Thailand’s Hom Mali fragrant rice lost its world championship to Cambodia’s “Phaka Lamduan” rice in the World’s Best Rice 2022 contest in Phuket.
Chukiat Opaswong, honorary president of the Rice Exporters Association, said Cambodia’s Phaka Lamduan fragrant rice narrowly beat Thailand’s Hom Mali 105 rice because the Thai rice variety was less fragrant. He blamed the defect on prolonged flooding in Ubon Ratchathani province.
The association on behalf of Thailand sent only one rice entry to the contest which drew 20 entries also from Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, India, Pakistan, the United States and China.
The Thai rice lost its championship to Cambodia by only one point while the third and fourth ranks were rice from Vietnam and Laos respectively, Mr Chukiat said.
The loss showed the necessity for Thailand to seriously develop its rice varieties, he said.
Cambodia mainly used organic fertilizer for its rice cultivation while Thailand’s rice depended mainly on chemical fertilizer which would have negative impacts in the long run, Mr Chukiat said.
He urged the Thai government to focus more on Thai rice development instead of handling rice prices. (TNA)
