KHON KAEN, 26 May 2014 – Khon Kaen farmers have been on cloud nine since they learned that they would soon be paid for the rice pledged under the former government’s rice pledging scheme.
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) recently convened a meeting of related agencies to discuss ways to pay off the remaining debt to farmers. Upon hearing the news, a farmer from Khon Kaen province said he had had to switch to using chemical fertilizer in order to cut production costs, given he had not yet received payment from the former government’s rice pledging scheme. The delayed payments will be disbursed beginning Tuesday 27th.
Farmers all over the country will be paid no later than next month. According to them, the rice pledging policy is necessary for farmers, since the cost of production is very high, whereas this year’s rice fetches only 5.50 to 6.50 baht per kilogram; adding that they hope the new government will continue to pay them a minimum of 15,000 baht for a ton of rice.
