London — The focus of Thai rice production has been shifting in recent harvests, with more and more farmers diversifying away from traditional long grain varieties, according to sources.
The reason for the shift primarily comes from reduced rainfall in the last two seasons. Milled rice production in 2020 decreased by 13% year on year as a result, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). While the USDA projects that Thai production will rebound by 5.2% in 2021, output will still be unusually low. In particular, the off-season crop – currently being harvested – has been hampered by what the USDA referred to as "critically low" irrigation levels.
As a result, farmers have been forced to adapt, primarily through moving away from older seeds and experimenting with newer ones which often require less inputs and produce higher yields.
However, this has been complicated by what some view as a chronic shortage of high-yielding and high-quality seeds in the conservative Thai rice market. One trader remarked that the Thai rice industry had not "invested in product development for the last 20 years." Another trader close to the Thai market agreed, stating that domestic seeds had "not [received] much development" in recent years.
This second trader added that the Thai government has seen the benefit of new "soft cooking" varieties in the Vietnamese rice industry – boasting drought resistance and high yields -- and has been promoting them to farmers in Thailand.
'Soft cooking' varieties
There is no clear definition of a soft cooking variety, which also encompasses the two main Thai Fragrant rice varieties – Hom Mali and Pathumthani. One major Thai exporter described them as "less fluffy and stickier than our usual white rice," but sources had mixed opinions on whether a soft cooking variety needs to be a Fragrant rice.
In Vietnam, the long-standing Jasmine variety is typically acknowledged as a soft cooking variety, but also the newer Dai Thom 8 (DT8) and OM 5451 varieties, which have been gaining in popularity. DT8 is recognized as a Fragrant variety, with a growing reputation in the Philippines and West Africa. While OM 5451 is generally viewed as a premium long grain, the EU classified it as a Fragrant variety in its 2020 Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam. However, this too has an increasing reputation in the Philippines, with Cambodian farmers also cultivating it for sale to China – at the expense of traditional long grain varieties.
According to multiple sources based in Thailand, farmers have begun to cultivate both DT8 and OM 5451. One miller said that the incentive for farmers is clear as OM 5451 produces 150% of the field yields of regular Thai long grain and Fragrant varieties. At the same time, sources said that both farmers and millers are typically able to achieve better returns with soft cooking varieties. However, these varieties are typically given different names within Thailand, such as Hom Puang.
The new Vietnamese soft cooking varieties have not been recognized by the Thai Rice Exporters' Association, principally due to concerns about the quality of the rice produced. As a result, one exporter remarked that "there are no official specifications" for these varieties and they cannot be marketed internationally. Another exporter agreed, adding that "the price is higher than [equivalent rice in] Vietnam and the quality is not good enough for export... It doesn't make sense to export it to the Philippines."
Instead, sources reported that these varieties are either sold in the domestic market – where they are proving increasingly popular – or are blended with existing export varieties, such as Thai-produced DT8 with Pathumthani.
Long grain production curbed
One major implication of this shift is that less regular long grain varieties used to produce white and parboiled rice are being cultivated. No reliable statistics are available which detail Thai production by variety, but sources have reported that long grain production has "reduced a lot" in recent harvests as a result of this phenomenon.
Even if rainfall and irrigation levels were to return to normal, India and other Asian origins are offering much more competitively priced white and parboiled rice, thereby capping Thai returns for these varieties. Because of this, farmers are likely to continue favoring soft cooking varieties for the foreseeable future. In turn, this will curb white and parboiled rice production further, limiting these varieties' price competitiveness internationally.
Looking forward, the main question is whether or not the Thai rice industry will embrace these new soft cooking varieties – possibly developing their own popular domestic seeds – or whether these varieties will remain sidelined to maintain the quality brand of premium Thai rice.
