The cabinet has approved 1.68 billion baht worth of additional measures to encourage rice farmers to grow other crops in lieu of rice in the 2018 off-season.
Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Luck Wajananawat said the measures aim to decrease rice plantation by almost 1 million rai as part of the government's strategic move to create a greater balance between rice demand and supply in the next season.
Of the total budget, 647 million baht will be slated for a project to promote alternative crops, 240 million for a promotion to grow more green manure crops, and 860 million for a promotion to grow animal feed crops.
Under the measures, rice farmers will be offered 2,000 baht per rai for up to 15 rai per family if they agree to grow crops other than rice. This scheme aims to cut rice plantation by 300,000 rai.
The government also aims to expand the plantation of green manure crops to cover 200,000 rai and animal feed crops to cover about 400,000 rai.
Mr Luck said the ministry's latest survey showed farmers still plan to grow rice covering 13.6 million rai in the second crop because of improved water supply.
On Nov 21, the cabinet approved 1.9 billion baht worth of measures to reduce rice plantation in the second crop by 1.05 million rai for the coming season.
"The government expects the measures will create more balance between supply and demand to stabilise rice prices," he said.
The government estimated rice production in the first crop of the 2018 season to stay at about 23 million tonnes of paddy, and it aims to maintain exports at 10 million tonnes next year.
In a related development, Grisada Boonrach, the agriculture and cooperatives minister, said the cabinet accepted state measures to tackle low rubber prices.
The ministry planned to use 12.7 billion baht to buy more natural rubber to use for construction of roads and sport fields. It aims to buy a total of 200,000 tonnes of rubber a year, rising from 70,000-80,000 tonnes a year in an earlier plan.
The ministry will also ask for cooperation from farmers to pause their tapping. Farmers who join the scheme will receive 4,000 baht per family.
Mr Grisada said the ministry also plans to subsidise a 3% interest rate for loans entrepreneurs take out who agree to purchase rubber and keep in their stockpiles.
Nathporn Chatusripitak, spokesman to Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, said the cabinet yesterday also approved tax breaks for private sector companies that donate to the Pracha Rat public-private collaborative projects.
Private companies will be entitled to a corporate tax deduction of the full amount of expenses incurred from donations to the Pracha Rat projects, but not more than 5% of their net profits.
The cabinet also approved the waiver on personal income tax earned from interest rates from savings with the state-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand.
