BANGKOK, 5 Sep 2013 Quiet atmosphere was reported on the first day of the Government’s project to register para rubber growers for assistance in several provinces across the nation on Wednesday.
Para rubber farmers apparently paid little attention to the recently endorsed 1,260-baht-per-rai assistance scheme. In Nakhon Ratchasima, only one rubber grower in Phimai district registered for the scheme. The district has more than 2,000 rai of para rubber plantations operated by 63 farmers.
Authorities suspected that most of the farmers were unaware of the scheme. Nonetheless, they assured that public relations would be urgently stepped up with the help from the agriculture offices in the 4 sub-districts in Phimai. The officials estimated that the registration process would be completed by the end of this month.
In Loei Province, the provincial Agriculture and Cooperatives office and related units also agreed to conclude the list of para rubber growers registered for the assistance scheme within 30 days, despite the lukewarm response.
Loei officials even urged farmers who intend to register but do not possess all the necessary documents to go ahead with the registration as the Government would find other ways out for them.
In Nakhon Phanom, where registration centers have been set up in 12 districts, the majority of the rubber growers did not show up due to the fact that they are either located in remote areas or they simply do not know about the scheme. Provincial Agriculture officers are planning to conduct field visits to personally inform rubber growers about the assistance measure.
