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Ministry wants rice policy body set up soon.


The Commerce Ministry will propose that the new National Rice Policy Committee be set up soon to prepare for the resumption of the price-pledging project and consider releasing stockpiled rice.

The ministry's permanent secretary Yanyong Phuangrach said the new board should be set up promptly to plan for the upcoming rice-harvest season, as the government had announced that it would start the rice pledging in November.

Normally, the National Rice Policy Committee is chaired by the prime minister. The board faces a major task in drafting plans for implementation of the rice policy involving price guarantees, pledging, and release of stocks.

Once the board is set up, it will be able to set budgets and conditions for rice-pledging. So far, the government has only announced that the pledged price for paddy white rice will be Bt15,000 a tonne, and Bt20,000 for paddy jasmine rice. However, it has not yet set the prices of Pathum rice and sticky rice.

It will also consider whether to use the same conditions of the rice-guarantee project for farmers to join the pledging project. The Commerce Ministry will also cooperate with the Agriculture and Science ministries to survey rice plantations to ensure accurate figures on plantation area and expected production.

In addition, the Commerce Ministry will propose that the new board gradually release rice from the current stockpiles to clear warehouses for new crops.

Thailand has about 2 million tonnes of rice in its stockpiles.

The ministry reported that the volume of the country's rice exports from January to August 24 was 8.2 million tonnes. Export value was US$4.55 billion (Bt137.5 billion).

The average export price for jasmine rice is $1,004 a tonne, $626 a tonne for 100 per cent white rice, and $555 a tonne for parboiled rice.

Source: The Nation


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