Fertile imagination

Fertile imagination

With a farmer's heart and scientist's mind, Manop Kaewkoi is rewriting the book on organic rice.

A teenage farm boy, lying down in a haystack in his usual old jeans, grey cotton long-sleeved shirt and straw hat, pulled a local Mac magazine out of his bag made of fertiliser sacks while tending to cows grazing in the green pastures.

Mr Manop spends quality time in his paddy fields in Surin on Saturday. THE KAEWKOI FAMILY

The article he read from the education journal was torn in half to reveal just the English-language section. Donated from Bangkok to his school library and one of his inspirations to come study in the capital, the magazine later helped him win third prize from an English talent competition in the northeastern region six years ago.

The young man, whose name is Manop Kaewkoi, was later admitted to the chemical engineering programme at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), but he lacked the funds to complete his studies.

Fortunately, a generous benefactor _ the owner of a construction firm in Mr Manop's hometown in Surin province who had helped fund his education since the seventh grade _ was willing to step in and continue with support.

Now, with a bright grin on his face, the 24-year-old from Isan wears a suit to present his organic rice _ one of 10 products showcased on the sidelines of a recent Bangkok seminar on the Dutch-inspired "Food Valley" concept.

"Business. That's a funny thing to say. I haven't got used to the term," he said with a laugh.

Last year, Mr Manop began selling organic jasmine rice from a 20-rai paddy field that his father had developed six years earlier.

Now he is the chief executive of his own company, Nature Food Products and Marketing. In June, it introduced a product called VegiMix, which earned the endorsement of Organic Agriculture Certification Thailand.

With the help of KMITL's research and development team, a new brand of ready-to-cook rice with L-carnitine will be commercially available by year-end priced at 200 baht for a 400-gramme pack.

The company of two: Mr Manop and his elder sister Duangporn Kaewkoi. Photos by NANCHANOK WONGSAMUTH

Smart Diet Rice is a mix of Hom Mali brown rice, Surin black jasmine rice, shiitake mushrooms, pumpkin, carrots, garlic and L-carnitine, a natural protein found in milk and meat.

VegiMix has similar ingredients but adds corn and removes the L-carnitine.

While most white rice has a glycemic index of 70 or above, KMITL's food engineering department calculates a GI of 54-55 for Nature Food's diet rice.

The GI is used to indicate how fast and how high a particular food can raise blood sugar levels. A lower GI makes you feel full for longer.

VegiMix, which has already been shipped to the Netherlands and Scotland in small quantities, will be sold in Villa Market stores in Thailand by year-end.

With only himself and one other employee (his elder sister), Mr Manop sometimes hires people to help package the rice using machines he rents from KMITL.

He expects monthly production capacity to reach 5 tonnes by year-end including rice from 40 rai of land in his community via contract farming.

Next year's capacity will double to 10 tonnes a month after Mr Manop sets up his own rice mill in Surin.

Sura-at Supachatturat, manager of the National Innovation Agency's innovation strategy department, says a product formulated to serve the diabetes market, requiring a GI of less than 40, is likely to win funding from the NIA, provided there are clinical trials.

Next year's NIA budget highlights functional and nutraceutical foods.

Monthly sales of Mr Manop's original organic rice are running at 700 to 1,000 packs, while sales of VegiMix have quickly reached 500 packs.

But he is far from rich, as he must settle his car loan, send money to his parents and pay his sister's wages. He is also far from what he calls "being in a happy state of mind".

The youngest of five siblings, he is the most educated. The rest never had a chance at higher education _ instead they had to wake up at 5am to hunt frogs, which were part of the family's meals also consisting of sticky rice, boiled eggs and rats.

"For a farmer who works all day in the sun, drinking a cold glass of water or lying under the shade of a tree beside the paddy field is a happiness that cannot be exchanged for anything else," said Mr Manop.

"Now I have to work very hard, and I feel bad for my sister, as sometimes she doesn't sleep at all."

Even his mother is against the idea of him going back to his farm roots, but Mr Manop is adamant. He wants Thailand's rice market to focus on quality and added value instead of sales volume.

Organic farming is not an alternative but the solution to the country's crisis, in his view.

"Even if I'm starving to death, I will never let this business die," he said.

"I have to make this brand happen. People ask me if I'm afraid of CP [the agricultural giant Charoen Pokphand]. I tell them, why do I have to be afraid? CP has to be afraid of us since we're the real farmers. I wish to see the day that farmers can bring quality products to the market."

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