Easing

To start this issue I would like to draw your attention to an otherwise marginal article, if it weren't for the conclusions it draws.

Looking at how Nobel prize winners were drawn into declaring their support for genetically modified organisms the oneworld (Nov. 7) article's author comes to some revealing disclosures. 

Though this saga has been highlighted earlier on this site, let's start with part of the article's intro:

'In June this year it hit the newspaper headlines. More than a hundred Nobel laureates call upon Greenpeace to immediately cease their resistance to genetic modification (GM). In specific the environmental organization was blasted for it's campaign against so-called “Golden Rice”, a genetically engineered rice variety 
...
Regulatory barriers for GM-technology should therefore be eased, the letter urges, and calls on “governments of the world“ to make this happen'.

The article reveals 

• That Greenpeace does not "frustrate" the work of IRRI on Golden Rice,
• that Greenpeace were not allowed to defend themselves at a press conference in Washington D.C., being refused entry by a representative of a PR firm who was formerly head of Monsanto's corporate communication,
• the same person also provided public affairs guidance to the Nobel winners,
• the same representative is a fixer between industry and scientists which seek to discredit organic food industry,
• with this in mind there is apparently a target list of well-known / influential GMO doubters,
• that the leader of Nobel Laureates efforts in this cause has a private stake in allowing wider acceptance of GMO's. 

It just proves to what lengths corporations are willing to go to reap higher returns where whatever the truth may be is lost. Here one sees how a simple rice related issue is part of a strategy to avoid questions and possible consequences, all for a greater greed. A lot has been said about the ability of internet to withhold truth and act as an echo chamber. Blatantly shouter louder than those who seek a more balanced picture seems to be all the rage.
The Guardian (Nov. 30) has a similar article but then on the bigger picture.

Cambodia
Main news from Cambodia is it's unsuccessful bid to become World's Best Rice; apparently the competition has decided not to be upstaged by Cambodia. The Phnom Penh Post (Nov. 21):

'Cambodia's Phka Rumdoul variety of fragrant rice, which won the World’s Best Rice award for three consecutive years from 2012 to 2014, narrowly missed its fourth crown at this year’s awards held in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand last week'.

Other news from the Kingdom's rice scene. Main point is of course the decreasing  price for the fresh harvest.

Solving problems the Khmer way. CNV.org (Nov. 22):

'To prevent the falling rice prices, Samdech Techo Hun Sen called on the farmers to keep and dry up their rice yields well, and sought understanding from the microfinance institutions that have provided loans to farmers, stressing that not only Cambodia, but other countries in the region and the world have been facing with this low rice prices'.

The VoA (Nov. 24) worded roughly the same:

'Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday urged Cambodian farmers to put off sales of rice due to recent falls in the commodity’s price on international markets'.

Well, I doubt this will have any effect, bills need to be paid and who says that prices will rise in the (near) future? 
Sectoral news, one wold say in the same vein. The Phnom Penh Post (Nov. 25):

'It has been over two months since the government made available a $27 million emergency loan package to the beleaguered rice sector, yet only 5 percent of the funds have been disbursed.

Officials from the state-owned bank in charge of issuing the loans claim the low figure is proof that rice millers’ claims of facing imminent bankruptcy were overblown, while rice industry players charge it is because the lending comes with onerous strings attached.

...

Yang Phirom, a business advisor for Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), said that the RDB’s 7 percent annual interest rate was too high.

“Based on our observations, the interest rate of loan from the RDB is still high compared to other countries that are offering lower interest rates,” he said. “Most of the rice millers would not dare to apply for the government’s loans as they are not confident that they will be able to pay them back.”

Additionally, he said that the sector was still faced with large quantities of illicit milled rice coming in from Vietnam, while paddy rice was going out, skewing Cambodia’s rice prices and its ability to compete even domestically.

“These challenges still have not been addressed,” Phirom said'.

It sort of underlines how the Khmer government has little power to persuade the market whichever way it's being directed. The growth of Cambodia's export market has been mostly due to higher prices and little competition from Thailand with private companies behind the driving wheel. 
In a buyers market with depressing prices, Cambodia's produce is simply not competitive enough with the same private monies opting for better opportunities elsewhere.

