Second rice crop planting ban takes toll on farmers

[Lite Beer]

Second rice crop planting ban takes toll on farmers

BANGKOK: -- The government's recent instruction for farmers to not grow off-season or second rice crops has now taken toll on farmers who now are complaining sharp decline in their earnings and delayed government subsidies.

A survey by the Office of Agricultural Economics revealed that the country’s paddy rice fields for 2014-2015 was estimated at 2.5 million rai, while the output was estimated at around 3.8 million tons, down from 9.55 million tons year-on-year.

Since the Thai government has banned rice farmers in 26 provinces from planting their off-season or second rice due to drought, farmers’ income per household has reduced by 70,000 baht, resulting in an estimated 25.6 billion baht less household spending.

The decline in spending represented 58.5 billion baht loss in GDP.

Based on the survey, the office said many rice farmers claim that they still did not receive enough support from the government.

Farmers recommended that financial support and low-interest loans from the state should be paid directly to them.

They also call for coupons to elevate production cost and new career development schemes, the survey said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/second-rice-crop-planting-ban-takes-toll-on-farmers

-- Thai PBS 2015-05-09

[dcutman]

Rice farmers are a very complicated bunch.

They complain when they cant grow rice and complain even more when they do.

[Lunchbob]

I've noticed an interesting effect here I think as a result of what is discussed in the article and also bc of decreased prices, and perhaps other factors: a huge reduction in burning. I would guess at least 50 percent. Also, people are just hand tossing rice seeds instead of meticulously planting. Both great, unexpected results.

[trainman34014]

Most of the Paddy's around us are growing beans and other easy veg's. There are other things to grow if there is willingness.

[JOC]

Dear rice farmers!!

Maybe time to get a job??...................

[uty6543]

Rice farmers are a very complicated bunch.

They complain when they cant grow rice and complain even more when they do.

Yes they complain when they can't grow rice and cannot earn any money to live on and complain more when they do grow rice and don't get paid and have no money to live on.

I think the common link could be no way to feed themselves or their families.

[trogers]

Rice farmers are a very complicated bunch.

They complain when they cant grow rice and complain even more when they do.

Yes they complain when they can't grow rice and cannot earn any money to live on and complain more when they do grow rice and don't get paid and have no money to live on.

I think the common link could be no way to feed themselves or their families.

No way to feed...because they are unskilled and not willing to leave their farms to search for manual work.

The govt can easily budget up 30b baht to landscape Bangkok and other major cities to generate work that suits them.

[noosard]

And where is 50 year old rice farmer going to get a job ?

If all these rice paddies turned into veggie patches where would they be able to sell them and at what price ?

[trogers]

And where is 50 year old rice farmer going to get a job ?

If all these rice paddies turned into veggie patches where would they be able to sell them and at what price ?

Start with the classifieds like most of us, or check out the Labour ministry? Provided they can read...

[Thai at Heart]

Well, the least they should do is compensate them for not being allowed to grow.

[dcutman]

Rice farmers are a very complicated bunch.

They complain when they cant grow rice and complain even more when they do.

Yes they complain when they can't grow rice and cannot earn any money to live on and complain more when they do grow rice and don't get paid and have no money to live on.

I think the common link could be no way to feed themselves or their families.

when they do grow rice and don't get paid

When and why would farmers grow rice and not get paid?

I think the opposite is true. Rice farmers forever have been getting govt subsidies to grow rice. Not to mention free and low cost loans and fairly regular occurring debt forgiveness.

[dcutman]

Well, the least they should do is compensate them for not being allowed to grow.

As far as I know rice farming was never intended to be a social program, even though its seems like it is.

Where do you draw the line on compensating people for lost wages when natural disasters occur?

[ratcatcher]

Well, the least they should do is compensate them for not being allowed to grow.

Well, the main reason they aren't allowed to grow in 26 provinces is very simple. There ain't enough water there due to lack of rain in the dry/hot season. Farmers near where I live have planted because the Nan river is running well.

[Robby nz]

Great how those in cities think that farmers are so stupid that they have to be told that there isn't going to be enough water to grow a crop.

