Exports are under pressure with the US marketing Jazzman and China and other countries upping the ante on quality
Recent news reports tell of how the US has been successful in breeding a new fragrant rice and naming it Jazzman to make it sound like the famous Thai jasmine rice, or Thai Hom Mali, noted Mingsan Khaosa-ard, a Chiang Mai University academic, writing for Matichon.
Mingsan noted the US was for some years the second biggest rice exporting nation after Thailand, but was recently supplanted by Vietnam.
The US has been trying for over two decades to compete against Hom Mali rice by researching a variety of grains to find a breed that could produce a fragrant rice.
China was also keen to produce a fragrant rice in competition with Hom Mali. Yian Longping, a Chinese rice researcher, remarked over a decade ago that once China was self-sufficient in producing enough rice for local consumption, it would turn its attention to producing a fragrant rice. China has been self-sufficient in rice for several years now, but it still has failed to breed a significant aromatic rice variety to compete against Thailand.
Now that the US has been successful in producing a fragrant rice under the name of Jazzman, it is high time the Thai government paid more attention to Hom Mali and its challengers in the global market.
It is true Thailand is a rice exporting superpower because it exports more rice than any country in the world - almost 10 million tonnes last year. And it is not only quantity; Thailand has a premium grade in Hom Mali which fetches a very high price.
Even though Thailand is the leading rice exporter, the country's rice production accounts for only 5% of global supply, even less than the No.2 rice exporter, Vietnam. However, Thai rice has a good reputation for its quality and taste as the country has continually improved its quality while other rice producing countries emphasise productivity and quantity with taste a secondary consideration.
But the unexpected danger to Thai rice exports is the mixing of Hom Mali with lower quality varieties to fleece consumers. For the past five years, Hom Mali prices on the world market have risen steadily, from $316 a tonne in 2002 to $561 in 2007, reaching $928 in 2008.
In September this year, the writer was told by Chinese rice traders that Hom Mali fetched over $1,000 a tonne in China. With Thai Hom Mali fetching such an astronomical price, there is an incentive for Chinese rice traders to mix the local Chinese rice with Hom Mali to earn extra profits, resulting in lower quality rice.
For this reason, the amount of Hom Mali exported to China fell from 653,153 tonnes in 2007 to 249,398 tonnes last year. This year, Thai Hom Mali is expected to fall even further in the Chinese market.
The fact Thai Hom Mali can fetch as much as $1,000 a tonne is an incentive for other countries such as China, the US and Vietnam to produce their own fragrant rice varieties to compete against it.
China is now producing enough rice for domestic consumption and is beginning to export some surplus, especially as domestic consumption is falling steadily. China was a net rice exporter from 1980 to 2001 (except in 1989, 1995 and 1996). From 1998 to 2003, China exported 2.65 million tonnes on average a year, while the amount of premium rice imports remained steady.
Even though China cannot compete against high quality Thai rice overseas, Chinese rice is beginning to make inroads into the Hom Mali share at home.
The writer was not sure who was responsible for mixing Hom Mali with other rice varieties. He speculated that Hom Mali might have been mixed with fragrant Phathum, but when Phathum prices also rose significantly, Hom Mali was then mixed with local Chinese varieties of even lower quality. When Chinese authorities seized adulterated Hom Mali in Shanghai, Thai Hom Mali was taken off supermarket shelves in many places, reducing Hom Mali's share of the Chinese market even further.
The writer then talked about China's public policy on agriculture research and development. Before China was admitted into the international community with a permanent seat in the United Nations, China had been barred by the West from participating in international organisations such as the International Rice Research Institute based in the Philippines.
China had to rely on its own research on grains. Its R&D budget is about 0.53% of the value of farm products while Thailand's is about 0.49%. However, in terms of real money, China spends much more as the Chinese GDP is many times that of Thailand. In 2003, China spent about $200 million (6.7 billion baht) on biotech research while Thailand spent from 85 million to 100 million baht a year, most of it on wages.
