Helping Farmers: Healthier Food, Stronger Communities

No matter who you are or where you live, there is probably something you can do to help.

December 13, 2016 | ProgressTH 

Farming, under even the best of circumstances, is a risky and difficult occupation. And often, farmers live and work under less than ideal circumstances.

Today, in many communities around the world, there is increasing awareness of where our food comes from, how it is produced, and just how important food security and quality is not just for farmers, but everyone. There is also increasing awareness of the plight many farmers are under, particularly cash crop and monoculture farmers in developing nations who are often taken advantage of by middlemen and large corporations.

People are aware of this, but few people are aware of the many things anyone can do to help improve this situation.

Consume More Conscientiously

Something as simple as being more informed and careful when you shop or eat out can make a difference for farmers.

FabCafe Bangkok's FarmHack 2.0

December 13, 2016 | ProgressTH 

FabCafe Bangkok (Facebook) hosted their second FarmHack event last weekend, bringing together engineers, designers, and farmers to leverage the unique talent and technology that makerspaces bring together to solve agricultural problems.

Two teams formed to work on an Internet-connected weather station and a bee counter for measuring the health of beehives.

While being completely new projects, a lot of the knowledge acquired from the first FarmHack in October was applicable. For instance, the weather station, in its final form, will require solar power to operate. The first FarmHack event included a rooftop garden irrigation system that was solar powered and could be easily adapted to power the weather station.

In just two days, working prototypes of both ideas took shape.

The bee-counter team not only produced a working sensor for detecting bees, but also began creating an online application that visualized bee movements in and out of the hive. Employing the Particle Internet of Things (IoT) platform, they were able to send sensor data to the Internet.

The bee-counter team also branched off and created a beehive design that makes collecting honey less disruptive for beehive activity. A lot was learned about what works and what doesn't work, giving team members or future participants a clear starting point to move forward from if they decide to expand on this idea.

How To: Localizing Food Production

October 21, 2016 | ProgressTH We've covered Curtis Stone, a Canadian urban farmer, before. In addition to running a successful urban farm of his own, he also provides advice to people seeking to start their own farms and encourages the creation of localized agricultural networks to support local food production. He also conducts workshops and puts a vast amount of information online to help others learn the technical, business, and ethical aspects of running a small farm.

His talk at Permaculture Voices provides a good introduction and summation of his work to date and provides inspiration and a starting point for others thinking about getting started with their own modern, organic urban farm.

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Makerspaces and Farmers' Markets Converge

How makerspaces are transforming into community centers where technology & people converge.

August 4, 2016 | ProgressTH  We recently got a chance to finally visit FabCafe Bangkok's monthly FabFarm farmers' market. Several have been organized so far, and more are yet to come.

Due to limited space, it is a relatively small farmers' market, lining the driveway into FabCafe. Around 10 or so vendors participated, but the event attracts a wide range of people from both the cozy urban neighbor FabCafe is situated in, to friends and acquaintances of FabCafe's growing network from all over Bangkok and surrounding provinces.

At least one vendor came from as far as Phetchaburi, about two hours away.

And despite its small size, it represents something very significant.

When last we wrote about FabCafe in 2015, one of its founders, Chutayaves Sinthuphan, shared with us the vision he and the rest of the FabCafe team had of creating a sort of local institution. We wrote:

Chutayaves sees a plausible future where people enjoy multiple interests, combining them together, and establishing highly localized communities thriving in self-sufficiency. Businesses and institutions like FabCafes and Fab Labs today, might become nodes in a patchwork of localized communities tomorrow.

A little over a year and a half later, that is most certainly what is happening at FabCafe now. Not only are designers, engineers, architects, and artists converging at FabCafe as one would expect at a makerspace, but now also farmers and the community attracted by organic farmers' markets are there too.

Low-Cost Automated Agriculture

May 16, 2016 | ProgressTH Automating agriculture sounds like something only a large agricultural firm could do, and something only profitable if done on a monumental scale. But the reality is that technology has advanced so far, and prices have dropped so low, that even in the most remote regions of the planet you can set up and power an automated system.

With a little bit more effort, you can make that automated system a "smart" system by adding sensors that allows automation to react to feedback accordingly.

A good example of just what can be automated these days comes from Phetchaburi province, Thailand. While the infrastructure across the eastern part of the province is excellent, including in agricultural regions where irrigation water is pumped in through an efficient system of canals, in the west along the fringes of Kaeng Krachan National Park, the hilly terrain and sparse population makes building infrastructure more difficult technically and economically. One thing this region is not short of, however, is sunlight.

