The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has teamed up with a CP Group unit to help flood-affected farmers resume work with more efficient production methods.

Rice farmers who obtained career rehabilitation loans from BAAC have the option of entering the programme, in which farm management, technologies and hybrid rice seeds are essential.

Montri Congtrakultien, CEO of the Crop Integration Business Group (CPS), said innovation in cultivation could help flood-hit farmers cope with troubles stemming from climate change.

Hybrid seeds offering strong yields and disease resistance are provided, while more machine usage is urged to ramp up efficiency.

The company will buy back paddy at fair prices or help farmers to improve and distribute paddy to the market.

CPS has prepared 1,700 tonnes of CP111 hybrid rice seed to support the programme. It claims the seed offers productivity of 850 kilogrammes per rai, about two times higher than the average yield of Thai rice.

The agreement signed yesterday between Mr Montri and BAAC executive vice-president Arun Lertwilai is part of BAAC's rehabilitation programme for flood victims.

The bank reported 341,496 farm households farming 9.03 million rai of rice fields had 4.68 million tonnes of paddy damaged. BAAC offers low-interest loans of up to 100,000 baht to flood-affected farmers. A three-year debt moratorium with no interest charges is allowed for farmers whose farmland and production were destroyed.

The Agricultural Economics Office reported that the disasters caused 72 billion baht in damages to the farm sector, dragging down the industry to 1% growth this year from a prediction of 3% earlier.

About 1.4 million people in the sector were victims, of which 1.3 million worked in rice and other crops.

To assist rice farmers, the Rice Department plans to distribute 72,000 tonnes of rice seeds to farmers for free, with a limit of 10 kg/rai and 10 rai.

That volume is unlikely to meet unusually high demand this year. Normally about 900,000 tonnes of seeds are needed each year, but the Rice Department can only supply 100,000 tonnes each year, causing farmers to reuse paddy for replanting or turning to companies such as CPS for seeds.

Mr Montri said CP111 took a decade of development. The hybrid has been used in 3,500 rai in the north and central plains for two crops with an average yield of 1,037 kg per rai.

Source: Bangkok Post