There's more to note on this issue. The Phnom Penh Post (Dec. 1):

'Frustrated with the failure of a $27 million emergency loan package to help rice farmers find a fair market price for their crop and stem the tide of smuggled paddy across the borders, Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon is flogging a new model for the nation’s restive rice farmers: contract rice farming'. 

Overall, contract farming has it's merits but with decreasing prices, there's usually little appetite with traders and millers; after all lower prices mean an oversupply in the market which consequently results in millers less eager to purchase harvests, let alone put them in stick; unless they were able to negotiate prices lower or equal to harvest value. On the other hand with prices rising, farmers will feel outdone as they had previously negotiated a price which seemed realistic at the time, but at the time of sale itself they will observe that traders are making an easy profit.
The examples highlighted were all of either limited impact or niche products where prices tend to not follow market prices as much as the mainstream products.

Even more marginal comes this bit of rice news from the Phnom Penh Post (Nov. 7). Tedious at the least:

'The government is seeking funding to complete its effort to draft standards for 11 local varieties of rice as part of an initiative aimed at facilitating efforts to market Cambodia’s most important agricultural crop, a government official said yesterday.
Chheng Uddara, a department director at the Institute of Standards of Cambodia (ISC), said standards for eight varieties have been drafted with the financial support of the multi-donor Trade Development Support Program (TDSP), but the funding only covers about half of the development process'.

Rhetoric
There's lots to report from Thailand as saving the rice farmers (or at least the notion of saving) has propelled the ingrained instability of rice market to the forefront. Prior apologies for the what has turned out to be a seemingly never ending list of links and quotes ...

Same same. The main problem are prices dropping just before the majority of Thailand's rice harvest.

Though rice prices are very much dependent on the world market, in Thailand much effort is wasted on the blame game.

Bangkok Post (Nov. 4):

'Some 30 executive committee members of the Thai Rice Millers Association have stepped down amid criticism that rice millers are behind the recent slump in rice prices.

...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha earlier blamed rice mill operators and some local politicians for manipulating rice prices, causing the price plunge'.

Bangkok Post (Nov. 8):

'While the government and farming industry have blamed each other for the sharp drop in rice prices, a leading economist says the tumbling prices, particularly for premium fragrant rice, stem from diverse factors'

 Solutions to the price drops? The Bangkok Post on November 3:

'Major Thai oil and gas companies have jointly launched rice-selling programmes to help farmers who are struggling with low rice prices due to oversupply'.

Bangkok Post (Nov. 6):

'People have responded warmly to the farmer-to-consumer rice markets popping up all over the country, with at least two provinces reporting brisk sales on the first day'.

Bangkok Post (Nov. 14):

'Almost 300 buyers from 41 countries have been brought together with sellers of Thai rice and cassava, and their processed products, at a four-day meeting the Commerce Ministry hopes will generate 63 billion baht in sales'.

Bangkok Post (Nov. 15):

'Thai exporters yesterday signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for a combined 11,000 tonnes of rice and 800,000 tonnes of tapioca chips with Hong Kong buyers at a business matching event organised by the Commerce Ministry'.

But these of course will never dent the price drop. So the next thing coming up is to cool potential hotheads. 

The Bangkok Post on November 4:

'The government's scheme (above) to delay releasing 10 million tonnes of new rice supply to the market, aimed at propping up sinking prices, will use a combined 127 billion baht in loans and subsidies, says the chief of the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC)'.

Bangkok Post (Nov. 6):

'Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has called an urgent meeting with the National Rice Policy Committee to draw up relief measures for rice farmers before a new supply of grains hits the market this month.

...

A source at the Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives Ministry said the meeting was prompted by the death of a Phichit rice farmer who allegedly committed suicide due to stress over heavy debts.

...

The spokesman declined to respond to Pheu Thai politicians' criticism of the government's handling of the rice price fall, saying Gen Prayut urged restraint to avoid friction and told concerned authorities to focus on addressing the problems'.

 The Bangkok Post on November 8:

'The National Rice Policy Committee agreed on Monday to launch a new subsidy scheme worth 18 billion baht to aid struggling farmers amid plunging rice prices'.

