The Healthy Heart of Organic Farming

Kaitlin Muench
Thailand
One organic coconut – 5 baht. One head of organic lettuce – 7 baht. A kilo of organic Hom Mali rice – 28 baht*. Knowing that his family is healthy – priceless. Fifteen years ago, Som Sanomsuk, an organic farmer in Donlaeng Tai, a village in Surin province in northeastern Thailand, did the unthinkable in the farming profession – he lowered his yield. Most people thought he was crazy, Som recalls with a smile. “I’m not crazy,” he chuckles, “I’m better off now than I ever was before.”

In 1992, Som and twelve of his fellow villagers abandoned chemical fertilizers in favor of organic farming. Organic farming is much more labor intensive and often produces lower annual yields. The switch to organic is difficult and requires training. Furthermore, organic certification requires two to three years, a lengthy process that many farmers cannot financially survive.

Som sees the situation differently. “I don’t think of [the switch from chemical to organic farming] as a struggle, its more like exercising – we are becoming body builders.” He goes on to explain that despite the intense manual labor required to be a successful organic farmer, he knows that the benefits of going organic outweigh the difficulties.

Som and other villagers saw firsthand the destruction chemical farming was causing to the soil and the local community. “We realized,” explains fellow organic farmer Toma Brinying, “that before chemical fertilizer, the land and the crops and the people were healthier.” Som’s village is part of a growing movements towards organic farming in northeastern Thailand. It is the center of an organic agriculture support network that promotes organic farming through a weekly Green Market in Surin city and with the help of Surin Farmer Support, a local non-governmental organization.

Yet, Som and his fellow organic farmers face an uphill battle. Despite boasting itself as the “organic province of Thailand,” only 1% of farmland in Surin is organic. Many chemical farmers “don’t believe us. They still use chemical fertilizers because they haven’t felt the effects [of the chemicals] directly yet” laments Som. Often, wind blows chemicals from other fields over Som’s rice and vegetables, ruining the organic crop for that season.

Government campaigns to promote organic farming are often ineffective. “Many community leaders still use chemical fertilizer and argue that they have the right to do what they want on their lands because otherwise they can’t reach expected yields,” explains Toma. However, clarifies Som, the decrease in yield is only short term. Yields decrease for the first two to three years during organic training and certifi cation, “yet we are back to over 90% of our previous yields now,” he proudly states.

Som’s village vows to continue to promote organic farming. “We won’t stop now; we want to expand our agriculture support network because we want people to be aware of the environment and have longterm health security for our communities.”

It’s about 2 in the afternoon on a Saturday and the weekly Green Market in Surin City is about to close. Som’s stand is nearly sold out. His net profit that morning? About 200 baht from coconuts, vegetables and rice. “Price,” he explains, “is less important than the long-term environmental effects of chemicals.” Now that’s something to sink your teeth into.

*Note: 1 USD = 30 baht

(Republished from Wao Saa Saa - the CIEE-Thailand student newsletter)