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Thai farmers to get boost from 3,000 foreign investment funds


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5 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Water shortage as in poor provincial water management, and people migration as in next generation moving to the cities to work in the service sector.

Yes (in part) and sort of, in that order. But the people migration part includes areas of the country where people will no longer be able to live and farm, because of high temperatures, one estimate suggests agricultural output will fall by at least 20% as a result, by 2040. The water shortage part includes increasing amounts of water spent in preventing the salination of the Chao Phrayo Basin each year, this is not about water collection but about priority usage.

Edited by Trillian
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7 minutes ago, Trillian said:

where people will no longer be able to live and farm, because of high temperatures, one estimate suggests agricultural output will fall by at least 20% as a result, by 2040

Yes you are quite correct, but there are solutions & technologies that can overcome temperature/growing issues.
But these take investment, which Thai farming people cannot afford, the government doesn't want to make, and co-operatives aren't interested in.

They'd rather sit around an do what they did 50 years ago, and when it fails blame everything and hold out the begging bowl.
While other countries move on.
 

1_piTZTAaksEgL3l2FneG-Ew.jpg

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1 minute ago, hotchilli said:

Yes you are quite correct, but there are solutions & technologies that can overcome temperature/growing issues.
But these take investment, which Thai farming people cannot afford, the government doesn't want to make, and co-operatives aren't interested in.

They'd rather sit around an do what they did 50 years ago, and when it fails blame everything and hold out the begging bowl.
While other countries move on.
 

1_piTZTAaksEgL3l2FneG-Ew.jpg

Which kind of brings us full circle to the OP and farmers needing liquidity to implement these things. If you look in the hills of the North of Thailand you'll see lots of small holdings and some not so small holdings that are shades of the picture you posted, crops covered in plastic sheet and supported by blue pipe watering systems. Some farms are also into hydroponics in quite a big way  which is another step in the right direction, but of course to expand these things fully takes investment, lots of it.

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I don't see the point of this so I will make the assumption it will benefit the money lenders in other countries.

 

Here the BAAC is the main lender with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives sub dept (name??? The blue sign with diagonal barbed wire) also providing finance.   But the rates aren't much different to the commercial rates being charged by the other banks.  To help farmers rates of 3 or 4% would be fair but for the first time borrower they can be charged 9% with a maximum borrowing of 20.000 baht. 

 

The reality is many many farmers are constantly in debt and the only way they can retire their debt after the 7 years is up is to negotiate a new loan.  As long as they pay the annual interest bill they stay out of trouble...and can borrow from other sources!

 

The reality is Thai farmers in the main are caught in a debt trap.   Opportunities for some are already there to embrace but it's not just finance that causes the problem it's the cost of fertilizer, the cost of diesel and their continued use of buying agents who pay to little for produce and make a big profit in a day or 2 at the farmers expense.  They need to do things different.

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1 hour ago, Grumpy John said:

I don't see the point of this so I will make the assumption it will benefit the money lenders in other countries.

 

Here the BAAC is the main lender with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives sub dept (name??? The blue sign with diagonal barbed wire) also providing finance.   But the rates aren't much different to the commercial rates being charged by the other banks.  To help farmers rates of 3 or 4% would be fair but for the first time borrower they can be charged 9% with a maximum borrowing of 20.000 baht. 

 

The reality is many many farmers are constantly in debt and the only way they can retire their debt after the 7 years is up is to negotiate a new loan.  As long as they pay the annual interest bill they stay out of trouble...and can borrow from other sources!

 

The reality is Thai farmers in the main are caught in a debt trap.   Opportunities for some are already there to embrace but it's not just finance that causes the problem it's the cost of fertilizer, the cost of diesel and their continued use of buying agents who pay to little for produce and make a big profit in a day or 2 at the farmers expense.  They need to do things different.

I agree, as with many industries in Thailand the system of middle men means the producer gets held to ransom and doesn't make the profit they should, it needs to change. But it's also worth pointing out that there are a series of inexpensive lending mechanisms that can be tapped at the Amrhur level, farmers cooperative lending etc, they don't lend very large amounts but they can be useful.

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t the correct spelling

22 minutes ago, Trillian said:

I agree, as with many industries in Thailand the system of middle men means the producer gets held to ransom and doesn't make the profit they should, it needs to change. But it's also worth pointing out that there are a series of inexpensive lending mechanisms that can be tapped at the Amrhur level, farmers cooperative lending etc, they don't lend very large amounts but they can be useful.