The rice farmers are well aware of the weather and drought conditions and will not go ahead and plant if there is not going to be enough water, they don't have to be told.

Conditions where I live on the central plain are the driest they have been in living memory, large ponds that are normally year round water sources have dried up long ago, yet as I travel round I see in other places there is still water and in those the farmers have ignored the suits and gone ahead and planted knowing full well they will have enough water for their crop.

Others have bore water which they can use and they have also planted and harvested a crop.

[dcutman]

Great how those in cities think that farmers are so stupid that they have to be told that there isn't going to be enough water to grow a crop.

The rice farmers are well aware of the weather and drought conditions and will not go ahead and plant if there is not going to be enough water, they don't have to be told.

Conditions where I live on the central plain are the driest they have been in living memory, large ponds that are normally year round water sources have dried up long ago, yet as I travel round I see in other places there is still water and in those the farmers have ignored the suits and gone ahead and planted knowing full well they will have enough water for their crop.

Others have bore water which they can use and they have also planted and harvested a crop.

Great how those in cities think that farmers are so stupid that they have to be told that there isn't going to be enough water to grow a crop.

The rice farmers are well aware of the weather and drought conditions and will not go ahead and plant if there is not going to be enough water, they don't have to be told.

Maybe a tad to much credit given there.

Rice farmers in major plantation areas, especially the Central region, are ploughing ahead with a second crop, despite the threat of drought. Most say they're willing to take the chance due to attractive prices at this time.

"If I don't grow a second crop, I have no idea to grow any other plants or work in another career. My only experience is growing rice," he said. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/04/05/business/Farmers-in-central-region-planting-2nd-rice-crop-d-30126393.html

[trogers]

Great how those in cities think that farmers are so stupid that they have to be told that there isn't going to be enough water to grow a crop.

The rice farmers are well aware of the weather and drought conditions and will not go ahead and plant if there is not going to be enough water, they don't have to be told.

Conditions where I live on the central plain are the driest they have been in living memory, large ponds that are normally year round water sources have dried up long ago, yet as I travel round I see in other places there is still water and in those the farmers have ignored the suits and gone ahead and planted knowing full well they will have enough water for their crop.

Others have bore water which they can use and they have also planted and harvested a crop.

Great how those in cities think that farmers are so stupid that they have to be told that there isn't going to be enough water to grow a crop.

The rice farmers are well aware of the weather and drought conditions and will not go ahead and plant if there is not going to be enough water, they don't have to be told.

Maybe a tad to much credit given there.

Rice farmers in major plantation areas, especially the Central region, are ploughing ahead with a second crop, despite the threat of drought. Most say they're willing to take the chance due to attractive prices at this time.

"If I don't grow a second crop, I have no idea to grow any other plants or work in another career. My only experience is growing rice," he said. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/04/05/business/Farmers-in-central-region-planting-2nd-rice-crop-d-30126393.html

Humans with brains or programmed cyborgs?

[Fat Haggis]

And where is 50 year old rice farmer going to get a job ?

If all these rice paddies turned into veggie patches where would they be able to sell them and at what price ?

Start with the classifieds like most of us, or check out the Labour ministry? Provided they can read...

You're obviously NOT A THAI RICE FARMER, whose family has farmed Rice for generations!!

[noosard]

Start with the classifieds like most of us, or check out the Labour ministry? Provided they can read...

Classifieds are in newspapers

Don't remember every seeing one here in the village

Have you every been to a labour ministry work day

Saw one in Udon thani a few months ago the line for appling for work stretch a couple of blocks in each direction

[noosard]

Rice farmers in major plantation areas, especially the Central region, are ploughing ahead with a second crop, despite the threat of drought. Most say they're willing to take the chance due to attractive prices at this time.

The ploughing of the fields now is for the first crop of the season with the expectation of this years rains

[kmj]

And where is 50 year old rice farmer going to get a job ?

If all these rice paddies turned into veggie patches where would they be able to sell them and at what price ?

Start with the classifieds like most of us, or check out the Labour ministry? Provided they can read...

