Illustrative image (Photo: Bangkokpost) Director-general of the department WattanasakSur-iam said the higher output is attributed to cooler weather late last yearand early this year.
The department remains concerned about the qualityof fruit and held discussions with the Agriculture Department about introducingstringent measures to control the quality of exports, especially durian, hesaid.
The ITD also wants to register at least 120,000orchards for Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) standards this year.
Wattanasak said the 22 measures are focused on fourareas, covering plans for production, domestic marketing, foreign marketing,and legal issues.
The Ministry of Commerce and the Agriculture andCooperatives Ministry also plan to coordinate with department stores,convenience stores, and gas stations to open areas for farmers to sell theirfruit, totalling 100,000 tonnes, he noted.
Another project involves organising Thai fruitfestivals at tourist attractions and supporting the free loading of 20kg offruit onto flights, with a maximum of 42,000 tonnes, he went on.
This year, the Commerce Ministry set a targetfor exports of fresh and processed fruit to reach 4.44 million tonnes, anincrease of 10% both in quantity and value from 4.04 million tonnes worth 263billion baht (over 7.7 billion USD) last year./.
This year, the Commerce Ministry set a targetfor exports of fresh and processed fruit to reach 4.44 million tonnes, anincrease of 10% both in quantity and value from 4.04 million tonnes worth 263billion baht (over 7.7 billion USD) last year./.
VNA