Yes,  I did mention the government office with the blue sign and diagonal barbed wire.  In Thai it sounds like Saha Gone but I  know that's not the correct spelling.  In our village there are different level of farmer.  At the bottom is the serf who has no land and has to rent land to farm.  These farmers don't always get the handouts and subsidies that landowners do.  Above them are the lower landowners who are a mixed bunch with some doing OK and others doing better.  And on the top is the doing great farmer!   My brother in law is the perfect example.  Over the years he has accumulated much land (180 rai), rents 20 off the wife,  10 off Mar and has small blocks and house blocks all around the place.  Plus This year rents 20 rai mango orchard for oldest son.  Owns his house,  pick-up, tractor,  tools.... He doesn't drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes...unlike a lot of the serfs.  Maybe that's the secret to success, no smoking or drinking.  ????

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On 7/4/2020 at 9:52 AM, colinneil said:

Surely not a good idea, farmers borrowing more money, crazy stunt thats all it is, crazy.

How many thousands of farmers are already deeply in debt, lending them more money, crazy.

Totally agree, but perhaps there could be very valuable learning about modern farming methods, farming technology, modern dynamic global marketing methods etc., which from my understanding are pretty much absent in 99% of Thai farmers.

 

However lots of angles with this:

 

- Are Thai farmers ready for all of the above? But that brings a dilemma, when will they be ready?

And if they wait much longer to 'develop' all of these factors there's danger other countries will pull further ahead.

 

- But more debt is not a good idea. Plus if the loans come from lenders in the 1st world, those lenders might well be very hesitant if they are/become aware of typical Thai lending in this sector, more loans to pay off other loans etc., etc.

 

  

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14 hours ago, Trillian said:

The Thai government already subsidises almost every major crop produced by Thai farmers, this in part is why the investment fund approach may be attractive to investors. Government guarantees income for growers and in some cases the price is protected of rice, rubber tapioca, corn and oil palm, this is the vast majority of crops grown by rural Thai's.

Well wrong ,they is no subsidises on corn ,cassava ,and this year non-on sugar cane ,3 crops that would probably cover  a very high percentage of Thai agriculture .

As for a guaranteed income or a protected price ,again non-on corn cassava, and sugar cane,

Ask a farmer who is about to sell his corn crop or  cassava how much he will get, and he probably will not know the buyers never say they're buying price until harvest starts ,so the grower can not budget on growing crops as he never knows what  he gets for the crop. 

 

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1 hour ago, kickstart said:

Well wrong ,they is no subsidises on corn ,cassava ,and this year non-on sugar cane ,3 crops that would probably cover  a very high percentage of Thai agriculture .

As for a guaranteed income or a protected price ,again non-on corn cassava, and sugar cane,

Ask a farmer who is about to sell his corn crop or  cassava how much he will get, and he probably will not know the buyers never say they're buying price until harvest starts ,so the grower can not budget on growing crops as he never knows what  he gets for the crop. 

 

Subsidy on sugar cane:

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30389037

 

Subsidy on corn:

Google Bangkok Post 8 November 2019

 

 

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8 hours ago, Trillian said:

Subsidy on sugar cane:

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30389037

 

Subsidy on corn:

Google Bangkok Post 8 November 2019

 

 

Looked at your link from the BP ,that was to do with rice ,no mention of corn ,

They is a government scheme for this year paying farmers Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said the price guarantee was set at 8.50 baht per kilograme for corn with 14.5% moisture content, with a limit of 30 rai per family.

The problem will be the 14.5% moisture ,no farmer harvests his crop at that moisture ,the weather will dictate  the moisture ,most farmers harvest they corn  at 25-30% moisture ,if he waited until the was 14% ,he would lose time in getting the second crop in ,thinking not enough rain, before the end of the rainy season it could be done with the second corn crop harvesting end of the rainy season  ,but he will still harvest at 25% moisture ,as he wants money, cash flow not being lets say good.

And as most farmers corn will not be 14% moisture, makes a mockery of this scheme, yet another government idea not thought out properly  

I did not know about the cane subside for 2020-2021,reading that article if it was not for COVID I would say they would be very little or no subsidy ,in this area acreage of cane has dropped a lot ,for the past 2 years no rain farmers made a loss ,even our local mill made a big loss made 80% of they staff redundant at the end of the season .

 

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