Farmers plead for price hike as season begins

[webfact]

Farmers plead for price hike as season begins

By The nation

 

Farmers collect rice seeds after the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony held yesterday at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang ceremonial ground. Photo Tanachai Pramarnpanich

 

PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday said he was pleased with the Royal Ploughing Ceremony’s forecast for prosperity but urged the public to understand the government’s slow and steady approach for sustainable results in national development.
 

Wishing farmers success, he also advised them to prepare for risks such as flooding and drought and adjust their farming according to water supply for timely harvests.

 

With farmers using the auspicious occasion to begin ploughing, sowing rice seeds or planting paddies in hope of a healthy harvest, many are urging the government to keep rice prices buoyant and control the cost of fertiliser.

 

In Tambon Bang Decha of Prachin Buri’s Muang district, 53-year-old Sawek Norasing said he and his relatives were sowing seeds on the family’s inherited 40-rai rice field. Sawek said he hoped the new government after the upcoming election would hike the rice price to at least Bt9,000 per tonne – compared to the current rate of Bt6,000-Bt7,000 per tonne. He said farmers were burdened with high production costs of Bt7,000-Bt10,000 per tonne for rice seeds and expensive fertiliser, among other things.

 

Farmer Wanthana Kwanyoo, 46, called for the Prayut administration’s  aid in raising the rice price to Bt9,000 per tonne and controlling the price for fertiliser and agro-chemicals.

 

In Buri Ram’s Muang district, Tambon Bua Thong farmer Khampin Phongpan, 59, said a price of Bt16,000 per tonne or Bt16 per kilo was necessary to secure farmers’ livelihoods. “Even with the abundant harvests, farmers are still in trouble if the rice price is low,” he said.

 

In Uttaradit’s Laplae district, agricultural workers performed a ritual to apologise to Mother Earth and the Goddess of Rice before beginning their season. Farmer Somboon Maneejamnong said the ritual was important to the “country’s backbone” – rice farmers – as it would bring about good harvests with crops that fetch a high price.

 

In Phichit’s Pho Prathap Chang district, farmers planted rice paddies to save water and time – rice seedlings reach maturity for harvesting 20 days faster than do rice seeds.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30345388

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-15

[YetAnother]

25 minutes ago, webfact said:

he also advised them to prepare for risks such as flooding and drought and adjust their farming according to water supply for timely harvests.

am sure his extensive farming background qualifies him as a farming expert

[cornishcarlos]

40 minutes ago, webfact said:

prepare for risks such as flooding and drought

 

Covered his bases there... 

 

He can pretty much secure all farmers votes, for the "upcoming" election, with 1 more lie... "Yup, as soon as I'm confirmed as the next PM, I will guarantee you 28,000 baht/tonne.." 

 

[ezzra]

29 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

am sure his extensive farming background qualifies him as a farming expert

They say that you don't have to be a chicken to judge an omelet...

and the PM doesn't have to have an agriculture background to give such sage advice, the only people who make a mint on the back of the farmers are the several middlemen between the farm and the table, if the PM can take from them and give some back to the farmers problem solved...

[uffe123]

Prices are so low, farmers are starving

Edited May 15, 2018 by uffe123

[observer90210]

Hum !...rice ?!....huge subsidies ?!!...farmers ?!!...Better be nice to them,  as did somebody not lose her job in the past with all of this ?!!!!! 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2018 by observer90210

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Farmers plead for price hike as season begins

Price isn't the only problem.

It's been the high value of the baht that has dampened rice exports.

"the growing strength of the Thai currency has negatively impacted on the country's export of rice and other farm products such as rubber, tapioca and sugar. These products have 90 per cent local content, so the baht's rise makes them more expensive than those of our competitors." - Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association (2017-09-30)

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Economy/30328054

[marko kok prong]

Interesting story i read some time back about a farmer who grows organically,not only did he get a much higher price,but he saved a lot of money by not using chemical fertiliser or pesticides,he was one of a few forward thinking farmers, he made 200,000 baht that year.Unfortunately most Thai farmers seem to be stuck in a mindset of it's always been done like this using expensive fertilisers and Pesticides ,which of course it has not because generally until ww2 these chemicals where not generally available in this part of the world. I also see very little rotation of crops or allowing the land a fallow year or years to regenerate.

Rice is a demanding crop,too much water it dies,to little it dies,and at the current price it really is not worth the effort of planting,but that is the market rate,and we all know what happened when Yingluck brought the election by offering 15,000 baht a tonne.

