Ordered the Office of the Consumer Protection Board to study the household economy in the agricultural sector, pointing out that in 3 years income growth was weak.

Bangkok: The Commerce Minister assigned the Office of the Consumer Protection Board to study the agricultural household economy after over the past three years, agricultural household income in Thailand has grown weakly. Due to the continuous increase in debt of farmers Mr. Phumtham Wechayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Give importance to solving the problems of Thai people's stomachs. Especially the household economic problems in the agricultural sector. Therefore, the Office of Trade Policy and Strategy (Office of Trade Policy and Strategy) has been assigned to monitor and study the economic situation of households in the agricultural sector. To raise the level and increase income for farmers, it was found that in the past 3 years (2020 - 2022), agricultural household income in Thailand has grown weakly. This is because the debt situation of farmers is continually increasing. It's time to step up the gears and increase farmers' incomes. which is an important mechanism that helps drive the country's economy and change the Thai agricultural industry in the future The Office of the Consumer Protection Board has studied the production and trade situation of Thai agricultural products and found that in 2022 Thailand has a gross domestic product (GDP) of 17,370,240 million baht, of which 1,531,120 million baht is GDP from the agricultural sector, accounting for only 8.81 percent of GDP. total of the country, while Thailand uses 149.75 million rai of agricultural land (with irrigation area of 34.88 million rai or 23.29 percent of the agricultural area), with the agricultural area accounting for as high as 46.69 percent of the entire country's area. and there are 11.63 million agricultural workers, accounting for 29.31 percent of the total number of workers. But Thai farmers are entering an aging society. with an average age of 58.46 years Currently, agricultural areas in Thailand Mostly used for rice farming, amounting to 65.41 million rai, accounting for 43.68 percent of the entire country's a gricultural area, followed by fruit and perennial plantations (39.38 million rai), field crops (30.89 million rai), vegetable gardens, and flowering plants. and ornamental plants (1.1 million rai) and other uses (12.96 million rai) for the cost of production factors in the agricultural sector. There is a trend of continuing to increase. In 2022, there is an import value of 128,625 million baht, of which 103,205 million baht is imported chemical fertilizer (80.24 percent of the total value of imports of production factors in the agricultural sector) and the value of imported chemical fertilizer in Over the 3-year period (2020 - 2022), the average increase was 49.23 percent per year. When delving into the economic situation of agricultural households, it was found that over the past 3 years, the income that households received from agricultural activities Expanded slightly (3.81 percent per year) compared to expenses that grew higher (6.30 percent per year) as well as the debt situation that continued to expan d (1.45 percent per year). As for cash balances before repayment (Income minus expenses) and assets shrank (0.25 and 8.19 percent per year, respectively), while when comparing 2022 with 2021, it was found that the income that households received from agricultural activities expanded by 10.28 percent and the debt situation of farmers also expanded at 3.49 percent, which is a continuous expansion and higher than the average over the past 3 years, while cash balances before debt repayment and farmers' assets continued to shrink. 2.52 percent and 36.11 percent, respectively, and contracted higher than the average over the past 3 years. The situation of domestic agricultural trade in the first 11 months (January - November) of 2023 found that the products whose prices increased include rice, animal feed corn, soybeans, cassava, sugarcane factory, pineapple factory, longan, school rambutan, garlic, onion, broiler. chicken eggs and catfish due to increased demand in both domestic and international markets and highe r production costs, while products whose prices decreased include rubber, palm oil, Monthong durian, mangosteen, pigs, vannamei shrimp, and tilapia, due to large quantities of produce entering the market. and faced the problem of illegally importing pigs Meanwhile, in the overall picture of Thailand's international trade in 2022, Thailand exports agricultural and agricultural industrial products with a total value of 49,532.32 million US dollars. (1,715,153.55 million baht) accounting for 17.23 percent of the total value of Thai exports. It is the export of agricultural products of 26,739.15 million US dollars (925,993.61 million baht) and agricultural industrial products of 22,793.17 million US dollars (789,159.94 million baht), accounting for 53.98 and 46.02 percent of the value of exports of agricultural and agricultural industrial products. respectively, and during the first 11 months (January - November) of 2023, Thailand exported agricultural and agricultural industrial products worth 45,717.37 million US dollars. (1,573,144.56 million baht) shrank by 0.47 percent from the same period of the previous year. Agricultural products exported with the highest value include fruits (228,176.93 million baht), rice (159,550.25 million baht), and cassava products (120,902.23 million baht). Agricultural industrial products with the highest exports include sugar (113,798.00 million baht), canned seafood. and processing (110,089.79 million baht) and pet food (77,181.00 million baht) for importing Thai agricultural products. Products with the highest import values include soybeans (66,623.86 million baht), oil cake (59,672.18 million baht), and wheat and meslin rice (42,754.25 million baht). However, from the above information Reflects problems, obstacles, and challenges in the Thai agricultural sector. Among the main issues are the low productivity of the Thai agricultural sector. Agricultural labor tends to decrease and the average age increases. Chronic water management problems High production costs and reliance on i mported agricultural inputs Farmers have limitations in changing products. Problem of lack of knowledge regarding processing and storage of agricultural products and trade and marketing problems (such as reliance on only a few main markets, Agricultural products exported lack variety. and Thailand mostly exports primary agricultural products that create little added value) as well as problems with measures and trade barriers of trading partners. The guidelines for raising and increasing farmers' incomes include 16 proposals, consisting of the guidelines "7 create 3 stimulate 6 develop" as follows: "7 create" include (1) creating a diversified agricultural product production structure; and is in demand in the market (2) create innovation and technology To increase productivity and reduce production costs. (3) Create an efficient water management infrastructure. (4) Create domestic production factors to reduce imports, such as organic fertilizer. (5) Strengthen agricultural cooperatives. Acting as a representa tive for collecting members' produce for sale through various channels, and the cooperative can request government funding to purchase agricultural machinery/technology for use in the group. (6) Ensure income stability, such as promoting insurance for agricultural crops and agricultural systems. Fair contracts and (7) create a link between agricultural product production and the industry of the future. "3 stimulations" include (1) stimulating the budget for agricultural research and development. both in terms of plant varieties and production methods (2) stimulating investment in agriculture and (3) stimulating agricultural tourism. '6 developments' include (1) developing the potential of farmers and farming communities, such as smart farming and low-carbon agriculture ( 2) Develop the potential of agricultural entrepreneurs Prepare entrepreneurs Producer and exporter of agricultural products and food. to online trading and product trade regulations (3) Develop marketing and public relations such as communi ty markets, online markets and agricultural product influencers (4) Develop quality standards for agricultural products and processing (5) Develop an agricultural database that provides a complete link between related agencies For use in planning production and marketing and (6) developing transportation, logistics and agricultural warehousing systems. According to a study by the Office of the Consumer Protection Board, it is seen that agricultural income is growing weakly. It has contributed to the higher debt burden of agricultural households. Therefore, the Thai agricultural sector must make major adjustments. To prepare to deal with challenges from many internal and external factors. Especially the adjustment of upstream farmers. This is the key to helping the Thai agricultural sector grow and transition to a new form of sustainable trade economy. In line with the policies of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce. that has been appointed The Subcommittee promotes and develops the potential o f commercial farmers, which is 1 of 9 subcommittees that take in-depth care of each mission. Under the Proactive Policy Integration Committee of the Ministry of Commerce.-514 Source: Thai News Agency