But it doesn't seem enough. The Bangkok Post (Nov. 10):

'The regime's responses to plummeting rice prices have been both disappointing and disastrous to it and farmers. The worst came from government spokesman, Lt Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd, who said a 43-year-old farmer in Phichit, who committed suicide because of debt caused by the price crisis, "was not a farmer, but an air-conditioner mechanic". It was a knee-jerk, unchecked and heartless response.
...

It is obvious that Gen Prayut is taking cautious steps in implementing his subsidy scheme, which is, for many people, a model copied and pasted from many previous governments, including the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, and repackaged under a new brand. 

...

Amid the crisis, the regime was still critical of Ms Yingluck's "publicity stunt" of buying rice during meetings with farmers last week. Gen Prayut urged politicians to "stop exploiting the plight of farmers for political motives'.

Bangkok Post (Nov. 12):

'The free-fall in rice prices has sent an economic and political jolt across the country, and in the process highlighted how "thinking small" and modest-scale farming just might hold the key to the survival of farmers. The depressed rice prices, coupled with a growing demand for organic farm products, are driving the chemical-free rice sector and earning these growers more income'.

It's an interesting article which highlights how growing for the masses is past-tense; niche marketing is the future.

The Bangkok Post (Nov. 13) notes:

'Rice farmers have begged the government for help as their stockpiles, which were not bought last year because of oversupply, are backing up and leaving no room for this year's looming harvest. 
...
Mr Nga urged the government to find ways to help farmers release their stockpiles so they can free-up space for this year's harvest. In tambon Muang Leang, 73 of 157 households joined the storage-pledging scheme for the 2015 harvesting season carried out by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives'.

What also highlights on the political importance of saving the rice farmers are the Bangkok Post opinions and editorials such as follows from November 6:

'In the early 1980s, as a post-Vietnam war peace took shape in Southeast Asia, Thailand made an important decision. To be more correct, Thailand decided not to decide about rice. 

In purely logical terms, a la Mr Spock, it was time to shift the back-breaking burden of rice growing to poorer neighbours in order to move the economy along to modern development including advanced agriculture.

...

The root cause is worldwide overproduction of rice. This is especially true and especially important in Thailand, the world's leading rice salesman.

But the government for completely understandable political and populist reasons wants to ignore the "worldwide" part. If there is a world glut of rice, there's no way to blame profiteering rice millers and merchants.

...

For the second time since the coup that sought to extinguish populism forever, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had to reach into the government's money bags to address serious poverty among farmers.

Like the problem with rubber growers, the premier really has no choice but a populist programme with two so-familiar aims: bail out the farmers in the short term and try to control the market in the long.

...

Gen Prayut now is equally confident that if he locks up rice stocks -- new rice, at that -- the artificial shortage will raise prices. His contradiction, arguably even bigger than the Pheu Thai dichotomy, is that consumer prices are already high and aren't going lower. Ever. And if he thinks his soldiers can run rice mills and rice marketing, he's going to be disappointed, to say the least.

..

Gen Prayut's rice problem has barely started. The ability of the state-owned Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to finance another gigantic handout -- the scheme's estimated cost went from 35 billion to 127 billion baht in three days -- is debatable'.

From November 19:

'The political bickering over how to help farmers suffering from low rice prices does not serve any purpose except exacerbating their hardship. Without a sincere halt to politicising rice prices, it is the rice farmers -- the very people everyone agrees deserve assistance -- who are destined to suffer the most.

...

The current government can use input from rice farmers and researchers as well about its plan to introduce crop substitutes in areas deemed inappropriate for rice farming. Maize, the government's preferred choice for farmers in 35 central provinces instead of rice, is widely viewed as impracticable because the crop would not grow well in areas that used to be paddy fields'.

From November 24:

'With just about one year left in office, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his government will have to give a high priority to existing problems in agriculture -- especially the falling price of rice.

...

A rice crisis always hits the government hard. Most of the measures introduced to tackle falling rice prices were not sustainable.

...

However, none of these subsidies or cash handouts are long-term solutions. Farmers should be allowed to take the lead in empowering themselves'.

The author pleads for more farmer training.

