The Finance Ministry will ask the cabinet to approve a rice-pledging programme for the off-season crop.
IT ALL CHECKS OUT: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visits the Klong Luek border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo’s Aranyaprathet district yesterday.
The proposal will be tabled at today's mobile cabinet meeting in Chachoengsao.
Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said the budget for the pledging scheme for the off-season crop is about 74.2 billion baht, raising the total expenditure for the pledging scheme in the 2012-2013 crop year to 224.2 billion baht.
The government has maintained the pledging price at 15,000 baht maximum per tonne.
According to Mr Kittiratt, the second crop would produce nine million tonnes but only seven million was expected to be consigned under the rice-pledging scheme.
Mr Kittiratt said the National Rice Committee has added a condition to ensure high quality rice.
He said the proposal is in line with the cabinet's earlier decision allowing the ministry to grant credit guarantees to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to finance the price subsidy scheme.
He said the expenditure is covered by the government's 410 billion baht framework for rice pledging approved in 2011.
"When the cabinet approves the pledging scheme, the BAAC can get to work and get the money to farmers as soon as possible," he said.
Meanwhile, Sa Kaeo province will ask the cabinet to set aside 100 million baht to implement its plan to become an "energy green city".
The plan was unveiled during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's visit to the province.
Governor Pakkhathon Thianchai said the province realises its potential and has positioned itself as a production base for energy crops, such as cassava and sugarcane, key raw materials for ethanol production.
The province's cassava production ranks third in the country but the supply is not enough for local and nearby ethanol factories, he said.
The province has set a plan to encourage and support farmers to expand cassava and sugarcane production.
"So we will increase cassava production and sugarcane to realise our goal of becoming a green energy area," Mr Pakkhathon said, adding that 52% of the province, covering 2.3 million rai, is involved in farming.
Prime Minister Yingluck yesterday voiced support for the clean energy plan. She also agreed to ask the Interior Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council to hold talks with Cambodia over mine-clearing.
Ms Yingluck said Sa Kaeo's Khlong Luek border checkpoint is part of the government's two trillion baht infrastructure investment plan.
Meanwhile, the cabinet is today expected to approve the disbursement of 400 million baht from the International Trade Fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and priority schemes to promote international trade.
Of that, 300 million baht is earmarked for a three-year plan (2013-2015) to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs.