Cassava pledging scheme starts next week

Deputy Commerce Minister Poom Sarapol yesterday said the government would allocate Bt30 billion for the pledging, which is limited to 10 million tonnes of fresh cassava.

The move comes after farmers asked the government to help boost prices in the wake of a slump to Bt2.20-Bt2.50 per kilogram.

Poom expects the intervention will help shore up market prices to at least Bt2.75-Bt3 per kilo.

Previous cassava pledging was suspended in 2008, since which time prices have gradually increased on high demand for cassava’s use as a fuel crop and an outbreak of disease in plantations resulting in lower production.

The current government had originally planned to start the pledging of cassava last month. However, then-commerce minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong opposed the plan, saying the government should limit its market intervention as much as possible.

But farmers have told the Commerce Ministry that the price of cassava has fallen significantly in the past few months as they enter the harvest season, Poom said.

The pledging price will start at Bt2.75 per kilo, rising 5 satang per month to Bt2.90 in May.

The ministry has found that the cost of cassava production varies from Bt1.77 to Bt2.20 per kilo.

About 25 million tonnes of the crop is expected to enter the market during the harvest season, which runs from December through May.

Poom said the government had limited the volume of cassava subject to pledging, as the project was only aimed at boosting prices after farmers complained about a drop in income.

Meanwhile, newly appointed Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom will meet rice millers and exporters tomorrow in a bid to create understanding about rice pledging and drive up market prices.

The ministry reported that about 5.65 million tonnes of paddy rice had entered the intervention scheme since October 7.

The government has already spent Bt80 billion on the rice pledging project.