Farmers who grow white rice and Pathum Thani rice with 15% moisture content will begin receiving cash handouts under the rice price-guarantee scheme on Tuesday, says Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit.
According to Mr Jurin, the state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives will hand out money to registered farmers if the prices of their crops in the market fall below a predetermined level.
Since prices have dropped below the cap, Mr Jurin said that the difference in prices will therefore be shouldered by the state-owned bank.
"Farmers who grow white rice will be paid 2,469.64 a tonne, while those growing fragrant Pathum Thani rice will get 783.45 baht a tonne," he said.
Under the scheme, the price of white rice paddy is guaranteed at 10,000 baht a tonne for a maximum of 30 tonnes per household.
Meanwhile, the guaranteed price for Pathum Thani rice paddy is set at 11,000 baht a tonne for a maximum of 25 tonnes per household.
Mr Jurin will officially launch the scheme -- which will expire in October 2020 -- in Ayutthaya's Lat Bua Luang district.
"At present, three other types of paddy in the price-guarantee programme -- namely Thai Hom Mali, regional fragrant rice varieties and glutinous rice with 15% moisture content -- fetch high prices in the market, so we won't pay the difference," he said.
That said, Mr Jurin said that if the prices of Thai Hom Mali, regional fragrant rice varieties and glutinous rice begins to decline, then the government will step in to guarantee their prices.
"Farmers who grow Thai Hom Mali rice paddy will have their crop prices guaranteed, up to a maximum of 14 tonnes per household, while price guarantees for those growing regional fragrant rice varieties and glutinous rice will be limited to 16 tonnes per household," he said.
Mr Jurin also said he will also ask the cabinet to approve another price-guarantee scheme for rubber.
"If the rubber price-guarantee scheme get the green light from the cabinet, officials can start paying the difference to farmers as early as November," he said.