The secret fragrance of Thai rice

Currently there are only four main varieties of rice grown and marketed in Thailand for consumption and export, including the fragrant Khao Dok Mali 105, or Thai jasmine rice. These are the preferred four from among the few thousand strains available.

But four or five decades ago there were between 50,000 and 100,000 varieties.

A few passages in the book record what the farmers of old had to say about rice - or "paddy", to be more exact. They'll have you wondering just how much you're missing in terms of palatable pleasures.

Today we might be connoisseurs of jasmine rice, but we never take a close look at paddy, with its long seed body and prominently curved "bottom". In fact few urban Thais nowadays know how to distinguish among the kinds of rice they eat daily - Kor Khor 23, Chainat 1 and Pathumtani 1, as well as Khao Dok Mali 105.

They may be little aware of the gradual disappearance of many rice varieties, and fewer still will know that some farmers still grow some of the rarer ones for their own consumption.

The author also raises the big question mark over the future of jasmine rice as a bio-resource with the advent of genetically modified technology and bio-piracy.

Due recognition is given to the importance of protecting the ordinary farmers who are the real conservationists of jasmine rice.

First published in 2002, two years after Thailand cried foul when an American firm registered a trademark for Jasmati rice, the book has played an important role in raising Thai awareness about the potential for conflict and disastrous harm to Thai rice exports.

The Biothai Foundation has argued that the Jasmati trademark and product description, "Jasmine rice grown in Texas", could mislead consumers into believing it's Thai jasmine rice. Jasmati actually comes from other rice gene lines.

Biothai is pressing the government to follow the example of the Indian Research Foundation, which forced the same US company, Texas-based Rice Tech Inc, to withdraw its "patent" for Basmati.

The Thai government must itself patent Thai jasmine rice, Biothai says, rather than merely accepting the registered trademark Hommali Rice in the interest of resolving the conflict. Failing to do so allows further theft of the name "jasmine" as an indicator of the plant's origin.

The trademark battles are just the tip of the iceberg, the authors warn. The real bone of contention is about the bio-rights, intellectual resources and property rights of the less advanced countries.

The international Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) recognises patents on plants developed through biotechnology using indigenous plant varieties, even when the breeding is primarily funded by more advanced countries.

Thailand's best bet lies with the 33 local rice breeds that have been developed by science under the auspices of different state-sponsored and international organisations, particularly the US-funded International Rice Research Institute, based in the Philippines.

At least three inconvenient truths must be raised if these breeds are to be claimed as innovations.

First, while "better-quality seeds and plant breeds" increase productivity, they also require greater use of chemical fertiliser and pesticide, meaning production costs rise and the environment is damaged. These breeds also have low resistance to disease.

Second, placing emphasis on productivity and marketing focuses farmers on single breeds at the expense of other local rice varieties. Samples of the tens of thousands of varieties that have largely fallen into disuse are now kept at the Rice Genes Bank in Pathum Thani, but biodiversity - a foundation for life and culture - remains endangered.

Third, bio-piracy is still largely condoned by existing laws, conventions and agreements on genetic resources.

Some of the cheaper rice breeds, as well, have become rivals to Khao Hom Mali 105, the country's preferred and highest-priced export. China has considerably boosted its imports of Pathumtani 1, while taking less Khao Hom Mali.

The book is now being revised and updated by Witoon Lianjamroon and Niramon Yuwaboon, its two original authors, both graduates in agriculture who've been involved with Biothai for two decades.

The new edition will include more recent developments, like the progress made by Thai farmers in defending rice biodiversity, partially by networking with farmers in countries like Bangladesh and India.

More about the Biothai Foundation can be found at www.biothai.org.

By Sukanya Hantrakul