People that decide to do farming in this area have turned increasingly to solar power to both light up their homes and drive automation in their fields. This includes irrigation systems (water pumps and sprinklers) as well as automated organic fertilizer mixers and sprayers. Low cost solar panels producing as little as 12 watts can power a water pump, timers, and solenoid valves enough to cover small field. And while these systems are affordable, they are built out of a collection of subsystems hacked together by those with the knowledge to do so, but a mystery to traditional farmers.

Make Sure Your Pallet Planters are Safe

April 1, 2016 | ProgressTH The idea of using wooden shipping pallets for various projects has been around for a while. It has gone from a novelty to a regularly used means of sourcing local building material for everything from furniture to raised bed gardens.

But like everything else, it is not as simple as just getting some pallets and nailing them together. Depending on the manufacturer, pallets may be heat treated (stamped with HT) which is safe, or fumigated with methyl bromide (stamped with MB) which is not. On a growing number of pallets, manufacturers are voluntarily stamping just which process was used. But to be on the safe side, or in case your pallets have no stamp at all, try to contact the manufacturer and get an answer straight from them.

Treehugger.com’s article DIY: How to tell if a pallet is safe to re-use gives some additional information about this, as does this Instructable titled How to determine if a wood pallet is safe for use.

Organic Agriculture: What is Vermiculture?

March 22, 2016 | ProgressTH Located 2 hours south of Bangkok in the Thai province of Phetchaburi, is the provincial capital, Phetchaburi City. While it is surrounded by what seems like endless farmland, it itself is an urban landscape complete with all the comforts you could find in any small city. It is the least likely place in the province you would expect to find a farm of any kind, yet nestled in a small alley between two larger buildings, with a small home squeezed far in the back, lies a vermiculture operation.

Vermiculture is the use of earthworms to break down organic material into rich fertilizer for use in organic gardening and farming. Despite what one would expect to see at such an operation, this alley was orderly, clean, professional, even a little stylish, and included many clever conventions to quickly and efficiently separate the worms from the compost and prepare them for distribution to either single customers looking for a small portion for use at home, or to much larger operations requiring many large bags of fertilizer for their rows and fields.

Large operations like this can easily be done almost anywhere. One probably wouldn’t want to do it inside, but almost any shaded spot outdoors in the city, suburbs, or countryside can easily be used for vermiculture operations big and small.

"กุ้งก้ามแดง" อึด ทน ดี แต่แพ้ "สารเคมี" อีกหนึ่งทางเลือกเพิ่มรายได้เกษตรอินทรีย์

16 ม.ค. 2559 - ProgressTH (www.progressTH.org) เมื่อเร็วๆนี้ เราได้มีโอกาสเข้าร่วมรับฟังการบรรยายพิเศษเรื่อง “การเพาะเลี้ยงกุ้งก้ามแดง” โดย แผนกวิชาประมง ที่ วิทยาลัยเกษตรและเทคโนโลยีเพชรบุรี ที่ศึกษาวิจัยการเลี้ยงกุ้งก้ามแดงมานานหลายปี โดยเป็นการบรรยายที่มีเทคนิคการเลี้ยงกุ้งก้ามแดงต่างๆเยอะมาก

โดยลักษณะเด่นที่สุด ของ  กุ้งก้ามแดง หรือ ล็อบเตอร์น้ำจืด มีนิสัย ทั้ง อีด ทน กินได้ทุกอย่าง เกลียดอย่างเดียวคือ “สารเคมี” เท่านั้น….เพราะถ้าเจอสารเคมีเมื่อไหร่ตายทันที เห็นแบบนี้น่าจะเหมาะกับคนที่ทำเกษตรอินทรีย์เป็นอย่างมาก เพราะกุ้งก้ามแดงกินทุกอย่าง และชอบมาก คือ ไส้เดือน หอยขม ซึ่งล้วนแต่เป็นสัตว์ที่ชาวเกษตรอินทรีย์น่าจะเลี้ยงไว้ทั้งสิ้น และสามารถต่อยอดด้วยการเลี้ยงกุ้งก้ามแดงได้เลย

