Once Sick Farmers Had to Get Up and Change Their “Fields” to Be Chemical-Free

We’ve probably known how much chemical farming affects health for years. For some people, the effects of chemicals are only visible, but for many others, the chemicals accumulate over time without their knowledge....

Although the effects have not yet been seen, we believe that every farmer is already concerned about his or her health. Many people are afraid of changing rice fields away from chemicals because they do not realize how much more work it will entail. And is it true that organic farming is simple to implement and can be sustained without compromising your health? Therefore, for this project, we must invite farmers who have actually changed their fields. Come and hear the answer.

P’Nok Noi - Nok Noi Srinuanmak is the head of the Khlong Krathung subdistrict organic farming group, which has begun to build a network of organic farmers in the Khlong Krathung community, Nakhon Pathom province, consisting of three to four households. P’Nok Noi’s real change has caused this organic farming group to grow to nearly 20 households who work together to plant rice, process agricultural products, and send large amounts of rice to sell by collaborating with the Suthirat Yoovidhya Foundation as neighbors.

Before becoming The Real Model for other farmers, P’Nok Noi went through a lot. There have been numerous trials and errors, but Nok Noi’s journey to organic farming will be difficult, as we cannot tell you. Things like this must come from your own mouth. Okay! Let us go listen to the story of P’Nok Noi.

“Previously, I had always engaged in chemical farming because it was prevalent around me. I can sell rice. I received a lot of produce. I kept doing it the same way, but I never went to investigate how good or bad the chemical fields were.”

P’Nok Noi invites us to return to the old days. Her neighbors all grow chemical rice, so she has never considered switching to another type of agriculture or researching the benefits and drawbacks of using chemicals. Because there are examples demonstrating that chemical rice fields are simple to grow and produce a large amount of produce, and they can be sold regardless of how they are planted. Why take the risk of pursuing other forms of agriculture?

But then the turning point arrived!

Every year, P’Noknoi must undergo a health check with the Public Health Department to determine the amount of chemicals in her body. But no matter where she goes, she finds chemicals in such high concentrations that she is classified as a high-risk group. The officials were also concerned, so they advised P’Noknoi to try a new way of living, such as washing vegetables more thoroughly when cooking and changing her lifestyle to avoid chemicals.

“But no matter how many times I go back to check, I always find chemicals.” P'Noknoi reported the results, and she realized that simply washing vegetables cleanly or avoiding chemicals would not be enough because the chemicals came from her own farming.

“When we do chemical farming for half a month, I must sow urea, spray herbicides, and spray these medicines three to four times for each rice planting. When spraying, I must carry the sprayer on my back; the liquid will pour onto my back and touch my hands, as if I had been poisoned. I do not know how much it will accumulate in the body. Consequently, if I don't know how to reduce chemicals, I’ll have to spend all of our money in the future on hospital bills.”

As soon as she realized this, P’Noknoi began to make plans to drastically change his lifestyle, with family members joining in on the 'changing' mission as well.

Health problems gave me the courage to change ‘filed’

“I change because we care about our own health and that of our loved ones. My boyfriend is also diabetic. We began by finding vegetables to grow around the house so that we wouldn’t have to buy chemicals-laden vegetables from the market, and then we looked for knowledge that would allow us to do this for a long time.

“We became interested in organic farming after receiving extensive training. We met a group of friends from various sub-districts who shared our desire to do this. So, I asked my boyfriend if we should try organic farming. Our children graduated slowly and gradually. We had no responsibilities, so we didn’t expect to receive any money.”

Three years ago, P’Noknoi began dividing the area to plant vegetables in the house’s garden and changing farming methods, beginning with dividing the rice field into small sections and planting only organic rice. Meanwhile, other parts of the rice fields continue to use chemical farming methods.

When P’Noknoi ate the organic vegetables he grew himself, he noticed a difference between them and the chemicals on the market. As the use of chemicals decreased, so did the health risk trend. Furthermore, the produce that emerged enabled P’Noknoi to live and eat. So she gradually increased her organic rice fields. Until now, P’Nok noi’s fields have been chemical free!

