Royal visits to rural areas all over the country and the questioning of local people themselves have made His Majesty realize that lacking of water is the major problem facing rice farmer.
His observation on the nature of rice and water shortage came to the 4 main ideas.
1. Rice is a stress-endurance plant. It will survive and give more grain if water is correctly supplied.
2. Rainwater must be collected and RESERVE for cultivation and increase productivity of rice.
3. Large-scale water reservoirs are not practical due to the diverse community distribution and limited land area.
4. Small-scale water reservoirs or ponds at each family farm would be more practical and cost less.
ROYAL " NEW THEORY "
From one of the Royal visits at the northeastern provinces of Thailand, His Majesty found out that in the area with irregular rainfall the rice yield was only 1 tung/rai. Rice plant received only the dew at night, yet struggled to survive through the season. He, therefore, has suggested to build a small water reservoir lining with plastic sheets to keep rain water in each paddy field. This is how the " New Theory " for agricultural land management comes into practice.