Rice farmers get boost by axing middlemen

[webfact]

Rice farmers get boost by axing middlemen
By The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- ENTREPRENEURS have already ordered 220 tonnes of rice directly from farmers, cutting out middlemen, through a Labour Ministry initiative aimed at easing growers’ woes over falling rice prices.

 

The initiative seeks to help farmers bypass traders who often demand high margins.

“We have asked entrepreneurs that provide food to their workers as part of their welfare to consider buying rice directly from farmers,” Labour Protection and Welfare Department director-general Sumet Mahosot said yesterday.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30299916

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-11-14

 

[trogers]

Better get yours from the farmers fast, before prices at your supermarkets double...

[Damrongsak]

40 years ago, I wondered about the giant warehouses up-country that gathered the crops and forwarded them to wherever. I worked with poor farmers, not the guys whose kids were driving Mercedes cars.

[smedly]

and these middle men are who exactly, I wish the Government would expose these people

 

 and also expose the people who provide fertiliser at elevated prices

 

 

If the government want to step in and provide support for farmers across the board then they need to take over two areas in the supply chain

 

- fertilisers

- milling

 

instead of throwing money at the farmers that ends up with these crooks 

[jerojero]

Why doesn't the PM simply outlaw the middlemen, problem solved. Because the country's massive rice supply, storage, milling, distribution and export sales are far more complicated. They sold 220 tons....can this new system cope with millions of tons produced annually?

[fruitman]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

 and also expose the people who provide fertiliser at elevated prices

 

 

Mt Thai (ex)-friend was a fertilizer salesman...he drove a huge new Benz (from the company).

 

He retired at the age of 54 and started a mini-restaurant. When we went to visit that he let us taste everything from the menu (without asking if we wanted it). When we left he made the bill, everything we had tasted was on the bill.......never went to see him again.

[maoro2013]

It is certainly necessary for farmers to form cooperatives to circumvent the middle men. However I believe many of the farners are afraid to do this, as leaders of this movement would risk their lives.

[RichardColeman]

Give it a while, the middle men will be suing for slander.

[Srikcir]

16 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Give it a while, the middle men will be suing for slander.

Or asking the government for subsidies!

[grumbleweed]

The millers are being made ominous by their silence

This is great for the farmers but it has also left an army of cut throats redundant. Wouldn't it be ironic if they were forced to plant rice for the farmers to earn a living?

[mike324]

cutting the middlemen out is just not realistic ... the government just needs to simply enforce the laws on the millers

 

To help farmers, they need to continue the education on more efficient farming methods and subsidize on fertilizer costs instead of handing out free cash - free cash can easily be misused on other stuff.

[Eric Loh]

Not sure the article talking about distributors when they mention middle men. The industry need distributors in the market channel. Distributors play an enormous row as they can move large quantity and their familiarity with customers and have established business relation. It is wrong to assume that moving the 200+ odds tons equate to boost to axing the middlemen. It is just a tiny drop of the enormous mountain of harvested rice. The government need to rationalize the channel and stop those distributors who are exploiting the farmers.    

[williamgeorgeallen]

arent these new entrepreneurs just different middle men? not that 220 tonnes will make much of a difference. wonder how many tonnes yingluck has moved. would be great to hear an update of the 1 billion US$ fine she has outstanding.

[snowgard]

More Infos: http://www.thairiceexporters.or.th/default_eng.htm

[billd766]

6 hours ago, smedly said:

and these middle men are who exactly, I wish the Government would expose these people

 

 and also expose the people who provide fertiliser at elevated prices

 

 

If the government want to step in and provide support for farmers across the board then they need to take over two areas in the supply chain

 

- fertilisers

- milling

 

instead of throwing money at the farmers that ends up with these crooks 

 

You could always do a Google search and find out for yourself.

 

Here are some starters for you.

