The government said it will introduce a co-payment scheme to support fertilisers for over 4 million rice-farming households.
Speaking after a national rice management policy committee meeting, Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Friday that this year's rice prices are better than those of the previous year, and preparations have been made to assist farmers.
Until now, the government has provided farmers with substantial subsidies, leading them to seek out better production methods and reduce production costs. A fertiliser project was recently introduced, and the government vowed to cover half the costs.
The project will be implemented through the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives mobile app, making it accessible to all farmers. Fertiliser suppliers will be invited to join to standardise prices amid concerns about recent price spikes.
The fertiliser formulas are expected to increase yields and help mitigate the problem of high costs, Mr Phumtham said.
At the meeting, Mr Phumtham said the committee agreed in principle on the co-payment fertiliser project.
This project will offer financial support for purchasing chemical and organic fertilisers up to 500 baht per rai and up to 20 rai per household for farmers who have registered with the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), which currently stands at 4.68 million households.
The government will allocate 29.9 billion baht for the project. Mr Phumtham said he expects the DAE to submit the budget proposal to the cabinet for approval this month so that the money can be distributed to farmers for the next rice crop of 2024/2025.
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