Commerce moves to shake up farm sector

Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee said yesterday that the ministry was doing this so that Thailand would no longer face problems of oversupply and dropping prices that hurt farmers.
The ministry aims to change farming logic to the demand-driven method, with the goal of restructuring the crops within five years, perhaps as early as three years.
The ministry plans to restructure the rice industry by making it a priority crop from the farming stage to the marketing stage. It will limit plantation areas and the production of rice, while focusing on quality and rice grains that create value-adds.
It aims to reduce production of rice from between 30 million and 33 million tonnes of paddy to 25 million tonnes each year so that rice will not be in oversupply, while prices do not decline.
Rice production should also be varied – going from focusing only on white rice to a variety of grains such as Geographical Indication, riceberry and Sung Yod rice, which have high nutritional value and better prices.
The government will also focus on innovation and technology support in an effort to reduce the cost of production and increase the value of products such as processed rice, rice-bran oil, rice snacks, and cosmetics made from rice.
The Commerce Ministry will also adjust its role from being only a trade supporter to regulating demand and supply by working with the Agriculture Ministry, as it believes demand should help solve problems on the supply side.