In our recent trip to Bangkok, we were able to talk with the top rice scientist in that country. He is Dr. Tawee Kupkanchanakul who retired a few years ago as the No. 1 rice expert of the Department of Agriculture in Thailand.

Dr. Tawee stayed in Los Banos for eight years as a scholar at the International Rice Research Institute.

He was one of the students of Dr. Benito S. Vergara, now a national scientist who headed our group during Dr. Tawee related that the small farmers, those cultivating about five hectares each, are very happy these days. They have been making a lot of money during the last seven years.

The reason could be due to a smart Starting seven eyars ago, the government helped the farmers by guaranteeing to buy their palay at 11 baht per kilo. Earlier, the farmers were losing money because the price was only 4 baht per kilo.The government bought their harvest at 11 baht per kilo if there were no traders buying at that price. That’s a price level that is profitable for the farmer.

While it was good for the farmer, Dr. Tawee said, it was a problem for the government. If the government bought the palay, it had to store it in its own warehouses or in rented storage facilities.

In the last few years, the government thought of a brighter idea. Instead of guaranteeing the palay price, it now guarantees the income of the farmers. The scheme works this way.

Suppose, the government assures the farmers that they will be paid 11 baht per kilo of their palay. The farmer can sell their palay to the traders even at a lower price than 11 baht if that is the going price in the marketplace.

The government will then pay the difference. Suppose the going price in the market is 8 baht per kilo, the government will pay the farmer an additional 3 baht.

Of course there are controls in place to prevent any anomalies. The farmers register their farms at planting time and these are checked by a committee in the community.

Normally in the irrigated areas in which the scheme is being mplemented, the farmers cultivating 4 to 5 hectares each are assured of incomes of 240,000 to 300,000 bahts a year from two croppings. Because of the good returns from rice farming, many farmers are also renting additional lands for growing rice.