Rice farmers express interests in selling rice online

BANGKOK, Dec 3 (TNA) -- The Commerce Ministry is supporting rice farmers to sell their products online, a move targeted by ministry to help release out stocked out into the consumer market, while predicting that a total of 120 tonnes would be sold through this channel. Commerce Minister Ms Apiradi Tantraporn said she has reiterated to the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) and the Department of Business Development (DBD) to initiate the Thai Smart Farmers Promotion, to help rice farmers sell their products online via the Thaitrad.com website. The website isa central e-commerce market that would gather rice products from various farms in one place for consumers to choose from and shop for their favourite ones. A total of two tonnes of rice have now been sold through the website. DITP Director-general Ms Malee Choklumlerd said the project would also be publicised to consumers nationwide. She added that about 70 groups of rice farmers have already expressed interests in joining with the programme, in which the ministry has targeted sales of 120 tonnes or worth around 6 million baht within the 4 months after the project's official launch. Moreover, Ms Malee stressed that her department would also coordinate with its business alliances, such as the DHL e-commerce later on, in order to provide a full one-stop service to consumers, where shoppers can choose their products from the DHL website with free deliveries and all the proceeds would be given to the farmers without any deduction. DBD Director-general Ms Banjongjitt Angsusingh, meanwhile, said her department has also come up with a plan to further develop the potential of Thai rice farmers through various training courses, including website management and packages development, adding that the department has just launched a DBD project to help rice farmers online and offline, as well as through the social media. Ms Bangjonjit noted that 352 rice farmers are already participating in the project. (TNA)