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Published on April 23, 2008

The Cabinet yesterday approved a budget of more than Bt10 billion over 12 years to lay down the groundwork for systematic farming. In the immediate term, the first stage of the plan will take two years and the interim term five years. The Judicial Council will also look into the details of introducing laws to maintain the Kingdom's farm area at 130 million rai and promoting the cultivation of crops like cassava and palm oil.

The government wants to increase the rice area from 57 million rai to 60 million rai, in order to ensure that paddy production tops 30 million tonnes. However, the quantity of farm produce depends very much on effective irrigation systems. And the drought problem this year was exacerbated by the promotion of the second rice crop, which required a lot of water. Farmers this year were encouraged to plant more paddy, because of the booming rice price. Thus, a number of them planted a second crop this month, to be harvested in July. Traditionally, farmers plan the rice harvest for the rainy season.

Unfortunately, the government did not mention what it planned to do to improve the irrigation system, even though water supply is the most essential element in the success of crops. Some Thai farmers are affected by drought from February to May each year, and their problems often makes headlines. Drought can also be exacerbated by inefficient water management, and this can have a severe impact on farmers' water consumption. Thailand, sadly, has not placed much emphasis on efficient water management. We still tend to depend on the most uncontrollable factor: rainfall.

Drought can pose a severe risk to the entire economy. The Bank of Thailand yesterday released the latest inflation figures, rising from 2.8 per cent to 4-5 per cent. A short supply of farm produce is a main reason.

This year, it is estimated that more than 10 million people in Thailand's "rice bowl" have been hit by drought. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported 55 out of 76 provinces were struggling with drought, mostly in the Central, North and Northeast. More than 151,000 rai of farmland has been affected, including half of the key Central rice-growing provinces.

Each government talks about its plans to improve the water-irrigation system, but no plan has ever actually materialised. This is because a long-term irrigation project does not offer short-term political gain, because it requires years for the results to be realised. Some villages face annual droughts and are dubbed "chronic drought-affected villages". Thus, the villagers are forced to wait desperately for money handouts from politicians. Many of the younger generation have decided to leave their farms to find jobs in the cities; they feel too insecure to continue on the land, because of the unpredictable nature of the weather year in year out.

Therefore, it is imperative for the government to come up with an efficient water-management strategy as well as an effective irrigation system nationwide, along with efficient plans to supervise and monitor the effectiveness of the system. Otherwise, each year we will hear the same old story of people suffering from a lack of water. Instead of babbling about uncontrollable external factors like oil prices, the government should instead focus on water management, which is something it could tackle here at home.