Meet with our IBIS Rice farmer, Mr. Ron Thorn

Mr. Thorn family’s situation before 2010 was uncertain, he and his wife did farming just like everyone else in the village who receive the very low cost of paddy rice by the end of the harvest season. With the lack of understanding of handy agricultural cultivation, Thorn and his wife were quite struggling to make a living since they rely on agriculture only. After joining with SMP IBIS Rice Program, Mr. Thorn consistently follow the program rule and was identified as one of the active members in the village. Recently, he volunteers as a Village Market Networking member in early 2022. He believes he will be able to absorb more understanding of the cultivation technical, get to work closer with SMP agronomy and be able to support other IBIS Rice members in the community.

Regarding the rice cultivation technique, Ron Thorn has learned a lot after ten years of participation in the program. He mentions that “This year I can feel that my paddy rice will bring me a better result because first of all, I have got enough water from the irrigation ponds to use at the beginning of the cultivation season. Secondly, we increase the amount of compost fertilizer, I and the other three IBIS Rice member produced 407kg of compost and we have shared 100kg each to use on our farm. I am so grateful for all the techniques I have learned from SMP’s agronomy to advance each one such as land leveling, coper crop planting, composting, and others. ” Mr. Thorn’s rice yield increases from time to time as he knows how to take care of his paddy better as well as expand the farmland. In 2021, Mr. Thorn made almost 5 tons of rice, he sold his paddy of around 3tones and keep the rest for the family to consume for whole year rounds.
Life condition is so much better compared to the past 10 years. Thorn and his family currently afford to have two hand tractors, and a motorbike and get to support his oldest child to go to school. Thorn, used to suggest other people in the village start considering joining the project, this is the message he usually tells his neighbors, “Being part of the IBIS Rice project helps you seek the high market price for your rice product and make your life healthier for consuming pure organic rice, join us!”