Agriculture and fishing
Govt begins buying up rice paddy to help farmers amid slump in prices
Government agencies have begun implementing measures aimed at helping rice farmers sell their produce amid declining paddy prices. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is buying up paddy of Hom Mali fragrant rice from farmers throughout the country, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikalya ...
Additional Bt20 billion rice boost ‘may not be enough’
While welcoming the government’s decision to subsidise the rice trade by another Bt20 billion, paddy growers and analysts on November 1 said the move might be too little and short-term to tackle problems in the entire system.The Rice Policy Management Committee on November 1 increased its budget ...
Tobacco turns over a new leaf
Agriculture officials and struggling smallholder tobacco farmers are cautiously hopeful that tariff exemptions granted under a new trade agreement with Vietnam will lift sagging demand for their crops. Khann Samban, director of industrial crops at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the market for tobacco ...
Prized spice has its fans, and imitators
Given the wild success of Kampot pepper, which can fetch up to three times the amount per kilo as Cambodian pepper produced without its prized label, it is hardly surprising that the product has its share of imitators. In an effort to address the risk ...
Thai forced labour case pushed to November 28
A forced labour case involving 14 Myanmar workers and a giant poultry exporter in Thailand’s Lopburi province went unresolved in court on October 31. Unsatisfied with the 1.7 million Thai baht in compensation awarded by the Lopburi Labour Protection and Welfare Office against the poultry farm ...
Young farmers turn to social media to stimulate growth
The rice price crisis may be a pressing problem for most rice growers, but not for a group of young farmers who know how to exploit sales through social media. For Pongpat Sukarbjai, the key to selling crops is in reducing the use of pesticides and ...
Cambodian Deputy PM observes fish passage improvements at Don Sahong dam
A high-ranking delegation from Cambodia led by Foreign Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mr Hor Namhong visited the Don Sahong hydropower project in Champassak province on October 29 to observe progress of the project, especially fish passage improvements. Mr Hor Namhong and his delegation are ...
Migration crisis looms over Mekong Delta
Young people are leaving the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s rice bowl, while the region’s economic growth is declining. These issues were discussed at the conference about socio-economic development of the Mekong Delta 30 years after the economic reforms implemented in 1986 held by Vietnam Academy of Social ...
Philippines says China ships still at shoal, but fishermen unhindered
China has scaled down its presence at a disputed South China Sea shoal but has not interfered with Filipino fishermen, the Philippine president’s security adviser said on October 30, after the administration had said China had withdrawn completely. Hermogenes Esperon said Chinese ships were still present ...
Rice farmers despair amid low prices
Kneeling and sobbing before a top commerce ministry official, a Phichit farmer appealed to the government on October 30 to help growers suffering from the fall in rice prices to 5,000 baht a tonne, the lowest level in decades. Sanit Kaho, a 63-year-old farmer, held the legs ...
