Thailand Considers Five-Country Rice Pool to Improve Farmers' Situation.

Byline: Woranuj Maneerungsee

Dec. 4--A proposed five-country rice pool should encourage reduction of plantation areas if it wants to see effective co-ordination, according to Vichai Sriprasert, president of the Rice Exporters' Association.

Mr Vichai made the comment ahead of a meeting in Bangkok on Friday of senior officials from five leading rice-exporting countries.

The idea of a pool was first raised in October at a meeting involving officials from Vietnam, India, Pakistan, China and Thailand. They said the group would not be a cartel as its main aim was to improve the lot of farmers and not to control prices.

Mr Vichai said the committment to a pool might not be sufficient to boost rice prices sustainably, adding that seeking to inflate prices by curbing export volume was not a long-term solution.

He said the Thai government had tried in vain for decades to stabilise rice prices. Rice prices have been declining steadily, from more than US$1,200 a ton in 1953 to about $200 at present. The decline has been the result of a worldwide oversupply brought on by improved yields.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation reported in August that rice production in China was expected to expand by 6 percent this year to 177 million tons. Another major producer, Indonesia, would produce 51 million tons, this year, an increase of 2.2 million tons. Thailand's paddy output has been forecast at 23-24 million tons.