Dayn village is in the MaeBak subdistrict, WangChin district of the province of Prae.  It is mostly flatland or foothills, with rice being the major crop in the flatter areas.  Today, there is also the practice of renting rice land for cultivation, the land lessor keeping half the harvest of the rented land as cost of rent [¹Ò¼èÒ or ‘na pa’ - ed].  The foothill areas are planted to oranges and field crops such as peanut, cotton, corn, tapioca (cassava) and various beans.    Rotating agriculture is also practised comprising a 3-5 year fallow.  The soil of the foothills is lateritic.  The flatland soils are clay over sand - just what you want for rice.

The community’s housing takes up approximately 50 rai.  Homes of a traditional Thai style - single raised floor dwelling made of wood.  In this 50 rai area are other structures for sheltering livestock or storing of property.  The rice paddies and other fields surround the village.  The agricultural area is approximately 1 370 rai (both public and private land).

In the past, all activities were focussed on gathering, planting and hunting to survive.  Stock for handicrafts and meat were gathered from the forest.  Agricultural production was for home consumption or submission for taxes only.  There was only very limited economic activity between villages.

As technology and development reached the village, life began to change.  Agricultural methods more and more followed the introduced technologies and slowly life became much more focussed on a cash economy.  Fertilizers and other chemicals were seen as necessity for agriculture.  There was suddenly something called a ‘cost of living’ and a deterioration of family life, the body and the community.    Some farmers had the realization that with the adoption of these new methods came the loss of their freedom in leading their lives.  They were starting to have to depend on out-sourced supplies more and more.  They were becoming dependent.  These farmers cut their losses.  They turned back to their original methods.  They did not accept the necessity of higher production.  Enough to eat, enough to stay healthy was all that was needed.  Mr. Samran Manowon was one of these ‘alternative’ agricultural leaders - exceptionally pivotal in the community’s march down development lane.  He was a source of inspiration in turning back to the old ways, of showing people that agriculture in accordance with needs - not simply for meeting potential - was all that was needed.  People listened even though the start showed little hope of success.  It was enough to see that it was an alternative path to sustainability - of both their way of life and production in the near future.

 Family Life
Mr. Samran Manowon was born in Dayn village in 1947.  He has a grade 6 education.  He worked in the rice fields with his father and mother until he was conscripted for mandatory army service.  Upon completion of this he worked outside of Thailand for two years and then returned and married Tongsook Gankan, a woman from his own village.  They have a son aged 26 who has sinced married and moved to another province and a daughter, 23 years old working at the Chiangmai Teachers College.

In 1983 Mr. Samran was elected village headman, a post he still maintains today.  Apart from this he also has responsibilities as chairman of the  sub-district council, and an agricultural expert promoting sustainable agriculture and finally, a leader in no-chemical agriculture.

All this being so, he still only has enough money to cover debts, not much more.  With his duties on various committees and then family responsibilities, he has no time to take extra work for the added income.  The family feels they lead a moderate lifestyle and all are content with that - they feel they are close and a strong family.  They have 37 rai of land (22 owned and 15 rented).  From this they have enough to eat.  Says Mr. Samran: "I have tried to establish a stable, sustainable lifestyle, with  enough to eat and enough to live on for my life - to see me to my old age.  But I sure did not achieve this sitting down, I’m telling you!"

The Change Towards Sustainable Agriculture
 A little of Mr. Samran’s philosophy: "You don’t need a lot in life.  I ask for the general happiness of my kids, that they don’t have to struggle.  I also ask that we be able to help our neighbours."  He is talking to the use of pesticides.  If there is no exploitation, there need not be pesticides.  It is our responsibility to protect ourselves from chemicals.   "There need not be exploitation in life.  We can share and live together by that."

Mr. Samran’s change towards a sustainable agricultural system grew from his concern of exposure to chemicals - both with respect to health and finances.  He suffered bad reactions to both insecticides and herbicides.  Furthermore, his income was not covering his agricultural debt.  While the return from alternative agriculture takes a long time to realize, it is more than compensated for by not having to worry about your health all the time.  There is, at least, stability in your life.  You do not have to put your life in the hands of people or things you aren’t familiar with, or rush to compete with outside markets and other producers.

Having said that, there is the admission that at first he had to depend on support from the Organic Agriculture Project.  Through this project he was able to visit other farmers, participate in seminars and other fora to learn techniques.  From this new knowledge he now had the confidence to make his own decisions.  The first big step was selling his orange orchard.  The proceeds from the sale went to adapting the remaining land  -  his rice land and garden land.  This entailed the planting of various legumes for nitrogen enhancement and the planting of various species of trees in amongst that which was already there.  He started a rotation scheme for the remaining areas and started investigating local varieties of vegetables to plant for home consumption and herbs of medicinal benefit.

The Stages of the Farm’s Development
Originally, Samran would simply plant a field with a local rice variety and after harvest he would leave the field fallow.  His next step was to follow the rice with peanut and after harvesting this crop, he would leave the shoots on the ground as a nitrogen rich green manure.  Concomitantly, he would also use neem and a local vine called ‘bawrapet’ [a vine of the family Menispermaceae; having a diameter of about 1 cm and a very ‘bumpy’ surface.  I could not find the English name for this plant - ed].  These plants have very good insecticidal qualities in controlling rice pests.  He began to see his family’s rice yields improve and realized an increased income from the peanut harvest.

About 10 years later ‘Paw Louang’ or Headman Samran began raising frogs in cement ponds.  He got startup funds from a Christian group in Lampang province to build the ponds and cover initial startup necessities like the first generation of frogs and some food for them.  He was only able to get 2 generations a year at first - not yet enough return to start paying back the startup loan.  He then started to choose males and females himself (initially he was buying the males).  He was then able to start selling the offspring for 3-4 baht each.  He also cut down overhead by finding natural foods to cut with the processed food he had to buy.  After each generation of frogs, it is necessary to change the water in the ponds.  The old water he would pour into his rices fields as fertilizer.  He also eventually introduced fish into his rice ponds, adding to the variety of animals and plants grown in one field.

