The government will soon propose that the National Rice Policy Committee consider rice pledging at a guaranteed price that is higher than the current market price.

The proposal relates to price intervention for 2.5 million tonnes of white paddy rice. The plan would be to shore up prices for the second-crop harvest.

The pledging price would be proposed in four ranges, from Bt8,500, Bt9,500, Bt10,500 and Bt12,000 per tonne.
An industry source said the government should consider an appropriate price for the upcoming pledging scheme, as the current market price has dropped continuously following lower demand.

"Main-crop white paddy rice has been quoted at Bt8,500 to Bt11,000 per tonne. The guarantee price for the second crop, which will be of lower quality than the first, should be lower [than the previous scheme's guarantee price] in order to ensure smooth trading for rice in the market," said the source.

Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said that during the slowdown in rice export growth, the government should not only consider setting a high guarantee price to gain popularity, but also to ensure continuing growth in rice trading.

The appropriate guaranteed price for second-crop rice should be Bt10,000-Bt11,000 per tonne, he said.

However, Thai Rice Farmers Growers Association president Prasit Boonchuey said the government must set a higher guarantee price at Bt12,000-Bt13,000, because production costs have increased sharply to more than Bt7,000 a tonne.

Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said the ministry would try to convince the Cabinet to set up appropriate guaranteed price of not lower than Bt10,000 to help farmers.

The second-crop rice-pledging scheme is scheduled to run from March 16 to July.

Source: The Nation