The virtues of organic farming

When he was a boy, his father and grandfather struggled to grow different crops and raise animals on their land to support the family.
He recalls that everyone in his home village of Sansai grew rice, longan and other cash crops such as garlic and cabbage. But because pesticides and chemical fertilisers were used heavily, people became ill and the ecosystem was polluted.

VARIETY: In addition to longan, Thai magosteens are also popular in China.

``I just knew that I had to work hard for the whole big family, and that was a day-to-day struggle. When our farms were hit by pests in 2001, we almost went bankrupt,''  says Mr Prokchon. That was until 2008, a year he will never forget.
That year, 10 tonnes of peeled, dehydrated longan _ the first pesticide-free dried longan from Thailand _ was shipped from his warehouse to Singapore and some local organic food shops.
The dried longan was produced by Mr Prokchon and 20 other organic longan farmers in Chiang Mai and Lamphun, who formed a co-op in 2007 with support from the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Institute of Product Quality and Standardisation of Maejo University in Chiang Mai.
``I've been taking care of my longan farm to the best of my abilities since I switched to organic farming in 2007,'' says Mr Prokchon.
True to his dream, the trees now bear good harvests and bring Mr Prokchon and other members of the co-op a much higher annual income than before.
This year, organic dried longan has been selling for 800-1,000 baht a kilogramme, which is twice the price of non-organic longan and much more than fresh produce, now selling for 25-32 baht a kilo in local supermarkets. This is a significant improvement from 2008, when organic dried longan was sold at around 300-400 baht a kilogramme.
Mr Prokchon and 20 other members of the co-op farm a total area of 1,230 rai, or just 0.14% of the total longan plantation area of 850,000 rai in Chiang Mai.

WINNING PRODUCT: Packed dried longan are popular with both local and foreign buyers.

Another organic longan group in Mae Tha, Chiang Mai, occupies a total area of  517 rai, but they grow other fruits as well, according to a GTZ official in the northern province. This group has an annual output of around nine-10 tonnes of organic longan, as against 250-300 tonnes from Mr Prokchon's group.
Compared with overall organic production in the country, the two groups are in their infancy.
Since the 1990s, local NGOs and farm leaders have called for the promotion of organic farming as part of the country's strategy for sustainable development. In 2002, the Department of Agriculture set up the Organic Crop Institute and approved Organic Thailand as a national logo.
Later that year the National Bureau of Food and Agricultural Commodity Standards was set up.
The local movement was in line with the expansion of the global organic market, which was worth US$26 billion in 2004, and is expected to reach $100 billion (3.22 billion baht) this year.
According to government statistics, Thailand's organic sector has grown rapidly over the last five years, in line with global trends. In 2005 alone, the domestic market was worth 494 million baht, with 426 million baht in exports.
Rice is the No1 organic crop, followed by vegetables, fruit, corn, herbs and spices. The bulk of this organic produce goes to the European Union, with the remainder destined mainly for Japan, the US and Singapore.
For farmers like Mr Prokchon, the main attraction of adopting organic farming is that it is far more sustainable _ not just environmentally, but financially.

EXPORT SUCCESS: Below, Thai longan are widely sold in Kunming, the capital of the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.

Farmers who require large quantities of chemical input into their land can't afford to have a bad year, explained Mr Prokchon. Failing to produce or sell crops would result in them being unable to purchase chemical fertilisers and insecticides  for the following year, forcing them to take out loans _ adding interest payments to their already high costs. Organic farmers are not as vulnerable to this risk, and thus when prices fall, they are less exposed to financial risk.
However, conventional farmers who want to switch to organic farming must be patient, as it takes three to four years to clear chemical residues from farmland, according to Mr Danuwat Peng-on, an agriculture expert from Maejo University. And they must also realise that productivity using organic methods might not be as high as with chemical-based methods.
Maejo University and GTZ have provided a farm management service to longan growers in order to improve yields and enlarge the size of the fruit. The service includes advice on how to use proper organic fertiliser, prune trees, analyse soil and grow off-season longan.
In Mr Prokchon's view, training, education and support for small-scale farmers _ particularly on certification and marketing _ are crucial for the future of organic farming in Thailand.
While the health benefits of organic food are still debated in the scientific community, the environmental benefits are clear.
``By eliminating the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, you help promote soil conservation, human health and agro-biodiversity,'' said Mr Prokchon. ``Mother Nature has its own way of rewarding those who protect it.''