"Before, I used chemicals … and ran up debts.”

Back home in the Sub-Saharan region I had already many times noted that a good farmer is also a good research worker. I had witnessed how, at harvesting time, farmers select the best sorghum ear for the next sowing season. I had seen how, in this way, farmers were able to set up seed banks for their sorghum. I had also seen how farmers exchange such seeds within their village (or even within or between regions). But in Thailand we discovered that farmers there are indeed also research workers.

In order to escape from the debt burden, that followed in the wake of the green revolution, farmers decided to organise themselves to look for alternatives. They set up the AAN - Alternative Agriculture Network. We went to see some of their members.

On December 1^st we met with an association of rice growers, affiliated to the AAN. They were enthusiastic and took pride in the research they had achieved. They briefed us on their technique for seed selection. As everywhere else, they start by picking out the best rice ears. But not stopping at that, they take the process one step further and select the best grains, one by one, with extreme care. This requires very good eye-sight and sometimes a magnifying lens. The selected grains are then used for seed production, sufficient for three subsequent planting seasons. This is an ongoing process, as farmers are constantly looking for strains that are particularly resistant, give a higher yield or even better match consumer preferences. The farmers we met were happy and proud to initiate us in this high-precision process. (See our photo Galery, Thailand seeds)

We made a number of field visits too. Many a farmer would tell us: ”Before, I used chemicals … and ran up debts.” And would then go on : ”Therefore, when I was asked to join a group of farmers, who were trying to find a way out of indebtedness, I became interested. I wasn’t sure of what the result would be, but I wanted to give it a try.”

“Today, we carry out our own research work. We get together for three hours every week. We share observations with each other. Little by little we have come to discover, that we no longer need chemical fertiliser or pesticides. We have started a research process. We do our own experiments and share the results. In addition the Khao Kwan Foundation follows our work and gives us advice. Thanks to this work, I have now been able to pay back my debts and I have even been able to buy a few more raï of land (1 raï = 1 600 m² or a 40 x 40 m square).”

We become very interested and were won over by the enthusiasm and pride of those farmers. Thus we went to see the Khao Kwan Foundation, where we met Professor Daycha Siripatra.

He confirmed that it is altogether possible to do without chemical inputs (fertiliser, herbicides and pesticides) and to produce just as good a yield (or even better!) as with chemicals - which bring in more benefits for multinationals than for farmers and consumers.

He told us that we have to act on three fronts:

1. Seeds
2. Fertiliser
3. Pest management (insects or parasites)

1. As for seeds, it is essential to remember that there are more than 10 000 varieties of rice (as a result of the work carried out by farmers). The multinationals select or breed those which yield most in combination with the chemicals they sell.

Nothing prevents farmers from choosing seeds that do not need chemical inputs!

2. Replacing chemical fertiliser by organic fertiliser can be of advantage (to the farmers, not to the multinationals and not, apparently, to the Government either, since it does not encourage such research work). At this point Professor Siripatra asked one of the Thai farmers to give us a first demonstration (See our Photo Gallery, Thailand – organic fertiliser).

3. In conclusion he pointed out that insecticides kill off “good” insects as well as “bad” ones. An alternative, to avoid the use of insecticides marketed by multinationals, is therefore to select rice varieties that are resistant to harmful insects and parasites and to enhance the reproduction of useful ones. The idea is to revert the balance and create a situation where the good ones, which thrive on eating the bad ones, prevail.

There is much more to report on our meetings with the Thai research worker-farmers. I hope to come back to this subject again in the near future. For the time being you should know that the African farmers, whom it was my privilege to accompany, returned home full of enthusiasm and firmly determined to follow the Thai example : become research workers too and start organic farming on their rice paddies.

Koudougou
20^th December 2007

Maurice Oudet
Director, SEDELAN
Upon return from Thailand