The Efforts in the Garden
His garden area is in the foothills and has about a 15% slope.  There is a total of 11 rai, but only 7 rai being used.  He used to plant cassava for many years but noted the impact such activity had on the condition of the soil and stopped in 1989.  The land is far from any irrigation source and therefore he relies heavily on natural rain fall.

With the help of his family he cleared all the 11 rai and by 1991 had planted 200 mango trees.  He then started planting peanuts in the openings.  Again, the shoots he would leave behind as green manure to supplement the animal manure he was also using.  He also planted a variety of legumes along the contour for improved soil stability and nitrogen content.

During this period he also participated in some training sessions on mango tree husbandry.  With this new knowledge he was able to slowly mix varieties until he had a tree that grew well in the ambient soil and climatic conditions.

Not stopping at this, in 1992 he was back amongst his contour rows of legumes.  He started investigating planting a local red grain rice variety between the contour rows - starting with just one rai.  Again, he followed with peanut.  After that first effort he began introducing more and more species of local herbs and fruit trees and legumes - green beans, long beans, black beans, sweet tamarind, custard apple, jackfruit, pineapple, banana, citronella grass, ginger and galangal among others.  By 1995 he was introducing longan trees and increasing the number of banana trees as a means of maintaining higher soil moisture for the longan trees.  It is now truly a mixed garden and it is hoped that this variety will create an environment of mutual benefit for each species.  He went one step further and dug a small pond to catch rain water to use on his longan trees during the dry season.  He hopes that in the future, the garden environment will have improved to the point where the soil will hold enough moisture on its own.

1995 saw Paw Louang Samran’s first mango harvest.  The harvest was not as large as it should have been but it is still a young orchard.  It was enough for family consumption and still enough to give to people he knew.  He looks forward to an annual increase in production from his investment in time, technique and effort.  He hopes that some day he will realize self-sufficiency.  He has tried to set up a system where all necessary elements are got from within - a no external input farming system for ensured sustainability.

Income Today
 
 

This data is from Mr. Samran’s 1994 files.

The above table gives some idea of the family income from the farm.  Frogs and fruit tree activities are showing losses as 1997 saw the purchase of seedlings and the digging of ponds, activities whose costs have not yet been offset by future sales.  Frog sales have produced an approximate 4,500 baht income per year.  Also, not included in the chart is the regular income from the sales of vegetables and various herbs growing on the farm.  It is expected that the fruit tree income will be substantial in the years to come.  Apart from the farm income, the family also receives a 1,500 baht stipend for Mr. Samran’s work as Village Headman and 1,500 a month baht from the daughter’s work.

Techniques

Eliminating Weeds
In the paddies:  There is only a little grass that grows in his paddies and he does not worry about it

In the garden:  The weeds in the garden are usually simply picked out by hand.  He used to use herbicides but has since learned of dangers of overuse.  He picks weeds twice a year.  Mr. Samran also had the the good fortune in 1994 to visit with a group of hill tribe people of the village Mohng Mae Waen who belong to the same agricultural network.  This group told of a method of using common salt mixed with water as an anti-weed formula.  This mix need only be sprayed on emerging shoots and it will kill the weed.  Mr. Samran tells us that he has heard of this before but was never sure of its effectiveness as he had never tried it himself.  The hill-tribe group also -mentioned the benefits of casting bean seeds on the ground when the garen rice has matured.  In the next year, the weeds will not grow as thick - and you get the added benefits of the nitrogen fixation as well.

 Controlling Insects and Disease
In the rice paddies:  Initially Mr. Samran started using "bawrapet" [I could not find the English or scientific name for this vine - ed.] which he would cut up and crush then throw into the paddy.  He then started using neem extracts.  He would use the neem as a powder [it is not stated what part of the tree Mr. Samran used, if indeed it was extracted by himself and not commercially prepared - ed.] and mix this with  the rice seed before casting into the paddy.  After transplanting the rice, he crushes neem seed and casts the crushed seed into thepaddy again and reports it to be an effective means of controlling rice pests.

In the fruit trees:  For protection of his fruit trees, Mr. Samran uses an off-the-shelf product called ‘Biosafe’ which he sprays on his trees and reports an adequate control of fruit tree pests.

 Soil Ammelioration
In the lowland paddies:  After years of using only chemical fertilizers, Mr. Samran started planting peanuts in rotation with his rice.  Peanut/rice rotation is a regular practice now on his farm and increases the productivity of the land while simultaneously improving soil nitrogen.   The neem used as a pest control also provides some green manure for the soil.

In the foothill gardens:  In between the rows of leguminous shrubs, Mr. Samran plants various herbs and vegetables in a rotational system.  The shrubs provide permanent soil cover to protect against erosion and dessication.  Also the litter and cuttings from these shrubs provide good green manure for the soil.  He also applies whatever manure is available.He gathers whatever pieces of plant litter he can and composts it for future use as a fertilizer.

 Water Management
Rain is the the primary source of irrigation water.  There is the small water reservoirs he dug in the garden but that offers only a small contribution.  He adheres to the planting of soil moisture aiding trees like banana.  He has planted banana amongst his longan and tamarind trees to aid them during the dry season.

Factors that led Mr. Samran to adopt alternative agriculture
Village Headman Samran Manowan changed his farm from one based solely on external inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides to one based on alternative methods such as internally sources inputs.  The source of his inspiration and motivation, he says, can be broadly divided in two:
 1.  From Inside the Community - his farm had poor soil and steep slopes