BANGKOK, July 9 (TNA) – Thailand developed dwarf coconut
trees, which can be harvested by human labour, said Deputy Agriculture Minister,
Mananya Thaiset after the country’s coconut products were banned by some
Western retailers.
The deputy agriculture minister said tomorrow (July 10), she
would visit the Surat Thani Seed Research and Development Center to see the
development of dwarf coconut trees, easier to harvest and popular among coconut
growers.
She said coconuts sent to the factories for making coconut
milk were harvested by humans.
Mananya was also scheduled to visit a monkey training center
in Surat Thani’s provincial seat, which is part of the Klong Noi sub-district
tourism community enterprise.
The place is prepared to welcome foreign diplomats to
observe local ways of life in raising monkeys and training them to collect
coconuts for tourism. The trip will be
arranged by the Commerce Ministry.
Regarding accusations on monkey labour by the rights group
People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Mananya said she ordered the
Department of Agriculture (DoA) to investigate the case immediately.
All coconut plantations for exported products use human labour,
she said.
She instructed DoA to grant Good Agriculture Practices (GAP)
certifications to qualified coconut growers for clarification to trade
partners, so they won’t ban Thai coconut products, which could affect more than
200,000 households, growing coconut plants. (TNA)
