According to the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), a total of 283 billion baht is being injected into the agricultural segment under the Government’s expenditure budget to strengthen the sector.
OAE Secretary-General Lersak Riewtrakulpaiboon said that the budget covers several agricultural related projects such as the rice pledging scheme, assistance fund for farmers affected by natural disasters during 2012 - 2014, assistance fund for rubber planters, and insurance premiums for rice crops during the 2014/2015 season.
Mr. Lersak said that speaking in terms of average income per head, each farmer would receive 11,300 baht from the budget. The number is, however, far less than the figure allotted to the industrial sector which receives three trillion baht in budget. This means each industrial worker would gain 70,000 baht from the expenditure budget.
The Secretary-General said about 24 million people or 40% of Thailand’s total population are working in the agricultural segment, making it a crucial part of the nation’s economic structure.
He thus called on the Government to continue giving assistance to the agricultural sector to help workers deal with debts and poverty plaguing a large number of them to date.
Source - http://www.blackseagrain.net
