Farmers hit by drought get B3.12bn

Farmers hit by drought get B3.12bn

The cabinet on Monday approved a 3.12-billion-baht aid package to help farmers hurt by drought.

According to Rachada Dhanadirek, a deputy government spokeswoman, the latest package sponsored by the government's central budget covers 538,316 eligible farmers in 19 provinces.

The aid package mainly covers five projects including a scheme to promote farmers growing crops that use less water, another to maintain the quality and volume of rice production, and one to promote farmers raising tilapia and poultry.

The scheme to promote farmers growing crops that use less water is estimated to cost 348 million baht, covering 1.4 million rai and affecting 150,000 families.

The scheme to maintain the quality and volume of rice for the 2020/2021 crop year will cost 1.74 billion baht, covering 6.32 million rai of farmland.

The government projects 827,000 rice-farming families will join this project.

According to Ms Rachada, some 260 million baht of the total budget will go to promote farmers raising tilapia, with 50,000 families expected to participate in the project.

The remaining budget will be allocated to promote farmers raising poultry and freshwater prawn to generate extra income.

Farmers will be allowed to join only one scheme, while farmers who own land rights are eligible for the schemes that promote farmers growing crops that use less water and maintaining the quality and volume of rice for the 2020/2021 crop year.

The cabinet also approved allowing the farm aid fund to extend 538 million baht worth of no-interest loans to farmers to build water supply for their farmland, she said.

This project is scheduled to be implemented between 2020 and 2025, with a two-year grace period.

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