Govt promotes its cattle-raising project during budget discussions

Somsak was explaining the use of the budget to parliament during the deliberations on the 3.48 trillion-baht budget bill for fiscal 2024, which continue through Friday.

According to Somsak, the campaign, to be subsidised by the Village Fund, will provide a loan of 50,000 baht to each household to buy two cows to raise on their land, with the government supporting both the husbandry techniques as well as artificial insemination. The campaign would be piloted in 500,000 households in target areas nationwide.

“In four years, a household will have up to 10 cows of breeds with high market value,” said Somsak. “If they continue to raise the cattle for 10 years, they could have up to 178 cattle, valued at over 4.45 million baht.”

Somsak added that the National Village and Urban Community Fund Office, which manages the Village Fund, would also receive 590 million baht of the fiscal budget to promote the grassroots economy in the deep south. This budget is on top of another 444 million baht earmarked to fight security problems in the South.

“We aim to make the south a region for cattle farming, as well as promote the raising of new economic animals such as crabs and red-whiskered bulbul." The latter is a singing bird that is popular in the southern communities, with singing competitions held annually.

“A big budget is not always a requirement to solve poverty. All we need are clear policies and a commitment to fix the problem,” said Somsak.