SEED EXTENSION IN THAILAND
Chavalvut Chainuvati, Deputy Director General
Department of Agricultural Extension
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand

1. ROLE OF AGRICULTURE

1.1 Agricultural Economic Situation

Agriculture is the foundation of Thailand's national economy. With a total population of approximately 66 million, 62.5 percent are involved in the agricultural sector.

During 1990 to 1994, the economic growth rate of the country decreased, from 11.1 percent to 8.7 percent. Per capita income increased steadily from US$1 044 in 1990 to US$1 636 in 1994. The growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) originating from agriculture was -4.6 percent in 1990 but improved to 5.5 percent in 1994. This could be categorized as follows: 5.9 percent for crops, 3.7 percent for livestock, 2.5 percent for fisheries, -18.7 percent for forestry, 3.2 percent for agricultural services and 13.2 percent for simple agricultural processing products. GDP per worker from the agricultural sector and non-agricultural sector were reported to be US$494 and US$6 230, respectively in 1994.

Of the country's total area of 51.31 million hectares, approximately 41.2 percent (21.1 million ha) was classified as farm holding area, 26.3 percent (13.5 million ha) as forest land and the rest of 32.5 percent (16.7 million ha) as miscellaneous which includes fishery and unclassified land. The farm holding area tended to increase gradually from 1972 to 1991, but in 1992 it began to decrease while the number of farms increased by year (Table 1). The farm holding areas were categorized into paddy area, upland crop area, fruit tree and tree crop area, vegetable and flower area and grass area (11.01, 5.25, 3.33, 0.14 and 0.12 million ha, respectively). Of the total farm holding area, only 21 percent is presently under irrigation. This land, both irrigated and non-irrigated, was used by 5.15 million farm families to produce agricultural products for domestic consumption and export.

The Thai economy was dominated by agriculture and agriculture-related activities in the early 1960s. Agriculture then contributed about 36 percent of the GDP and generated employment for 82 percent of the labor force. The situation has changed since the 1970s as the importance, in terms of contribution to GDP, of agriculture has declined drastically. During the period 1970-1990, agriculture grew at a respectable rate of 4 percent per year, but this was only half of the growth rate achieved by the manufacturing and the service sectors. As a consequence, agriculture's share of the GDP decreased to 25 percent during 1971-75 and reached 12 percent during 1991-95. Crop production still remains the major agricultural activity (Isvilanonda, 1997).

1.2 Major Economic Crops and Crop Productivity

As mentioned previously, Thailand is an agriculture-based economy. The major economic crops are rice, cassava, para rubber, maize, pineapple, oil palm, soybean and mungbean. Half of the country's cultivated area is devoted to paddy rice that is grown throughout the kingdom.

The planted area, production and average yield of selected crops are illustrated in Tables 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The growth rate of planted areas and production of those crops decreased except sugarcane, oil palm and pineapple, while the average yield's growth rate was in the opposite direction. The increase in growth rate of crop yield was a good indicator showing that technology transfer to improve farmers’ production has been improved.

2. EXTENSION SYSTEM

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE) is directly responsible for integrating the concepts and strategies of crop promotion and cooperating with research institutes, universities, agricultural credits, marketing organizations and other related agencies in order to provide extension services and technology transfer to farmers to help increase farm productivity, both qualitatively and quantitatively and to meet market demands and standards. The ultimate goal is to improve standards of living and quality of life of the stakeholders, who are mainly farmers in rural areas.

As previously mentioned, the Thai economy is mainly driven by agriculture, especially crop production. Therefore, crop promotion and extension are vital to the success of national projects focused on crop production. To achieve this goal, several factors come into play which will be discussed extensively below.

2.1 Linkage between Research and Extension

Research and extension in agriculture are closely linked and related. Crop/seed production technology as well as research results are developed and approved either by researchers themselves or by researchers along with extension staff through 'On-Farm Research and Extension (OFRE)' activities. Subsequently, those findings, so-called "appropriate technology" are transferred to target farmers through the role of agricultural extension staff. Simultaneously, the problems and constraints, either technical or biological, being faced by farmers and farmers' attitudes, are fed back and proposed to researchers by extension people. Thus, further research to be conducted by researchers should be responding to farmers' needs in a given location.

2.2 Agencies Involved in Technology Transfer

The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) consists of 12 departments/offices. In the past, there was no cooperation in the form of a team approach among agencies either within or outside the ministry. The major bottleneck was the misunderstanding among personnel from different agencies. However, the problems have been solved by appointing a committee to coordinate the research and extension activities between the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and the DOAE.

Currently, good understanding among agencies is well established and team approach cooperation is well underway, especially between the DOA, DOAE and the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE). Roles and responsibilities of departments within the MOAC are as follows:

• DOA – is responsible for developing technology and conducting test plots in close cooperation with DOAE, before the technologies are released to farmers.

• DOAE – acts as the linkage between researchers and extension staff and is responsible for conveying a well-tested technology to farmers. Responsibilities also include following up and assessment of socio-economic factors within the projects and analyzing the feasibility of projects under MOAC.

A problem that was always faced in the past, and even nowadays, is that farmers did not adopt the technology released by researchers. This may be due, partly, to the fact that the information released from research stations to farmers was so complex and not readily understandable by the farmers. Additionally, environments on research stations are well defined as compared to that of farmers' fields. This problem also forms the basis of conflicts between researchers and extension officers. To solve the problems, on-farm trials are added to the system to test technology generated by researchers before it is transferred to farmers. The concept underlying this strategy is that the technology that has been tested by farmers in farmers' field and monitored by researchers, should speed up adoption by farmers. The suitability of the technology to the socio-economic conditions of farmers was simultaneously revealed as well. Allowing farmers to participate in this type of research is believed to result in achieving appropriate technology for farmers at a tested location and to ease adoption by farmers.

