All state rice stocks to be disposed of this year
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha wants all existing state rice stocks to be disposed of within this year. Wiboonlasana Ruamraksa, permanent secretary for commerce, said Gen Prayut, who chaired the national rice policy committee’s meeting on January 9, has ordered officials handling state rice sales to clear the entire 8 million tonnes of rice in the stockpiles within this year. Most of the existing 8 million tonnes of rice stocks is white rice, 5 million tonnes of which is poor quality grain unfit for human consumption. The remaining 3 million tonnes is mixed-grade in quality, suitable for human consumption. The Commerce Ministry is now in talks with the Energy and Industry ministries to find proper ways to use rice stocks unsuitable for human consumption for industrial purposes, such as biomass and ethanol production.
