Thailand approves 192-mln-USD subsidy to reduce burning of sugarcane fields
Thailand’s Cabinet on May 11 approved a subsidy worth 6 billion baht (192 million USD) for sugarcane farmers who cut fresh cane for sugar factories instead of burning them, in a bid to reduce air pollution caused by the burning of plantations.
A sugarcane farmer works on a burnt field, a practice that authorities have been attempting to ban in order to reduce pollution, in Suphan Buri. (Photo: Reuters/VNA)
Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Cabinet on May 11approved a subsidy worth 6 billion baht (192 million USD) for sugarcane farmerswho cut fresh cane for sugar factories instead of burning them, in a bid toreduce air pollution caused by the burning of plantations.
The move was proposed by the Industry Ministry, with theBank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) chosen to handledisbursement of the subsidy.
The ministry aims to subsidise approximately 300,000farmers at 120 baht per tonne throughout crop year 2020-2021. The money will betransferred around June to September to BAAC accounts, said deputy governmentspokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek.
The target of this year’s campaign is to have at least 56million tonnes of fresh sugarcane fed to sugar factories nationwide, or 80 percentof total cane output, which is estimated at 70 million tonnes throughout thecrop year, she said.
During the previous crop year 2019-2020, the programmedispersed a subsidy of 3.45 billion baht to 133,000 farmers, managing to reducethe amount of burnt sugarcane to 49.65 percent of total cane output from 61 percentin crop year 2018-2019.
The programme sets to reduce burnt sugarcane fields from10 percent of total cane output in crop year 2021-2022 to less than five percentin 2022-2023 and zero in 2023-2024.
Sugarcane remains one of Thailand's most important crops,providing more than 1.5 million jobs and generating more than 180 billion bahtper year in revenue. Thailand exports around 70-75 percent of its sugarproduction and ranks second globally in exports behind Brazil.
The Southeast Asian country has 57 sugar mill factorieswith a capacity of nearly 984,000 tonnes a day and sugar-cane plantations in 47provinces spanning over 1.8 million hectares./.
With Thailand in the midst of its worst drought in four decades, sugar production is falling significantly for this year's crop cycle, pushing up the price of sugar globally, local media reported.
Tariffs cut to zero under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) from January 1 this year and the COVID-19 pandemic have made for a tough year for the sugar industry, heard an online seminar held by Nhan Dan (People) e-newspaper on September 16.
The sugar industry is facing many challenges and unfair competition from imported and smuggled goods, experts told a conference held in Hanoi on December 1.
The prospects for the domestic sugar industry look brighter this year due to efforts to control smuggling and the imposition of duties on sugar imported from Thailand.
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A sugarcane farmer works on a burnt field, a practice that authorities have been attempting to ban in order to reduce pollution, in Suphan Buri. (Photo: Reuters/VNA) 