Generally, it is perceived that there is no arena where researchers and extension workers can work together, shoulder to shoulder. Theoretically, bilateral transfer of information is recognized. Technology generated by researchers is transferred to extension workers, and then to farmers, while constraints encountered by farmers are transferred to researchers through extension workers. In fact, systems of work and operation do not facilitate the feedback of constraints from farmers to researchers.

As farming system research and extension develops, it is realized that development of appropriate technology that fits farmers' conditions needs very close cooperation among researchers, extension workers and especially farmers with equal contributions.

In fact, on-farm trials are a step that links research in a research station to extension work, in order to obtain appropriate technology that fits farmers' conditions. When viewed as a step-wise process: (i) technology generation; (ii) technology development; and, (iii) technology transfer, the farming system research and extension development fits into the third step, technology transfer.

In parallel to the on-farm research and extension (OFRE), concepts of "Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)" where farmers in a target area participate, the steps of "site description", "problem identification" and "problem prioritizing" are practiced before the research project starts. Currently, the concept of "Participatory Assessment Planning (PAP)" is also implemented by the DOAE. PAP is a tool leading to the accomplishment of the project. The approach of PAP is to encourage/appreciate the role of the people/farmers in the rural community to participate from the very beginning of the project which is "thinking" or "project planning", "making decision", "doing" and then "appreciating the project outcome", whether it is positive or negative.

3. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE SEED EXTENSION PROJECT

Seed production and extension in Thailand comprises two components, namely, seed production, and extension by government agencies and by the private sector. The first is responsible mainly for seed extension for major economic crops that are self-pollinating, i.e. rice, soybean, mungbean, peanut, sesame, cotton and some vegetables. The latter one covers hybrid seed of maize, sunflower, ornamentals and vegetable crops.

The government agencies involved in seed production include a few universities which produce specific seeds on a small-scale for research purposes; and, departments under MOAC - namely DOA, DOAE and Promotion and Cooperative Development (PCD) - that are the major agencies where seed is produced on a large scale for farmer use nation-wide.

A few crops, rice, soybean and maize, will be discussed in more detail.

3.1 Rice Production and Promotion Project

Rice is one of seven important economic crops in Thailand besides cassava, para rubber, maize, pineapple, soybean and oil palm. Rice is not only the main staple food of the Thai household, but it has also long been a major export earner. Thailand usually ranks first in exporting rice to the world market. The value of exporting is over US$1.5 billion and the export volume is about 6-7 million tons per annum, this is about one-third of the paddy rice produced in the country.

Production situation

Currently, the yearly rice production is 20-21 million tons of brown rice from 9.6-9.8 million ha of planted area. Of the total production, the majority of product (17-18 million tons) is produced in rainfed paddy fields (major rice), and the rest (2-3 million ton) is produced in an irrigated area of 0.56-0.85 million ha (second rice).

The average yield of major rice and second rice are 1 937 and 3 812 kg per ha, respectively. The yield gap is mainly due to two factors. One is a water resources constraint of the rainfall situation where major rice is produced. This land contributes 75 percent of total paddy land. Uncontrollable rainfall under this condition has essentially resulted in less development of farming techniques. The other important factor is the local variety generally used in rainfed areas, especially in the northeastern region. Local rice varieties yield very poorly compared to improved varieties or modern varieties (MV), which are non-photosensitive varieties where good management, with appropriate production input plus irrigation, usually results in high yields.

Isvilanonda (1998) reported that during the past three decades, rice production in Thailand increased about 2.78 percent per year or from 10.39 million tons during 1961-65 to 20.38 million tons during 1990-95. However, in the 1960s and early 1970s, growth was generated by expanding the cultivated area. Planted area was increased from 6.51 million ha during 1961-65 to 9.74 million ha in 1991-95 or a growth rate of 3.3 percent per annum. The dry season production or second rice, showed only a relatively small amount even though the growth in area adoption was drastically increased. A wide diffusion of rice cropping intensity and adoption of modern varieties in the late 1970s resulted in the production growth. But, both area and production expansion declined in the late 1980s, mainly due to rising environmental degradation and irrigation water shortage, particularly in the dry season. It is also expected that the trend of rice supply will continue to decline in future decades. Following the same trend, the growth in the dry season yield has continuously declined since 1976-80.

Types of rice production systems in Thailand

According to the Rice Section of DOAE (1990) with regard to purpose, rice cultivation systems in Thailand fall into two categories:

• Commercial purpose

Commercial rice production is primary in irrigated areas in the central region known as the "Rice Bowl" of Thailand and some other areas where water supply is sufficient and manageable as well with productive soils. High technology, i.e. modern varieties, modern farm machinery, and other farm inputs including fertilizer and chemical treatment are exploited in these areas where farmers are quite adoptive.

• Subsistence purpose

In general, rice production conditions under this category are unfavorable. For example, poor soils or limited land and insufficient water supply (which is the main determinant for crop growth) are the characteristics of this area which is mainly rainfed. Consequently, low yield per unit of land (2 125 kg/ha) is always found. The farmers are still lagging behind since they depend solely on rainfall. Farm inputs are quite different from rice cultivation in the first category. Farmers consider their rice farming as just for home consumption, they tend not to invest much money for necessary inputs i.e. fertilizer and machinery. Cost of inputs is higher, regarding return per ton of paddy, due to lower paddy yield. Production cost is mainly attributed to seed, and some fertilizer and/or pesticide.

Problems identified

Based on priority setting, the major problems identified in commercial rice farming is quality of paddy, since the yield per unit area is already high due to high technology employed by the farmers.

