The Commerce Ministry plans to spend Bt60 million to drive organic farming and related businesses amid fastgrow¬ing global demand.
"We will encourage growers and producers in Thailand to create new organic products that suit world demand, with of course every support we can give," Pimpapaan Chansilpa, deputy permanent sec¬retary, said last Friday.
The move is part of the min¬istry's "the creative commerce, the Thai people's strength" policy for 201013, aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of organic farming and related businesses.
As part of the policy, the min¬istry will also promote and devel¬op businesses that produce organic foods as well as restau¬rants, spas and hotels that use only organic products. Help will also be pro¬vided to grow¬ers to find avail¬able and suit¬able land for planting.
The ministry will also contin¬ue to hold many exhibitions to educate con¬sumers on the benefits of organic prod¬ucts.
According to research by the International Trade Centre under Unctad (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) and the World Trade Organisation, organic agri¬culture is the fastestgrowing industry worldwide with average growth of 2030 per cent annual¬ly. The global organic market this year is expected to reach US$100 billion (Bt3.1 trillion).
Four years ago, the Commerce Ministry joined with the Agriculture, Science and Interior ministries, Thai organic associa¬tions and companies such as Rai Plook Rak and Vimandin to pro¬mote the development of organicproduct businesses under the Organic Business Community project.
Thailand is shooting to become the organic hub of Asean and Asia next year, Pimpapaan said.
Koh Phangan was appointed on August 16 as an organic island by Organic Agriculture Certification (Thailand), she said. The island will set aside an organ¬ic cultivation area of 800900 rai (128144 hectares) to serve foreign and local tourists who prefer to consume organic food. The project is due to be completed in 2020.
A survey by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements on February 16 showed that more than 35 million hectares had been given over to organic products, with countries such as Australia, Argentina and China taking the lead.
Last year in Thailand, 118,091 rai was under organic cultivation and supporting organic exports of Bt3.5 billion. This year organic exports are expected to reach Bt3.6 bil¬lion, while the domestic mar¬ket is expected to be Bt3 billion. Next year organic exports are expected to increase by 1520 per cent depending on the economic situation.
The major markets are Europe, North America, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. The bestsellers are rice, vegetables, processed fruit and organic prawns.
Next year the Commerce Ministry and public universities will work together to choose stu¬dents who show interest and teach them not only how to raise organ¬ic vegetables, but how to market them, since organic foods are usu¬ally more expensive than nonorganic foods.
Pimpapaan warned consumers to be very careful with products that claim to be "organic", as there is no strict law on which products are organic and which are not. Consumers should look for labels such as "Organic Thailand", which is certified by the Agriculture Ministry, "IFOAM" (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements), which is accepted by 103 countries, and the "Q" logo, which was introduced by the Agriculture Ministry during the "Year of Food Safety" in 2004.