Gardening 101 : กระบะปลูกผัก ( Raised Bed) เพื่อสวนผักในฝัน

 12 ม.ค. 2558- ProgressTH  (www.progressTH.org) หากเพื่อนๆ คิดอยากจะปลูกผักแต่ไม่รู้จะเริ่มตรงไหน บางคนอาจจะเริ่มจากกระถาง แต่ถ้ามีพื้นที่มากกว่านั้นไม่ว่าจะเป็นที่ดาดฟ้า หรือพื้นที่หลังบ้าน อาจจะลองพิจารณาการใช้ “กระบะปลูกผัก” (Raised  Bed)   ซึ่งนอกจากทำให้เราออกแบบ  Land scape สวนผักสวยๆ ได้ตามที่เราต้องการแล้ว การปลูกผักแบบ Raised bed  ยังมีประโยชน์อื่นๆด้วย

เครดิตภาพจาก - http://garden-photos-com.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Raised-Bed-Gardens-Stock-Photos/G0000U.aVBOU2Ac4/I0000WGWrw4T5xNA

From Cloud to Field: The Amazing Journey of Irrigation Water

January 12, 2016 | ProgressTH When we see a rice field we may take for granted the amazing journey the water that drives it takes to arrive there. While some fields fill up with the rains and are supplemented with well water or local ponds, the most productive fields are generally fed by national irrigation networks.

We take for granted idyllic scenes of rice farmers tending their crops. Where does the water come from that fills their fields? 

Few know much about the size, complexity, and impact these networks have, but the truth is, the journey this water takes to arrive in a rice field is truly amazing.

Mountain Rains, Reservoirs, and Dams 

Flatter plains where most rice farming takes place, are generally fed by irrigation water that originates high in distant mountains. In central Phetcaburi province, Thailand, farms are fed by several reservoirs located among western mountains both in the province and well beyond it.

Gardening 101: Raised Beds

January 11, 2016 | ProgressTH Want to get into gardening but don't know where to start? Potted plants can only get you so far. If you've got a bit more space ... on a rooftop, in an empty lot, or out back ... you may want to consider raised garden beds.

While most people have surely seen this indispensable gardening technique, they may not have realized the concepts or benefits behind using them. Once you understand why they are used and the advantages they provide, you may be more tempted to try it out yourself.

Raised bed gardens consist of a width of raised soil twice as far as you can reach over (because you can access it from either side and bridge the entire gap). It can be any length desired, just remember you'll have to have access to both sides. They are incredibly simple to make. Simple get a pile of soil, and construct a barrier around it to hold the soil in. Finding materials to make a barrier is not as hard as it may seem.

Learning About Crayfish Aquaculture

January 9, 2016 | ProgressTH Cherax quadricarinatus, also known as the redclaw crayfish, is originally from Australia. There, it is a popular species that is caught in the wild and also raised by farmers. It is served by chefs in a variety of creative ways and has become so popular there, aquaculture operations at one point could barely keep up.

About 10 years ago, redclaw crayfish made their way into Thailand. What began as a small community of underground breeders supplying local restaurants has grown into a nationwide aquaculture phenomenon. Thanks to Thailand's Royal Project, cultivation has been promoted nationwide by a number of agricultural and technology colleges.

Phetchaburi's College of Agriculture and Technology recently conducted a day-long training session instructing attendees on the ins and outs of redclaw crayfish cultivation. The training session culminated in a visit to the college's onsite crayfish facility where several hundred are being raised, bred, and sold to prospective farmers. The dean of the college was also on the look out for serious partners in helping fill quotas for the crayfish which are in increasing demand both in Thailand and abroad.

Rooftop Garden Feeds Homeless, Builds Stronger Community

January 5, 2016 | ProgressTH An ongoing project started in 2009 by the US-based Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, is truly an inspiration and example for building stronger communities, and solving many of the problems the world faces by starting right in our own backyards, or we should say, on our own rooftops.

The Task Force has built an impressive garden on the rooftop of an equally impressive homeless shelter and community service center. The garden aims to provide at least one salad a week for residents at the shelter, and the garden itself provides an opportunity for both residents and community members to learn about gardening and growing food by volunteering to care for the rooftop garden.

Those who wish to learn more, can move on to Truly Living Well, an urban agricultural center partnered with the Task Force. There they can learn more about producing food, and get to know the local area's growing farmers' market community.