What is shocking is that the Rice Department does not even have a device to measure the level of rice fragrance. The Thai Rice Institute still relies on an expert's nose to determine the fragrance level.
The writer wondered how Thailand could aspire to become the "Kitchen of the World" when it sorely lacks the basic equipment.
Another factor that may reduce the quality of Hom Mali in the future is global warming. Hom Mali relies on cool weather before the harvest to maintain its unique fragrance. If the weather is warmer, the quality not only suffers but also possibly the quantity. If Thailand does not try to find a way to prevent this mishap, the future of Hom Mali could be in jeopardy over the long run.
The best investment is to devise a good strategy. Chiang Mai University has been granted a budget to study and come up with a master plan for three main cash crops - rice, sugar cane and cassava - to cope with the expected climate change affecting Thailand. It is hoped the master plan will prove a guide to help Thailand maintain its competitiveness so it remains the leading rice exporting superpower and Thai Hom Mali can still be the world champion rice.
The writer also welcomed the present government's allocation of 1.6 billion baht to the Agriculture Ministry for rice R&D as part of the Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength programme. If such a huge sum is spent wisely, Thailand can expect to continue to be the leading rice exporter in the foreseeable future.
Extradition treaty is limited
Extradition is a channel of cooperation in the international community to arrest a wrongdoer or a suspect who escapes to another country. Since each country has its own sovereignty, the only way to get the wrongdoer to face justice in the country where a crime is committed is through a voluntary extradition system, even if no such treaty exists between the two countries, noted a Thai Rath writer, quoting Prasit Pivawattana, a lecturer in law at Thammasat University.
The academic mentioned that all is not always smooth even if the two countries sign an extradition treaty because there are always limitations, especially the condition that it must be determined that a crime is punishable in both countries.
There is a universal exception in extradition treaties in that they do not cover political crimes. This is a contentious issue as each country may view a political crime differently.
Such offences such as rebellion, incitement to rebel, espionage, political power contention and political criticism are deemed to be without question political offences.
But some offences that are related to politics yet are criminal in nature, such as political protests on the street, blocking traffic and inconveniencing motorists, may be interpreted as a political crime.
In the case of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, he could argue that he was judged guilty of a criminal offence because of the fact he was toppled from power in a coup. If he had been in power, it is unlikely he would have faced such a suit in the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions.
There are also human rights issues that can be cited in defence against extradition. If the court deems that the extradition is sought for a political purpose, it is unlikely an extradition case would be successful, concluded Thai Rath.
Miscellany
Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai revealed on Wednesday that commerce attaches in Hong Kong, China and Singapore were reporting that several importers were interested in buying rice from the current crop in Thailand to the tune of 915,000 tonnes.
It was expected that other importing countries would express an interest as well and the total demand should exceed 2 million tonnes.
"The demand should be able to absorb the current harvest and the Commerce Ministry would push to accelerate rice exports so as to push up local rice prices," Ms Porntiva said.
Thai rice dominates the Hong Kong rice market with a share of about 80%, but it is being challenged by Vietnam. Last year, Vietnam's market share was only 0.4% in Hong Kong, but within eight months this year, its market share rose to about 4% due to its cheaper price and quality comparable to Thai rice.
However, the ministry continues to push for the export of the popular Hom Mali to Hong Kong due to its high value.
In related news, a DNA test of the new US fragrant rice strain known as Jazzman shows it is developed from a Chinese strain and is inferior to Thai Hom Mali fragrant rice when cooked, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut said on Wednesday.
Mr Theera said two separate tests had been carried out to investigate whether the developers of Jazzman rice had violated a patent for Hom Mali and to compare the qualities of the two.
The DNA test, conducted at a laboratory of the state rice research centre in Ubon Ratchathani, found Jazzman was a product of the genetic engineering of a Chinese strain.
When Jazzman rice was cooked, Mr Theera said, it was less fragrant than Hom Mali
Source: Bangkok Post
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