Jurin vows long-term support for rubber farmers

Jurin vows long-term support for rubber farmers

Income guarantee will last as long as the government does, says Democrat minister

Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit insisted on Friday that the income guarantee for rubber farmers would continue throughout the entire term of the government. He also promised to widen export markets to help farmers.

“The scheme is the country’s first and it took only 98 days for the income guarantee policy to be implemented,” Mr Jurin said at an event staged to hand out cash to rubber farmers under the income guarantee scheme.

The government has allocated 24 billion baht to be given to rubber farmers to ensure they have a stable income until March next year.

The Democrat minister said the income guarantee scheme, which is a flagship policy of the coalition partner, would be effective throughout the government’s term.

Under the scheme, the price of good quality of rubber sheet will be guaranteed at 60 baht per kilogramme, with 57 baht for latex and 23 baht for cup lumps. Eligible rubber output is limited to 24 rai per household.

Payments will be made bi-monthly through the Bank of Agriculture and the Agricultural Cooperatives to eligible growers.

Mr Jurin said the government was working to increase income for rubber farmers including promoting local rubber consumption, finding emerging markets, and expanding export markets to countries such as Turkey and Germany.

He noted that a memorandum of understanding was signed earlier for Thai suppliers to sell a combined 100,000 tonnes of rubber worth 9 billion baht to Indian importers.

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