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Rice production in Thailand represents a significant portion of the Thai economy and labor force. Thailand has a strong tradition of rice production. It has the fifth-largest amount of land under rice cultivation in the world and is the world's second largest exporter of rice.〔 〕 Thailand has plans to further increase the land available for rice production, with a goal of adding 500,000 hectares to its already 9.2 million hectares of rice-growing areas.〔"Rice strain is cause of comparatively low productivity." The Nation (Thailand) 16 Apr 2008. 2 Feb. 2009 (). 〕 The Thai Ministry of Agriculture expects rice production to yield around 30 million tons of rice in 2008.〔Nirmal, Ghost. "Thailand to set aside more land for farming; It plans to increase rice production and stop conversion of agricultural land." ''Straits Times'' (Singapore) 24 Apr 2008.〕 Jasmine rice, a higher quality type of rice, is the rice strain most produced in Thailand. Jasmine has a significantly lower yield rate than other types of rice, but it normally fetches more than double the price of other strains on the global market.〔 ==Pre-World War II history== Until the 1960s, rice planting in Thailand consisted mainly of peasants farming small areas and producing modest amounts of rice. The Chao Phraya River delta was the hub of rice production.〔Pasuk Phongpaichit, and Christopher John Baker. ''Thailand, Economy and Politics''. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1995.〕 Agriculture constituted a large portion of the total production of Thailand and most Thais worked on farms. The extreme focus on agriculture arose for two main reasons: the vast amount of land available for farming and the government's policies of clearing land and protecting peasants' rights. The government helped peasants gain access to land and protected them from aristocratic landlords.〔 Due to the government's stance, urban merchants were unable to gain much control over the Thai rice industry. The government concerned itself with protecting farmers and not with overall production. As a result, Thailand was relatively self-sufficient, resistant to government intervention, and egalitarian. Most rice farmers owned their own land and exchanged labor between farmers was common. Rice production normally was not much more than the farmers needed to survive on.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rice production in Thailand」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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