[billd766]

25 minutes ago, marko kok prong said:

Interesting story i read some time back about a farmer who grows organically,not only did he get a much higher price,but he saved a lot of money by not using chemical fertiliser or pesticides,he was one of a few forward thinking farmers, he made 200,000 baht that year.Unfortunately most Thai farmers seem to be stuck in a mindset of it's always been done like this using expensive fertilisers and Pesticides ,which of course it has not because generally until ww2 these chemicals where not generally available in this part of the world. I also see very little rotation of crops or allowing the land a fallow year or years to regenerate.

Rice is a demanding crop,too much water it dies,to little it dies,and at the current price it really is not worth the effort of planting,but that is the market rate,and we all know what happened when Yingluck brought the election by offering 15,000 baht a tonne.

 

The problem with growing organically is that first the land needs to stand idle and organic fertiliser needs to be applied for 3, 4 or 5 years to become pesticide free. After that you can claim organic farming but what does the farmer live on meanwhile.

 

You can get higher prices for organic food but the market is not that large for it yet.;

[Cadbury]

8 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

The problem with growing organically is that first the land needs to stand idle and organic fertiliser needs to be applied for 3, 4 or 5 years to become pesticide free. After that you can claim organic farming but what does the farmer live on meanwhile.

 

You can get higher prices for organic food but the market is not that large for it yet.;

I am not a farmer but what you say seems to make sense. But I recall a related story about a year ago where someone made the claim that organic certification could be easily purchased under the counter at the appropriate Ministry. Thailand being Thailand I don't doubt that for one minute.

[HOAX]

Interesting story i read some time back about a farmer who grows organically,not only did he get a much higher price,but he saved a lot of money by not using chemical fertiliser or pesticides,he was one of a few forward thinking farmers, he made 200,000 baht that year.Unfortunately most Thai farmers seem to be stuck in a mindset of it's always been done like this using expensive fertilisers and Pesticides ,which of course it has not because generally until ww2 these chemicals where not generally available in this part of the world. I also see very little rotation of crops or allowing the land a fallow year or years to regenerate. Rice is a demanding crop,too much water it dies,to little it dies,and at the current price it really is not worth the effort of planting,but that is the market rate,and we all know what happened when Yingluck brought the election by offering 15,000 baht a tonne.

 

Even though you’re not using chemical fertiliser- and pesticides products, you still need several products for the food to grow effectively and look appetizingly, if you want to sell it (and still make a profit), especially in tropical regions and it requires much more work than regular farming, as well as extra cost for electricity and clean water.

 

Unless you sell it by yourself, you’ll need to find a buyer that is willing to pay what you’re asking. Not easy as the organic food market is a small niche market, and not as much in demand as you may think. The supermarkets already have their large-scale partners and they’re more and more located outside of Thailand, in cheaper countries, and Europe, USA and Australia for the even smaller market that is willing to pay more.

 

... but yes, you can make it, but there’s no room for thousands of successful organic farmers, at least not today, perhaps in the future if Thailand becomes more organic-minded.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

[greenchair]

8 hours ago, ezzra said:

They say that you don't have to be a chicken to judge an omelet...

and the PM doesn't have to have an agriculture background to give such sage advice, the only people who make a mint on the back of the farmers are the several middlemen between the farm and the table, if the PM can take from them and give some back to the farmers problem solved...

Haha, you sound like monk isara. 

He certainly sounded great when mobilising the farmers to get rid of the government. It is ironic that the farmers not only lost their subsidies, but also ended up with the same old middle man system. The middle men buy in hundreds of tons, whilst direct selling Is time consuming and takes years to build a regular customer base. In the end the present government transferred loyalty to the rubber growers and didn't give rice farmers the time of day. Som nam na. 

This government needs votes, so I suppose it is a good time for the farmers to call in a favour. Only to get sidelined again when no longer needed. 

It's hilarious. 

[ersl]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

 

The problem with growing organically is that first the land needs to stand idle and organic fertiliser needs to be applied for 3, 4 or 5 years to become pesticide free. After that you can claim organic farming but what does the farmer live on meanwhile.

 

You can get higher prices for organic food but the market is not that large for it yet.;

<deleted>! It takes 10 years but can claim chemical free in first crop. It doesn't need to stand idle either. There are a range of Grades a farmer can qualify for and be certified for each. Thai Organic Rice is in huge demand and it is one of the few big organic rice producers along with Australia, India, Pakistan, China is coming along too. The King invested many years and THB Billions in Organic farming and Permaculture. 1,000s of real experts from all over the planet helped the King's plan to make Siam the first mostly organic farming country.

