Thai farmers asked to delay cassava cultivation due to oversupply in market

[webfact]

Farmers asked to delay cassava cultivation due to oversupply of cassava in market

BANGKOK, 15 February 2016 (NNT) - The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has introduced two financial aid schemes for cassava growers coping with the drought crisis.

BAAC Managing Director Luck Wajananawat said the first program will provide a loan of five billion baht to 100,000 farmers to postpone their cassava cultivation, as an oversupply of 21 million tons of cassava is expected to flood the market until April.

They are advised to harvest and sell their cassava only when the market price is higher. They will also have enough money to pay for household expenses while waiting to sell their cassava.

As for the second scheme, the BAAC will allocate a total of 4.6 billion baht to 20,000 farmers who wish to install a drip irrigation system in their cassava plantations. Farmers eligible for these schemes must be existing or prospective BAAC clients. Those interested are encouraged to contact the bank's call center at 02-555-0555 or visit its website at www.baac.or.th for more information.


-- NNT 2016-02-15

[DavisH]

Gotta feel sorry for some farmers. They are told to plant cassava due to drought....then when they do, told not to sell it yet because the market is flooded. Then if they do sell, the price is low so the farmers will moan more. Do farmers understand the concept of supply and demand? More product doesn't = higher profits!

[slapout]

There were reports a while back that a lot of the cassava, which the government had purchased and was paying to have stored could not be accounted for at warehouses where it was susposed to be.

Security for warehouses who are paid to handle, treat and store ag products in this country must have a floor made of large netting, built on top of ponds for fish or pens for hogs, cattle, chickens, etc.

[tartempion]

Haven't ridden my bicycle for 3 months, rode the fields this morning and what did I see?

Cassava fields everywhere.

[djayz]

Due to the drought, they weren't allowed to/couldn't plant a second crop of rice. Now, they're told not to grow/sell cassava. Money must be getting very tight for a lot of families (farmers, farm labourers, lorry drivers, etc.) who rely on these crops, and agriculture in general, to make a living.

I wonder how much more can they take?

[apetley]

Price local to us has plummeted to breakeven lately which means the best part of a years work for nothing. All this after being encouraged to grow cassava instead of rice.

Farmers must feel like punchbags right now.

[callaway]

Drip irrigation seems like a lot better idea than flooding. This will save heaps of water if used correctly. Save all the water they can because Songkhran is coming and that brings $$$$$$$$'s. Whats more the money goes mostly to the well off and once again the poor miss out.

[GeorgesAbitbol]

When the governments of this country will stop think with their as... feet?

[Katipo]

While I do feel sorry for the farmers, the fact that they have to rely on the government to tell them what to plant and when, speaks to the much larger problems facing Thailand. Lack of education and a patronage system mean that they neither have the will nor the way to take the initiative and make informed decision for themselves.

[SOTIRIOS]

...a potential disaster....

[MZurf]

While I do feel sorry for the farmers, the fact that they have to rely on the government to tell them what to plant and when, speaks to the much larger problems facing Thailand. Lack of education and a patronage system mean that they neither have the will nor the way to take the initiative and make informed decision for themselves.

And that suits the powers that be to a tee.

[eliotness]

Price local to us has plummeted to breakeven lately which means the best part of a years work for nothing. All this after being encouraged to grow cassava instead of rice.

Farmers must feel like punchbags right now.

We reached break-even last year, 2.15 baht a kilo. In 2010 we got 3.40 baht a kilo. This year we rented the field to neighbours as there was no way we could have made a profit, but the neighbours were willing to take the risk. If the price drops much below 2.00 baht a kilo then many farmers are going to be unable to pay off their debts incurred planting the crop. Bad times ahead I fear.

[Srikcir]

Oversupply of Cassava in the market is not a surprise!

A year ago: "farmers who planted cassava after the 2014/2015 crop year and wanted to delay their harvest were eligible to the loans provided by the bank. ...around 30.9 million tons of cassava will likely enter the market this harvest season [20150, slightly higher than the same period last year. In a bid to prevent price drop, the government has issued short-, middle- and long-term measures for cassava farmers through the BACC, including the microcredit." 2015-01-31 & 2015-02-01

2015 Cost: 3.0 billion baht

2016 Cost: 9.6 billion baht

Good thing for the junta that "money grows on trees" - a neverending supply from the Thai taxpayer.

[Nbarch]

The solution to the oversupply of Cassava is obvious; interfere in the market and artificially prop up the price, it has been done with success with rice and then rubber.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Bluespunk]

"Farmers eligible for these schemes must be existing or prospective BAAC clients"

So, all farmers then.

[willyumiii]

I have been telling my wife that we should sell our ( her ) farms of cassava and rice for two years now.

I think it is obvious to most non Thais that the future of farming is dim in Thailand.

She has finally agreed that we should sell....

Now, nobody wants to buy a farm!

[Thian]

In Europe we have great cassava chips...Why have i never seen them in Bangkok? They should be cheap if there's oversupply.

[Strangebrew]

Why do farmers listen to city folk when it comes to growing crops? First check the market soybeans usually does well when sold on the open market also corn which has many uses, Dang grow a brain if your going to farm.