Time to face harsh market realities of rice growing

[webfact]

Time to face harsh market realities of rice growing
By Attayuth Bootsripoom 
The Nation

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The falling price of paddy has placed Thai rice farmers in real distress. Their produce is now fetching just Bt5,000 to Bt6,000 per tonne – or Bt5-Bt6 for each kilogram of rice – which is far lower than   their investment costs.

 

Calls are growing for the government to step in and alleviate the suffering of rice growers. 

On Monday, the government responded by launching a programme of low-interest loans designed to encourage farmers to store their crop rather than sell it quickly at lower prices. Farmers will get a “soft” loan of Bt13,000 for every tonne of paddy they store.

Successive governments have used different measures to subsidise rice farmers, often hailed as “the backbone of the country”. 

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/politics/30299005

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-11-03

[Alive]

Thailand needs some sort of online market place where farmers growing crops can put their present or future harvest up for review and sale. It should be something as easy as a social media post which many Thais can do. For example a farmer selling rice could put his rice for sale to anyone online or another farmer who is growing something else like chickpeas can also post. It could be broken down in various crop types and regions. It would also let some farmers trying new crops connect with people who might be looking for something strange. You could also offer seeds and saplings etc. One place online. Yes, it would cut out the middle man a bit. Just an idea. Maybe they already have something like this.

[taichiplanet]

29 minutes ago, Alive said:

Thailand needs some sort of online market place where farmers growing crops can put their present or future harvest up for review and sale. It should be something as easy as a social media post which many Thais can do. For example a farmer selling rice could put his rice for sale to anyone online or another farmer who is growing something else like chickpeas can also post. It could be broken down in various crop types and regions. It would also let some farmers trying new crops connect with people who might be looking for something strange. You could also offer seeds and saplings etc. One place online. Yes, it would cut out the middle man a bit. Just an idea. Maybe they already have something like this.

there is orkortor through the agrimart website whuch seems a basic way to buy, but it does need considerable refinement so as to be able to search more locally

http://ortorkor.com/index.php?lang=en

[LannaGuy]

I hear there is a new subsidized rice scheme coming into place. how interesting it's suddenly 'ok'

[leeneeds]

The circle never stops!

 

The pockets of miss bad luck may help,

 

 

[moe666]

Is it really the market or collusion between millers and certain politicians that have driven down the price of rice as some have charged

[phantomfiddler]

Millers are notorious gougers in the rice processing line of production, and the retail price of around ten times what the farmers are getting does seem a bit on the high side. Rein in the middle men.

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, leeneeds said:

The circle never stops!

 

The pockets of miss bad luck may help,

 

 

 

Rice appears to be a commodity that virtually ensures a lifetime of poverty. It is perhaps the least creative crop anyone can grow, especially in light of current market conditions. Grow. Adapt. Progress. Move on. Move forward. Get with it. Or suffer. That is the nature of life and the economy these days. 

[OMGImInPattaya]

Remember a few years back, when prices were high, and some brain-stem in the government had plans to set up a "rice cartel," ala OPEC, to ensure permanently high prices ?

[Brer Fox]

Ex PM Yingluck will be pleased her idea for a rice subsidy such as announced the other day is catching on. She of course is now expected to give a retrospective financial guarantee that it will not cost the government anything which naturally it did.

Will the highly principled PM Prayuth make the same commitment to personally pay back any financial shortfall this time around? 

In the meantime the government is trying even harder to drive farmers from the land or into poverty by offering these easy "soft" loans which they may never be able to repay.

Thailand once one of the greatest rice growing country in the world seems to have lost the plot on how to produce rice at a marketable price while other countries seem to have the right formula and have few problems. No one should rely on farming advice and policies of a military government to get things back on track. Their experience lies in other areas.

[OMGImInPattaya]

9 minutes ago, Brer Fox said:

Ex PM Yingluck will be pleased her idea for a rice subsidy such as announced the other day is catching on. She of course is now expected to give a retrospective financial guarantee that it will not cost the government anything which naturally it did.

