Govt to improve the quality of Thai fruit

BANGKOK: -- Thailand plans to invest nearly fifty million baht in improving the quality of five popular Thai fruits, according to government agricultural officials.

The efforts to boost the quality of the fruit is for both export and domestic consumption.

Under the scheme, an area of 73,000 rais in ten provinces will be used to pilot new varieties of pomelos, oranges, lemons, mangoes and coconuts, the Director of the Horticultural Research Institute, Pairoj Suwanchinda told TNA.

The Department of Agriculture’s plan is partly in response to increase in fruit and vegetable imports from China, especially apples and pears, since the Sino-Thai Free Trade Agreement came into force earlier this year.

This has had a dramatic impact on the domestic price and supply of fruit and vegetables in Thailand. As a result, these five cash crops have been selected to supply domestic demand all year round as an import substitute.

Government officials hope the fruit produced can also be exported.

The pilot project will be conducted in Samutsakon, Lampang, Prae, Pichit, Sisaket, Khon Kaen, Sukhothai, Nan, Chumpon and Bangkok.

Agricultural officials will encourage farmers to regenerate plantations where the soil has been damaged by plant disease and the regular use of pesticides.

China is a good potential market for Thai fruit exports, said Mr. Pairoj.

Thailand exported nearly 4,800 tonnes of pomelo to China in 2004. The Chinese use pomelo as an offering during various traditional occasions like the Full Moon festival. There are also good prospects for the export of lemons and mangoes to China, Mr. Pairoj said.

Thai coconuts are popular in the US and Europe.

--TNA 2005-04-24

I did not know you could buy Lemons in Thailand.

I thought they were imported.

Did he mean Limes?

about time too.