Farmers block road in Nakhon Sawan to demand rice payment

Farmers from five provinces have blocked Asian Highway at Nakhon Sawan to pressure the caretaker government to pay them for rice they sold under the rice pledging scheme.
The farmers said that during the last five months, many rice farmers in many provinces did not receive their money so they wanted the caretaker government to send representatives to negotiate with the farmers.
Some 4,000 farmers from Singburi, Chai Nat, Uthai Thani, Kamphaeng Phet and Nakhon Sawan have blocked the Asian Highway in both directions, causing traffic jams for kilometers.
They have threatened to intensify their protest by blocking more roads and stay blocking the road if the caretaker government failed to send representatives for talks. (MCOT)

Political unrest may drag Thailand’s economic growth below 3%

The months-long turmoil in Thailand will possibly shave this year’s economic growth to less than the projected 4 percent, the central bank announced last week.
Rung Malikamas, spokesperson for the Bank of Thailand (BoT), said the bank will officially release its 2014 economic projection in March after having wrapped up economic assessment for the fourth quarter of last year.
She said disbursements in the public sector will dwindle if the political stalemate continues and the general election is not held as scheduled.
The caretaker government repeatedly stood firm on holding the snap poll on Feb 2 despite widespread protests and election registration failures in a number of southern provinces.
Ms Rung said the disbursement delay for immediate expenses and failure to start the budgeting process for the 2015 fiscal year will have both a direct and an indirect impact on the private sector, and add volatility to the 2014 overall economy.
This year’s economic growth may barely reach only 3 percent, with inflation at 2.4 percent, she said, hopefully predicting a strengthened economy later this year given improved confidence and consumption in the private sector.
The domestic political situation and public spending will be the two major elements, she said.
She said the global economy will improve this year especially in the US where successive investment will contribute to Thailand’s export growth.
The flow of foreign capital in Thailand remains stable and foreign investors should eventually return to the kingdom which promises strong fundamentals in the private sector along with solid performance of commercial banks and expanded per capita income, she said.
She said the economic slowdown is short term, or only during the political conflicts. (MCOT)

ASEAN, Germany cooperate on climate resilience in rice, other crops

Leah Lyn Domingo
The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture launched the ASEAN Network on the Promotion of Climate Resilience in Rice and Other Crops Jan. 20 at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden.
The project is funded by the German-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Programme on Climate Change, which aims to support ASEAN in further advancing the implementation of regionally coordinated strategies and policies for food security and climate protection in the agriculture and forestry sectors.
Under the project, a series of regional forums will be undertaken to promote a common understanding of the climate change-related threat to the agriculture sector, focusing on selected rice, maize, and cassava.
In addition, the project will identify successful practices and policies at the ASEAN member-states level for tackling these climate change-related threats that can be promoted and up-scaled.
The project will also identify common concerns and capacity needs, and propose regional support strategies and instruments to address these in a coherent manner.
The involvement of SEARCA, headed by Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., in the project is part of the Center’s efforts to contribute to an enabled environment for rural poverty reduction and food security through building institutional capacities that ensure climate change resiliency in agricultural production and sustainable natural resource management in Southeast Asia.
Myriam Fernando, a GAP-CC senior advisor, provided an overview of the program and project background while Lope B. Santos III, SEARCA program specialist and officer in charge of project development and management, discussed the workshop objective in finalizing the methodology and work plan of the project.
Douglas Black, climate sense director and GAP-CC consultant, facilitated the discussion on “Methodological Approach and Framework on Value Chains, Climate Impacts, Climate Profiling and Adaptation Options.”
Felino P. Lansigan, regional agricultural value chain/climate-resilience expert, expounded on the agreements on sector selection, scope of analyses, current/future climate impacts, production systems, selection criteria, and best practices.
For further information, contact: Leah Lyn Domingo, email: [email protected]