BANGKOK, 14 April 2013 – Chairman of the National Water Resources and Flood Policy Committee Plodprasop Suraswadi predicts that this year’s drought will not be severe as the rainy season begins early. Artificial rains will be conducted for farmers who grow in-season rice.
Mr Plodprasop said an average rainfall this year would be higher than the normal level but warned that a shortage of rain might take place late May. As a result, the government would provide artificial rains for the rice farmers and discourage off-season rice farming in the dry season. In the last dry season, most farmers had cooperated with the government while only a few farm families insisted to grow off-season rice for their consumption, Mr Plodprasop said.
The National Water Resources and Flood Policy Committee has recently rejected a 300-million-baht budget request from the Department of Agricultural Extension to hire farmers who are affected by drought. Mr Plodprasop said the request had been turned down because the budget plan lacked clear details.
