A five-year moratorium should be be imposed on debt repayments for farmers who have taken out loans from state-owned banks, farmers and academics say, urging political parties to adopt the measure as election policy.
At a seminar in Bangkok yesterday to discuss the problems farmers face, the Association of Thai Farmers' Network (ATFN), the Institute for People's Primary Health (IPPH) and the Knowledge Network Institute of Thailand (KNIT)said it was crucial farmers have money to invest and reinvest in their businesses.
They also need money in their businesses for greater bargaining when trading.
Methee Chancharuporn, chairman of the IPPH, said no matter how complex farmers' problems are, the issue of debt, and the burden of repaying these debts, should be tackled by every political party. Farmer debts were stifling the potential of the industry and it was time a lasting solution was found.
He said the ultimate goal was to ensure farmers reach the point where they are debt-free. However, he conceded that achieving this target anytime soon may be ambitious.
The rice farmers are largely divided into those with small plots cultivating produce mainly for their consumption, and those who invest in rice farms or lease large areas of land to farm.
Somporn Issawilanont, an academic at the KNIT, said small-scale farmers should keep themselves abreast with the changes in the rice market.
They should learn to grow specific strains of rice using methods that will create large yields that can command higher prices.
Farmers should come together as a community to streamline their rice producing and marketing approaches, he added.
Rawee Rungrueng, chairman of the ATFN, said the debt moratorium proposal would need approval from the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.
He said that rice is a crop that has been used by politicians from successive governments as a bargaining chip to get votes. He added that with rice being such an important issue economically and socially he hopes politicians will take a fresh approach to tackling the problems the industry faces.
