Thai govt tells rice farmers to choose another crop

[webfact]

Govt tells rice farmers to choose another crop
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The government has called on farmers across the country to grow plants that require less water than rice amid the ongoing risk of drought.

"Farmers, for example, can grow corn-for-animal feed and pods instead," government spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday.

"This is a request that farmers can consider heeding on a voluntary basis."

He was speaking after rice farmers in Kanchanaburi expressed dissatisfaction over the government's plea that they avoid growing rice outside the rainy season.

It takes farmers at least three months from when they start working on their paddy fields to harvest their crops.

The country's dry season is set to begin next month.

If farmers start growing rice now, their crops risk withering from drought.

Sansern said there had been significantly less rainfall than usual this year.

He said major dams had reported very low water volumes and there were areas of the country still struggling with water shortages.

"The drought will very likely worsen next year and the paddy fields, in particular those in the Central region, will be affected," he said.

He explained that the government had been doing its best to help farmers such as by providing hundreds of billions baht to dig artesian wells, creating alternative jobs for farmers, making artificial rain and paying compensation for damaged crops.

"The government has also had to earmark a budget for other purposes and help people in other occupations," Sansern said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Govt-tells-rice-farmers-to-choose-another-crop-30270187.html


-- The Nation 2015-10-05

[selftaopath]

The "challenge" for Thai farmers (along with many other aspects of unsuccessful ways of being e.g. education) is to do something new/different? Humnnnnn I wonder if that's part of "Thainess"?

[bamnutsak]

Can you grow "Cake"?

[Oziex1]

I would be interested if any one living in Issan can verify the comments on the creation of wells and alternative employment. My Issan friend has gone to Phuket to work in a restaurant, is this what they mean.

Is the advice on alternative crops backed up with any science?

If changing crops is voluntary, I would think few would take the option.

[62strat]

Thai rice farmers tell military to go back to marching in their barracks as this whole running everything is not working out.

[Jeremy50]

It's not drought, it's the dry season, same as it ever was. A drought occurs when rain would usually be expected, but doesn't come.

[shirtless]

Why not let the Thai citizens make this government choose another occupation, like have an election Prayut.

[StefanBBK]

Farming is a business and should be run as such. Farmers do need to realize themselves what is profitable and sustainable. If it is not rice, don't grow it.

Edited October 5, 2015 by StefanBBK

[LannaGuy]

Farming is a business and should be run as such. Farmers do need to realize themselves what is profitable and sustainable. If it is not rice, don't grow it.

Farmers the world over get subsidies refer to CAP in Europe and the USA (for example)

id est BILLIONS of dollars

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidy

Edited October 5, 2015 by LannaGuy

[JAG]

One of the problems with growing different crops is the inevitable cartels which emerge to control their sale. In the area in which I live last year there was a big drive to persuade farmers to grow cucumbers for export to Japan. Many enthusiastically took part, Best Beloved included, only to find that come picking time the prices promises were dramatically reduced by the agents working together. Complaints didn't work, the relevant authorities had been paid off. They all made a loss. At least with rice you can keep the stuff to feed yourself.

This year we might try onions...

Edited October 5, 2015 by JAG

[phrisco17]

Resistance to change! Causative "Thainess!"

[Thian]

One of the problems with growing different crops is the inevitable cartels which emerge to control their sale. In the area in which I live last year there was a big drive to persuade farmers to grow cucumbers for export to Japan. Many enthusiastically took part, only to find that come picking time the prices promises were dramatically reduced by the agents working together. Complaints didn't work, the relevant authorities had been paid off. They all made a loss. At least with rice you can keep the stuff to feed yourself.

This year we might try onions...

Would you say that the japanese cucumbers we buy here for a high price are grown in Thailand?

We also eat japanese cucumbers only because they aren't bitter as thai ones.

But it's the same for japanese rockmelons i guess, they fetch a very high price while grown in Thailand in secret.

Thai farmers just have to open their eyes and look abroad the borders. There's plenty of products they can grow and make much money but one has to start first.

Also the Royal project has shown what is possible and they sell it for a lower price then the thai on their markets.

But it seems the farmers didn't dare to try something new, not even for experiment.

And what's wrong with carrots? Don't they grow in Thailand? Why in BKK i see only chinese or australian cucumbers which cost the same price. So of course we go for the Aussie ones since we trust them more.

[JAG]

One of the problems with growing different crops is the inevitable cartels which emerge to control their sale. In the area in which I live last year there was a big drive to persuade farmers to grow cucumbers for export to Japan. Many enthusiastically took part, only to find that come picking time the prices promises were dramatically reduced by the agents working together. Complaints didn't work, the relevant authorities had been paid off. They all made a loss. At least with rice you can keep the stuff to feed yourself.

