Sunrise Children's Villages

Farm Project

Healthy chemical free tomatoes. Beans form an important part of the cropping rotation. 'Yard beans' will grow as tall as the bamboo stakes. Cattle eating a mixture of local and introduced grasses grown on the farm. While skinny, there is great potential to gain weight with 'improved' grass and legume forage species. 'Si muang' is a great high protein alternative to rice straw. Readily eaten by the cattle. Some of the extra attachments for new rotary hoe. The rotary hoe is a great addition to the farm project. The farm staff work very hard six days a week to make this project a success. Sang Kung, manager of the farm project with children from Sunrise

Sunrise has recently embarked on a large scale vegetable production enterprise that occupies just less than 4000 m2 of land at the rear of the orphanage. Previously a small-scale operation existed close to the orphanage to provide fresh vegetables to the orphanage.

The aim of the new venture is to create a viable agricultural business by growing high quality vegetables for sale to restaurants and local markets.

Currently, crops such as tomato, eggplant, rockmelon, yard beans and sponge gourd are being produced and sold.

The farm uses the latest growing technology, which includes black plastic mulch to reduce weed competition and a ‘state of the art’ drip irrigation system to deliver the required amount of moisture directly to the soil.

The farm also has livestock that graze the remaining 3 hectares at the rear of the property. Stock includes 5 cattle and up to 26 goats. The size of the cattle and goat herd is currently being assessed against carrying capacity of the land. It is envisioned that goat numbers will be significantly reduced in the near future.

Like all farms, experimentation occurs to decide what is most suitable for the space available. A small farm will struggle to be economically viable unless intensification occurs. The Sunrise Farm Project is seeking to intensify (in a sustainable manner) the production of high value vegetables for sale directly to restaurants and consumers.

The manager and farm workers are extremely hard working to make this project a success. A business plan is currently being developed with improvements to the operation predicted in the near future as linkages to other agricultural ventures and similar organisations are achieved.

Recent News

January 2010
Forages to feed the cattle and goats have been introduced to the farm. Through the cooperation of the Royal University of Agriculture and one of the farm advisors, improved species of grasses and legumes have been introduced to the farm. In the future these species can be multiplied and transplanted to other parts of the farm. Critical shortages of feed are common due to flooding in the wet season. Utilising high protein forages on-farm is a good way to reduce the feed purchasing burden in the wet season.

February 2010
A rotary hoe was purchased through the kind generosity of John and Christine Cocks from Australia. Their donation of AUD$1000 helped finance a second hand Kubota rotary hoe with multiple attachments. This machine will significantly improve the efficiency of land preparation and reduce the back-breaking manual labour that was previously used to prepare the growing beds. The excitement of the farm workers was a great sight when the rotary hoe arrived on 24 February.

Contact Information

Sang Kung (farm manager):
Geraldine Cox (Country Director):