AGRICULTURE
SUNTHORN PONGPAO
Dancers hired by two farmers, centre, in Ayutthaya perform a classical Thai dance near their paddy field in a Kae Bon ceremony held to thank the gods for helping them make a profit from high rice prices. |
The Thai Rice Farmers Association has asked the government to look into rumours that foreign investors are secretly growing GM rice in the Central Plains.
Association vice-chairman Wichian Puanglamjiak said there is concern that the alleged genetically modified (GM) rice plantations might hurt indigenous rice varieties and rice exports.
He also asked authorities to check whether second-season crops, of the light-sensitive type which took only 75 days to grow and harvest, were genetically modified.
Normal rice varieties usually take about 120 days to grow and be harvested.
He said some millers had accepted the suspect crop into the rice mortgage scheme. The grains later changed colour from clear to murky with dust or sediment inside, making it low quality rice.
He said GM rice was rumoured to have been grown on vast land plots owned by major investors and financial firms in Ayutthaya, Ang Thong, Sing Buri, Chai Nat and Suphan Buri.
Mr Wichian claimed these investors buy rice farms around the plot they want to grow GM rice on, blocking all access and forcing the owner to sell at a price below the market rate.
''We want the state to check whether the land grab was made by nominees of foreign investors for GM rice plantations. This is something new and has never been reported before. The government must check and answer to society,'' he said.
Kritsanapong Sripongpankul, director of the Ayutthaya rice research centre, said the matter was urgent and samples of the suspicious rice grains must be collected for laboratory tests.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which has its headquarters in the Philippines and an office in Bangkok, would take part in the tests, he said.
If it is discovered Thailand is growing GM rice there would be opposition worldwide and it would drive away buyers.
But Mr Kritsanapong said rice varieties with 75-day harvest periods were not necessarily GM varieties. Similar rice varieties, called B-75, have been grown in the past but were not a success due to lower yield per rai and low quality.
Rice Department director-general Prasert Kosalwit said at the farmers' request the department's team visited paddy fields in Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Nakhon Pathom last month and an initial probe found the rice in question might not be a GM variety.
The department had not sent any samples for testing, he said. There were no GM rice plantations in Thailand, even a demonstration field. The country's rice strategy for 2007-2011 says that Thai rice being traded must be non-GM.
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