Seed firms push for protection

       The government is being urged to strictly enforce the Plant Variety Protection Act to prevent the smuggling or imitation of locally developed crop seeds from damaging Thailand's position as a regional seed manufacturing hub.
       "Thailand has great potential to become a seed manufacturing hub, but legal enforcement of plant variety protection is still weak," said Pacholk Pongpanich, president of the Thai Seed Trade Association (THASTA).
       "Without serious enforcement, this could lead to seed manufacturers relocating their production bases to other countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India and China."
       Lingering disagreements between the public and private sectors on the ratio the private sector needs to contribute to the plant variety protection fund for new plant registration were another stumbling block for Thai development,said Mr Pacholk.
       Annual industry losses caused by from seed smuggling and imitation are estimated at 300-400 million baht.
       Imitation occurs when a vendor copies a proprietary seed, often acquired from smuggled stock. The bootlegged product is typically sold at a lower price than the developer's as there are no research and development costs to recoup.
       Mr Pacholk said developing a new plant variety generally takes eight to 10 years and costs about 10-20 million baht a year.
       Thailand's seed trade was estimated to be worth 6 billion baht last year, with projected values unchanged this year.Exports account for 2.54 billion baht,mostly for maize, vegetables and fruits.
       Export values exclude the shipments generated by parent seeds for which income is generated from royalties.
       Thailand imported 603 million baht worth of seeds last year, mostly for maize.
       There are about 100 seed producers in Thailand, with six to seven large-sized producers, mostly from foreign brands.
       Mr Pacholk said Thailand is the de facto centre of Asia's maize seed manufacturing industry, with shipments amounting to one billion baht a year.
       Thailand is also a key regional production base for contracted vegetable manufacturing comprising cantaloupes,cucumbers, watermelons, water morning glory, cabbage, sweet corn and chilies.
       Global seed sales are estimated at $32 billion, of which Asia generates $8 billion.
       Seed exports in Asia-Pacific run at about $450 million annually, with Japan,China, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand the top players respectively.
       Mr Pacholk also hailed the government's investment plan for water management and irrigation systems funded by its 1.43-trillion-baht second economic stimulus package, saying an improved water system would help raise Thailand's productivity.
       To promote seed trading, Thailand will host the Asian Seed Congress 2009 in Bangkok from Nov 8-12.