The Poblaki cooperative farm: in progress

Started just a month ago, the construction site of the Poblaki cooperative is progressing at a good speed: the foundations, posts and walls are now almost finished. It was necessary to add to the building a large slab of cement, which will allow the drying of the grains before their shipment, and complete the track to the building.

 A lot of concrete, that means a lot of sand and gravel. Due to heavy rains this year, the nearby river is still in flood, which prohibits to get supplies of sand and gravel on this side. So you have to pick them up in the city, which greatly increases the distances and the rotations of the trucks. No less than fifty already (4h to 3h return!). Machines and drivers keep up the pace, as long as it lasts! The goal is to complete construction before December, so that the cooperative is functional for this year's crops. It is time for Thailand to ban the spread of pesticides (round-up type) in the fields. A very good news for the planet and the health of the villagers, but a very bad one for the fragile economy of our villages: the villagers have bet all over the last ten years on the maize of the big seed groups, and it will be necessary urgent to think about new types of crops. This is to say if our cooperative arrives at point-named!