For subsistence rice farming, the unique characteristic is low yield that is attributed to the following factors:

• rice varieties: most farmers grow traditional rice varieties which are light sensitive and yield less.

• low or no production input use: little or no fertilizer and/or pesticide application is a significant component to reduced yield in this area. This factor is related to credit or loans which government banks play a small part in giving to farmers.

• inappropriate cultural practices: farming without intensive cultural practices results in yield reductions. This includes water management and the selection of rice establishment methods.

Strategies to overcome problems

As proposed by the Rice Section, DOAE Rice & Field Crops Promotion Division (1992), the farming system concept by multidisciplinary teams should be followed up in every step to identify these problems. In fact, this concept should be implemented prior to introduction of any technology.

The way to cope with these problems is seed distribution. To increase seed accessibility and seed availability to farmers, several approaches to seed distribution have been practiced. One was the "Seed Exchange Method" implemented during 1982-1998 by means of exchanging farmers' seed with good seed, at a rate of 1:1 by weight. Furthermore, in certain poverty-stricken locations, "Free Rice Seed" is subsidized to the farmers. By these means, subsistence farmers could have more access to good seed to start with, and the production cost could be minimized.

However, since 1998, the means of good seed promotion and extension has been changed to a farmer participatory approach. So called "1:1 by investment basis". Government subsidized half-price seed to farmers and farmers need to invest the other half. With this approach, farmers' production technology was expected to improve since they had to partly invest. Increasing the yield per unit area and sustainable rice production in these areas are also the final goals of the DOAE.

3.2 Soybean Production and Extension Project

Among the major economic crops, soybean has played an important role in the economic and social development plan in Thailand over the last two decades. Soybean is used as soy meal and soy oil. Soy meal is used mainly as feed for livestock and part of it is used as soy starch for local food mixtures. The soy oil is used in two ways. One is in seafood product canneries and the other is as the basis for cooking oil, light oil paint and other canneries. As well, there is some local soy milk produced (Hann, 1991).

Production situation

The role and significance of soybean in different types of processing and utilization in various downstream industries has been recognized nationally. Soybean production has never met the domestic demand which drastically increased during the past decade. The domestic demand for both soybean and soy products was only 13 000 tons in 1987 increasing to 809 288 tons, 887 778 tons, and 1 million tons, while the actual output was only 516 000 tons, 617 000 tons and 379 000 tons in 1988/89, 1989/90 and the present, respectively. Due to the expansion of animal feed and vegetable oil industries as reported by OAE, the 1981/82 export of soybean was marginal. Import of soy meal, grain soybean and soy oil increased to US$956 000 in 1991/92. Production of soybean in the country has increased from 100 000 tons to 400 000 tons over the past decade. From the OAE's statistics, approximately 60 percent, 30 percent, and 10 percent of domestic soybean was used in the vegetable oil extraction industry, in other industries and as seed, respectively. In 1990/91, Thailand produced only 200 000 tons of soy meal. As mentioned above, domestic demand for soy meal was as high as 1 million ton per year, therefore 700 000 tons of soy meal was imported (Table 5).

As shown in Table 6, production of soybean in the country increased by 229 percent over the last ten years. The increase was due to land expansion, but not activity (Dalodom, 1997). Production of grain soybean was 132 000 tons from a planted area of 128 000 ha with an average yield of 1 031 kg per ha in 1981/82. In 1991/92, production of grain soybean increased to 435 000 ha, but the average yield remained at 1 262 kg per ha.

Problems

Problems of soybean promotion and extension were categorized as follows:

• Production problem

Seed availability is a big problem. The government cannot provide sufficient seed to meet farmers’ demands, so the private sector has to provide the rest. But the quality of this seed is rather poor, as compared to the government seed (Chainuvati et al., 1997).

Timing of seed supply is also not good. Most of the time the government seed supply is too late, so farmers have to seek seed from local traders where most of the time, the seed’s quality is low and of mixed varieties. The problem of seed germination is also a burden.

Another main problem is considered the non- or only partial, acceptance of new, high technology by the farmers that relate to lack of money and/or time and labor. Therefore, farmers are reluctant to adopt such technologies. Besides, disease and pest problems, as well as natural disasters are also contributing to low yields.

• Marketing problems

The lack of bargaining power of the farmers to sell their products, and lack of competitiveness of soybean and soy products, to the other major soybean producing countries and other countries, all contribute to a low soybean price at the farm gate.

Strategies to overcome problems

The Department of Agricultural Extension is the main government agency responsible for soybean production and extension, especially to transfer modern and/or appropriate production technology to soybean farmers. Strategies to tackle the soybean problems/constraints are as follow:

• Seed Exchange Program

The seed exchange method was used during 1982/83-1984/85 by encouraging farmers to exchange their soybean seeds with the official recommended variety at 1:1 basis (by weight). An average of 1 500 tons per year or about 10 percent of total soybean seeds were exchanged during the preliminary program in 1982/83-1984/85.

Due to the good response from farmers, the seed exchange method was continued for another two periods, one was during 1985/86 to 1987/88 and the second was in 1988/89. The outcome of the project was satisfactory. An average of 1 500 tons of good quality seed from recommended soybean varieties (10 percent of total seed) and 4 000 tons (11 percent of total seed) were exchanged during 1985/86 to 1987/88 and in the 1988/89 crop years, respectively. Accompanying the seed exchange, rhizobium was also provided free of charge for farmers to incorporate with seed before planting.

