Thailand’s cabinet has approved a budget of 29.9 billion THB (810 million USD) to assist farmers with fertiliser costs, expected to increase rice production by 10% in this harvest season, reported local media.
Up to 205 local traders nationwide were permitted to export rice as of January 18, following a list released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agency of Foreign Trade.
Thousands of rice farmers in the northern province of Thai Binh are benefiting from a programme meant to help them adopt innovative technologies and approaches to increase yields while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a meeting heard in Ho Chi Minh City on December 25.
More rice farmers in Can Tho city have switched to other crops or have rotated the cultivation of rice with other crops to increase income and cope with drought.
Thailand’s Office of National Water Resources (ONWR) on October 19 raised official concerns over the emerging drought crisis in the country's northeastern region.
Following recent criticism of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has reduced the association’s power, with further plans to promote fairness in rice exports.
President of the Rice Exporters Association of Thailand Charoen Laothammatas expects that the association will be able to export around 9.5 million tons of rice this year.
The cabinet of Thailand has approved a package worth 87.2 billion THB (2.6 billion USD) to support rice farmers and stabilise prices ahead of the 2017-2018 harvest, which starts in November.
Thai rice farmers, millers and exporters have agreed to the government's plan to cut rice production in the 2016-17 crop, according to the local website “Bangkokpost.com”.
