Guaranteed price for palm oil to go for govt approval

It is expected 300,000 palm oil farmers will join the programme, he said.
He added that the committee led by deputy prime minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan met on Monday and Prawit asked that the motion approved by the committee be submitted to the cabinet before August 27. 
Once approved, farmers wanting to join the programme can register with the Agricultural Extension Department of the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry. The committee will pay the difference between the market price and guarantee price to the farmers through Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives or BAAC every three months. 
“We cannot give the budget for this programme as it will depend on how many farmers join and the market price at the time the programme becomes effective. This will be discussed at the cabinet level for further approval,” Jurin said.
Meanwhile, the committee also approved other measures to improve palm oil price including enforcing the use of B10 grade biodiesel in the transportation sector by the end of 2019. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is continuing to buy crude palm oil to produce electricity at Bang Pakong Power Plant under the quota approved by the Cabinet of about 130,000 tonnes.
The committee put in place measures to manage the palm oil stock nationwide by installing meters in palm oil depots to provide accurate palm oil data. At the same time, it is coordinating with security officials to oversee the smuggling of palm oil from foreign countries and punish palm oil smugglers. Once implemented, the additional measures agreed by the meeting should support the price of palm oil, which currently stands at Bt2 per kilogram.