Thai Ministry of Commerce Launches Plans to Stabilize Agriculture and Expand Markets
Introduction
The Thai Ministry of Commerce has introduced a detailed plan to support rice and fruit farmers. The strategy focuses on reducing costs, increasing productivity, and finding new ways to sell products.
Main Body
Regarding the rice sector, Minister Suphajee Suthumpun emphasized a new strategy to protect farmers' incomes from global economic instability. Because Thai rice yields are currently lower than those of international competitors, the government is working with the Agriculture Ministry to improve seed quality and soil management. Furthermore, the National Rice Policy and Management Committee has approved over 200 community projects to build facilities for milling, drying, and packaging. These measures aim to help farmers create higher-value processed goods, which means they will not have to sell their crops immediately when there is too much supply. To keep prices stable, the ministry is using real-time data to track supply and demand and is organizing more paddy fairs to ensure fair pricing. Additionally, the Department of Internal Trade has launched a discount program for fertilizer, reducing the price by up to 300 baht per sack. At the same time, the ministry is managing a predicted 33% increase in durian production, which is expected to reach 2 million tonnes this year. To handle this surplus, the government plans to sell 450,000 tonnes domestically through wholesale and online shops, while exporting 1 million tonnes to China. To reach younger customers and tourists, the ministry has partnered with TikTok to use digital content and influencers. This collaboration includes a 'Start-Skill-Scale' strategy and 6.5 million baht in shipping subsidies. These efforts are part of a larger branding campaign called 'Thailand: The Land of Tropical Fruits' to improve the global image of Thai products.
Conclusion
The government's current approach focuses on moving away from selling raw materials toward value-added processing and digital trade. These steps are intended to stabilize domestic prices and reach an export target of seven million tonnes of rice.