Floods damage over 7.21 million rai of Thai paddy fields

BANGKOK, November 14 (TNA) - Thai Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut said on Monday his ministry's Department of Agricultural Extension had found in an official survey that as of October 26, 2011, floods had damaged over 7.21 million rai (2.5 rai = 1 acre), or about 11,000 square kilometres, of the country's paddy fields, or some 80 per cent of the overall flooded paddy fields of about 9.01 million rai, or over 14,400 square kilometres. Theera acknowledged that his ministry's Rice Department will, therefore, distribute 72,100 tonnes of rice seeds to flood-affected farmers, from November 2011-July 2012, sponsored by a 1.73-billion-baht state budget already approved by the Thai Cabinet so that they can grow rice again after inundations in their respective areas. According to the minister, at least 721,000 flood-affected local farmers will receive the high quality rice seeds for their annual cultivation next year, which should yield a total of some 3.19 million tonnes of paddy and should generate a total income of at least 55.74 billion baht to the flood-hit farmers; while part of their yields can also be kept as seeds for their subsequent cultivations. (TNA)