This year we might try onions...

Would you say that the japanese cucumbers we buy here for a high price are grown in Thailand?

We also eat japanese cucumbers only because they aren't bitter as thai ones.

But it's the same for japanese rockmelons i guess, they fetch a very high price while grown in Thailand in secret.

Thai farmers just have to open their eyes and look abroad the borders. There's plenty of products they can grow and make much money but one has to start first.

Also the Royal project has shown what is possible and they sell it for a lower price then the thai on their markets.

But it seems the farmers didn't dare to try something new, not even for experiment.

And what's wrong with carrots? Don't they grow in Thailand? Why in BKK i see only chinese or australian cucumbers which cost the same price. So of course we go for the Aussie ones since we trust them more.

I don't know, I am not even an amateur agriclturalist. I am making the point that these farmers are often the naive victims of unscrupulous middle men.

Carrots, potatoes and such are grown by the hill tribes up here.

[waldroj]

It's easy for the military men in the current government to lecture farmers about how to work the land. But, they should only do so after they’ve considered all options, and not as a knee-jerk reaction to a crisis caused in large part by past-government failure.

Statements like, "farmers can grow corn-for-animal feed and pods instead (of rice)", are all well and good. But, will the alternate crops fare any better if, as General Spokesman says "the drought will very likely worsen next year”?

More importantly for farmers, if they do change crops and manage to produce a harvest from the suggested alternatives to rice, will those crops provide the farmers with sufficient financial return for their effort? If the drought should worsen, then it is likely that farm animal numbers may be reduced as a result, and the demand for feed similarly affected.

A farmer’s life invariably involves risk (drought, flood, pests, and poor market returns). So, I hardly think the current situation is going to deter too many farmers from starting to plant the dry-season rice now.

Whilst it’s highly likely their crops risk withering from the current drought, there is also a chance the farmers could get lucky with unseasonal rainfall. One of the results of climate change (so we’ve been told) is changes in seasonal rainfall distribution, so it just may be worth the risk to plant rice now.

As for the suggestion that the government had been doing its best to help farmers, well that (like the dams) just doesn’t hold water. Regardless of whether it was the previous government or the present junta, both are guilty of making bad decisions that now impact on rice farmers, particularly in the Chao Phraya and Mae Klong river basins.

Letting water out of the dams at the beginning of last year’s rainy season was a bad decision. Digging artesian wells is a bad decision, making artificial rain (cloud seeding) is a bad decision. Another bad decision has been to not develop a viable long-term plan for coping with drought (especially as the indicators of climate change have been known for years).

It is also a bad decision to try to influence farmers planting habits when it’s basically too late to make sensible decisions about alternatives (as the drought is already upon us). It’s like warning a smoker with cancer of the dangers of smoking.

The only activities (mentioned by the government) that will help farmers now are creating alternative jobs for farmers, and paying compensation for damaged crops. The government should be doing everything possible to keep people on their farms, and to prevent the breakup of affected farming communities (which will have more serious long-term effects well after the current drought has passed).

It has been predicted (NOAA) that the present El Niño is likely to continue into the northern-Spring of 2016. So, the government should be attempting to assist the farmers to tough it out until then (with adequate financial assistance). The government should consider reprioritising other projects to achieve this. Then, once conditions start to improve, the government should return to educating farmers about alternatives to rice in areas affected by the current drought. The government also needs to address the long-term measures that will help mitigate drought problems into the future!

[happynthailand]

Rice is growing just fine here in Mukdahan

[rethaier]

Why don't the grow Hemp.

http://www.thaiblognews.com/2015/02/20/thai-cabinet-approves-hemp-farming-thailand-secret-crop-worth-weight/

[Thian]

One of the problems with growing different crops is the inevitable cartels which emerge to control their sale. In the area in which I live last year there was a big drive to persuade farmers to grow cucumbers for export to Japan. Many enthusiastically took part, only to find that come picking time the prices promises were dramatically reduced by the agents working together. Complaints didn't work, the relevant authorities had been paid off. They all made a loss. At least with rice you can keep the stuff to feed yourself.

This year we might try onions...

Would you say that the japanese cucumbers we buy here for a high price are grown in Thailand?

We also eat japanese cucumbers only because they aren't bitter as thai ones.

But it's the same for japanese rockmelons i guess, they fetch a very high price while grown in Thailand in secret.

Thai farmers just have to open their eyes and look abroad the borders. There's plenty of products they can grow and make much money but one has to start first.

Also the Royal project has shown what is possible and they sell it for a lower price then the thai on their markets.

But it seems the farmers didn't dare to try something new, not even for experiment.

