More farmers in Thailand's northern and northeastern regions have switched to growing glutinous rice to meet a higher demand from China, which has pushed up the grain's price, a senior agriculture official of Thailand said Saturday.

Monthol Jeamcharoen, deputy secretary-general of Office of Agricultural Economics under the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, was quoted by Thai News Agency as saying that the market price of high quality glutinous rice, or sticky rice, rose by more than 3,000 baht (about 88.2 U.S dollars) per tonne to a new record high of 10,715 baht (315.1 dollars) per tonne during the 2006/2007 season from 7,612 baht (223.9 dollars) last year after China imported 50,000 tonnes of the rice from Thailand.

There is no sign that the price will decline, at least in the near future, Monthol said.

Farmers in the north and northeast regions usually sell glutinous rice in the latter part of every year after setting aside stocks for their own consumption, he said, adding that the increased demand from China has prompted farmers in both regions to grow more glutinous rice than the flagrant "khao hom mali" rice, Thailand's traditionally most popular rice export product.