Farmers get B8bn in loan scheme

The cabinet approved 8 billion baht in soft loan packages yesterday to help tapioca farmers and for a project that consolidates farmland to cut production costs.

Nathaporn Chatusripitak, an adviser to Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn, said 5.36 billion baht will be allocated to help tapioca farmers, with the remainder going to the megafarm scheme.

Government lending packages to tapioca farmers will cover schemes to cut their existing loan interest, to increase productivity, for agricultural cooperatives to process value-added tapioca and to upgrade production and processing standards.

Of the total budget, some 372 million baht is to subsidise a 3% loan interest rate for the state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), with 2.3 billion to increase productivity through a special interest rate of 4% a year. Another 1.5 billion baht is for cooperatives to process tapioca with a 1% loan interest rate.

The remaining 1 billion baht is for small farmers and cooperatives to upgrade their production and processing standards, with the government subsidising a 3% interest rate.

Mr Nathaporn said the cabinet also approved 3.25 billion baht worth of lending packages via the BAAC for megafarm projects between 2017-2019. Farmers who participate can borrow up to 5 million baht with a 0.01% interest rate.

The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry wants to develop 650 megafarms this year: 426 for rice, 110 for field crops, 69 for fruit and vegetables, 25 for livestock and 20 for fisheries. The ministry reported there are 589 megafarms are being implemented, covering 1.4 million rai.