Let them eat cake... <deleted>

[JOC]

A story from real life.

My inlaws are rice farmers, plenty of land and access to water all year around. When I was new to this country, I asked how many crops they harvested per year. "Only one" was the answer I got. When asking why not two or maybe even three, the answer was "We have never done". That's how hungry they were!!

My wifes two sisters and a brother have all chosen to return to Issan and support themselves as farmers. They are reasonably well educated, and have been away from the sticks for years, but try to teach them to study farming techniques to improve their livelihood, it is like talking to a wall.

Therein lies the problem!!

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[dcutman]

And where is 50 year old rice farmer going to get a job ?

If all these rice paddies turned into veggie patches where would they be able to sell them and at what price ?

Start with the classifieds like most of us, or check out the Labour ministry? Provided they can read...

You're obviously NOT A THAI RICE FARMER, whose family has farmed Rice for generations!!

Please FH, don't under estimate the stupids on here who denigrate those whose farming efforts have been the backbone of the economy for generations.

trogers can probably read and perhaps even write, but how smug he must be to make such insulting and patronising comments about those whose hard and honest labour puts his rice on the table.

Some times the Fwits on TV are just too much.

Phil you have to admit the farming industry in Thailand has not not been keeping up with modern technology and practices, and the rice farmers seem to be the ones lagging behind the most. The govt of course is at fault in many ways. Instead of pushing subsidies to gain votes at election time, they should have been pushing for strains that produced higher yields, better methods, using less fertilizers, and helping to purchase machinery to lessen the burden of manual labor. As well as providing the ability to irrigate larger areas. But rice farmers themselves are equally at fault, while they were scrounging for more and more subsidies, their neighbors and the rest of the world got modern.

[trogers]

And where is 50 year old rice farmer going to get a job ?

If all these rice paddies turned into veggie patches where would they be able to sell them and at what price ?

Start with the classifieds like most of us, or check out the Labour ministry? Provided they can read...

You're obviously NOT A THAI RICE FARMER, whose family has farmed Rice for generations!!

Seems the cavemen said something similar a long long time ago before these generations of farmers.

[noosard]

Which of thailands nieghbours grows rice a lot better ?

[BSJ]

The droughts real here where I live. The well has been dry 5 or 6 times. If we want water for our juvenile mango trees we have to take the benzine pump out to the orchard and use dam water which is a bit inconvenient but we do what we have to, but it's a shared dam with the BIL so he will want a lot of water for his rice...which is about 3 rai at that block which is next door to the wifes orchard.

We use town water for showers and washing dishes, toilet flush and vege garden for now. There is a bit of rain water in an ong for drinking.

But the whole family, wife included, are preparing for first crop rice.....as long as the rainy season comes.

[NickJ]

In California they use planes to plant rice....one guy could do the work of thousands in a few hours .

[brain150]

In California they use planes to plant rice....one guy could do the work of thousands in a few hours .

Now, are you just talking BS to sound smart or do you really have no idea about anything ???

California is in the worst drought the state has seen in the last 1200 years [according to Business Insider] !!!

So, they can fly airplanes as long as they want but nothing will grow !

... people posting in this forum are getting more and more out of anything by the hour it seems.

[trogers]

In California they use planes to plant rice....one guy could do the work of thousands in a few hours .

Now, are you just talking BS to sound smart or do you really have no idea about anything ???

California is in the worst drought the state has seen in the last 1200 years [according to Business Insider] !!!

So, they can fly airplanes as long as they want but nothing will grow !

... people posting in this forum are getting more and more out of anything by the hour it seems.

Come visit my rice farm in Death Valley.

[Vogele123]

Well, the least they should do is compensate them for not being allowed to grow.

And end up like the E.U and the U.S.A? Paid to waste food? They need to take a leaf out of Vietnams books, they can make 3 crops a year and actually make money. The worst thing they could possibly do here is to compensate for not producing - Hell, they would probably find Panthip and Central Plaza registered as rice paddies just to cash in on it!

The corruption around agriculture is bad enough when they actually have to grow and sell something, God knows what it would be like if they actually got paid for NOT growing!