• Subsidized seed distribution

Low price seed (2 baht/kilogram of seed) was distributed to soybean farmers during 1990/91-1996/97 under the "Soybean Production and Marketing Project". Production inputs such as chemical fertilizer and rhizobium were also provided free of charge to every farmer participating in the project, as an incentive for farmers to increase production under the change in soybean trading system from import quota control (to regulate imported quantities to be in line with domestic supply) to the surcharge system (free trade). Approximately 10 000 tons per year of good quality seed was used in the project which was implemented in high production potential areas across the country. The project evaluation by OAE revealed that the average yield of soybean was 1 414 kg per ha as targeted. Farmers sell their products for about US$0.32 per kg, at the targeted price. Regarding production costs, the cost of production for the farmers was US$0.22 per kg, higher than the targeted one. However, production cost has to be further reduced by using IPM for pest control, proper amounts and timing of fertilizer application and effective use of the labor force (Dalodom, 1997).

3.3 Maize Production and Promotion Project

Maize Production

Maize is one of the major field-crops of Thailand and only second to rice in term of planting area. Total production of 3.8 million tons was produced from the planting area of 1.4 million hectares in 1997/1998. Maize growing areas in the country are all rainfed. Hence, yield is very much dependent on precipitation. Varieties also play a significant role on the yield when hybrid maize varieties have been introduced to the farmers since the 1980s.

Seed production and extension

Unlike rice and soybean where the public sector still remains as the seed producer, from the beginning of the National Seed Development Program up to the present time, maize seed production and extension in Thailand has a unique development for the agencies involved. During the 1950s to the 1980s the public sector was solely responsible for variety research, seed production and distribution of maize seed.

The coordinated Project for Maize Improvement Program was initiated in 1962 by collaboration between MOAC, Kasetsart University and the Rockefeller Foundation. The National Maize and Sorghum Research Center (NCSRC) of the DOA was established in 1969. There were a number of maize varieties released from this project for farmer use leading to a gradual increase in national yield. The "Suwan 1", a high-yielding and downy-mildew resistant variety was the most popular open-pollinated (O-P) variety released by NCSRC in 1975 and played a major role in boosting national yield to reach 3 million tons for the first time.

The Seed Division of the DOAE operates 23 National Seed Centers that were the major maize seed producers and suppliers of open-pollinated varieties to the country during 1977 to 1987. The total production of maize seed produced by the Seed Division fluctuated between 1 300-2 600 tons, during 1977-1992, before it decreased maize seed production in 1993, and completely terminated it in 1994. This was due to the increasing popularity of hybrid maize varieties produced by the private seed companies started in the early 1980s. The use of hybrid maize varieties was estimated to be less than 500 tons, or approximately 1 percent of the total seed requirement of the country, in 1983. However, it increased drastically to 8 300 tons or 32 percent in 1993. Currently, it is estimated that the hybrid maize varieties occupy more than 80 percent of the maize planting area of the country. Both the government agencies like DOAE using its extension projects, and private companies using their demonstration technique, were very successful in transferring this high technology of crop improvement to the Thai maize farmers. The DOAE has already invested US$2.8 million annually to promote the use of single-cross hybrid maize through farmer demonstration fields and field days. Farmers can purchase subsidized seed for about US$0.21 per kg from the government, but the government pays the full price for the seed from the private sector seed companies.

It seems that adoption by farmers of hybrid maize varieties only took as short a period of time as one cropping season. Once they had learned, from the first demonstration plots, about the superiority of hybrid maize varieties over the traditional O-P varieties, in terms of yield and pest-resistance properties, that could bring them higher income, they were already keen to use hybrid maize for the next planting. A number of well known international seed companies in the private sector are the major producers of hybrid maize seed in Thailand, the volume of production is indicated in Table 7 and 8. The public sector such as NCSRC also produces a limited volume of hybrid maize seed but places more emphasis on researching for traits and lines resistant to disease, insect and adverse environment.

Problems

The average yield of maize grown in the 1997/1998 season was 2 766 kg per hectare whereas the potential yield of hybrid varieties was 8-10 tons per hectare. Adverse conditions accounted for this poor average yield rather than other causes. Drought is the main adverse environment found in maize growing areas where there is no irrigation. Poor management also contributed to this low yield of maize grown by Thai farmers.

3.4 Business on Vegetable Seed

Thailand currently serves as the commercial center for vegetable seeds in South East Asia, as many Thai vegetable seed companies play a more vital role in importing and exporting (Table 9). Some kinds of popular Thai vegetable seed that serve the demands of foreign customers are pepper seed, cucumber seed, watermelon seed and eggplant seed. The vegetable seed business in Thailand can be classified in two types:

Seed Distribution Company

These companies, such as the Chai Tai Seed Company and the East West seed company, have research activities on plant breeding, seed production and seed multiplication for domestic selling and exporting. They also test hybrid lines from foreign countries and import for domestic sales.

Custom production or Contract Production Company

These companies, such as the TSA company and Known You Seed Company, import parental lines as well as seed production technology from foreign countries. These companies will employ skilled farmers to be sub-contractors to grow vegetable seed by using techniques of hand pollination, for crops such as tomato and cantaloupe. All of the hybrid seed produced in Thailand will be exported back to the foreign mother seed company under an agreement that it can’t be sold without the patent.

Problems related to vegetable seed production

Thailand cannot produce good quality vegetable seeds because of the unsuitable climatic conditions such as the shortage of 4 months vernalization period and maintenance lower than 18°C for initiating flowering in some crucifer and amaryllidaceae crops. Some vegetable seed, such as coriander, can be produced in Thailand, but the seed quality will be rather poor, because Thailand has high humidity during the harvesting period of coriander seed. This causes fungal infection on the seed coat.

