Annual rain-seeding operations begin
The government has officially started the annual rain-seeding programme to try to minimise drought, Government Spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on Saturday.
Sansern said the operations began on March 1 and would continue until the end of October.
He said there were seven rain-seeding units based in seven provinces of the five regions: Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Sawan, Kanchanaburi, Chanthaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
He said the units would coordinate with government agencies including the Royal Rainmaking Department, the Meteorological Department, and the Royal Irrigation Department.
Sansern said Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has been briefed that most reservoirs in the country had enough water for irrigation during the upcoming dry season. But, he said, farmers were advised to be cautious and to avoid planting crops out of the season, such as second-crop rice, that would require a lot of water, because the water reserves might be inadequate during the later part of the season.