Thai Science Min discovers way to dispose of insects in rice

[webfact]

Science Min discovers way to dispose of insects in rice



BANGKOK, 28 December 2015 (NNT) – The Ministry of Science and Technology has opened an insect-pest management plant where radio frequency is used to dispose of insects and their eggs in rice.

Weerapong Pairsuwan, Permanent Secretary for Science and Technology, officiated at a ceremony to open a model plant for insect-pest management and control. This plant has the capability to terminate and remove insects and insect eggs from rice by using electromagnetic wave frequencies.

Electromagnetic waves will travel through the molecules of rice which will vibrate 1 trillion times per second, creating a certain degree of heat that, according to a research team in Chiang Mai University, insects and their eggs cannot survive.

Mr Weerapong said the same procedure can be applied to other products such as corn, nuts and beans, and sesame.

He said the new technology helps to maintain the quality of Thai agricultural produce as well as improve the country’s ability to compete with its counterparts in the ASEAN market.

-- NNT 2015-12-28

[Crossy]

Hmmm, microwave pest control.

I assume someone found this 2001 article http://public.wsu.edu/~sjwang/review-rf-insect.pdf (ok it talks about nuts, but the principle is the same).

How much energy does this new plant use per kg of cleaned product, effect on the cost of this longer-lived rice?

[jerojero]

Is this the same type of historical discovery like the cure for Ebola the Thai Establishment announced a year ago?

[rubl]

Will the 'heat' generated effect the quality of the rice?

Will someone remember to clean the rice of killed off insects and eggs before packaging ?

When will the first government official proudly announce to have found (Thai) ways to improve the quality of some of that rice remaining from a decade or so ago?

[NeverSure]

The Science Ministry "discovered it" did they? They must have had someone who could read English to make that discovery.

Thainess.

[Lunchbob]

It kills these insects and leaves their dead bodies in the rice?

[NeverSure]

It kills these insects and leaves their dead bodies in the rice?

Protein.

[ezzra]

What next? discovering this round thing called wheel and sliced bread? go tell the ministry that

when you buy rice in other countries, there are no rice weevils or other insects in any grain product....

[Pdaz]

They will invent plumbing soon so they can wash the dead bodies out or the rice...

[puukao]

this is still 100x better than than what all us farangs have invented while in Thailand...

i must put beer down.......walk away from bar girl........and think...

nah...

[Bluespunk]

this is still 100x better than than what all us farangs have invented while in Thailand...

i must put beer down.......walk away from bar girl........and think...

nah...

The technique wasn't invented here apparently.

[Oziex1]

this is still 100x better than than what all us farangs have invented while in Thailand...

i must put beer down.......walk away from bar girl........and think...

nah...

Not all foreigners are beer swilling drop outs. I know many including myself who have a wealth of knowledge experience and wisdom to pass onto Thai people.

Unfortunately many Thais are unwilling to accept the benefits of the experience of others, we don't have all the answers but we can help if they would care to listen.

[bangon04]

so the kilo of rotten infested rice costs how much/

and then after magic purifying processing costs are included from this world-leading Thai invention, it costs how much?

Or is this world-leading Thai invention also a cost-effective way to process rotten infested Thai rice?

Does this mean that Thailand can become a hub for the treatment of rotten infested rice? Oh wait.....

[Seastallion]

Microwave technology....been around for a long time.

Perhaps the invention is the way it's packaged, ie the white plastic cover. The other new innovation, of course, is that there are NO scientific studies published showing this technology to have been used for Thai rice. That's a fact.

So there, naysayers, it IS an innovation.

Yet another from the brilliance of Thai academia.

Please see my sarcasm before calling me an idiot.

[arithai12]

Unfortunately many Thais are unwilling to accept the benefits of the experience of others, we don't have all the answers but we can help if they would care to listen.

True, unfortunately.

To be fair, I think that we foreigners often come across as we want to impose our views even if we actually just mean to help. It is not easy to manage the different mentalities.

As for the rice processing plant, I don't think it makes any economic sense unless there is more to it than was written in this article.

[Strangebrew]

Lmao that was discovered decades ago in the US it was used on meat and now steaks can be stored on shelves for years. Maybe you should send farmers to US to learn how to farm for a profit. I wonder if they discovered the world's not flat yet?

[Ricardo]

How long to process 17million tons, and then sieve it, to remove the dead insects & their eggs ?