4. SEED PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION

In 1976, the Seed Division was founded in DOAE for the purpose of producing high quality seed of improved varieties. Before that time, general seed supply of agronomic crops depended on informal seed sources which might be farm saved seed; farmers collecting their own seed, exchanging seed among neighbors, and/or using grain as seed. There were wide ranges of varieties, local and improved, from public breeders. The Department of Agricultural Extension initiated a crop promotion project to increase productivity of important commodities such as rice, soybeans, mungbean, etc. These projects received foundation seed of a particular crop from the breeding sector to carry out demonstration fields in many areas. One main objective was to collect the seed crop from these fields and distribute the seed to surrounding farmers in the following season. This is considered as the beginning of formal seed production by the public sector. The demonstration plot has been regulated as a central means of transferring technology to farmers, including introducing new varieties that were expected to increase crop productivity in general. Seed supply came from the demonstration fields for some time (about 8 years) until the Seed Development Project was implemented.

4.1 Seed Development Project

To provide the critical seed element for developing the agriculture of the country, The Royal Thai Government initiated the Soybean Development Project (supported by USAID) in the Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in 1972. The project, which initially emphasized soybean seed production, was shown to be quite successful. Therefore, to increase the amount of seed supply for farmers and to include other economic crops, the Seed Development Project was initiated in 1976.

The Seed Development Project, a complete seed program, is a complex infrastructure including all agencies, and both public and private sectors, required to establish a complete seed industry linkage. Activities include development of improved varieties, foundation seed production, supply of legume seed inoculants, multiplication of improved seed for farmer use, marketing and distribution of seed, training, practical research and development of a private sector seed industry.

Under the Seed Development Project, 23 Seed Centers serve as seed production operation centers of the Seed Division that were established at agriculturally strategic locations throughout the country during 1976-1995. The Seed Centers were developed under 5 international assistance projects and a Royal Thai Government funded project:

• Seed Development Project under USAID Loan

Phase I (1976–1981) established Seed Centers Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4

Phase II (1982–1986) established Seed Centers Nos. 7 and 13

• Maize Development Project under JICA Grant

(1977–1982) established Seed Center No. 5

• Southern Seed Center Project under EEC Grant

(1981–1986) established Seed Center No. 6

• Seed Multiplication Project under OECF Loan

(1984–1988) established Seed Centers Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20

• Sukothai Seed Center Project under The Royal Thai Government Budget

(1987–1990) established Seed Center No.21

• Southern Seed Center Project under DANIDA Grant

(1992–1995) established Seed Centers Nos. 22 and 23

4.2 Seed Situation

Thailand has approximately 26.4 million hectares of arable land suitable for cultivation, under this area about 11.5 million hectares is cultivated with rice, soybeans, mungbean, maize, peanut, vegetables and other crops.

Comparing the seed production situation to total seed need requirements shows that quite a large volume of the seed supply comes from informal sources which might be farm saved seed and grain used as seed (Table 10). Farmers' seed resources needed to be studied and understood in order to apply an appropriate strategy for effective promotion for them to use good quality seed. Public seed sources alone could not entirely fulfill seed demand for overall planting throughout the country, either the formal seed production sector or the informal seed production side, needed to be stimulated. Alternative seed sources beside government production ought to be activated in many aspects; such as encouraging farmer collecting seed under the right procedures, educating seed producers in the informal sector to perform suitable practices for seed production, increasing the role of private companies, etc.

In Thailand, the public seed sector plays a great role in seed production especially in self-pollinated crops. Annual seed production is about 60 000 tons, mainly in rice, soybean, mungbean and peanut, and the Seed Division (DOAE) alone produces almost 80 percent of this amount.

4.3 Technology Transfer through Seed Extension

The spread of technology packages with high yielding varieties needed increasingly larger amount of mineral fertilizer and pesticides. To exploit variety potential requires starting with seed which is true to line. Using good quality seed is a primary technology to increase crop yield. The better adapted the seed is to its growing environment, the higher is the improvement in yield and farmers' incomes, as well as being the catalyst for agricultural development.

The Department of Agricultural Extension has implemented the concept of increasing yield by using good quality seed of improved varieties under the crop promotion project. Among various technologies transferred, good quality seed of promising varieties is the basic strategy to introduce new varieties to farmers, it could be said that the government project is the means to distribute good seed from the public sector.

Based on such a criterion, maize seed of the open-pollinated variety Suwan #1 from the Seed Division was distributed through DOAE’s maize promotion project. After 15 years of the project, the situation of maize planting has progressed, especially the maize grower’s attitude about seed use. Local varieties are substituted by improved varieties, farmers select the seed source for planting. Nowadays, almost all maize growers choose to use hybrid seed for their production field, about 80 percent of total maize seed use is hybrid seed produced by private seed companies. Public maize seed production of open-pollinated varieties was terminated in 1992 and 4 years later for hybrid seed. Presently, formal maize seed production is entirely the role of the private sector. This is considered as indigenous success from the point of view of seed extension.

Using good quality seed as a means to improve crop yield has been applied to other crop development projects. Rice seed extension is another example of the attempt of DOAE at seed distribution. Exchanging rice yield harvested from farmers' fields with an equal amount of good variety rice seed was the requirement at the beginning of the rice promotion project. Then came the concept of selling good quality rice seed at low prices, changing the target location every year and returning back to the same location after 4 years. Rice promotion integrated with regular farmer training has regulated rice seed requirement to some degree.

4.4 Constraints in Seed Extension

Since the cultivated area is enormous, each year there is a large national seed demand. The annual seed requirement for rice is as high as 582 000 metric tons. Major formal rice seed supply comes from the public sector, which is only 7.6 percent of the overall seed needed. As the rice exchange and promotion project has been implemented consistently, with the tool of good seed of improved varieties for some time, there has been some improvement. One of those is farmers’ attitude; some of them look for seed for cultivation from reliable sources, especially public producers. Some farmers understand the need to renew their seed source every 3-4 years. However, as indicated, there are a lot of rice growers with small-scale production involved, these groups of farmers are still attached to the informal seed sector. A large amount of rice seed from a wide range of varieties is needed at the right time in various places at an acceptable price. This makes rice seed supply from the formal producer become more difficult to manage.

