[TainuibeFaimb]

BIODIVERSITY

Many food plants face extinction

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

Many of Thailand's native fruits and vegetables are under threat of extinction as farmers increasingly concentrate on mono-cropping, an agricultural expert has warned.

Hard-to-find fruits such as mapood, madun, some types of mangosteen and short-haired rambutans in the South, and the lychee-like srilaman in the North are among those facing the risk of extinction, the expert said yesterday.

Also at risk are vegetables such as chamouang, found in the eastern provinces.

These plant species, many of which have medicinal properties, have long been part of the Thai diet, said Songpol Somsri, an official at the Department of Agriculture.

He said his agency was very concerned about the problem and pointed to single-product cash cropping as the main threat.

''For us, climate change is not a major reason for their [possible] extinction. Our concern is mono-cropping. Farmers no longer pay attention to those rare plants because they are not cash crops.

''They want to take care only of plants that can generate money,'' he told a seminar on national agricultural biodiversity yesterday.

However, the department does not have clear figures on how many kinds of plants are at risk of extinction or have already become extinct.

To save these plant species from extinction, the department now has 20 ''green-field banks'' across the country for cultivation of rare plants.

The largest herb bank is in Chumphon, while a green-field bank in Chanthaburi houses some rare durian species. Also, many native lychee and longan species are grown in Chiang Rai.

Bangkok Post.