This "New Theory" was based on the fact that an average farmer owns about 10-15 rai of farm land, this total amount of land should be divided into 3 parts for the following functions:
Part I : 30% of the total farm area (~3 rai) is reserved for water reservoir. The pond should be built at 4 meter deep with capacity to hold 19,000 m3 of rain water. This amount of water would be enough for agricultural use all year. The pond itself could be used not only for agriculture but for aquaculture as well to add more income to the farmers.
Part II : 30%+30% of the total farm area (~10 rai) is the agricultural land which is further divided into 2sections. The first half (5 rai) is paddy rice and the remaining (5 rai) is field crops or fruit trees depending on the condition of land and market.
His Majesty has calculated the water requirement for cultivation to be amounted to 1,000 m3 /rai in the dry season. Therefore, the total water reserve for 10 rai is added up to 10,000 m3 .
Part iii : The remaining 10% of the total farm area (~2 rai) will be used as residential area, roads, dikes, draining canals, as well as for family gardening and animal husbandry.
The 30-30-30-10 formula suggested by His Majesty became the "New Theory" of principle agricultural land management as follows:
1. It is practical to be used at small farm not larger than 15 raiin size (which is an average farm size in Thailand).
2. The land management of this type would result in self sufficiency of the farmers. Each family would be able to live comfortably while community co-operation and participation are the main elements for success.
3. The main objective is to produce enough rice for the family to consume all year.
His Majesty also has observed that water loss through vaporization could occur at the rate of 1 cm. each day in the dry season. If there are 60 raining days in a year, the level of water in the pond would remain only 1 meter deep from the bottom which is not enough for year-round agriculture. Therefore a supply of water from a large reservoir is needed to fill up the small ponds and make this theory implementable. He has tested his theory at Wat Mongkol Chai Pattana and has proven to be quite practical. The farmers are able to increase their farm yield with enough water each year.
However, His Majesty made an emphasis that management of this kind must be gradually done and should never rush into it. An immediate problem arising from digging a pond on farmland is a large quantity of earth left around which amount from 10,000 m3 to 19,000 m3. His Majesty has suggested the farmer to use this surplus to build a dike around the pond and construct the cultivation rows for vegetables or fruit trees. To make it easier for the farmers to use the "New Theory", step-by-step procedure is formulated.