Seed prices seem to be the weakest point for either rice or other self-pollinated crops such as soybean, mungbean and peanut seed production for the formal seed sector. Producing good quality seed needs some investment, varietal improvement, variety maintenance, producing good foundation seed, etc. These factors make the cost of seed production rise. To gain some profit, producers certainly have to set prices higher than grain, while seed (or grain) from the informal sector will not be so affected. Moreover, with the characteristic of a self-pollinated crop, seed from proper field management, with correct practice for seed production, could be collected as a seed source in the following season. This makes it difficult to estimate the actual seed demand in each year, resulting in complications in seed supply planning by government as well as private enterprise.

On-going rice seed production by government needs to be carried out as well as other self-pollinated crops, but a specified focus objective is necessary. For supporting government projects, which still require good quality seed as a basic technology transfer, it is very important to clearly indicate target groups that really need government to improve their productivity. Regulated seed supply under government subsidy on the basis of actual necessary demand is expected to have an impact on the seed situation in general. Seed price will be set depending on natural systems of seed demand and supply. Another channel of seed production and seed distribution needs to be taken into account, the public seed sector and government projects will not be able meet the national seed demand.

5. SEED OUTLOOK

Seed extension in Thailand will be subjected to drastic change in the coming decades due to the following new seed policy and programmes.

5.1 Plant Variety Protection Act

Thailand is planning to enact the first Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act by the year 2000. This will grant the plant breeders protection against unauthorized use of their new plant varieties. The regulation and criteria used in Thailand’s PVP Act for registering new varieties in order to provide plant breeder's protection is very much in line with UPOV guidance. The varieties have to be distinct, uniform, stable and not be exploited for a certain time before the date applying for the registration. However, the use of the new plant varieties for non-commercial purposes such as plant breeding research or multiplication for personal use, does not infringe this PVP Act. Thailand’s PVP Act also grants the right to the public community for authorization of their local or land-race plant varieties as well as wild-type species found in their habitat. The registration fee and income derived from the enforcement of this new PVP Act will be used as partial funding for the Plant Foundation, to be established later, as the organization for supporting and assisting the community in their activities on the conservation and development of landrace or local varieties. When the Act comes into force, it is expected to draw great attention from plant breeders and the seed companies elsewhere to work more on plant breeding research and register their new varieties in Thailand. As a consequence, this will make more superior plant varieties available to the Thai farmers and also facilitate Thai farmers gaining easy access to quality seed through the widespread markets of the seed companies.

5.2 On-farm Seed Production or Seed Villages

The Department of Agricultural Extension is proposing to the government to reshape the system of distributing quality seed to farmers. The direct exchange or distribution of quality seed through the various crop promotion projects subsidized by the government will be minimized. To make quality seed available to farmers, especially those living in remote areas, who are relatively poor and could not afford to buy the expensive seed of newly released varieties, the Department of Agricultural Extension will place more emphasis on the means of on-farm seed production. Cooperation among DOAE's seed centers, DOAE offices at the district level and the administrative body of the communities in planning and targeting for on-farm seed production will be established. Competent farmer groups will be selected and registered as the certified seed production group. Training on seed production, cultural practices, appropriate seed handling technology as well as basic marketing concepts will be conducted to provide essential and basic knowledge to them. Easy access to registered seed of appropriate varieties adapted to the local environment will be provided to the selected farmers. Seed multiplication will be conducted in their own fields. Supervision and technical advice will be provided at all steps of seed production. After harvest, the seed will be dried, cleaned and stored in their village seed warehouses and subsequently sold to the members of the group, as well as others, at a reasonable price. The income gained from selling this seed will be used as a revolving fund for the group to continue this on-farm seed production activity for the next season.

5.3 Natural Disaster Relief Programme

Quality seed of improved varieties should be distributed to Thai farmers who lose their crop and/or seed stocks due to natural disasters through the project for natural disaster relief.

Statistical records from 1987-1997 indicated that the natural disasters (drought, flooding and others) caused average damage to agricultural land of 1.6 million hectares per year. Immediately after the damaged land can be reclaimed, the government is in urgent need of approximately 40 000 tons of quality seed to be promptly transferred to the farmers in order to provide them with the capability to regain their crop and income. In the past, it was always true that when natural disasters occurred, government had no seed supply in hand and had no time to locate and procure seed from seed suppliers. In fact, at that time the seed fields were most likely damaged too. Therefore, the government had to procure grain to substitute for quality seed and use it in the Natural Relief Project. Grain used as seed more often than not fails to perform well in the field and consequently results in farmers losing their opportunity to restore their crop and income. To resolve this weakness of the natural disaster relief project, DOAE is proposing to the government allocation of a specific budget for producing seed to be used exclusively in the Natural Relief Project. Quality seed of approximately 11 000 tons, especially rice and mungbean seed, will be produced and stored as a reserve at government seed centers.

Hence, in the coming decade, if a natural disaster takes place, the reserved seed will be promptly transported and distributed to affected farmers as soon as the damaged land can be reclaimed. By this means, the farmers will always have access to quality seed even in the case of emergency caused by natural disaster.

