The Thai Commerce Ministry has come out with a five-year plan to develop organic agricultural products so they gain a bigger share in the global market, says The Nation. Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said that the plan would start from next year and would add value to organic goods. She said it would also help the marketing and packaging development for products.

"The world market value of organic is worth more than US$80 billion and grows at an average rate of about 12.8 per cent each year," she said. "Yet, Thai products have still gained a less than 1-per-cent market share. The country, as an agricultural-based country, should focus on promoting organic farm crops and develop these products so that Thailand can become a centre of organic products growing and trading in the Asean and Asian regions."

The United States, Germany, and France are three leading exporters of organic produce, respectively. Asia has 23 million rai (3.7 million hectares) of land for growing organic products, or about 10 per cent of the total production area worldwide. China has the most following by India.