BANGKOK, (NNT) – The committee overseeing vegetable oil and oil crops is slated to ask the Cabinet to consider regulating prices of soybeans to encourage domestic farmers to grow soybean plants.
The committee’s recent meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Air Chief Marshal Prajin Junthon discussed the country’s need to import certain oil crops to meet domestic demand.
Deputy secretary-general of the Office of Agricultural Economics Jariya Suthichaiya said the crops would be imported from January next year to the end of 2019 under the terms set by World Trade Organization and ASEAN Free Trade Area.
To reduce Thailand’s dependence on oil crop imports, the committee will ask the Cabinet to approve standard buying prices of soybeans per kilogram which will be based on manufacturing purposes.
The minimum price for a kilogram of soybeans will be 15.50 baht. The price will increase by at least 2 baht if the beans are to be used for the production of vegetable oil, animal feed or human food.
Jariya said new prices would attract more farmers to grow soybean plants, hoping to reduce imports of such crop.