5.4 Collaboration between Public and Private Sectors for Seed Production and Distribution

Nowadays, the public sector is the sole producer and distributor for seeds of major field crops (rice, soybean and mungbean) grown in Thailand. To promote and convince the private sector to play a greater role in production and distribution of seed of these three major field crops, DOAE has launched a new policy and regulations since early 1999. Qualified private agencies (companies, cooperatives, farmer groups, etc.) are invited to register themselves at DOAE to be either sales representatives or certified seed producers. Sales representatives will receive 15 percent price discount as the benefit for selling DOAE-produced seed. Certified seed producers receive a higher priority on the name list of eligible bodies to sell seed to government in government seed procurement.

5.5 Reorganization of the Public Seed Agency (Autonomous Body)

According to the Autonomous Government Agency Act enacted in February 1999, the government agencies offering various kinds of service activities to the public, including the Seed Division of DOAE, are subjected to transform their organization from conventional government organizations to the administration-independent organizations, or so-called autonomous bodies. However, government still continues financial support for salary and other management costs. This transformation is intended to improve and enhance the effectiveness of the administration of the organization. Formalities, rules and regulations related to management for seed production and distribution will be changed and modified to be fewer and simpler. Consequently, this should enhance the effectiveness of government seed centers for seed production activities, by which seed production will use less time and inputs but obtain higher production and higher quality. Eventually, government centers would be able to produce and distribute more seed to the public at a lower cost.

It could be concluded that, in the coming decade, the private sector will play a greater role in plant research, seed production and distribution. Whereas the public sector will minimize its role as the seed producer and subsidizer, but will increase its intensive role in providing guidance and regulation to ease and regulate seed production, trade and distribution of the country. Seed supply will be widely distributed in the country. Farmers will have more opportunity to experience new varieties that could improve their crop yields and quality. Limited-resource farmers will gain easy access to quality seed at reasonable prices from local sources.

6. REFERENCES

Dalodom, A. 1997. Extension of Soybean in Thailand. Proc. World Soybean Research Conference V (21–27 February, 1994). Cheing Mai, Thailand. p. 507-510.

DOA. 1996. Maize, Monograph Number 4, Department of Agriculture, Bangkok, Thailand.

Center of Agricultural Information Office of Agricultural Economics. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Agricultural Economics Indicators of Thailand: Macro Economics. Bangkok, Thailand. p. 16-33.

Chainuvati, C., A. Kasivivat, A. Uthayopas, R. Sewatasai & C. Chanaseni. 1997. Soybean Production Technology in Thailand. Proc. World Soybean Research Conference V (21–27 February, 1994). Cheing Mai, Thailand. p. 503-506.

Hann, R.D. 1991. Soybean Extension in Northern Thailand: Evaluating Thailand’s Agricultural Extension. M.A. Thesis. Nijmegen, Germany. p. 74-79.

Isvilanonda, S. 1997. Rice Production and Consumption in Thailand: The Recent Trend and Future Outlook. Bangkok, Thailand. Journal of Agricultural Economics. p. 55-72.

Thomson, P. 1994. Thailand: a comprehensive survey of the seed sector. Country Report No. 3. Asia and Pacific Seed Association, Bangkok, Thailand.

Table 1. Land utilization in agriculture

Items	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
Total land area	320 697	320 697	320 697	320 697	320 697
* Agriculture
- Farm holding area	131 773	131 831	132 124	133 076	133 051
- Number of farms (1,000 farms)	5 040	5 057	5 073	5 131	5 149
- Size of farm (ha)	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.1
* Forestry 1 /
- Forest area	89 880	89 636	87 489	85 436	84 344
- Mangrove areas	n.a.	1 128	n.a.	1 085	n.a.
* Fishery 2 /
- Area of fresh water fish culture	287	260	257	267	308
- Areas of marine shrimp culture	417	474	412	471	455
* Unclassified land	104 300	104 300	104 300	104 300	104 300
* Irrigation 3 /
- Area irrigated by large and medium size - irrigation systems	19 873	20 007	20 166	20 586	20 731
- Area irrigation by small size- irrigation systems	5 836	5 982	6 322	6 697	6 973

Note: n.a. - data not available

Source: 1 / Royal Forestry Department

2 / Department of Fisheries

3 / Royal Irrigation Department

 

Table 2. Planted area of selected crops

Unit : million ha

Crops	1989/90	1990/91	1991/92	1992/93	1993/94	Growth rate
Major rice	9.47	9.31	8.83	9.01	8.98	-1.38
Second rice	0.84	0.59	0.72	0.66	0.50	-8.95
Maize	1.79	1.74	1.47	1.35	1.34	-7.99
Cassava	1.53	1.49	1.49	1.45	1.41	-1.85
Sugarcane	0.69	0.79	0.93	1.00	0.86	7.04
Sorghum	0.19	0.19	0.19	0.19	0.18	-1.71
Mungbean	0.51	0.45	0.44	0.38	0.34	-9.12
Soybean	0.51	0.42	0.35	0.37	0.42	-5.52
Groundnut	0.12	0.12	0.11	0.10	0.09	-6.08
Cotton	0.06	0.07	0.09	0.08	0.05	-3.39
Oil palm	0.13	0.14	0.15	0.15	0.15	4.42
Pineapple	0.08	0.07	0.08	0.09	0.10	8.02

Table 3. Production of selected crops

Unit : 1,000 tons

Crops	1989/90	1990/91	1991/92	1992/93	1993/94	Growth rate
Major rice	18 477	14 902	17 518	17 302	16 438	-0.79
Second rice	2 124	2 291	2 882	2 615	1 965	-0.23
Maize	4 393	3 722	3 793	3 672	3 328	-5.53
Cassava	20 701	19 705	20 356	20 203	19 091	-1.36
Sugarcane	33 561	40 661	47 480	39 827	37 823	2.21
Sorghum	231	237	250	249	208	-1.59
Mungbean	356	303	304	261	231	-9.65
Soybean	672	530	436	480	513	-6.19
Groundnut	161	161	157	137	136	-4.87
Cotton	86	97	129	99	67	-4.68
Oil palm	1 098	1 192	1 316	1 352	1 526	8.16
Pineapple	2 005	1 865	1 931	2 229	2 589	7.14