Will the highly principled PM Prayuth make the same commitment to personally pay back any financial shortfall this time around? 

In the meantime the government is trying even harder to drive farmers from the land or into poverty by offering these easy "soft" loans which they may never be able to repay.

Thailand once one of the greatest rice growing country in the world seems to have lost the plot on how to produce rice at a marketable price while other countries seem to have the right formula and have few problems. No one should rely on farming advice and policies of a military government to get things back on track. Their experience lies in other areas.

I would give  your post two "likes" if possible.

 

If the government really wants to help, they could bust up the "5 Tigers," who have an oligapoly on rice exports, and help farmers set-up farmer owned rice milling and export cooperatives. But of course "helping" has never been any government's goal.

[louse1953]

2 hours ago, LannaGuy said:

I hear there is a new subsidized rice scheme coming into place. how interesting it's suddenly 'ok'

It was always ok.Paying it to the farmers was the problem.

[Kasset Tak]

The problem is as always that everyone grow jasmine rice or corn or rubber or cassava or...

There are Thais growing organic (no pesticides or other chemicals) high quality rice that sell their product for way more than the 5-6,000 Baht that is the current world market price. So where is the real problem?! It's the farmers them selves as they don't evolve and continue in the same old worn down tracks.

As the farmers say, 5,000 Baht don't even cover the cost for seeds, fertilizers and pesticides compare that to some of the good organic farmers that don't have any of those costs as they use seeds form previous crops, manure from their own animals and don't spray with pesticides... and then sell their corp for 15-20,000Baht per ton, some varieties like organic riceberry can go up to 100,000 Baht for a ton!    

[starky]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

 

Rice appears to be a commodity that virtually ensures a lifetime of poverty. It is perhaps the least creative crop anyone can grow, especially in light of current market conditions. Grow. Adapt. Progress. Move on. Move forward. Get with it. Or suffer. That is the nature of life and the economy these days. 

Dont be bringing your reasoned western common sense thinking round here falang. You no Thai you no understand. Too hard to control the population if they are thinking, not starving and have money.

[ballpoint]

What is really needed to be faced is the reality that small, family run farms, are not viable economically.  Starting with a plot of land that once fed the family with rice, fish and frogs back in the days of buffalo power (which actually weren't that long ago), long before the "requirement" for a pickup truck, motorcycle, high end phone, tractor, and all the other accoutrements of the modern age that the television tells us we need, and then progressively dividing it up among the children and grandchildren who want all that fore mentioned stuff, is not going to work.  Add in the fact that the small patchwork farm structure of Issan is notoriously inefficient, and the increasing requirement to buy fertiliser due to the land being continually worked for hundreds of years, and you get to the situation we have today - barely, if even that, making ends meet.  Harsh as it may seem, the country and farmers have three choices:  Either carry on living like they have done for centuries before them, making enough from the farm for their own survival and abandoning the desire for modern comforts;  move into a different occupation / crop / farming method; or continue scraping a living, being subsidised by the government, and pawns for whatever power grabbing group pays them a few hundred baht to vote it into power or protest and die on its behalf.  

[adhd]

sound economics would teach you in school, if cost is higher than yield, 

 

GO WORK IN THE FACTORY .... 

 

 

[Brer Fox]

40 minutes ago, Kasset Tak said:

The problem is as always that everyone grow jasmine rice or corn or rubber or cassava or...

There are Thais growing organic (no pesticides or other chemicals) high quality rice that sell their product for way more than the 5-6,000 Baht that is the current world market price. So where is the real problem?! It's the farmers them selves as they don't evolve and continue in the same old worn down tracks.

As the farmers say, 5,000 Baht don't even cover the cost for seeds, fertilizers and pesticides compare that to some of the good organic farmers that don't have any of those costs as they use seeds form previous crops, manure from their own animals and don't spray with pesticides... and then sell their corp for 15-20,000Baht per ton, some varieties like organic riceberry can go up to 100,000 Baht for a ton!    

