Rice production in Thailand

Until the 1960s, rice planting in Thailand consisted mainly of peasants farming small areas and producing modest amounts of rice. The Chao Phraya River delta was the hub of rice production. Agriculture constituted a large portion of the total production of Thailand and most Thais worked on farms. The extreme focus on agriculture arose for two main reasons: the vast amount of land available for farming and the government's policies of clearing land and protecting peasants' rights. The government helped peasants gain access to land and protected them from aristocratic landlords. ==Importance of rice==

Rice is central to Thai society. Rice uses over half of the arable land and labor force in Thailand. Of Thailand's eight million farm households in 2020, four million cultivate rice. It is one of the main foods and sources of nutrition for most Thai citizens: yearly per capita consumption in 2013 was 114.57 kg. Rice is also a major Thai export. Despite its importance to the nation, the industry is under threat. According to Dr. Suthad Setboonsarng, the top three threats are, "(i) increase in competition in the international market; (ii) growing competition with other economic activities that increases the cost of production, especially the labour cost; and (iii) degradation of ecological conditions. Rice research has to address these challenges." ==Environmental issues==

Climate change has and will continue to harm rice yields. A study by Okayama University in Japan found that grain yield declines when the average daily temperature exceeds , and grain quality continues to decline linearly as temperatures rise. Another study found that each increasing in global mean temperature would, on average, reduce yields of rice by 3.2%. Traditional rice cultivation is the second largest agricultural source of recycled greenhouse gas (GHG) after livestock. Traditional rice production globally accounts for about 4.5% of recycled greenhouse gas emissions. The source of this agricultural methane is organic matter decomposing underwater in flooded paddies. Efforts to decrease agricultural methane (a practice which will help offset single use carbon from fossil fuel use) are being investigated. ==Varieties==

Jasmine (Hom mali) originates in the country and remains the most popular aromatic cultivar. The Rice Department released five new varieties to celebrate the Coronation of Vajiralongkorn, ahead of the Royal Plowing Ceremony a few days later. Each is named "...62" after BE2562. Thailand maintains a rice germplasm collection with 24,000 accessions, of which 20,000 are native Thai types (). ==Pests==

Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera are two of the most common. They are commonly controlled with insecticides but can be more cost-effectively controlled by a combination of insecticides and attractive nectar sources to recruit parasitoids (see §Parasitoids below). Tungro is a constant problem. Oryza officinalis in Sukhothai Province was reported in 1990 to be highly resistant to tungro and several other pests, and already in use in several cultivars for that purpose. Parasitoids Anagrus nilaparvatae and A. optibalis are common parasitoids of the above N. lugens and S. furcifera. They are attracted to nectar-producing plants intercropped with rice. Intercropping in this manner is a cost-effective method to increase yields and lower insecticide requirements. ==Governmental policy==

, Chiang Mai Province The government sought to promote urban growth. One of the ways it accomplished this was by taxing the rice industry and using the money in big cities. With the combination of improved access to water and machinery, these policies prompted rice farms to increase from 35 million to 59 million rai from the 1950s to the 1980s. At the time, Thailand's 54 sugarcane processing plants were short of raw cane to meet demand. A ready market for sugarcane and the falling price of rice made switching to sugarcane compelling and many farmers made the switch. The transition has not been without controversy: first, because rice is a food staple whereas sugar is not, and secondly, due to undesirable environmental impacts linked to sugarcane farmers' use of between of paraquat per rai of sugarcane. and store it. In June 2013, the international credit rating firm, Moody's, brought the scheme's results to the world's attention, reporting that the program would cost up to eight percent of Thailand's national budget and thus force Moody's to reassess the government's credit rating. In its first year, the cost to the Thai government was US$12.5 billion and was expected to rise to US$15 billion in 2014. In 2016, a state-appointed committee ordered that Yingluck be fined 35.7 billion baht (US$1.03 billion) as a penalty for the 178 billion baht losses reportedly racked up by the rice subsidy scheme between 2012 and 2014. By holding Yingluck responsible, the military junta can snuff out the political influence of the Shinawatra family. Prayut government's rice scheme In November 2016, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha pledged to improve the well-being of farmers over the following five years. He did so in the face of declining rice prices, the lowest in ten years. He said the improvements would result from "smart farmer projects" initiated by the government, part of its 20-year national strategy. Following up on Prayut's remarks, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai said that the government's strategy would increase farmer income to 390,000 baht per person per year within 20 years. This, he said, would be achieved by increasing the number of large farms to 5,000 nationwide and by switching 500,000 rai from rice cultivation to other crops. In the central region, the average size of a rice field is only about 16 rai. The government allocated eight billion baht for the provision of soft loans to farmers in 35 provinces to switch to growing maize/corn on two million rai. In 2016 rice subsidies were approved for hom mali, white paddy, Pathum Thani fragrant paddy, and glutinous rice. The government will pay up to 13,000 baht per tonne to growers who store their rice until rice prices gradually recover. ==Production and exports==

