A government minister has floated the idea that rural folks who had left Bangkok following the Covid-19 outbreak should undertake New Theory farming in their hometowns and never return to work in the city. He proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture provide training and appropriate technology to boost productivity. It sounds like good news, but is nothing new. We have heard similar things many times in the past.
Quite often, we hear that rural people who come to work in Bangkok face myriad hardships -- a meagre income barely enough to cover daily expenses, not to mention perilous living conditions in overcrowded shacks with a lack of safety. Thus, many of them return home to resume farming, the work they are most accustomed to. Some are fortunate to have owned some land. Even though farming generates little income, it is more pleasant than struggling to make ends meet in the big city.
We also hear stories of Bangkokians who have spent their whole life growing up, studying and working in the capital getting fed up with city life and deciding to take up New Theory farming upcountry. Those people have to adjust to a new environment and learn farming techniques completely new to them. Doing agricultural work by themselves is exhausting, but they are firm in their belief that life on the farm will be better than in Bangkok.
In both cases, people have decided to leave the city to build a new life on the land with their own hands.
New Theory agriculture means the utilisation of a small plot of land by allocating space for building living quarters, growing rice, planting trees for long-term use, growing short-lived plants for sale, planting vegetables and herbs for family consumption, making a pond to reserve water for household use and gardening, rearing layer hens and cultivating fish. Small-scale integrated farming is manageable, as it only occupies a small piece of land. But it is self-sufficient for farmers, as they have plentiful sources of food while earning some income from selling the surplus.
Nearly two decades ago, the Agriculture Ministry initiated a notion that rural people could have a better life without coming to work in Bangkok. The ministry set up a demonstration farm in a village in Lop Buri employing New Theory concepts by planting rice and fruit trees, releasing fish into the man-made ponds, and building a shed to keep layer hens. The opening came with a fanfare overwhelmingly attended by senior officials from the ministry and high-level government officials in the province.
After the opening ceremony was over and dignitary guests had left the scene, the farm owners harvested the fish and sold the hens right away. The initiative was good but its principles and objectives were not made clear to the farmer. He was simply a ringside viewer with no understanding of self-sufficiency value.
As the government has urged farmers to return to their former life, it must be clear what type of farming they are expected to commit to.
If they grow cash crops on a large plot of land, sell the produce to markets and use the money to buy necessities, it is an old "produce for sale" concept most Thai farmers are currently utilising. We are used to hearing advertisements referring to pomelo from Nakhon Chaisi, durian from Prachin Buri and Chantaburi, coconut from Amphawa, lemon from Phetchaburi and mayong chid (marian plum) from Nakhon Nayok, and so on. Market-driven farming can make a lot of money, but on the flip side it requires a lot of input. A big sum of money must be spared for fertiliser costs. Drought could be detrimental to the entire operation, whereas labour shortages, energy costs and supply gluts are unpredictable and can have adverse effects. When market crashes occur, farmers always demand the government intervene in solving their plight.
Indeed, farmers should rethink and opt for "produce for consumption", the approach undertaken by the old-timers. In those days every orchard adhered to a mixed-crop concept, growing different varieties of fruit trees and other edible plants. Typical gardens along rivers in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram and Phetchaburi built irrigation ditches to retain water for perennial trees, such as bamboo, coconut, jack fruit, durian, mangosteen, tamarind, mango, marian plum, madan, breadfruit and more. Trellises were built over vegetable beds for climbing plants such as string beans, cucumber and bottle gourd. The vine vegetables provided shade for the ground and kept the soil moist.
Tong lang (Indian coral tree) was usually planted on the farm, as its leaf was a good source of nitrogen. When the water in the ditches receded, farmers scooped out the mud and placed it around tree trunks to nourish the plants.
Rice farmers grew all kinds of edible plants for family consumption and sold the surplus. They were not bothered if the produce was sold out or not because they weren't in dire need of money. They already had everything they needed.
Interestingly, people in different regions grew different varieties of plants on a subsistence basis. The Northeast is a dry region with consistent drought. Yet many farmers have managed to overcome the constraints by growing bamboo trees. The thick bamboo bush is shady and captures moisture. It also helps retain water in the pond. Bamboo is commonly used in everyday life and thus farmers can receive income from selling the trunks. Furthermore, the ground under bamboo canopies provides a favourable habitat for insects and other small animals which are ideal chicken-feed supplements.
The aforementioned depicts a lifestyle of Thai farmers who profoundly understood their farming resources. They chose crops wisely to fulfil their basic needs and sold the surplus to bring in income. They pursued a modest path that shielded them from losing money while securing a sustainable and comfortable livelihood without having to migrate to the big cities.
If the government entices rural people to take up the "produce for sale" scheme, sooner or later they will fail to earn a living and a flow of rural farmers will flock to Bangkok for work again.
