Thailand. Govt, private sector to buy more rice from farmers
The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and Tesco Lotus have continued their cooperation in buying 9,000 tons of rice from agricultural cooperatives in four northeastern provinces. The rice deal is expected to boost incomes for more than 140,000 farmers.
The minister on Monday presided over the opening ceremony of a project to directly buy fragrant jasmine rice from agricultural cooperatives in Ubon Ratchathani, Surin, Roi Et and Si Sa Ket. The rice will be packaged and sold under the Tesco Lotus brand.
More than 5,700 tons of fragrant jasmine rice were previously bought by the ministry.
The ministry plans to form 6,000 groups of large agricultural land plots this year to reduce the costs of production. Produce from them will be sold to the business sector directly.
More than 1,600 companies are expected to participate in the project this year.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Commerce will work together to form committees responsible for each type of agricultural product to learn about the real needs of farmers and plan production based on the market.
thaivisa
