Drought Forces Farmers To Switch To Cassava

[george]

Drought forces farmers to switch to cassava

BANGKOK: -- Farmers are increasingly switching to cultivating cassava, as rising fuel prices make other crops uneconomical to grow, according to a report from the Office of Agricultural Economics.

Farmers who once grew maize, sugarcane and mung beans are increasingly finding that high fuel prices are making these crops too expensive to cultivate.

Cassava, on the other hand, requires relatively little investment, and prices are good.

Mr. Montol Jeamcharoen, the Director of the office's Centre for Agricultural Information, said that rising market prices and cassava's resistance to drought made it an attractive proposition for farmers.

While the market prices of maize, sugarcane and mung beans are also on the increase, this has not been enough to offset the rising production costs caused by higher fuel prices.

Other crops which farmers are turning to include oil palms and rubber.

Yields of important fruit crops, including rambutans, lychees and mangosteens, have, meanwhile, been severely affected by the drought, while more farmers are raising chickens and beef cattle due to rising demand at home and abroad.

--TNA 2005-06-18