Thailand supports rice farmers

Thai jasmine rice (Photo: Internet)

Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai Government’s committee for rice policy and management said on October 31 that it will offer a loan of 35.8 billion THB (1.02 billion USD) to jasmine rice farmers struggling with falling rice, on a condition that they will store the grain for six months to slow down market supply.

The loan scheme implemented by the State-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) aims to curb oversupply of jasmine rice in the market and stablise prices, Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn told media, adding two million farmer households will have access to the loan.

If price of jasmine rice, which is the Thailand’s highest quality rice, can be pushed up, prices of other rice varieties will go up too, he said.

He stressed that the government will seek other measures to help improve rice prices.

Jasmine rice made up 25 percent of the country’s total rice export from January to August this year, according to data of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.-VNA