The cabinet on Tuesday approved 7.6 billion baht to guarantee rubber prices for 1.6 million registered farmers.
The move is the fourth phase of an ongoing programme, the cabinet said in a statement, and promises a 40-60 split on revenues between rubber tappers and plantation owners respectively.
The price guarantee for the 2022-23 season covers 1.6 million rubber farmers with a combined 18.2 million rai of rubber plantations. Of the total, plantation owners and tenant farmers account for 1.37 million people, with 231,514 rubber tappers, according to the National Rubber Committee.
The scheme for farmers offers compensation if rubber market prices fall below the benchmark.
Farmers are offered a guaranteed maximum price of 60 baht per kilogramme for raw rubber sheet, 57 baht per kg for latex and 23 baht per kg for cup lump, limited to 25 rai per family.
The programme is managed by the state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said recently that tackling falling crop prices remains a priority as the government is trying to come up with the best solution.
“Low rubber prices are the most pressing issue. Most of our rubber products are exported, with only one-third kept for domestic use. We have to think of how two-thirds of the products can be used in the country to shore up prices,” he said during a visit to Nakhon Si Thammarat on Feb 19.
“The government has spent 30% of the national budget to deal with the falling prices of all sorts of crops, and we will try to do more to take care of the matter,” he said.