On Thursday 27th November 2014, at 13.30 hrs., Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn went to harvest the rice yield at the agricultural demonstration plot in the area of the Royal Military Academy in Nakhon Nayok Province. Upon arrival, she was welcomed by
Dr. Sumet Tantivejkul, Secretary-General of the Chaipattana Foundation, Lt.Gen Chanchai Yodsunthon, Director of the Royal Military Academy, Dr. Thawee Naritsirikul, Governor of Nakhon Nayok Province, M.L. Jirapan Davivongs, Secretary-General of the Royal Development Projects Board, Mr. Dnuja Sindhvananda, Deputy Secretary-General of the Royal Development Projects Board together with the representatives from agencies concerned, the military cadets and the farmers in Nakhon Nayok Province.
Then, Her Royal Highness proceeded to see the exhibition showing the achievements of the agricultural demonstration plot and was given a report on the results of the following implementations at the multipurpose building as follows:
• In-season rice farming in 2014, reported by Mr. Apichat Lawanprasert, Director of Pathum Thani Rice Research Centre:
(1) Methods of rice planting in the demonstration plot: on 29 July 2014, the Pathum Thani rice variety was planted using 2 methods:
Method 1: Rice planted using rice planting machine controlled by the driver in the demonstration plot no. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, covering an area of 1.04 hectares
Method 2: Rice parachuting in the demonstration plot no. 2 and 8, covering an area of 0.25 hectare
(2) 2 kinds of maintenance at the agricultural demonstration plots:
- Rice planting using chemical substances in the plot no. 1, 2, 3, and 4, covering an area of 0.66 hectare
- Rice planting using organic substances in the plot no. 5, 6, 7, and 8, covering an area of 0.63 hectare
• The distribution of the Jasmine 105 rice variety, reported by the Provincial Agricultural Extension Officer: the Jasmine 105 rice variety of 1,300 kilogrammes which was harvested from the demonstration plot at the Royal Military Academy in 2013 was distributed to the community rice centre at Khlong Sathon Village, Moo 4, Phromnee Subdistrict, Mueang District, Nakhon Nayok Province, for further distribution to 14 farmers to grow at their rice farms in 2014.
• The results of the implementations from the Military Cadets United for Agriculture Project, reported by the representative of the military cadets, as follows:
(1) Bio-rice farming: rice berry was planted using bio-farming method in an area of 0.48 hectare which gave a yield of 300 kilogrammes.
(2) Chemical-free plantation of home-grown vegetables and native vegetables, including:
- Chinese kale with the yield of 5 kilogrammes
- Goat pepper with the yield of 5 kilogrammes
- 50 lime trees with the yield of 1,500 kilogrammes
(3) Liquid bio-fertilizer making: made from leftovers from vegetables and food from the canteen using 50 litres of EM as a medium which can further produce 400 litres of EM. Some liquid bio-fertilizer is used to fertilize the soil in the vegetable plots while the other is used for making EM medium for applying in the bio-rice farming in the following year.
(4) Plants propagation: lime trees and star gooseberry were grafted for 40 and 60 branches respectively.
(5) Experimentation on the cultivation of Bhutan mushroom: Bhutan mushroom is easy to culture and gives yield as high as 100 mushroom bags. For 3 weeks, the cultivation can give a yield of about 10 kilogrammes per one harvest and can be collected for 2-3 months.
• The results of the demonstration on frog raising in the rice field, presented by the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries: 50 frogs were released into the rice field since the rice aged 40 days onwards. After 100 days, it is found that the weight of each frog increased about 220 grammes.
• The report on the growth of Kabin Buri ducks reported by the Director-General of the Department of Livestock: 10 ducks were released into the rice field to help get rid of the weeds, pests, pest-land snails and other rice pests. The result found that the ducks laid eggs after 28 weeks old and can be raised in the rice field at the ratio of 40-50 ducks per 0.16 hectare for the following farming season.
After that, Her Royal Highness proceeded to harvest the rice using the rice harvesting machine in the agricultural demonstration plot no. 5 where she planted Pathum Thani 1 rice variety on 29 July 2014.
Then, she moved to collect the agricultural produces along the ridges of the rice filed where yard long bean, cucumber, gourd and eggplant were planted to create the ecological engineering system to prevent the plants from pests.