New rice scheme pending

New rice scheme pending

The government is set to announce the pledging scheme for farmers with their own rice barns in a move to curb the fall in rice prices.

Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the scheme, which will go before a national rice policy committee meeting on Monday for approval, will set a pledging price of not less than 10,000 baht a tonne for Thai Hom Mali and glutinous paddy.

The measure is expected to be forwarded to the cabinet on Tuesday for approval and immediate enforcement.

Domestic prices of white paddy with 15% moisture were quoted yesterday at 7,500-7,600 baht a tonne, much lower than 8,000-8,500 baht a tonne in the same period last year.

Thai Hom Mali paddy with 15% moisture yesterday fetched 9,000-9,500 baht a tonne, down from 11,000-12,000 baht a tonne in the same period last year.

Mrs Apiradi attributed the price fall mainly to relatively high moisture caused by continuous rainfall in certain areas, adding that rice exporters had not set low purchase prices.

Local millers on Thursday called on the government to declare the exact time frame for the so-called rice barn pledging scheme, particularly for Hom Mali rice, so that rice farmers can begin pledging their paddies with the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).

The scheme, once announced, will encourage rice farmers not to rush in releasing new crops to the market.

Mrs Apiradi said the government itself has prepared measures to help stabilise the prices of rice from the main 2016-17 crop, harvested from November to early next year.

The measures include soft loans and subsidies to be channelled through BAAC to farmers, agricultural cooperatives, and community enterprises to store their crop in barns or warehouses rather than sell them off for a certain period.

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