BANGKOK, 27 August 2013 Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has instructed the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to tackle the problems of rubber farmers who have threatened to upgrade their nationwide protests.
Ms Yingluck said after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the meeting had discussed the issue of rubber protests and decided to task the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives with finding solutions to the protesters’ problems. The prime minister confirmed the ministry had been monitoring the rubber situation and had launched many measures to help the farmers, including those on fertilizer price and long-term rubber development.
Ms Yingluck cited agricultural zoning as a long-term solution to the problem of rubber price drop. She added that the government was urging the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Science and Technology to make use of various research innovations in supporting the processing of farm products at the production site in order to help reduce logistic costs.