The market for Organic/Biodynamic Rice is HUGE!!! 

Seems you have an interest in downplaying organic farming!

[snowgard]

Just allow the farmers to export the rice self will give them a much more better income:

http://www.thairiceexporters.or.th/price_eng.html

They work hard and earn nothing. The exporters work nothing and be rich from rice!!!

Edited May 15, 2018 by snowgard

[samsensam]

5 hours ago, Cadbury said:

I am not a farmer but what you say seems to make sense. But I recall a related story about a year ago where someone made the claim that organic certification could be easily purchased under the counter at the appropriate Ministry. Thailand being Thailand I don't doubt that for one minute.

 

i'd be happy to pay more for organic food, as i do back home. unfortunately in thailand there is just too much corruption and shenanagins to trust the efficacy of organic claims.

[billd766]

7 hours ago, ersl said:

<deleted>! It takes 10 years but can claim chemical free in first crop. It doesn't need to stand idle either. There are a range of Grades a farmer can qualify for and be certified for each. Thai Organic Rice is in huge demand and it is one of the few big organic rice producers along with Australia, India, Pakistan, China is coming along too. The King invested many years and THB Billions in Organic farming and Permaculture. 1,000s of real experts from all over the planet helped the King's plan to make Siam the first mostly organic farming country.

The market for Organic/Biodynamic Rice is HUGE!!! 

Seems you have an interest in downplaying organic farming!

 

Actually I don't have an interest in downplaying organic farming but the prices after the first year will be much the same as non organic prices.

 

It takes YEARS to get rid of all the pesticides on farming land and the land needs to be certified as organic to get the higher price during which the farmer may claim that his produce is organic but it isn't really.

 

If it is that easy and that quick and saves money for farmers then why aren't ALL farmers doing it?

 

Unless of course you know better and can provide the links to it.

[Srikcir]

12 hours ago, snowgard said:

Just allow the farmers to export the rice self will give them a much more better income:

Aside from what I believe that there's no reason why a farmer can't directly export rice (see Alibaba's new Thai export web site) - a farmer would need to market hundreds of thousands if not millions of tons of rice to a foreign rice importer who buys in large bulk quantities. Such quantities do not come from the average rice farmer. Furthermore, I suspect that the cost to the importer to buy "small quantities" from multiple small Thai rice farmers will incur higher operating costs that would otherwise be diluted by an economy of scale purchasing large quantities from a single source.

 

Prayut did lift restrictions for Thai rice farmers to sell directly to retail grocery outlets and the public in general within Thailand. That provides some extra income to help sustain small-sized rice farmers but price increases at the retail level are negligible and infrequent in the long-run.

[The Renegade]

17 hours ago, ersl said:

The King invested many years and THB Billions in Organic farming and Permaculture. 1,000s of real experts from all over the planet helped the King's plan to make Siam the first mostly organic farming country.

The market for Organic/Biodynamic Rice is HUGE!!! 

And therein lies the problem.

 

Most Thai rice farmers do not have access to 1000's of experts or Billions of Baht.

 

So whilst the market for organic rice might be huge, not many can tap into it.

 

Mindset is another problem. It has taken me 4 years to convince the FIL to diversify from rice.

[The Renegade]

28 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Aside from what I believe that there's no reason why a farmer can't directly export rice (see Alibaba's new Thai export web site) - a farmer would need to market hundreds of thousands if not millions of tons of rice to a foreign rice importer who buys in large bulk quantities. Such quantities do not come from the average rice farmer. Furthermore, I suspect that the cost to the importer to buy "small quantities" from multiple small Thai rice farmers will incur higher operating costs that would otherwise be diluted by an economy of scale purchasing large quantities from a single source.

 

Prayut did lift restrictions for Thai rice farmers to sell directly to retail grocery outlets and the public in general within Thailand. That provides some extra income to help sustain small-sized rice farmers but price increases at the retail level are negligible and infrequent in the long-run.

Spot on synopsis.

[rickudon]

Well, price might not be brilliant but around Udon (well, the rice growing areas i drive through) definite increase in fields which have been ploughed this year. And due to the bountiful rain since Songkran, some rice already growing. Usually they do not plant before middle to late May.