Phase 2 of rubber price-guarantee scheme to cover 1.8 million farmers

The second phase will run for five months from August to December, and follows a first phase which guaranteed prices for 1.7 million rubber farmers, said RAOT chairman Prapan Boonyakiat.
The scheme will support 25 rai of each registered plantation for the second half of the year, paying farmers Bt60 per kilogram of high-quality rubber sheet, Bt57 per kilo of latex (DRC 100%), and Bt23 per kilo of cup lump.
The subsidies will be disbursed by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, with 60 per cent going to rubber plantation owners and 40 per cent to rubber tappers.
Rubber exports have been hit by a combination of factors. These include the large number of undocumented farmers who are unable to join the price guarantee scheme, the rubber price being dragged down by the falling price of oil, and the Covid-19 crisis which has cut demand.
Thus, total export fee revenue at Bt2/kg from October 2019-May 2020 was only Bt4.66 billion, compared to Bt8.11 billion in 2019.