Measures announced for drought-stricken farmers
Thammanat Prompao, deputy minister of agriculture and cooperatives, has reiterated the remedial measures for farmers affected by the drought that are to be proposed to the cabinet on July 30.
The remedial measures are divided into two steps. The first involves ugently filling the reservoirs by creating artificial rain in cooperation with the army, the air force and the police who will assist the aircraft in each rain-making unit, bringing the total number of aircraft to 26, Moreover, the department of groundwater of the ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be assisted by army technicians in drilling for groundwater in selected areas.
Officers will investigate areas damaged by the drought to ascertain level of compensation. The department of rice has varietals which will be distributed to farmers for planting in the remainder of this year’s season in areas expected to see rain in August. One thousand tons of white rice varietals will be grown and this quantity is expected sufficient to meet needs.
For preliminary compensation, the government will declare the drought area as a disaster zone in accordance with the finance ministry’s regulations. The totally damaged fields will receive the compensation of 1,130 per rai for each farmer registered with the department of agricultural while farmers indebted to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) will see their repayment suspended for 3 years from the original 2 years. Unregistered farmers will receive 1 year’s debt-free grace.
A source from the ministry of agriculture and cooperatives said the BACC was offering a range of financial support measures, as follows:
1. Quick loans of Bt50,000 per person with 7-per-cent MRR interest rate for supporting short-term crop production and career cash-flow.
2.Financial support for life quality development for disaster victims who can borrow Bt50,000 per person with 2-per-cent MRR interest rate or 5 times the repayment within 15 years.
3. Loan for emergency expenses not exceeding Bt50,000 per person for daily expenses in order to prevent farmers falling victim to loan sharks.
The measures of drought mitigation from the cooperative promotion department include funding with a credit limit of Bt1.6 billion and 1-per-cent interest for 3-5 years. Under this scheme, members can borrow from Bt30,000 to Bt50,000 through 3 programmes: career promotion for cooperative members affected by drought with a credit limit of Bt600 million; water resource provision for members (credit limit of Bt400 million), and financial support for professional development (credit limit Bt600 million). There are 734 cooperatives interested in this project.