So it logically follows from what you say that ALL farmers should be growing "organic" rice and making a fortune which sounds good in theory. The problem is that It is common knowledge that "organic" certification can be bought (like any other certificate) for a price so the description "organic" as applied to any food product in Thailand is half dirty already.

[pookiki]

I wonder if the junta consulted with the World Bank before implementing this program?

[LannaGuy]

1 hour ago, louse1953 said:

It was always ok.Paying it to the farmers was the problem.

 

proof?  evidence?  anyone arrested?  or are you making it up?  nice to see you supporting a RICE SUBSIDY scheme as did the last government

[Kasset Tak]

7 minutes ago, Brer Fox said:

So it logically follows from what you say that ALL farmers should be growing "organic" rice and making a fortune which sounds good in theory. The problem is that It is common knowledge that "organic" certification can be bought (like any other certificate) for a price so the description "organic" as applied to any food product in Thailand is half dirty already.

I know that "organic food certification" is a lose term, not only in Thailand but all over the world including EU and US!
Now something like 99% of the farmers grow "unorganic" crops using tons of chemicals, Thailand's use of chemicals per hectare is only rivalled by China and a few other countries! Those farmers that grow and sell real organic rice and other crops are many times certified by external organizations and those of them that sell on export many times have each shipment tested both here in Thailand before shipping and then later in the receiving country by their FDA and/or custom organizations.

But I don't say that all farmers should grow organic because you will not be rich but at least they would get more money than today! If more farmers grow organic crops then the price on "unorganic" crops would automatic rise as there would be less crops on the market because you get about 20-33% less crop from an organic farm as you don't use chemicals and GMO seeds. 

[Brer Fox]

28 minutes ago, Kasset Tak said:

I know that "organic food certification" is a lose term, not only in Thailand but all over the world including EU and US!
Now something like 99% of the farmers grow "unorganic" crops using tons of chemicals, Thailand's use of chemicals per hectare is only rivalled by China and a few other countries! Those farmers that grow and sell real organic rice and other crops are many times certified by external organizations and those of them that sell on export many times have each shipment tested both here in Thailand before shipping and then later in the receiving country by their FDA and/or custom organizations.

But I don't say that all farmers should grow organic because you will not be rich but at least they would get more money than today! If more farmers grow organic crops then the price on "unorganic" crops would automatic rise as there would be less crops on the market because you get about 20-33% less crop from an organic farm as you don't use chemicals and GMO seeds. 

I have no doubt that everything you say is correct. I was TIC when I said that all farmers should grow "organic" rice.

But knowing the Thai mentally when it comes to money when things get desperate there should be an expectation that if they figure a higher price can be gained from selling "organic" rice there will be a rush on to get certification even if it means buying such certification from willing corrupt officials. That will then lead to harmful consequences for the honest growers in having their reputations made suspect.

[bark]

3 hours ago, adhd said:

sound economics would teach you in school, if cost is higher than yield, 

 

GO WORK IN THE FACTORY .... 

 

 

Let them eat Cake.

[elgordo38]

8 hours ago, Alive said:

Thailand needs some sort of online market place where farmers growing crops can put their present or future harvest up for review and sale. It should be something as easy as a social media post which many Thais can do. For example a farmer selling rice could put his rice for sale to anyone online or another farmer who is growing something else like chickpeas can also post. It could be broken down in various crop types and regions. It would also let some farmers trying new crops connect with people who might be looking for something strange. You could also offer seeds and saplings etc. One place online. Yes, it would cut out the middle man a bit. Just an idea. Maybe they already have something like this.

Quit making sense your giving me a headache. Cut the middle man the greedy money monger out all together. He stands in the way of progress while enriching himself. There are a lot of distortions here as the poor have heard of cheap bank loans and now drive new cars here but the poor farmer is stuck in a centuries old rut. You can tell them about computers, the internet but in the end I think it is an excersize in "show me" I am afraid by the time the real demand for food arrives and prices rise the lowly farmer will be out of business and replaced by mega farms. The rich always survive and prosper while the poor fall by the wayside. 

