The agriculture minister plans to allocate 131 million to fund the rice production development project, to create a competitive edge for Thai farmers and accommodate the demand from the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.

Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut has revealed that the agriculture minister plans to allocate 131 million baht to fund the rice production development project to create a competitive edge for Thai farmers to compete in the opening of the regional market in accordance to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement or AFTA, which will be effective from April, 2010 to May, 2012.

The project is aimed to increase Thai farmers' competitiveness with other rice exporting countries such as Vietnam.

The project also aims to create five rice production education centres for five primary rice farming communities and the community rice centres in 50 areas.

The pilot project will be implemented in Angthong, Nakhon Sawan, Surin, and Udon Thani provinces.

The project will also create model rice villages to demonstrate the low-cost production method in Surin, Udon Thani, Amnat Charoen, Nakhon Sawan, Ang Thong, and Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The ministry is planning to expand the project to one centre per district.

Additionally, the project will integrate the plant insects warning system at the rice centres to cover all areas effectively.

Source: TANN