Farming cooperatives to accept pledges of 2 million tonnes of paddy from farmers
Seventy-three farming cooperatives in 13 provinces are expected to be able to accept pledges of two million tonnes of paddy from farmers worth about 23 billion baht, said agriculture inspector-general Prinya Pergsombat on November 7. Prinya made the above remark after having met representatives of the farming cooperatives of the North and the Northeast about the credit extension programme to delay the sale of rice by farmers in order to stall the rice price from steadily falling if all the rice are sold simultaneously. Meanwhile, many farmers have started drying up their newly-harvested paddy in the sun to reduce humidity before the grains are to be pledged with the government in return for credits from the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives amounting to 90 percent of the market price. Farmers who cannot afford to wait to join the programme because they need cash fast have to sell their crops to rice millers at between 5,500-6,000 baht per tonne for Hom Mali grains.
