Signs Thailand's food security is at risk

I don’t know how the government will go about reducing the costs of production for rice farmers. But I suggest that small-scale farmers also be given financial support to meet their production costs, which must surely be more than the Bt6,000 per tonne claimed in the news given that they have to rent their land and borrow money for farming.

For long-term measures, the government should be careful about encouraging rice farmers to grow other crops. Such a move could threaten the country’s food security at a time when signs are that more and more rice farmers are quitting farming because of falling prices, rising debts and losing their fields to lenders. Also, it seems that rice farmers are increasingly reluctant to encourage their children to work in this sector, while the number of students studying agriculture is in decline, and the country is facing a critical shortage of labour in the farming sector.

The government needs a strong roadmap to develop and promote the cultivation of economic crops, especially rice.

Sutipunt Bongsununt

Kanchanaburi