Paraquat sales in Thailand approved to continue
In September 2008, after an evaluation by the Thai Toxicology Evaluation Committee, paraquat was approved for continued sale in Thailand and scheduled to enter the new re-registration process.
As of May 2009, the final approval of the re-registration procedure by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is still pending, but paraquat has been included in the first stage of the review program which is expected to start in July 2009. The current registration will expire in August 2011.
Following a major revision of the regulatory system for crop protection products, the Ministry is working through nearly 27,000 dossiers for re-registration. CropLife International, the global federation representing the plant science industry, has been working with Thai regulatory officials to strengthen the country’s regulation of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and other crop protection products used on its 18 million hectares of crops.
Farming Facts about Thailand
- 1st - Thailand's position as a rice exporter
- 10 million ha of rice grown
- 11% of Thailand's GDP comes from farming
- 43% of Thai workforce engaged in agriculture
Thai farmers grow crops including 10 million hectares (ha) of rice, nearly 2 million ha of rubber, and around one million ha each of cassava, sugarcane and maize. Fruit and vegetables are grown on another one million ha. The most important fruit crops are mangos and bananas.
With some recent annual harvests yielding over 30 million tonnes, Thailand is one of the world's biggest rice producers. Export revenues from rice bring more than $2 billion into the country. Main export markets are Indonesia, Nigeria, Iran, the United States and Singapore.