Thai government assists rubber plantations

BANGKOK, October 4 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, is implementing measures to assist local rubber plantations nationwide and to boost rubber prices. Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach told journalists on Thursday that the measures include a subsidy provided to the local rubber plantations nationwide during their three-month suspension of the production of rubber latex, from November 2018 to April 2019 as asked by his ministry. Grisada said he has assigned the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT) to discuss with the Office of the Council of State for an official loan of about 9 billion baht to fund the subsidy to be provided to the local rubber plantations during the three-month suspension of their production of raw latex, at 3,000 baht per rai (2.5 rai = 1 acre). According to the minister, there are now about three million rai of rubber plantations nationwide and local rubber growers who will be eligible for the subsidy are required to each own 10-15 rai of plantations located on legal plots of land. The minister anticipated that the three-month suspension of the production of rubber latex nationwide should reduce the new rubber supply by about 200,000 tons, then proping up the prices of Thailand's natural rubber. The minister stated that other assistance measures to local rubber growers include organizing vocational training programs for them so that they will have supplementary jobs to earn their living. The minister revealed, meanwhile, that RAOT has also been assigned to work together with the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to conduct a feasibility study on the use of natural rubber supply stocks of 104,000 tons totally as a raw material for the EGAT's production of biomass energy. (TNA)