Ped rai thung Duck Herding: A Learning Base for Community Cultural Tourism in Sapphaya, Chai Nat

When visiting and experiencing the cultural community in Sapphaya, Chai Nat, there's one intriguing learning base that travelers thoroughly enjoy: the Duck Herding. in Thai we call Ped rai thung

.

The start of this educational base begins with waking up quite early in the morning, but the sight of countless ducks, ready to venture into the fields to forage, undoubtedly dispels any drowsiness.

Once the ducks are released into the fields, it's an incredibly lively scene to witness them running together, searching for their food in the fields. Their primary diet consists of snails, which are considered pests and the primary adversaries of rice fields. This includes both weeds and rice crops. These weeds have an impact on the growth of the rice plants, so the ducks, through their foraging, manage this.

By utilizing ducks to control pests in rice fields, there's a mutual benefit between the farmers and the duck herders. The rice fields are rid of unwanted pests and snails without resorting to chemical methods, ensuring safe rice production. If the fields were treated with chemicals, the ducks wouldn't be able to forage in them. Fields that ducks have access to forage in provide a genuine guarantee of a chemical-free rice harvest.

Once the ducks have been let out into the fields, the next step is collecting the duck eggs, which will serve as a component in future meals. This aspect is yet another fascinating learning experience that the community in Sapphaya invites everyone to partake in.