Earlier harvest avert big loss

However, a survey by the centre in 14 provinces in the Central region showed that the flood had affected 430,000 rai (68,800 hectares) or 3 per cent of total plantation area there.
Moreover, 210,000 tonnes of rice production in those 14 provinces is forecast to be damaged, or 2.6 per cent of the total, with an estimated loss of Bt2.23 billion.
Jaruk Singhapreecha, director of the centre, said the low amount of overall damage was the result of farmers’ well-advised plan to adjust the plantation period to end in August before the arrival of the rainy season. In provinces with high risk of flooding such as Angthong and Sing Buri, 69 per cent of the plantation area has been harvested.
The survey focused on the Central region’s prime rice-growing prov-inces of Ayutthaya, Angthong, Chai Nat, Lop Buri, Sing Buri, Uthai Thani, Saraburi, Phichit, Phitsa-nulok, Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Phetchabun and Suphan Buri.
The centre suggested that the government prepare to deal with the problem of climate change. In the short term, it should provide soft loans to farmers affected by natural disasters. In the medium to long term, it should provide more knowledge on how to adjust farm management to cope with seasonal changes. This would include accelerating crop plantation, development of hybrid seeds resistant to high water levels, and encouraging farmers to take out crop insurance.
Kanit Likitvitthavuth, deputy secretary-general of the Office of Agricultural Economics, insisted that total rice production would reach 25 million tonnes this year as projected. The government’s price-pledging programme has encouraged farmers to grow rice.
“Flooding has not had much effect on rice fields this month compared with the Kingdom’s total plantation area,” Kanit said. “Also, there has been no flooding yet as serious as last year’s, and the water level in dam reservoirs is 20 per cent lower than last year.”
In the worst case, if rice production is greatly damaged, the government still has plenty of rice stocks to feed the domestic market, he added.
San Uthayarat, a researcher at Chulabhorn Satellite Signal Receiving Station, said it was forecast that Thailand would face more serious droughts than in past years because of lower water levels in dam reservoirs. In addition, the world will be affected by La Nina weather system next year.
Kanit said: “We cannot predict how serious the drought will be next year as it changes rapidly.”