Seed Production at Tung Kwang Tong Community

Much of the ECHO Asia Seed Bank's seed production takes place at our facility on the campus of the Upland Holistic Development Project in the Mae Ai District of Thailand's Chiang Mai Province.  However, a significant portion of the seed we distribute, including green manure/cover crops such as rice bean, jack bean and lablab bean, is grown by area farmers.

Tung Kwang Tong (Field of the Golden Deer) Community, also in Mae Ai, is predominantly ethnic Palaung.  Despite limited access to fields for rice and cash crop production, they tend impressive kitchen gardens.

ECHO Asia recently worked out an arrangement with community members to grow select crops, such as tomato and long bean, for the seed bank.  This arrangement provides supplemental income for the participating gardeners while improving the seed bank's access to more types of seed.