And what's wrong with carrots? Don't they grow in Thailand? Why in BKK i see only chinese or australian cucumbers which cost the same price. So of course we go for the Aussie ones since we trust them more.

I don't know, I am not even an amateur agriclturalist. I am making the point that these farmers are often the naive victims of unscrupulous middle men.

Carrots, potatoes and such are grown by the hill tribes up here.

Well i only know what i see on the markets, potato's 40 baht a kg, carrot 20 baht a piece for big ones, japanese cucumber 2 for 30 baht (thin small ones).

Thai should stop watching soap-series or the boinggg pheeeeep tv-programs. That's why they only can grow rice, they never study or look at other things to do.

Steel bars for a single house (all doors and windows) costs 60.000 baht....I bet it costs much less to make them upcountry. Teakwood outdoor furniture also is very expensive, why is there not a big company for them?

Or making those red-colored hollow bricks, they cost 10-15 baht a piece and are easy to make at home, you only need a press for them.

Or those concrete fake-wood treetrunks used outdoors as decoration to grow plants in, 10.000 baht and up. It's only cement and paint.

Well if they need more idea's they'll have to pay me as a consultant. They better turn on the tv and grab a glass of lao khao. Education also costs money and hey i'm a farang and not allowed to work in Thailand. I also know plenty of examples the farmers can do for export, i can even sell it for them but again i'm not allowed to work here so they have to do it themselves.

[toybits]

"Thai government tells rice farmers to choose another crop."

Will The Thai government guarantee support for those that do choose another crop? So easy to make recommendations. But do they really know what farmers realities are like?

[DP25]

Rice is growing just fine here in Mukdahan

Lets see how things are going in a few months.

There is a drought, in most of the country there isn't sufficient water for dry season rice. I don't know the situation in Mukdahan, maybe you are lucky there and there is enough water. But in much of the country, the reservoirs are almost empty and the dry season crops are going to die. The entire investment is going to be lost, and most of them had to borrow money in order to plant, so many people are going to go in to even greater debt.

No one is telling them not to plant rice just for the fun of it, it is because the crops are going to die and they will lose everything.

[bangon04]

We are Thai farmers. We have the benefit of a Thai education. We were told by our social superiors (Chinese millers and loan sharks) that subsistence farming of rice is the only way a real Thai farmer can live. So don't bring any of that farang thinking or arithmetic here, thank you very much.

Other crops like vegetables do not sell well and are too cheap. We know that rice always sells so well all the time at high prices, especially when our crop fails,. That is the reason my whole family and my whole village is in huge debt and living from hand to mouth each year. At least my children will get exactly the same Thai education that I got. They will survive on subsistence farming too.

[selftaopath]

Farming is a business and should be run as such. Farmers do need to realize themselves what is profitable and sustainable. If it is not rice, don't grow it.

And again I'll ask: How labor intensive is growing rice?

[Toknarok]

"Most of the arable soils in N.E.Thailand are sandy, acidic and infertile'

This is a quote from a report http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ag125e/AG125E11.htm

The report is technical and lengthy but IMO it shows that it is not easy to just switch to another crop Rice has been the staple crop in this area for hundreds of years. The whole social structure is set up for rice production. Some have diversified to sugar cane or cassava, some have planted rubber trees, but with the current price of rubber many people I know are not bothering to tap.

The answer is of course better education not only in schools where land husbandry could be taught, but more agricultural colleges to teach the young about farming efficiency and diversification.

[Srikcir]

"This is a request that farmers can consider heeding on a voluntary basis."

No, they really cannot.

I'd like to hear from Somkid, not a military spokesman, as to the viability of rice farmers successfully growing other crops or raising animals instead of rice farming. There are at least three principle barriers that must be addressed:

1) Lack of knowledge and practical experience with a different crop or animal husbandry on a commercial basis. Knowledge can be taught but by whom, who funds the education, and provides field experience? The government should be responsible.

2) Lack of new capital for different facilities, equipment and materials. Farmers are already in debt for sunk facility, equipment and material costs for their rice enterprise. There is little or no equity remaining to fund a different enterprise. Again the government shoulders the responsibility for the welfare of the nation to provide access to new capital. This will require debt forgiveness to be meaningful of current rice debts.

3) Loss of capital in current rice facilities, equipment and materials. See #2. Whatever salvage or resale value can be had is simply absorbed by current debt. The government should provide "debt grants" to free the farmers. It has already indicated a plan to protect farmers for loss of land due to mortgage defaults.

Needless to say, no government assistance will matter if it allows corruption by negligent or deliberate intent.

Finally, the government needs like the nation's sufficiency of its energy plan, a sufficiency of agriculture plan. It needs to integrate the production of all agricultural products, provide for farmer mobility, capital access, training, and modernize the industry for competiveness and flexibility.