Urban Agriculture & Personal Indoor Farms

January 3, 2016 | ProgressTH Living in a city can make it hard to find fresh, healthy, organic food. Space is at a premium, and while farming on rooftops is starting to catch on in some places, as are community gardens in others, the fact remains that for the average person, growing their own fresh food is still a little bit out of reach.

But thanks to a growing community of urban gardeners, dropping costs of increasingly accessible opensource electronics, motors, and sensors, as well as advances in LED technology, the ability to turn even the darkest, most uninviting corner of your apartment into a garden is becoming a possibility.

There are several projects out there that are making small-scale automated gardening more accessible. The first that comes to mind and getting much publicity is MIT's CityFarm. It's a self-contained indoor aeroponic garden, lit by LED grow lights, and controlled with sensors, timers, and computers. It is part of MIT's OpenAg (Open Agriculture) project, which on its website claims:

The Open Agriculture Initiative (OpenAG) is on a mission to create more farmers for the future of food production. We are developing the open source hardware and software platforms for sensor-controlled hydroponic and aeroponic agriculture systems. 

Food Computers, as we call them, will serve as tools for users to experiment, innovate, hack, and grow. Every time users grow and harvest, they will contribute to a library of climate recipes that can be borrowed and scaled so that users around the world can gain access to the best and freshest foods.

The website has been vastly improved since the first time we've heard of it. Lots of information and documentation has been added. In addition to the large walk-in CityFarm demonstration, there are also tabletop Food Computers the MIT team is putting together at workshops.

Organic Fish Farming in Thailand?

April 7, 2015 -- Progress Thailand Many are familiar with the benefits of organic food. We associate it mostly with fruits and vegetables and to a lesser degree poultry and livestock. But perhaps the least amount of attention falls on fish farming otherwise known as aquaculture.

Fish farming offers many benefits versus fishing, including the protection of natural fish populations in our lakes, rivers, and seas. However, just like with fruit, vegetable, and livestock farming, conventional fish farming involves chemicals, medication, and other unpleasant features we should know better to avoid.

We Talk at K-Village About the Future of Organic Agriculture in Thailand

March 30, 2015 -- Progress Thailand During a recent visit to K-Village, a venue for some of the most successful organic farmers' markets in Bangkok (located near Phrom Phong BTS Station), we talked with some vendors and organizers who have big plans for the future of organic agriculture in Thailand.

Having learned much from past years during which the organic movement has been quietly growing across Thailand, everything from how to teach farmers how  to produce better quality products, to better informing consumers, to better organizing farmers' markets themselves was discussed.

Understanding the Problems 

Few in Thailand don't understand the hardships of regular farmers, many of whom are still dependent on expensive chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, as well as "middlemen" who take their crops for cheap, and resell abroad raking in huge fortunes while farmers struggle either right along or deeply within debt. In addition to these financial hardships, the chemicals are dangerous for farmers to handle and have a negative impact on the health of those consuming them.

มหัศจรรย์ “ป่าเด็งโมเดล”นวัตนกรรมพลังงานทดแทน ในพื้นที่สายส่งเข้าไม่ถึง ตอนที่ 1

27 ม.ค. 2558- หมายเหตุ - ทีม Progress Thailand (www.progressTH.org) ได้ลงพื้นที่ ต .ป่าเด็ง อ.แก่งกระจาน จ.เพชรบุรี เพื่อเข้าร่วมศึกษา “ปฏิบัติการพลังงานชุมชนครบวงจร” เพื่อการพึ่งตนเองในพื้นที่ไฟฟ้าสายส่งเข้าไม่ถึง ที่จัดขึ้นโดยกระทรวงพลังงาน เมื่อเร็วๆนี้

จุดหมายในการเดินทางครั้งนี้คือ “สถาบันการเรียนรู้เศรษฐกิจพอเพียงและพลังงานทางเลือก” โดยทันทีที่สายส่งไฟฟ้าสิ้นสุดลง สัญญานโทรศัพท์ถูกตัดขาด เราได้พบกับนวัตนกรรมพลังงานเพื่อการพึ่งตนเอง ทั้งพลังงานแสงอาทิตย์ และ แก๊สชีวภาพ ตามบ้านเรือนต่างๆตลอดสองข้างทาง โดยแต่ละบ้านจะมีแผงโซลาเซลล์ วางอยู่บนหลังคาบ้าน และตั้งไว้รอบๆบ้าน รวมถึงบอลลูนไบโอแก๊สขนาดใหญ่ตั้งอยู่ข้างบ้าน

