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Ministry plans to extend help to longan farmers as prices plummet


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Ministry plans to extend help to longan farmers as prices plummet

By THE NATION

 

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Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Sri-on said on Wednesday (August 5) that he was planning to propose at next week’s Cabinet meeting that a subsidy of Bt2,000 per rai be provided to longan farmers to ease their burden brought on by plummeting prices. The subsidy will be capped at 25 rai.

 

“Longan farmers are suffering from a sharp drop in price as many fruit processing factories reduced their orders out of fear that they will not be able to export to China, which is the largest market for the fruit, due to Covid-19,” he said. “About 70 per cent of longan grown in the country is processed into dried fruit for export, while only 30 per cent is domestically consumed.

 

“The ministry has also tasked the Department of Agriculture Extension with boosting domestic consumption by providing online sales channels to match sellers and customers in different provinces, especially from the third week of August, which is when longan harvests reach their peak,” Chalermchai added.

 

As of August 4, E-dor breed longan of AA grade was being sold for Bt26 per kilogram, A grade at Bt21 per kilo, B grade at Bt15 and C grade at Bt8. The average cost of producing longan is Bt10.8 per kilogram.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30392485

 

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-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-08-05
 
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1 hour ago, mrfill said:

Of course. Completely stupid of them not to have predicted a virus pandemic which closed the processing factories.

Of course that is also a reason for the problem, but the main reason is over production.

Just look at the farmers need government to hand them money and give them an over the market price. Over production!

Rubber price is plummeting! Over production because everyone thinks they can do same and keep the price.

 

Take a small example like one or two mobile phone shops open in one street. A year after there are 15-20 in the same street.

It´s just a tradition here to do the same as the neighbour, when it looks like he make more money than you. Instead of realizing that he just stopped plant rice and make rubber now, which in return will give you a better market price for your rice if you continue. It´s like ABC in business.

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Well, maybe not everybody grows Longan then - or the government facilitates canning factories in the growing area. Handing out subsidies is a short term fix, on behalf of the the tax payer and fizzles away, like anything else ......... 

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We grow longan here, the problem was earlier this year. The Chinese did not honor their contracts, or perhaps could not because of borders etc although normally most of it goes by sea. I counted 150 container trucks parked at one depot for months. No one could sell anywhere near as much as normal. I disagree with the poster who says it is the growers fault. Many local growers here are either lying "fallow" this year, partially because of water shortage, or have already ripped out longan and planted durian. However the price will climb as the Chinese demand on the reduced crop picks up I think.

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12 minutes ago, Bluetongue said:

We grow longan here, the problem was earlier this year. The Chinese did not honor their contracts, or perhaps could not because of borders etc although normally most of it goes by sea. I counted 150 container trucks parked at one depot for months. No one could sell anywhere near as much as normal. I disagree with the poster who says it is the growers fault. Many local growers here are either lying "fallow" this year, partially because of water shortage, or have already ripped out longan and planted durian. However the price will climb as the Chinese demand on the reduced crop picks up I think.

You are right. That said it is not practical for many longan growers to just rip up their carefully nurtured stock (for example 10 year old trees producing maximum yield) and replace them with another fruit tree like durian (assuming that soil and climate conditions suit) that will take years to mature.

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1 hour ago, Sydebolle said:

Well, maybe not everybody grows Longan then - or the government facilitates canning factories in the growing area. Handing out subsidies is a short term fix, on behalf of the the tax payer and fizzles away, like anything else ......... 

The problem with any subsidy, is that when its given, the receiver believes it will be for ever, and its very difficult to remove once entrenched.

Subsidies also mask the true value of he product being subsidised, and making the product artificialy more expensive.

 

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20 hours ago, webfact said:

Ministry plans to extend help to longan farmers as prices plummet

Now there you go ,I said it before Prices of their products dropping, No problem ,Just Cry to the Government  and they Will get a Handout .

No such thing as overproduction Right ? NO .

Same happens  with All the other Farmed products. 

Other countries have the same problems But Some are a Bit smarter and the farmers are changing to Different Crops.

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I don't necessarily agree that there is an oversupply on the market. There seems to be more of an undermarketing problem. There are many places in the world that have never heard of a Longan (Lum Yai) and with proper marketing we could probably sell more than what we produce. It appears to me that we have just relied on the Chinese markets and not tried anywhere else. Instead of handing out money to the growers (and I am one) the money should be spent setting up a Marketing Board to help increase the worlds knowledge and demand for the fruit.

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I do not eat longan or lychee because of their sweetness. I worry my cells will be flooded with insulin and bring on diabetes. Honestly, they do taste good but my intelligence is not overwhelmed by my unwholesome greed and taste of sweetness.

Do Thai government have the responsible duty of warning the public about the sugar level of these fruits?

The level of sweetness in coffee, tea or any soft drinks in Thailand is absolute madness.

A desire to eat very sweet things is a learned behavior from childhood. It will be very difficult to eradicate.

Anyone knows the statistic of diabetes in Thailand?

Mass poisoning of the populace by big corporations (i.e. ice-cream, cakes, pastries ,soft drinks industries) these corporations(with the government blessings) know they are killing your kids but do nothing to reduce the sweetness.

They do have meetings with the advertising managers to find out the best methods to get your kids to eat more of their poisons.

I once visited a farmer and I asked him what was that patch of various vegetables behind his house? He said , "ah,  those are vegetables me and my family consume, we don't spray them with chemicals at all."  SEE WHAT I MEAN?  They don't mind if you drop dead after years of consuming what they give you.

The government and the big corporations want you dead-  well, I didn't say that, I didn't even knew about it until I read about it.

    So do keep your children safe by telling them about it- just say to them " the government doesn't love you and if you die because you eat unhealthy foods they don't care a damn, you have to take care of yourself ,be healthy when you grow up, you want to fight this stupid government and replace it with a more intelligent one that care about people".

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