[billd766]

3 hours ago, Kasset Tak said:

I know that "organic food certification" is a lose term, not only in Thailand but all over the world including EU and US!
Now something like 99% of the farmers grow "unorganic" crops using tons of chemicals, Thailand's use of chemicals per hectare is only rivalled by China and a few other countries! Those farmers that grow and sell real organic rice and other crops are many times certified by external organizations and those of them that sell on export many times have each shipment tested both here in Thailand before shipping and then later in the receiving country by their FDA and/or custom organizations.

But I don't say that all farmers should grow organic because you will not be rich but at least they would get more money than today! If more farmers grow organic crops then the price on "unorganic" crops would automatic rise as there would be less crops on the market because you get about 20-33% less crop from an organic farm as you don't use chemicals and GMO seeds. 

 

 

Meanwhile what do the farmers live on between moving from pesticide to organic?

[bkkgriz]

5 hours ago, ballpoint said:

What is really needed to be faced is the reality that small, family run farms, are not viable economically.  Starting with a plot of land that once fed the family with rice, fish and frogs back in the days of buffalo power (which actually weren't that long ago), long before the "requirement" for a pickup truck, motorcycle, high end phone, tractor, and all the other accoutrements of the modern age that the television tells us we need, and then progressively dividing it up among the children and grandchildren who want all that fore mentioned stuff, is not going to work.  Add in the fact that the small patchwork farm structure of Issan is notoriously inefficient, and the increasing requirement to buy fertiliser due to the land being continually worked for hundreds of years, and you get to the situation we have today - barely, if even that, making ends meet.  Harsh as it may seem, the country and farmers have three choices:  Either carry on living like they have done for centuries before them, making enough from the farm for their own survival and abandoning the desire for modern comforts;  move into a different occupation / crop / farming method; or continue scraping a living, being subsidised by the government, and pawns for whatever power grabbing group pays them a few hundred baht to vote it into power or protest and die on its behalf.  

 

This is spot on. My family's 2500 acre farm was not economically viable anymore so we got out of the business. Operating costs are just way too high for small farmers to survive anymore. It's a problem for farmers all over the world. Family farms are a thing of the past. If you don't own 15 to 20,000 acres in the US, it's not economically viable. 10 and 20 rai farms in Thailand are in the same boat.

[bangon04]

" rice farmers, often hailed as “the backbone of the country”.  "

 

maybe more like the doormat of the merchant classes. Subsistence farming at its most lucrative (for some)

[losworld]

Create a co-operative.  Get rid of middlemen "rice barons".  This is a first step.

[nervona81732]

They should look into the hemp farming angle. The potential for hemp is enormous and would indeed save the farmers and the environment. These folks need to get with the times. This is an untapped market full of wealth and ecological triumph. hemp is the answer to save our planet. Just the new realization that hemp by products can make plastics that biodegrade in a month after use and convert into benign substance is worth it not to mention not having to cut down trees for paper any more and making fabrics and most of all bio fuel. Henry Ford did it , Diesel did it. We need to get this info out and save the planet while we still have one.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Johpa]

15 hours ago, moe666 said:

Is it really the market or collusion between millers and certain politicians that have driven down the price of rice as some have charged

 

Always a combination of both, but the ultimate decider of prices offered to farmers are decided by the few families that monopolize exports, and as all peoples will do, they will protect their lifestyles (income) first at the expense of anyone else.

 

 

[spidermike007]

On 11/2/2016 at 10:44 PM, adhd said:

sound economics would teach you in school, if cost is higher than yield, 

 

GO WORK IN THE FACTORY .... 

 

 

 

Or do something entreprenueral. Sell prepared food. Or grow exotic fruits or hydroponic herbs, or start a small business. Anything but that which ensures you remain impoverished the rest of your life.