 เทคโนโลยีเหล่านี้ทำให้ชาวบ้านที่นี่มีพลังงานไฟฟ้าและก๊าซหุงต้มใช้อย่างเพียงพอ ที่สำคัญทั้งหมดนี้เกิดจากองค์ความรู้ที่ชาวบ้านได้ลงมือปฏิบัติจริง จนสามารถฝ่าฟันความขาดแคลนพลังงานมาได้ ซึ่งเรียกกันว่า “ป่าเด็งโมเดล” ที่น่าสนใจไปมากกว่านั้น คือ เราค้นพบว่าแผงโซล่าเซลล์ที่ชาวบ้านนำมาใช้ เป็นแผงโซลาล์เซลล์ที่พังและถูกทิ้งไปแล้ว แต่ชาวบ้านได้มานำซ่อมอีกครั้ง!!! ???

Soil Testing Reduces Farmers' Costs and Dependency

January 26, 2015 -- ProgressTH.org The Chao Phraya & Pa Sak River Network, an agricultural network specializing in the use of fertilizer techniques and technology, has been conducting "soil clinic" events throughout Thailand. The latest event, held in the city district of Saraburi province, provided testing and consultation services for over 200 farmers.

Scenes from the soil clinic event in Saraburi's city district. Over 200 farmers had soil tests carried out by the network's volunteers.

Held inside a large event hall, over a dozen tables were set up, each with a test kit capable of determining the pH (alkalinity or acidity) of soil samples, as well as nutrient contents. Crops use nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) along with other trace minerals. Agricultural fertilizer is sold at varying ratios to meet the needs of different varieties of soil, but if farmers are unaware of what kind of soil they have, the general tendency is to over-apply an even mix of NPK.

The results of this practice include over-fertilizing crops which can be as detrimental to a good harvest as under-fertilizing them. Over-fertilizing fields also costs money, hurting a farmer's already vulnerable and meager bottom line.

The Chao Phraya & Pa Sak River Network, by testing soil and giving fertilizer recommendations to farmers, aims at cutting fertilizer use (and costs) by as much as half.

A Precision Agriculture Mobile Service?

January 21, 2015 In Thailand, one can invest in a large harvester, then earn a living bringing it from farm to farm each season to help farmers harvest their crops. Individual farmers would never be able to afford such an expensive machine, and the cost of and time required to maintain it would leave farmers with little time to do much else.

Precision Agriculture Mobile Service: 1. A truck to bring equipment on site. 2. NPK soil testing kit. 3. Agricultural drone. 4. A weather station. 5. An automated solar powered water pump.

In a way, harvesters are a collective asset for any given village or district, with a fee paid to access it like the power grid or a supply of fertilizer because, for now, such things are expensive to do on one's own. Likewise, the cost of precision agriculture in both the time to understand it, and in terms of cost to purchase the various tools needed to carry it out is prohibitively high for most farmers.

Could a local mobile service be devised where a single set of tools is invested in and maintained, but accessible for a fee by all farmers within a given area?

Innovative Project Brings Light and Warmth to Remote Village, Literally

January 16, 2015 Travel to the remote sub-district of Pa Deng in Kaeng Krachan, Phetchaburi and you will cross over into an area disconnected from both Thailand's national power grid and telecommunications networks. There are no power lines, no cell towers, and few if any paved roads. The houses are very rustic, and the entire sub-district looks at first like you've traveled back in time.


However, almost precisely where the Ministry of Energy's powerlines end, an innovative project bringing power and cooking gas to this remote region beings. Called the "Pa Deng model," this project involves disseminating solar and biogas technology across Pa Deng. In this "land that time has forgotten," you will see solar panels rising up next to old wooden houses and biogas balloons sitting out back like giant pet dragons sleeping.  

Started independently by a small team including an employee of the Ministry of Energy, the Pa Deng model seeks not just to hand out technology to users, but to teach them how to use it, modify it, and adapt it precisely to their needs.  Rather than being "off grid," Pa Deng is building their own grid. Instead of being connected by powerlines and utility meters, it is instead connected by knowledge and technical and social collaboration.

What one will notice upon traveling about in Pa Deng is the wealth of information everyone involved in the project possesses, from the project team itself to the end users. Farmers employing solar energy and biogas were able to explain at length the process of trial and error they went through to create viable systems that met their daily needs. In fact, many volunteers helping the Pa Deng model team were local end users.