Thailand’s relevant government agencies have been assigned to workin an integrated manner for the management of the entire rice productionsystem, which comprises short-term, medium-term, and long-termmeasures.

The Rice Policy and Management Committee, chaired byPrime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, met on October 6 to discuss themeasures.

According to the Prime Minister, in order to ensuresustainable rice management, rice farming, the improvement of ricevarieties, and rice zoning must be handled in line with market demandand in an effort to upgrade the living conditions of Thai farmers.

Inthis regard, farmers will be categorised into three groups: poorfarmers with small farmland, farmers with more than 40 rai, or 16 acres,of farmland, and farmers with high capital and modern farmingtechniques. Assistance will be provided in response to their real needs.

The PM said that the Ministry of Interior’s Damrongtham Centreand the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ Agriculture Centrewill work with other agencies to ease farmers’ problems. For example,they will provide knowledge and information about the growing ofsuitable crops in each area and help farmers reduce production costs.

TheRice Policy and Management Committee has been informed that about 27million tonnes of in-season paddy will come out between November andDecember 2014. Demand for Thai rice in the global market remains high.Africa is an important market for Thai rice. However, Thai rice exportsto Africa are facing difficulties due to the spread of Ebola there.Greater competition is also seen in rice trade in the world market.-VNA