perspective

Farmers who have already shifted to organic production in Surin province say nothing can make them retreat from their chemical-free stance, writes TUNYA SUKPANICH

Surin in the Northeast of Thailand is recognised for its strong and persistent attempts to make organic agriculture the hallmark of the province. But despite the efforts, the rate of expansion of organic rice fields remains slow. According to the chief of the provincial organic centre in Surin, Chawal Yensamue, only around three percent of the estimated 3.6 million rai of rice fields in Surin are dedicated to organic cultivation.

A few years ago it appeared that the provincial administration was giving less priority to organic farming and paying more attention to other schemes. Recently, however, the focus has been renewed.


Slowly but surely, more and more rice fields in Surin are being dedicated to organic farming methods.

No matter what the official provincial policy, farmers who have already shifted to organic say they will never retreat, but will keep running their farms free of all kinds of chemical substances.

"Many of us started organic farming before it was promoted by the provincial administration," said Peang Puangraj, a farmer from Sri Koraphume district of Surin and a leader of the Ban Tung Bua village organic farmers group.

"After so many years of success, we will keep on growing organic rice. However, more farmers will go organic if the provincial authorities continue to promote it and provide necessary assistance," he added.

Chareon Prombutr, of Ban Yang Kao village of Tha Toom district, agrees that any farmer who has given organic agriculture a fair trial will not go back to chemicals, but he too is hopeful that the authorities will remain committed to the concept.

Peang and Chareon, like many other organic farmers, have long worked side by side with provincial officials to provide knowledge and training to farmers wanting to make the switch in Surin and other provinces.

This assistance has included guidance in cultivation methods and marketing strategies.

Opportunity for Beginners

Organic farm products in Thailand need to be certified by the proper organisations in order to be sold in local or international markets. At the national level is the Organic Thailand label, certified by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. On top of that is the Organic Agriculture Certification of Thailand, known as ACT , a certifying board under the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which is a necessity for export to international markets.


Even with the substantial cost reduction, yields remain the same, about 1,200 kilogrammes of paddy per rai.

Both certifications are awarded on a yearly basis to old or new organic farmers, and both have similarly strict regulations and standards.

Beginners often find they are not able to meet some of the standards. Therefore, to encourage and to give incentives to the new farmers, a few years ago the provincial authorities implemented the Surin Organic Agriculture certificate (SOA), which allows entry into all domestic markets.

"The principles of organic agricultural practices remain significantly the same under the SOA," said organic centre chief Chawal. "For example, the prohibition of the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides or genetically modified organisms (GMO)."

However, there are certain differences between the local SOA and Organic Thailand and ACT labels. For example, under the regulations of the ACT and Organic Thailand, farmers must dedicate all their fields to organic cultivation. The SOA certificate allows "parallel production", in which crops can be grown using both organic and inorganic methods. However, in this case the farmers must maintain a buffer zone between the fields and use different equipment to guarantee that produce from the organic and conventional areas will not get mixed up, not only during the cultivating period but also during harvesting, storage and transport.

"Officials as well as other organic farming group members must verify that the farming practices meet the requirements. If, for example, an organic area is surrounded by another area which sees heavy chemical use, the organically grown crops may fail to be certified because of an unacceptably high risk of contamination," said Chawal.

Another notable difference is that under the SOA the agricultural area must have been converted to organics only one year before certification is sought, while the others require more time.

"The SOA encourages farmers who would like to start organic farming," said Chawal, adding that certification allows farmers to gain creditability, assistance and more marketing channels.

The Organic Thailand and ACT certification processes are not free to farmers. To reduce their burden, since 2003 the province has allocated a budget to help farmers seeking certification.

"Normally, we urge them to do it in a group because the fee is less," said Chawal "But for the SOA, the farmers do not have to pay any fee since it is conducted by the provincial officials."


Organic rice farmers in Surin enjoy low production cost, plus a healthier environment.

Mr Chawal did not want to give the impression that it is easy to gain the SOA certificate. He stressed that it is essential for the province to maintain high standards. Last year, 866 farmers with 9,235 rai under cultivation applied for the certification, but only 87 applicants succeeded, around 10 percent. Those awarded certification altogether farmed 795 rai and produced 386 tonnes of organic rice.

Meanwhile, of the 606 applicants for ACT certification last year, a total of 470 were certified. One reason for the higher percentage is that most of these had already developed a certain level of expertise in organic farming.

An official remarked that new organic farmers who don't get certified most often fail to keep the proper buffer zone between organic and chemical fields. This usually happens because neighbouring farmers continue to use heavy chemicals in their fields, said the official. He suggested that farmers in a given area set up organic agricultural zones to avoid chemical contamination from nearby fields.

Chareon said that he and other farmers faced similar problems during their first years of organic practice as they were not aware of the contamination problem. He agreed that the most appropriate method is to set up organic groups among neighbouring farmers, if possible.

In the beginning, he said, he and other like-minded farmers in his area concentrated on recovering soil quality following years of heavy chemical use.

"Just like many others in Surin, I decided to switch to organic agriculture mainly to get away from losses incurred by the heavy use of expensive chemical substances in our fields. I simply wanted to reduce costs," he said.

It is known the first few years of organic production are the hardest. Fields must be managed using organic practices prior to harvest of the first certified organic crop.

"In my case, I lost in the first year because of drought. But I did not give up and managed through all difficulties," said Chareon.

He remarked that when it comes to entering the organic market, farmers need not only non-chemical fertilisers and pesticides but also farm management skills. "We have to deal with the surroundings," he said.

Apparently Chareon has managed to do that very well, so much so that after he started organic farming for a few years other farmers in the village recognised his success, and the number of organic farmers in his village gradually increased from five to 12 and now 37 families. There are only 40 families in the small village. Chareon said that through the group's efforts the contamination problem is now solved and all the farms have been certified by either ACT or SOA.

Peang said that farmers switch to organic methods not just for reduced costs and better production, most are also concerned about the effects of chemicals on the health of consumers and themselves.

Since organic farming promotes the use of cover crops to preserve soil fertility, farmers are busy in their fields year-round even though they grow rice only once annually. They also keep busy preparing natural pesticides from various herbal plants.

"It is hard work, but we enjoy taking care of our soil. Good soil always produces good crops," said Peang.

Moreover, organic residues produced on the farms are recycled for fertiliser.

In Charoen's small village, more than 400 buffaloes and cows are fed on organically grown fodder. He said: "We use their dung for composted fertilisers to maintain soil fertility. Some farmers also earn income from selling their compost." He remarked that buffaloes and cows will possibly replace machines if oil prices continue to rise.

"We are ready for such a situation. It will bring back our traditional way of agriculture, of depending on ourselves."

During this rice cultivating season ( from June 2008- April 2009), an estimated 120,000 rai are used in Surin province for growing organic rice, an increase of less than 20,000 rai from last year. 21,500 rai are under consideration for certification under the ACT standard, another 87,000 rai for certification by Organic Thailand and 12,000 rai under the SOA.

Each year, as a measure to encourage more farmers to enter into organic agriculture, the provincial authorities and the rice mills sign a memorandum of understanding over the price of organic rice. This year, two private rice mills and two cooperatives which run rice mills will join the price guarantee scheme. The guaranteed organic paddy price is 13,000 baht per tonne at this time. The price of non organic rice is not stable. At the present time, it is about 10,000 to 11,000 baht per tonne.

This is the final part in a series on organic farming. The first was published on June 8, 2008

By Bangkok Post On 14 July 2008

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