Thailand’s Kasetsart University (Kamphaeng Saen campus) has developed a new variety of fragrant rice, which is expected to compete favourably against Vietnam’s top-seller.

Associate Professor Apichart Wanvichit, director of the Rice Science Centre at the university, today told a news conference, concerning the annual Agricultural Fair, that the new fragrant rice, named Hom Malaiman, was developed from the Riceberry variety.

The new variety is soft, fragrant and resistant to disease, he said, adding that it also yields about 600kgs of rice per 0.16 hectares, compared to an average of 400kgs by the Hom Mali variety.

Mr. Apichart said Hom Malaiman is being promoted to farmers in the central and eastern regions, in the hope that it will be able to compete with Vietnam’s ST25 variety in the Chinese market.

After winning the world rice contest for five consecutive years, Thailand’s Hom Mali (jasmine) rice was beaten by Cambodia’s fragrant rice in 2018, and by Vietnam’s ST25 variety last year.

The yield of Thai rice is about 400kgs per 0.16 hectares, which is fairly low compared with Vietnam’s 1,000kg yield.