How Thailand’s jasmine rice lost its fragrance
Cambodia’s Phka Rumduol jasmine variety has been crowned the World’s Best Rice for the fifth time at the TRT (The Rice Trader) World Rice Conference in Phuket, Thailand on November 17.
Phka Rumduol is a type of long-grain jasmine rice and is one of the varieties exported under the “ Malys Angkor ” certification mark. The Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute says it released the variety for farmer use only in 1999, after 10 years of development and testing.
Phka Rumduol had previously won the award four times, for three consecutive years from 2012-2014, and then again in 2018 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The jasmine variety took second place three years in a row from 2015-2017.
This reputation will further help promote the quality of Cambodian rice”
The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) has urged farmers and researchers to improve their strains after Thailand lost its crown to Cambodia in the World’s Best Rice Awards 2022.
Thailand’s Hom Mali rice, which had come top for the previous two years, fell to second. Hom Mali lost by only one point. Fragrant rice varieties from Vietnam and Laos were awarded third and fourth, respectively.
Hom Mali holds the record with seven awards.
One of the judges said the Hom Mali rice this year is not as fragrance as it used to be.”
