By Uamdao Noikorn
The Bangkok Post

Jasmine rice: If not for one man's willingness to go against the grain, jasmine rice might forever have remained but a non-commercial curio

The world used to only know Thailand for its Siamese twins, the Emerald Buddha's beauty captured on film or kick boxing. Then Thai food broke out of its natural confines into the international arena and the relationship blossomed as never before.

However, it is not only for its screaming spiciness that Thai food is so widely appreciated these days. Food experts the world over agree that there's nothing quite like its jasmine rice either.

And yet, had it not been for a young agriculture officer's decision to break the rules, Thailand might not have earned billions of baht from rice exports, becoming in the process the world's top producer and home to the best rice varieties.

The man in question is Sunthorn Srihanern. Under the scorching sun some 50 years ago, he selected the strain of rice then locally known as "jasmine white rice" for further development despite its non-conformance with rigid guidelines it was obliged to follow.

"I feel so proud and honoured it is beyond description. Who would have believed that this grass that nobody thought could grow anywhere else would turn farming in the northeast upside down," says Sunthorn, who retired 13 years ago.

Lucky Find

It was in 1943 that 20-year-old Sunthorn, then a fresh agriculture graduate, became a rice official for the Rice Department, now part of the Agriculture Department. He was stationed at Bang Khla, Chachoengsao.

"On my first day at work, someone told me the district had three good things -- aromatic rice, mango, and pineapple."

At that time, the fruits fetched such a high price that only Bangkokians could afford them. The rice, he said, was considered a gem for it did not grow anywhere except there.

"How the locals described their favourite staple was rather vivid. They said that if you walked past their houses while the rice was being cooked you would automatically drool."

Rice millers built separate store houses for jasmine rice because one kwian cost up to 100 baht while other varieties fetched only 50-70 baht. In those days 100-baht was a lot of money.

Breeders, land owners and farmers had been trying to grow jasmine rice on their farms for over a decade, but to no avail. The results, Sunthorn recalls, were either plain rice or totally new varieties, or the rice was soft and without aroma or vice versa. On other occasions it simply didn't flower.

Even in Bang Khla, the picture wasn't particularly good. Sunthorn had never once sighted the rice in all the thousands of rai of paddy fields owned by local farmers.

They had so many problems that everybody agreed jasmine rice could only be grown locally," he remembers. Eventually, he sent the seeds to his farmer parents in the South to try to grow, but without success.

Jasmine rice's unique preference for plateau lands, sandy soil and rainwater irrigation made it necessary for wholesalers to reserve it in advance if they wanted to have any to trade. Total output amounted to only 300 tons a year, all of which was sold in Bangkok, and supply was consistently tight.

"The villagers usually adopted integrated or natural farming so that they could earn extra income from selling the rice while keeping their own supplies for food," recalls Sunthorn.

Perhaps the reason jasmine rice failed to grow well outside the district was because the country was home to thousands of rice strains, so that serious attention wasn't given to collecting varieties or breeding techniques.

Sunthorn speculates that this might also have been because popular farming methods were integrated in ways which did not cause pests or disease as readily as monoculture.

Green revolution

After World War II in 1945, when hunger was widespread all over the world, the United Nations was prompted to map out its Green Revolution. Programme to search for super crops that took less time to produce double or three times the yield of natural strains.

Thailand was one of the tropical food producing countries eyed by the United States to spearhead the project. Two Americans, a plant expert named H.H. Love and a soil expert named Robert L. Penderton, were sent to train Thai officials on soil and crop matters and duly helped to establish the Rice Department in 1950.

Sunthorn was among 30 locals recruited to select rice varieties nationwide for furthere research and development.

"My job was to collect varieties in Chachoengsao and Chon Buri provinces. The work was quite torturous given the collecting criteria and mode of transport which was by bike," he recalls.

According to the selection criteria set by the two American experts, the varieties had to be popular among locals in their particular areas and grown over an expanse of at least 15 rai.

The officials were required to pick 200 ears of the paddy, none of which were to be taken from the edge of paddy fields or near cow manure for fear of getting unrepresentatively high nutrient readings. "They only wanted those growing strong under natural nutrient conditions," Sunthorn explains. "This meant that each ear had to come from a large bunch. If it stood up straight it indicated resilience against natural enemies." The ears themselves had to have perfect shape and overall appearance.

The officials were free to pick as many breeds as they liked so long as they abided by the rules.

Against the grain

However, on his first day in the job, Sunthorn encountered a rice that fitted none of the requirements and yet was manifestly desirable.

"Every ear I picked came from a paddy plot smaller than 15 rai. Some ears came from really tiny patches of land but still had a very beautiful shape and appearance. How could I resist when it tasted and smelled so good. The rules were meaningless when you considered its obvious potential for development."

Along with 26 other varieties Sunthorn's samples were given nationwide trials. Seeds from each ear were planted in nine rows separated by the nang mon variety - then the best rice available. One ear was lost on delivery so that in the end there were 199 rows of jasmine rice. However, only one row, number 105, produced a higher yield and better quality than nang mon - and so was born jasmine rice 105.

Based on its high resistance to acidic and salty soil and drought, the government finally approved a proposal to promote jasmine rice 105 for commercial cultivation on May 25, 1959.

After being standardised using natural selection techniques, the rice was quickly embraced by Northeastern farmers and its unique characteristics soon turned the vast, notoriously drought-ridden Thung Kula Ronghai or "plain of tears" into a "golden field."

Since then, over the past 34 years, the region has changed its traditional farming pattern from 100% sticky rice to 20% sticky rice and 80% jasmine rice.

The rest of the world has also been quick to acquire a taste for the rice. Export volume doubled to 40,000 tons/year between 1990 and 1995, and went on to earn Thailand billions of baht in revenue.

Endangered species

However, there are now concerns for the future of jasmine rice. Sunthorn notes that it has become so frequently bred with other varieties and promoted for commercial purposes that it is rarely found in its pure form.

"You can hardly find 100% jasmine rice in the market now. What you see in the 5-kg or 2-kg packs are mixed varieties. In order to get 60% jasmine rice quality, you have to buy bags priced 100 baht up," he warns. Prices of jasmine rice currently range from 70-150 baht per pack.

"Pure jasmine rice doesn't only smell the same way cooked or uncooked, it smells like that for an hour or two after cooking whereas most of what's on the market loses its aroma within minutes." As for the discoverer, his contribution was only recognised after 13 years of retirement when the government presented him with a small plaque the size of an A5 sheet of paper.

Sunthorn now urges the government to invest more in research and development so that Thailand can stand on its own feet when it comes to technology. One way of encouraging this, he says, is to recognise those who do good deeds for their country.

"There are lots of people like me in government agencies who try to serve the country to the best of their ability but are overlooked. Of course I feel sad and neglected sometimes. But not for long, because I know what I did," he smiles, sitting in his house in a green neighbourhood near Kasetsart University in Bangkok where he leads a peaceful life with his wife and children's families.

In fact, he is not totally forgotten. For agriculture major students, Sunthorn is still an essential part of their research and a golden goose of knowledge.

"They always come to me asking about the old days and the rice. I would like to live as long as possible so I can continue to help everyone wishing to learn about the rice."