Proceedings of the Fifth Asian Regional Maize Workshop - Search ...
Proceedings of the Fifth Asian Regional Maize Workshop - Search ...
Proceedings of the Fifth Asian Regional Maize Workshop - Search ...
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PIot£ER AN) TIE SEED BUSINESS IN THAIl..AN><br />
Weerasak Doungjan 11<br />
Abstract<br />
Corn area in Thailand is approximately 1.5 m ha and seed requirement about 28,000 t<br />
annually. <strong>Maize</strong> production is largely concentrated in <strong>the</strong> Thai Corn Belt located 150-250<br />
km North and 200 km East <strong>of</strong> Bangkok.<br />
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. (PHI) established Pioneer Hi-Bred (Siam) Co.,<br />
Ltd. (PHS) on January 4, 1980. PHS is a research company with responsibilities for<br />
sorghum breeding and testing <strong>of</strong> corn hybrids. P.6181 was <strong>the</strong> first Pioneer corn hybrid in<br />
Thai land. It was produced and distributed by Siam Seeds Co., Ltd. in 1981. SUper seeds<br />
Co., Ltd. became producer and distributor in 1982.<br />
Pioneer started breeding corn in Thailand in 1983 and also maintained a sorghum<br />
breeding program. PHS changed its name to be Pioneer OVerseas Corp. (Thailand) Ltd.<br />
(POeT) and in 1985 transferred <strong>the</strong> sorghum breeding program to Pioneer OVerseas Corp.<br />
(Philippines) Co., Ltd. POeT concentrated on breeding corn and became a testing site for<br />
sorghum.<br />
The marketing company for Pioneer in Thailand is Pioneer Hi-Bred (Thailand) Co., Ltd.<br />
(PHT) and was established in 1985. PHT has sales activities in <strong>the</strong> Thai Corn Belt and <strong>the</strong><br />
production team includes a processing plant and seed production fields in Lampoon and<br />
Chiang Mai provinces, respectively. The headquarters <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> company are located at:<br />
60/1 Room B501, 5th Floor Monririn Bldg.<br />
Phaholyothin 8 (58ilom), Phaholyothin Rd.<br />
Phyathai, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.<br />
Tel: (02) 270-1490-2, 271-2486<br />
Tel. Fax: 02 271-4369<br />
Introduction<br />
Thailand is an exporter <strong>of</strong> food and o<strong>the</strong>r agricultural products. Thailand has been<br />
exporting grain corn for <strong>the</strong> last 10 years except in 1992 when corn had to be imported for<br />
<strong>the</strong> feed mill industry. The corn area has decreased due to an increase in sugarcane<br />
acreage and drought effect on corn yield as well. At <strong>the</strong> present, <strong>the</strong> corn area in<br />
Thailand has decreased from nearly 2 m ha to 1.5 m ha and <strong>the</strong> seed requirement has been<br />
reduced from 40,000 t to 28,000 t.<br />
seed center<br />
There are several international seed business companies in Thailand such as CP<br />
DeKalb, cargill, ICI-Pacific, Ciba Geigy, and Pioneer. In <strong>the</strong> early 1980's several local<br />
companies produced and distributed SUwan 1, <strong>the</strong> recommended variety from Kasetsart<br />
University. But this is not a good business any more because SUwan 1 is too common and<br />
can not compare to <strong>the</strong> hybrids even under drought stress. ?resently several local<br />
companies like Thai seeds Industry and Original Marketing have stopped <strong>the</strong>ir activities on<br />
seed production. one outstanding local company today is UniSeeds.<br />
Y Manager <strong>of</strong> Pioneer OVerseas Corporation (Thai land) Ltd., P.O. Box 16 Praputhabat,<br />
58raburi 18120, Thailand.<br />
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