Ministry to compensate rubber growers

By The Nation 

 

 

Some relief for those not tapping latex in efforts to control supply and boost price

 

THE AGRICULTURE and Cooperatives Ministry is planning to offer Bt3,000 compensation per rai to rubber growers who agree not to tap rubber latex in their plantations for three months. 

 

“This is a planned measure to tackle falling rubber prices,” Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach said yesterday. 

 

He said he had already instructed the Rubber Authority of Thailand to consult the Council of State about the possibility of seeking a Bt9-billion loan, with the government acting as a guarantor for the plan’s implementation. 

 

 

Grisada expects the Council of State to respond next week. 

 

“We hope to implement the plan between November and next April,” he said. “We should then be able to cut rubber supply by 200,000 tonnes.”

 

Grisada said authorities would take away tools for rubber tapping to ensure participants in the scheme did not secretly tap the trees.

 

While plantation owners are promised compensation, their farm hands look set to bear the brunt. Normally, rubber tappers get paid to do their jobs on the basis of benefit sharing. But compensation is unlikely to be shared if the plan is implemented. 

 

According to Grisada, there are about 24 million rai (3.8 million hectares) of rubber plantations in the country. Together, they have produced about 4 million tonnes in rubber yields yearly. 

 

“If the rubber output comes down to just below 4 million tonnes, prices will increase,” he said. 

 

Regarding 100,000 tonnes of rubber stored in Rubber Authority of Thailand’s warehouses, said the authority and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand were now conducting experiments on how to turn rubber into energy.

 

In related matter, Grisada also joined a videoconference yesterday for a project to promote maize growing among rice farmers during November 2018 to September 2019 instead of growing off-season rice paddy. The meeting was aimed at explaining project details to the newly established provincial and district-level working teams in 33 target provinces. They cover 2 million rai of rice fields deemed more suitable to grow maize than off-season rice. 

 

The Cabinet-approved project will provide loans at 0.01 per cent interest for the farmers to cover production costs at Bt2,000 per rai for up to 15 rai, a  loan at 1 per cent interest for agricultural institutes’ maize produce gathering for sale to the private sector, and a government budget to cover maize produce insurance at Bt65 per rai (so a disaster-hit farmer can get Bt1,500 per rai compensation).

 

Grisada said this project will be successful – compared to previous maize-growing schemes – as it included maize-growing in groups and with produce-gathering points for better sales and price bargaining.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30355842

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-10-05

 

"...While plantation owners are promised compensation, their farm hands look set to bear the brunt..."

 

Just like the fishing boat owners and all other industries in Thailand; the wealthy owners get 'compensation' and the working poor get screwed.

 

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...

 

 

Whatever happen to allowing the free and open market fend for itself?

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Regarding 100,000 tonnes of rubber stored in Rubber Authority of Thailand’s warehouses

wonder if they will check the warehouses to find out how much is missing.

 

1 hour ago, zzaa09 said:

Whatever happen to allowing the free and open market fend for itself?

Dead and buried in the mass grave together with labor rights, human rights, and a couple of others.

2 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Whatever happen to allowing the free and open market fend for itself?

Perhaps there really is an election coming soon.

 

My wife has about 25 rai of rubber trees. Says she can get more money by harvest than not harvest. The only people that would benefit from this are farmers who want some 'holiday' money but do not want to pay staff for a while.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

“If the rubber output comes down to just below 4 million tonnes, prices will increase,”

This should be welcomed by other countries which collectively produce nearly 8 million tonnes. 

Today's headline.....Thai government manipulates local rubber prices and pays growers to produce less rubber making their's the dearest in the world.   

Next headline..........Rubber buyers flock to countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India and China to do their buying leaving Thailand out on a pricing limb and with sheds full of rubber. 

Next headline..........Thai Government manipulates rubber prices by subsidising the market price so as to clear excess stocks in the sheds. 

A pattern is forming here. Do they never learn there is a real world outside the world of Thailand?

 

2 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Do they never learn there is a real world outside the world of Thailand? 

The irony is that Yingluck was found guilty after the military coup due in part ignoring real world market influences on crop value. But of course the Prayut regime operates with immunity so no lesson need be learned.

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

My wife has about 25 rai of rubber trees. Says she can get more money by harvest than not harvest. The only people that would benefit from this are farmers who want some 'holiday' money but do not want to pay staff for a while.

More income inequality caused by an elitist minority government.

"...While plantation owners are promised compensation, their farm hands look set to bear the brunt..."
 
Just like the fishing boat owners and all other industries in Thailand; the wealthy owners get 'compensation' and the working poor get screwed.
 
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
 
 

Yes and just in time for the run up to the “elections” most of the farm hands are probably foreigners anyway - they don’t vote.

Another 9 billion down the drain - price rise is not going to happen other countries will step in and fill the gap - did not work with the rice and will not work with rubber.

The opposite was the case - Thailand Lost its position as the number one rice exporter in the world thinking they could hold back supply driving up the price - not in today’s world!




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7 hours ago, webfact said:

Ministry to compensate rubber growers

With rubber cheques?

... and after 3 months then what?

Also, didn’t the government recommend farmers to turn to planting rubber trees a few years back? They’ll very soon be ready for harvest. This was a very popular idea I remember because the price for rubber was high. It shortly fell to like 1/3 of the price and will most likely dip much more when the recent farmers are ready to harvest. Is the government going to compensate them too?

Seems like the government just throws money around like nothing, compensating everyone. Would be a lot better if the government stops recommending anything, just let it take its own course, let people find out for themselves and stop handing out financial rescue packages, it does absolutely nothing good. I also continue to see the government is promoting huge bank loans on certain groups of the poorest (especially farmers) that should never had the possibility to get these massive loans. I’ve seen dirt poor farmers getting 1,5 million in loan. How on earth are they going to pay it back?
Aaah, of course...

- Let’s say it together guys:

COMPENSATION!


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“Grisada said authorities would take away tools for rubber tapping to ensure participants in the scheme did not secretly tap the trees” 

 

That’ll do it... ????