BANGKOK, 12 December 2014 – The Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, has sent out its officials to several provinces in the south of Thailand to follow up on measures the government has launched to assist rubber farmers.
Among those measures, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives has already distributed a total 1,364 million baht in financial assistance to 273 farmers in Mueang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat which is a pilot province for the program. The Bank is urgently registering farmers in other districts for the subsidy, and the process is expected to finish by 15 December 2014.
Another measure is the 10,000-million-baht loan credits for farmer institutes. The money will boost the institutes’ financial liquidity, enabling them to purchase rubber from planters. As of 16 November 2014, 256 million baht have been approved for 26 farmer institutes. Of that amount, 88 million baht has been already paid out.
As for rubber processing operators, they are offered with a total of 5,000 million baht in loan credit. There have already been 44 farm institutions registering for the credits, worth 285 million baht.
The development of the Special Economic Zone in Sadao District, Songkhla is another measure. It has already drawn registration from five farmers’ cooperatives, which have also applied for loan credits for use in the improvement of their rubber processing plants and the purchase of rubber latex from members.
