Japanese rice flourishes

Business > Economics

Local Japonica strains gain favour

Published: 14/04/2011 at 05:07 AM
Newspaper section: Business

Chiang Rai, the northernmost province in Thailand, has become a major production base for Japanese rice because of its climate and locally developed strains of Japonica varieties that have similar qualities to those grown in Japan.

Farmers in Chiang Rai use a machine for transplanting 20-day-old rice seedlings. Japanese rice requires a punctual schedule for transplanting and fertilisation, which some Thai farmers find hard to adhere to. But the toil pays back handsomely, with Japanese paddy selling for 11 baht a kilogramme as opposed to eight baht for Thai white rice paddy.

With an average temperature of 15 degrees Celsius in winter, the province and a few others in the North are suited for planting short-grain Japonica rice.

Relate Search: rice

This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.

About the author

: Writer: Walailak Keeratipipatpong; Position: Reporter

Keep this article in your social bookmark:

Latest stories in this category:

Your comments

johninbkk
Post : 2,476
Send message

Discussion 3 : 14/04/2011 at 08:19 PM3
Post this to my Facebook
D1 and D2 - Market prices should determine prices of rice, but at the moment the Dem Party has fixed the price of rice for farmers way below market value (11k baht/ton vs 16k baht/ton). It's not the investors or restaurant owners fault.
Like dislike 0 people liked / 0 people disliked this comment
wantmyony
Post : 555
Send message

Discussion 2 : 14/04/2011 at 11:03 AM2
Post this to my Facebook
robbing the poorly educated farmers never cease, the restaurant charges alot more for one bowl of rice as you can see where the profits goes to.
Like dislike 0 people liked / 0 people disliked this comment
grass-seed
Post : 38
Send message

Discussion 1 : 14/04/2011 at 07:07 AM1
Post this to my Facebook
The companies are ripping the farmers off. The farmers only get 11 baht/kg, and with an average yield of 700 baht/rai that is a gross return of only 7,700 baht/rai. Take off the fertiliser, fungicide and labour costs then the farmers may be lucky to get 4,000 baht/rai. These Japanese companies companies must be laughing all the way to the bank.

The price should be at least 20 baht/kg to enable farmers to get a nett return of more than 10,000 baht/rai.

But then there are very few alternative crops farmers can grow on wet-low lying waterlogged soils besides rice.
Like dislike 0 people liked / 0 people disliked this comment

Japanese rice flourishes | Bangkok Post: business