And on November 26:

'When the government gave rice farmers 13,000 baht per tonne to shore up the all-time-low paddy prices, Boonsong Martthong and hundreds of organic rice farmers in Yasothon province just could not care less. Why should they? Why kowtow to the rice millers who give farmers only 7,000 baht per tonne of paddy or rejoice at the state subsidy scheme at 13,000 baht when they can already get 20,000 baht without a fuss. What's more, their polished organic rice easily gets 45,000 baht per tonne from health-conscious buyers.
...
According to Greennet, a non-profit organisation, the organic rice market has increased by 28% this year.
...
Despite state eulogies for the King, an advocate of organic farming, successive governments all strongly support chemical farming. The Agriculture Ministry has practically become the mouthpiece for agro giants -- and agricultural officials their salesmen. It comes as no surprise then that Thailand is among the world's top users of farm chemicals. According to the Agriculture Ministry, Thailand is importing an average of 160,000 tonnes of farm chemicals.
... 
According to the Agriculture Ministry, Thailand is importing an average of 160,000 tonnes of farm chemicals a year, costing the country about 22 billion baht. In the past five years, the import of toxic farm substances has increased by 50% That makes Thailand the world's 5th biggest user of farm chemicals, according to the World Bank. The country's agricultural land area, however, ranks  48th in the world only. What's more, about 70 chemical pesticides used in Thailand are highly hazardous and not allowed in the West. The results? Most rivers and reservoirs in the country have become severely contaminated with toxic substances, which go directly to us consumers through the food chain.
...
The government is also pushing for farm zoning. "But this top-down policy won't work," Mr Boonsong insisted. "Farn officials don't know our localities. They don't have field experience. They don't have field experience. They don't have a support system either. What they can do expertly is telling us what farm chemicals to buy."
...
The problem, as always, is the gap between state's rhetoric for environmentally friendly agriculture and and its actions, the farmer said wearily'.

Conclusions are that current strategies are once more aimed at influencing the market, though they seem more directed at garnering political support. The Thai political setting has always relied on even votes for the whole country. This has created an elite class which sees it's rule being challenged from urban centers, which have the voices but not the votes. So it's no wonder that whoever is at the helm of the country, political reform based on empowering urbanites, is not a notion to be considered.
 
Finally to sum up the not so regional rice news section, the Vientiane Times (Nov. 25):

'Lao rice cooperatives have made good progress in terms of their rice production efforts but marketing and sales deficiencies are still causing problems for the co-ops'.

Others
Well if rice is not moving what is? The Phnom Penh Post (Nov. 23):

'A local subsidiary of a South Korean confectionary giant is investing $40 million to develop what it claims will be the world’s largest pepper plantation on a sprawling 1,000-hectare estate in eastern Cambodia, a company executive said yesterday'.

Well, let's see what that would do for global and local pepper prices.

Mangoes should also have been on the radar of South Korea. However the Phnom Penh Post (Nov. 18) reports:

'It has been nearly a year since the government signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea that aimed to put Cambodian mangoes on the shelves of supermarkets in Seoul, yet local producers say there is little sign of any movement.

According to In Chayvan, president of the Kampong Speu Mango Association, the potentially lucrative trade agreement signed last December has stalled on South Korea’s stringent sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regulations, which local producers are unable to comply with.

...

Chayvan said Cambodian mango growers would be better off focusing their efforts on securing export contracts for China, and upping shipments to the Thai and Vietnamese markets. He said these countries have less stringent SPS regulations, while Thailand and Vietnam are ready to bend the rules on SPS and certificates of origin when their domestic production is insufficient to meet demand.

...

Mong Reththy, chairman of the agro-industrial conglomerate Mong Reththy Group, said his company has already shipped mangoes to Europe this year, and was looking forward to the possibility of exporting them to South Korea.

However, he said, the Koreans take food safety very seriously and this has proven a stumbling block.

“We are always looking to export to South Korea, but the issue is whether or not the government could meet their requirements,” he said'.

