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Thailand to preserve almost extinct varieties of rice
2007-02-04
When it comes to Thai rice, people usually think of steamed, fried or sticky. But scientists say there are tens of thousands of varieties of rice in Thailand, although many of them are in danger of disappearing, along with their potential uses in medicine and agriculture. Surapong Pransilapa is in charge of efforts to curtail that loss and delve into the hidden secrets of each variety in hopes of finding positive modern applications. In an isolated concrete building that stands in the midst of experimental rice paddies in suburban Bangkok, Surapong guards refrigerated rooms lined floor to ceiling with shelves full of tubes containing the seeds of nearly 24,000 varieties of rice. The National Rice Seeds Storage Laboratory for Genetic Resources was created with Japanese aid in 1982, and in recent years has become increasingly important as farming in Thailand has rapidly modernised. Growers have stopped planting traditional varieties of rice in favour of modern species that yield twice as much grain per acre, Surapong said. As a result, he said: "We have lost several varieties of rice because we didn't preserve them". Thailand's rice gene bank aims to redress that situation. While the differences between traditional and modern varieties are subtle, at best, to the naked eye, Surapong believes that untold scientific wealth lies in the genetic makeup of each strain of rice. More than 17,000 varieties of rice preserved here are in danger of dying out because they are no longer grown by Thai farmers. Most of these varieties have not even been identified. "We believe rice may have hidden uses, which could have applications for medical treatment," said Surapong, who heads the agriculture ministry's rice department. For instance, he said, "we have never found that eating too much rice causes disease, not like some meats or vegetables". Traditional varieties may have tougher resistance to disease and pests, characteristics researchers could use to improve commercially grown rice, while others might have higher nutritional value. Some simply look and taste better, Surapong said, citing as an example the fragrant Pin Kaew variety that was named the best rice in the world at a competition in 1966 but which has since disappeared, having lost out to more productive varieties. "What a pity that one of the best varieties in the world is already extinct because we didn't have a good enough preservation system," he said. Thai scientists hope that if they can identify desirable qualities in rice that is no longer grown they will be able to transfer those traits to commercially popular varieties. That holds huge implications for Thailand, which is the world's largest exporter of rice with 7.54 million tonnes exported in 2005. The seeds saved here in Bangkok's rice gene bank are kept at temperatures as low as minus-10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) to ensure they will last for up to 50 years and still be able to reproduce -- although researcher Somsong Chotechuen said the seeds must be checked every three years to make sure they can still grow and reproduce. Farmers across Asia once grew more than 100 varieties of rice, but now that number is down to only 20 or 30 of the most productive types. Surapong concedes that persuading farmers to grow traditional types is difficult when they know that at the end of each season they will have less rice to show for the same amount of work. Duncan Macintosh, a spokesman for the International Rice Research Institute in Manila, said researchers regard gene banks like Bangkok's as "treasure troves". His group has a gene bank with more than 100,000 varieties of rice. Scientists last year found a variety of rice that can withstand flood waters that would normally damage crops, he said. Other varieties could yield a wide range of benefits, such as added nutritional value similar to the genetically modified "golden rice" that provides extra vitamin A to help improve diets in poor countries, he said. "For all we know, within those 100,000 plus varieties, there's some very nutritious varieties already," Macintosh said.
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