Thai rice production is expected to fall

(By Planeta Arroz, Bangkok Post) Farmers harvest rice in the fields. Rice exports during the first seven months of this year totaled 2.54 million tons, with a value of 40.8 billion baht (USD 1 = 36.41 THB), a gain of 51.8% year on year. Thai rice production is expected to fall by 871,000 tonnes of paddy rice, a 3.27% drop to 25.8 million tonnes, for the 2023-24 harvest season, mainly attributed to the El Niño weather phenomenon, according to with the latest forecast from the Office of Agricultural Economics in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Tantita Bunyamaneekul, deputy secretary-general of the Department of Agricultural Economics, said the country's rice cultivation area for the 2023-24 agricultural year totaled 62.4 million rai (0.16 hectare), a decrease of 602,000 rai or 0.96% compared to the previous year. The harvested area is estimated at 59.6 million rai, a reduction of 316 thousand rai or 0.53% compared to the previous year. The decline in cultivation area ...