[Si Thea01]

It kills these insects and leaves their dead bodies in the rice?

Just think of them as added protein.

[HerbalEd]

It kills these insects and leaves their dead bodies in the rice?

Evidently you'd be shocked at the amount of insects that are ubiquitous in many of the foods you eat every day. And that's not only in Thailand ... it includes USA, EU and most other countries. . The USFDA and USDA have established "tolerance levels" for these insects (and other foreign matter) in our foods, and so has the EU and other countries.

You'll probably be disgusted to learn that FDA allows a much larger level of cockroaches in chocolate because the insect loves it so much.

[HerbalEd]

Lmao that was discovered decades ago in the US it was used on meat and now steaks can be stored on shelves for years. Maybe you should send farmers to US to learn how to farm for a profit. I wonder if they discovered the world's not flat yet?

There's no way that "steaks can be stored on shelves for years." Also, insects are virtually never a problem with steaks.

Do you often make up your own "facts"?

[ikke]

Next week they will announce "Thai science min discovers hot water"

[HerbalEd]

For those of you who are so quick and eager to ridicule the Thais: The word "discovers" is not necessarily the same as the word "invents," which does not appear in the article. "Discovers" only appears in the articles headline, so if you must kill anyone, kill the messenger (i.e., the author).

It's amusing (pathetic?) how super-quick and eager many of you are to put down the Thais anytime about anything. Maybe you aren't cut out for expat life in a third-world country. It's not the same here as your home country ... don't you know.

[Kasset Tak]

I helped on a research last year about the benefits of crop rotation sponsored by Ministry of Agriculture and Office of Vocational Education as there where "no" studies done on that. It took me 1 minute to find several studies on Google, one study in Canada has been going for over 40 years now and crop rotation was even recorded in ancient Egypt but there had been no recorded studies done on crop rotation before... in Thailand...

The same goes with making silage from the banana plant and use it as pig/cattle feed, there are several studies done by FAO on the subject but now the college here is in the discussion with Ministry of Agriculture to make a study about this as there are "no" studies made... in Thailand...

[HuaHinHim]

I recently took a ship to Australia and DAFF (Department of Agriculture Forrestry and Fisheries I think) as they are now known, found ants and weevles in rice and flour. They instructed me to put the rice, flour anything else found infested with insects into the freezer for 10 days as they say it completely dries out the insects and the eggs. After that it is ok to consume. Not my words, theirs, but after 10 days there was definently nothing moving in it. It didn't seem to degrade the rice and flour from what I saw. Is it the answer, I don't know but I expect there would be plenty of freezer space in Thailand to try it out.

[nivram4491]

Lmao that was discovered decades ago in the US it was used on meat and now steaks can be stored on shelves for years. Maybe you should send farmers to US to learn how to farm for a profit. I wonder if they discovered the world's not flat yet?

Farming for profit, particularly in North America, is a huge factor in the CO2 build up in the atmosphere and degradation of the soil (loss of carbon is huge). I think it would be better for US farmers to come to Thailand to learn about more sustainable agriculture.

[DrTuner]

So they nuke the stuff in the microwave. I wonder how those cooked ants taste like.

[lblake32]

In the USA many perishable foods are irradiated with various nuclear materials. All almonds from California must be treated in the way, even those marketed as organic. Fruit can stay on the shelf for ever and still look good enough to eat.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/about-our-products/food-safety/irradiation-us-and-canada

[sawadee1947]

oh, is it the same Thai Science which brought to us the new Ebola vaccine? Or the new Dengue fever remedy?

Give me a break please...it's not fool's day already, isn't it?

[keithathome]

To poster #16 Strangebrew: that is gamma irradiation you are thinking about. Works with veg too. Complete biological sterilisation. Dangerous to life while ongoing but no radioactive residue. But why not just flood the silos with nitrogen gas ? Won't sterilise but will kill bugs and vermin.

[HerbalEd]

In the USA many perishable foods are irradiated with various nuclear materials. All almonds from California must be treated in the way, even those marketed as organic. Fruit can stay on the shelf for ever and still look good enough to eat.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/about-our-products/food-safety/irradiation-us-and-canada

Re. "All almonds from California must be treated" with nuclear radiation. This is yet another "made-up fact."

BTW, it's illegal in USA for any irradiated foods to be "marketed as organic."