Bangkok 15 Mar. - President of the Thai Farmers and Farmers Association. Revealing that the price of all types of paddy rice has increased to more than 10,000 baht per ton, the highest in 17 years. It is expected that prices will continue to increase. As for the water situation in the dry season, it is not affected because farmers do not plant second-season rice fields and request the Rice Department. Accelerate the development of breeds that produce high yields per rai. Reduce production costs Mr. Pramote Charoensin, President of the Thai Farmers and Farmers Association, said: Prices of all types of paddy during this period have increased by more than 10,000 baht per ton, which is satisfactory. The highest in 17 years is during the first round of second rice paddy harvest in 2024. It is believed that prices can still increase due to concerns about drought from the El Niño condition that will occur in 2023. In addition, the price of Vietnamese rice. higher than the price of Thai rice It is also a result of the measures to maintain the stability of rice paddy in Thailand, which includes a project to provide loans to delay the sale of rice paddy and loans to collect rice and create added value by farmers' institutions that purchase rice at market prices. In addition, India has not yet lifted the ban on white rice exports. At this time, the off-season rice fields are gradually starting to be harvested. But because of the Royal Irrigation Department The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives asks for cooperation not to plant second-season rice, believing that farmers will not risk planting it because if there is not enough water. The produce will be damaged. As for the new planting season Must follow that Will the rain fall from the beginning of the season? If the rain comes late, the planting of the new year will have to be postponed. Mr. Pramote said It has been proposed to the Rice Department to expedite the development of rice varieties with yields per rai higher than 1,000 kilograms and to distribute quali ty rice varieties to farmers thoroughly because of the rice varieties currently being grown by farmers. Productivity is only 800-900 kilograms when production costs are high. Even though the price of rice has increased But the cost has been deducted. There is not much income left. Rice varieties that farmers want In addition to giving high yields Still resistant to disease. It takes less than 100 days to grow. Another thing that farmers demand from the government is Have sufficient water sources for cultivation. As well as requesting support for measures to reduce production costs and manage post-harvest rice quality. If you can do all of this The government does not need to pay subsidies under the project to support management costs and develop the quality of rice farmers' produce or the "A Thousand Rais" project, so farmers can survive. The Office of Agricultural Economics (Agricultural Economics Office) reports the situation of rice production in 2023/24 that there is a cultivated area of ??61.928 millio n rai, production of 25.569 million tons of paddy rice. and the yield per rai was 413 kilograms, a decrease from 2022/23 by 1.45 percent, 4.28 percent, and 2.82 percent, respectively. The area under cultivation decreased. Due to the El Niño phenomenon, there is a lack of rain and water shortages, resulting in farmers in some areas leaving their fields vacant. and some areas can only grow rice in one year. for the yield per rai decreased Due to little rainfall Affects the germination of seedlings. and the formation of ears of rice plants that do not grow fully In addition, in some areas there were outbreaks of diseases and pests such as ear blight, thrips, etc., resulting in the overall production of the entire country decreasing. The products will be released to the market from July 2023 - May 2024. It is expected that The output that will be released to the market in March 2024 is 0.045 million tons of paddy rice. Accounted for 0.17 percent of the total annual rice production and it is expected that there w ill be another 0.070 million tons of paddy rice remaining in production from April - May 2024. Accounted for 0.27 percent of the total annual rice production. For off-season rice, in 2024 it is expected that there will be a cultivation area of ??9.877 million rai, with a production of 6.351 million tons of paddy rice. and the yield per rai was 643 kilograms, a decrease from 2023 of 6.88 percent, 8.19 percent, and 1.38 percent, respectively. The area under cultivation decreased. Due to the El Niño phenomenon, the amount of water in most reservoirs and the amount of water in natural water sources will be less than in 2023, resulting in insufficient water costs. Farmers in some areas leave their fields vacant. As for the yield per rai, it is expected that it will decrease. This is because the amount of water is not sufficient for the growth of rice plants. It is expected that the output will begin to be released to the market from February - October 2024. By March 2024, the output will be released to the market in the amount of 2.037 million tons of paddy rice. Accounting for 32.08 percent of the total off-season rice production, the majority of the produce will be released to the market during March - April 2024, totaling 4.260 million tons of paddy rice. or accounting for 67.08 percent of the total off-season rice production.- 512 - Thai News Agency Source: Thai News Agency