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The problem these farmers must face is about the future of their farm, they have no children and it is difficult to find an heir in order to perpetrate these agricultural traditions.
After this first visit, we head to another farm that is distinct with its irrigation system, to pump the water from the earth, the farmers here are using windmills.
This establishment is not like the first one, here there are not only plants but also chickens that are freely walking around.
A storm is coming, so we decide to start with the visit of the fields that are strewed with different types of windmills that are spurting the water out of the earth thanks to the wind power.

 

We run to get under cover from the storm and then the Thai farmers start to exchange about their farming techniques with the Cambodian farmers.
During this conversation, I’ve learned that the organic substitute to chemical fertilizer is made from compost of their own production and it gives a rich, fertile and living soil.
Once the storm gone, we went back at the hotel to have dinner and to rest.

The morning after, we met up to visit a local market that only sells products from Yasothon’s organic farmers. It gave us an idea of how these products can be commercialized. This market is located in the city and we arrived at the opening what gives us the opportunity to see all the products available before they were purchased.
The traders offered seeds, plants, herbal drinks and different kinds of rice with different colors from black to white to red. We could also find a lot of fish some sellers even offered live catfish and local snacks, such as an excellent local recipe of sticky rice, bananas and coconut milk smoked into banana tree leaves.
We saw that as soon as the products are presented, the customers were buying them and enjoying some of them directly.For us it is the occasion to discover the other organic products and to study their prices, their quality and their packaging. It seems that with equal quality, Green Net’s products are cheaper than its competitors.

In the beginning of the after-noon, we visited a farmer owned and operated rice mill.  We learned about the paddy purchasing process. Farmers members bring their paddy production. After confirming their right to sell and their organic status, their bags filled with paddy rice are weighted then, samples are examined carefully to check the humidity and other quality factors.  If the quality is fine, the farmer receives payment and the rice is stocked and organized according to its certification category in a warehouse that protects them from the sun.

     

Before being exported, the rice grains must go trough the rice mill that turns the Paddy rice into white rice. Some varieties are not polished in order to obtain natural black, red or brown rice.
Once the white rice is obtained, it is ready to be packed and then exported. The rice husks are usually removed just shortly before the export, because it provides a good natural protection against insects, rats, and climate. Proper storage design and clear information prevent the potential for mixing and the possibility to mistake a bag for another bag with a different content during the different processes.

In the after-noon, we took part to in a conference on the relation between Green Net and its partners. Our representative, Michael and the farmer’s representative « Chutima » presented us Green Net and their activity, how the income of the farmers can increase thanks to organics farming. They also explained us the fair trade policy that the cooperative is applying in agreement with its suppliers.

To close this day, we went to Chutima farm to see the different variety of plants she was growing such as papaya and different aromatics herbs.

 

  

For our last day to Yasothon, we visited Green Net Center where the cooperative has some fields and where they also do the packing of their products.
Green Net’s facility is located outside the city. When we arrived, we were welcomed in a very specific meeting room built by the farmers all around a large tree trunk with very basic materials such as straw, wood and banana tree leaves.

It’s in this makeshift meeting room that the Center’s manager presented us trough a PowerPoint of the processes used to obtain the optimal conditions to grow rice and watermelons without adding any chemical fertilizer.

After we eat our meal made essentially with the farm’s products, we made a visit to the packing facility.
Inside the building, we can see that the process is divided into different steps from the arrival of the rice to the final packing. In between, the rice is checked, sorted and weighted thoroughly in order to obtain exactly 1kg per package. If the weight is less than 1kg, the consumer can complain and if the weight is more than 1kg it means that Green Net is losing money. This accuracy in working tasks needs the commodity to be organized with awareness. That’s why the packages are organized according to their future destinations, according to their type of rice and according to the date they were packed. Green Net is also focusing on the feedbacks’ brought by the consumers. Therefore, samples are kept from every delivery that is sent in order to analyze them if needed. The rice packages are placed under vacuum to avoid any contact with foreign elements. They are kept for two days, during these days a few packages may inflate with air. The inflation is a sign that the package is not under vacuum anymore. The packages that remain unaltered are in good shape and ready to be exported.

After this last visit in Yasothon, we headed towards the train station to take the night train in direction to Bangkok.

We left in the early evening and we arrived at dawn in Bangkok where vans took us to a Bangkok hotel.

For this day we planned to visit one of the biggest commercial center in Bangkok with a large choice of foods product from all around the world. This commercial center is called Central Food Hall, and we are welcomed by the General Manager of the food department who showed us their organic assortment of products. Some are produced locally while others are imported from abroad, and they have created their own organic brand: “Cooking for fun”.
During this visit, we also recognize Green Net’s products, it was an occasion for us to compare the different packaging’s, the prices per quantity, and the quality of our products with a lot of others. Here again our prices are lower than most of the other organic products. I also look at the different packaging, some rice package where really nice and it gives me some idea to imagine my own one.

In the after-noon, the group decides to enjoy their free time by doing some shopping or to rest before our last day.

For this last day, we took vans to Amphoe Phanom Sarakham to visit a large area dedicated by the King to farmers where they grow many different crops and try some organic experiments. We started with a film presentation of the center, Khao Hinsorn Agricultural Development Center, that related its history from its creation and then we started the visit by feet and on board of a little touristic train. It gave us the opportunity to discover the cultivation of many plants such as melons, figs, tomatoes, banana trees and a lot of others even mushrooms. They are also raising ducks, chickens, fish and even frogs to diversify their production.
This center is truly exemplary for those who wish to turn their farms into an organic and profitable business. According to the farmers I have met it usually takes between 2 and 5 years to become an organic farm.

This seminary ends here and I am going back to Bangkok while our Cambodian friends are on their way back to the border to return to their own homes…