Not only are rice farmers suffering. The Phnom Penh Post (Nov. 17):

'Amid reports that Vietnam’s early harvest of cassava is facing downward price pressure, Cambodian farmers could be in for a rough season as local prices are largely dependent on those of the Kingdom’s more developed neighbour, a ministry official said yesterday.

...

“Our experience with the cassava harvest from last year showed that most farmers lost money and around 40 percent of cassava producers have already given up on farming,” she said, adding that last year’s average selling price of 500 riel per kilo was below the 700-riel breakeven point.

Heang [Sum Heang, head of the Pailin Cassava Association] added that she replaced 200 hectares of cassava with mango trees after losing $70,000 on the crop last year'.

In Thailand, alternatives are being sought for rice growing, even though it may not seem logic. The Bangkok Post (Nov. 16):

'The government's move to encourage farmers in 35 central provinces to grow maize instead of rice by giving them an interest rate subsidy is impracticable, according to a leading member of the provincial farmers assembly.

...

“Over the past years, farmers had responded positively to government policies. They have grown maize, Crotalaria juncea [brown hemp or sunn hemp] or beans, but those crops did not grow well in soil suited for rice. Corn and beans did not give yields, and farmers suffered losses,’’ he said. The government should ascertain the views of farmers, or listen to their problems before implementing any policies, the Chai Nat farmers’ leader said'. 

But also trying to fix the market is part of the Thai goverments strategy. The Bangkok Post (Nov. 9):

'Importers of wheat will be forced to purchase domestic maize as part of government measures to curb tumbling maize prices, under a cabinet decision'.

Bangkok Post (Nov. 25):

'The government yesterday approved a three-year, tariff-free soybean import plan to ease domestic shortages on the condition that importers promote soybean farming and pay more for domestically grown soybeans'.

Meanwhile ..., the Bangkok Post (Nov. 6):

'The deputy governor of Phetchabun province has stepped up his campaign against potato contract farming in Thailand, urging consumers not to buy chips from the producer. 
In the post, he referred to the report and expressed concerns about its impacts on the environment and how the company takes advantage of farmers'.

Safety first

To start off this update, we need to move away from Cambodia, away from Asia. It's the U.S.A. where a precedent is being set, which is another nail in the coffin of those banking on consumer power.

Initially it looked like a gain for campaigners, who have been able to force the U.S. government to label food from GMO sources. The bad news: the label doesn't actually have to be readable to the consumer!
Al Jazeera (Aug. 5):

'Food safety organisations in the US have condemned a new law they say will allow food producers to obscure the labeling of genetically modified ingredients in their products, despite widespread health concerns over the effects of GMOs and the pesticides associated with them.
Signed into law on Friday by President Barack Obama, the legislation permits manufacturers to inform consumers of GMO content through the use of Quick Response or QR codes, which require a device - such as a smartphone - to read.
The law was passed despite opposition from environmental and food safety groups, as well as national polls which show that some 90 percent of Americans surveyed favoured clear labeling.
...
Paul said that more than 300 food and pesticide makers spent nearly $400m over the last four years in lobbying efforts to defeat the mandatory labeling of GMOs.
"We failed not because of lack of support from consumers - but because of the enormous amounts of money thrown by the industry," Paul [Katherine Paul, an associate director of the Organic Consumers Association] said, adding that she was disappointed by Obama, who once vowed to enforce clear GMO labeling'.

The law also fails to stipulate penalties if found in breach of the law.  
Let's hope that the most probable outcome will be the opposite: food without GMO sourcing will be labelled clearly GMO-free! 

More or less on the same subject, the Ground Reality blog takes a pot shot at the conclusion arrived by Nobel laureates that we all should swallow the GMO pill. 
From IRRI.org (Jun. 23):

'On the subject of genetically engineered foods, this rings true. After years of debate, the prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released its verdict: there is no substantiated evidence that food from genetically engineered (GE) crops were less safe than food from non-GE crops'.

Then the Ground Reallity response (Jul. 17):

'But first let’s look at the usual scientific rhetoric that I find is repeated worldwide ad nauseam: “Opposition based on emotion and dogma contradicted by data must be stopped.” Whose data? The data produced by GM companies or the data produced based on the research funded by biotech giants? 

...

