The state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) aims for 30% growth in sales of its packed rice for this harvest year based on a larger distribution channel.
Its A-rice packed brand is expected to record sales of 548 million baht for this harvest year, ending March 31, 2018, up from 422 million the previous harvest, said president Apirom Sukprasert. Sales amount to a mere 90 million now, he said.
The higher sales forecast is attributed to a broader sales network, including Thailand Post branches and Alibaba online, said Mr Apirom.
A-rice sales are expected to accelerate as rice growers ramp up their milling capacity, he said.
BAAC created the brand to be another channel for farmers to sell their products, bypassing intermediate merchants. The brand was initiated as prices plummeted following the termination of the Yingluck Shinawatra administration's controversial rice-pledging scheme.
He said 2.6 million packs of A-rice, representing 36,000 tonnes of paddy, were sold last harvest year, with 200,000 farmers participating.
BAAC yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Thai Agri Business Co and the Transport Co to be new channels to sell farm products.
"The coordination is aimed at upgrading agriculture product management comprehensively, starting from output planning, distribution, and product quality and efficiency improvement. It also aims to increase distribution channels for farm products to deliver directly to consumers without passing intermediate merchants. All stakeholders on the supply chain will share in the benefits, returning wealth to farmers and communities," said Mr Apirom.
Jirasak Yaovatsakul, president of the Transport Co, said his company will support farm product sales by setting up booths to showcase the products at its bus terminals and employee cooperatives, and using souvenirs made from farm products sold by agricultural cooperatives.
BAAC's move is in compliance with the government's policy to help farmers ride through the softer agricultural product price cycle. The cabinet in September approved a combined 87.2 billion baht worth of measures to ensure farm income and stabilise rice prices ahead of the annual harvest for the 2017-18 season, which starts this month.
The 87.2-billion-baht programme is expected to help 3.7 million households.
