Concerned rice traders and exporters have questioned what they say is the government's exaggerated forecast of the country's rice production, and raised fears that rice from neighbouring countries will circumvent safeguards and find its way into the price-subsidy scheme.
Sharing their views yesterday, they said the government's projected total production of 34 million tonnes of paddy rice for the 2012-13 harvest season was the highest on record. They had two main questions for the government: Was the projection based on the total pledging volume this year? And how can the government prove that all that rice seed is Thai?
They expressed surprise at the Agriculture Ministry's high production estimate. Normally, Thailand's paddy rice production averages 30 million tonnes. The government says the Kingdom's rice production has increased since the launch of the price-subsidy scheme.
Chaired by Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyaphirom, the National Rice Policy Committee agreed with the ministry's projected paddy rice production of 16.6 million tonnes for the second-crop
special harvest. The figure has been raised from a previous projection of 13.3 million tonnes. As a result, the ministry has had to ask for an additional budget of Bt49.5 billion to support the price-subsidy programme.
In addition, it projected total rice production from next year's cultivation would reach 34 million tonnes of paddy rice, a reduction from the previous forecast of 37 million tonnes. However, the budget allocated to the subsidy next year remains unchanged at Bt405 billion. The proposal will be submitted for Cabinet approval on Tuesday.
Boonsong added that the government would kick off a "farmer book" programme early next month in 10 provinces. The programme is aimed at establishing a database on how often farmers apply to join the government's price-intervention programme.
"The practice will provide the government with data to track farmers' performance. Irregularities in figures could be used to prove corruption definitively," Boonsong said.
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Source: http://www.news.thethailandlinks.com/2012/09/22/rice-sellers-query-govts-output-forecast/
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