The government’s rice-pledging scheme was presented as a policy to improve the quality of life of Thai farmers. However, over a period of two years, the scheme has proven to be a failure with more than a million farmers not paid for their harvests, resulting in eight suicides and endless protests, leaving many of them in deep debt. Life speaks to two farmers who left the scheme behind
Jessada Kalawang.
The growth of fair trade
Watching the endless rows of rice farmers protesting on highways, Jessada Kalawang felt he was lucky to be left out of the rice-pledging scheme.
Instead of sweating in the sun for unpaid pledging receipts, the rice farmer from Hang Dong, Chiang Mai, was now thumbing through the wad of banknotes he earned from his most recent harvest.
“If I had not joined the Thamma Turakit project, I’d have been protesting for my unpaid money, too, “ said Jessada, 46.
Thamma Turakit (Fair Trade) is a joint project between Wiwat Salyakamthorn, Agri-nature Foundation’s founder, and Jon Jandai from Pun Pun — both famous for their chemical-free farming approach and their dream of turning 1 million rai in Chiang Mai and Lamphun into chemical-free farmlands. The foundation aims at producing chemical-free rice grain, which is affordable for all, and the rice farmers could live off the proceeds. Under their guidance, about 60 rai is now chemical-free, with the harvest being sold at 40 baht per kilogramme at Lemon Farm outlets.
Most farmers who don’t sell their rice stock under the government’s pledging scheme either keep all their harvest for personal consumption or have their own distributing channels, such as the farmer’s market.
Jessada recently sold his newest harvest of chemical-free glutinous rice at 18,000 baht a tonne through the Thamma Turakit project. The scheme promised 16,000 baht per tonne. His farmer friend was getting around 11,000 to 12,000 baht for a harvest that used chemicals. Only a flawless crop was paid 14,000 baht; but the pledging receipt had to be cashed. Three years ago, he decided to quit his blue-collar job and took over his retiring father’s 4.5 rai farmland. But his life completely changed last June when he attended a natural farming course at the Agri-nature Foundation Mab Ueang in Chon Buri and became a part of the Thamma Turakit project.
At the beginning of his farming career, he relied heavily on chemical fertilisers and hormones, hoping to get a higher yield than his father’s chemical-free production. But he ended up suffering losses. The first two crops were forced to undersell under the rice-pledging scheme through the rice miller in the neighbourhood. And he couldn’t complain when he got paid a few thousand below the promised rate.
The 10-day course taught him about the farming that had low production costs, but generated a high yield in a chemical-free way. He soon turned his glutinous rice farm into a chemical-free production in November.
The chemical-free farming based on nature, taught at the foundation, isn’t certified organic. Farmers may use only chemical-free materials, including fertilisers and hormones, but the land can be surrounded by chemical farming plots and the water used may contain chemicals. The foundation, however, claims the output doesn’t contain any chemical residue at the end of farming process.
When Jessada harvested his latest 120-day crop two weeks ago, his chemical-free production on the 4.5 rai plot generated 4,825kg of paddy rice, with an investment of about 2,000 baht on natural fertilisers and hormones. For a non-chemical-free crop, he used to invest about 9,000 baht and was about to grow only 3,155kg of rice.
Jessada plans to continue his chemical-free farming and sell to the Thamma Turakit project. “Of course, I make a lot more money, and in cash,” he said.
Groon To-chai.
Dream turns to nightmare
When the government promised an unbeatable price for the domestic rice harvest under its pledging scheme over two years ago, some wished it would never start but millions prayed it would begin right away.
The opposing group were academics and economists opposed to the scheme for fear that the unrealistic price would destroy the rice quality and distort the competitive market. But millions of farmers could hardly wait for it to begin.
Groon To-chai, a chemical-free rice farmer from Nakhon Sawan, was among the millions who dreamed of his income increasing by half. But when the project actually took off, the truth unfolded and the 67-year-old farmer began to see how the scheme was slowly killing his profession.
With the market price varying around 10,000 baht per tonne or often lower, the scheme promised the unparalleled prices of 15,000 baht for a tonne of rice; 16,000 for glutinous rice; and 20,000 for jasmine rice.
The millionaire dream was shattered when Groon tried to sell his first harvest, two years ago, to a rice miller he had been in contact for more than 30 years. He was paid only 11,000 per tonne because the miller said the grains weren’t dry and beautiful enough.
“I challenge you to find one rice mill operator in this country who gives that promised rate!” said Groon. The rice mill owner simply refused to buy at the promised prices, without reason. He complained that farmers were enjoying the higher rice price, but a larger chunk went to the rice mill operators and middle-people.
To add further grief, payment was made with a pledging receipt — a token that has now drawn countless protesting farmers to Bangkok — which could only be cashed later. Groon was lucky to be paid in cash a week later, for his first harvest. The second and third were paid after a number of weeks. The fourth, sold on Jan 5 worth almost 300,000 baht, is still unpaid.
If you wanted cash, said Groon, you had to sell your harvest to the miller directly. But the rate was likely to drop by half, to 7,000 or 8,000 baht. If you wanted to advance the pledging receipt from the mill owner, you could get it at about 5,000 or 6,000 baht per tonne.
Groon explained, a farmer who sold his stock to the government under the rice-pledging scheme would be paid around 11,500 to 12,500 baht per tonne. A stock of dry, beautiful grain may earn up to 13,500, a rare occurrence.
The farmers were left with no choice but to take the risk of selling the rice to the government through the miller under the pledging scheme and be paid with a pledging receipt. The caretaker government is now struggling to find the 130 billion baht needed to pay more than one million farmers.
Since the project started, Groon not only watched the rice price being distorted by unrealistic prices set by the government — and the increasing number of farmers desperately waiting for receipts, some up to six months, to be paid — but also the rice quality being destroyed by irresponsible growers.
Once the scheme started, many opted for 90-day rice breed, to shorten their farming period from 120-day, hoping to get the high pledging-price faster and more often in a year.
Maintaining his 120-day crop, Groon pointed out that most forgot that shorter rice farming often generated bad quality grains. They were lighter in weight and short-lived. The grains often turn opaque after three or four months and generate a bad smell when cooked.
“But nobody really cares about the quality,” complained Groon. Under the scheme, the harvest could always be sold to the government, regardless of quality, at an unbeatable price.
Groon started his new 120-day crop last week and in four weeks needs chemical-free fertiliser that costs about 30,000 baht. If his receipt isn’t cashed by then, Groon will have to get a loan. Groon said he will be able to get a 30,000 baht loan from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives.
Whether the rice pledging scheme continues or not, Groon will no longer put his stock into the failed scheme that only pushes farmers into debt.
The more the farmers rely on an unrealistic pledging scheme, the more the middlemen or the rice mill owners push harder on the farmers’ weakness — poor cash management.
“Then most of us will only end up getting expensive loans from loan sharks or getting half-price offers from the rice mill owners for the next crop,” said Groon.
