Nakhon Ratchasima is poised to be the country's cassava growing and processing hub despite forecast of a reduced productivity this year.
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, who presided over the three-day World Tapioca Conference 2023 which ended on Saturday in Nakhon Ratchasima, told the forum on Friday that the government was driven by an ambition to turn the province into cassava growing and processing hub under a management master plan for the cash crop.
Nakhon Ratchasima is one of the economic powerhouses of the Northeast.
The conference was packed with events including academic seminars, research sharing sessions, cassava-based innovations and business pairing activities.
The highlight was the signing of a memorandum of understanding on a deal to export cassava to China, Hong Kong and Turkey. In total, some 4.7 million tonnes of cassava are earmarked for export to the countries, valued at more than 20 billion baht.
Earlier, a similar MoU was signed with the Philippines to export fresh cassava worth about 20 billion baht. So far this year, futures sales of cassava have topped 10 million tonnes worth 40 billion baht.
The minister said he believed the prices of cassava are set to rise in the coming months. Taking part at the conference opening were associations related to cassava growing and tapioca production, as well as international traders.
The forum will boost overseas businesses' confidence in the quality of Thai cassavas and Thailand's ability to come up with new innovations in the production and processing of the crop, observers say.
Some home-grown, non-food and food innovations, such as bioplastic and gluten-free tapioca flour, have also been sold in overseas markets.
More than a million families grow and harvest cassava in the country. The crop also creates jobs and related businesses, from cassava storage grounds and cassava pallet or tapioca flour-making factories.
Thailand was the world's largest exporter of cassava last year, accounting for 59% of the worldwide exports, followed by the US (17%) and China (10%).
Last year, the country's exports of cassava totalled 37 million tonnes worth more than 152 billion baht, or 11% more than in the previous year.
However, companies have predicted that cassava productivity could dip, from 34 million tonnes last year to 31.7 million this year due to floods that wipe out some cassava growing areas, farmers switching to grow other cash crops and rampant cassava diseases.
Mr Jurin said Thailand attaches importance to the cassava and tapioca industry.
The country is the third largest cassava grower in the world, putting out 30 tonnes of yearly output, after Nigeria, which harvests about 63 tonnes a year, and Congo, about 46 tonnes annually. But Thailand is the world's top exporter.
Mr Jurin said the commerce and the agriculture ministries have been implementing a five-year strategy to produce, market and process cassava. The strategy, which lasts until next year, sets a clear direction on how to promote the cassava and tapioca industry on the world stage.
Research on the propagation of quality strains of cassava plants, which are resistant to bugs and diseases, is being conducted. This would help raise the output per year from 30 tonnes at present, to 40 tonnes by next year.
There will also be greater volumes of exports to cater to the global demand for cassava.
Mr Jurin added the government is accelerating its efforts to push up the prices the cassava even further, from a little over a kilogramme for the price of fresh cassava root with 25% starch in the past to what is now quoted at between 3.15 and 3.50 baht a kilogramme.
If the price drops below 2.50 baht a kilogramme, farmers will be given compensation to the amount of the price difference, the minister added.