Fruits and vegetables in Thailand's rice bowl: the agricultural development of poldered raised bed systems in Damnoen Saduak area
2000
Cheyroux, Blandine(U.E.R. Comparative Agriculture and Agricultural Development)
On the fringe of the rice based systems which have dominated the Chao Phraya delta agriculture, Chinese migrants and theirs sino-thai descendants have developed an particular agrarian system in the lowland of Damnoen Saduak area (low Mae Klong basin). They have resorted to raised bed technique to polderise this old tidal marsh and have built a huge canal network ensuring drainage and irrigation year round. In this gardens between land and water, the farmers arable to grow a vast range of vegetables and fruits. The proximity of the Bangkok market, the development of transport infrastructures between Damnoen Saduak and Bangkok and the efficient market connection via a middlemen networks constitute important socio-economic conditions for the development of this merchant agriculture. Contrasting with the extensive rice based systems which provide nowadays a fairly low income, the poldered raised beds systems which use a greater labour force and high capital, are much diversified (more than 20 main crops) and oriented towards crops with high added value such as fruits and vegetables. This partly explains the expansion of the raised bed area at the expense of the rice fields.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Kasetsart University