Almost 60% of people surveyed by Suan Dusit Poll disagree with the government's plan to cut rice payments by 20%.
Reducing rice-pledging prices to 12,000 baht a tonne from 15,000 baht would create hardship for farmers who had already bought fertiliser and pesticide and would face losses, the pollsters quoted respondents as saying.
The government should use other ways to solve the problems in the money-losing rice scheme, they added.
The pollsters at Suan Dusit Rajabhat University interviewed 1,310 people nationwide between June 19 and 22.
Asked about the price reduction, 59.16% of respondents disagreed with it while 25.19% supported the decision. The latter said the lower price would reduce government losses since the original price was too high and should have been based on market prices. Another 15.65% had no opinion.
The government has set a ceiling of 500,000 baht in pledging payments for each farm household, which 42.75% of respondents agreed would help control the budget. This way, they said, the scheme can be continued and that the government and farmers should meet halfway.
However, 35.11% of respondents disagreed, saying the problems in the rice scheme were caused by government mismanagement and that solving the problem should not create hardship for farmers. The remaining 22.14% were unsure.
Asked what the government should do to resolve the problems, 29.96% favoured stringent legal actions against corrupt state officials, rice millers and farmers, and 23.82% backed additional measures to help farmers.
A total of 20.94% said the government must visit farmers in various provinces to explain the need to cut the pledging price for rice.
Another 17.68% said the government should help control production costs, including prices of fertiliser and fuel, and 7.60% said it should find export markets to rapidly release rice in stockpiles to minimise losses.