Drought relief efforts to start in 6 weeks, BAAC told to keep close watch on farmers
THE FINANCE MINISTRY expects it will take up to a month and a half to finalise drought-relief measures, and it plans to discuss the drought situation with the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry next week.
Finance Minister Sommai Phasee said his ministry had asked the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to pay close attention to drought-affected farmers, particularly in regards to debt repayment. The bank says it is ready to extend farmers’ repayment schedules as appropriate, by anywhere from three months to a year, as a relief measure for them.
If farmers want funds to grow crops when the rainy season comes, the BAAC is ready to extend soft loans at special interest rates. The bank will accelerate its extension of loans bearing a 5-per-cent rate to village funds, which will be able to assist villagers.
In regard to additional relief measures, including a subsidy of Bt1,000 per rai, Sommai said no conclusion had been reached yet and in any case this was a matter for the Agriculture Ministry. It would have to be discussed with MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, deputy prime minister for economic-related issues, on expectation of finalising the measures within four to six weeks.
“The money issue is not a problem. If money is needed, the Finance Ministry is ready. If there is no budget set aside, BAAC money will be used in advance and returned later. This must be done prudently,” Sommai said.
He added that last week, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had assigned the Agriculture Ministry to closely monitor the drought problem, which reportedly resulted from the El Nino climate phenomenon.
BAAC’s senior executive vice president Somsak Kangteerawat said that next week, the two ministries would meet to assess the drought severity and find additional relief measures and determine which groups were affected. At issue is whether the whole country should be subject to these measures or only the 26 provinces adjacent to the Chao Phraya River.
The actual damages arising from the current drought have not been determined yet. The initial estimate is that about 850,000 rai (136,000 hectares) has been affected.
The BAAC already has some relief measures in place for affected rice farmers.Drought-affected farmers will receive assistance if they have crop insurance. Recently, the crop insurance policies cover about-160,000-rai growing areas. The government will also pay compensation at Bt1,220 per rai.
