Let me Introduce myself
I was wondering why a lot of Thai farmers, despite working so hard, were still very poor, many times feeling helpless and even depressed. Could she make a change, a difference, in their lives and to farming in general by testing new rice practices more suitable for a changing climate? And if so, how?

I quickly realised that becoming a rice farmer on the weekends would be my dream scenario.

I have a profound interest for rice cultivation. That is why I did a master thesis about rice cropping patterns in Thailand. After that, I learned about the new, interesting techniques of growing rice, which is the ‘System of Rice Intensification’ (SRI) and ‘Alternative Wet and Dry system’ (AWD).

What’s so special about these rice growing techniques?
System of Rice Intensification is a cropping technique, where farmers use 8-12 days old seedlings (2 leaves stage) to transplant only one seedling per hill (single seedling). A transplanting space between hills can be from 25-40 sq cm depending on soil’s fertility (high fertile soil, wider space).

Although often, what is being implemented in Asia is not the original SRI approach in the strict sense, but rather variations on sustainable intensification of rice production.

This technique can save more than half of seeds used in conventional methods. Besides, single seedling benefits a farmer in weed management because it is planted neatly and orderly, which makes it easy to get rid of weeds.

The Alternative Wetting and Drying irrigation system’s core concept is to irrigate the rice field to a water level of 5 cm and then let it dry until water level drops to 15 cm below the soil surface, which takes about 7–10 days, before starting a new round, depending on soil and climate conditions. With this irrigation technique, the amount of water used in the rice field decreases about 40%; moreover, it enhances physical benefits from the environment to rice plants. One is that rice roots can absorb oxygen and nutrients directly through soil cracking, leading to root length density, and growth of roots and shoots. Strong and dense roots enhance rice plants’ resistance to storms and flooding.

Nevertheless, both techniques could be integrated with Thai conventional practices in order to find the most suitable practices for each area.

The first plan that came to my mind after I got back to Thailand, was to find a piece of land for my two rice cropping experiments. It wasn’t that easy though. After some months passed, I realized that buying a piece of land is nearly impossible, especially for me who grew up in the city. None of my friends or relatives were farmers, plus my budget was tight. What I had was knowledge, but no experience. How could a person like me, who has lived her entire life in an urban area, actually grow rice?

Had this been ten years ago, I might have spent months trying to find the right person to talk to. Today, Mark, Larry and Sergey have invented magical gadgets named Facebook and Google. All I had to do was just to use them. Many thanks!

After typing in some keywords, I found a guy, who initiated “the holiday farmer network” with the concept that everyone can be a farmer.

What the holiday farmer has to do is invest time during the weekends or holidays. This sounded like the right place for me. I contacted him and joined the group, where I gained more knowledge, techniques, friends, and more importantly, inspiration. After a while, I started talking to more people until I met one man, who found my idea interesting, but was not yet ready for change. He gave me a shot to test my idea in his rice field though.
With an area of 1 rai (1600 sqm), my life as a week-end farmer had begun

The first important thing that I had to do was to make a field observation. This place is not far from the city. It takes just 1.5 hours by car. There is a small road separating the rice field and the owner’s house, which is full of fruits, vegetables and herbs. My piece is located at the end of the field, so I walked there to check the irrigation system and soil type. Both of them are perfect, I just needed to build a small paddy dike separating my rice field from the whole field.
More on
http://ccafs.cgiar.org/blog/weekend-farmer-puts-climate-smart-farming-practices-test-thailand#.VAVWQWNPf5K
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