A rice field in Thailand (Photo: www.bangkokpost.com) The National Rice Policy Subcommittee on marketing agreed to continue the rice price guarantee scheme in the 2021-22 season, using the same criteria as the previous season, as well as measures to maintain rice price stability, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit was quoted by the Bangkok Post newspaper as saying.
Of the total spending, 80 billion THB is allocated to the price guarantee scheme, with the remainders for price stability.
He said the decision will be submitted to the National Rice Policy Committee meeting chaired by the prime minister, then sent for cabinet approval.
According to Jurin, in the 2021-22 season running from October to February next year, Thailand is expected to produce as much as 26 million tonnes of paddy, up 4 percent from the current season thanks to sufficient rainfall and higher plantation.
He said although the spending plan for the new season is much higher than the 55 billion THB earmarked for the current season, real spending could be much lower than the approved budget.
In a related development, Jurin said he ordered the Foreign Trade Department to speed up talks with China on purchasing more rice through a government-to-government (G2G) deal.
In June, China agreed to buy 20,000 tonnes of white rice from Thailand through a G2G deal.
Thailand exported a total of 5.7 million tonnes of rice last year./.
VNA