Just to tell farmers to "stop farming," "grow something else" or "look for other work" is irresponsible leadership. And ultimately such failed leadership is a danger to national security.

[starky]

Oh yes please stop doing what you have been doing for generations. Even though you don't have much land and a lot of your rice you don't even sell but keep to eat. Grow something you can't eat. Don't worry the government has never lied before and this new magic crop that you probably have zero experience in growing will make you rich and keep your bellies full. Next year though when you have no rice and your magic crop has failed just go back to planting rice. There...All better.

[Lunchbob]

I would be interested if any one living in Issan can verify the comments on the creation of wells and alternative employment. My Issan friend has gone to Phuket to work in a restaurant, is this what they mean.

Is the advice on alternative crops backed up with any science?

If changing crops is voluntary, I would think few would take the option.

I have a small farm in issan and I am converting and have from rice field to other crops. Some of the challenges: corn or whatever still needs water, so you must have access to it, a pond, canal and then you need a machine to pump and move it and hoses, etc...it is not easy or free. Most rice fields are severely degraded soil from plowing so much and from so much water. No oxygen, compacted, etc...you cannot just toss corn on to the rice field and expect it to grow. You will need rows and other crops are more labor intensive. Because a rice field is flooded you do not need to weed. But corn or whatever, a diff. challenge. You cannot really make a living from rice, so most get the rice planted and ready and then leave to go work somewhere else. Growing rice is pretty easy compared to corn, sorghum, etc...Things easy to farm: bamboo, bananas, papaya, sorghum, napier grass. Most part time farmers have seasonal orcontract work elsewhere, mostly labor for building. But, most of that is gone now too. Edited October 5, 2015 by Lunchbob

[seajae]

got to laugh at all the w idiots in here trying to blame this on the govt, farmers need to realize that if there is no water /rain then they cannot grow rice. This isnt all that hard to understand unless you dont have any mental abilities, all crops need a certain amount of water, if it is not available then you change or dont grow at all. In Australia we have the same problems, a lot of my family are on farms in regions where droughts occur, they are aware of it and grow crops accordingly, thais need to do the same thing but they simply refuse to change. You want to blame some one, then blame the farmers that refuse to do something different, they are the only ones at fault here. The govt doesnt force them to grow rice. trying to say the govt is at fault is simply bullsh*t and a way for all the red supporters to have a whinge, cant help their stupidity.

[maanoi]

I believe its poppy plant seeding time now.....but that kinda throws up a couple other issues....

[Toknarok]

got to laugh at all the w idiots in here trying to blame this on the govt, farmers need to realize that if there is no water /rain then they cannot grow rice. This isnt all that hard to understand unless you dont have any mental abilities, all crops need a certain amount of water, if it is not available then you change or dont grow at all. In Australia we have the same problems, a lot of my family are on farms in regions where droughts occur, they are aware of it and grow crops accordingly, thais need to do the same thing but they simply refuse to change. You want to blame some one, then blame the farmers that refuse to do something different, they are the only ones at fault here. The govt doesnt force them to grow rice. trying to say the govt is at fault is simply bullsh*t and a way for all the red supporters to have a whinge, cant help their stupidity.

Seajae. You live in the South and grow flowers. Please don't comment on agricultural practices in the North East which you obviously know nothing about and if the rice wasn't produced here you and your family might well starve. Man cannot exist on frangipani blossoms alone.

[ldiablo]

It pretty obvious from a separate topic about farmers now planting rice that the farmers are telling the government to GO F@@K themselves.

[ldiablo]

got to laugh at all the w idiots in here trying to blame this on the govt, farmers need to realize that if there is no water /rain then they cannot grow rice. This isnt all that hard to understand unless you dont have any mental abilities, all crops need a certain amount of water, if it is not available then you change or dont grow at all. In Australia we have the same problems, a lot of my family are on farms in regions where droughts occur, they are aware of it and grow crops accordingly, thais need to do the same thing but they simply refuse to change. You want to blame some one, then blame the farmers that refuse to do something different, they are the only ones at fault here. The govt doesnt force them to grow rice. trying to say the govt is at fault is simply bullsh*t and a way for all the red supporters to have a whinge, cant help their stupidity.

Seajae. You live in the South and grow flowers. Please don't comment on agricultural practices in the North East which you obviously know nothing about and if the rice wasn't produced here you and your family might well starve. Man cannot exist on frangipani blossoms alone.

As Seajae is not Thai he will not stare. Why you ask? As the PM once stated, Thais eat rice, foreigners eat bread.

Quote: "Man cannot exist on frangipani blossoms alone."

But man can survive without having to eat rice.

Edited October 5, 2015 by ldiablo