By Anucha Charoenpo Chatrudee Theparat
The Cabinet on Tuesday gave the Treasury Department three months to take back one million rai of land that is held but unused by state agencies for allocation to poor farmers.

The move was one of several approved by ministers to help struggling rural communities. Others:

a budget of 28 to 35 billion baht to finance the rice mortgage problem

545 million baht for irrigation water management

The cabinet also assigned the ministries of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Commerce, Industry, Interior and Finance to work out criteria for zoning the land for different kinds of plants, set qualifications of farmers eligible to rent, and get the land properly irrigated.

The State Property Bureau, part of the Treasury Department, owns 12.5 million rai of land nationwide.

Most of it is under the "care" of the Defence, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Education and Finance ministries. Less than 2 per cent is used for housing, farming and commercial properties.

The aim is to distribute unused land to poor farmers, who currently have to lease land at relatively high prices. The rent on the Treasury land is supposed to be 20 baht per rai, although Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej wants to raise that price.

Mr Samak ordered the land to be taken back and allocated to farmers within three months.

"We will not take back the land people are using. We only want back vacant land which state agencies never use," deputy government spokesman Suparat Nakboonnam said.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej ordered the department to hold talks with the four ministries about returning the land so that the plan can be realised within three months, she said.

The prime minister wanted to increase the rent on the Treasury land, now 20 baht per rai, according to Amnuay Preemonwong, the department’s deputy director-general.

Mr Amnuay expected to hold talks with the four ministries next month to work out details of the land recall and set criteria for those who will retain the rights to use the land.

The cabinet also agreed to allocate between 28 and 35 billion baht for the second-crop rice mortgage scheme, to kick-start this Sunday.

The scheme will be run by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).

Bank president Teerapong Tungteerasunun has estimated 35 billion baht will be needed if all 3.5 million tonnes of second-crop rice paddy is to be sold to the government.

Earlier, the bank under the Finance Ministry planned to spend only 24 billion baht to purchase up to two million tonnes of paddy for the June-August crop.

Under the programme, the bank will accept paddy from farmers and work with participating rice mills to mill the grain, which will be sold locally and abroad. The first targeted areas are Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Suphan Buri, Ang Thong and Sing Buri.

Other approved measures are a green light for the Cooperative Promotion Department to borrow one million baht from the farmers assistance fund, for use in helping farmers, and another 400 million baht from the same fund for the Rice Department to finance a project to increase the crop productivity.

Government spokesman Pol Lt-Gen Wichienchote Sukchoterat said the cabinet also budgeted about 545 billion baht for water management projects over 12 years to serve agricultural areas.

The projects include the planned diversion from the Mae Yuam river to the Bhumibhol dam reservoir in Tak and the nationwide dredging of natural water sources.

The government is under pressure by farmers, mainly from Central provinces, to shore up the price of their paddy. Yesterday more indebted farmers from northeastern provinces joined the estimated 1,000 protesting farmers already gathered under the Rama VIII bridge near the Bank of Thailand head office. They are demanding help to ease their debts and voicing their disappointment at the ineffectiveness of the Farmer Rehabilitation and Development Fund.

Charin Duangdara, adviser to the Indebted Farmers Network, said the farmers agreed last night to disperse and return to their home provinces.

Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart yesterday pledged to put their demands to a meeting of the Farmer Rehabilitation and Development Fund this Friday.

By Bangkok Post On 11 June 2008

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