Rice Farmers In Thailand Wait For Price To Rise

BANGKOK, November 5 (TNA) - Farmers in Thailand’s northeast are beginning to harvest rice under the rice mortgage scheme, but some are still waiting to see if the price of rice would increase, after rice fields in the central region were flooded. Yasothorn National Rice Policy Sub-committee reported on Friday after inspecting local rice millers and ten rice silos that participated in the rice mortgage scheme, that some farmers in the region had already begun harvesting rice. In Yasothorn, the sub-committee expected that over 80,000 farmers who had registered for the rice mortgage scheme would produce over 685,000 tonnes of rice. Meanwhile, Sittisuk Prombutr of the Department of Internal Trade in Buriram province said, of the 21 millers that registered for the rice mortgage scheme, eight were already opened, and three more would open next week. However, since the scheme was in effect on October 7th, only 21 farmers had sold a total of 66 tonnes of rice under the scheme. Sittisuk said the low figures were because the rice was not yet ready for harvest, and because some farmers were waiting to see if the price of rice would increase, after rice fields in the central region were flooded. Overall, he said Buriram would produce approximately 1.3 million tonnes of rice. (TNA)