The Thai Rice Growers Association has urged the Rice Department to refrain from market intervention, following rumours that it is lobbying concerned parties to push down the price of Vietnamese fragrant Hom Phuang rice.
Rumour has it the Rice Department has sent a letter to the Commerce Ministry asking it to seek cooperation from rice mills and traders to decrease the price of Hom Phuang, also known as Jasmine 85, because it is not a native grain and not registered in the country.
Suthep Khongmak, chairman of the association, said he recently visited farmers in Nakhon Sawan who were planting the Vietnamese fragrant rice variety, after the rumour surfaced. According to Mr Suthep, the farmers told him that a group of people had provided them the Vietnamese rice variety to plant for a second year and promised to buy their entire harvest at a price of 8,000 baht per tonne.
The price was much higher than local Thai Koh Khor rice, which sold at 6,000 baht per tonne. The Hom Phuang rice had outstanding characteristics, with only 90 days from planting to harvest while Kor Khor rice required 120 days, Mr Suthep said.
He said the farmers confirmed that the variety they planted was Hom Phuang.
According to the association chairman, if the Rice Department wanted to discourage the farmers from growing Hom Phuang rice and keep unregistered grains from the market, it should develop the Thai rice varieties to be on par with the Vietnamese grain in terms of planting duration, yields per rai and disease resistance.
"Rice farmers do not pay much attention to the varieties. They prefer the grains that grow easily, are resistant to diseases, fetch good prices and are in high market demand," he said.
He added that he would visit Nakhon Sawan next week to meet rice farmers, millers and representatives from the Rice Department to discuss plans for planting the rice varieties. He stressed that a joint direction is necessary to ensure optimal benefits to rice growers without restricting their rights.
Earlier, Kriangsak Tapanont, chairman of the Rice Mills Association, said earlier that rice millers would not cooperate because it was inappropriate to interfere with market forces.
The Hom Phuang rice harvest is expected this month.
