Government pushes out long term rice strategy



BANGKOK: -- The government has decided to lay out a 20-year rice strategy for rice with determination to improve the country’s paddy management in order to resolve all farming and marketing problems.

The strategy will be implemented from next year.

The decision to establish the strategy was reached during the meeting of the Rice Policy and Management Committee chaired by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday.

Gen Prayut said the 20-year strategy will cover upstream, middle-stream and downstream management of rice or from plantations to management, production and selling process.

He said the government also planned to map out similar strategies for other crops including rubber, cassava and sugar cane.

The prime minister urged Thai people to eat more rice.

According to him, rice consumption in Thailand has fallen from 190 kilogrames per person a year to 106 kilogrammes per person a year over the past 10 years.

Prime Minister Prayut said rice production will be capped at 25 million tons this year.

Capping rice production is necessary to prevent oversupply of the crop, he said.

He added that the government will come up with measures to give farmer incentive to convert their field for other crops production.

Rice production in Thailand stood at 31.2 tons last year.

Permanent secretary for Commerce Ms Chutima Bunyapraphasara meanwhile said that a budget of some 10.08 billion baht has been proposed for the strategy implementation.

On the cap on rice, she said that the Agricultural and Cooperative Ministry has put in place four measures to support rice farmers.

Farmers will be supported with good quality seeds. They will also be given access to financial assistance so they could cultivate rice on a larger field. Incentives will also be offered to farmers to lure them to cultivate a variety of crops and to rest their soils after plantations, she said.

She also asked for cooperation from famers to stop off-season rice farming due to high risk of crop loss.

According to her, off-season paddies have been grown on 1.96 million rais of lands along the Chao Phraya river basin. Of them, only 8.1% of the crop or rice grown on 240,000 rais of land has been harvested.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/152378


-- Thai PBS 2016-02-25

This is sound market strategy - do you see OPEC flooding the market with oil when the world price is low? Of course not. What is needed is a change of mentality by the farmers who perhaps need educating on the economic triggers that affect their product output.

Was it only 2008/9 when the price of rubber went 'through the roof' and was celebrated by southern rubber producers by buying new 4x4s, satellite TVs and cell phones, only to ask for government assistance when the price dropped in later years, instead of banking the profits in the good time to cross-subsidise the poor times, or alternatively cut production.

Rice farmers are in a similar boat but they have the option of a catch crop such as wheat or maize. Bearing in mind the above report that the average rice consumption per capita has dropped from 190 kg to 106 kg, one can assume it is the increased consumption of a quasi-farang diet that is dependent on wheat or maize - domestic supply as opposed to imported at a higher cost.

Subsequent populist policies of successive Thai governments has lead to the situation we are in today and. if reason has to be imposed, then better it be reason than t*****n

Educating the farmers? will never happen

Twenty year strategy. Right. Who will see that through? Will have 4 different governments and couple more coups during that time frame.

I should have said TIT i.e. this is unlikely to happen - I'm sure most of you realised it was a tongue in cheek comment!!

20 year strategy !! he must have forgot to take his medication again.

Thai people can only think about now the present not next week or next year let alone 20 years.

a 20-year rice strategy for rice

Oh no, Meechai will put this into the draft charter to make sure only good Thai farmers grow only quality rice!

I thought this guy was supposed to be restoring peace and setting up a new government, NOT making 20 year plans. Or is that how long he intends on staying in power?

Edited February 25, 201610 yr by quandow

It hardly justifies a 20 year timeframe to cap rice production and encourage rice farmers to grow vegetables.

This whole 20 year thing has "pretense" written all over it.

Shocking news! The Rice Policy and Management Committee had a meeting with the chairman PRESENT. If that was not unusual enough, it came out with statements like "Capping rice production is necessary to prevent oversupply of the crop." Have we stepped into the Twilight Zone?