Table 4. Yield of selected crops

Unit : ton/ha

Crops	1989/90	1990/91	1991/92	1992/93	1993/94	Growth rate
Major rice	2.02	1.81	2.1	2.03	2.06	1.58
Second rice	2.91	3.92	4.11	4.04	4.08	7.30
Maize	2.57	2.41	2.71	2.97	2.73	3.38
Cassava	13.92	13.74	14.03	14.05	13.81	0.06
Sugarcane	48.89	51.96	51.8	40.16	47.31	-3.18
Sorghum	1.30	1.26	1.30	1.44	1.42	3.24
Mungbean	0.72	0.71	0.73	0.74	0.74	1.04
Soybean	1.34	1.30	1.37	1.40	1.35	0.93
Groundnut	1.34	1.38	1.43	1.36	1.49	1.96
Cotton	1.36	1.36	1.31	1.39	1.35	0
Oil palm	12.08	12.41	12.75	12.51	13.33	2.07
Pineapple	25.76	25.03	24.22	24.86	25.91	0.05

Table 5. Import and exports of grain, meal and oil of soybean in Thailand

Crop Year	Import			Exports
	Grain (tons)	Meal (tons)	Oil (tons)	Grain (tons)	Meal (tons)
1981/82	15	142 997	14 676	2 531	300
1982/83	3 218	208 470	10 445	1 295	250
1983/84	0	191 479	20 554	1 035	150
1984/85	107	296 237	46 710	995	250
1985/86	1	155 023	13 657	2 342	13
1986/87	0	205 915	3 892	1 983	0
1987/88	0	239 564	2 687	142	0
1988/89	33 277	225 404	7 304	16	4
1989/90	9	171 602	7 601	11	0
1990/91	16	340 031	5 499	71	0
1991/92	34	428 245	3 826	529	0

Source: Office of Agricultural Economics.

Table 6. Soybean distribution in selected types of uses

Unit: ton

Crop year	Total Production	Use in Oil extraction	Total meal production and other industries	Uses in seed
1981/82	132 000	77 895	60 758	54 120
1982/83	113 000	91 358	71 259	24 860
1983/84	179 000	68 020	53 056	110 980
1984/85	253 582	124 362	97 002	129 327
1985/86	310 713	177 107	138 144	133 607
1986/87	356 484	238 844	186 298	117 640
1987/88	337 745	229 667	179 140	108 078
1988/89	516 811	343364	267 824	206 724
1989/90	672 368	403 430	314 675	268 947
1990/91	530 112	318 083	248 105	212 045
1991/92	435 587	216 386	203 881	174 235

Source: Office of Agricultural Economics.

Table 7. Hybrid maize seed production for export

Unit: ton

Company	Single Cross	Three way cross	Total
CP	1 000	-	1 000
Cargill	500	-	500
Others (Pacific, Uniseed)	500	-	2 000
Total	2 000	-	2 000

 

Table 8. Hybrid maize seed production for domestic use

Unit: ton

Company	Single Cross	Three way cross (Modified single cross)		Open-pollinated varieties	Total
CP	6 400	1 600		-	8 000
Cargill	4 800	1 200		-	6 000
Pioneer	720	180		-	900
Novartis	640	160		-	800
Pacific	400	100		-	500
Others (Uniseed)	240	60		-	300
Chaichana				1 000	1 000
Total	13 200		3 300	1 000	17 500

Table 9. Quantity and value of import and export of controlled seed in 1997

Kinds of seed	Import		Export
	Quantity (tons)	Value ($)	Quantity (tons)	Value ($)
Chinese Kale	267.7	451 754	7.34	28 380
Chinese Cabbage	58.35	203 825	4.75	9 025
Leaf Mustard	78.89	139 390	9.25	45 978
Chinese radish	302.28	729 575	58.07	19 838
Cauliflower	105.59	233 999	2.06	13 187
Cabbage	21.08	1 484 767	5.55	539 220
Edible rape	371.04	538 609	62.54	284 682
Broccoli	0.25	34 593	0.18	30 150
Chinese convolvulus	248.97	17 770	1 345.45	1 469 484
Chilli	1.56	42 636	23.73	2 963 830
Tomato	3.85	143 479	36.55	4 034 639
Lettuce	25.76	141 691	11.93	49 521
Cucumber	13.52	529 185	18.58	113 238
Watermelon	35.51	360 927	19.71	4 182 513
Onion	6.4	52 453	-	-
Leek	0.10	1 405	-	-
Sugar pea	78.39	69 166	33.83	67 105
Yard long bean	13.65	35 537	33.40	60 076
Sweet corn	37.08	361 496	59.44	105 756

 

Table 10. Planting area, seed requirement, and public seed supplies of selected crops in 1997/98

Crop	Planting Area(million ha) (a)	Total Seed Requirement (tons)	Public Seed Amount (tons) (b)	Supplies Percentage
Rice	9.31	582 000	44 700	7.6
Maize	1.38	25 800	-	-
Soybean	0.35	33 000	9 400	28
Mungbeans	0.38	12 000	4 310	35
Peanut	0.09	12 000	1 046	8.7
Total	11.52	664 800	59 456	8.9

Source:

(a) Annual report 1997/98 of Department of Agricultural Economic, Ministry of Agricultural and Cooperatives (b) Annual seed production report 1997/98 of Department of Agricultural Extension’s Seed Division and Department of Cooperatives Promotion