As in most of Thailand, rice is the primary food crop in the Pa Sak River Basin. Agriculture has changed radically in recent decades, altering ways of living, thinking and belief - and the experience of community. Rural life was once the basis of national culture, but as farm families changed from subsistence agriculture to market oriented agriculture, food production became a secondary concern. Drawn to flourishing industrial and urban service sectors and attracted by prospects of higher income, farmers left their land. However, with the recent economic downturn, farmers who had become city-dwellers were the first to experience unemployment and related social problems.
For the people of the Pa Sak River Basin, Thailand's rapid economic development in the past seemed to have negatively influenced the comfort and security of traditional community life. Gone was the community spirit of sharing surplus food and sharing labour. Surplus food came to be measured in monetary terms, to be marketed, not shared.
In 1960, agriculture represented some 40 percent of Thailand's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and two-thirds (64 percent) of all employment. As industrial-technical investment increased, agriculture's proportion of GDP dropped dramatically to 11 percent in the mid-1990s, even though total land area devoted to agriculture was only marginally reduced and agricultural employment declined minimally to just 60 percent.
Before the dam was constructed, the project area was mainly rain-fed farmland, orchards and pasture. Rice and maize were normally cultivated only once a year, during the monsoon season, but crops were often half the estimated potential due to either flood or drought.
As can be seen in the table below, the second rice crop grown in the off season (dry season) is comparatively negligible due to the lack of supplementary irrigation water compared with the area cropped in the monsoon season. Due to the dam and the new irrigation schemes, 131 300 rai can in future be cultivated in the off season as well.
Unpredictable flood and drought conditions combined made agriculture a very risky business. Comparing data for “first” or “major” rice planted in comparison with the area actually harvested in Lop Buri and Saraburi provinces for the 1992/93 season, for example, indicates the erratic nature of production and yield. In 1992/93, Lop Buri farmers planted 948 438 rai of rice, but harvested only 593 120 rai - a loss of 355 318 rai or 37 percent of the projected crop. Losses in Saraburi province were similar, but less dramatic. In the same year 416 174 rai were planted but only 398 445 rai was harvested - a loss of 17 729 rai or 4 percent of the projected crop.
Such losses represent lost agricultural investment, such as seed, fertilizer and pesticide, as well as lost labour investment, and
As in most of Thailand, rice is the primary food crop in the Pa Sak River Basin. Agriculture has changed radically in recent decades, altering ways of living, thinking and belief - and the experience of community. Rural life was once the basis of national culture, but as farm families changed from subsistence agriculture to market oriented agriculture, food production became a secondary concern. Drawn to flourishing industrial and urban service sectors and attracted by prospects of higher income, farmers left their land. However, with the recent economic downturn, farmers who had become city-dwellers were the first to experience unemployment and related social problems.For the people of the Pa Sak River Basin, Thailand's rapid economic development in the past seemed to have negatively influenced the comfort and security of traditional community life. Gone was the community spirit of sharing surplus food and sharing labour. Surplus food came to be measured in monetary terms, to be marketed, not shared.In 1960, agriculture represented some 40 percent of Thailand's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and two-thirds (64 percent) of all employment. As industrial-technical investment increased, agriculture's proportion of GDP dropped dramatically to 11 percent in the mid-1990s, even though total land area devoted to agriculture was only marginally reduced and agricultural employment declined minimally to just 60 percent.Before the dam was constructed, the project area was mainly rain-fed farmland, orchards and pasture. Rice and maize were normally cultivated only once a year, during the monsoon season, but crops were often half the estimated potential due to either flood or drought.As can be seen in the table below, the second rice crop grown in the off season (dry season) is comparatively negligible due to the lack of supplementary irrigation water compared with the area cropped in the monsoon season. Due to the dam and the new irrigation schemes, 131 300 rai can in future be cultivated in the off season as well.Unpredictable flood and drought conditions combined made agriculture a very risky business. Comparing data for “first” or “major” rice planted in comparison with the area actually harvested in Lop Buri and Saraburi provinces for the 1992/93 season, for example, indicates the erratic nature of production and yield. In 1992/93, Lop Buri farmers planted 948 438 rai of rice, but harvested only 593 120 rai - a loss of 355 318 rai or 37 percent of the projected crop. Losses in Saraburi province were similar, but less dramatic. In the same year 416 174 rai were planted but only 398 445 rai was harvested - a loss of 17 729 rai or 4 percent of the projected crop.Such losses represent lost agricultural investment, such as seed, fertilizer and pesticide, as well as lost labour investment, and
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