Ubon Forage Seeds

Ubon Forage Seeds Co, Ltd is the premium producer of Tropical Forage Grass Seed, Tropical Pasture Grass Seeds and Tropical Forage Legume Seeds in South East Asia. These tropical grass seeds are Mulato II hybrid bracharia, Mombasa guinea grass, Tanzania guinea grass, Mun River guinea grass, Ubon paspalum and the tropical forage and pasture legume Ubon stylo. Ubon Forage Seeds Co, Ltd also produces seed of a tropical green manure, Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea). Ubon Forage Seeds Co, Ltd developed out of a tropical forage and tropical pasture research project which started in 1995 in the Faculty of Agriculture, Ubon Ratchathani University by Professor Michael D. Hare. This project initiated a smallholder seed production program to produce seed of several new tropical forage and pasture species it had studied. The program was further strengthen when a USA based company Tropical Seeds LLC, a subsidiary of a Mexican seed company, Grupo Papalotla, made the business decision in 2003 to come to Thailand to produce brachiaria hybrid seed. The decision to produce seed in Thailand was because of high forage seed quality, smallholder experience and professionalism and Ubon Ratchathani University's long involvement in forage seed production through the forage research project. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2004 between Tropical Seeds LLC and the Faculty of Agriculture, Ubon Ratchathani University to produce for export, tropical forage and pasture seed produced in villages in northeast Thailand. In this joint venture, commercial seed production first commenced with only Mulato II hybrid brachiaria. But with the development of a strong tropical forage and tropical pasture seed export market, other species are being commercially produced. These include the tropical grass species, Mombasa guinea grass, Tanzania guinea grass, Mun River guinea grass and Ubon paspalum, and the tropical forage and pasture legume Ubon stylo.