To say that scientific and regulatory agencies around the world, which find GM crops as safe as, if not safer than those derived from any other method of production, is a clever ploy to hoodwink public opinion and thereby push harmful and risky crop production technologies.

...

What has to be accepted is that the food crisis the world witness is not because of any shortfall in production. The problem is because of the absence of food justice, which in other words means access and distribution'.

Gold rush no more
The bigger picture is that like many exporting countries, Cambodia is struggling in it's ambitions to gain more market share as the overall world market gives mostly purchasers the power to bargain.
The Phnom Penh Post (Jul. 8) kicks off the concerns:

'Cambodian rice exports decreased nearly 6 per cent year-on-year during the first semester, reinforcing concerns about the future of the rice industry, the Kingdom’s most important agricultural sector.

...

Rice industry experts say the sector is suffering from a number of issues, including competition from low-cost Vietnamese imports, high production costs, and millers’ lack of finance.

According to CRF president Sok Puthyvuth, who was re-elected for a second term last Saturday, the issues have already resulted in between 10 and 20 per cent of the nation’s rice millers declaring bankruptcy'.

The Khmer Times (Jul. 18) chimes in:

'Cambodia’s rice industry has been advised by the European Union (EU) to seek other markets and not just concentrate its exports to Europe, as it moves from a low-income country in its least developed country (LDC) status to a lower-middle income nation, amid calls to cut its EU tariff-free export quotas.

...

According to Oryza, the daily online markets newsletter, Italy is pushing the EU to cut LDC rice imports from Asia to protect the Italian rice market that seems to be getting bigger'.

One way round trade issues is reported by Phnom Penh Post (Aug. 3). Cambodia has asked China to double it's rice imports which as Cambodia is the only country to support China in the South Chinese Sea. Anyway:

'China will also consider increasing the export quota on Cambodian rice to 200,000 tonnes starting in 2017, as well as continuing to negotiate on the exports of broken rice, banana, mango, longan, cashew nut, pepper, coffee and soybean. The current export quota on rice to China is 100,000 tonnes per year.

Ministry spokesperson Soeng Sophary stressed that while the talks were fruitful, no official decisions were made'.

Future for Cambodia's rice not bright? Phnom Penh Post (Aug. 3):

'An industry analyst has issued a dire forecast for Cambodia’s rice sector, claiming the long-grain “white gold” that has been credited with lifting millions of Cambodia’s farmers out of abject poverty, and which seems a natural fit for the Kingdom’s agrarian workforce, is on a downward trajectory.

Jim Plamondon, a former technical evangelist for Microsoft who is developing new marketing strategies for Cambodian rice varieties, says the Kingdom’s rice industry – the lifeblood of its agricultural economy – is headed for a brutal and imminent consolidation'.

Basically lots of policies on rice import and export are based on the once in a lifetime price spike of 7 years ago, something that will not happen in the near future. With prices sluggish or dropping it's traders and millers who most probably have bought at too expensive terms and are facing losses.

Did I hear niche markets? The Khmer Times (Jul. 14):

'As the demand for organic rice in European and United States markets keeps growing, many local rice millers and exporters are moving quickly and signing contract farming deals to supply them with the premium product'.

There's ongoing confusion concerning branding Cambodia's rice. The Phnom Penh Post (Jul. 21) looks to bring clarity in this, but it seems this will not clear itself.

'The private sector’s campaign to develop a single recognisable umbrella brand for Cambodia’s premium varieties of fragrant rice looks increasingly tenuous after a government body voiced objections to the name selected, and argued instead that the country should market each variety of rice under its own individual brand name.'

Warnings
Well, self-explanatory, not only is Cambodia facing a difficult export market. Vietnam's Thanhniennews (Jul. 19):

'Vietnam has reduced its rice export target for the year since demand is falling as many buyers await cheap supply from Thailand’s stock clearance sale.
The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) said it has reduced the export target from 6.5 million tons to 5.65 million tons, Tien Phong newspaper reported'.

The Bangkok Post (Aug. 4):

Thailand's rice market is expected to face a price war next year as a result of oversupply that will lower prices in both domestic and export markets, while the stronger baht could hurt the competitiveness of rice shipments, exporters warn'. 

