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Thailand Other Crops
Sugarcane has long been widely grown. Some commercialization
was reported by the mid-nineteenth century, but the crop became
of major importance only after World War II. In the early 1950s,
production averaged 1.6 million tons annually, and in the late
1950s self-sufficiency in sugar was attained. In 1960 Thailand
became a net exporter of sugar. Rising world prices led
Thailand's market-responsive farmers to expand cropped areas in
the 1970s. In 1976 sugarcane production reached a record 26.1
million tons, and sugar output totaled 2.2 million tons, the
latter amount being considerably in excess of international and
domestic demands. Drought in 1977 greatly reduced output and
seriously affected many small growers. Declining world prices
after 1975, drought, and lower producer prices in 1978 led many
farmers to shift to alternate crops. In 1986 about 24 million
tons of sugarcane were produced.
Productivity was low compared with other major
sugarcane-growing countries (about fifty-three tons of sugarcane
per hectare against Taiwan's seventy tons and Indonesia's eighty
tons in the mid-1970s). Introduction of new varieties and
improved cultivation and cropping practices were needed to raise
output levels. The principal sugarcane-growing areas were in and
around Kanchanaburi Province and in Chon Buri Province in the
Center. Sugarcane was also grown in the Northeast and in the
North around Chiang Mai, Lampang, and Uttaradit.
Kenaf, a coarse fiber similar to jute but of somewhat lesser
quality, is native to the country and has long been grown for
local use in making sacks, cord, and twine. Commercial
cultivation began in the Northeast in the 1950s, and production
was largely concentrated in the central and eastern parts of the
region in 1980. World shortages created by the Indo-Pakistani War
of 1965 temporarily stimulated Thai production of jute, as did
shortages resulting from the 1971 civil war in Pakistan. The
recovery of jute cultivation in Bangladesh (formerly East
Pakistan) and broad swings in producer prices led many Thai
farmers in the late 1970s to replace kenaf with cassava, which
commanded a higher return. The 1984 kenaf crop was estimated at
about 200,000 tons, compared with an average annual output of
over 400,000 tons in the previous decade. Increased world demand,
however, was expected to encourage a revival in planting.
Tobacco, an important foreign exchange earner, had long been
grown by farmers for personal and local use. Virginia flue-cured
tobacco had been produced commercially since the 1930s, but
export began only in 1956. Some burley and oriental (Turkish)
tobacco was also grown. United Nations sanctions against Rhodesia
beginning in the mid-1960s opened new markets, and production of
Virginia tobacco rose from 13,700 tons in 1967 to more than
50,000 tons in 1981. About half of the commercial tobacco was
grown in the North and another quarter in the Northeast. Tobacco
growers were licensed, and a large number operated under the
aegis of the state-owned Thai Tobacco Monopoly.
Pineapples, exported chiefly as canned fruit and juice in the
early 1980s, were grown solely as a supplementary crop for local
use until the first pineapple cannery was opened in 1967. A
shortage of fruit led several canneries to establish large
pineapple plantations (ranging up to more than 3,000 hectares--in
sharp contrast to the smallholding character of most Thai
agriculture), which supplied about 40 percent of cannery needs in
the late 1970s. The industry grew dramatically, and by the early
1980s Thailand was one of the world's largest exporters of
pineapples, producing about 1.6 million tons in 1984.
Production and export of coffee expanded rapidly after
Thailand became a member of the International Coffee Organization
in 1981. Exports of coffee beans, most of which were grown in the
South, reached 20,600 tons in 1985.
Data as of September 1987
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