When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Citrus fruit aside, that was exactly what happened when His Majesty the King was given a piece of land in Thung Sai Yai, in the village of Khao Tao in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, in the late 1960s.
Florid florals: Right, orchids on show at the annual Kaset Fair.
Sweet and sour: Below, Kaset Fair is unmissable for lovers of tamarind from Phetchabun. The event starts on Friday.
His Majesty had visited the village during a stay at Klai Kangwon summer palace in Hua Hin, and a villager presented him with the title deeds to a hillside plot of land on the coast. Rough seas during the monsoon months dumped sand and seashells on the land until there was eventually more sand and broken shells than soil. Needless to say, except for a big tamarind tree overlooking the sea, no crops could grow on the land, which was mostly covered by scrub.
Complying with the King’s wish to find a way to improve the livelihoods of people living in Khao Tao, MR Chawanitnadakorn Worawan, a professor of animal husbandry at Kasetsart University, tried to introduce chicken and cattle raising to the area. He also brought in a group of fellow researchers from the Faculty of Agriculture. The group spent most of the 1970s finding ways to use the King’s land as a demonstration plot for crops suited to that kind of terrain, to set an example for the villagers.
The first thing that the Kasetsart University professors thought of planting was coconut palms of the scented variety, called maprao nam hawm, like the ones grown in Sampran, Nakhon Pathom province. After all, the coconut is associated with sun, sea and sand, and the land could be easily turned into a coconut grove, right?
Wrong. Coconuts, they found out, need a richer soil to grow. The plants cannot survive on sand and sea shells alone, neither of which hold moisture or sufficient nutrients to sustain young trees until they are old enough to support themselves.
The pineapple, it turned out, proved to be more successful. However, His Majesty the King did not get the chance to taste the fruit grown on his land. Monkeys living in the nearby hills descended on the pineapple plots and got to the harvest first.
ML Charuphant, my husband, who planted the pineapples, recently recalled His Majesty the King’s efforts to find crops that could be introduced to the village of Khao Tao at the annual Aggie Day, or homecoming, of the Old Students Association of Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Agriculture.
Self-sprouter: Left, the legume siratro, or cowpea, is considered a perennial because it replants itself.
Living compost: Right, legumes like ‘Sesbania grandiflora’, or ‘khae’, are often dubbed ‘green manure’ for their ability to improve soil quality.
He remembered how Their Majesties the King and Queen were so concerned with developing the land that when the coconut palms failed, the Queen suggested planting Sesbania grandiflora, or scarlet wisteria, since the King liked the plant.
Known in Thai as khae, it is a small tree whose white, pink or red flowers are the biggest among the trees belonging to the genus, hence its species name, grandiflora, or big flowers. The more common white flower is eaten by Thais as a vegetable, either boiled and eaten with nam phrik or cooked in the sweet-sour curry called kaeng som dok khae.
Like all members of the Leguminosae family, to which it belongs, the tree’s roots have nodules containing bacteria that are capable of turning nitrogen from the air into ammonia, making the tree rich in plant proteins. When its leaves fall, or when the tree dies, the plant does not only serve as compost to improve the soil’s texture. The nitrogen it contains is also released back into the soil and converted to nitrate, effectively becoming a fertiliser for future crops. Legumes are often dubbed “green manure” for this ability to improve soil quality.
Another legume, Macroptilium artropurpureum, commonly known as siratro, cowpea or purple bush-bean, was also planted. A vine used in India as cattle feed, it has deep purple flowers and produces pods that open up to release their seeds when ripe. The seeds then grow to replace the old vines, which fall on the ground to fertilise the soil, hence the plant is considered a perennial.
Thanks to the two leguminous plants, khae and siratro, the land eventually improved and became productive, enabling the professors to vindicate themselves by finally growing their coconuts. The site later became a demonstration area for the Queen’s silkworm raising and pa rak nam, or forest loves water, projects. The King’s agricultural research projects were meanwhile shifted to the highlands of Chiang Mai at Doi Ang Khang, Doi Inthanon and Doi Pui, and were named The Royal Project.
Aimed at improving the livelihoods of hilltribes, the research projects focused on fruits, vegetables and flowers grown in cold climates. You will find some of these crops, produced by hilltribes under the auspices of The Royal Project, at the national agricultural fair to be held on the compound of Kasetsart University in Bang Khen from Friday to next Saturday (Jan 30-Feb 7).
Better known as Kaset Fair, the annual event is nearly the same every year, with farm machinery, plants, agricultural crops and food for sale, as well as handwoven cotton fabrics and ready-made clothes. But the event is highly-anticipated because it offers some of the latest hybrids of fruit trees and ornamental plants. For lovers of orchids and Phetchabun’s famous sweet tamarind, it is not to be missed. Also, there are lectures on growing plants for those interested. See you there. n
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