 

https://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/TH/fertilizer.html

 

http://www.fertilizers1.com/fertilizer-suppliers/thailand.html

 

http://www.iclfertilizers.com/Fertilizers/Pages/Thailand.aspx

 

https://www.gmdu.net/join-1-73-join-33-p1.html

 

http://thailand.exportersindia.com/chemicals/fertilisers.htm

 

Even some organic ones too.

 

http://www.cropagro.com/

 

http://www.listofcompaniesin.com/thailand/organic-fertilizer/

 

That wasn't too hard was it. It took me less than 5 minutes.

 

I will let you do the rest.

 

Have a nice day.

[Enoon]

Perhaps an organisation for rice sale/distribution along the lines of this?:

Milk Marketing Board - Wikipedia

 

It worked quite well I believe.

 

However I don't think it was plagued (and doomed by) corruption, bribery, nepotism, the involvement of criminal (often uniformed) organisations, or the notion that the fundamental purpose of state involvement is to minimise social mobility and wealth distribution.

 

No way forward (in our terms) for any initiative, in any sphere, in such an environment.

 

 

 

[Grubster]

Get Mackro and Tesco to agree to buy direct and you might have something.

[robblok]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

 

You could always do a Google search and find out for yourself.

 

Here are some starters for you.

 

https://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/TH/fertilizer.html

 

http://www.fertilizers1.com/fertilizer-suppliers/thailand.html

 

http://www.iclfertilizers.com/Fertilizers/Pages/Thailand.aspx

 

https://www.gmdu.net/join-1-73-join-33-p1.html

 

http://thailand.exportersindia.com/chemicals/fertilisers.htm

 

Even some organic ones too.

 

http://www.cropagro.com/

 

http://www.listofcompaniesin.com/thailand/organic-fertilizer/

 

That wasn't too hard was it. It took me less than 5 minutes.

 

I will let you do the rest.

 

Have a nice day.

 

There is actually a quite large fertilizer importer in Ayuttaya Yara. I think those are the guys that deliver to all those others. They are a foreign company a big player on the fertilizer market. My dad recently went there with some other Dutch engineers to setup a robot transport packaging conveyor belt. As I understood it there was one other mayor player and the rest all bought from them. Not sure if they are the one making the killing as the prices of fertilizer are set on the global market. It could be that the ones buying from them are making the money. 

 

It was quite a nice plant but was only taking in fertilizer produced abroad delivered by barges and then packaging it and shipping it out by truck packed and all. I don't see them in that list.. so maybe they don't really sell to farmers but just to the other middle men. 

[Srikcir]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

cutting out middlemen

Why is this an issue?

"it has been the business of Thai governments to interfer with company profit margins, ie., under the authority of the Goods and Services Price Control Act of 1999. Under this act business operators are also banned from engaging in activities that may raise or lower the price of goods and services, or may lead to a "confusion" regarding their prices. Violation of the Act means a fine of up to Bt140,000 and/or imprisonment of up to seven years."

http://competitionregimes.com/pdf/Book/Asia_Pacific/33-Thailand.pdf

The government has the authority to take whatever action it choses to control the price of goods from production to the retail market.

[mike324]

Many times, it is also the government to be blame. An example was under the TRT party. Yingluck introduce the Farmers Credit Card scheme, this allowed farmers to purchased supplies on credit, but they must purchased at authorized stores. The farmers complained that these authorize stores were selling supplies that cost more than those on the market. So the farmers are getting shafted on both ends, have to pay interest and buying supplies at higher cost just because they got some credit.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

13 hours ago, fruitman said:

 

Mt Thai (ex)-friend was a fertilizer salesman...he drove a huge new Benz (from the company).

 

He retired at the age of 54 and started a mini-restaurant. When we went to visit that he let us taste everything from the menu (without asking if we wanted it). When we left he made the bill, everything we had tasted was on the bill.......never went to see him again.

Sounds like my last landlady. Bitch swindled me out of the deposit. Works for Cathay Pacific, trolley dolly I think. She knew it is too slow and too costly to make it worth suing her.

Thai's can smile on both faces....