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Japanese investor expands organic farming potential. By Walailak Keeratipipatpong
For now, a 50-rai organic farm in the foothills of Dong Phayayen mountain in Klang Dong sub-district of Nakhon Ratchasima is the only place to find an exotic newcomer to Thai agriculture.
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| ‘‘Why organic? Because I just don’t want to do business and simply earn money by ignoring nature bydischarging into rivers chemicaltainted water that could severely hurt fish and people and ruin the harmony of nature,’’saysMrOga. |
In fact, the moroheiya is also unfamiliar to many Thai consumers. But Sho Oga, president of Harmony Life International Co and Harmony Life Organic Farm, is convinced the highly nutritious vegetable can win greater appreciation.
"Moroheiya means the king's vegetable, which originated in Egypt," he said. "It was brought in to grow in Japan and is consumed largely by Japanese today."
While ideal for salads, the moroheiya is currently best-known by Thais in the form of vegetable noodles - a green noodle available at sukiyaki restaurants.
In Japan the moroheiya grows well in Okinawa - a prefecture in the south with a similar climate to Thailand - but the climate, in winter particularly, prevents year-round cultivation. So in the 1990s Mr Oga brought the vegetable to Thailand, where it could have a longer growing season.
Mr Oga introduced moroheiya for farmers in the Population and Community Development Association projects and bought back their output to make food supplements and to extract powder for mixing in noodles.
In 1999, Mr Oga then set up Harmony Life Farm with registered capital of 35 million baht. For the farm in Thailand, he picked the foot of a hill near a giant white Buddha as the perfect location to make hygienic, organic products.
"Why organic? Because I just don't want to do business and simply earn money by ignoring nature by discharging into rivers chemical-tainted water that could severely hurt fish and people and ruin the harmony of nature," said Mr Oga, a former executive of a Japanese health product manufacturer.
His farm, certified as an organic farm by the Agriculture Department, now produces about 150 tonnes each year of 60 vegetables including Japanese cucumber, cherry tomatoes and moroheiya, which yields about 50 tonnes a year.
The produce is supplied to leading supermarkets, restaurants and health shops. The Harmony Life factory also uses some to produce natural products - such as massage oil, soap, shampoo and moroheiya noodles - to supply domestic markets and also export to Hong Kong and Japan.
Like many organic producers in every country, Mr Oga had difficulty accessing the market, especially during the very first years of operation. However, he said that consumers want healthier lives and a better environment - and this is strongly driving the growth of organic produce, despite it being priced above conventional products.
"When we first presented moroheiya noodles to restaurants in Thailand, many didn't like it," he said. "But we showed this nutritive non-oil vegetable noodles to executives of MK Restaurants and they decided to put it on the menu list."
The company has also introduced instant noodles to extend its customer base from restaurants to supermarkets. It now produces around 120,000 packs of moroheiya noodles each month.
Mr Oga estimates that organic products and instant moroheiya noodles would generate about 35 million baht this year, of which 80% had come from the domestic market.
Harmony Life Farm's organic vegetables and moroheiya noodles are now available in many leading supermarkets, hospitals and Japanese restaurants as well as 175 branches of MK Suki restaurants in Thailand.
The many sales channels also include home delivery to around 500 customers - mostly Japanese nationals resident in Thailand - who can afford higher-priced products. Mr Oga said that more than 50,000 Japanese live in Thailand and more than 100,000 visit or stay briefly.
In addition, Harmony Life distributes organic produce from other producers - for instance, organic Hom Mali rice produced by a group of farmers in Surin province, whom Mr Oga has instructed in organic cultivation.
He added that the promising trend in organic products is encouraging him to introduce more health foods such as enzyme drinks and to extend cultivation through contract farming.
Mr Oga, 52, has studied organic farming at several leading educational institutions in Thailand and Japan. He is currently helping Toyota Thailand to convert its 6,000-rai rice field project in Chachoengsao into an organic rice farm.
Each year his farm in Klang Dong also receives 400 to 500 Thai and foreign visitors interested in experiencing organic cultivation.
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