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My wife is from Thailand. My father in law is a rice farmer. I’m unclear about the definition of “subsistence”, because you need more than rice to live, but he
by efitz 4y ago
My wife is from Thailand. My father in law is a rice farmer.
I’m unclear about the definition of “subsistence”, because you need more than rice to live, but he grows more than they need to eat and sells the rest to eke out a living.
The questions in my mind are:
1. How expensive would these perennial rice strains be (patents)? The cost would have to be ridiculously low by western standards for rural Thai farmers to afford this.
2. How sustainable is it from the standpoint of soil nutrients? Would farmers have to fertilize since they usually plow under after harvest and let the field lie fallow for 6 months? Fertilizer would likely be a show stopper.
- anthomtb 4y ago> 1. How expensive would these perennial rice strains be (patents)? The cost would have to be ridiculously low by western standards for rural Thai farmers to afford this. The perennial rice strain in question is developed by a non-profit: https://landinstitute.org/ https://landinstitute.org/. Near as I can tell, they do not patent their crops for revenue. According to https://landinstitute.org/learn/frequently-asked-questions/ https://landinstitute.org/learn/frequently-asked-questions/, they do have one of their grains trademarked and extract fees from those who use the trademark. Which strikes me as a fair play but others opinions may differ.
- jamiek88 4y agoIt actually helps retains soil nutrient including nitrogen. >accumulating 0.95 Mg ha–1 yr–1 organic carbon and 0.11 Mg ha−1 yr−1 nitrogen
- CuriouslyC 4y agoYou can plant the rice along with nitrogen fixers. Perennial plants get old and should be replanted periodically, so you can have a fallow period where the land is grazed to really improve fertility.