Surin: The prolonged cold weather has had a positive effect on farmers growing Chinese radish or radish in Surin Province, resulting in good yields that can be processed and sold to generate good income after the rice harvest season. Farmers gather to harvest radishes or Chinese radishes. After harvesting the main season rice, farmers turn to growing radishes as another way to generate income. They plow the fields and sow Chinese radish seeds, which are a short-term crop, in late November. In January, they can harvest the produce in just 3 rai of land. They can sell the produce for no less than 20,000 baht because this year's radishes are larger and have a higher percentage of completeness than in previous years. There are few insects or pests, and they do not need to use any chemicals or medicines, so there are no additional costs. They only need to take care of and water regularly because the cold and dry weather is suitable for growing Chinese radishes.
According to Thai News Agency, in addition to harvesting and selling them fresh, farmers also process them into salted turnips or pickled radish by placing the cut-off turnips in holes lined with plastic and sprinkling them with an appropriate amount of sea salt, alternating layers. When the turnips start to tighten, change color and dry, open the holes and take them out to air and sun dry, then put them back in the holes and ferment with salt for another 5-6 rounds until the turnips are small and salty enough.
The fermented water at the bottom of the hole is highly salty. It is used to water the base of the coconut tree to nourish the coconuts. Since most of the soil in the northeast is acidic, watering with fermented salt water will help adjust the saltiness of the soil, which will make the coconuts sweeter and more delicious.
Ms. Kansurin Sappawongkrot, President of the Organic Agriculture Group of Thailand, led representatives of farmers from many regions to visit the plot and study the method of growing radish. She said that radish is a good cash crop. Farmers in the group are very interested. They see that the income is better than rice or cassava. She wants the government to be more interested in promoting it.
In addition to processing salted mustard greens, farmers also sell them to factories to produce sweet mustard greens, which are a famous souvenir of Surin Province. It has become one of Surin Province's mottos: 'Surin, the land of big elephants, beautiful silk, beautiful rosary beads, rich in castles, sweet mustard greens, fragrant rice, beautiful with culture.' The factory promotes the cultivation of organic sweet mustard greens and distributes free seeds and fertilizers to farmers. In addition, it plans to cooperate with the government sector in the future to promote farmers to grow and process mustard greens more efficiently.