Thailand: Fruit growers to get government assistance
According to Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Yukol Limlamthong, the Cooperative Promotion Department, and the Department of Agricultural Extension have been instructed to get Modern Trade stores involved in their effort to ease the lower-than-expected prices of seasonal fruit including lychees, mangoesteens, rambutans,durians and longans.
Most types of the fruit are grown in the Eastern region except for lychees which belong to the North. They are expected to be bought within a specific time frame and under a certain amount. The Ministry has reportedly been trying to speed up the budget allocation process from the Budget Bureau in order for it to be able to assist fruit growers.
137 million baht is expected to be approved for a relief measure for Eastern fruit farmers, while another 20 million will be spent on shouldering the declining prices of fruit in the East of Thailand. The ministry also has planned to request a budget of 215 million baht to help cushion the impact of falling longan prices on growers, Mr. Yukol said.
The Ministry is urging growers to process their longan with peel as dried longan and promoting the consumption of fresh longan in the country as well as distributing to other regions to create demand and prop up the prices.
Source: thainews.prd.go.th