Thailand's rise to prominence as a rice producing nation was due to increased production of rice in northeast Thailand. While in the past, central Thailand was the main producer of rice, northeast Thailand quickly caught up. This was in part due to new road systems connecting northeast Thailand to ports on the coastline. Villages that produced significant rice crops were also changing as farmers evolved from more subsistence practices to mostly wage labor. Exchange labor also virtually disappeared. Exports declined in 2015, to , worth US$4.61 billion, making it the world's second leading exporter of rice behind India, at . Vietnam was third, exporting . up 14.8% year-on-year. Sales revenue rose 15% to 168 billion baht. Of its total annual exports, 70% is commodity-grade white rice and the remainder is hom mali. Some special grades such as riceberry contribute a small quantity. The country exported in 2018, but the number plunged to less than in 2019. Thailand's rice export forecast for 2020 is . Thailand's Future Forward Party has pointed out that, rather than exporting rice solely as a commodity product, it makes more sense to add value to the rice at home and export the resulting product. They point to indicia rice. Thailand has exported since 1980, about of indica rice, sold at 10–20 baht per kilogram, to Japan where Awamori, an alcoholic beverage, is produced in Okinawa. The Japanese-made beverage is exported back to Thailand at 2,500 baht per litre, 170 times the price of the raw material. In Thailand, small producers of liquor are barred from entering the business by the 2017 Excise Tax Act, which mandates a minimum production volume of 30,000 litres per day, effectively closing off opportunities for local craft distilleries. Competition abroad India in 2020 was the world's leading rice exporter. Its exported . Vietnam is fast catching up: it exported in 2019. Thai farmers are losing the productivity battle to other nations; in Vietnam, yields range from per rai, while in Thailand yields average per rai. Vietnam's production costs are estimated to be 50% lower than those in Thailand. Starting in late-2014, Thailand's rice industry was again hit with a drought that extended to 2016. The drought was accompanied by decreasing worldwide demand for rice. The drought was expected to cost the economy about 84 billion baht (US$2.4 billion) in 2016 and sap demand for durable goods. Farmers are suffering: farm output has declined seven to eight percent in each of the past two years and farmers' debt to agricultural income is around 100%. The military government approved 11.2 billion baht of measures in 2015 to help farmers, including encouraging them to plant crops that need less water. Rice is the primary target of the water use reduction campaign because it requires up to two and a half times more water than wheat or maize. The major dams in the central region, the Bhumibol and Sirikit Dams, the main water sources for the country's central plain, are at their lowest levels since 1994. The government wants to cut rice production to in the planting season starting May 2016, 25% less than the five-year average. Land ownership issues Many farmers are in debt to local businessmen for their mortgages. The percentage of farmers owning land in Thailand has dropped from 44% in 2004 to 15% in 2011. Land rights issues have been exacerbated by political turmoil over the past 15 years. Often new governments fail to honour the land rights commitments made to farmers by past regimes. Commodity pricing In 2011, farmers in Thailand could sell a kilogram of rice for 16 baht (US$0.50). In 2016, to make 16 baht, a farmer had to sell three kilograms as the worldwide price of rice declined. The fall in price prompted the military government to introduce rice farmer subsidies of 38 billion baht (US$1.1 billion; £860 million). A bright spot on the price front is organic rice. At a time when rice millers pay farmers only 7,000 baht per tonne for paddy, organic rice producers can command up to 45,000 baht per tonne. According to Greennet, a non-profit, sales of organic rice increased by 28% in 2016. Organic rice Due to a program started over forty years ago by a local monk, Surin Province produces about of organic jasmine rice per year. A local cooperative, the Rice Fund Surin Organic Agriculture Cooperative Ltd, exports its rice to France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States. Surin organic rice farmers receive fifteen baht (US$0.43) per kilogram of paddy, compared with the market price of nine baht per kilo for non-organic jasmine. As the organic rice farmers do not pay for chemical inputs, each can earn about 80,000 baht (US$2,285) per crop on an average-sized farm of 15 rai (). The success of the organic rice cooperative has been identified as one factor in the significant reduction in poverty in Surin as compared with its neighboring province, Sisaket, a province with similar demographics and geography. ==Science-based initiatives==

Some farmers in northern Thailand have reported success with the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) cultivation methodology. GIZ, the German governmental aid agency, sponsors a pilot "sustainable rice platform" in partnership with the Thai government. Its current (2020) program is called "Thai Rice NAMA" (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action), targeting a range of sustainability concerns such as the traditional practice of flooding paddies which contributes releases great quantities of methane to the atmosphere. ==Traditions==

Rain-making ceremonies are common for rice farmers in Thailand. One such ceremony happens in Bangkok and involves the lord of the Royal Plowing Ceremony throwing rice kernels as he walks around the Grand Palace as the crown prince of Thailand watches. ==Rice cartel==

Thailand has several times proposed the creation of a rice cartel with Vietnam, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia. Similar to the OPEC cartel that controls oil production, its purpose would be to control production and set prices. Thailand submitted a proposal for such an organization to the other countries, but retracted it in 2008. Analysts believe that such an organization would not be effective, due to the lack of cooperation between the countries and their lack of control over farmers' production. Thailand is now investigating a possible, more forum-based, international organization to discuss supplies and yields of rice. Noppadon Pattama, the foreign minister of Thailand, wanted to call the forum the "Council on Rice Trade Cooperation" and was planning, as of May 2008, to invite China, India, Pakistan, Cambodia, Burma, and Vietnam to join. ==Recognition==

At the 2017 World Rice Conference held in Macau, Thailand's hom mali 105 (jasmine) rice was declared the world's best rice, beating 21 competitors. Thailand had entered three rice varieties in the competition. Since 2009 Thai jasmine rice has won the award five times. In 2018, Cambodian Malys Angkor jasmine rice was the winner. Vietnam's ST24 rice took top honours in 2019, causing panic among Thai rice producers as ST24 is half the price of Thai hom mali. == See also ==