It is the thick of rice growing season in Isaan right now. The land has sprung to life, and gazing out the bus windows I’m greeted with kilometer upon kilometer of green rice paddies. It’s a welcome change from the dirt plots, occasionally broken up by a cassava or sugar cane field, and I think the chartreuse of new rice plants may be my new favorite color.
So of course, Thailand is known for its rice production; it was once the top exporter of rice before the rice subsidy scheme place the rice export in the hands of politicians. But what crops are cultivated by the rural majority of this country?
Rice
I know I was just talking about rice, but I figured I’d get into some hard numbers and more specifics of Thailand’s rice production.
Thailand has the fifth-largest amount of land under rice cultivation, which is primarily jasmine rice. The USDA has estimated that the 2014 rice production of Thailand will be around 31 million tons, with 9 million tons slated for export.
Spending any amount of time with Thai people makes it easy to believe that 22 million tons of rice would be consumed here, with rice being eaten at every meal and often included in the making of desserts.
Personally, I’m a big fan of the sticky rice that Isaan is known for – no utensils needed, just grab a chunk, roll it into a ball and dip into on of the curries or soups or scoop up some somtam and pop in your mouth.
Rubber
As the bus winds its way down the isthmus toward the piers that will take most tourists to the postcard-perfect island beach, I suggest gazing out the window. You’ll surely notice the neatly arranged rows of treats and how they line up perfectly in diagonals as well and horizontal and vertical rows.
Once your brain adjusts to the unnatural placement of these trees, tall with skinny trunks, you may start to notice that there are small bowls and spouts attached to these trees. Or you may notice yellow, rounded rectangles hanging on sticks, drying. Those are rubber sheets and these are the rubber plantations of Thailand, which is the biggest world supplier.
Estimates made at the beginning of the year put production at 4.03 million metric tons, and increase over last year. However, many rubber farmers in Thailand are facing hardship, as the price that rubber is fetching has fallen below the cost of production. Last year, rubber farmers staged a protest, blocking roads and demanding assistance from the government. As prices continue to fall, the demands are sure to continue.
Corn
Corn was introduced to Thailand by Spanish or Portuguese traders sometime in the 16th century. Now, corn is grown mostly in the upland parts of the country – in the hills and higher elevations.
The estimate for 2014 production is 4.9 million metric tons. One of the big differences between corn and rice is that 90 percent of a corn crop will be sold to a dealer, rather than consumed locally. The remaining 10 percent will be seeds for the next crop and feed for local livestock.
Considering that most corn is sold to dealers, it doesn’t come as much surprise that Thailand accounts for 7 percent of the world market share for corn, but what does make it surprising is that is even after two-thirds of it have been consumed as livestock feed domestically.
If you are wonder what the most likely place you’ll see corn in Thailand is, that would be in an ice cream or dessert.
Cassava
If you are ever out and about in rural Thailand and you see some plants growing with a suspiciously shaped leaf, I hate to break it to you, but that is cassava, which is also the plant that produces tapioca.
Cassava is not a staple for Thais, it is pretty much exclusively a cash crop and the majority of the crop is exported. In my area, Isaan, this is a very common crop seen from bus windows, and for me from my bike, because it can do well even in poor quality soil.
The roots of the cassava plant are processed into dry chips, pellets and starches. This is where tapioca comes from, the processing of the cassava root. When you get a nice, cool bubble tea and you suck up one of those tapioca bubbles through the straw, this is where it came from.
Palm oil
Palm oil production in this part of the world is a pretty hot topic in the realm of environmentalism and animal protection. The clearing of land has threatened the natural habitat of orangutans in Indonesia, the world’s top producer of the product.
Palm oil is used in so many different things from foods to soaps to biodiesel to napalm. Most palm oil plantations are in the southern region and if you don’t see any rubber trees, just stubby looking palm trees, then you are cruising through the palm oil plantations.
In 2009, Thailand had the third largest production share, behind Indonesia and Malaysia. The area of land dedicated to growing palm oil has been exploding since the new millennium as Thailand looks to get in on this industry.
Sugarcane
This is another crop that is frequently grown in my area. In February and March, it’s not uncommon to see the roads littered with ash and soot because it’s time to harvest the sugarcane.
Once the stalks are about 12 feet high and ready to harvest, the farmer will do a controlled burn on the field because the leaves aren’t really dropped, they just dry out and hang on the stalk. So the farmer burns off the dead leaves to make harvest simpler.
The Thai agriculture ministry updated their forecast for the 2013/2014 sugarcane production to 105 million tons, putting sugar production on course for 9.7 million tons. This is another area where Thailand is a top producer, coming in at number two behind Brazil.
Fruit
This time next month, my parents will be here for a visit and I already promised them I was going to make them try all the different kinds of fruit that Thailand has to offer. Much of it will be out of season, so not in top form, but I will find them some to try.
There are too many different kinds of fruits grown here for me to list them all and their various numbers, so I’m not sure of the exports or even the production value of the fruits in Thailand. I just know that they are numerous and plentiful.
Most of them are grown on the Eastern coast, where my friends Joel, Grace and Jamie live. I’m sure they have some great fruit growing information.