So no good news for farmers, though the absence of drought would mean better harvests. But with prices set to drop, it's traders who won't be interested in buying as they might face increased losses. So farmers will get stuck.

How should Thailand compete even better? The Bangkok Post (Jul. 27):

'The government is being urged to exercise the powerful Section 44 of the interim charter to cut red tape and speed up sales of state rice stocks'.

Same recipe everywhere ...

Moving on, the Bangkok Post (Jul. 25) has some wider implications of new trade trends:

In 2014, Thailand imported only 593,000 tonnes of wheat.

The figure rose to 3.46 million tonnes in 2015 and will reach an estimated 5 million tonnes this year.

Higher imports have affected domestic prices of maize and tapioca chips in recent years. Wheat imports come at the behest of animal feed producers which are feeding the chicken boom ...

Scape goat
The Bangkok Post (Aug. 2) notes that the nonpolitical trial of the former democratic government by the current junta revolves around the possible loss of what they now estimate as 26 bn Bhat. Though how this figure is arrived at is unsure as previous attempts to pinpoint the exact losses resulted in data that were much higher. 
It also seems that the timing of this is more significant: just a week before a referendum on a new constitution that no political party favours with the outcome that either a new constitution is voted in thereby guaranteeing the junta constitutional influence. Or if not approved by the electorate the junta will also remain; a win-win situation.

Faced with the formal accusations, the former PM responds (Bangkok Post, Aug 5):

'Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra told the Supreme Court on Friday that her loss-ridden rice-pledging programme really helped debt-ridden farmers and the national economy.
...

Ms Yingluck told the court that pledging prices set at 15,000 to 20,000 baht per tonnes were not too high because they were aimed at enabling rice growers to earn equivalent to 300 baht per day -- the same as the daily minimum wage for labourers -- and resolving their chronic indebtedness, she said'.

Seems fair.

Flood

Vientiane Times (Jul. 28) notes that coffee is becoming an alternative crop in the northern province of Phongsaly:

'Phongsaly, long renowned for its green tea, is set to be the nation's first coffee producer in the north after around 3,000 hectares of coffee trees were planted in the province'. 

Apparently this has been going on for a couple of years under Chinese guidance.

Then again, in Cambodia coffee growing is not so positive. The Phnom Penh Post (Aug. 3):

'Samban [director of the Agricultural ministry’s department of industrial crops] attributed the contraction to the impact of recent droughts and the volatility of global coffee prices, as well as a flood of cheap imported coffee into the market.
The shrinking market for locally produced coffee has not discouraged MK Mondulkiri Company, which has found a niche supplying organic Cambodian coffee to the local and international market.
Orn Chanthy, the company’s CEO, said the competition in the coffee retail market was fierce, but many consumers recognise that cheap products are often of inferior quality.
“It is hard to compete on price as coffee can be imported cheaply, though without any assurance of quality,” she said. “There is a lot of fake coffee in the market and some coffee [deceptively] uses the name of our coffee-growing region.”
Chanthy said exports of MK Mondulkiri coffee increased last year, with shipments going to European and Asian buyers, though she declined to provide figures'.

So with China seeking more and more land for banana's, it's no wonder that Cambodia may well be next in line. The Phnom Penh Post (Aug. 2):

'A Chinese agricultural company has agreed to establish a banana plantation in Cambodia, according to a senior government official'.

Info on Mong Reththy Group. Phnom Penh Post (Jul. 18) notes how it will step into the agrofeed mill business:

'Agro-industrial conglomerate Mong Reththy Group is constructing a new $10 million feed mill to supply its own livestock operations as well as the domestic market, the group’s eponymous president and CEO said yesterday'.

While on Jul. 6 the same source focuses on the companies palm oil operations:

'Export of crude palm oil from Mong Reththy Group, the Kingdom’s only active producer, doubled during the first half of the year despite prices showing no indication of improving, a company executive said yesterday'.

Finally the Bangkok Post has put up two video's which highlight award-winning Eastwest Seed business. There's this (Jun. 12) on the business explaining also why they are not so interested in GMO seeds. And this (Jul. 10) about the way that the company is for instance pushing the marigold business.