“He thought we were crazy at first, which made things difficult. That is, if we do this here, we will get a low yield. The farmers around him wonder why we’re doing this and what we’re trying to say. They sometimes say we have a crazy ideology.”

Regardless of what anyone says, P’Noknoi proudly claims that when she returned for a health check recently, she discovered no chemicals accumulated in her body. Furthermore, other illnesses, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and various debilitating diseases, were never requested or required to be eaten. It is said that the change at the time was more valuable than it was worth.

If you want to do organic farming, you have to be calm.

P’Noknoi admits that when he first started organic farming full-time, everything went smoothly because the chemicals left in the soil caused the rice to grow faster than ever. The next planting will thus present a challenge.

“Many people believe that organic farming produces the same results; however, this is not the case.” P’Noknoi stated, “First and foremost, the amount of organic rice is significantly less than chemical rice because we do not add fertilizer, spray it, or nourish it. To provide adequate nutrients to the soil, we cover it with hemp and a small amount of manure or spray it with water. Some of the fermentation remains, and the rice will naturally consume water and nutrients. Accordingly, you can’t expect the rice to grow well. It cannot compete with chemistry.

“To say goodbye to chemistry, our hearts must be calm, because if we cannot accept this, our productivity will suffer. Finally, we will secretly apply the chemical later. And when there was no herbicide, the grass grew in abundance, so we had to be diligent in removing it. I can’t be lazy.”

P’Noknoi went on to say that keeping notes has been the key to her farming success up to this point. What days do you put things in the fields, and what is the yield? How many baht are you selling? Everything must be recorded so that you do not make any mistakes and can ultimately determine what type of farming works best for your own fields.

From one to twenty fields in the community

“If we do our tasks well first, others will notice and want to follow us.”
Thanks to P’Noknoi’s determination, the Klong Krathung Subdistrict Organic Farming Group now has 20 members on board.

“Many people in our community have health issues. He is sick, just like us. When he noticed that our health had improved since we stopped doing chemistry, he turned to join us.

“People will wonder whether we will have competitors if we invite a large number of people to participate in organic farming. But I believe it is more about having friends. We will form a group to help develop and produce high-quality rice. We can also check to see if our produce is actually safe. Is everyone following the group’s agreement? Our farming will be more efficient.”

Even though not all of the land around P’Noknoi’s rice field has been converted to organic farming, P'Noknoi has made every effort to keep the ecosystem surrounding the rice field as chemical-free as possible, including constructing a 'buffer line' from garden vegetables to trap chemicals from escaping into the rice fields and a water reservoir to filter contaminants before putting the water in the rice fields.

Furthermore, P’Noknoi met a neighbor who is an expert in organic farming, the Suthirat Yoovidhya Foundation, who came to share knowledge and visited on a regular basis to inspect and certify the SALANA PGS standards in P’Noknoi’s rice fields. This gives P’Noknoi confidence that her efforts to improve her rice fields have resulted in high-quality rice. Importantly, all of this rice has been processed into '5 Varieties of Rice at Salana', which anyone can visit and support at www.salana.co.th.

Organically grown, it can be healthy for both grower and eater.

If we ask P'Noknoi what she has gained from organic farming over the last three years, she will respond without hesitation: “Get good health”.

“We’ve grown accustomed to growing organic rice, so I don’t see it as an issue. We never imagined that growing rice would make us wealthy and prosperous. We primarily concentrated on saving it to eat first. The rest will be combined with other members of the group to send rice for sale. Whatever remains is sold only.

“Although there are more consumers, there are still few people growing organic rice, most likely because organic rice cannot be harvested in just a few days. It took at least 110 days, and the rice had to be stored for another three months to prevent it from breaking when milled. The total time was seven months. It takes a long time, but if more people start growing organic rice, the market will most likely improve. Farmers will also be in better health.

“Organic rice may be more expensive than conventional rice, but we want customers to know they are eating rice that is safe and chemical-free. We can confidently say that our fields are currently chemical-free. We’ve gotten as far away from chemistry as possible," P’ Noknoi said with a smile.