Fragrant success in Doi Tung
They grow coffee and macadamia nuts instead of opium in Chiang Rai these days. It's a wonder to see
THIS HAS been the longest cool season in a decade, but the flora in ultra-chilly Chiang Rai up North seems to be thriving just the same, with throngs of tourists meandering around enjoying the flowers in full bloom. The macadamia trees are enjoying the cold, too - as you can see for yourself on a truly worthwhile tour.While the 30-rai Mae Fah Luang Garden on Doi Tung is popular for its many varieties of flowers in dazzling colours - and in such a stunning setting - there's much more to the site than that. The Doi Tung Development Project run by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under royal patronage is a massive area that serves as a living university for visitors. It's a great spot to learn about ways to make a sustainable alternative living and how poverty can thus be alleviated.
Rather than merely grabbing photos to share on the social media, visitors can get some hands-on experience at growing coffee beans and macadamia nuts. The local residents will show you how to weave textiles and throw pottery as well.
There's no guided tour - getting the most out of your visit depends on how motivated you feel.
An hour's drive from downtown Chiang Rai, the site opened in 1988, part of a project launched by Her Royal Highness the late Princess Mother. His Majesty the King's mother, affectionately known as Somdej Ya, wanted to make sure that financially struggling communities had ways to attain self-sufficiency and independence. In the far North, it was a crucial step in weaning farmers from their traditional crop - opium.
"We offer more than beautiful scenery - it's an inspirational place when it comes to sustainable living," says the project's executive director, Khunying Puangroi Diskul na Ayudhaya, who points out that Somdej Ya was already 87 when she initiated the project.
"Everyone who works here is a scholar who can share his or her experience and knowledge with you. Visitors return home reassured that poverty, illiteracy and drug trafficking in this area are problems that can eventually be solved."
The products that are marketed under the Doi Tung brand - coffee, macadamia nuts, fabrics and ceramics - attest to the success of the project in eliminating opium cultivation in the heart of the notorious Golden Triangle. Farmers are instead trained to be skilled artisans and experts in alternative agriculture.
The coffee beans and macadamia nuts are viable crops that have taken the place of the opium needed to make heroin. They're cultivated in a forest that spreads over 3,000 rai. The Doi Tung Arabica coffee beans are advertised as "single-origin", since they come solely from these hills - at elevations of 800 metres or more above sea level.
To ensure effective management of the project, the Mae Fah Luang Foundation secured funding from large corporations and banks and set up a private holding company called Navuti to run the "economic forest" and set up processing facilities nearby. Navuti was established in 1990, the year the Princess Mother turned 90, and means "ninety" in Pali.
Concerned that the products might sell mainly because the money raised was going to a noble cause, Somdej Ya once stressed, "People shouldn't buy our products out of pity." She needn't have worried - the Doi Tung brand has done quite well on the basis of quality alone.
"A shade-grown coffee bush produces fruit after three years and the beans can be harvested for 50 years," explains Wat Kelawong, manager of the macadamia and coffee farm. "We buy ripe coffee 'cherries' from local farmers at a guaranteed price of Bt22 per kilogram - free of toxins and ochratoxin.
"We can produce about four million tonnes of unprocessed coffee a year, which sells for about Bt15 million to Bt20 million, and that represents a legal and sustainable income for all the local people."
The site has set up its own factory where the coffee beans are roasted ready for sale and service at the more than 20 branches of Cafe Doi Tung around the country.
About 1,000 rai of the forest is home to some 35,000 macadamia trees. It's a long-term crop - it takes seven years before the first nuts can be harvested - but each tree will produce nuts for 80 years. Growing at 800 metres above sea level, they yield around 250 tonnes of nuts in the shell per year, or 50 tonnes of nut kernels.
Nothing goes to waste. The husk is ground for use in fertiliser, the shell for fuel, and ash from any burned wood is mixed into ceramic glazes, adding a unique hue.
Visitors can watch the whole process, from de-husking, drying, cracking and grading to roasting, flavouring and packaging. A kilogram of nuts sells for Bt1,600. Roasted, they're a hit with consumers in various flavours - wasabi, honey, salted, seaweed and even pizza.
When the macadamia trees blossom with white flowers from January to March, bees are introduced to the forest to pollinate them. The honey that the bees make has a nutty flavour not unlike that of the macadamia itself. Doi Tung's plantation is to date the only one in Thailand producing macadamia honey.
In the handicraft centre in a 52-rai compound at the foot of the hill, 100 women weave cloth and carpets, accessories and ready-to-wear apparel. Again, you can see the whole process, right from winding the thread on a bobbin. The dyeing, spooling, loom set-up, weaving and finishing are all demonstrated.
"The textile factory was set up in 1994 to offer local women the chance to put their weaving skills to good use and become breadwinners alongside the men," says Kam Takamjing, head of the textile unit.
"We have three generations of families working together. The grandma winds the bobbins, the mother is in charge of weaving and the daughter sews the finished product. So far we have 67 looms and each weaver earns about Bt300 a day."
In the pottery factory, another 100 artisans produce charming ceramics in simple yet stylish designs. The pottery is shaped by rolling, on hand-powered wheels or through pressure-casting. Two kilns wait to fire the water jars, teapots, cups, mugs, vases, spoons and trays.
Since 2012 Doi Tung has made four collections of tableware for Ikea, about 10,000 pieces a year all told.
Doi Tung's business success is the fruit of a remarkable experiment in sustainable alternative development. It has revived the forest and helped the environment while transforming people's lives. Each day bears witness to Somdej Ya's ambition. "Help them to help themselves," she said.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น