Sitting in front, middle-aged Pa Porn or Khun Amporn Wiangmoon speaks with determination when she talks about the history of the Ban Pa Ruak Community Enterprise in Nang Lae Sub District where the famous Nang Lae pineapples are grown. Pa Porn is the founder of the Ban Pa Ruak Community Enterprise, she initiated the group of farmers to plant pineapples and these pineapples are used in the making of Ma Deluxe natural cleaning products.
This all started in 2017 when there was an oversupply of pineapples and images of pineapples all piled up and dumped on the streets were seen over the local and national media. Pineapple growers were suffering and this was the start of the “Pineapple Crisis”. Unable to find market to buy the pineapples, Pa Porn met with Ajarn Aod or Khun Choomnoomphon Sittison, an expert in environmental management and Phra May, Abbot of Doi Ong Temple to find a solution for the pineapple crisis. They suggested to use pineapples as raw materials to make cleaning agents using efficient microorganisms together with natural plants and herbs. The group put together a training program for producing the products to sell to the local community. These are products for daily use in both dishwashing and laundry wash. With the support of a fifty-thousand baht village fund they were able to buy some 150 liter-containers of materials for fermentation process and 7,000 kilograms pineapples from a group member at the price of 5 Baht per kilogram.
Errors will surely incur on the first experiment and so it did with almost half of the fermented pineapples going to waste but with Pa Porn, she says joyfully “every loss is considered an opportunity”. When the pineapple rots we take the juice and pour it onto the rice fields. As a resulted it becomes the natural fertilizer helping in the improvement of soil conditions. That year rice produce was good with more added weight and higher yields. Since then Pa Porn does not use chemical fertilizer anymore on her farm and instead use the fermented leftovers because it is rich in nutrients, cheap in cost and safe to use.
In 2018, Chiang Rai Land Reform Office encouraged members of the natural pineapple plantation group to participate in the PGS training or participatory organic agriculture certification system. (Participatory Guarantee System: PGS) in order to be an inspector with the community certification system. Almost a year has passed and soon the group will receive the said certification standards.
Today, the area of Pa Por's pineapple plot of 12 rai is becoming a natural pineapple plantation for the Ban Ruak community. Of course, Pa Porn has used her land for demonstration purposes and be a source of learning for other pineapple growers of the communities to confirm the belief and practice that organic production and consumption of the pineapple is good for both health and environment can be possible. She firmly said that this pineapple plot will soon become a multi-purpose garden and becomes a community learning center for friends of the community, sustainable working team with the concept of not encroaching upon each other and care for human life and forest life. By planting with natural ways without cutting down trees in the forest this way the land will not be infiltrated and poisoned with chemicals.
When asked about ways to proceed, she looked far away across the farm, smiling and ready to say that " since growing our pineapples for Ma Deluxe it provided our group with a steady and stable income. With this income we can further develop this place to be learning center to expand pineapple planting area in the natural way, we also will build accommodations from clay and grow vegetables naturally that are safe for consumption. We welcome visitors to come and sip on our flower and herbal teas and fragrant coffee”. Pa Porn plans to name this place “Suan Sam Phueng” meaning reliance on three things:Dharma, Team Reliance and Friends. "
The whistling sound from the kettle is loud amongst the silent setting. I put the pen down and walked to pick up the teapot to prepare tea. Good deeds can be accomplished easily by using Ma Deluxe products to wash dishes, do the laundry at home and clean the house. Then not too long, you will probably be carrying the backpack to take friends to visit Pa Porn and help them to fulfill their dreams to build the "Suan Sam Phueng".