Water buffaloes are making a comeback in Thailand as farmers abandon their machinery due to high fuel prices. Farmers are harnessing their reluctant water buffaloes back onto ploughs and going back to the traditional way of farming. We have more details in this report from Reuters.
The put-put sound of diesel-driven ploughs were a common sound throughout rural Thailand. But now, with soaring fuel prices, more and more Thai farmers are putting their modern machinery aside to go back to the traditional way of farming--using water buffaloes.
At 12,000-17,000 Baht for one animal, water buffaloes are a cheap alternative to diesel ploughs. But both the farmers and water buffaloes are out of practice. Young farmers like Supat Langboon have little experience using farm animals in the fields.
But even though water buffalo are more difficult to control than tractors, Supat is not giving up.
Supat's uncle, 73-year-old farmer Tawan Panyaharn, is teaching both man and beast to work together. Progress is slow, even after an intensive 3-days of coaching.
Tawan Panyaharn, a farmer said "My relatives do not know how to train a buffalo how to plough. Sometimes, I have to step in and train them myself. I can get the buffalo to pull the plough within a few days".
Rice production is the main source of income for rural families in the northeast. Some farmers like 60-year-old Somporn Pagaso were prosperous enough to hire fellow farmers to plough for him, using their machinery. But due to higher fuel costs, he has gone back to using his four water buffalos on his eight-acre plot of land.
Somporn Pagaso, a farmer said "Working with farm machinery is quick, but we have to spend 400 baht for almost half an acre. It is better to keep the money for my nephews and use water buffalos to work.”
Thailand is one of the world's biggest rice producers and exporters. Some 10 million hectares of rice is grown in the country with more than fifty percent of rice-growing areas located in the country's northeastern region.
Features : Last Update : 08:47:46 26 July 2008 (GMT+7:00)
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