Ministry of Agriculture prepare for drought

BANGKOK, Feb 1 (TNA) -- The Ministry of Agriulture and Cooperatives is preparing for the coming drought season by readying royal rainmaking operations to help alleviate the drought, where operations are set to begin in March. Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikulya said after presiding over an executive meeting at the ministry earlier today that the meeting had discussed preparations for the coming drought season, by focusing on the creating of artificial rainfalls and farming in the drought season. The minister said artificial rain operations would be centred on refilling water in dams with low water level, such as at the Lam Nang Rong, Lam Chae, Vajiralongkorn, and Srinakharindra dams. The Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation, meanwhile, has reported that it is currently the training and maintenance period for the planes and pilots, noting that three planes are up and ready for rainmaking operations at the moment. The department said that after February 22, three more planes would be ready for the rainmaking operations, during which the department has also planned to asked for three more aircraft from the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) to help create artificial rainfalls, adding that the first rainmaking operation for the year has been planned to take place in March. Gen Chatchai said that his ministry has already proposed 6 measures spanning over 29 projects under a budget of 2.197 billion baht, which are aimed to help solve the country's drought problems, stressing that he is scheduled to inspect the Yom river basin to plan for farming in advance. (TNA)