The state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has launched three financial support programmes to help shore up paddy prices during the 2015-2016 harvest season.
The first is to provide low interest loans to a maximum of 80,000 baht each, with the government subsidising interest at 3% per annum for six months, bank president Luck Wajanawat said.
The second is making 12.5 billion baht available for loans to agricultural institutions such as cooperatives, farmer groups and community enterprises, so they will have the money available to buy grain from farmers to process for retailing. The loans will carry 2% interest per annum, with a government subsidy of another 2%.
The third project is a 26.74 billion baht loan scheme for farmers and farm cooperatives, so they can delay selling the harvest. The target is to delay the sale of up to 2 million tonnes of Hom Mali and glutinous paddy in the North and the Northeast of Thailand.
Farmers will be entitled to loans, based on the quality of their paddy, of 12,900 -13,500 baht a tonne for Hom Mali; 11,300 baht for long grain glutinous; and 10,300 baht for mixed grain glutinous paddy.
Farmers who have kept the paddy in the barn for over 30 days, waiting for a better market price, and maintain it in good condition will get 1,000 baht more as a storage fee.
Mr Luck said the measures aimed to reduce the cost tor farmers and support the operation of agricultural cooperatives in playing a greater role in driving the market mechanism for sustainable problem-solving in the long term.