A book newly acquired by the Thammasat University Library provides much information about an economically important crop for the Kingdom. Tomatoland: From Harvest of Shame to Harvest of Hope is about the biotechnology of tomatoes as well as agricultural and environmental aspects of growing the plants. Issues of migrant agricultural laborers in Florida are also discussed. The book is shelved in the General Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus. The author, American food journalist Barry Estabrook, investigates the herbicides and pesticides used to produce high crop yields in America. Currently in America, tomatoes are picked when they are green and then subjected to treatment by gas so that they turn red, which is the color shoppers look for in markets. Modern techniques in American agriculture have been productive but reduce the nutrients naturally found in the plants, especially calcium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C. By contrast, there is much more sodium in American tomatoes today than in previous generations.

As all TU agriculture students know, the tomato that we eat is the fruit or berry of the tomato plant, so it is not classified as a vegetable, even though some people may think it is. This confusion may be because tomatoes are often served as if they were vegetables as part of a meal. The plant was first found in western South America, where in an Aztec language it was called tomatl. In the Spanish language, the term was adapted to tomate. Mexicans may have been the first to grow it as a crop. Spanish people discovered the tomato when they colonized the Americas and conquered the Aztec people. It was brought to Europe, and from there, to countries that Europe had colonized. It is possible that tomatoes were brought to Southeast Asia and the region of Siam by Portuguese traders centuries ago.

Thailand and Tomatoes

As the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) notes on its website, in Thailand:

Between the years 1994–1998 there was an increase in the planted area of table tomato by 18.1 percent. Processing tomato is grown once a year as a crop after rice, while the small-fruited table tomato is grown year round. The total area of table tomato in 1998 was 24 273 rai with a production of 50 018 tons. The principal regions that cultivate table tomato are the West (8 118 rai), the North (8 032 rai) and the Northeast (5 467 rai). The provinces of large-scale production are Nongkhai, Sakhonnakhon, Nakhonphanom and Kalasin.

Thai farmers prefer to raise local plants which produce small fruit rather than some of the larger varieties. These smaller fruits are better suited for surviving heat and the rainy season. The FAO concludes that Thai farmers have made much progress in developing tomatoes as an income-earning crop:

Tomato breeders have accomplished a great deal in the past, including improvements in yield, disease resistance, adaptability to environments, processing quality, and others. However, Thailand needs more improvements of its own cultivars, especially the small-fruited type table tomato. The Germplasm collections are maintained by the universities in agriculture, the Department of Agriculture and local seed companies. Thailand exports large quantities of canned tomatoes and small quantities of fresh tomatoes to neighbouring countries.

In 2015, it was reported that some record breaking yields had been achieved for Take Me Home Tomatoes in Thailand:

Some serious production records have been achieved in the new Alma greenhouses of the Dutch agro-entrepreneurs from Take Me Home Tomatoes in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The production of 30 kilo per square meter is now officially a fact in the Alma greenhouse.  But they still have a month of production left before the end of their crop season. Their estimation, with what is still hanging on their healthy looking plants, is that they will reach the 32 kilo per square meter.

These results were managed with a special Alma greenhouse design by the Malaysia-based greenhouse supplier Asian Perlite Industries. With a farm in the highlands, where it is sometimes too hot or humid for ideal tomato growth, lower cost cooling features were used. High-tech solutions were considered too expensive. In a collaboration between Wageningen University & Research, a Dutch public university in Wageningen, Netherlands and Asian Perilte, a greenhouse was designed for the tropical climate, allowing for ventilation at all times, even if no wind is present. The size of ventilation surfaces at the side and top of the greenhouse were doubled, helping air movement without pushing the air through the system by costly air conditioning.  The new greenhouse design is also taller than most traditional models, creating a lot of air above the crops, resulting in more steady changes of climate through the day. This is gentler on the plants than sudden changes of weather. Temperatures are lower inside the greenhouse and plants are healthier, grow more, and produce better yields.

Last July in Chiang Mai, at the 13th International Conference on Thai Studies, the conference subject was Globalized Thailand? Connectivity, Conflict and Conundrums of Thai Studies. Among the interesting presentations was From Highland Tomatoes to Lowland Markets: Highland Agriculture Restructuring and Power in Thailand Tomatoes Commodity Network by Ajarn Jirawat Rugchat of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University. Ajarn Jirawat noted that

Over the past thirty years, Hot and Omkoi district, Chiang Mai province, Thailand, highland areas, have been become an effective role in tomato fruits production…Many villagers transformed themselves as highland entrepreneur farmers who both produced and collected tomato fruits for trading to lowland markets. In the global market level, highland tomato fruits have been become the favorite fruits and transferred to trade in different markets, for example, Thailand central region markets, Thailand provincial markets and international markets. Additionally, the network of tomato commercial from highland to lowland markets has established new various actors who have been playing an important role in tomato commodity network.

He concluded that

the growth of highland tomato commercial, since late 1970s, in Hot and Omkoi district, the northern Thailand has led to highland agriculture restructuring in many ways. Firstly, Lua tomato growers had entirely abandoned their traditional plant, upland rice, and changed their highland areas to grow tomato commercial instead. Secondly, after tomato has been become a main commercial crop in highland village, cultivated areas around the village, particularly lowland areas, have been intensively utilized by switching between wet season rice and tomato crop all year round. Finally, Lua tomato growers have given priority to grow tomato more than wet season rice cultivation. They have dedicated their entire time to engross in tomato planting and hired Karen labor from other villages for growing and harvesting wet season rice.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)