TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUIT PRODUCTION IN THAILAND: GAP

Thailand produces various tropical and subtropical fruits such as durian, rambutan, mangosteen, papaya, guava, coconut, orange, banana and pineapple, all of which are as nutritious as they are delicious. A large number of cultivars, combined with the culinary art of the Thai people, enabled Thai fruits to be enjoyed all year round. Thailand is one of the world’s largest tropical fruit producers and exporters. For instance, it is the world largest exporter of durian, mangosteen, and pineapple juice. The total cultivated area of tropical fruits in Thailand covered 1.7 million ha in 2010, with production of 22.8 million t. The quantity of fresh tropical fruit exported in 2010 was 256,172 t worth 119.8 million US$. Ten Thai tropical fruits including durian, longan, mangosteen and pineapple are of economic importance and have great potential to support demand of both local and overseas markets. Under current situation, according to Free Trade Area (FTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO), each country has to reduce tax to zero for imported products and use non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs) such as SPS and HACCP, for the countries that export agricultural products. So the Thai government established food safety projects to ensure quality and safe products to the consumers. The Department of Agriculture developed a Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) program since 1999 to improve quality of fruits at farm level. Also, Thai government set a policy to encourage producers to meet international standard set by the FAO Codex, SPS and HACCP for all crops including Thai fruits to increase the quality and value for export. Implementation of GAP and other standard system helped improve the quantity and value of exported tropical fruits. Both quantity and value of tropical fruits exported in 2009 have remarkably increased by 112 and 194% as compared to that of 2004.