, where much of the ground and the underlying water
Thai jasmine rice (khao hom mali) grows well in this soil, as does the dreaded eucalyptus, but almost nothing else does. Fruit trees, sugarcane, potatoes and corn all grow but are stunted and uneconomic.
The result is that farmers in these areas have little option but to grow rice – and only one crop a year at that because, without irrigation, they are entirely weather-dependent.
This year will be a disaster for most of them and government suggestions that they diversify simply show that the conditions in their area are not understood.
I have lived in this area for years and these guys are incredibly resilient, but I sense a mood of desperation among them I have never seen before. All they can do is hope that El Nino doesn’t live up to the doomsday predictions of late rain.
Johnny Thoyts
Isaan
